Super Metroid: Life
Release date: Feb 18, 2011
Download: Version 1.2.1 [UH] (623 downloads)
Download: Version 1.2 [UH] (1561 downloads)
Download: Version 1.0 [UH] (1215 downloads)
Genre: Exploration [?]
Game: SM
Difficulty: Vanilla [?]
Average runtime: 3:40
Average collection: 95%
Read Me: [None]
Forum Thread: Forum Thread
Rating: Star Star Star Star Star
Description
This is a complete Super Metroid hack that will hopefully be fun to play and have a few surprises. In the begining many areas are similar to the original but as I progressed as a Super Metroid builder the quality of the rom-hack got better and better. The map is about the same size as the original (same amount of rooms). Difficulty is set just a little higher so it's audience is more towards casual players with some harder parts for 100%.
Screenshots
No Screenshots Provided
Ratings and Reviews
By dcr on Dec 19, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 3:24
Alright, this hack was pretty ok. I liked some of the design elements, but I disliked a few things. Sequence breaking for the most part is dead. The low ammo counts for the expansions isn't fun to deal with. Some rooms are either the same, barely changed, or boring. But, the biggest downside of this hack is that Screw Attack is horribly nerfed. Yes, Screw Attack is really powerful, but having to hit enemies multiple times (2 times for Zebs, 10+ times for Disgeagas) is very annoying. I liked some elements of this hack, but those little things turn me away from it.
By MetroidMst on Aug 03, 2016 (Star Star Star Star Star )
90% in 3:02
This is a pretty decent hack. It has a very interesting item progression, and is generally interesting to explore. However, the hack suffers from what I would call "early hacking days syndrome." It is full of bad tiling, red Crateria, and even has some permastucks. I do recommend the hack for a playthrough, as it is very interesting, and the good parts are pretty good. Just don't go expecting for a mind-blowing experience.
By Aran;Jaeger on Dec 08, 2016 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 3:47
[Watch Video]  
No animals to be saved.

Quick Summary of the meaning of my SM hack ratings:
5 orbs: SM hacks within the 80% to 100% (90% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; SM hacks for outstanding wholesome playing experiences and at most minor inconveniences.
4 orbs: SM hacks within the 60% to 80% (70% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Well done SM hacks with noticeable design problems.
3 orbs: SM hacks within the 40% to 60% (50% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Normal decent average SM hacks.
2 orbs: SM hacks within the 20% to 40% (30% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Overall messy, confusing, or punishing SM hacks with some upsides.
1 orb : SM hacks within the 00% to 20% (10% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Ruthlessly unplayable, broken, or barely from the original game changed SM hacks.

Judgement parameters summary:
° Creative ideas and features, polished design, how enjoyable and fun the hack can be, lack of hard to find or cryptic required game elements, the difficulty, and if the hack can be finished without major guides or tools.
° Note that the length of a SM hack will not necessarily contribute to my rating of the SM hack, since instead the averaged out experience over the whole hack will be taken into account to get a relative comparison between SM hacks.
° Besides this, lack of impactful changes from the original SM game also went into the evaluation of SM hacks (otherwise one may consider them among the 3 stars hacks) as follows: Ultimately, for my ratings I consider a situation in which an SM enthusiast that already has, knows about and is familiar with the original game and its prominent mechanics could only choose 1 new SM hack to play and thus would really want to make sure he/she will get a fresh and fantastic experience or journey out of his/her 1 choice.

The goal of all these SM hack ratings is so that rather new players have an overview of the whole spectrum of SM hacks and how to sort them in, in relation to each other, where SM hacks that are rated lower might still be enjoyable for more experienced players.

Finally, sometimes for SM hacks it can be relevant that they may be significantly more enjoyable from a player standpoint at which the player is well practiced and familiarized with Super Metroid's game mechanics in general, and that in particular some of the best SM hacks may not be the outright best first SM hack choices to play otherwise because of this, and for beginner SM hack players this typically steers the best first SM hack choices towards some of the SM hacks that I rated with 4 orbs instead of 5.

Rating for some hacks may be off by 1 Star, but arguably not more, and ratings are not attempted to be provided within the precision of ''half orbs''.
By Pixel_Tiger on Jul 15, 2017 (Star Star Star Star Star )
90% in 5:37
Pretty nice hack. I love how he build his own room ideas around existing vanilla rooms. The hack itself is pretty straight forward and easy to navigate through. It's definitely worth a playthrough! Exploring was fun and the item rota was surprisingly well done!
By ptoil on Jan 14, 2021 (Star Star Star Star Star )
94% in 4:21
I enjoyed the different item progression and exploration. There were more than a few instances of bad tiling and the hack felt closed off at times. Not bad, worth checking out.
By Sapphron on Feb 13, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
% in 0:51
Good halfhack, apparently DCR got rid of Red Crateria. How could he?!?!
Really linear and repurposes a lot of vanilla rooms/drags them around, and has some neat progression stuff. Screw Attack is nerfed, just make it Evasion-style at this point.
And the map doesn't break!
Finished.
Recommend.

igt from speedrun
By Zhs2 on Jan 31, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
94% in 4:20
Pretty alright. You spend a lot of the hack suitless but end up finding a bunch of useful upgrades that make up the difference lying around everywhere. It's very possible to enter Norfair without Varia suit, especially since you need to beat Phantoon, enter Maridia, and beat Botwoon just to find Varia suit. (If you can locate the entrance to Norfair, that is.) Once you find Varia suit it's all smooth sailing, but before that watch out for Giant Sidehoppers. The guy who made this hack has a fetish for pre-Varia Giant Sidehoppers, I'm not even joking. The escape is slightly changed but no worse for wear. Probably THE worst part of this hack is that the door to the animals is locked during the escape, like the author didn't even know you could rescue them. Overall worth the playthrough, and you don't need to play in the lava before Gravity like you need to play in the water to find Varia.
By Sickwood on Mar 31, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
99% in 4:05
I tend to have rosier glasses when it comes to hack reviews compared to most, so I did enjoy this old gem quite a bit. I didn't realized until a recent playthrough how interesting the item progression is and how the hack guides you through it including suitless Maridia which usually doesn't happen naturally. My only complaint is I assumed the final ammo count was a nice even 90/15/5 and ended up with 99% which violated my OCD principles. If you are new to the community and enjoyed Tundain's recent release "Familiar," then you'd probably enjoy this one.

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