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How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
Shadow Complex Preview: To Get Past Metroid
Co-Op Metroidvania Anyone?
Shadow Complex Preview: Where's The Morph Ball?

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Ferroque
07/29/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
If only Nintendo would get their heads out of their asses and make another 2D Metroid game. I think I'd be able to forgive them for most of what they've done the last couple years.

I mean, I still regularly play through the Super/Fusion/Zero Mission, but I have to admit it's getting tiring trying to beat my latest time or sequence breaking in a new way. I just don't want this great genre of games to die so easily.
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TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment Ferroque was starred Ferroque was unstarred

TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.
07/29/09

@Ferroque: Metroid: Other M

You're welcome...
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Black-Dog-Howls
07/29/09

@TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.: That's Ninja Samus Gaiden.
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Ferroque
07/29/09

@TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.: No. They've called a narrative-driven action game.

That's not a 2D metroid game.
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Gemini-Phoenix
07/29/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
So in reality, Shadow Complex is really calling the bluff of Nintendo and Konami and trying to get them to get their finger out of their arse and create a new game for modern consoles that rivals Super Metroid or Symphony Of The Night, but rendered in 3D, rather than continuously making these actual 3D games, which isn't what the fans actually want...
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mrantimatter
07/29/09

@Gemini-Phoenix:

The PSP game was a good start. Imagine if they gave SoTN that sort of treatment? High rez 2.5d graphics, remastered music, and some new wings to the castle, and you'd have some easy money.

high rez 2d sprites would also work.
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Orionsaint
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
I love the look of this game. It's probably the best looking side-scroller ever made.
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serotoninzero
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
I'm so excited for this. Also it makes me pissed that Nintendo hasn't delivered on a Metroid DS game. Fusion and Zero Mission were so good... I want to see Metroid on the DS.
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Knoxximus ver. 5.66 promoted this comment serotoninzero was starred serotoninzero was unstarred

Corduroy Turtle
07/28/09

@serotoninzero: They did, dude. Metroid Prime Hunters.

I'm being snarky but I agree, if you meant a 2D Metroid game for the DS. I picked up Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and it changed my life.
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gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

@Corduroy Turtle: Allow me to be even snarkier.

Metroid Prime Hunters is a Metroid game only in namesake, and therefore, doesn't count. Ha!

But yeah, I want Metroid Dread already.
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Showmeyomoves!
07/29/09

@gold163 (° д° ): If we're trying to out-snark each other, I'll just say "Metroid Prime Pinball".
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Corduroy Turtle
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
The concept behind this game is great. My only fear...is that they put too much emphasis on the story instead of just focusing on gameplay.

Is it too much for me to want to play a game that is so damn good from a gameplay standpoint that a story or plot isn't even important anymore? Or even needed at all.
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GiuseppeNareen
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
You are so fucking stupid its beyond belief. Keep jacking off to your PS3, fanboy.
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Thorax
07/28/09

@GiuseppeNareen: Is it wrong I promoted this one by accident, and am now glad because we can all view it's eventual devoweling?
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Edited by Thorax at 07/28/09 9:04 PM Thorax was starred Thorax was unstarred

gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

@Thorax: I promote things by accident too. I'm like, "oh no I'm so stupid everyone will see and laugh", but people are usually cool about it and ignore it. Now, let's move along. Move along. Move along.
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Private_Bundy
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
Super Metroid is one of the best games Ive ever played :) so its good to see something like that coming to Xbox Live Arcade. And yes, I hope its a sucess too and it can inspire someone to make a retail 2d game like castlevania, metroid and the great freeware game Iji.

In a time where we can see so many great 3d games I wonder what could be done in a 2d game - I mean, what kind of innovations developers could bring to the genre. Trine is a very good example, as well as one of the best digital games of 2008, Braid.
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Kanji08
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
Good to hear the game is more Metroid than Castlevania. As expensive as controllers are these days, I'd be kinda pissed if I broke one because I threw it at a wall after dying to a Flying Medusa Head inspired baddie.
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gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

@Kanji08: You might want to hold your breath; I swear I saw a flying SWAT guy head baddie somewhere in those screenshots.
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paradox
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
I want to play this game so much. I kind of feel that this will be more of a Metroid game than Other M from what we've seen of it.
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katsujinken
07/28/09

@paradox: Ya, my concern with Metroid Other M is that it'll just be a Ninja Gaiden game with Samus Aran instead of Ryu Hayabusa. If they insist on making it 3D, adding gratuitous bullet time & uneccessary exposition well that's not what I'd do but fine. I just hope they stick to the spirit of Metroid by making it a sprawling inter-connected platform filled world that opens up as new powers are obtained.
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mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
I think I'd much prefer the inspiration be Metroid Fusion rather than Super Metroid. Better map and story design.

I also find it strange how Metroid fans have been clamoring for a new 2D metroid game for years.

What do they get? Shadow Complex. You rock, Epic Games.
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Edited by mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta at 07/28/09 7:54 PM

gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

@mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta: Epic does what NintenDON'T.
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gold163 (° д° ) was starred

mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta
07/28/09

@gold163 (° д° ): I was hoping for that specific comment. Heart awarded.
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Ueziel
07/28/09

@mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta: I'd much rather have the lack of exposition that Super Metroid had though. Fusion feels too talkative. The reason I enjoyed Super so much was that I set down on the planet and figured literally everything out on my own. No computer telling me where to go, no truly obvious goals. Just exploration and extreme uneasiness.
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PissedPS3Fan
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
Ok, we get it already. You guys liked Metroid and modeled your game after that genre. Can we please talk about some other topic concerning this game? The game is not even out and I'm already starting to tire of the Metroid comparisons... :(
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Lezard
07/28/09

@PissedPS3Fan: Given that the game's inspiration and design are largely taken from Metroid to the point that the term Metroidvania is being referenced as its practical genre, I really don't see that dying down any time soon.
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Tye-The-Czar
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
"No one's making these kinds of games..." Except SCORES of indie devs. Eternal Daughter, Cave Story, La Mulana, Ainevoltas 2, Iji(though it doesn't actually follow the exact formula, it has some blatant elements), An Untitled Story, The Power etc. etc. etc.
All for free in some form or another... and all very very good.
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superberg
07/28/09

@Tye-The-Czar: Of these, I've only played Cave Story, which has a Metroid feel, but doesn't feature the same kind of "world opens due to skills learned" type of thing. You do gain a few abilities, like improving jumps by shooting down while jumping, but either I haven't played far enough in or it's not there.

It's still a great game, but it feels like the only thing it borrows from Metroid is the large, fairly open world.

I'll have to check these other ones out. Also, you didn't mention Aquaria, which also has some Metroid influences.

Honestly, though, part of the fun of Super Metroid, in my opinion, was the isolation. The feeling of being entirely alone, like solving every list bit of it was up to you. No game has matched that quite yet.
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logicalnoise
07/28/09

@superberg: shadow of the collosus?
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illumine
07/28/09

@superberg: Yep, I was gonna say Aquaria too. What a lovely game.
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superberg
07/29/09

@logicalnoise: A big part of Metroid isn't just the open world, but the abilities you gain that allow for more exploration. Morph ball, high jump, space jump, grip, etc.

Shadow has exploration, but it's not really the same thing.
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RockyRan
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
This looks fantastically interesting. I enjoyed the hell out of Super Metroid and the original Metroid (played it for the first time last year, so it wasn't nostalgia) and really wish the same type of gameplay would live on. I think I'm gonna love this game based on that.

Though I would like to point out that I certainly wish that they won't make it ridiculously linear like Metroid Fusion. In fact, I really liked the original Metroid for not telling you anything and instead encouraging pure exploration. Hopefully they won't give you a "hint" system that tells you the exact location of where you're supposed to go (or at least give an option to turn it off), because I tend to like these games better when I discover things myself :D

BTW, did anybody catch the mini-map in the top-right corner? It looks exactly like the one in Super Metroid. >_>
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gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

@RockyRan: Hey, you're right.

Though Metroid Zero Mission and Fusion were pretty linear in comparison the Metroid and Super Metroid, I still think that the manner in which the narrative was handled in Fusion was fantastic. I loved the story, though I understand a lot of other people might not. I also thought that Super Metroid was kind of linear anyway, in that you really couldn't get into some places without using certain powerups anyway (I don't do speedruns or anything, so I approach the game in the manner that I can), and though I recognize that as being a key gameplay element in exploration in the Metroid series, it kind of sucks when you want to go someplace, only to find that you can't until you get some powerup, but you have absolutely no idea what that powerup might be. Maybe I just suck at Metroid, but I always get stuck and frustrated at some point, and put the game down for weeks until giving it another shot and exploring the WHOLE map until I miraculously find a place I'd slipped by before. It's still hilarious when I accidentally speed boost into another hidden energy tank or something though.
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Edited by gold163 (° д° ) at 07/28/09 7:37 PM gold163 (° д° ) was starred

gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
It's funny, from the screenshots, you'd never be able to tell that the game was influenced by Metroid. At least, I couldn't. It'll be interesting to see how this game turns out, and just how similar to Metroid it really is.
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gold163 (° д° ) was starred

Kaneda
07/28/09

@gold163 (° д° ): I love the style though. I really like when the aesthetics of a game are so purified and futuristic. When I was young, I imagined all games would look like that in the future.
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hibikir
07/28/09

@gold163 (° д° ):
You can't, because they are breaking the first rule of Metroidvanias: Make them colorful, and make the backgrounds easy to ignore, so that you can concentrate on the action.

This game seems like it was designed by the people that complained that the diablo 3 demo had too much color. This might look pretty, but it looks A LOT less playable.
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gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

@hibikir: Well, we'll see about that. The game's look actually reminds me a bit of Bionic Commando Rearmed, and we all know how well that turned out. Though, you're right, Metroidvanias are a completely different beast. Still, it doesn't hurt that much to have something nice to look at. I couldn't help but yawn a few hours into Symphony of the Night or Super Metroid until I discovered a completely new location. Maybe the map design will make up for it.
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Edited by gold163 (° д° ) at 07/28/09 7:43 PM gold163 (° д° ) was starred

mutedia
07/28/09

@hibikir: I never heard of that rule... that doesn't describe what makes a game a 'metroidvania'
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gold163 (° д° ) promoted this comment mutedia was starred mutedia was unstarred

gold163 (° д° )
07/28/09

@mutedia: I kind of understand where he's coming from, though. If you look at a Metroidvania game, you can tell that each level is made up of tiles because simply, the backgrounds aren't all that interesting, and are kind of subdued in color and design so you can focus on the 2D plane you're in. I can see why that might be a problem in Shadow Complex; the 3D graphics for one thing already might make it hard to tell where exactly you are standing, by default. Good 2D games with 3D graphics find some way to pull it off, though. Here's to hoping Shadow Complex can too.
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gold163 (° д° ) was starred

mutedia
07/29/09

@gold163 (° д° ): yeah, but quality does not mean it's a metroidvania.. it's just how it plays, exploration, items that open up other areas of the map, backtracking. unlike contra where it's a linear progression with no backtracking.
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frogloops
07/28/09

In reply to How Shadow Complex Was Inspired By Super Metroid (And Never Looked Back)
I really liked Chairs' Undertow when it release two years ago and while I was at first unimpressed with Shadow Complex(terrible name), I now find myself really excited for this to release!

It's a good time for downloadable games.
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wirebrain
07/28/09

@frog_loops:I'm interested in this game as this was made by the people who did the very underrated Advent Rising and it's set in a Orson Scott Card universe.

I have no love for Epic after their stupid "All PC users are thieves" comment, but it's not them, it's Chair.
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