Overall score on pook's 100-point system (TM): 76 or 81 (see below), or just 8 either way. at long last another 2d metroid. a cool game that is worth getting, and is a definite must-buy if you own metroid prime and haven't played the original metroid. read on:
-the breakdown-
Graphics (25/30, judged by era)- some of the nicer design of visuals i've seen on the gba, and a fairly large world, the score doesn't go higher because the game doesn't push the gba much in terms of special effects and such.
Sound- FX/Voice (8/10) pretty nice and functional sound fx.
Sound- Music (7/10) good music, but not a ton of tracks.
Gameplay- Length/Lastability/Replay (7[12**]/15) a pretty short game--i finished it in about 6 hours having found 50% of the secrets, and i did look for hidden passages frequently, and backtrack to get things i couldn't before. that said, after completing the game you can go back in and search freely if you want to find more secrets. so there is certainly some replay here, but it wasn't enough to get me to actually do it. so it's a 7 alone, a 12 if you also happen to have metroid prime. see below.
Gameplay- Story: (4/5) the story is doled out bit by bit and while not terribly complicated is integral to why the game works like it does, and is generally well written with no 'engrish'.
Gameplay- Game Design (25/30)- as stated, this is a short game, but it moves *really* fast and this is an improvement over past metroids which often were slow and 'quiet' games. controls are tight, if sometimes a little hard to do button combos (prob with gba, not the game) that are needed. the pacing of the game is great and the puzzles, which basically involve how the world unfolds in terms of accessibility, is fairly well thought out, with only one real head-scratcher for me. secret areas are plentiful, but rather than being 'bonus areas' are more often than not required exploring to proceed. later when the sa-x appears, there is a real sense of fear at some moments. save locations are plentiful, and the game features a sleep mode for on-the-go playing.
**Final Thoughts- despite the short play i'd still recommend this game, moreso if you also own metroid prime, since with both games you can unlock some stuff in prime, including the original metroid which is well worth the time to play if you never had.
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