| Super Metroid: Subversion | ||
Release date: Aug 31, 2022 |
Author: TestRunner and AmoebaOfDoom
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Download: IPS Patch File (unheadered) [Version1.2] (8463 downloads) Download: IPS Patch File (unheadered) [Version1.1] (1809 downloads) Download: BPS Patch File [Version1.2] (1715 downloads) Download: BPS Patch File [Version1.1] (745 downloads) (199 downloads of previous versions) |
Genre: Exploration [?] Game: 
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Difficulty: Vanilla [?]
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Average runtime:
9:20 Average collection: 90% |
Forum Thread: Super Metroid Subversion |
Rating:
 
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Description
Following the events of Super Metroid, Samus must destroy another Metroid research facility built by the Space Pirates on Planet TN578. This time however, the Pirates are more prepared to deal with Samus with the development of new weapons and armor based on Verdite technologies. It is time once again to protect the galaxy!
Features:
- Complete map and room overhaul
- New items
- New enemies
- Custom music
- Custom graphics
- Logbook and Hint System
- Challenge modes
- Difficulty modes
-- Easy Mode: Receive less damage, no cold damage, no escape timers, map hints
-- Normal Mode: The mode that's not Easy or Hard Mode and needed to be stated
-- Hard Mode: Receive extra damage, reduced i-frames, enemies more faster
Info:
- This hack is intended to be played on actual hardware. If you use an emulator that is not sufficiently accurate, you may notice some minor flickering in the HUD. There should not be any gameplay issues. For the best experience, play on console or use the mensen-s emulator.
- There are downloads for both a BPS and IPS patch (unheadered). Use whichever you prefer.
- The hack is roughly twice the size of vanilla (460 rooms), so expect a casual first play to be about 8-15 hours in game time, depending if you 100% or not.
- Difficulty is harder than Vanilla, but new players should still be able to complete the game.
- Only requires tech that is required to 100% complete Super Metroid. (eg. Wall jumping and mid-air morphs are never required, but shine sparking is.) More advanced tech—such as mockball and short charge—are still possible (but never needed).
SMART:
SMART is a full editor for making Super Metroid romhacks. It is a powerful tool that includes many features such as automatically repoints data so you never need to mess with pointers. The tool was originally made to make this hack, be we wanted to share it with the community in the hopes that new creators will be inspired to to make more amazing works.
More
Features:
- Complete map and room overhaul
- New items
- New enemies
- Custom music
- Custom graphics
- Logbook and Hint System
- Challenge modes
- Difficulty modes
-- Easy Mode: Receive less damage, no cold damage, no escape timers, map hints
-- Normal Mode: The mode that's not Easy or Hard Mode and needed to be stated
-- Hard Mode: Receive extra damage, reduced i-frames, enemies more faster
Info:
- This hack is intended to be played on actual hardware. If you use an emulator that is not sufficiently accurate, you may notice some minor flickering in the HUD. There should not be any gameplay issues. For the best experience, play on console or use the mensen-s emulator.
- There are downloads for both a BPS and IPS patch (unheadered). Use whichever you prefer.
- The hack is roughly twice the size of vanilla (460 rooms), so expect a casual first play to be about 8-15 hours in game time, depending if you 100% or not.
- Difficulty is harder than Vanilla, but new players should still be able to complete the game.
- Only requires tech that is required to 100% complete Super Metroid. (eg. Wall jumping and mid-air morphs are never required, but shine sparking is.) More advanced tech—such as mockball and short charge—are still possible (but never needed).
SMART:
SMART is a full editor for making Super Metroid romhacks. It is a powerful tool that includes many features such as automatically repoints data so you never need to mess with pointers. The tool was originally made to make this hack, be we wanted to share it with the community in the hopes that new creators will be inspired to to make more amazing works.
More
Screenshots
Ratings and Reviews
Absolutely amazing hack. 5/5 orbs easily.
This hack is loaded with custom stuff while still retaining the Super Metroid feel. I'm a big fan of the implemented logbook and hint system.
Every area feels unique and there are even sub-areas to them. Level design is very good. Plenty of paths to take and it never feels like a chore to traverse.
I loved the custom music. It fits the different areas very well.
Exploration is great. There is a good amount of secrets to find including a completely optional area.
This is now my favorite Super Metroid hack. Big thanks to the authors!
It's a must play. Recommended.
This hack is loaded with custom stuff while still retaining the Super Metroid feel. I'm a big fan of the implemented logbook and hint system.
Every area feels unique and there are even sub-areas to them. Level design is very good. Plenty of paths to take and it never feels like a chore to traverse.
I loved the custom music. It fits the different areas very well.
Exploration is great. There is a good amount of secrets to find including a completely optional area.
This is now my favorite Super Metroid hack. Big thanks to the authors!
It's a must play. Recommended.
Simply a-ma-zing! no other way to put it
This hack is non-stop insane, there are a bunch (and a lot) of new and cool features that get good usage. The log book is really nice, and a good way to implement the lore.
The world was really nice, and you can keep and keep exploring and it will always be fun, as you will keep finding more and more secrets and shortcuts that make it easy to traverse
I can say so much more (i want to) but i won't give spoilers.
I cannot even begin to imagine how much hours of code and work went into this, testrunner and amoebaofdoom are some insane chads for making this, really!
This is definitely my new favourite hack, and it needs to become yours too!
play this.
also, animals saved.
This hack is non-stop insane, there are a bunch (and a lot) of new and cool features that get good usage. The log book is really nice, and a good way to implement the lore.
The world was really nice, and you can keep and keep exploring and it will always be fun, as you will keep finding more and more secrets and shortcuts that make it easy to traverse
I can say so much more (i want to) but i won't give spoilers.
I cannot even begin to imagine how much hours of code and work went into this, testrunner and amoebaofdoom are some insane chads for making this, really!
This is definitely my new favourite hack, and it needs to become yours too!
play this.
also, animals saved.
[WIP Starting with 1.0 , switched to 1.1 right now]
This rom hack is by far the most advanced and ambitious i ever saw on super metroid till this day
the new ost is just incredible , a lot of stuff got added and the game has a good prime feeling by backtracking a lot in the game with i love searching (just don't play the rom hack if you are tired , you won't go this far)
[After Finishing the Game in hard more low % and 100%]
I'm not agree with Zhs2 even if everyone have their point of view about any rom hack
Even if the game is harder and way more longer than super , mostly in 100% run
it make a feeling of exploration like the 3D games with backtracking (Aka metroid prime) , mostly on the first play , the game have proper example / hint of how to use samus arsenal to going further into the game , even if sometime it wasn't said truly explicitely , mostly for a 100% run
Again if you aren't familliar with the metroid saga , Subversion is a great way to start , even on easy mode (Or project ZM / Project Base if you wanna try just the vanilla of ZM / Super Metroid) , since that room hack just break the limit what super metroid vanilla had , in the best way possible , even if the closing door after sometime is a bit annoying , it was the case since Nestroid , and way more logical in some way.
The biggest issue i could relate is the HARD MODE spike pit , if by mistake you fall on one , it's insta death if samus don't wanna quit the pit , making it insanely broken / Unfair and can ruin a run just because an emmenie push you on it , mostly in the beginning of the game , same for the spike at the top of some room who are less worse if you know how to get out.
That small little thing could disgust casual and even speedrunner in hard mode of the said game ig you could at least add a few more frame of invincibility for that it will be way more fair , so it lost 1 orb , for make me losing my sanity in the beginning of hard mode.
This rom hack is by far the most advanced and ambitious i ever saw on super metroid till this day
the new ost is just incredible , a lot of stuff got added and the game has a good prime feeling by backtracking a lot in the game with i love searching (just don't play the rom hack if you are tired , you won't go this far)
[After Finishing the Game in hard more low % and 100%]
I'm not agree with Zhs2 even if everyone have their point of view about any rom hack
Even if the game is harder and way more longer than super , mostly in 100% run
it make a feeling of exploration like the 3D games with backtracking (Aka metroid prime) , mostly on the first play , the game have proper example / hint of how to use samus arsenal to going further into the game , even if sometime it wasn't said truly explicitely , mostly for a 100% run
Again if you aren't familliar with the metroid saga , Subversion is a great way to start , even on easy mode (Or project ZM / Project Base if you wanna try just the vanilla of ZM / Super Metroid) , since that room hack just break the limit what super metroid vanilla had , in the best way possible , even if the closing door after sometime is a bit annoying , it was the case since Nestroid , and way more logical in some way.
The biggest issue i could relate is the HARD MODE spike pit , if by mistake you fall on one , it's insta death if samus don't wanna quit the pit , making it insanely broken / Unfair and can ruin a run just because an emmenie push you on it , mostly in the beginning of the game , same for the spike at the top of some room who are less worse if you know how to get out.
That small little thing could disgust casual and even speedrunner in hard mode of the said game ig you could at least add a few more frame of invincibility for that it will be way more fair , so it lost 1 orb , for make me losing my sanity in the beginning of hard mode.
this hack whips
It had a bit of a slow start, but once it hit stride it was excellent. Several moments had me grinning ear-to-ear. Lots of neat custom stuff.
There are a couple moments later on that feel catered towards metroid hacking sickos, but otherwise this feels surprisingly approachable for a hack of its size. Easy mode probably fixes them.
Easily the best Super Metroid hack named after a piece of version control software.
ADDENDUM: There is a very well-hidden postgame challenge that, having completed it, makes me want to increase my rating from 5 orbs to 6 --- it's an excellent bit of artisanally crafted content for those of us who are true sickos.
It had a bit of a slow start, but once it hit stride it was excellent. Several moments had me grinning ear-to-ear. Lots of neat custom stuff.
There are a couple moments later on that feel catered towards metroid hacking sickos, but otherwise this feels surprisingly approachable for a hack of its size. Easy mode probably fixes them.
Easily the best Super Metroid hack named after a piece of version control software.
ADDENDUM: There is a very well-hidden postgame challenge that, having completed it, makes me want to increase my rating from 5 orbs to 6 --- it's an excellent bit of artisanally crafted content for those of us who are true sickos.
This was an amazing hack! The general design philosophy of a ton of smallish areas meant there was a ton of visual and music variety throughout, and the gameplay remained stellar aside from a few hiccups with some frustrating temporary blockades near the end it was good through and through! If you haven't played it, play it now, it's hands down the hack of the year. And if you ever feel like you're absolutely stuck/softlocked, read the log! Don't be dumb like me! (Though I swear those enemies should have been colored differently, despite my glaring skill issue) Enjoy!
Animals not saved, >:) I have no idea where they are
Animals not saved, >:) I have no idea where they are
Absolutely incredible. No complaints.
10/10
Also if I said anything then that would spoil stuff and I can't let that happen
10/10
Also if I said anything then that would spoil stuff and I can't let that happen
NOTE: If you are playing this hack on an emulator, use Mesen-S to minimize graphical glitches, and up the audio latency to avoid audio popping.
I have some gripes with this hack, but there's too much awesome stuff in it to give it anything but 5 orbs. The sheer amount of new and interesting features this hack has to offer is mind-blowing. You will be pleasantly surprised many times.
My biggest overall issue with the hack is that sometimes progression can be obtuse, and the world is rocky to navigate at times. A few extra shortcuts and some permanence to terrain clearing would help a lot with the latter issue, and some slightly stronger hinting could help with the former. Most of my other gripes are nitpicks that mostly apply to me anyway, so they're not worth mentioning here.
Any gripe I have is overshadowed by how amazing this hack is. I highly recommend you play this yesterday.
I have some gripes with this hack, but there's too much awesome stuff in it to give it anything but 5 orbs. The sheer amount of new and interesting features this hack has to offer is mind-blowing. You will be pleasantly surprised many times.
My biggest overall issue with the hack is that sometimes progression can be obtuse, and the world is rocky to navigate at times. A few extra shortcuts and some permanence to terrain clearing would help a lot with the latter issue, and some slightly stronger hinting could help with the former. Most of my other gripes are nitpicks that mostly apply to me anyway, so they're not worth mentioning here.
Any gripe I have is overshadowed by how amazing this hack is. I highly recommend you play this yesterday.
So much praise should be given to Subversion for so many things. Very in depth additions to the hack make this a great joy to play. I can't call it my favorite hack, but I can definitely say it has been the most impressive.
First of all the music is top notch. Classics and remixes and originals blend together to give the many various environments a great feel. Whether they be tranquil, mysterious, energetic, or dangerous, all the moods you want in a Metroid world are here.
Tiling is textbook Metroid, in the best way possible. Highly detailed yet easy to read (mostly), whether using the classic SM sets or imported new varieties. Along with the music these sold each area as new and intriguing, making me want to explore.
And explore you will! The world is vast, every time I thought I had filled the map, another hidden connection led me somewhere new. The amount of content is staggering.
Samus felt very well scaled in this hack, power-wise, each combat upgrade felt appreciated and useful in fighting through increasingly dangerous baddies.
Above and beyond all of that however, what I'm sure will be most remembered about this hack is the amount of innovation in mechanics. I won't mention anything specific, but the execution of each of the many item reworks and new toys was just about perfect. Solving puzzles and navigating the world really went to the next level because of this, and that's always my favorite part.
Some criticisms, none of which could make this any less than a 5 orb hack, in no particular order
- There are many rooms that lag, often as a tradeoff for being very cool, but it is jarring
- The connections between areas can be clunky, especially with the choice of some gating
- Some backtracking was very "there and back again" as opposed to the really great sections that used a looping design
Bravo! This really is an exceptional, must play hack!
First of all the music is top notch. Classics and remixes and originals blend together to give the many various environments a great feel. Whether they be tranquil, mysterious, energetic, or dangerous, all the moods you want in a Metroid world are here.
Tiling is textbook Metroid, in the best way possible. Highly detailed yet easy to read (mostly), whether using the classic SM sets or imported new varieties. Along with the music these sold each area as new and intriguing, making me want to explore.
And explore you will! The world is vast, every time I thought I had filled the map, another hidden connection led me somewhere new. The amount of content is staggering.
Samus felt very well scaled in this hack, power-wise, each combat upgrade felt appreciated and useful in fighting through increasingly dangerous baddies.
Above and beyond all of that however, what I'm sure will be most remembered about this hack is the amount of innovation in mechanics. I won't mention anything specific, but the execution of each of the many item reworks and new toys was just about perfect. Solving puzzles and navigating the world really went to the next level because of this, and that's always my favorite part.
Some criticisms, none of which could make this any less than a 5 orb hack, in no particular order
- There are many rooms that lag, often as a tradeoff for being very cool, but it is jarring
- The connections between areas can be clunky, especially with the choice of some gating
- Some backtracking was very "there and back again" as opposed to the really great sections that used a looping design
Bravo! This really is an exceptional, must play hack!
Played 1.1. I liked it. Lots to explore and see, with many areas with different biomes within.
Some enemies do a lot of damage.
The logbook gave some direction when I got lost but without rubbing it in your face.
Some enemies do a lot of damage.
The logbook gave some direction when I got lost but without rubbing it in your face.
The most ambitious hack Iv played yet, its as if vanilla SM received quite a lot of new content, with less but some new visuals and mood. Every aspects of SM have been edited from custom music to engine changes and some are lovely small details. It also respect the Metroid lore which some may adore. My favorite additions were the cinematic ones and the world changes, some of the world changes are phenomenal. Lot of new items were added to fill-up the big hack size and also replace what they did with the vanilla ammo. Many many new ways to trigger gates, some really Dread like mechanics, not so much gameplay additions to samus. Some minor bugs but generally really polished and great.
Though I was close to give lower score, because of the progression design and level design, however the amount of amazing stuff that are actually well made is so staggering that X-Fusion can pull up his pants.
Said issues I had with the hack and my path, similar to older hacks a bit. There was lot of missing the progression path. The worst was when planing a path in advance to get blocked by a random gate, far dead ends, one of them traversing 3 areas linearly back n forth, the minor items were either accessible or blocked by the power being off. For the flow, many rooms are small n crampy with many single solid blocks. The map, while being amazing (omg that mini-map !!!), also wont tell sometimes some info like its a one way or a wall or gates and the general entrance to the ice area is weirdly accessible from the side instead of the map it is in. You can use the logbook and read text that will help you, this time being ingame instead of on the web, but I wanted to check how the level design stands on its own, How it tells you that ice can break the fusion thingies. The logbook itself is really well made and crazy for being on snes.
Some of the progression path was near the new item which was good, missable but well placed.
I didn't like the croc fight either, because you either need to read text or you are forced to shinespark without tutorial which is the only dent in accessibility, I like the idea but not the execution, also croc going through the floor I though it was glitched.
I also didn't like the complicated laser puzzle, it wasn't fully trial and error but the rooms back n forth was unnecessary, also the way the room was made you needed the item from that puzzle to make the back n forth faster, wait what? @-@
Rest are minor issues, a hack with such highs made me saw the lows more.
Globally this hack is not only good but also accessible to newcomers, and it stands on its own
as something complete. All the lore, the info you need to finish and also to even replay the hack are all inside the game.
Though I was close to give lower score, because of the progression design and level design, however the amount of amazing stuff that are actually well made is so staggering that X-Fusion can pull up his pants.
Said issues I had with the hack and my path, similar to older hacks a bit. There was lot of missing the progression path. The worst was when planing a path in advance to get blocked by a random gate, far dead ends, one of them traversing 3 areas linearly back n forth, the minor items were either accessible or blocked by the power being off. For the flow, many rooms are small n crampy with many single solid blocks. The map, while being amazing (omg that mini-map !!!), also wont tell sometimes some info like its a one way or a wall or gates and the general entrance to the ice area is weirdly accessible from the side instead of the map it is in. You can use the logbook and read text that will help you, this time being ingame instead of on the web, but I wanted to check how the level design stands on its own, How it tells you that ice can break the fusion thingies. The logbook itself is really well made and crazy for being on snes.
Some of the progression path was near the new item which was good, missable but well placed.
I didn't like the croc fight either, because you either need to read text or you are forced to shinespark without tutorial which is the only dent in accessibility, I like the idea but not the execution, also croc going through the floor I though it was glitched.
I also didn't like the complicated laser puzzle, it wasn't fully trial and error but the rooms back n forth was unnecessary, also the way the room was made you needed the item from that puzzle to make the back n forth faster, wait what? @-@
Rest are minor issues, a hack with such highs made me saw the lows more.
Globally this hack is not only good but also accessible to newcomers, and it stands on its own
as something complete. All the lore, the info you need to finish and also to even replay the hack are all inside the game.
![[Watch Video]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/497249548092309507/1016449062846857256/20220903_162601.jpg){kind=small}
Halfway into Subversion it became a top 3, by the end it was my favorite hack.
The amount of unique sequences in Subversion's progression really made it feel like a 3 act movie.
The sub-areas per region helped aid navigating a planet this massive with clear themes and landmarks.
The replayability and post-game content kept me hooked to the very last challenge.
Subversion delivered on all fronts for me, this is a special kind of hack that rarely comes along.
I can't recommend it enough.
The amount of unique sequences in Subversion's progression really made it feel like a 3 act movie.
The sub-areas per region helped aid navigating a planet this massive with clear themes and landmarks.
The replayability and post-game content kept me hooked to the very last challenge.
Subversion delivered on all fronts for me, this is a special kind of hack that rarely comes along.
I can't recommend it enough.
This goes so far above and beyond the engine's original limits. Implements completely new items, abilities from previous games, custom music, and world-shaping mechanics that would be fit in a modern PC game.
Very hard to judge the intended order - which is evidence of good design in a game like this.
Easily top-three of all hacks on this site, up there with Ascent and Hyper Metroid.
The only minor issue I saw was a few long backtracks, which is somewhat of a consequence of the larger world size.
Very hard to judge the intended order - which is evidence of good design in a game like this.
Easily top-three of all hacks on this site, up there with Ascent and Hyper Metroid.
The only minor issue I saw was a few long backtracks, which is somewhat of a consequence of the larger world size.
My original completion was 68% in 9:55.
This is an incredible hack with new mechanics, a huge world to explore, and tons of secrets to find that will keep you occupied and having fun for a long time. I don't want to spoil anything. Just play it yourself!
This is an incredible hack with new mechanics, a huge world to explore, and tons of secrets to find that will keep you occupied and having fun for a long time. I don't want to spoil anything. Just play it yourself!
Man, what a phenomenal work. Could rate twice orbs if i could.
This is pretty much what a super metroid hack should be, everything about it is legendary, use of original AND custom graphs, custom ost, etc. but the highlight i'm gonna give are the mechanic improvements, in specific the log system. Not only clearly took a lot of time and hard work, it is surprisingly useful. Seriously, i'm a 5 years 'troid veteran, and this hack made me look like a toddler, both in enemy quantity and power, but also in backtracking and route choosing, and without the hints from the log, i couldn't barely reach half the game! This is not the only fresh stuff, though, there are completely new items, (like i said) new ost and graphics, new mechanics, new systems, etc. Thing i hate about most metroid hacks is the lack of new mechanics (reason hacks like temple of the winds, hyper, ascent, etc. are my favorites) but this one is just plain revolutionary
Now, if i had a problem with this game is the difficult, i mean, the enemies are kinda of rough (and that considering i collected most powerups lol), but the main obstacle here is the twice-as-large world and choosing which route to take, you WILL be confused and backtrack the entire game if needed. But the shine this hack gives completely obfuscates the bad things.
Super Metroid: Subversion is the kind of hack you should play before dying.
Finished
Absolutely recommend.
This is pretty much what a super metroid hack should be, everything about it is legendary, use of original AND custom graphs, custom ost, etc. but the highlight i'm gonna give are the mechanic improvements, in specific the log system. Not only clearly took a lot of time and hard work, it is surprisingly useful. Seriously, i'm a 5 years 'troid veteran, and this hack made me look like a toddler, both in enemy quantity and power, but also in backtracking and route choosing, and without the hints from the log, i couldn't barely reach half the game! This is not the only fresh stuff, though, there are completely new items, (like i said) new ost and graphics, new mechanics, new systems, etc. Thing i hate about most metroid hacks is the lack of new mechanics (reason hacks like temple of the winds, hyper, ascent, etc. are my favorites) but this one is just plain revolutionary
Now, if i had a problem with this game is the difficult, i mean, the enemies are kinda of rough (and that considering i collected most powerups lol), but the main obstacle here is the twice-as-large world and choosing which route to take, you WILL be confused and backtrack the entire game if needed. But the shine this hack gives completely obfuscates the bad things.
Super Metroid: Subversion is the kind of hack you should play before dying.
Finished
Absolutely recommend.
Okay this romhack is the reason I signed up just to post a review. I have to say that it's very fun and feels very fresh, like experiencing Super Metroid for the first time all over again. It has custom music, a clean flow of progression, new items, large area to explore and well thought out map design. Overall this is highly polished and executed amazingly well.
Any minor frustrations had while searching for the next area were short lived as the map is very well laid out to lead the player into the next step. This is a prime example of top-quality romhacking and I can't wait to go back for hard mode later.
This one easily gets 5 juicy chozo orbs from me.
Any minor frustrations had while searching for the next area were short lived as the map is very well laid out to lead the player into the next step. This is a prime example of top-quality romhacking and I can't wait to go back for hard mode later.
This one easily gets 5 juicy chozo orbs from me.
Amazing hack. So many areas to explore, and each area is fully fleshed out with its own look, music, and lore. The custom mechanics really show the extent of whats possible with this game, and there are so many nice little details that make this an excellently polished masterpiece.
Absolutely no reason this would get anything less than 5 orbs.
Absolutely no reason this would get anything less than 5 orbs.
THis is one of the best hacks that I've played so far, and that this was done completely with SMART makes this more impressive, this even competes with Ascent for me, the extra items that were added made it so that puzzles were very ingenius and they aren't too hard to solve as well, 10/10 hack for me.
Echoing what has already been said. The hack is unquestionably top 5, in my personal top 3 (and I've played 20+ of the best hacks), and an argument can be made for #1. The hack pushes hacking forward with its plethora of custom items, locations, events, bosses, music, etc. To say any more would spoil things. It's an absolute must play.
My only real criticism is that the hack, IMO, suffers a little bit in a few departments: 1) Flow - meaning that the ease of travel and the clarity of progression - is not the best (it's not bad though, just sometimes a little rougher around the edges than it should be for a hack of this caliber); 2) Difficulty is a little uneven in that it's very vanilla (there is a hard mode you can unlock so maybe this is moot) and could frankly stand to be a little tougher/more verteran but then some of the puzzles are far more difficult to solve than you'd expect; 3) Endgame doesn't quite stick the landing and is not as strong as the 90% leading up to it (to sum it up, it's a bit rushed in terms of both time and sequencing); 4) The "optional" area (absolutely brilliant boss included) should be mandatory because it's so good. Players missing this will miss one of the strongest segments of the game; 5) This is personal preference, but it felt like the speed booster and shine sparking were underutilized; 6) Custom music occasionally didn't fit the area as well as it could have.
None of these criticisms detracted from my enjoyment of the hack nor will it with you due to how good so much of it is. 5/5 A+.
Edit: There is a secret in this hack that elevates this hack even beyond what I've written to new heights and it's something everyone playing this needs to find.
My only real criticism is that the hack, IMO, suffers a little bit in a few departments: 1) Flow - meaning that the ease of travel and the clarity of progression - is not the best (it's not bad though, just sometimes a little rougher around the edges than it should be for a hack of this caliber); 2) Difficulty is a little uneven in that it's very vanilla (there is a hard mode you can unlock so maybe this is moot) and could frankly stand to be a little tougher/more verteran but then some of the puzzles are far more difficult to solve than you'd expect; 3) Endgame doesn't quite stick the landing and is not as strong as the 90% leading up to it (to sum it up, it's a bit rushed in terms of both time and sequencing); 4) The "optional" area (absolutely brilliant boss included) should be mandatory because it's so good. Players missing this will miss one of the strongest segments of the game; 5) This is personal preference, but it felt like the speed booster and shine sparking were underutilized; 6) Custom music occasionally didn't fit the area as well as it could have.
None of these criticisms detracted from my enjoyment of the hack nor will it with you due to how good so much of it is. 5/5 A+.
Edit: There is a secret in this hack that elevates this hack even beyond what I've written to new heights and it's something everyone playing this needs to find.
(Although I didn't 100% items, I did reach 100% of the logbook.)
I said before Subversion was released, Metconst will need to add an extra orb to its maximum scores to accommodate this hack. At that point I had only seen a handful of rooms and the log system on Amoeba’s stream, but I knew something special was being created. After playing, I stand by my assessment. Not only is this better than any SM hack that has been made, it’s significantly better.
I don’t want to exhaustively list everything good about this hack; you should play it for yourself. What you can expect is high amounts of polish, immersion, novelty, and content to explore. I think my favorite thing was the spacey / astronaut vibe that is established at the beginning and reinforced later, augmented by the wonderful music.
Critique:
I’m sure this hack, deservedly, will receive a lot of praise, but I still want to mention things I did not like or potential weaknesses depending on players’ preferences.
There was some time I was stuck for like an hour looking for where I needed to go. This was sort of my fault because I had already discovered the path but turned around and forgot about it. But those closed shutters that block off so many paths are evil and not fun. They are cool and clever in regards to immersion, but they aggravated a bad experience when I didn’t know where to go. The logs also could have done a better job at guiding (but not totally handholding) the player at that point in the game.
When it comes to items, this is actually a pretty low novelty hack, at least when you consider this is the best hack made to date. Paired with this is the low novelty of breaking blocks with different items - which is a fine thing in moderation. If you go by the items one by one, very few are changed in an interesting way. This is contrasted within the hack with the masterful design of those green beams and how you end up interacting with them. This hack being a masterpiece in many ways, it’s surprising that there’s not many fresh items and so much use of item-breakable blocks to provide lock-key progression. On the other hand, it’s possible that most items being close to vanilla (or established ideas in the metconst universe such as speedball or accel charge) keeps the hack feeling closer to the Super Metroid we know and love.
I said before Subversion was released, Metconst will need to add an extra orb to its maximum scores to accommodate this hack. At that point I had only seen a handful of rooms and the log system on Amoeba’s stream, but I knew something special was being created. After playing, I stand by my assessment. Not only is this better than any SM hack that has been made, it’s significantly better.
I don’t want to exhaustively list everything good about this hack; you should play it for yourself. What you can expect is high amounts of polish, immersion, novelty, and content to explore. I think my favorite thing was the spacey / astronaut vibe that is established at the beginning and reinforced later, augmented by the wonderful music.
Critique:
I’m sure this hack, deservedly, will receive a lot of praise, but I still want to mention things I did not like or potential weaknesses depending on players’ preferences.
There was some time I was stuck for like an hour looking for where I needed to go. This was sort of my fault because I had already discovered the path but turned around and forgot about it. But those closed shutters that block off so many paths are evil and not fun. They are cool and clever in regards to immersion, but they aggravated a bad experience when I didn’t know where to go. The logs also could have done a better job at guiding (but not totally handholding) the player at that point in the game.
When it comes to items, this is actually a pretty low novelty hack, at least when you consider this is the best hack made to date. Paired with this is the low novelty of breaking blocks with different items - which is a fine thing in moderation. If you go by the items one by one, very few are changed in an interesting way. This is contrasted within the hack with the masterful design of those green beams and how you end up interacting with them. This hack being a masterpiece in many ways, it’s surprising that there’s not many fresh items and so much use of item-breakable blocks to provide lock-key progression. On the other hand, it’s possible that most items being close to vanilla (or established ideas in the metconst universe such as speedball or accel charge) keeps the hack feeling closer to the Super Metroid we know and love.
might be the best hack I ever played. (sorry hyper metroid)
This is better than most retail metroidvanias. I hope the authors make their own game next so they can be paid for their work.
Play this.
That said, it's not perfect:
It would be better for quality of life if you used Hyper Metroid's wide X-Ray visor.
There are several long vertical and horizontal shafts that would be better with shinespark/speed boost shortcuts built in.
There are some places where decorative blocks look like destructible blocks. Not sure if intentional, but it feels better when you can spot inconsistencies and get rewarded for it.
There are some places where one destructible type of block (like Spazer, Hyper, or Super Missile) looks like another type. It's better when the visual language is consistent, like with Ice Blocks always being melted by Plasma. Even bomb-only destructibles should be distinct from generic destructibles when possible.
The final sequence feels like it's missing something. Maybe in the boss fight, sparks that have some sort of dynamic position instead of a static laser beam? Or something about manipulating the laser beam?
Play this.
That said, it's not perfect:
It would be better for quality of life if you used Hyper Metroid's wide X-Ray visor.
There are several long vertical and horizontal shafts that would be better with shinespark/speed boost shortcuts built in.
There are some places where decorative blocks look like destructible blocks. Not sure if intentional, but it feels better when you can spot inconsistencies and get rewarded for it.
There are some places where one destructible type of block (like Spazer, Hyper, or Super Missile) looks like another type. It's better when the visual language is consistent, like with Ice Blocks always being melted by Plasma. Even bomb-only destructibles should be distinct from generic destructibles when possible.
The final sequence feels like it's missing something. Maybe in the boss fight, sparks that have some sort of dynamic position instead of a static laser beam? Or something about manipulating the laser beam?
Easily one of the most thorough hacks out there. A project of this scope actually feels hampered by its environment; this is one of the few hacks that would merit a more modern engine and fully original assets, it's good enough to be its own game.
The downsides are just a few. Although the new HUD item is crucial for one part of the game, it is seldom used throughout the rest. The soundtrack is OK, while having a soundtrack is certainly commendable (vanilla sound gets annoying after all these years), but I feel it's not up to par with the rest.
The downsides are just a few. Although the new HUD item is crucial for one part of the game, it is seldom used throughout the rest. The soundtrack is OK, while having a soundtrack is certainly commendable (vanilla sound gets annoying after all these years), but I feel it's not up to par with the rest.
Don’t bother reading this; you’re wasting time that you could be using to play this masterpiece. But if you must…
- Aesthetics: Aside from the main areas, Subversion divides itself into more than two dozen diverse sub-areas, each with its own unique tileset and music. This creates an interesting mix of old and new aesthetics, and also ensures that none overstay their welcome. New music is subjective but always appreciated, and some of the tracks from other games in the Metroid series sound awesome on the SNES sound chip.
- Exploration: There is a bit of Prime-style backtracking throughout, but it’s not unmanageable once the player gets the lay of the land, and the diverse aesthetics help to lessen any potential tedium that may arise from having to backtrack. Even when you don’t know exactly where to go next, you’re never going to feel lost, and that’s a major accomplishment for such a huge game. The inventory and mission sections of the logbook do a surprisingly good job of keeping exploration goals organized and at front-of mind. In easy mode, the hint system reveals the locations of critical-path upgrades, but not how to get to them or which comes next – a good compromise that helps the player to set their own goals without feeling like they’re being hand-held.
- Immersion: Subversion does an excellent job of presenting the player with obstacles before they find the tools to overcome them, keeping the player immersed and anxious to find the next big upgrade. It also features one of the most well-developed plots ever seen in a romhack, bolstered by the inclusion of a logbook. This truly feels like a direct sequel to the original Super Metroid.
- Difficulty: More challenge than vanilla, but definitely not veteran-level, and rather consistent throughout. The only exception is the optional area, which has a sharp difficulty spike in its puzzles, and potentially its combat if the player heads there without certain upgrades (as I did, convinced by the logbook that I needed to find something there before facing a certain boss elsewhere).
- Gameplay Innovation: This is where Subversion truly shines. There is soooo much new stuff crammed into one hack: new gear, new mechanics, new implementations of classic SM tropes, and best of all new boss treatments. Bosses tend to feel stale when playing a lot of hacks, but not here – most have been tweaked in some innovative way, and not just graphically. There’s noticeable influence from other Metroid titles and some of the all-time great SM hacks sprinkled throughout Subversion’s gameplay, but everything comes together in a way that feels incredibly fresh. You won’t want to stop playing until you’ve done everything there is to do.
- Replay: Off the chart - easily the most replayable hack ever made that doesn’t have a randomizer. Tons of “what if I had done this?” considerations to re-explore, hard mode, a built-in challenge list, and something else that I dare not spoil, but I will say this: make it a point to come back and save the animals at least once (because you probably won’t on your first playthrough.)
- Overall: Five orbs on scope alone. TestRunner and Amoeba clearly had no shortage of ambition, and deliver on every bit of it with a near-studio level of polish and a reverence for the entire Metroid series not seen in any other hack to date. Subversion stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best hacks from any era, and I won’t fault anyone for labeling it as the best ever.
(Stats are IGT for first/blind playthrough on easy mode)
- Aesthetics: Aside from the main areas, Subversion divides itself into more than two dozen diverse sub-areas, each with its own unique tileset and music. This creates an interesting mix of old and new aesthetics, and also ensures that none overstay their welcome. New music is subjective but always appreciated, and some of the tracks from other games in the Metroid series sound awesome on the SNES sound chip.
- Exploration: There is a bit of Prime-style backtracking throughout, but it’s not unmanageable once the player gets the lay of the land, and the diverse aesthetics help to lessen any potential tedium that may arise from having to backtrack. Even when you don’t know exactly where to go next, you’re never going to feel lost, and that’s a major accomplishment for such a huge game. The inventory and mission sections of the logbook do a surprisingly good job of keeping exploration goals organized and at front-of mind. In easy mode, the hint system reveals the locations of critical-path upgrades, but not how to get to them or which comes next – a good compromise that helps the player to set their own goals without feeling like they’re being hand-held.
- Immersion: Subversion does an excellent job of presenting the player with obstacles before they find the tools to overcome them, keeping the player immersed and anxious to find the next big upgrade. It also features one of the most well-developed plots ever seen in a romhack, bolstered by the inclusion of a logbook. This truly feels like a direct sequel to the original Super Metroid.
- Difficulty: More challenge than vanilla, but definitely not veteran-level, and rather consistent throughout. The only exception is the optional area, which has a sharp difficulty spike in its puzzles, and potentially its combat if the player heads there without certain upgrades (as I did, convinced by the logbook that I needed to find something there before facing a certain boss elsewhere).
- Gameplay Innovation: This is where Subversion truly shines. There is soooo much new stuff crammed into one hack: new gear, new mechanics, new implementations of classic SM tropes, and best of all new boss treatments. Bosses tend to feel stale when playing a lot of hacks, but not here – most have been tweaked in some innovative way, and not just graphically. There’s noticeable influence from other Metroid titles and some of the all-time great SM hacks sprinkled throughout Subversion’s gameplay, but everything comes together in a way that feels incredibly fresh. You won’t want to stop playing until you’ve done everything there is to do.
- Replay: Off the chart - easily the most replayable hack ever made that doesn’t have a randomizer. Tons of “what if I had done this?” considerations to re-explore, hard mode, a built-in challenge list, and something else that I dare not spoil, but I will say this: make it a point to come back and save the animals at least once (because you probably won’t on your first playthrough.)
- Overall: Five orbs on scope alone. TestRunner and Amoeba clearly had no shortage of ambition, and deliver on every bit of it with a near-studio level of polish and a reverence for the entire Metroid series not seen in any other hack to date. Subversion stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best hacks from any era, and I won’t fault anyone for labeling it as the best ever.
(Stats are IGT for first/blind playthrough on easy mode)
Oh, Subversion. Where do I start with you? Maybe that this hack feels to me like nothing more than a modern showcase of asm tweaks that were applied just because we can, of "Hey mom, look what I can do in Super Metroid's engine!" Maybe that I fully agree with KPF's evaluation, and then some. Maybe the idea that some people should stick to designing level editors rather than editing level design. (That's not completely fair of me to say, I would be interested in seeing a second hack from the SMART ones provided they learn from all the mistakes they made in their first.) To be honest, I suppose I don't know what I was expecting, but I suppose they get points for subverting my first expectation from such a hyped-up hack certain friends of mine can't stop raving about. Just one simple thing: more.
Let's go over a list of (attempted spoiler-free) grievances I had sorted from most annoying to least, shall we?
- Visor activation on fire button. Not only does this suplex my muscle memory, and not only does it eradicate your right to self-defense with the wrong item selected in the top bar, I know you guys were going for eradicating time freeze plasma damage. Not that you specifically need to do that anywhere on normal difficulty, but you can't fool me.
- Reclosing doors. Some people like to shoot doors open and keep them open for a reason, not the least of which for me is wanting to speedboost or shinespark through them at some point. It becomes a major annoyance on certain control setups where you must curl your finger over to hit fire while holding run just to open a damn door.
- Crocomire. I won't spoil the method of killing him, but I can call him a test of how new you might be to Metroid games in general. It seems to me like his tweak was implemented for the sole reason of being cool and new rather than sensible and ultimately even if you do read the logs provided in that new fancy log system the answer will still not be immediately obvious. (One of my friends got killed in that fight for touching him, although really because they didn't find enough e-tanks first.) A certain redditor here would definitely call it a glitch gate. Me, I thought it would have been much, much more clever to find a way to break blocks so he can fall in the usual acid. But that's just me.
- Custom music. Hey, actually that's another expectation you subverted! I was expecting cool custom tracks by known good community composers like kottpower and Mentlegen but instead all I got were rips from other video games! And as a bonus, half of them don't even sound good!
- Vanilla tileset level design. Seriously, you guys had seven years to fix up all the little effects that don't work together in rooms using those tilesets (in particular is that room that connects to the bottom left of the Pirate Lab, where the blue water moss joins clash with the rest of the rock) and while the second half of the hack with custom graphics does look great, it doesn't excuse the first half.
- Tedium. This is by and far the most subjective grievance but take it from me, I was not impressed at first when the levels were designed around a new item that had been added for the sake of adding a new item. (Disabling it is handy for exactly one puzzle later.) Things don't really pick up from there, you get slightly new abilities based on things seen in other hacks previous but the first half of the game is essentially just a game of beeline from one upgrade to the next and find out what it does, plus potentially finding out how they have been nerfed for the sake of adding more pickups, or you'll be getting nowhere. Railroading ahoy. The second half of the game does slightly better since you are able to explore anywhere you want (and indeed the tools for collecting 100% open up to you right away) but it's still not very impressive.
The bottom line? Do play this hack. It is actually worth a playthrough but it's really no better than a fullhack with no asm tweaks at all. (There are postgame objectives as well if you're really determined but for me it'll be a matter of if I get really bored.) It gets one orb from me for being playable and completeable, one orb for the bells and whistles that are neat, and one orb for not being totally boring or aggravating but that's about it. No orbs here for soul or innovation. If you want a cohesive soul in a hack, play Hyper or Vitality. If you want fun and innovative, play Ascent (I'm still going to bitch about the points of no return) or an Oats contest hack. Come here when you want a fully standard game that really does feel like it's fresh off of the Metroidvania assembly line and ready to be released on Steam.
Let's go over a list of (attempted spoiler-free) grievances I had sorted from most annoying to least, shall we?
- Visor activation on fire button. Not only does this suplex my muscle memory, and not only does it eradicate your right to self-defense with the wrong item selected in the top bar, I know you guys were going for eradicating time freeze plasma damage. Not that you specifically need to do that anywhere on normal difficulty, but you can't fool me.
- Reclosing doors. Some people like to shoot doors open and keep them open for a reason, not the least of which for me is wanting to speedboost or shinespark through them at some point. It becomes a major annoyance on certain control setups where you must curl your finger over to hit fire while holding run just to open a damn door.
- Crocomire. I won't spoil the method of killing him, but I can call him a test of how new you might be to Metroid games in general. It seems to me like his tweak was implemented for the sole reason of being cool and new rather than sensible and ultimately even if you do read the logs provided in that new fancy log system the answer will still not be immediately obvious. (One of my friends got killed in that fight for touching him, although really because they didn't find enough e-tanks first.) A certain redditor here would definitely call it a glitch gate. Me, I thought it would have been much, much more clever to find a way to break blocks so he can fall in the usual acid. But that's just me.
- Custom music. Hey, actually that's another expectation you subverted! I was expecting cool custom tracks by known good community composers like kottpower and Mentlegen but instead all I got were rips from other video games! And as a bonus, half of them don't even sound good!
- Vanilla tileset level design. Seriously, you guys had seven years to fix up all the little effects that don't work together in rooms using those tilesets (in particular is that room that connects to the bottom left of the Pirate Lab, where the blue water moss joins clash with the rest of the rock) and while the second half of the hack with custom graphics does look great, it doesn't excuse the first half.
- Tedium. This is by and far the most subjective grievance but take it from me, I was not impressed at first when the levels were designed around a new item that had been added for the sake of adding a new item. (Disabling it is handy for exactly one puzzle later.) Things don't really pick up from there, you get slightly new abilities based on things seen in other hacks previous but the first half of the game is essentially just a game of beeline from one upgrade to the next and find out what it does, plus potentially finding out how they have been nerfed for the sake of adding more pickups, or you'll be getting nowhere. Railroading ahoy. The second half of the game does slightly better since you are able to explore anywhere you want (and indeed the tools for collecting 100% open up to you right away) but it's still not very impressive.
The bottom line? Do play this hack. It is actually worth a playthrough but it's really no better than a fullhack with no asm tweaks at all. (There are postgame objectives as well if you're really determined but for me it'll be a matter of if I get really bored.) It gets one orb from me for being playable and completeable, one orb for the bells and whistles that are neat, and one orb for not being totally boring or aggravating but that's about it. No orbs here for soul or innovation. If you want a cohesive soul in a hack, play Hyper or Vitality. If you want fun and innovative, play Ascent (I'm still going to bitch about the points of no return) or an Oats contest hack. Come here when you want a fully standard game that really does feel like it's fresh off of the Metroidvania assembly line and ready to be released on Steam.
Subversion is one of those rare hacks that breathes new life into the Super Metroid hacking scene. It perfectly blends the old with the new, the tried and true with the bold and innovative, and delivers an experience unlike any other hack before it.
The amount of custom ASM in this hack is astounding, all of it in service of constructing perhaps the most polished, and, dare I say, cohesively soulful hack to date.
What this hack demonstrates to me is the importance of treading new ground. Most full-length Super Metroid hacks follow the same formula: you fight the majority of the bosses in the same way in slightly different arenas; you collect the same bevy of items with some minor variations here and there; and most puzzles have solutions immediately apparent to veterans of the game. This isn't to say that other hacks are bad; some of them I love just as much as Subversion - some even more so - but the undeniable truth is that in most full-length hacks, the limitations of the game itself present solutions that can only be immediately apparent.
Not so with Subversion. For the first time in a very, very long time, I was presented with obstacles that piqued my curiosity in ways I hadn't felt since I played the game for the first time as a kid. For that alone, for capturing that childlike sense of wonderment and curiosity, I cannot help but give Subversion full marks - doing any less would be insulting - but it's more than that. TestRunner and Amoeba have packed the game to the brim with extra goodies and challenges that are sure to give you more bang for you buck, proverbially speaking. I am dread to meet the Scrooge that would consider this tour de force simply "okay."
As the hack that SMART was built for, if my understanding is correct, this is a stellar first outing. I look forward, with unabated excitement, to what else is in store for us. Suffice to say, Metroid fans will be eating well tonight.
The amount of custom ASM in this hack is astounding, all of it in service of constructing perhaps the most polished, and, dare I say, cohesively soulful hack to date.
What this hack demonstrates to me is the importance of treading new ground. Most full-length Super Metroid hacks follow the same formula: you fight the majority of the bosses in the same way in slightly different arenas; you collect the same bevy of items with some minor variations here and there; and most puzzles have solutions immediately apparent to veterans of the game. This isn't to say that other hacks are bad; some of them I love just as much as Subversion - some even more so - but the undeniable truth is that in most full-length hacks, the limitations of the game itself present solutions that can only be immediately apparent.
Not so with Subversion. For the first time in a very, very long time, I was presented with obstacles that piqued my curiosity in ways I hadn't felt since I played the game for the first time as a kid. For that alone, for capturing that childlike sense of wonderment and curiosity, I cannot help but give Subversion full marks - doing any less would be insulting - but it's more than that. TestRunner and Amoeba have packed the game to the brim with extra goodies and challenges that are sure to give you more bang for you buck, proverbially speaking. I am dread to meet the Scrooge that would consider this tour de force simply "okay."
As the hack that SMART was built for, if my understanding is correct, this is a stellar first outing. I look forward, with unabated excitement, to what else is in store for us. Suffice to say, Metroid fans will be eating well tonight.
Shit music (except for the hive), 2007 tier level design for 60-70% of the hack, and a bunch of unnecessary mechanics for the sake of saying "I can do ASM". Meh.
My only complaint is that it drags a little here and there. There are some redundant areas and the hack probably could have been trimmed by about 10%. That's definitely just a preference though and I'm sure many people will think this is perfectly paced.
But otherwise... just... wow... I was worried that SM hacks had peaked but now I feel like this is the beginning of a new era. There are so many brand new concepts that are introduced and this feels like they have just scratched the surface of what is possible. Can't wait to see what SMART makes next. I have played about 50 rom hacks and thought I understood the limits of what could be done, but all my assumptions have been shattered.
But otherwise... just... wow... I was worried that SM hacks had peaked but now I feel like this is the beginning of a new era. There are so many brand new concepts that are introduced and this feels like they have just scratched the surface of what is possible. Can't wait to see what SMART makes next. I have played about 50 rom hacks and thought I understood the limits of what could be done, but all my assumptions have been shattered.
Take a very good game and turn it into something much better I've played many hours and I think it will be more RECOMMENDED!
This game gets way better than it looks.
Thankz for the hack!!
Thankz for the hack!!
I'm taking off one orb because of graphic glitches that happen continuously while I played the hack. I played on console. I've heard it works better on emulator, but I prefer to play on console.
I'm taking off another orb for issues related to game play. The intended progression is very back and forth. For the first approximately half the game you'll go from one end of the map back to the other end and back. There's a ton of hacks that do that and I'm never a fan of it. One boss glitched out for me and I almost reset the console to fix it. I started toggling random items and the fight was able to start. I had glitches on several other bosses and rooms. I didn't like the changes to how you activate items, particularly headgear. Etc.
There is a puzzle where you make changes in one room and check in a different room. Even after I figured out what I was doing, it still took me a ton of room transitions to make changes and check the result. And I found that kind of tedious. I would have preferred the switches and puzzle to be in the same room so that it's faster to check what's going on. I feel like I made 50 trips back and forth. In fact, there is a different puzzle that is similar where the solution and toggles are in the same room and I didn't mind that one at all.
I liked some of the musical choices and others I got sick of really quickly. I can't really comment on the art. To work around the obnoxious graphical glitches in the hud, I stayed in grayscale for like 90% of the game. And as a result I missed out on most of the art.
I did like that the fanfares are dramatically shorter. I loved the new fast doors. The new grapple blocks make for interesting puzzles. I think they should be a little faster to activate and there is something wrong with their hit detection. About half the time I grappled them samus didn't latch on.
I was told by the author of the hack that I was playing incorrectly. I'm not sure what they meant by that, but apparently there was some sort of book you're supposed to read to go along with the hack. I guess that's a stylistic choice you can make when you make a hack. I don't play metroid games so that I can read. I play them for the action and platforming. Seems like a weird choice to me to try to force that on players, but it's their hack they can do whatever they want. On the flip side, that doesn't mean I'm going to engage with it or like the choice.
The hack has some stuff that can only be unlocked if you beat the game. I never like that in games. I basically never try those things out because it's exceedingly rare that I beat a game and immediately start a new save file. I was there was a way to say "Yes, I'm really sure I want to unlock this without beating the game first."
The room design was consistently good. There were some rooms I didn't like, but most rooms were good. Some have amazingly bad lag.The SA-1 patch can't come into existence fast enough.
I'm not sure if I would recommend this to people. I think if you play on emulator and you don't mind lots of backtracking, you'll probably like this hack because so many people do.
I'm taking off another orb for issues related to game play. The intended progression is very back and forth. For the first approximately half the game you'll go from one end of the map back to the other end and back. There's a ton of hacks that do that and I'm never a fan of it. One boss glitched out for me and I almost reset the console to fix it. I started toggling random items and the fight was able to start. I had glitches on several other bosses and rooms. I didn't like the changes to how you activate items, particularly headgear. Etc.
There is a puzzle where you make changes in one room and check in a different room. Even after I figured out what I was doing, it still took me a ton of room transitions to make changes and check the result. And I found that kind of tedious. I would have preferred the switches and puzzle to be in the same room so that it's faster to check what's going on. I feel like I made 50 trips back and forth. In fact, there is a different puzzle that is similar where the solution and toggles are in the same room and I didn't mind that one at all.
I liked some of the musical choices and others I got sick of really quickly. I can't really comment on the art. To work around the obnoxious graphical glitches in the hud, I stayed in grayscale for like 90% of the game. And as a result I missed out on most of the art.
I did like that the fanfares are dramatically shorter. I loved the new fast doors. The new grapple blocks make for interesting puzzles. I think they should be a little faster to activate and there is something wrong with their hit detection. About half the time I grappled them samus didn't latch on.
I was told by the author of the hack that I was playing incorrectly. I'm not sure what they meant by that, but apparently there was some sort of book you're supposed to read to go along with the hack. I guess that's a stylistic choice you can make when you make a hack. I don't play metroid games so that I can read. I play them for the action and platforming. Seems like a weird choice to me to try to force that on players, but it's their hack they can do whatever they want. On the flip side, that doesn't mean I'm going to engage with it or like the choice.
The hack has some stuff that can only be unlocked if you beat the game. I never like that in games. I basically never try those things out because it's exceedingly rare that I beat a game and immediately start a new save file. I was there was a way to say "Yes, I'm really sure I want to unlock this without beating the game first."
The room design was consistently good. There were some rooms I didn't like, but most rooms were good. Some have amazingly bad lag.The SA-1 patch can't come into existence fast enough.
I'm not sure if I would recommend this to people. I think if you play on emulator and you don't mind lots of backtracking, you'll probably like this hack because so many people do.
Did most of my playthrough on 1.1, switched to 1.2 after Draygon.
Overall, this is an incredibly polished and large-scale new Metroid experience with many new additions to the game, and it's highly recommended that you try it. The hack contains a fully custom soundtrack, several new tilesets, new items, new enemies, various code changes all over the place, and more. It's fresh and memorable and mostly flows pretty well. The custom events were a treat as well, and I am really glad to see more hacks including events that change the world over time as you play. It's something I value a lot.
Bugs were few and far between - the only significant one I can recall was a crash after beating Draygon which is apparently rare. It didn't happen after a re-fight, and as far as Draygon fights go this one wasn't too hard so it wasn't too bad of an inconvenience.
The only complaints I can really make about this hack are the world navigation and sometimes obtuse boss solutions. For world navigation, my main complaint is with the way some of the central areas connect with each other. For some strange reason, the Wrecked Ship area is disjointed into two separate halves, an upper and a lower half, and you cannot travel between them for much of the game. Before you find the somewhat well hidden fast travel area which has entrances that aren't unlocked until pretty late in the adventure, the only way to cross through Wrecked Ship is to go to the lower part which involves traveling through a roundabout path with a morph maze. This irritated me after having done it several times.
As for the bosses, while I liked that they did different things with them and most of them were successful, I think some of these boss solutions are obtuse enough that some players might have a hard time figuring them out on their own. I personally feel like the hack is too reliant and expectant on players reading the logbook to figure out solutions to these types of things in the hack instead of the solution being more intuitive in gameplay. I am glad the logbook is here, and this would be a far bigger problem without it, but sometimes it felt like it was used as a crutch. In particular, there is like no way I would have figured out Ridley on my own, since (SPOILERS - skip the rest of this paragraph to avoid) he's in an ice area which discourages you from wearing the suit you need to use on him, plus I had never even known that sparks gave you hyper beam because up to this point the hack had only encouraged me to do so with the lasers and never taught me about the sparks.
Regardless, I am very glad to see this hack trying new and creative ideas, and I don't think that these slight hitches are anything gamebreaking. In fact, I think pretty much anyone going into this hack will have a good experience. The fact that this hack goes above and beyond and provides difficulty options, challenges, and more is the icing on the cake. There are so many cool/interesting changes to the game it's hard to cover them all in one review. This is definitely one of the top hacks that I have ever played, and the developers of this hack deserve a lot of commendations for their hard work, especially since they also gave us a great editor to boot. Much respect.
Overall, this is an incredibly polished and large-scale new Metroid experience with many new additions to the game, and it's highly recommended that you try it. The hack contains a fully custom soundtrack, several new tilesets, new items, new enemies, various code changes all over the place, and more. It's fresh and memorable and mostly flows pretty well. The custom events were a treat as well, and I am really glad to see more hacks including events that change the world over time as you play. It's something I value a lot.
Bugs were few and far between - the only significant one I can recall was a crash after beating Draygon which is apparently rare. It didn't happen after a re-fight, and as far as Draygon fights go this one wasn't too hard so it wasn't too bad of an inconvenience.
The only complaints I can really make about this hack are the world navigation and sometimes obtuse boss solutions. For world navigation, my main complaint is with the way some of the central areas connect with each other. For some strange reason, the Wrecked Ship area is disjointed into two separate halves, an upper and a lower half, and you cannot travel between them for much of the game. Before you find the somewhat well hidden fast travel area which has entrances that aren't unlocked until pretty late in the adventure, the only way to cross through Wrecked Ship is to go to the lower part which involves traveling through a roundabout path with a morph maze. This irritated me after having done it several times.
As for the bosses, while I liked that they did different things with them and most of them were successful, I think some of these boss solutions are obtuse enough that some players might have a hard time figuring them out on their own. I personally feel like the hack is too reliant and expectant on players reading the logbook to figure out solutions to these types of things in the hack instead of the solution being more intuitive in gameplay. I am glad the logbook is here, and this would be a far bigger problem without it, but sometimes it felt like it was used as a crutch. In particular, there is like no way I would have figured out Ridley on my own, since (SPOILERS - skip the rest of this paragraph to avoid) he's in an ice area which discourages you from wearing the suit you need to use on him, plus I had never even known that sparks gave you hyper beam because up to this point the hack had only encouraged me to do so with the lasers and never taught me about the sparks.
Regardless, I am very glad to see this hack trying new and creative ideas, and I don't think that these slight hitches are anything gamebreaking. In fact, I think pretty much anyone going into this hack will have a good experience. The fact that this hack goes above and beyond and provides difficulty options, challenges, and more is the icing on the cake. There are so many cool/interesting changes to the game it's hard to cover them all in one review. This is definitely one of the top hacks that I have ever played, and the developers of this hack deserve a lot of commendations for their hard work, especially since they also gave us a great editor to boot. Much respect.
It's one of the true great showcases for what the Metroid community is capable of.
ive played ascent, hyper, redesign, ancient chozo, vitality, zfactor, super zero mission. this one has been my favorite experience of them all. the only thing i wasnt a huge fan of was some of the new music felt subpar in quality. i liked the idea of them and the atmosphere and feel they tried to capture, but felt some missed the mark. regardless, not nearly enough to knock an orb off. excellent work, hope to see more from this author!
Played on console
- Creative and interesting items and bosses
- Beautifully detailed map
- Large map with plenty to explore (can make it more difficult to find/remember where to go next, but not too bad in my experience)
- Thoughtful puzzles including some optional ones
- Good execution of "come back later when you have the right tools" - sometimes for progression, other times just for hidden items if you so choose
- Nonlinear at times (for better or worse), I completed a section without an upgrade that would have made it much easier
- Creative and interesting items and bosses
- Beautifully detailed map
- Large map with plenty to explore (can make it more difficult to find/remember where to go next, but not too bad in my experience)
- Thoughtful puzzles including some optional ones
- Good execution of "come back later when you have the right tools" - sometimes for progression, other times just for hidden items if you so choose
- Nonlinear at times (for better or worse), I completed a section without an upgrade that would have made it much easier
Subversion is a technical marvel of Super Metroid hack. You will see impressive things on display here that are not yet done anywhere else. There were many moments where my mouth dropped in excitement and surprise. There were moments that truly blew me away. And there is no taking away from the devs that this is a must-play SM romhack. You will get the most enjoyment out of it if you love SM hacks with lots of little puzzles in many, many of the rooms. Most of them were cleverly done, some were just a stop sign, and one was truly an abomination and should have been cut -- getting Screw. My biggest gripes were that it felt like I was playing a theme park designed by the devs, not necessarily exploring an alien planet with its own identity. Subversion does deserve the accolades it gets. It earns them. The custom events were my favorite parts -- remarkable ASM hacking. But overall, I did not enjoy most of my time with the game. That is not to say it is bad, because it isn't; but many of the rooms are bland and not up to the level of ASM hacking seen in the game. The music choices across the board were pretty bad too; I've heard some great custom SM music, like those in Arcade, but all of these did not work for me. The lore log books were great and they are a must read or you will be lost. It is hard to balance that sense of exploration, sense of discovery with simply being told where to go, or what to do, or how to play. I don't think Subversion balanced that too well. For me, there was just too much "tell" instead of "show". I was very impressed with the secret Torizo boss fight. That was outstanding! It is the moments like these, the EVENTS in the game, where Subversion really shines...and there are many, one amazing one which I won't spoil. But everywhere else did not match that quality, at least for me and what I like from Super Metroid hacks. All that being said, you will most likely truly enjoy this one. And despite my gripes, it really should be played by everyone at least once. Great job to the devs and thank you for releasing it to everyone. Your passion comes through and that is something all of us can celebrate.
Absolutely amazing hack! Thank you so much for making this!! Brilliant!
![[Watch Video]](images/video.png){kind=small}
This was an absolutely fantastic hack! So much stuff in this one and the amount of work in this hack is amazing!
And I too as many others love the logbook very nicely done!
Nice design, environment looks great! Fan of the new music too fits the places you are in!
The hack was still a bit easy on normal mode, I wish I could have selected hard mode from the beginning, and
not after I had beaten it.
I rate it 5/5, definitely play it!
And I too as many others love the logbook very nicely done!
Nice design, environment looks great! Fan of the new music too fits the places you are in!
The hack was still a bit easy on normal mode, I wish I could have selected hard mode from the beginning, and
not after I had beaten it.
I rate it 5/5, definitely play it!
Every time a new good hack comes out, people are like "OmG ThIs Is THe BeSt ONe EvER!" That said, I enjoyed playing this one, and approached 100% collection. The new features are nice, and I liked the special weapon (shhh!). Having new music is also a plus, and some of the tracks were well done, but some were so-so. (I commend the effort to attempt new music though.) As some others have said, there are "rocky" parts that make it harder to zip through areas once you are powered up, and I'd prefer more connection of areas at that point. With those criticisms I still give this 5 stars due to the scope, features, and creativity.
Lot of cool stuff going on in this hack, some stuff worked great other stuff felt like it was thrown in for Ss&Gs. Hope to see some of the stuff (eg the log book) in future hacks.
It felt really linear to me... Which in the beginning was nice, but later on caused a lot of back tracking to the point I just looked up a map & towards the end of the game I was just ready for it to be over... Might be that torizo fight that did it.
It felt really linear to me... Which in the beginning was nice, but later on caused a lot of back tracking to the point I just looked up a map & towards the end of the game I was just ready for it to be over... Might be that torizo fight that did it.
I think this game was very well planned and improved the way you advance and get items compared to Vanilla Super Metroid, where you got items that you hardly needed anymore and would have really been very useful if you had gotten them earlier in your adventures on the planet Zebes.
This game is extensive, with many areas to explore and puzzles to solve.
The variety of its scenarios and the colorful map make this game very fun and not boring at all.
Something that I liked is the way to implement the ammo system, no more risk of getting stuck with no way out due to lack of a Super Missile or a Power Bomb.
What breaks the monotony and avoids being repetitive is its many and varied music, some songs better than others, but in general a very good selection of tracks. I would like to get all the songs so I can listen to them while doing other things.
The new Dark Visor item, I like how it is necessary to see your way in the caves and how to use it against a boss.
The way the map changes after some events is something I don't remember seeing before in another Super Metroid mod and I think it's excellent.
Anyway, this is a game that kept me entertained for several weeks, and it's free.
Thank you, thank you very much for making this game, TestRunner and AmoebaOfDoom.
This game is extensive, with many areas to explore and puzzles to solve.
The variety of its scenarios and the colorful map make this game very fun and not boring at all.
Something that I liked is the way to implement the ammo system, no more risk of getting stuck with no way out due to lack of a Super Missile or a Power Bomb.
What breaks the monotony and avoids being repetitive is its many and varied music, some songs better than others, but in general a very good selection of tracks. I would like to get all the songs so I can listen to them while doing other things.
The new Dark Visor item, I like how it is necessary to see your way in the caves and how to use it against a boss.
The way the map changes after some events is something I don't remember seeing before in another Super Metroid mod and I think it's excellent.
Anyway, this is a game that kept me entertained for several weeks, and it's free.
Thank you, thank you very much for making this game, TestRunner and AmoebaOfDoom.
This may be my new favorite hack of all time.
There are lots of new stuff implemented, like the log system that provides descriptions for locations, items, bosses and tips for progression. I loved the new use for the grapple beam, that makes it actually required for some stuff, unlike the original game and most hacks. The game design in general is great, with lots of surprises for players of the original game and for players of other hacks alike, one example being the whole thing of turning off then on the power, that I found creative and fun. The graphics are beautiful and very unique to each area and there are lots of different music taken from different sources, some being from other unrelated games and some different arrangements of Super Metroid music that sounds really good (some were composed specifically for this game? I don't know).
Making this hack certainly required deep knowledge of the game code and certainly a lot of work, but don't think this is just some showcase of coding/hacking skills. It's an all around awesome game that (as you probably already noticed) I can't praise enough.
There are lots of new stuff implemented, like the log system that provides descriptions for locations, items, bosses and tips for progression. I loved the new use for the grapple beam, that makes it actually required for some stuff, unlike the original game and most hacks. The game design in general is great, with lots of surprises for players of the original game and for players of other hacks alike, one example being the whole thing of turning off then on the power, that I found creative and fun. The graphics are beautiful and very unique to each area and there are lots of different music taken from different sources, some being from other unrelated games and some different arrangements of Super Metroid music that sounds really good (some were composed specifically for this game? I don't know).
Making this hack certainly required deep knowledge of the game code and certainly a lot of work, but don't think this is just some showcase of coding/hacking skills. It's an all around awesome game that (as you probably already noticed) I can't praise enough.
(Initial playthrough done on v1.1)
A landmark hack that sets a new standard for quality.
There is so much to love here that I had a hard time figuring out how to write this review. The game is set in a new fully fleshed-out planet, and the bits of lore provided in the new logbook really help contextualize and let you immerse yourself in the world. The level design is excellent. Each area is reasonably sized and given its own memorable style and atmosphere, meaning that even though the world is about twice as large as the original SM, it is possible to navigate without necessarily consulting the in-game map very often. The item placements are carefully designed so that, if you take all the right turns, backtracking is actually rarely required just to collect optional items.
Many of the (lovingly called) "trash" items from SM have received additional or completely new functionality to redeem them here. The new additions to the mechanics and item pool feel universally like interesting improvements on the formula of the original SM, with many incremental powerups that feel useful and break the monotony of "just yet another missile pack", making exploration more rewarding without breaking the progression flow wide open.
There is a fair amount of care given to accessibility for casual players, with features like auto-run, an unobtrusive hint system that helps you remember places you might want to revisit without spoiling the progression for you, and easy mode. And even after you think you're mostly done with the game, it still has plenty of secrets and post-game content that will blow your mind.
More-so than any other hack I've played until now, this feels like it could have been a legitimate sequel to Super Metroid. I might even recommend it to someone who has is a fan of metroidvanias and liked SM, even if they're not necessarily into hacks (yet). If you're a fan of SM, then this is pretty much a must-play. There is an unbelievable amount of love and effo
A landmark hack that sets a new standard for quality.
There is so much to love here that I had a hard time figuring out how to write this review. The game is set in a new fully fleshed-out planet, and the bits of lore provided in the new logbook really help contextualize and let you immerse yourself in the world. The level design is excellent. Each area is reasonably sized and given its own memorable style and atmosphere, meaning that even though the world is about twice as large as the original SM, it is possible to navigate without necessarily consulting the in-game map very often. The item placements are carefully designed so that, if you take all the right turns, backtracking is actually rarely required just to collect optional items.
Many of the (lovingly called) "trash" items from SM have received additional or completely new functionality to redeem them here. The new additions to the mechanics and item pool feel universally like interesting improvements on the formula of the original SM, with many incremental powerups that feel useful and break the monotony of "just yet another missile pack", making exploration more rewarding without breaking the progression flow wide open.
There is a fair amount of care given to accessibility for casual players, with features like auto-run, an unobtrusive hint system that helps you remember places you might want to revisit without spoiling the progression for you, and easy mode. And even after you think you're mostly done with the game, it still has plenty of secrets and post-game content that will blow your mind.
More-so than any other hack I've played until now, this feels like it could have been a legitimate sequel to Super Metroid. I might even recommend it to someone who has is a fan of metroidvanias and liked SM, even if they're not necessarily into hacks (yet). If you're a fan of SM, then this is pretty much a must-play. There is an unbelievable amount of love and effo
Alright this hack is incredible, up there and beyond with the likes of Hyper Metroid and VITALITY, and beyond your other typical 5-star hack. Like we need to rethink the rating system now as we've reached a new level here, and it is not enough to say this is a 6.
This hack has everything you love about Super Metroid and changes it and/or makes it better.
I don't love reading lore in games, but the newly introduced log, available at the beginning of the game, is absolutely invaluable in every aspect.
I did get stuck at the beginning because everything you look at is quite different to what you're used to, but also find a lot of familiarity. You don't have to shoot every nook and cranny to find something nice or the way forward, but if you do so, you'll probably be rewarded, albeit less so than you might in Super Metroid. The game asks you to trust it.
I had a few nitpicks with the romhack, but none that will dare drop this review below 5 stars. The main one is that the world is Big. Really, really big. You will think that the world is big and then a new area will open up to you. Then probably another new area. And when you finally think you've seen everything, another new area. The description says this is twice the size of Super Metroid, and I wasn't counting the number of rooms I went into, but this hack feels like it's 5x bigger, not 2x. It was so big that by the end of the hack I kind of wanted it to be over, even though I was not having less fun with it. I did get lost a fair amount and have to backtrack to very far-away areas, so this probably contributed. The log helps greatly here, but does not give you all the answers you need. Exploration is vital, and the world is very, very vast.
This hack has everything you love about Super Metroid and changes it and/or makes it better.
I don't love reading lore in games, but the newly introduced log, available at the beginning of the game, is absolutely invaluable in every aspect.
I did get stuck at the beginning because everything you look at is quite different to what you're used to, but also find a lot of familiarity. You don't have to shoot every nook and cranny to find something nice or the way forward, but if you do so, you'll probably be rewarded, albeit less so than you might in Super Metroid. The game asks you to trust it.
I had a few nitpicks with the romhack, but none that will dare drop this review below 5 stars. The main one is that the world is Big. Really, really big. You will think that the world is big and then a new area will open up to you. Then probably another new area. And when you finally think you've seen everything, another new area. The description says this is twice the size of Super Metroid, and I wasn't counting the number of rooms I went into, but this hack feels like it's 5x bigger, not 2x. It was so big that by the end of the hack I kind of wanted it to be over, even though I was not having less fun with it. I did get lost a fair amount and have to backtrack to very far-away areas, so this probably contributed. The log helps greatly here, but does not give you all the answers you need. Exploration is vital, and the world is very, very vast.
This hack was completely off my radar until it came out of literally nowhere with someone bringing it up in a discord server I'm in, and after having finally finished it today, I was completely floored by the gameplay, the ingenuity, the flavor in having so many mini-areas, and especially the new items and mechanics that the game brought to the table. The log system was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a romhack and I made sure to read through everything new that came up, just for the little lore tidbits or little tips and tricks (even if I knew them already). I never got lost playing the hack, nor did I ever feel like I was stuck on where to go for an extended period of time. The new music was really cool too, and hearing some tracks reimagined in the SM format that really fit some of the areas made everything feel that much better! This hack feels creative in a way that I can't describe, much like how I felt when I played Ascent. Completely beginner friendly AND appealing to veteran players of SM, this hack has something for everybody, and I couldn't recommend it more!
EDIT: I would like to add that I did have one slight problem with the romhack's flow, mostly between traversing an area that is split in two that doesn't have a shortcut between the two paths until a good bit later in the game, but it was mostly just an inconvenience, and compared to the backtracking of a hack like Metroid Mission Rescue, I really can't complain much.
EDIT: I would like to add that I did have one slight problem with the romhack's flow, mostly between traversing an area that is split in two that doesn't have a shortcut between the two paths until a good bit later in the game, but it was mostly just an inconvenience, and compared to the backtracking of a hack like Metroid Mission Rescue, I really can't complain much.
[Spoilers for late game areas]
This hack is one for the ages. All of the custom things added don't feel out of place and the world design is superb. The log system especially is brilliant. Allowing you to see mission logs and seeing what you aren't able to yet, as well as having equipment and area data is way more useful than you might think. One thing that stood out to me was the music. It has a mix of Zelda, Castlevania, and other Metroid remixes, and they are all great. Highlights for me personally goes to the Life Temple, the Fire Temple, The Hive, and the Energy Plant. All of these themes are from other games and they all made the transition beautifully. One issue I do have, which is a minor flaw but it might impact how much others enjoy it, is how the hack is structured. A lot of rooms are one way only or are long puzzles, and it can be a tad frustrating to get some places. But, it isn't that bad. It's mostly an issue in the end game, if you are going for 100% completion. I do plan to 100% the hack at one point because of how much fun I had with it though. I used a 3DS Virtual Console inject to play this hack, and it worked flawlessly. If you like playing games on the go, I'd suggest this option. I would release it but I'm not sure about that gray area. You'll have to inject it yourself. But one positive of this is how well it runs and the pixel perfect mode, making the environments look extremely nice and sharp. But the conclusion to this somewhat scattered review is that it's an amazing hack. Give it a try.
This hack is one for the ages. All of the custom things added don't feel out of place and the world design is superb. The log system especially is brilliant. Allowing you to see mission logs and seeing what you aren't able to yet, as well as having equipment and area data is way more useful than you might think. One thing that stood out to me was the music. It has a mix of Zelda, Castlevania, and other Metroid remixes, and they are all great. Highlights for me personally goes to the Life Temple, the Fire Temple, The Hive, and the Energy Plant. All of these themes are from other games and they all made the transition beautifully. One issue I do have, which is a minor flaw but it might impact how much others enjoy it, is how the hack is structured. A lot of rooms are one way only or are long puzzles, and it can be a tad frustrating to get some places. But, it isn't that bad. It's mostly an issue in the end game, if you are going for 100% completion. I do plan to 100% the hack at one point because of how much fun I had with it though. I used a 3DS Virtual Console inject to play this hack, and it worked flawlessly. If you like playing games on the go, I'd suggest this option. I would release it but I'm not sure about that gray area. You'll have to inject it yourself. But one positive of this is how well it runs and the pixel perfect mode, making the environments look extremely nice and sharp. But the conclusion to this somewhat scattered review is that it's an amazing hack. Give it a try.
It has a lot of neat-sounding features, but the game just has too many constant annoying little things. One of the early areas starting out with super-heavy gravity and water physics was somehow one of the more fun parts.
Very cool hack!
It's a completely new and quite large world to explore. It's obvious that a lot of effort went into the world design to make things interesting and navigable. Progression feels pretty natural, and there's secrets and puzzles all over the place.
There's a ton of custom stuff: custom music, new upgrades, a Hyper-esque ammo system, and a giant database in the pause menu full of explanations and lore. I really liked the approach taken with reserve tanks and space jump.
I got lost a few times in the second half, trying to find the last couple of key upgrades, but kept finding stuff along the way so it didn't quite get to the point of frustration. I'll have to go back eventually to try Hard mode or some of the Challenges.
It's a completely new and quite large world to explore. It's obvious that a lot of effort went into the world design to make things interesting and navigable. Progression feels pretty natural, and there's secrets and puzzles all over the place.
There's a ton of custom stuff: custom music, new upgrades, a Hyper-esque ammo system, and a giant database in the pause menu full of explanations and lore. I really liked the approach taken with reserve tanks and space jump.
I got lost a few times in the second half, trying to find the last couple of key upgrades, but kept finding stuff along the way so it didn't quite get to the point of frustration. I'll have to go back eventually to try Hard mode or some of the Challenges.
Usually I wouldn't write a review for a hack, but this one truly impressed me, most of all landing the mark on its namesake.
Throughout my nearly 9 and a half hour it seemed like the unexpected kept popping up everywhere, whether it was the music, new power-ups, new mechanics, or even the map layout itself. One minute I am awed by the dark visor inclusion only to turn around a few moments later and seeing the disappearing and reappearing blocks from the Mega Man franchise implemented. Even how space jump worked was something I hadn't expected or ever seen before in a rom hack (though admittedly it frustrated me at first, I understood it was to balance the fact that you got the item so early). The thing that probably got me the most though was the secret boss fight with a Torizo shooting double hyper beams at me, but it was still a fun fight however.
The best thing about this rom hack is how accessible it overall though, you don't really need advanced know-how of Super Metroid mechanics and tricks to play and enjoy it, and if you find the base difficulty too hard you can always try easy as well.
My only complaint I would have to give this though is the lack of some kind of quick travel from some areas to others at points in the game where you have to go from one end of the map to the other, but that is extremely minor as well.
I hope the authors had as much fun making this as I did playing it and I really hope to see more of their work in the future!
Throughout my nearly 9 and a half hour it seemed like the unexpected kept popping up everywhere, whether it was the music, new power-ups, new mechanics, or even the map layout itself. One minute I am awed by the dark visor inclusion only to turn around a few moments later and seeing the disappearing and reappearing blocks from the Mega Man franchise implemented. Even how space jump worked was something I hadn't expected or ever seen before in a rom hack (though admittedly it frustrated me at first, I understood it was to balance the fact that you got the item so early). The thing that probably got me the most though was the secret boss fight with a Torizo shooting double hyper beams at me, but it was still a fun fight however.
The best thing about this rom hack is how accessible it overall though, you don't really need advanced know-how of Super Metroid mechanics and tricks to play and enjoy it, and if you find the base difficulty too hard you can always try easy as well.
My only complaint I would have to give this though is the lack of some kind of quick travel from some areas to others at points in the game where you have to go from one end of the map to the other, but that is extremely minor as well.
I hope the authors had as much fun making this as I did playing it and I really hope to see more of their work in the future!
I loved this hack immensly, i loved how the areas, items and even the bosses were changed to alter the way the game plays out!
Best hack of 2022. Period!
Savestates were used occasionally, mostly for the purpose of being able to put down the campaign and pick up where I left off.
Any criticisms I levy I do so from a perspective of admiration for the art created. I've been actively hacking for a few months; it's given me tremendous respect for all hacks. No hack is perfect, therefore small grievances I try to not reflect in my orb placement.
100% at 26:25:13
86.8% at 19:38:27
-------------------------------------
There isn't much to criticize as major complaints I had for the hack, (and would have mentioned otherwise,) were rectified by 1.2.
While the game was intended for use on real hardware, I completed my playthrough on the Mednafen Supafaust and Snes9x Retroarch cores with no significant problems aside from a row of pixels jumping on the HUD. I really forgot it was happening most of the time.
I beat the initial low % on 1.1, and my 100% time was completed on version 1.2. There are still challenges I have not unlocked. This is a long campaign.
There were just so many mind-blowing changes made that I'm still wrapping my brain around exactly what they did ASM-wise to make everything work.
The title screen gets your attention and pulls you in. Boss AI has been revamped in certain fights, pause menu has been overhauled, the HUD is modified. There's extended lore and a bestiary for fans of AM2R and Prime. There are new mechanics, new items, creative implementations of long-standing community GFX, music, and ASM. Impressive inclusions that have raised the bar and are a great study for aspiring hackers looking for new ideas of their own.
The concept of areas has been fundamentally changed by color-coded regions within the original 8 maps and by title cards similar to what you would find in Axeil Edition and Ascent. This is probably the most extensive hack I have played so far as custom music goes. Some songs I liked more than others, but there wasn't a bad one out of the whole bunch.
With this still being a relatively new hack I'm afraid to say much more to avoid spoilers. You are in for a treat.
Any criticisms I levy I do so from a perspective of admiration for the art created. I've been actively hacking for a few months; it's given me tremendous respect for all hacks. No hack is perfect, therefore small grievances I try to not reflect in my orb placement.
100% at 26:25:13
86.8% at 19:38:27
-------------------------------------
There isn't much to criticize as major complaints I had for the hack, (and would have mentioned otherwise,) were rectified by 1.2.
While the game was intended for use on real hardware, I completed my playthrough on the Mednafen Supafaust and Snes9x Retroarch cores with no significant problems aside from a row of pixels jumping on the HUD. I really forgot it was happening most of the time.
I beat the initial low % on 1.1, and my 100% time was completed on version 1.2. There are still challenges I have not unlocked. This is a long campaign.
There were just so many mind-blowing changes made that I'm still wrapping my brain around exactly what they did ASM-wise to make everything work.
The title screen gets your attention and pulls you in. Boss AI has been revamped in certain fights, pause menu has been overhauled, the HUD is modified. There's extended lore and a bestiary for fans of AM2R and Prime. There are new mechanics, new items, creative implementations of long-standing community GFX, music, and ASM. Impressive inclusions that have raised the bar and are a great study for aspiring hackers looking for new ideas of their own.
The concept of areas has been fundamentally changed by color-coded regions within the original 8 maps and by title cards similar to what you would find in Axeil Edition and Ascent. This is probably the most extensive hack I have played so far as custom music goes. Some songs I liked more than others, but there wasn't a bad one out of the whole bunch.
With this still being a relatively new hack I'm afraid to say much more to avoid spoilers. You are in for a treat.
I really like what is going on with the hacking scene in the past few years.
Lots of them get something new like in terms of asm code and this one delivers.
(*minor spoilers ahead*)
New upgrades felt really cool, especially considering that verdite lasers are your worst exploration enemy at first, then you switch them off and then you get an upgrade that wants you crave those are reactivated.
There was always that illusion of non-linearity when you had lots of grapple blocks in an area but you had no grapple but space jump instead. Then turns out this is prob how it's supposed to be.
Really like the space jump mechanic. It really is balanced at first and becomes OP only as you progress and explore.
Some puzzles are actually fun and smart, one E-tank at Cargo Rail really made me understand that in this game it is for the best to turn off some upgrades sometimes. The Screw Attack puzzle tho was quite tedious, I just wasted like 10-20 minutes running back and forth aligning lasers. But I say it's my bad as, after all, I got Charge Beam in the end game since I couldn't figure out an invisible wall.
Recommended for sure
Lots of them get something new like in terms of asm code and this one delivers.
(*minor spoilers ahead*)
New upgrades felt really cool, especially considering that verdite lasers are your worst exploration enemy at first, then you switch them off and then you get an upgrade that wants you crave those are reactivated.
There was always that illusion of non-linearity when you had lots of grapple blocks in an area but you had no grapple but space jump instead. Then turns out this is prob how it's supposed to be.
Really like the space jump mechanic. It really is balanced at first and becomes OP only as you progress and explore.
Some puzzles are actually fun and smart, one E-tank at Cargo Rail really made me understand that in this game it is for the best to turn off some upgrades sometimes. The Screw Attack puzzle tho was quite tedious, I just wasted like 10-20 minutes running back and forth aligning lasers. But I say it's my bad as, after all, I got Charge Beam in the end game since I couldn't figure out an invisible wall.
Recommended for sure
Hack of the year 2022.
Many unexpected and creative moments await you in Subversion. I particularly like the logbook.
My only real complaint is I wish there was some kind of fast travel system.
Highly recommended.
Many unexpected and creative moments await you in Subversion. I particularly like the logbook.
My only real complaint is I wish there was some kind of fast travel system.
Highly recommended.
In addition to being the best Metroid hack ever made this is also the best Metroidvania to be released in at least two years as well as the best metroidvania ever made that doesn't cost any money. It has it all, it has everything you would expect from a standalone game, the world is absolutely massive with tons of unique biomes to explore. The gameplay is good. The map system is the best that has ever been seen and it even comes with a endgame map revealer so you can go for 100%. The only minor problems are the lack of a warp gate, the unbalanced difficulty of the enemies in a certain secret area and the unfitting norfair music for that biome right below the mountain peak.
Amazing hack.
Everything looked beautiful. I loved the map design and how it blocks off old routes and forces you to go certain ways.
The new tech was great and I really enjoyed interacting with it. The limited Space Jump got a bit frustrating at times, but it was fine once I got used to it.
*SPOILER* The Hyper Chozo was crazy difficult, but I was glad I perservered to beat it. It was a challenging reward.
I only wish I had more time to commit to completing all the challenges. They look like fun.
Only thing I would change is more areas for zoom zooming with Speed Booster, but that's just my opinion.
Everything looked beautiful. I loved the map design and how it blocks off old routes and forces you to go certain ways.
The new tech was great and I really enjoyed interacting with it. The limited Space Jump got a bit frustrating at times, but it was fine once I got used to it.
*SPOILER* The Hyper Chozo was crazy difficult, but I was glad I perservered to beat it. It was a challenging reward.
I only wish I had more time to commit to completing all the challenges. They look like fun.
Only thing I would change is more areas for zoom zooming with Speed Booster, but that's just my opinion.
To me, this is the best Metroid game I've played. I have played them all, save for Other M, Pinball Federation Force, and Dread. Not only does this hack make incredible use of what Super Metroid had on offer, it also fixes the issues Metroid as a series has always had.
Metroid has always had trouble getting a nice balance between storytelling and exploration. The first Metroid was very open, but rooms were repetitive and had no context or sense of background info to them. Rooms were just featureless game-y rooms. Super gives rooms a little more to work with, but a lot of it is still "jungle cave," "fire cave," "water cave." Very bland and forgettable. Fusion goes the other direction. There's a lot more going on with regards to background story. Things happen, rooms change, but the exploration is lacking. Zero Mission takes a similar approach, moving things a little more back towards the Super approach.
As of yet, I believe Subversion is the only game to balance these things perfectly. Rooms often have been given context, not in small part thanks to the names given to each one of them. Areas have a sense of purpose. A cargo ship, temples, power plants, etcetera. At the same time, the sense of exploration seen in Super is kept intact. A handy logbook adds an even deeper sense of context to the world of Subversion.
In my opinion, getting item expansions in most Metroid games is extrinsically and intrinsically unrewarding. The expansions are of too little value to be extrinsically rewarding because of the way they're hidden, and the little variation in the kind expansions there are. Subversion fixes this by adding a wider variation of different expansions to find. This adds an element of surprise. Besides, because Samus is a little more limited in her abilities compared to her iterations in other games, the expansions feel more meaningful and extrinsically rewarding to collect.
Finally, a lot of things are added to make this hack feel incredibly fresh compared to other Metroid games. Metroid has remained quite stagnant compared to other "Metroidvania" games. Subversion changes this. Think of post-game features, which give you good reason to go for 100%, custom music on top of the familiar tracks from Super, new gameplay mechanics never seen before in the series, an intriguing background story that goes along as you explore the planet, and more.
On top of that, an insane amount of effort is put into keeping this game approachable and balanced for "regular" Metroid players, with one or two small exceptions. I am recommending this hack to close friends, faraway friends and anyone who even has a passing interest in Metroid as a series.
Yes, it's that good.
Metroid has always had trouble getting a nice balance between storytelling and exploration. The first Metroid was very open, but rooms were repetitive and had no context or sense of background info to them. Rooms were just featureless game-y rooms. Super gives rooms a little more to work with, but a lot of it is still "jungle cave," "fire cave," "water cave." Very bland and forgettable. Fusion goes the other direction. There's a lot more going on with regards to background story. Things happen, rooms change, but the exploration is lacking. Zero Mission takes a similar approach, moving things a little more back towards the Super approach.
As of yet, I believe Subversion is the only game to balance these things perfectly. Rooms often have been given context, not in small part thanks to the names given to each one of them. Areas have a sense of purpose. A cargo ship, temples, power plants, etcetera. At the same time, the sense of exploration seen in Super is kept intact. A handy logbook adds an even deeper sense of context to the world of Subversion.
In my opinion, getting item expansions in most Metroid games is extrinsically and intrinsically unrewarding. The expansions are of too little value to be extrinsically rewarding because of the way they're hidden, and the little variation in the kind expansions there are. Subversion fixes this by adding a wider variation of different expansions to find. This adds an element of surprise. Besides, because Samus is a little more limited in her abilities compared to her iterations in other games, the expansions feel more meaningful and extrinsically rewarding to collect.
Finally, a lot of things are added to make this hack feel incredibly fresh compared to other Metroid games. Metroid has remained quite stagnant compared to other "Metroidvania" games. Subversion changes this. Think of post-game features, which give you good reason to go for 100%, custom music on top of the familiar tracks from Super, new gameplay mechanics never seen before in the series, an intriguing background story that goes along as you explore the planet, and more.
On top of that, an insane amount of effort is put into keeping this game approachable and balanced for "regular" Metroid players, with one or two small exceptions. I am recommending this hack to close friends, faraway friends and anyone who even has a passing interest in Metroid as a series.
Yes, it's that good.
Stop what you're doing and play this hack. I don't want to oversell it, but just play it. This is my favorite of Super Metroid I've played so far. Don't look up anything about it, just try it out.
It has custom tilesets, many custom abilities and completely new mechanics, lots of custom music, and a map that's at least double the size of Super Metroid without feeling empty or cumbersome.
This absolutely deserves one of those gold cup awards, since it's up there with the greatest hacks.
It has custom tilesets, many custom abilities and completely new mechanics, lots of custom music, and a map that's at least double the size of Super Metroid without feeling empty or cumbersome.
This absolutely deserves one of those gold cup awards, since it's up there with the greatest hacks.
This game is huuuuuuge and has many hours of gameplay. This has been elevated to be my No.1 favourite hack of SM. The new features are so well done as are the many puzzles.
If you like to a explore and backtrack through a labyrinth of a map, then this is the hack for you. It's challenging, full of interesting "new" items or upgrades, has fantastic music (or at least picks the right song for the job), is incredibly atmospheric, and has some nice surpises on a technical level. I can't put it into words, but there's some aspects to this hack that reflect Super Metroid, but are very rarely seen in, well, things that aren't Super Metroid. Let's just say the game has a good vibe to it.
One thing I personally didn't enjoy was just how many places opened up on the map every time I got a new item and how separated each each of said places were. It can make each new major upgrade feel that much more rewarding to get, but unless the correct path is obvious, you may end up circling the entire map for 20 minutes just to open a couple doors and get a couple ammo packs like me. It was an issue for me mostly because certain rooms in the world are annoying or tedious to pass through, but I ended up passing through them a heck of a lot. The game world being massive probably played a part in this too. A lot of morphball bombing, dark rooms, water, platforming, and/or tough enemies between me and a room that wasn't actually the right way over and over again sums up my experience, but hey some people like that experience. If that's you then please, please play this hack, you'll love it.
Just a couple nitpicks, I think Draygon is a little too hard, particularly with no means to restock before the fight. If I had played just slightly worse getting to her, I'd be stuck doing a very long and boring grind and that's not a great feeling. There's a lot of "clutter" that look destructible that isn't. Looking for secrets can feel like cutting grass in a few rooms. The puzzle before screwattack felt like trial and error because I couldn't see what I was turning with the switches half the time and it was annoying checking the next room so often to see what I did. Lastly, maybe this is just me, but I could not figure out how to save the animals despite them being right in front of me.
One thing I personally didn't enjoy was just how many places opened up on the map every time I got a new item and how separated each each of said places were. It can make each new major upgrade feel that much more rewarding to get, but unless the correct path is obvious, you may end up circling the entire map for 20 minutes just to open a couple doors and get a couple ammo packs like me. It was an issue for me mostly because certain rooms in the world are annoying or tedious to pass through, but I ended up passing through them a heck of a lot. The game world being massive probably played a part in this too. A lot of morphball bombing, dark rooms, water, platforming, and/or tough enemies between me and a room that wasn't actually the right way over and over again sums up my experience, but hey some people like that experience. If that's you then please, please play this hack, you'll love it.
Just a couple nitpicks, I think Draygon is a little too hard, particularly with no means to restock before the fight. If I had played just slightly worse getting to her, I'd be stuck doing a very long and boring grind and that's not a great feeling. There's a lot of "clutter" that look destructible that isn't. Looking for secrets can feel like cutting grass in a few rooms. The puzzle before screwattack felt like trial and error because I couldn't see what I was turning with the switches half the time and it was annoying checking the next room so often to see what I did. Lastly, maybe this is just me, but I could not figure out how to save the animals despite them being right in front of me.
The scope of this hack is simply insane. It stretches the limits of how huge the map can be, stuffing at least 15 different sub-areas into the map's 4 or 5 main areas and neatly differentiating them with different HUD colours and stark differences in environments.
The first couple items follow a fairly linear progression but after that the exploration and open paths branch out to a crazy degree, while (mostly) staying fairly obvious as to where you're supposed to go. There was only one time where i got legitimately stuck trying to find my way forward (after getting power bombs) but it wasn't too bad trying to find my way out.
The puzzles were amazing, there are so many item pickups to find, and after a certain point in the game, you actually get a hint system on the map showing you all the items you hadn't found yet, which alongside the item area percentages in the menu makes it super cozy to 100% (this being the first hack i completed 100%). Some of the paths to hidden items were bullshit, some were great, but it's in the spirit of SM secrets so I can't complain.
The one thing i wish was different is area designs - some of the areas use completely new graphics (or heavily recoloured vanilla graphics) and they look incredible, some reuse original graphics in such an alien way that they come across as new, and then some (red brinstar mines, oceania beach) just kinda look and feel exactly like vanilla.
I didn't know where to place my praise of the log menu so ill just do it here. It's such a sweet addition and works incredibly well, is really well written and gives great exposition on the world (which is itself amazingly built, and makes perfect sense)
This is a very long, extremely well made, very good hack that has so much to explore, encourages you to find as much as you can and constantly rewards you for playing. Highly recommended!
The first couple items follow a fairly linear progression but after that the exploration and open paths branch out to a crazy degree, while (mostly) staying fairly obvious as to where you're supposed to go. There was only one time where i got legitimately stuck trying to find my way forward (after getting power bombs) but it wasn't too bad trying to find my way out.
The puzzles were amazing, there are so many item pickups to find, and after a certain point in the game, you actually get a hint system on the map showing you all the items you hadn't found yet, which alongside the item area percentages in the menu makes it super cozy to 100% (this being the first hack i completed 100%). Some of the paths to hidden items were bullshit, some were great, but it's in the spirit of SM secrets so I can't complain.
The one thing i wish was different is area designs - some of the areas use completely new graphics (or heavily recoloured vanilla graphics) and they look incredible, some reuse original graphics in such an alien way that they come across as new, and then some (red brinstar mines, oceania beach) just kinda look and feel exactly like vanilla.
I didn't know where to place my praise of the log menu so ill just do it here. It's such a sweet addition and works incredibly well, is really well written and gives great exposition on the world (which is itself amazingly built, and makes perfect sense)
This is a very long, extremely well made, very good hack that has so much to explore, encourages you to find as much as you can and constantly rewards you for playing. Highly recommended!
That's just in-game hours, I actually played it a lot longer to rescue the animals.Subervison has excellent level design,abundant contents and entertaining puzzles.For the first time, I was so eager to collect all items in a hack.What's more,I have to admit it's the most fun hack I've ever played.I perceive it's as illustrious as some official Metroids.
If you wanna play a hack of Metroid,especially the Prime like,please don't miss this,you'll encounter the logbook and visors system in it.
If you wanna play a hack of Metroid,especially the Prime like,please don't miss this,you'll encounter the logbook and visors system in it.
This was amazing to play. There was so much to explore and find. I found the level design to be distinct and struck that uniqueness that Super had where you remember rooms and locations hours later that give you that "That's IT!!" moment. The ammo system was great too, every tank felt worthwhile finding. Progression was great up until near the end... (EDIT --- Now because I'm a derp, I was actually at end game but turned around to explore another area first and forgot I already had the item I needed to progress so I floundered around being like "I don't know where to go wtf" Hahahaha...)I got so lost, but it was never to the point of pure frustration like I've had with other hacks, so that's good.
NOTE: Play time is probably closer to 35 hours, but I chose to restart my run, this time on Easy Mode. I had a certain vendetta on a certain Switch/Laser Beam puzzle that I HAD to beat. Lmao. Don't think there is any animals* to save.
--PROS--
-Level Design feels like a Metroid Prime game. There is even information on every area, item and boss. I enjoyed the flavor texts very much!!
-Level design is mostly good.
-The 'infrared' visor you get, coinciding with dark rooms is neat. Wish you could use it with the X-Ray scope. Oh well.
-New music and 'soft' remixes of existing material. Most of them click. But this is subjective stuff. Nice use of Fusion music too!
-Grappling Beam has a use and is even required for some interesting "lever switches", rather than just spamming it on broken blocks and seeing what's behind em.
-You get to use the Hyper Beam CONTEXTUALLY and is required for item % and progression IRRC.
-Mission objectives to help sort you out...until the very end.
-Cool Laser Beam puzzles, which also tie into a new suit and beam :D
-Boss fights feel fresh and not too difficult, whether it is Easy or Normal. Getting to them is the hard part, naturally.
-Looks amazing. Nice blend of vanilla and new tile work.
-Speedball and Jumpball are blended into one.
-All auxilary weps share same ammo type and you find a LOT of ammo!!
-An "Item Map" is available towards the endgame, when you take down the Space Station.
--CONS--
-'Subversion' has what I like to call "Z-Factor-Itis". It kinda drags towards the end and is labyrinthine and huge, so you're apt to forget that there is "screw attack" or "Spazer-Beam" blocks for hidden rooms etc.
-At the very end, you may be stumped as to where to go, since there is no objective to tell you. Did I mention there are objectives? Would've been neat if the objectives carried through to the $@*%ing end >:3
-An important Progression Item is hidden behind a very cumbersome puzzle. A Switch/Laser Beam puzzle that forces you to go back and forth at least 20 times, fighting 4-6 mocktroids and 4-6 invincible wall-faces that can at least be frozen, but still, it gets old after the tenth time or so... Just NO NO NO NO. That is NOT how you design a puzzle!! At least put the Switches in the same room as reflector blocks or number them!! ((If the item in question for it was not required for Progression I wouldn't be so bothered. But there it is.))
--TL;DR--
Good but not perfect. I enjoyed Eris, Ascent, Phazon and VITALITY a bit more. But much less frustrating than the likes of Axiel Edition, Hyper Metroid or Z-Factor. (I'm gonna catch flak for that opinion hehe)
--PROS--
-Level Design feels like a Metroid Prime game. There is even information on every area, item and boss. I enjoyed the flavor texts very much!!
-Level design is mostly good.
-The 'infrared' visor you get, coinciding with dark rooms is neat. Wish you could use it with the X-Ray scope. Oh well.
-New music and 'soft' remixes of existing material. Most of them click. But this is subjective stuff. Nice use of Fusion music too!
-Grappling Beam has a use and is even required for some interesting "lever switches", rather than just spamming it on broken blocks and seeing what's behind em.
-You get to use the Hyper Beam CONTEXTUALLY and is required for item % and progression IRRC.
-Mission objectives to help sort you out...until the very end.
-Cool Laser Beam puzzles, which also tie into a new suit and beam :D
-Boss fights feel fresh and not too difficult, whether it is Easy or Normal. Getting to them is the hard part, naturally.
-Looks amazing. Nice blend of vanilla and new tile work.
-Speedball and Jumpball are blended into one.
-All auxilary weps share same ammo type and you find a LOT of ammo!!
-An "Item Map" is available towards the endgame, when you take down the Space Station.
--CONS--
-'Subversion' has what I like to call "Z-Factor-Itis". It kinda drags towards the end and is labyrinthine and huge, so you're apt to forget that there is "screw attack" or "Spazer-Beam" blocks for hidden rooms etc.
-At the very end, you may be stumped as to where to go, since there is no objective to tell you. Did I mention there are objectives? Would've been neat if the objectives carried through to the $@*%ing end >:3
-An important Progression Item is hidden behind a very cumbersome puzzle. A Switch/Laser Beam puzzle that forces you to go back and forth at least 20 times, fighting 4-6 mocktroids and 4-6 invincible wall-faces that can at least be frozen, but still, it gets old after the tenth time or so... Just NO NO NO NO. That is NOT how you design a puzzle!! At least put the Switches in the same room as reflector blocks or number them!! ((If the item in question for it was not required for Progression I wouldn't be so bothered. But there it is.))
--TL;DR--
Good but not perfect. I enjoyed Eris, Ascent, Phazon and VITALITY a bit more. But much less frustrating than the likes of Axiel Edition, Hyper Metroid or Z-Factor. (I'm gonna catch flak for that opinion hehe)
Unfortunately this was the most disappointing hack I played so far. It's not bad; in fact, things like finding all the secrets, the second quest and the "secret area", alongside some QoL, crisp gameplay and pretty areas (I loved the Sky Temple, my favourite area in the game by far). Seeing the grades on the forum and the positives, it should've been easily one of my fav hacks, so what happened?
For exploration, it sucked hard for me. Most of my time spend was backtracking, and this hacking having so much backtrack, either for progress or 100%, it not having teleport/fast travel is a major blow. Hacks from 10+ years ago got warps, the decision for this hack not to have them, or at least have smart shortcuts in areas when you come back with more upgrades, made travelling a chore. The lack of sequence break was another bummer for me. I tried a bunch of stuff. Walljump, IBJ, you name it, but most of the times I couldn't access a new area, was met with heat and died or got a small ammo pack at best. I wondered if there was another way to do things, but watching videos, even big speedrunners did the same route as I did, tried most of the same sequence breaks and met the same results. Those 2 things already kill the hack's replayability for me. I didn't bother with the second quest, because I already knew navigating in that world was a chore.
The music and puzzles, most of the time, were a miss for me. The music appeals to classic NES/SNES franchises, or other metroidvania, so people that enjoy these gave high praise to the hack in that aspect, but for me they were either whatever or didn't fit the mood. The mine's music, for example, was cheesy and felt out of place for a Metroid game. The puzzle to X-Ray was great. In fact, the hack gave new life to grapple, one of its great points. But some puzzles in the hidden are were either too confusing or required movement I was already too bored to try.
Screw Attack puzzle was easily the worst, and the low point in the hack. It's a trial and error in going to different rooms, and still there's a lot of back and forth when you figure out how it works. If you explored a bit of the game, you know where to go next after Screw, and, in my case, I found the hidden area before Screw. I really wished I had Screw before going there, and it's so easy to go to the secret zone in a certain point, so I was already dreading in going back there, finish it and go all the other way to the next intended plot point and I said nope, I'll go finish the game. I missed another Torizo fight, but eh.
The only Subversion thing about the bosses I found was the areas you met them, due to aesthetics and such, because Kraid and Draygon are just the same as always, except in a different background. Spore Spawn was made just to be annoying; they somehow made the boss a chore to fight due to crumble blocks, but much easier because the arena is bigger, so you can't die unless you jump on the boss by your own accord. The hack's difficulty is already easy, aside some enemies being damage sponges and the hidden area, so I don't see why they had to make Spore Spawn both more annoying and easier than Vanilla.
Phantoom was the only creative one, and it meshed well with my fav area in the game and used one of the hack's custom items (pretty sure I saw something like that Visor in Polarity and other romhacks). Ridley was a huge missed opportunity; the hack should be more feasible for you to get what you need to beat it long before, maybe in the secret area and make the secret area more bearable, or give a different route so you could finish the game earlier. The way the game is structured, you'd get screwed (no pun intended) by not getting Screw and going to the hidden area, but it's the hidden area that gives stuff to damage Ridley, aside the intended way to get said upgrade, so doing the hidden area defeats any purpose of reward or progress.
I enjoyed the idea of the damage amp upgrade, gives diversity if you prefer to hoard a bunch of ammo OR upgrade your beams. The other upgrades, however, were mostly to add numbers and diminish substance of the hack. Changing regular missiles/supers/PBs to ammo packs hurts the hack a lot for me in sequence break/exploration aspects, because you have to follow the game route (so linear) to get said upgrades, instead of doing a different thing and being rewarded by an early upgrade. Charge was super slow, and I got a bunch of charge upgrades and still felt it was Vanilla's charge speed, the upgrade felt really unnecessary. Same for Space Jump number of spins.
Logs were mostly fluff and told instead of show for me. The explanation of upgrades was nice, but most of the lore and area's functionality, like the lab, were understood without reading a bunch of text. The mission log was useless, unless you didn't play the hack for like a month and forgot where you left off. Stuff like "you found water/heat/lasers, unable to progress" is self-explanatory, you still have to find the solution. I'd rather having cryptic or decent hints than the game telling out loud the reason (that I already know) why I can't progress in a certain area.
The last point coupled with lack of sequence break/fast travel/innovation in going backwards on the hack kills the replayability for me, aside if I were to do a randomizer. The hack does things that are top grade, but others in regards of exploration and progression are below mediocre for me, hence, a mid grade. There's more cohese hacks out there, hacks with upgrades or mechanics existing in hacks from 8+ years ago (Beams being required to destroy certain blocks/open certain doors, speedball upgrade, etc), hacks more fun to play, either having better balance of challenge:reward... Aside the secret stuff and a New Game+ (which both are marvelous), most of the other stuff is unimpressive.
For exploration, it sucked hard for me. Most of my time spend was backtracking, and this hacking having so much backtrack, either for progress or 100%, it not having teleport/fast travel is a major blow. Hacks from 10+ years ago got warps, the decision for this hack not to have them, or at least have smart shortcuts in areas when you come back with more upgrades, made travelling a chore. The lack of sequence break was another bummer for me. I tried a bunch of stuff. Walljump, IBJ, you name it, but most of the times I couldn't access a new area, was met with heat and died or got a small ammo pack at best. I wondered if there was another way to do things, but watching videos, even big speedrunners did the same route as I did, tried most of the same sequence breaks and met the same results. Those 2 things already kill the hack's replayability for me. I didn't bother with the second quest, because I already knew navigating in that world was a chore.
The music and puzzles, most of the time, were a miss for me. The music appeals to classic NES/SNES franchises, or other metroidvania, so people that enjoy these gave high praise to the hack in that aspect, but for me they were either whatever or didn't fit the mood. The mine's music, for example, was cheesy and felt out of place for a Metroid game. The puzzle to X-Ray was great. In fact, the hack gave new life to grapple, one of its great points. But some puzzles in the hidden are were either too confusing or required movement I was already too bored to try.
Screw Attack puzzle was easily the worst, and the low point in the hack. It's a trial and error in going to different rooms, and still there's a lot of back and forth when you figure out how it works. If you explored a bit of the game, you know where to go next after Screw, and, in my case, I found the hidden area before Screw. I really wished I had Screw before going there, and it's so easy to go to the secret zone in a certain point, so I was already dreading in going back there, finish it and go all the other way to the next intended plot point and I said nope, I'll go finish the game. I missed another Torizo fight, but eh.
The only Subversion thing about the bosses I found was the areas you met them, due to aesthetics and such, because Kraid and Draygon are just the same as always, except in a different background. Spore Spawn was made just to be annoying; they somehow made the boss a chore to fight due to crumble blocks, but much easier because the arena is bigger, so you can't die unless you jump on the boss by your own accord. The hack's difficulty is already easy, aside some enemies being damage sponges and the hidden area, so I don't see why they had to make Spore Spawn both more annoying and easier than Vanilla.
Phantoom was the only creative one, and it meshed well with my fav area in the game and used one of the hack's custom items (pretty sure I saw something like that Visor in Polarity and other romhacks). Ridley was a huge missed opportunity; the hack should be more feasible for you to get what you need to beat it long before, maybe in the secret area and make the secret area more bearable, or give a different route so you could finish the game earlier. The way the game is structured, you'd get screwed (no pun intended) by not getting Screw and going to the hidden area, but it's the hidden area that gives stuff to damage Ridley, aside the intended way to get said upgrade, so doing the hidden area defeats any purpose of reward or progress.
I enjoyed the idea of the damage amp upgrade, gives diversity if you prefer to hoard a bunch of ammo OR upgrade your beams. The other upgrades, however, were mostly to add numbers and diminish substance of the hack. Changing regular missiles/supers/PBs to ammo packs hurts the hack a lot for me in sequence break/exploration aspects, because you have to follow the game route (so linear) to get said upgrades, instead of doing a different thing and being rewarded by an early upgrade. Charge was super slow, and I got a bunch of charge upgrades and still felt it was Vanilla's charge speed, the upgrade felt really unnecessary. Same for Space Jump number of spins.
Logs were mostly fluff and told instead of show for me. The explanation of upgrades was nice, but most of the lore and area's functionality, like the lab, were understood without reading a bunch of text. The mission log was useless, unless you didn't play the hack for like a month and forgot where you left off. Stuff like "you found water/heat/lasers, unable to progress" is self-explanatory, you still have to find the solution. I'd rather having cryptic or decent hints than the game telling out loud the reason (that I already know) why I can't progress in a certain area.
The last point coupled with lack of sequence break/fast travel/innovation in going backwards on the hack kills the replayability for me, aside if I were to do a randomizer. The hack does things that are top grade, but others in regards of exploration and progression are below mediocre for me, hence, a mid grade. There's more cohese hacks out there, hacks with upgrades or mechanics existing in hacks from 8+ years ago (Beams being required to destroy certain blocks/open certain doors, speedball upgrade, etc), hacks more fun to play, either having better balance of challenge:reward... Aside the secret stuff and a New Game+ (which both are marvelous), most of the other stuff is unimpressive.
Best hack of the decade! This honestly feels as if DeerForce could remake super metroid, this would be it. The level planning, the visuals, the music, the boss fights: 10/10.
I had so much fun exploring, and even though it is a long hack, I was sad when I finished it. This hack appropriately stops you from going too far in the wrong direction, so you don't have to backtrack out of 10 rooms before getting to the right place. However, it doesn't feel linear and replicates the openness of the vanilla game.
I was sceptical when I saw the logbook, but honestly its so well done; comparable to the prime games.
I have not wanted to replay a hack from the beginning, but I'm excited to get a faster time and try some of the challenges. Also need to save the animals next play through!
I had so much fun exploring, and even though it is a long hack, I was sad when I finished it. This hack appropriately stops you from going too far in the wrong direction, so you don't have to backtrack out of 10 rooms before getting to the right place. However, it doesn't feel linear and replicates the openness of the vanilla game.
I was sceptical when I saw the logbook, but honestly its so well done; comparable to the prime games.
I have not wanted to replay a hack from the beginning, but I'm excited to get a faster time and try some of the challenges. Also need to save the animals next play through!
Wow, blown away, fantastic. One of the best I have played, even better than "Super Duper Metroid".
Man ...just, wow. New items even, new Music. Absolutely fantastic.
Man ...just, wow. New items even, new Music. Absolutely fantastic.
An absolute wonder to play! Gave a whole new spin to a classic, and made you feel like there should have been more games in the series for SNES! Great design, wonderful items, and love the lore menu to help you get through the game! Definitely would revisit this one again in the future! Even had the devs stop by my Twitch Stream to watch me play through the game. Couldn't compliment them enough on an incredible game! Wanting to see more from these guys!
I kept thinking with myself while playing this hack: It is challenging? No. Some bosses are vanilla or easier, SS and Croc are quite easier, but their arena or killing method was a bit obnoxious. The puzzles (aside grapple gimmicks) weren't hard, but some were just trial and error or bad designed. I felt relief instead of accomplishment when I finished certain puzzles.
Is the progression rewarding? Imo, hard no. Getting rid of ammo upgrades except 1 of each means the devs killed sequence breaking. Further, the game has a lot of back and forth, but there's barely any shortcuts and no warps as far as I could tell, so exploring the planet was a chore. SZM, Escape 2, Mission Rescue, a bunch of older and 3* romhacks had warps, how they designed a world this big, where there's barely any sequence break, with so much backtrack and didn't put shortcuts? The original SM's world is better connected. Symphony of the Night, pushing 30 years old, got warps. If this was a challenge hack, where knowledge and execution is important, I'd gloss over the navigation being a chore, but since the hack is easy, everything else felt boring.
The hack deserves praise for its neat usage of grapple mechanics and wonderful visuals, also smooth controllers, but that's pretty much it. It doesn't feel rewarding exploring, I couldn't sequence break or go where I wanted with a big map... While the screens are super pretty, the world felt very disjoined, like I was in a Mario or Dark Souls 2 world, except those eventually get better or are better interconnected...
Finally, seeing when it was made, most of the custom stuff doesn't look impressive. Visor? A hack from an year before did it, and did a fight in the same manner. Speedball? Plenty of hacks did it before, even one from 15 years ago. This hack deserves a play because of the pretty visuals, and I guess it has a legacy by bringing a new game editor to the hack scene, but if you been around and played a bunch of other hacks, you won't get mesmerized by the game's mechanics and upgrades. If you're new and never played romhacks, yeah, this might look the best thing ever. Can't grade this one higher if the hack lacks two things that makes SM great, which is exploration and great level design.
Is the progression rewarding? Imo, hard no. Getting rid of ammo upgrades except 1 of each means the devs killed sequence breaking. Further, the game has a lot of back and forth, but there's barely any shortcuts and no warps as far as I could tell, so exploring the planet was a chore. SZM, Escape 2, Mission Rescue, a bunch of older and 3* romhacks had warps, how they designed a world this big, where there's barely any sequence break, with so much backtrack and didn't put shortcuts? The original SM's world is better connected. Symphony of the Night, pushing 30 years old, got warps. If this was a challenge hack, where knowledge and execution is important, I'd gloss over the navigation being a chore, but since the hack is easy, everything else felt boring.
The hack deserves praise for its neat usage of grapple mechanics and wonderful visuals, also smooth controllers, but that's pretty much it. It doesn't feel rewarding exploring, I couldn't sequence break or go where I wanted with a big map... While the screens are super pretty, the world felt very disjoined, like I was in a Mario or Dark Souls 2 world, except those eventually get better or are better interconnected...
Finally, seeing when it was made, most of the custom stuff doesn't look impressive. Visor? A hack from an year before did it, and did a fight in the same manner. Speedball? Plenty of hacks did it before, even one from 15 years ago. This hack deserves a play because of the pretty visuals, and I guess it has a legacy by bringing a new game editor to the hack scene, but if you been around and played a bunch of other hacks, you won't get mesmerized by the game's mechanics and upgrades. If you're new and never played romhacks, yeah, this might look the best thing ever. Can't grade this one higher if the hack lacks two things that makes SM great, which is exploration and great level design.
If one feels the need to gleefully pour oneself into a video game and feel like a kid again, Subversion is the way. There were so many enjoyable moments while hunting through Subversion: distinct areas each with their own vibe, the increase in challenge and dread, the thrill of finding secret passages and items, plus some of the big reveals. All in all, it's tough to top Subversion.
Super Metroid Subversion made me feel like a new Metroid fan game. Yes, of course, as I quit during the passage, but I passed it
Of course, I'm probably not the only person who beat Hyper Torizo without the Plasma Beam, but you can beat it before the battle with Draygon. I'm sorry, I used Quick Saves twice.
The Metroid Fusion osts and enemies, new remixes of Super Metroid osts, new items and enemies, NEW SUIT AND GYMICS, and the game map are all amazing to me. I like some details in the game that we return to the very first location only in the middle of the game where we get the Metroid Suit from Metroid Dread. And the funny thing is that there is more gameplay in this suit than in the original source, but the fact that it causes damage to the wearer in the cold is just my praise.
I also noticed that the game is divided into two, where the first half is before the destruction of the space station, and the second half is after the destruction of the station and damage to the two side ships. Just like in Mission Zero, only there the second half of the game started in Zero Suit, which gave an element of stealth, but the hack is also interesting
I played the game semi-blind using the map and at critical moments when I didn't understand how to get into a particular place, I searched for it on YouTube.
I thank the developers, artists and testers for this hack.
Of course, I'm probably not the only person who beat Hyper Torizo without the Plasma Beam, but you can beat it before the battle with Draygon. I'm sorry, I used Quick Saves twice.
The Metroid Fusion osts and enemies, new remixes of Super Metroid osts, new items and enemies, NEW SUIT AND GYMICS, and the game map are all amazing to me. I like some details in the game that we return to the very first location only in the middle of the game where we get the Metroid Suit from Metroid Dread. And the funny thing is that there is more gameplay in this suit than in the original source, but the fact that it causes damage to the wearer in the cold is just my praise.
I also noticed that the game is divided into two, where the first half is before the destruction of the space station, and the second half is after the destruction of the station and damage to the two side ships. Just like in Mission Zero, only there the second half of the game started in Zero Suit, which gave an element of stealth, but the hack is also interesting
I played the game semi-blind using the map and at critical moments when I didn't understand how to get into a particular place, I searched for it on YouTube.
I thank the developers, artists and testers for this hack.
Metroid Subversion
I only played v1.2 at the normal difficulty. And I got 100%, although it took me a long time (near the end, I used the online map to find all items). I shall do a review, with pros/cons, with the possible solutions to the cons. I assume the creator would want to know the cons more than the pros (so that he can fix it), so I'll start off with that. And I'll finish with some ideas.
CONS:
- X-Ray comes WAY too late in the game. Right now, the earliest I can get it is after the Grappling Beam, which is very close to the end (not counting Suzi Ruins). That's way too late. Please please make it so that we can get X-Ray a lot earlier (ex: soon after getting Super Missile). We need it early to save the massive frustrations. Perhaps switch the location of X-Ray with the first possible Space Jump Boost in Vulnar Caves (Unknown Item if you don't have Space Jump), although it should be blocked by a S.Missile block (10 or so blocks, so that you need decent max ammo to get it) instead of Bomb block to prevent access to it before getting the N.Visor.
- When I first played the game up to the Space Station revisit, I completely missed Spazer upgrade because I couldn't see the laser switch, and as a result, I had to fight the Metroids with just charge/wave/ice beam, which was very difficult. And I couldn't even go back for the upgrade, because the lasers were disabled (hence locking out the Spazer room), and I couldn't turn it back on. It's fine if Spazer is missable (maybe due to low % run?), but can you make the switch more obvious? Perhaps closer to the laser beam, so that the switch is really obvious? Luckily, I had a save file before the Gold Torizo battle, so I didn't have to replay things too much. And speaking of Metroids...
- When I get the Metroids off of me with a bomb, they don't get knocked back very far, and thus they grab onto me almost immediately. And that's even worse in the Cargo Ship room, where you have to fight 2 of the strong Metroids at the same time as soon as you enter. Could you make it so that they get knocked away further from bombs? Or disable them from grabbing you again immediately, similar to how those carnivore plants work? It's way too unforgiving, and very much frustrating.
PROS:
- The logbook is really nice. Not only does it add a lot of extra layer into things and hints about the bosses, but when I get a new equipment, I can just read about its ability to learn the basic (such as the Speed Ball).
- The level design is unbelievably good. While there are some going back and forth for the key items, but for the most part (except the missable Spazer that I mentioned above), you can get the rough idea by looking at the map. Very nice.
- The bosses were amazing. The little changes you did for the bosses made them more fun (and challenging). Spore Spawn and Phantoon were very hard, but in a good way. And the fact you encounter Ridley is great, although you won't be able to beat him until much later. It makes Ridley seem like an "unbeatable force", in a good way.
- The ammo -- I love how the missile/s.missile/power bomb uses the same ammo pool (different ammo usage). It makes things SO much less frustrating. And the ammos you can get (2, 5, 10) were nice touch, with new sprites too.
- I love how you gave the Spring/Speed Ball early. Waiting for the bomb to explode to make a tiny jump was a pain in the ass. And you also have the dash with the Morph Ball for puzzle purpose. Very nice.
- I love the new items mechanics, like higher damage/charge speed items, Night Visor, Grappling Beam switch, the new blocks that can only be destroyed with Spazer or Plasma Beam, and the necessity of freeze/missile combo to destroy certain enemies (nicely described in the logbook). Even the "negative" mechanics, like the limited Space Jump and Refuel Tank are better than the original, because sometimes, limitation makes things more fun (actually, Refuel Tank in vanilla was just terrible, as it was just Energy Tank). And the fact you can use Hyper Beam in certain conditions is awesome. Also, I love how Metroid Suit is weak to cold, even from your own beam. Nice attention to detail.
- Some of the puzzles were very ingenius. You had to turn off certain items to get past the obstacles. That's so smart and satisfying.
- While Suzi Ruins seem like unnecessary place that was just "added on" for the sake of adding on (because you don't need to tackle it at all to beat the game), but I have a feeling it's sort of like an "Extra Secret Dungeon/Boss" that you see often in modern JRPGs. If you take it like that, then it's sort of fun. I wish it was more battle-focused (ie locked in a room with multiple of tough enemies), rather than puzzle solving. But the boss is tough, so I can live with that. Hypercharge is just a bragging-rights reward though.
IDEAS:
- The solutions to the cons I mentioned.
- Shinespark -- Varia Suit should negate the Shinespark usage damage. I assume it's the heat that's causing the damage, so Varia Suit should be able to negate it (or reduce it, and Metroid Suit should negate the damage).
- Crystal Flash -- It should have easier conditions. Instead of 50 HP, make it 99 (or 98, just in case nobody picks up any Energy Tank). And instead of holding L+R+d+Shot, how about just holding L+R? Canonically, it's one of the most important Chozo abilities, and we never see it due to its crazy requirements.
I only played v1.2 at the normal difficulty. And I got 100%, although it took me a long time (near the end, I used the online map to find all items). I shall do a review, with pros/cons, with the possible solutions to the cons. I assume the creator would want to know the cons more than the pros (so that he can fix it), so I'll start off with that. And I'll finish with some ideas.
CONS:
- X-Ray comes WAY too late in the game. Right now, the earliest I can get it is after the Grappling Beam, which is very close to the end (not counting Suzi Ruins). That's way too late. Please please make it so that we can get X-Ray a lot earlier (ex: soon after getting Super Missile). We need it early to save the massive frustrations. Perhaps switch the location of X-Ray with the first possible Space Jump Boost in Vulnar Caves (Unknown Item if you don't have Space Jump), although it should be blocked by a S.Missile block (10 or so blocks, so that you need decent max ammo to get it) instead of Bomb block to prevent access to it before getting the N.Visor.
- When I first played the game up to the Space Station revisit, I completely missed Spazer upgrade because I couldn't see the laser switch, and as a result, I had to fight the Metroids with just charge/wave/ice beam, which was very difficult. And I couldn't even go back for the upgrade, because the lasers were disabled (hence locking out the Spazer room), and I couldn't turn it back on. It's fine if Spazer is missable (maybe due to low % run?), but can you make the switch more obvious? Perhaps closer to the laser beam, so that the switch is really obvious? Luckily, I had a save file before the Gold Torizo battle, so I didn't have to replay things too much. And speaking of Metroids...
- When I get the Metroids off of me with a bomb, they don't get knocked back very far, and thus they grab onto me almost immediately. And that's even worse in the Cargo Ship room, where you have to fight 2 of the strong Metroids at the same time as soon as you enter. Could you make it so that they get knocked away further from bombs? Or disable them from grabbing you again immediately, similar to how those carnivore plants work? It's way too unforgiving, and very much frustrating.
PROS:
- The logbook is really nice. Not only does it add a lot of extra layer into things and hints about the bosses, but when I get a new equipment, I can just read about its ability to learn the basic (such as the Speed Ball).
- The level design is unbelievably good. While there are some going back and forth for the key items, but for the most part (except the missable Spazer that I mentioned above), you can get the rough idea by looking at the map. Very nice.
- The bosses were amazing. The little changes you did for the bosses made them more fun (and challenging). Spore Spawn and Phantoon were very hard, but in a good way. And the fact you encounter Ridley is great, although you won't be able to beat him until much later. It makes Ridley seem like an "unbeatable force", in a good way.
- The ammo -- I love how the missile/s.missile/power bomb uses the same ammo pool (different ammo usage). It makes things SO much less frustrating. And the ammos you can get (2, 5, 10) were nice touch, with new sprites too.
- I love how you gave the Spring/Speed Ball early. Waiting for the bomb to explode to make a tiny jump was a pain in the ass. And you also have the dash with the Morph Ball for puzzle purpose. Very nice.
- I love the new items mechanics, like higher damage/charge speed items, Night Visor, Grappling Beam switch, the new blocks that can only be destroyed with Spazer or Plasma Beam, and the necessity of freeze/missile combo to destroy certain enemies (nicely described in the logbook). Even the "negative" mechanics, like the limited Space Jump and Refuel Tank are better than the original, because sometimes, limitation makes things more fun (actually, Refuel Tank in vanilla was just terrible, as it was just Energy Tank). And the fact you can use Hyper Beam in certain conditions is awesome. Also, I love how Metroid Suit is weak to cold, even from your own beam. Nice attention to detail.
- Some of the puzzles were very ingenius. You had to turn off certain items to get past the obstacles. That's so smart and satisfying.
- While Suzi Ruins seem like unnecessary place that was just "added on" for the sake of adding on (because you don't need to tackle it at all to beat the game), but I have a feeling it's sort of like an "Extra Secret Dungeon/Boss" that you see often in modern JRPGs. If you take it like that, then it's sort of fun. I wish it was more battle-focused (ie locked in a room with multiple of tough enemies), rather than puzzle solving. But the boss is tough, so I can live with that. Hypercharge is just a bragging-rights reward though.
IDEAS:
- The solutions to the cons I mentioned.
- Shinespark -- Varia Suit should negate the Shinespark usage damage. I assume it's the heat that's causing the damage, so Varia Suit should be able to negate it (or reduce it, and Metroid Suit should negate the damage).
- Crystal Flash -- It should have easier conditions. Instead of 50 HP, make it 99 (or 98, just in case nobody picks up any Energy Tank). And instead of holding L+R+d+Shot, how about just holding L+R? Canonically, it's one of the most important Chozo abilities, and we never see it due to its crazy requirements.
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