Metroid NES Vs. FDS

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Recently, I've had a burning itch to go back and play Metroid.

Keep in mind, I've never really beaten this game from beginning to end legitimately: I've used cheats/Justin Bailey code, NARPASSWORD when that was found out, and playing the game on the second run where you're already equipped.

Warning: a bunch of reminiscing ahead

Spoiler

Also keep in mind this is the first game I've ever had in my collection (even before Super Mario Bros.) and as kids we would always start the game, get bored, and quit playing. Sometimes we would write the password down but mess it up or lose it. And then I got in the habit of just inputting random text and sometimes getting lucky.

I think the furthest my older brother legitimately got was defeating the fake Kraid, which freaked me out, I was like "What the hell was that?!"

Anyway, I don't know why I have this urge to go back, but the release of Metroid Dread made me want to continue the series and play Fusion (which was next on my list).

Also, this game always seemed bigger than it really was, and since I've seen maps and have been practically everywhere in the game already, it feels like the mesmerization this game always had on me since I was a kid is all but gone now.

[close]

Anyway, I've decided I would play the NES cartridge I've had since the age of time when pawning CRTs was still a thing. Not only that, but see how quickly I can beat it and possibly in one go.

I would eventually like to play the FDS version as well.

But what about the other versions, like the port on Metroid Prime or the GBA Classic Series? Are these the NES version? Do they save? Do they have pass codes?

I was also toying with the idea of playing the NES alongside my younger brother playing the Switch, and whenever we'd hit an undecided fork, we'd split up.

What's your experience with this old, cryptic shell of its current status of a game? Do you have fond memories? Were you frustrated? Did it send chills down your spine?

[P]

My memories are very similar to yours. We never owned the game but these were the days when about every kid had a NES in Sweden and borrowing the game was easy. I just played and played and quit when bored as I couldn't even beat the first level (later I realized that the game doesn't have the concept of "levels").

As I grew older I borrowed it several times over the years but still couldn't finish it.

When internet started to become common I tried it again using emulators (I no longer had our old NES) since the game was supposedly very popular. Every other corridor looks identical (especially down in Norfair and Ridley's lair) so keeping track of your position in your head is just too much, so I started to draw maps eventually, but still didn't finish it.

When I got a Famicom I finally played it again, now determined to finish it. Having played the game so much earlier I knew much of the map in my head, but I knew that I needed a map for Norfair and Ridley's lair so I did draw one. It was quite easy when you knew where to go and what order to take the items in.

I finished both the NES version (without cheating) and the FDS version, and I don't find the game very hard anymore, since I practically know it like my own pocket. Well Norfair can be challenging with its very strong enemies, but I'm also a much better player than when I was a kid.

Both versions are good but I recommend the FDS version for its different sound, ability to save and the fact that random number generation isn't flawed. Due to a bug, certain enemies that has variable behavior doesn't change their behavior on the NES version until you reset the system. This affects those jumping things (Squeept) in Norfair that you need to freeze and use as a stepping stone. If they jump too low you have to reset the NES and hope they jump higher. On the FDS version they randomly jumps high or low each jump they make. This also affects those lava seahorses (Dragon) and Ridley, sometimes they never shoot fireballs in the NES version, while in FDS they alternates shooting and taking a break. This means the Dragons will never show up that play session and if it happens with Uncle Ridley, he will just do a whole lot of nothing the whole battle, ruining the challenge. On the other hand he will keep shooting fireballs all the time if the random number for the session says so, so I suppose he is normally harder on the NES version unless you get lucky.


The version in Metroid Prime and GBA Classic series depends on the region. The Japanese version includes the FDS version and the international versions includes the NES version, simple as that. This also goes for other games like Zelda.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I don't know why I never gave this game an honest try. Maybe having it for so long made me bored of it?

I've probably played games just as cryptic, if not more, and beaten them. Legacy of Wizard comes to mind, but I bought that game complete with booklet. Though GameFAQs was probably a thing, I didn't have internet at the time. I wonder how I would've fared had I had the manual for Metroid in the first place? (I do have it now.)

It also occurred to me why this game was a hand-me-down in the first place. It was a game from an uncle who also gave us an NES Max controller modified with a Genesis d-pad in place of the... whatever hell it was called that didn't work.

Before I had Metroid, I had Rygar (which I didn't get to keep). When I finally came across this game again, I realized why it was so hard: I didn't understand the leveling up system. It was rather enjoyable and I managed to beat it after that (and this was before internet became big).

Edit: I also beat Kid Icarus back in the day, and I didn't understand the leveling up system in that, which made the dungeons a grindfest.

As for the Metroid games on Prime and GBA Classic... do they have a save feature? Or do they require entering a password?

[P]

Yeah Metroid shouldn't be so cryptic if you draw a map or print out a pre-drawn one (though that might be considered cheating). There are some annoying parts like fake floor traps that forces you to take long detours back up, or those vanishing blocks you sometimes have to climb. It's easy to fall and hard to climb.

Figuring the best route through the game can be a bit cryptic though I guess. My favo route is basically getting items and events in this order (I think I got most of it right, I went by a map and my memory):
-Marumari
-At least one missile tank
-Long-Beam
-Gaze at Kraid's and Ridley's statues at the entrance to Tourian
-More missile tanks and an energy tank or two
-Bomb
-Ice-Beam
-Go to Kraid's Lair
-Get all missile and energy tanks you can find in Kraid's Lair (and in Brinstar)
-Get close and personal to Kraid and feed him with all your missiles or until he is full, he should die before you if you have enough energy and missiles
-Take the hidden energy tank in Kraid's room
-Go back to Brinstar and then down into Norfair
-High-Jump Boots
-Head back up to Brinstar
-Varia (high-jump boots required unless you want to bomb-jump)
-There is a hidden energy tank in Brinstar in the ceiling after the first two sets of doors and right before a narrow hole you have to go through as a ball. This can be taken using the high-jump boots, but I suggest to save it until you go into Tourian (to get full energy without having to grind)
-Proceed down into Norfair again
-Keep picking up missile and energy tanks
-Screw Attack (finally Norfair enemies can be killed in one hit)
-Wave-Beam (also great for Norfair denizens)
-Head down Ridley's Lair
-Grab all missile and energy tanks you see
-Pay Ridley a visit, defeat him with missiles or the Wave-Beam
-Take the energy tank in the room Ridley was guarding
-Go back to Brinstar via Norfair, grab the Ice-Beam in Norfair on the way back or go and take the Ice-Beam in Brinstar again
-After saving the game one final time, get the hidden energy tank in the ceiling that you saved before in Brinstar to get full energy for Tourian, don't save the game after doing this until you beat the game
-Head into Tourian
-Have fun with the metroids and Motherbrain
-Beat the game


I've never seen the NES Max in person (not sure we had it in Sweden?), but it looks like it has a slide-pad, though I guess a digital one.


I don't think any of the emulated versions of Metroid can save (except FDS versions of course). Some of them might even have changed the password system so that you can't use any of your old passwords.
This also means that famous coincidental passwords like JUSTIN BAILEY and ENGAGE RIDLEY won't work (not sure about NARPAS SWORD which is actually hardcoded).
It least that was the case with Wii Virtual Console version of Kid Icarus if I remember correctly (so "ICARUS FIGHTS MEDUSA ANGELS" and the famous Swedish coincidental password "DUVANS MAMMOR KOMMER BORTOT" won't work).

[Jedi Master Baiter]

So you go to Kraid before going to Ridley?

Also, I wasn't sure if getting the wave beam was beneficial, because I always liked freezing enemies and using them as platforms (which was often necessary).

Also, there are two ice beams?

Also, you need the high jump to get the varia? I thought you only needed the ice beam?

Whatever, I need to go play this and find my own path.

[UglyJoe]

I've never seen the NES Max in person (not sure we had it in Sweden?), but it looks like it has a slide-pad, though I guess a digital one.

Nah, it's much dumber than that.  It's the same controller mechanism internally, so you need to press down on it.

[P]

Heh OK, so it's just a weirdly shaped d-pad.

So you go to Kraid before going to Ridley?

Also, I wasn't sure if getting the wave beam was beneficial, because I always liked freezing enemies and using them as platforms (which was often necessary).

Also, there are two ice beams?

Also, you need the high jump to get the varia? I thought you only needed the ice beam?

Yes Ridley is stronger, a higher ranked space pirate and found in a much much more difficult place to reach than Kraid so I find it only natural to fight Kraid first. That's the natural way in later games too like in Super Metroid. Why would you do it differently?


The Wave-Beam is the most powerful beam-weapon in the game, has the widest reach and it shoots through walls (kinda like how radio waves passes through walls, although radio waves doesn't cause damage) so I find it very useful in Norfair and Ridley's Lair. The Ice-Beam is also useful but also technically the weakest beam since it requires a second hit to damage an enemy (the first shot just freezes it). There is also not much use for the Ice-Beam's platform-creation features deep in Norfair and Ridley's Lair IIRC.


Yes there are at least two places where you can find Ice-Beams AFAIK, and you can grab all beam weapons an infinite number of times (except Long-Beam) to switch between them. The presence of an Ice-Beam in Norfair feels like it was put there as a convenience to switch back after you have beaten Ridley and the Wave-Beam have played out its role (Metroid II does this too, having the Ice-Beam as both the first and last beam-weapon you find for the same reason as in Metroid).
I think that is the most natural way to play the game, besides having to skip a weapon is against my completionist instincts.

Some people argues that the Ice-Beam is the best weapon against Ridley since it freezes his fireballs. The Wave-Beam can be used in a clever way, by standing in the lava below him and shoot up through the floor. You need high energy reserves though to survive the lava, and it feels kinda cheap.
Either way I think missiles works very well on him just like on Kraid.


I'm pretty sure you need the High-Jump Boots to get Varia the intended way. There are other methods like bomb-hopping as I said, and maybe also with careful use of the Ice-Beam? I think that is still a very hard way to do it and not the intended way.
Earlier I thought about getting Varia before facing Kraid, but to get the high-jump boots you need to venture into Norfair early which isn't very easy unless you really know what you are doing and it doesn't feel like the natural path to take through the game. Besides Kraid is easy enough even without Varia. Definitely get Varia before going to Ridley's Lair though (which means some backtracking).

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Yes Ridley is stronger, a higher ranked space pirate and found in a much much more difficult place to reach than Kraid so I find it only natural to fight Kraid first. That's the natural way in later games too like in Super Metroid. Why would you do it differently?

I don't know, maybe because someone told me on one of my old videos: https://youtu.be/mU-FxYF7ZHg

kraid is the harder of the two (ridley is predictable, if his arc is correct you'll never get hit)

[P]

I see, I checked the internet and Ridley is apparently generally considered easier than Kraid in the NES version because his fireballs are so predictable. This is not the case in the FDS version because it doesn't have the RNG bug of the NES version that I mentioned before, so his pattern changes randomly making him much harder. Kraid's pattern is probably also affected by the bug though.

But I don't think that makes that much of a difference, getting to Ridley is still tons harder than getting to Kraid even in the NES version. Ridley is still found in the deepest and hardest part of the game (except for Tourian maybe), so going for Ridley first because he is easier makes little sense.


BTW that video is pretty cool. I was just going to ask you why you haven't beaten the game without cheating yet if you can tackle Kraid with 30 energy and 5 missiles, but then I learned that it was a TAS-run. But it was a nice video anyway.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Yeah, I feel like I'm doing stuff you would do once you already beat the game.

Anyway, I think we should stop talking about taking the best potential path, and I should just go play the game ASAP. Part of the charm is the uncertainty. Also, I want to find a good balance of having enough power and not backtracking too much.

My brother has other games on his front burner, so I'll probably just play this by myself, which might better add the feeling of isolation this game brings.

I'll also play this game at night with the lights off, which doesn't do much since my 27" Samsung CRT lights up the entire room anyway.

I probably won't have enough time this weekend, but next weekend I should.

[P]

I look forward to you sharing your experience of the run.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I finally attempted a single session run last night. Here's the rundown:


I have the original grey and yellow "Classic Series" versions of this game. I decided to play on my original cart for sentimental reasons. (Does anyone know if there's any differences in the ROM with the rerelease? The grey cart is a 3-screw Rev-A.)

I cleaned the contacts in advance and was surprised to find it amazingly debris free.

I had to cope with the idea that this may be the final time I ever plug this cart into my NES ever again. If I ever want to play NES Metroid again, I'm using the cool yellow version (it hasn't gotten enough love ).



I started the game at about 8:45 PM, which is an hour and 15 minutes later than I wanted to. It didn't help that the NES wasn't actually hooked up to the TV when I was ready to start.

Something I forgot about on the title screen: the music actually loops if you don't go to menu/password.

Actually starting this game and trying to beat it in a timely manner was a rush. (I was racing against real time, too. I didn't want to go past midnight.)



Got my first missiles! Time to head back.

I'm going to document every power-up I get besides extra missiles, energy tanks, or the Maru Mighty Morphball because we all know where that's at.



The longbeam is a no-shitter. I'm not saving time getting it later nor losing time getting it now.

By the way, is this room supposed to be blue like this? I didn't think anything at first, but it's different compared to the other item rooms. I think it might just be my phone camera's HDR.



My next plan was to get the Ice Beam... until I realized I can't shoot down. Super Metroid spoiled me. So I ran past the corridor, grabbed an E-tank, climbed up the vertical shaft, and thankfully this item room contained the bombs.



I went back and collected the Freeze Ray/Gun/Beam.



Oh no! I can't jump high enough! It never occurred to me that I wasn't actually supposed to come here yet. I guess this area is kind of a secret, and so are lots of other places in this game we take for granted. Anyway, I just timed my jump and the tile spawn to get out of there.



Ahh, yes! Northeastern Zebes--one of my favorite areas in this game. I think I'm supposed to enter from the left, but because I could freeze a bunch of rippers and a waver and use them as platforms, I busted in the backdoor like a boss.



Okay, you were right. I wasn't supposed to come here yet, either, but here I am! I was under the impression this waver was already up here, but I had to get him over here, which required some patience. Whatever, I do things my way.



High boots be darned! I have the Varia! By the way, not sure if you know about the varia debacle: in the original game, it's implied to be an actual barrier, while in Metroid II, the devs couldn't just change the color of the character, so then it became a whole new armor suit.



Now I made my way to Norway, err... fair. Music brings back memories of spending way too much time here. It was by this time I realized that my rush to beat this led me to running through rooms haphazardly, and I was slowly losing energy.



So that's where the other Ice Beam is at?! Not that it ever mattered really.



I went into a room I thought I already had been in, to find (not one, not two, but...) three missile expansions! It was by this time I realized I could just spam missiles at enemies and not only regain energy, but missiles as well.



You can tell a lot about a person by what boots they wear. I bet the previous owner did lots of scaffolding.

Also, I didn't realize there was an entire city behind this room. When I got there, I assumed it was one of those places you could get to by different rooms... had I known...



What's the Metroid symbol doing here? That's the Screw Attack! I can honestly say, I do not know if I've ever been here before.



What?! A dead end! This room caught me by surprise. I don't know what it is about it, but it's uniqueness made this game feel new again and brought back that mystique that I felt was lost over the years. Also, I know this isn't a dead end. There's just no way.

I might as well say this now, I love the way green Norfair looks. To me it feels more natural than (the more widely traversed) purple Norfair.



It's been a while since I've collected an energy tank, so I thought this was noteworthy.



Is that the Wave Beam? It is! I am convinced I have never been here before.

With that said, I got frustratingly lost in this area for a while and ended up back in rooms I had already been in until I finally found the High Boots room I entered in the first place. That's when it hit me: this entire area was a secret! The iconic screw attack, the cool green Norfair aesthetic, the wave beam, and an energy tank... were players initially supposed to play this game without knowing this?



I high-assed it to Ridley's hideout. Not too long did I realize the damage enemies do here even with the "Varia." So I spammed missiles even more here. But that didn't matter...



Oh no! Ridley's room! I didn't mean to come here yet. I'm not ready! Go back, go back!


The hell?! Now this game's trolling me. This is starting to turn into an anti-creepypasta. There's no way Ridley was that easy. I just stood in front of him and never got hit. I'm giving total credit to the crack RNG.

Anyway, at this point it was about 10:30 PM and I was contemplating putting this game down for the night and finishing some other night, but then I realized my shitty work schedule and decided to at least finish exploring Ridley's hideout first, but then got annoyed at the dead ends and headed back to Brinstar.



I forgot about the Ice Beam in Norfair, so I grabbed the one in Brinstar and hauled tail to Kraid's lair.

This area I'm more familiar with... just like purple Norfair, I spent way too much time here as a kid, mesmerized by the music.



What the-?! How did I end up here? I took the first door on the left and I fell through every trap. I even found the fake Kraid. Anyway, might as well fight the real thing now that I'm here.



Definitely tougher than Ridley, but only because I was stupid and freezing his gut spikes before they launched. Anyway, I'm an idiot because...

-Take the hidden energy tank in Kraid's room

...I didn't do this.

On my way back up, I found myself forced to climb up a bunch of shootable blocks that come back, and there didn't seem to be enough enemies to freeze as platforms. Is this the only way back? If so, this is a dick move because those blocks not only damage you, they knock you off, forcing you to start over.



At least I was smart/forgetful enough to save this here.

I shoot the Ridley/Kraid statues, which is always fun. I enter the elevator shaft, and even though I've gone this path many times before, this felt different. I had a whole playthrough riding on this, and I wasn't sure I amassed enough missiles.

The Ridley/Kraid hideouts disappointingly went by way too quickly, and I didn't explore the potential powerups I may have found there. I also don't remember how many energy tanks is max. I know I have half the missiles I'm used to. I proceed.



Oh no. I got grabbed by a brain-sucking vampire. Help. Police. Murder. Okay, I'm going to be honest. I purposely got caught here, because this happened earlier and I forgot to screenshot it. But this just exemplifies how little of a threat these things feel now. I used to be too terrified as a kid to even take a step off the elevator.



Motherf***ing Brain, we meet again. I was worried about running out of missiles, but I found out that missile drops aren't all the same: different enemies drop different amounts of missiles. In Tourian, I was picking up about 20 at a time. Also weird, I felt like I picked up more than my max: I was supposed to have a little more than 100, but I thought I saw 140 at one point.



Game set. I think I knew it was already over when I was about halfway through Mother Brain's Zebetite. By that time I knew I had enough firepower (you can only harm her with missiles, right?).



Woohoo! I did it! I ful-filed my mission!



Ooh! Flashy goodness!



METROID'S A GIRL?!!! Not bad. It was around 11:15 when I shut off the console, which is about 2 and a half hours, which is about a PS1 Resident Evil run. Does pausing stop the clock? I paused quite a bit and took breaks. I bet I could've shaved at least 15 minutes off if I didn't get lost in green Norfair.

Funny thing, writing this playthrough is taking me almost as long as playing it.

So, in the end this playthrough was a bit underwhelming but still left me feeling accomplished: now I won't have that nagging feeling that I never legitimately beat this game.

Also, that single screen, dead-end corridor I had never seen before had the biggest impact on me: it was a place I knew I hadn't been to before and looked different. It was here the entire time, on the original cart I had as a kid. I kind of wanted the secret entrance to keep going, branching out into other rooms I hadn't been before, but sadly, it only led to a single item room, and my fascination was short lived.

[P]

Congratulations! I can certainly relate to the satisfaction of finally being able to beat this game (without cheating) after so many years despite being one of the first you played. The situation was quite similar to me when I finally beat it for the first time.
Being able to find rooms and powerups you have never seen before is a nice bonus (I have a hard time imagining how to get through Norfair and Ridley's Lair without either Screw Attack or the Wavebeam though).

You also beat it much quicker than I did, I only got the ending without the helmet my first attempt.

(Does anyone know if there's any differences in the ROM with the rerelease? The grey cart is a 3-screw Rev-A.)

It appears there is only one dumped version of the NTSC NES game and one of the PAL one (plus the Virtual Console versions which are not the same). Bootgod doesn't help much, nor does Cutting Room Floor which only compares FDS vs NES and various re-releases.

The FDS version should have 3 different versions, the latest is a bit rare as it were only found in Disk Writers, but it was dumped by Nintendo (and was part of the infamous gigaleak).

By the way, is this room supposed to be blue like this? I didn't think anything at first, but it's different compared to the other item rooms. I think it might just be my phone camera's HDR.

I had to check a longplay but it appears that the palette used with the Longbeam room tiles is different from other Chozo room tiles, so it's not your camera it really is blue.

By the way, not sure if you know about the varia debacle: in the original game, it's implied to be an actual barrier, while in Metroid II, the devs couldn't just change the color of the character, so then it became a whole new armor suit.

Yes I'm aware of this. I actually discovered it myself by reading the Japanese manual where it was pretty clear that バリア (baria) was supposed to be "Barrier" and not "Varia". The picture of it even shows Samus with a force-field type of barrier around her, but apparently it wasn't clear enough to the translator.
I also find it a bit strange that they didn't translate "Marumari", considering it's Japanese meaning something like "rolling-up-into-a-ball".
It's interesting that they adopted the English names "Varia" and "Morph Ball" in all later Metroid games in Japanese as well, probably because all NTSC Super Metroid ROMs were identical with both English and Japanese.

And I guess the reason the Barrier/Varia became a physical upgrade to the Power Suit was due to Metroid II being a Gameboy game so a simple palette swap wouldn't suffice anymore. Starting from that game, the Varia gives Samus those ball-shaped shoulder pads similar to what certain traditional dresses has. Samus is a girl too I guess.

On my way back up, I found myself forced to climb up a bunch of shootable blocks that come back, and there didn't seem to be enough enemies to freeze as platforms. Is this the only way back? If so, this is a dick move because those blocks not only damage you, they knock you off, forcing you to start over.

I don't know if it's the only way up in Kraid's Lair, but I do remember that there is a lot of that climbing invisible bricks thing down there, which is annoying indeed.

Oh no. I got grabbed by a brain-sucking vampire. Help. Police. Murder. Okay, I'm going to be honest. I purposely got caught here, because this happened earlier and I forgot to screenshot it. But this just exemplifies how little of a threat these things feel now. I used to be too terrified as a kid to even take a step of the elevator.

Yeah the Metroids were darn impossible as a kid (because I didn't know to use the Icebeam). Back then I also didn't know they were the titular Metroids, I think I called them space leeches or something (after some leeches in Valiant's Captain N comics that sucked energy out of Samus). I thought "Metroid" was the name of the planet or celestial body (a meteorite (meteoroid) or something) that the game takes place on (which is really Zebes of course). This might also be the fault of Captain N (with the lack of the manual it was my only written source material) where "Metroid" seems to refer to the world they are in.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Oh, God--Captain N! Didn't they call Pit Kid Icarus?

Anyway, now I have an urge to try getting the best ending on the first run. What is the goal? 1 hour?

I believe I would go to Kraid's Lair first, do what I did there, possibly skip the Varia, and skip the wave beam. The way I see it, if I need to engage enemies, I'd use the screw attack or missiles. If I want to just get by, I'd freeze everything, including the Metroids. As long as I don't miss any energy tanks and have enough missiles...

But first I'd rather play the FDS version and take my time with that.

[P]

Yep, Pit was "Kid Icarus" or just "Kid" for short. He also ended his sentences with an "-us" suffix to make it sound greek/latin I suppose, at least in the Swedish translation. Then you finally beat the game and Paluthena calls him "Pit" in the ending. I guess Captain N comic artists didn't finish the game before they drew the comic, nor did they read the manual thoroughly enough.
The comics also featured the very obscure enemy Uranus (only found as a very generic enemy in the last fortress in the game) as one of the main villains along with everyone's favorite eggplant wizard and a blue King Hippo.


According to Cutting Room Floor the time limit for the best ending is 2 hours in the FDS version and 1 hour in the NES version. There is no leotard run reward in the FDS version however, you get a number of money bags (up to 5) on your completed save file depending on how fast you were, and there is a day count where one in-game day is one real hour.

When I finished the game, day count showed 5 before I went to beat the Motherbrain, and the ending was helmetless Samus and 3 money bags in the file. I remember that I picked up every single missile tank, energy tank and other power ups (for beams I took Icebeam, Wavebeam then back to Icebeam again). I had never picked up all missile tanks in any Metroid game before this, so it was quite satisfying.


Yeah as long as you have enough missiles Kraid shouldn't be a problem, so you can take him on without the Varia. Especially if you play the FDS version since Ridley is harder than Kraid in that version. He keeps changing his fireball patterns so there is no place that is always safe like in the NES version like you quickly found out.