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| SM Redesign: Axeil Edition | ||
Release date: Apr 04, 2015 |
Author: Drewseph
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Genre: Exploration [?] Game: 
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Difficulty: Veteran [?]
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Average runtime:
12:18 Average collection: 77% |
Read Me: [None] |
Forum Thread: Forum Thread |
Rating:
 
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Other Links:
Website |
Awards:
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Description
9 years of on and off work has finally paid off.
I tried my best to follow all the negative feedback from players and deliver something more fluid. there's a lot of extras added into this game too. So I'd suggest giving it a try even if you've already played the original Redesign in the past.
I'm listening to critiques so if you have problems please let me know and I'll see what I can do to fix it.
I tried my best to follow all the negative feedback from players and deliver something more fluid. there's a lot of extras added into this game too. So I'd suggest giving it a try even if you've already played the original Redesign in the past.
I'm listening to critiques so if you have problems please let me know and I'll see what I can do to fix it.
Screenshots
Ratings and Reviews
It is Redesign.
Except without the stupid.
Five stars, fucking great
Stats:
341.63km traveled
52,414 energy lost
3,948 enemies killed
29,675 shots fired
2,511 doors traversed
Except without the stupid.
Five stars, fucking great
Stats:
341.63km traveled
52,414 energy lost
3,948 enemies killed
29,675 shots fired
2,511 doors traversed
A refreshing remake of a classic hack, with improved physics, automated/streamlined mechanics for improved accessibility, an optional hint system, rebalanced enemy damage, neat features like area nameplates, and new secrets and puzzles. Even if you know where to go from playing Redesign, or just from using the hint system, it manages to feel like a whole new game. It even has extra stats at the ending under your percentage.
Independent of the original Redesign, I feel like there are a few too many gates, mazes, and obstacles to getting around that weren't there before, and you lose the ability to jump from crumble blocks which can be frustrating at times. But I like the physics and mechanics changes, and they can help out players that may have quit playing the original Redesign, or not enjoyed it. I gave this a lower rating because I still prefer the original world the way it was. Still worth checking out though.
Independent of the original Redesign, I feel like there are a few too many gates, mazes, and obstacles to getting around that weren't there before, and you lose the ability to jump from crumble blocks which can be frustrating at times. But I like the physics and mechanics changes, and they can help out players that may have quit playing the original Redesign, or not enjoyed it. I gave this a lower rating because I still prefer the original world the way it was. Still worth checking out though.
Big improvement to the first Redesign. Though the very few save stations and high damage dealing enemies makes savestates almost needed.
Version: 1.0 - 2/5 stars
I was going to rate this hack a 1, but I'm going to give it a two for effort.
Super Metroid Redesign: Axeil Edition Falls completely short of its intent. Redesign easier? More accessible? ohh no. Not even close.
It starts out seemingly easier with auto-walljump and automorph, but beams/missiles/weapons in general are still incredibly weak and hard to find, enemies are no different, auto-morph only works very selectively...
Not too far in axeil becomes MUCH harder than the original redesign due to excessively complicated puzzles, instant-death acid in lower norfair, a complete lack of supplies due to expansions being insanely hidden or placed behind puzzles that are impossible for beginning, moderate, or even advanced players, and Tourian is no longer a straightforward hellhole, but an endless maze of a hellhole that takes 4+ hours of in-game time to start to figure out.
If redesign: Axeil was a challenge hack of Redesign, absolute success, immersive depth, 5/5 stars.
It's not meant to be though, so why is it so crushingly difficult and endlessly tedious?
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Version 1.4 3/5 stars
+1
Drew is moving in the right direction, but I can't bump him up all the way just yet; that would be too easy. :)
Plus I can't give him 4/5 immediately because I'm still recovering from the frustrating 1.0, lol.
The hint system was wildly more helpful this time around since all of the hints worked. Acid was heavily nerfed for a new system that gives you a limited amount of time to get out before deathmode kicks in, making lower norfair much more forgiving & survivable.
Tourian is still monstrous, but the godmode metroids are saved for the end of the dungeon rather than the moment you enter. Also, acid (once again) isn't forced immediate death. A few remaining issues with how findable secrets were have been brought to Drewseph's attention, so 1.5 will be even better.
My remaining complaints with the hack are largely dealing with the plasma beam, which is awful and weak and shitty, and the chozo statue hunt, which feels like fetchquest filler content.
Meanwhile, Drewseph is working on further spoiling us with updates. Looking forward to future updates!
I was going to rate this hack a 1, but I'm going to give it a two for effort.
Super Metroid Redesign: Axeil Edition Falls completely short of its intent. Redesign easier? More accessible? ohh no. Not even close.
It starts out seemingly easier with auto-walljump and automorph, but beams/missiles/weapons in general are still incredibly weak and hard to find, enemies are no different, auto-morph only works very selectively...
Not too far in axeil becomes MUCH harder than the original redesign due to excessively complicated puzzles, instant-death acid in lower norfair, a complete lack of supplies due to expansions being insanely hidden or placed behind puzzles that are impossible for beginning, moderate, or even advanced players, and Tourian is no longer a straightforward hellhole, but an endless maze of a hellhole that takes 4+ hours of in-game time to start to figure out.
If redesign: Axeil was a challenge hack of Redesign, absolute success, immersive depth, 5/5 stars.
It's not meant to be though, so why is it so crushingly difficult and endlessly tedious?
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Version 1.4 3/5 stars
+1
Drew is moving in the right direction, but I can't bump him up all the way just yet; that would be too easy. :)
Plus I can't give him 4/5 immediately because I'm still recovering from the frustrating 1.0, lol.
The hint system was wildly more helpful this time around since all of the hints worked. Acid was heavily nerfed for a new system that gives you a limited amount of time to get out before deathmode kicks in, making lower norfair much more forgiving & survivable.
Tourian is still monstrous, but the godmode metroids are saved for the end of the dungeon rather than the moment you enter. Also, acid (once again) isn't forced immediate death. A few remaining issues with how findable secrets were have been brought to Drewseph's attention, so 1.5 will be even better.
My remaining complaints with the hack are largely dealing with the plasma beam, which is awful and weak and shitty, and the chozo statue hunt, which feels like fetchquest filler content.
Meanwhile, Drewseph is working on further spoiling us with updates. Looking forward to future updates!
Stats: 346.55km travelled; 65,200 energy lost; 4,022 enemies killed; 24,037 shots fired; 2,462 doors traversed.
Note: I played the first few hours on 1.0, then patched to 1.1 where I played the majority of the game.
Also note: I played some of the original Redesign several years ago, but did not get too far, so I'm mostly treating this as a brand new hack rather than an update to an old one.
Pros:
- Massive world with tons of secrets to explore
- Challenging but not incredibly difficult, for the most part
- Enhanced map that shows door connections, including icons to help you remember where speed booster or power bomb tiles are once you gain the appropriate upgrades, and a pretty cool hint system to show you where you ought to be headed.
- Name plates are super cool (though it was a bit weird seeing them show up only on my 2nd visit to a new area occasionally--possibly because my first visit wasn't on the intended path?)
- Auto morph tunnels are a great feature. I used it all the time even though I have no trouble with midair morphs. I never really used the auto walljump, but it seems like it would be similarly helpful for newer players
- Once you clear an obstacle (for example, a group of power bomb blocks), it stays cleared for future revisits to that room
- Tracking your item percentage on the equipment screen is a nice touch, and the detailed end-game stats are fun to look at.
Cons:
- Samus moves INSANELY slow underwater without gravity suit, and she loses all momentum the instant she touches liquid.
- Acid does an INSANE amount of damage if you're more than 2 tiles deep, to the point where even a momentary fall below that level usually means death.
- More morph tunnels, mazes, and puzzles than I would prefer. And they all aggressively use morph lock.
- Crumble blocks are annoying in a lot of hacks, but here they're even worse because it's impossible to jump off them.
- I had a whole lot of trouble with space jump throughout the hack. I'd frequently find myself falling like a rock seemingly no matter what timing I tried for pressing jump.
- I found Tourian to be excessively tedious and frustrating. There were entirely too many metroid rooms, and in two of those rooms I killed upwards of 20 metroids before the doors unlocked (I counted). Apparently I was supposed to kill all of the onscreen ones at the same time, instead of picking them off one at a time? It wasn't clear to me. The zebetite gate puzzles were interesting, but again there were too many of them. Between the metroids and the zebetites and all the purple doors, I had to go back and refill my ammo several times, despite my relatively high item collection rate.
- The escape sequence is very long and has a couple mean points where if you screw up you either die or lose a lot of time. It took me a couple of attempts to make it back to the ship safely.
Note: I played the first few hours on 1.0, then patched to 1.1 where I played the majority of the game.
Also note: I played some of the original Redesign several years ago, but did not get too far, so I'm mostly treating this as a brand new hack rather than an update to an old one.
Pros:
- Massive world with tons of secrets to explore
- Challenging but not incredibly difficult, for the most part
- Enhanced map that shows door connections, including icons to help you remember where speed booster or power bomb tiles are once you gain the appropriate upgrades, and a pretty cool hint system to show you where you ought to be headed.
- Name plates are super cool (though it was a bit weird seeing them show up only on my 2nd visit to a new area occasionally--possibly because my first visit wasn't on the intended path?)
- Auto morph tunnels are a great feature. I used it all the time even though I have no trouble with midair morphs. I never really used the auto walljump, but it seems like it would be similarly helpful for newer players
- Once you clear an obstacle (for example, a group of power bomb blocks), it stays cleared for future revisits to that room
- Tracking your item percentage on the equipment screen is a nice touch, and the detailed end-game stats are fun to look at.
Cons:
- Samus moves INSANELY slow underwater without gravity suit, and she loses all momentum the instant she touches liquid.
- Acid does an INSANE amount of damage if you're more than 2 tiles deep, to the point where even a momentary fall below that level usually means death.
- More morph tunnels, mazes, and puzzles than I would prefer. And they all aggressively use morph lock.
- Crumble blocks are annoying in a lot of hacks, but here they're even worse because it's impossible to jump off them.
- I had a whole lot of trouble with space jump throughout the hack. I'd frequently find myself falling like a rock seemingly no matter what timing I tried for pressing jump.
- I found Tourian to be excessively tedious and frustrating. There were entirely too many metroid rooms, and in two of those rooms I killed upwards of 20 metroids before the doors unlocked (I counted). Apparently I was supposed to kill all of the onscreen ones at the same time, instead of picking them off one at a time? It wasn't clear to me. The zebetite gate puzzles were interesting, but again there were too many of them. Between the metroids and the zebetites and all the purple doors, I had to go back and refill my ammo several times, despite my relatively high item collection rate.
- The escape sequence is very long and has a couple mean points where if you screw up you either die or lose a lot of time. It took me a couple of attempts to make it back to the ship safely.
People generally say that Super Metroid is the greatest Metroid game of all time, that it strikes the right chords and that it gets everything about what makes Metroid what it is right. I don't really agree with those statements as when I first played SM, I thought it had a few problems. The isolated atmosphere didn't quite match what I wanted coming from Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime, as I had felt it was kind of short and easy. It was also a bit rough around the edges and had some early installment weirdness...
Now if this was Super Metroid, I'd be far more inclined to agree with those statements.
Not only does Redesign Axeil succeed and excel in what the original Redesign set out to achieve, but it surpasses the original game in so many unique ways that I struggled to put the game down once I picked it up! The new environments do a much better job of giving you a massive world to explore than the original SM could ever even dream of doing! And the revised physics engine is so silky smooth that I never want to play a Super Metroid rom hack without it ever again; it's that good! I also liked how you filled that empty space on the HUD with the 3 bomb icons, nice touch.
Now for the real meat of this review...
Pros: things I liked... OH SO MUCH!!
-The new physics engine. I wish every SM rom hack had it! It's super tight and easy to get used to!
-HUD tweaks. This includes the above mentioned bomb icons, and the map. Speaking of which...
-The new map interface. You have no idea how helpful those connections on the new map are for telling me where rooms are connected. That's a big gripe I had with the original SM and Redesign, frequently I'd go to a room where I thought a door connected it to another, and it wasn't. And DAT HINT SYSTEM, getting lost was also a problem I had with both games. *shoots both problems like they were Metroids* Not anymore.
-Item fanfare is less common. In the original SM, the get item fanfare played every single time you picked up an item, and it got annoying really fast. Thank god for it not playing whenever you get expansions anymore. Now when it plays, it actually felt like fanfare and wasn't annoying anymore.
-Suit palette edits. I like how the Varia Suit's orange and green visor stand out from one another more, it looks super cool, and... my god the Gravity Suit...! It's HEAVENLY!! It's not PINK anymore like in the original SM (I looked it up, it was indeed pink) and the turquoise blue visor makes it look like the Gravity Suit from Metroid Prime, and that's my FAVORITE appearance of the suit in all games ever!! Thank you!!
-Difficulty. This hack succeeds in delivering in that isolated atmosphere not just in its level design, but in its challenge as well: this rom hack is hard! But meaningfully so, Zebes is not a welcoming place (or at least, not anymore) and it definitely shows. While the big Sidehoppers in Brinstar and Norfair are the scariest things alive, the planet isn't necessarily throwing everything it has at you immediately, it feels more like your diving headfirst into this hostile world, something Metroid Prime did so incredibly right for me.
-Fear and dread factor. SM's wrecked ship (which isn't in this rom hack for some reason) was the closest the game got to being scary, but Redesign Axeil definitely did a pretty good job of keeping me on my toes. Not quite as much as Metroid Fusion, but I was always on the lookout for tough enemies and hoping I wouldn't have a nasty run in with something that would eat my face. The Lost Caverns (I loved that puzzle BTW) definitely set up that feeling of dread, that something was watching you. I just wish they were bigger, and maybe a little less Lost Woods maze stuff... but it is still one of my favorite moments of the hack.
-The Space Pirate forces. This game does them oh so much justice, they actually served as decent enemies to fight, and were not to be laughed at like in the original SM. Giving them a similar toughness to their Prime, Fusion, and Other M appearances, again a big positive for me. And I totally dig them appearing in Tourian a lot more, definitely illustrates their connection with Mother Brain a lot. Speaking of Tourian...
-The endgame. Holy crap the endgame is fantastic! See my post regarding it for more details.
Cons: Things I disliked, of which there aren't many, and none of which really hurt the rom hack.
-Lost Caverns is too small. I really would've liked it if the Lost Caverns were an area as small as the Wrecked Ship, and have the Lost Woods puzzle at the end. I really liked how spooky it was, and its smallness left me wanting more. Also the part of the start up map that never gets filled in annoys me.
-No version # display. There's no way to tell which version of the game you're playing upon start up. Would be nice if it displayed on the corner or somewhere on the title screen.
-Some minor bugs. Bugs are annoying, aside from the rare occasions where they aren't, but there aren't any good bad bugs that I've found. Just the bad ones. Oh well, I guess that's what patches are for.
So, do I recommend it? Oh yeah, I recommend it to SO many people! This rom hack reinvents and redefines the game to the point where it feels brand new again! I like this in the sense where the "Super" in the title is finally rightfully earned. Definitely one of the best rom hacks I've ever played!
Now if this was Super Metroid, I'd be far more inclined to agree with those statements.
Not only does Redesign Axeil succeed and excel in what the original Redesign set out to achieve, but it surpasses the original game in so many unique ways that I struggled to put the game down once I picked it up! The new environments do a much better job of giving you a massive world to explore than the original SM could ever even dream of doing! And the revised physics engine is so silky smooth that I never want to play a Super Metroid rom hack without it ever again; it's that good! I also liked how you filled that empty space on the HUD with the 3 bomb icons, nice touch.
Now for the real meat of this review...
Pros: things I liked... OH SO MUCH!!
-The new physics engine. I wish every SM rom hack had it! It's super tight and easy to get used to!
-HUD tweaks. This includes the above mentioned bomb icons, and the map. Speaking of which...
-The new map interface. You have no idea how helpful those connections on the new map are for telling me where rooms are connected. That's a big gripe I had with the original SM and Redesign, frequently I'd go to a room where I thought a door connected it to another, and it wasn't. And DAT HINT SYSTEM, getting lost was also a problem I had with both games. *shoots both problems like they were Metroids* Not anymore.
-Item fanfare is less common. In the original SM, the get item fanfare played every single time you picked up an item, and it got annoying really fast. Thank god for it not playing whenever you get expansions anymore. Now when it plays, it actually felt like fanfare and wasn't annoying anymore.
-Suit palette edits. I like how the Varia Suit's orange and green visor stand out from one another more, it looks super cool, and... my god the Gravity Suit...! It's HEAVENLY!! It's not PINK anymore like in the original SM (I looked it up, it was indeed pink) and the turquoise blue visor makes it look like the Gravity Suit from Metroid Prime, and that's my FAVORITE appearance of the suit in all games ever!! Thank you!!
-Difficulty. This hack succeeds in delivering in that isolated atmosphere not just in its level design, but in its challenge as well: this rom hack is hard! But meaningfully so, Zebes is not a welcoming place (or at least, not anymore) and it definitely shows. While the big Sidehoppers in Brinstar and Norfair are the scariest things alive, the planet isn't necessarily throwing everything it has at you immediately, it feels more like your diving headfirst into this hostile world, something Metroid Prime did so incredibly right for me.
-Fear and dread factor. SM's wrecked ship (which isn't in this rom hack for some reason) was the closest the game got to being scary, but Redesign Axeil definitely did a pretty good job of keeping me on my toes. Not quite as much as Metroid Fusion, but I was always on the lookout for tough enemies and hoping I wouldn't have a nasty run in with something that would eat my face. The Lost Caverns (I loved that puzzle BTW) definitely set up that feeling of dread, that something was watching you. I just wish they were bigger, and maybe a little less Lost Woods maze stuff... but it is still one of my favorite moments of the hack.
-The Space Pirate forces. This game does them oh so much justice, they actually served as decent enemies to fight, and were not to be laughed at like in the original SM. Giving them a similar toughness to their Prime, Fusion, and Other M appearances, again a big positive for me. And I totally dig them appearing in Tourian a lot more, definitely illustrates their connection with Mother Brain a lot. Speaking of Tourian...
-The endgame. Holy crap the endgame is fantastic! See my post regarding it for more details.
Cons: Things I disliked, of which there aren't many, and none of which really hurt the rom hack.
-Lost Caverns is too small. I really would've liked it if the Lost Caverns were an area as small as the Wrecked Ship, and have the Lost Woods puzzle at the end. I really liked how spooky it was, and its smallness left me wanting more. Also the part of the start up map that never gets filled in annoys me.
-No version # display. There's no way to tell which version of the game you're playing upon start up. Would be nice if it displayed on the corner or somewhere on the title screen.
-Some minor bugs. Bugs are annoying, aside from the rare occasions where they aren't, but there aren't any good bad bugs that I've found. Just the bad ones. Oh well, I guess that's what patches are for.
So, do I recommend it? Oh yeah, I recommend it to SO many people! This rom hack reinvents and redefines the game to the point where it feels brand new again! I like this in the sense where the "Super" in the title is finally rightfully earned. Definitely one of the best rom hacks I've ever played!
At the time of this review, I was playing with v1.21. My understanding of Axeil was that it was supposed to be a toned-down version of the original, because the original had too much unfair and BS attached with it. The readme supports this theory.
First change I saw that stood out was Ceres' escape timer being reset back to 1 minute. I guess there were a lot of complaints? Proceeded to see Zebes. Then I saw the area name when landing. Blew me away. Wish this had been thought of sooner, as it adds to the flash and flair.
The morph tunnel leading to Bombs at the landing site was gone. I knew that I couldn't go that way, since I doubt he was going to remake the whole hack from scratch. Proceeded to where I knew missiles were. I see a lot of new background design going on, which I was very impressed with.
Picked up missiles, saw a pack of power bombs which was confusing, but proceeded forward to Brinstar. On my way to Spore, I noticed that the respawners weren't there anymore, so I couldn't refill on much-needed missiles. Had to reload the room a couple of times to get to Spore's door with a full count.
Spore Spawn's lower door is now locked until you kill him. Picked up the wall-jump boots. The wall-jump mechanics are slightly better than they were in Redesign. That is, originally when you let go of jump, you just dropped full stop. That aspect has been removed, but there's still room for improvement.
Back in Crateria, I am on my way back up to Samus' ship so I can save and get to the bombs. However, part way up I notice that in a morph tunnel, a new block is added. It looks very much like a bombable block. Later on I would discover that this is not the case, it's a shot block. I guess that's going to be a theme later. Since it looks like a bomb block, I didn't bother trying to shoot it. Bomb blocks can't be shot, after all. My hope sank at this point, realizing that my only way up is going to be wall-jumping between spikes. I died. At that point, I set the controller down, closed Snes9x and gave up the Axeil experiment. In the end, it's still Redesign. Different day with the same bullshit, and in some cases new bullshit. Drew has learned nothing.
Hacks are supposed to be fun. The whole point of anybody trying to get you to use their product is if you will enjoy it. I'm all for difficulty, but the saying "firm but fair" applies. Drew still has not learned about how to balance difficulty, and still make it fun.
Final verdict: If you enjoy being punished just for the sake of it, then play your brains out and enjoy. For everyone else that is sane, stay away.
First change I saw that stood out was Ceres' escape timer being reset back to 1 minute. I guess there were a lot of complaints? Proceeded to see Zebes. Then I saw the area name when landing. Blew me away. Wish this had been thought of sooner, as it adds to the flash and flair.
The morph tunnel leading to Bombs at the landing site was gone. I knew that I couldn't go that way, since I doubt he was going to remake the whole hack from scratch. Proceeded to where I knew missiles were. I see a lot of new background design going on, which I was very impressed with.
Picked up missiles, saw a pack of power bombs which was confusing, but proceeded forward to Brinstar. On my way to Spore, I noticed that the respawners weren't there anymore, so I couldn't refill on much-needed missiles. Had to reload the room a couple of times to get to Spore's door with a full count.
Spore Spawn's lower door is now locked until you kill him. Picked up the wall-jump boots. The wall-jump mechanics are slightly better than they were in Redesign. That is, originally when you let go of jump, you just dropped full stop. That aspect has been removed, but there's still room for improvement.
Back in Crateria, I am on my way back up to Samus' ship so I can save and get to the bombs. However, part way up I notice that in a morph tunnel, a new block is added. It looks very much like a bombable block. Later on I would discover that this is not the case, it's a shot block. I guess that's going to be a theme later. Since it looks like a bomb block, I didn't bother trying to shoot it. Bomb blocks can't be shot, after all. My hope sank at this point, realizing that my only way up is going to be wall-jumping between spikes. I died. At that point, I set the controller down, closed Snes9x and gave up the Axeil experiment. In the end, it's still Redesign. Different day with the same bullshit, and in some cases new bullshit. Drew has learned nothing.
Hacks are supposed to be fun. The whole point of anybody trying to get you to use their product is if you will enjoy it. I'm all for difficulty, but the saying "firm but fair" applies. Drew still has not learned about how to balance difficulty, and still make it fun.
Final verdict: If you enjoy being punished just for the sake of it, then play your brains out and enjoy. For everyone else that is sane, stay away.
I want to like this hack. I really do. I used to look at the original Redesign with rose-tinted glasses because it was the first hack I ever played nearly 10 years ago and had some really awesome ideas.
Then I replayed it about a year ago. Man, I was an idiot back then.
So I kept hearing about how "Axeil Edition" would fix all the problems Redesign had, better gameplay, improved physics, rebalanced difficulty, the whole works. I was skeptical at first, but then I finally got my hands on version 1.0.
I was floored. Already, Axeil was better than anything Redesign could hopt to be. It felt and controlled better. Sure, Walljumping was still restricted to certain walls, and had that Fusion-style launch that made 1-wall jumping nearly impossible, but it still felt right.
Then I started to look more closely at it. Morph speed was slower than the original, which was already an intolerable crawl. The underwater Crateria Depths segment for Gravity Suit was not only expanded, but made unskippable. The forced Hell Run was removed, but as a result, many E-Tanks were moved around and made more difficult to find. Whatever, at least Maridia's sandfalls were mostly fixed. I can actually escape sandtraps now!
Then Tourian. I got there on 1.0, made it past one Metroid room, then "NOPE"ed after the second. To say it was difficult was an understatement. It was downright Impossible. Then 1.4 came along. The Metroids were toned down significantly, and were actually beatable now! At least, until you entered the sandy "feeding pit". When the best strategy against Metroids is to "stay in one spot and lay normal bombs until you lose 6+ tanks to energy drain," just so that you can have a hope of briefly freezing them? Let's not forget that Screw Attack is completely useless, after making the player perform an extensive, randomized, timer puzzle for it; it's completely invalidated in this final area. Add in some instant-death pit traps if the player isn't careful, and you have one single area bringing down the entire hack.
If I were to tell people about this hack, I can only recommend them to stay away. Or if they're insistent, to play until they reach Tourian, and then stop. Only pain and suffering lies ahead. So much promise and so many good ideas completely wasted on bad design choices.
Then I replayed it about a year ago. Man, I was an idiot back then.
So I kept hearing about how "Axeil Edition" would fix all the problems Redesign had, better gameplay, improved physics, rebalanced difficulty, the whole works. I was skeptical at first, but then I finally got my hands on version 1.0.
I was floored. Already, Axeil was better than anything Redesign could hopt to be. It felt and controlled better. Sure, Walljumping was still restricted to certain walls, and had that Fusion-style launch that made 1-wall jumping nearly impossible, but it still felt right.
Then I started to look more closely at it. Morph speed was slower than the original, which was already an intolerable crawl. The underwater Crateria Depths segment for Gravity Suit was not only expanded, but made unskippable. The forced Hell Run was removed, but as a result, many E-Tanks were moved around and made more difficult to find. Whatever, at least Maridia's sandfalls were mostly fixed. I can actually escape sandtraps now!
Then Tourian. I got there on 1.0, made it past one Metroid room, then "NOPE"ed after the second. To say it was difficult was an understatement. It was downright Impossible. Then 1.4 came along. The Metroids were toned down significantly, and were actually beatable now! At least, until you entered the sandy "feeding pit". When the best strategy against Metroids is to "stay in one spot and lay normal bombs until you lose 6+ tanks to energy drain," just so that you can have a hope of briefly freezing them? Let's not forget that Screw Attack is completely useless, after making the player perform an extensive, randomized, timer puzzle for it; it's completely invalidated in this final area. Add in some instant-death pit traps if the player isn't careful, and you have one single area bringing down the entire hack.
If I were to tell people about this hack, I can only recommend them to stay away. Or if they're insistent, to play until they reach Tourian, and then stop. Only pain and suffering lies ahead. So much promise and so many good ideas completely wasted on bad design choices.
The level of professionalism and polish Drewseph put into this cannot be mistaken. In terms of look, feel, scope, and aesthetic realized-ness, this blows most other hacks straight out of the water. Props to him for that.
Generally speaking, I would say that this hack accomplished its goal of providing a more accessible version of Redesign, at least up until Tourian. Save for a small handful of in rooms that area, I was able to beat this hack without savestates. Granted, I had beaten the original Redesign twice, but that was over 5 years ago (at the very least). It can still be rather challenging at points, but the most egregious nonsense of the original Redesign has been excised or ironed over (well, except for the 25-missile doors).
Unfortunately, some changes have been made for the worse. Phantoon's AI was changed, making an obnoxious boss even more obnoxious. The Screw Attack is now guarded by an entirely opaque sub-Zelda puzzle. And for whatever reason you can't jump off of crumble blocks. Other reviewers have enumerated more of these negative changes, so I'll forbear.
But I will still talk about Tourian. You see, Tourian has been completely redone from the original Redesign. It's now an absolutely brilliant piece of level design that will leave you frothing at the mouth by the time it is finished with you. It's meticulously well-realized and crafted, but utterly and entirely inaccessible to play, even for the most skilled players. All pretensions of "easier-ness" that this hack had come here to die, again and again and again and again. I don't care how hardcore you think you are, you _will_ hit a roadblock here that will send you into a fit of apoplectic rage. Ultimately, I was able to power through the worst of it (with savestates), but even after the difficulty finally started winding down there those moments left a very sour taste in my mouth.
I wish Drewseph the best of luck in his future hacking endeavors. The guy has a lot more talent than most. If he makes a new world for us to explore, I would hope that it is more restrained in scope.
(These impressions are based off of version 1.4)
Generally speaking, I would say that this hack accomplished its goal of providing a more accessible version of Redesign, at least up until Tourian. Save for a small handful of in rooms that area, I was able to beat this hack without savestates. Granted, I had beaten the original Redesign twice, but that was over 5 years ago (at the very least). It can still be rather challenging at points, but the most egregious nonsense of the original Redesign has been excised or ironed over (well, except for the 25-missile doors).
Unfortunately, some changes have been made for the worse. Phantoon's AI was changed, making an obnoxious boss even more obnoxious. The Screw Attack is now guarded by an entirely opaque sub-Zelda puzzle. And for whatever reason you can't jump off of crumble blocks. Other reviewers have enumerated more of these negative changes, so I'll forbear.
But I will still talk about Tourian. You see, Tourian has been completely redone from the original Redesign. It's now an absolutely brilliant piece of level design that will leave you frothing at the mouth by the time it is finished with you. It's meticulously well-realized and crafted, but utterly and entirely inaccessible to play, even for the most skilled players. All pretensions of "easier-ness" that this hack had come here to die, again and again and again and again. I don't care how hardcore you think you are, you _will_ hit a roadblock here that will send you into a fit of apoplectic rage. Ultimately, I was able to power through the worst of it (with savestates), but even after the difficulty finally started winding down there those moments left a very sour taste in my mouth.
I wish Drewseph the best of luck in his future hacking endeavors. The guy has a lot more talent than most. If he makes a new world for us to explore, I would hope that it is more restrained in scope.
(These impressions are based off of version 1.4)
Okay, so... Super Metroid Redesign: Axeil Edition. I will preface this by saying that I have played the original Redesign and that I got to Tourian, but stopped due to school work piling up and other life things getting in the way. I should probably finish it to complete the Redesign legacy. I played version 1.4. I will also say that I'm not the greatest Super Metroid player; my any% PB for Super Metroid is 1:00 (in-game time), though that's just playing as fast as I can with my preferred though sub-optimal route without any actual practice. I've also completed Eris 2009 and 2012 Editions (my run through 2009 edition was on a keyboard!), Hyper Metroid and Stardust. I've also gotten a fair bit through Impossible and I Wanna Be the Guy. My PB for Guacamelee! 100% is 3:56:41 playing casually after having left it on for 30 minutes to eat dinner. At the time I completed it, it was ranked 43rd on the leaderboards.
It sounds like I'm (undeservedly, I admit) tooting my own horn at this point, but this is all to say that while I'm not the greatest Metroidvania-type player, I'm not bad. I'd venture to say I'm pretty good, actually, so no one can say "oh, you just suck at Metroid, then" if I bring up any criticisms of the challenge of the game (of which there are many, but more on that later).
Also, for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to refer to this version of Redesign Axeil as simply "Redesign." So, without further ado, on to the review!
I will begin by saying that I honestly overall enjoyed this hack. There are a lot of things to love about Redesign that I feel people aren't giving enough credit for because of all the other stuff weighing down the hack.
* The world is absolutely gigantic and methodically crafted; it's abundantly clear that years worth of time and effort went into creating a sprawling, gigantic world that is both intimidating to look at on the map screens and beautiful to experience when playing. This is to say that clearly no effort was spared when creating this gigantic piece of work.
The subtle changes to the tilesets also assist in creating an immersive world, to the point that Redesign looks leaps and bounds better than the original game. Everything looks like it makes sense, every tunnel looks natural and every structure looks like it was built onto the world in ways that just make sense.
* There are a lot of neat ideas, such as the new auto-morph mechanic which is a blessing for players troubled with the new physics, though there are definitely some tunnels that the auto-morph doesn't work in.
* The gravity is also less punishing, with horizontal jumps being made easier and Samus not falling like a rock the moment she reaches the apex of her jump.
* Shinesparking is made a little easier, as horizontal shinesparking in the original Redesign and vanilla Super Metroid was finicky and tough to accomplish.
* Auto-walljumping is also great as it does prevent hand cramps.
* The auto-map system has been ridiculously improved! This is probably the best map system of any Super Metroid hack out there. I'd be happy if every hack from hereon out incorporated some version of this map system; it prevents clutter, makes doors easy to spot, and is overall an incredible addition.
* The hint system is wonderful. It prevents a LOT of aimless searching and streamlines the game. I've heard of previous versions not incorporating hints for some of the Chozo Guardians, which is baffling to me. However, 1.4 did fix those issues.
* The endgame statistics screen is very neat and a nice way to cap off the adventure.
* Manual scrolling was a nice feature. The are unfortunately many places within the original Redesign that have you jumping blindly into enemies because they're too far below screen, but Axeil makes it somewhat more tolerable with this system. That being said, this feels more like a safety net for bad room design rather than a good mechanic in and of itself. Players shouldn't need to stop and look down for a couple of seconds when you could just structure the room in a way that players can see all they need to see at all times.
* The nameplates for the areas is a NICE touch. I suggest adding more in there in future editions! So far, I count: Crateria, Crateria Depths, Brinstar, Norfair, Lower Norfair, Maridia, Tourian Access and Tourian. There could definitely be more added in, especially in Brinstar and Maridia. One of my favourite parts of Metroid Prime is that every room has a NAME, which lends an identity to each area.
* Quicksand doesn't suck ass anymore. Thank god!
* Exiting water without the Gravity Suit is actually possible in this version! HUZZAH!
* The optional Hell's Run is very much appreciated. While the Hell's Run was something of an iconic moment of the original Redesign, it was the source of incredible frustration due to death pits and there being absolutely no room for error on the player's part.
The early Power Bomb challenge is very neat. I won't say much more about it due to not having attempted the challenge, but it's still a very cool feature.
* Speedbooster and Power Bomb blocks staying destroyed even when exiting a room is great!
* The idea to weaken Ridley's health in Ceres to aid in your fight against him in Norfair was a very cool idea... HOWEVER... I will go into why it's super bullshit later on.
* The express elevators are a nice addition, which helps cut down on the backtracking somewhat. However, I didn't make much use of them myself because I honestly forgot where they would go and would rarely take me to where I needed to go if I did remember where they went. Maybe notating them on the map somehow would help?
AREA SPECIFIC
* CRATERIA: The early Power Bomb challenge is very well presented. There are subtle environmental cues to show which trip wires won't set off the alarm, which is a neat addition.
* BRINSTAR: Honestly, Brinstar was my absolute favourite part of the hack, especially Red Brinstar. Sidehoppers always will suck, and the Mega Sidehoppers taking off more than an Energy Tank is bullshit, but I still enjoyed it immensely.
* NORFAIR: Not much to say, as it didn't feel too different (though I admit I played Redesign a couple of years ago), though the added save points is a plus. Also, and I don't know exactly how to quantify this, but the Grapple section in Norfair wasn't as much of a nightmare, thank god.
* MARIDIA: Quicksand isn't stupid shit anymore.
* TOURIAN: Despite my outburst in my previous post, Tourian does have some neat ideas. The idea to destroy Zebetites to deactivate lasers is definitely pretty cool, though I'd totally scale it back a bit with how extreme it is. It's a well-crafted location... even if tedious.
The hack definitely feels more accessible this time around, with enemy damage being taken down and health drops being buffed (small energy now heals 10, and large energy heals 25). The additions really help new players ease into the game and I will definitely say that I had more fun at the beginning of the hack than I did in the original Redesign.
Now, all that having been said...
I have quite a few criticisms with the hack. As many people have vented their frustrations to you in this thread, which will always be a tough pill to swallow, I won't go full rage mode or anything.
* The physics, while made better, are still annoying to deal with. The most important question you should ask yourself when creating a game or making a hack is "what does this bring to the table?" For example, what do the heavier physics bring to the table? You mentioned in your readme for the original hack that they add a sense of unfamiliarity, which might be true to an extent, but I still felt like I was playing Super Metroid, anyway. After that, they just lend a sense of frustration to players trying to navigate the often tight, methodically constructed rooms and maps of the game. Another member mentioned that they'd have more fun if the original physics were present, which is a statement I'm going to support. Also, as an aside, you mentioned in the original hack's readme that your decision to add in the heavier physics was supported by a Pirate Data Entry in the Logbook which states that Tallon IV and Zebes have similar masses... but, you don't jump as high in Metroid Prime, and if you adjust for that I think you'd find that Tallon IV and the original Super Metroid Zebes do have similar gravity. Just something to keep in mind.
* Similar to the different physics, why was the crumble jump removed? I know crumble jumping allowed players to circumvent your puzzles, but wasn't that part of the reason why people liked Super Metroid in the first place? The important thing to note is player agency here, in that in Super Metroid you're given all these different options as to how you can approach the game. It lends a sense of replay value that isn't found in other games that Metroidvanias excel at. I know it sucks to work super hard on a puzzle just for people to ignore it in favour of a different solution, but sometimes the developer must make concessions for the players: Miyazaki of Dark Souls fame speaks of this in an interview in which he says that despite there being sequence-breaking bugs in his games (I think the skip in questions is the skip to the Adjudicator in Demon's Souls' Shrine of Storms 1), the fact that they add something to the game and become a part of its identity is something that must be considered or even kept in when designing games in this era in which we can patch out bugs and the like. Totally restricting player agency like that is BOUND to frustrate players, and strips Super Metroid of something that helped make it so loved in the first place.
* Similarly, why the heck did you make arm-pumping slower, dude?!
* The Morph Ball rolling speed is way, way too slow. I realize you wanted to give an added benefit to getting the Hi-Jump Boots, but why? What purpose did it serve? The fact that you can jump higher and while in a ball is reward enough. The default rolling speed should be the speed you have with the Hi-Jump Boots equipped, because as it stands it's just tedious.
Those Morph Ball maze tunnels also suck the big one. You know, the ones where you need to make these incredibly tight jumps or else you risk falling onto a crumble block (which, need I remind everyone, you can no longer jump out of and save yourself losing a shit-ton of progress). I'll admit I save-stated the HELL out of those sections to save myself the immense frustration. And, to add insult to injury, you're given measly rewards like 2-Missile Packs once you've completed them.
* That brings me to my next point, which is also true of the original Redesign. The different sizes of Missile packs, while a neat idea, don't add much but frustration to the game. Early on, you're forced to deal with criminally low Missile levels which makes the player farm for ammo, which is never a good thing. This combined with those fucking Purple Doors, makes resource management all the more tedious.
* Purple Doors. Why, Drew? What do they add to the experience? People were never really big fans of the 5 Missile Doors in Super Metroid and the addition of 1 Missile Doors in Zero Mission was universally praised, so why make it even more extreme and tedious? Again, you have to ask yourself what Purple Doors bring to the table. Missile Doors are basically locks to prevent the player from exploring until they have the appropriate power up, this case being the Missiles. While maybe having one Purple Door might be good to force players to explore and find the appropriate amount of missiles, there's like a fucking million of them in the hack. Super Missiles also fire more slowly, so you're forced to sit and wait for longer than what is reasonable to open these damn doors. I say take them out and replace them with 5 Missile Doors or Power Bomb doors or whatever. Or, even better, 1 Missile Doors!
* Early Energy tanks have been moved around, creating a shortage of them pre-Hell's Run.
* Which reminds me, why do Supers fire slower? Supers were already made somewhat pointless by Charge+Ice+Wave+Plasma totally out-damaging them, so lowering their firing speed is just a totally ridiculous nerf. Maybe if they were godlike like they are in Zero Mission would this be an okay decision, but here it's just silly. They're totally useless, after a certain point.
The shot block that looks like a bomb block is stupid and only serves to confuse players. There's no reason for its inclusion.
* Crateria Depths was increased? Why? WHY? It's easily the worst part of pre-Tourian. Underwater suitless isn't challenging or fun, it's just annoying and tedious. And why the heck did you keep it as part of the escape sequence?! Again, you must ask yourself what it brings to the table. Fighting the Elite Pirates was the only interesting part of it all.
* The abundance of Morph Ball Tunnel Puzzles. I like them as much as the next guy, but there's just too much. Add in the fact that many of them need double bomb jumping, and you have yourself many needlessly tedious sections of the game that could have easily been much more enjoyable had they been designed with reducing tedium in mind.
* The Speed Booster escape killed me like 4 times because of the incredibly tight window you're given to escape. You need to have a perfect run or else you're toast. After the vertical shinesparking section, if the lava gets too high you simply cannot escape. Make it so that you can escape even if you're stuck in the lava at that point.
* The Screw Attack puzzle is a bit too nebulous for my tastes. I had to look up the solution because I honestly never noticed that the switches ran on timers with differing lengths. This puzzle, along with the Lost Caverns, is easily the most "esoteric" for lack of a better phrase of the puzzles in Redesign. It's certainly a neat idea, but it will be the source of endless frustration for the vast majority of players unless this problem is addressed. The thing is with Metroid puzzles is that the player is taught to look for environmental cues and hidden passages and the like to discover items, and this is also true for the rest of the hack. However, the Screw Attack puzzle throws all preconceptions and intuitively-thought mechanics out the window in favour of a puzzle that will frustrate people. Players can easily miss out on the cues already given by not noticing a mere ONE SECOND of different between two separate switches. I realize you don't have problems with this puzzle, Drew, but that's because you created it.
* Fucking sandfalls in Maridia. They're just there to frustrate you and prevent you from reaching Botwoon early, the latter of which is absolutely fine, but did it have to affect the rest of the hack?
* Other than that, Maridia was honestly just kind of boring. Power ups were super scarce in comparison to other areas, especially Brinstar, and the enemies were damage sponges which would have been totally alleviated had we been given the Beam Combo earlier, but alas.
Why was the Plasma Beam kept until after Ridley? At that point, all you need to do is hunt down the Guardians and enter Tourian. There's just not much use for it outside of those instances. There's just not much to use it on aside from the Space Pirates in Tourian. Make it so that you can use it against Ridley, at least!
* Ridley's boss battle in Norfair. Attacking Ridley on Ceres was a SUPER cool idea, but your little readme neglected to mention that he'd deal more damage as a result. He shouldn't be taking off 3 energy tanks worth of health, god dammit. Either take out the damage buff or at least mention it in the readme before unsuspected players get gored on a totally bullshit and grimy trick.
* Acid. Now, this is a bit of weird point because I played 1.4 which cut back on the ridiculous damage given by Acid in favour of a suit integrity damage system, but it brings to mind a sort of cognitive dissonance that always pops in my mind whenever I think about Axeil: for a hack designed to be more accessible, why are there so many mechanics that are harder for the player?
* And now... for the big one. Tourian. Oh my gosh, Tourian. This was easily one of the least enjoyable experiences I've had playing a Metroid hack. I was not fucking ready for Tourian. No amount of trials and tribulations could have prepared me for the sleeping beast that lied dormant until I awakened those twelve fateful Chozo Guardians. Now, I realize I played version 1.4 which apparently cut back on the Metroids outside of the Ffff-ffEEEEDIng PIT aREAs... sorry, my rage peeped out for an instant. I'm sorry about that! Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, Tourian. As stated before, disarming the lasers was a cool idea, but it was pretty darn extreme. It's just super tedious, which you say is intentional but again you must ask yourself what the point of the tedium is. If you're designing a hack made to be more accessible, why would you deliberately design something more tedious? It's another sense of the cognitive dissonance I was talking about, and others have touched on this as well.
* The mega uber death lasers are a bit much. Tone down the damage because falling into one or jumping into one is instant death. Just make them a solid block that takes of a chunk of damage instead of sapping your health 300 HEALTH A FRAME.
* THE METROIDS. Ooooooooh man, the Metroids. I will admit I was pretty jazzed getting into Tourian as I honestly enjoyed myself despite all the criticisms I had for pre-Tourian sections of the game. I honestly, truly enjoyed myself, despite all the railroading and the blatant hate for sequence breaking and letting the player find their own route through the game, but then the Metroids attacked. The earth cracked and the sky shook with the ferocity of their attacks. I was emotionally spent after having completed the hack, and by golly god damn holy crap did those Metroids ever take a toll on me. There are just too much, they are too plentiful, they aggro from too far away, they hunt in these fucking packs, they take too much to get off, they're too fast, Supers are way too slow, they're too relentless, holy shit oh my gosh why
* THE FEEDING PIT. Wait! Let me... let me collect myself. I'm sorry, bad memories. Anyway, yes, the feeding pit. That feeding pit is the worst part of the hack, easily. I yelled, I was frustrated, it took forever, I had to make multiple trips out of Tourian and to my ship in Crateria to efficiently farm all that health back, and why did you put it in? Why did you put the feeding pit in a hack designed to be more accessible for players? WHY?! DREEEEEWWWWWwww... Anyway, yeah, they're a pain. Why do they dodge? Why do they take less time to freeze? Why don't Power Bombs work at all? Why do you need to kill them in an insanely fast amount of time? I got lucky and the Metroids decided to stay stunned for longer in the final feeding pit area, which was the sweet song of seraphim heard in my lover's bosom to me at that point, but AGAIN I must ask why it's included in a hack that's designed to be more accessible. If this was a challenge hack, great! Mission accomplished! However, neither this nor the original Redesign (though it's to my understanding that the Metroids weren't this insane in the original hack) were designed to be challenge hacks. In fact, as I've brought up doubtlessly countless times at this point, Axeil Edition was designed to be more accessible! So why, man? Why?
So, after having given an all-too-large bullet point list of my likes and dislikes of the hack (though I'll admit that I probably forgot a lot of stuff, though I feel others have stated their criticisms enough to cover the ones I forgot), I'll finish with my closing thoughts. I will restate that despite my criticisms, I still had fun with this game. There's
It sounds like I'm (undeservedly, I admit) tooting my own horn at this point, but this is all to say that while I'm not the greatest Metroidvania-type player, I'm not bad. I'd venture to say I'm pretty good, actually, so no one can say "oh, you just suck at Metroid, then" if I bring up any criticisms of the challenge of the game (of which there are many, but more on that later).
Also, for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to refer to this version of Redesign Axeil as simply "Redesign." So, without further ado, on to the review!
I will begin by saying that I honestly overall enjoyed this hack. There are a lot of things to love about Redesign that I feel people aren't giving enough credit for because of all the other stuff weighing down the hack.
* The world is absolutely gigantic and methodically crafted; it's abundantly clear that years worth of time and effort went into creating a sprawling, gigantic world that is both intimidating to look at on the map screens and beautiful to experience when playing. This is to say that clearly no effort was spared when creating this gigantic piece of work.
The subtle changes to the tilesets also assist in creating an immersive world, to the point that Redesign looks leaps and bounds better than the original game. Everything looks like it makes sense, every tunnel looks natural and every structure looks like it was built onto the world in ways that just make sense.
* There are a lot of neat ideas, such as the new auto-morph mechanic which is a blessing for players troubled with the new physics, though there are definitely some tunnels that the auto-morph doesn't work in.
* The gravity is also less punishing, with horizontal jumps being made easier and Samus not falling like a rock the moment she reaches the apex of her jump.
* Shinesparking is made a little easier, as horizontal shinesparking in the original Redesign and vanilla Super Metroid was finicky and tough to accomplish.
* Auto-walljumping is also great as it does prevent hand cramps.
* The auto-map system has been ridiculously improved! This is probably the best map system of any Super Metroid hack out there. I'd be happy if every hack from hereon out incorporated some version of this map system; it prevents clutter, makes doors easy to spot, and is overall an incredible addition.
* The hint system is wonderful. It prevents a LOT of aimless searching and streamlines the game. I've heard of previous versions not incorporating hints for some of the Chozo Guardians, which is baffling to me. However, 1.4 did fix those issues.
* The endgame statistics screen is very neat and a nice way to cap off the adventure.
* Manual scrolling was a nice feature. The are unfortunately many places within the original Redesign that have you jumping blindly into enemies because they're too far below screen, but Axeil makes it somewhat more tolerable with this system. That being said, this feels more like a safety net for bad room design rather than a good mechanic in and of itself. Players shouldn't need to stop and look down for a couple of seconds when you could just structure the room in a way that players can see all they need to see at all times.
* The nameplates for the areas is a NICE touch. I suggest adding more in there in future editions! So far, I count: Crateria, Crateria Depths, Brinstar, Norfair, Lower Norfair, Maridia, Tourian Access and Tourian. There could definitely be more added in, especially in Brinstar and Maridia. One of my favourite parts of Metroid Prime is that every room has a NAME, which lends an identity to each area.
* Quicksand doesn't suck ass anymore. Thank god!
* Exiting water without the Gravity Suit is actually possible in this version! HUZZAH!
* The optional Hell's Run is very much appreciated. While the Hell's Run was something of an iconic moment of the original Redesign, it was the source of incredible frustration due to death pits and there being absolutely no room for error on the player's part.
The early Power Bomb challenge is very neat. I won't say much more about it due to not having attempted the challenge, but it's still a very cool feature.
* Speedbooster and Power Bomb blocks staying destroyed even when exiting a room is great!
* The idea to weaken Ridley's health in Ceres to aid in your fight against him in Norfair was a very cool idea... HOWEVER... I will go into why it's super bullshit later on.
* The express elevators are a nice addition, which helps cut down on the backtracking somewhat. However, I didn't make much use of them myself because I honestly forgot where they would go and would rarely take me to where I needed to go if I did remember where they went. Maybe notating them on the map somehow would help?
AREA SPECIFIC
* CRATERIA: The early Power Bomb challenge is very well presented. There are subtle environmental cues to show which trip wires won't set off the alarm, which is a neat addition.
* BRINSTAR: Honestly, Brinstar was my absolute favourite part of the hack, especially Red Brinstar. Sidehoppers always will suck, and the Mega Sidehoppers taking off more than an Energy Tank is bullshit, but I still enjoyed it immensely.
* NORFAIR: Not much to say, as it didn't feel too different (though I admit I played Redesign a couple of years ago), though the added save points is a plus. Also, and I don't know exactly how to quantify this, but the Grapple section in Norfair wasn't as much of a nightmare, thank god.
* MARIDIA: Quicksand isn't stupid shit anymore.
* TOURIAN: Despite my outburst in my previous post, Tourian does have some neat ideas. The idea to destroy Zebetites to deactivate lasers is definitely pretty cool, though I'd totally scale it back a bit with how extreme it is. It's a well-crafted location... even if tedious.
The hack definitely feels more accessible this time around, with enemy damage being taken down and health drops being buffed (small energy now heals 10, and large energy heals 25). The additions really help new players ease into the game and I will definitely say that I had more fun at the beginning of the hack than I did in the original Redesign.
Now, all that having been said...
I have quite a few criticisms with the hack. As many people have vented their frustrations to you in this thread, which will always be a tough pill to swallow, I won't go full rage mode or anything.
* The physics, while made better, are still annoying to deal with. The most important question you should ask yourself when creating a game or making a hack is "what does this bring to the table?" For example, what do the heavier physics bring to the table? You mentioned in your readme for the original hack that they add a sense of unfamiliarity, which might be true to an extent, but I still felt like I was playing Super Metroid, anyway. After that, they just lend a sense of frustration to players trying to navigate the often tight, methodically constructed rooms and maps of the game. Another member mentioned that they'd have more fun if the original physics were present, which is a statement I'm going to support. Also, as an aside, you mentioned in the original hack's readme that your decision to add in the heavier physics was supported by a Pirate Data Entry in the Logbook which states that Tallon IV and Zebes have similar masses... but, you don't jump as high in Metroid Prime, and if you adjust for that I think you'd find that Tallon IV and the original Super Metroid Zebes do have similar gravity. Just something to keep in mind.
* Similar to the different physics, why was the crumble jump removed? I know crumble jumping allowed players to circumvent your puzzles, but wasn't that part of the reason why people liked Super Metroid in the first place? The important thing to note is player agency here, in that in Super Metroid you're given all these different options as to how you can approach the game. It lends a sense of replay value that isn't found in other games that Metroidvanias excel at. I know it sucks to work super hard on a puzzle just for people to ignore it in favour of a different solution, but sometimes the developer must make concessions for the players: Miyazaki of Dark Souls fame speaks of this in an interview in which he says that despite there being sequence-breaking bugs in his games (I think the skip in questions is the skip to the Adjudicator in Demon's Souls' Shrine of Storms 1), the fact that they add something to the game and become a part of its identity is something that must be considered or even kept in when designing games in this era in which we can patch out bugs and the like. Totally restricting player agency like that is BOUND to frustrate players, and strips Super Metroid of something that helped make it so loved in the first place.
* Similarly, why the heck did you make arm-pumping slower, dude?!
* The Morph Ball rolling speed is way, way too slow. I realize you wanted to give an added benefit to getting the Hi-Jump Boots, but why? What purpose did it serve? The fact that you can jump higher and while in a ball is reward enough. The default rolling speed should be the speed you have with the Hi-Jump Boots equipped, because as it stands it's just tedious.
Those Morph Ball maze tunnels also suck the big one. You know, the ones where you need to make these incredibly tight jumps or else you risk falling onto a crumble block (which, need I remind everyone, you can no longer jump out of and save yourself losing a shit-ton of progress). I'll admit I save-stated the HELL out of those sections to save myself the immense frustration. And, to add insult to injury, you're given measly rewards like 2-Missile Packs once you've completed them.
* That brings me to my next point, which is also true of the original Redesign. The different sizes of Missile packs, while a neat idea, don't add much but frustration to the game. Early on, you're forced to deal with criminally low Missile levels which makes the player farm for ammo, which is never a good thing. This combined with those fucking Purple Doors, makes resource management all the more tedious.
* Purple Doors. Why, Drew? What do they add to the experience? People were never really big fans of the 5 Missile Doors in Super Metroid and the addition of 1 Missile Doors in Zero Mission was universally praised, so why make it even more extreme and tedious? Again, you have to ask yourself what Purple Doors bring to the table. Missile Doors are basically locks to prevent the player from exploring until they have the appropriate power up, this case being the Missiles. While maybe having one Purple Door might be good to force players to explore and find the appropriate amount of missiles, there's like a fucking million of them in the hack. Super Missiles also fire more slowly, so you're forced to sit and wait for longer than what is reasonable to open these damn doors. I say take them out and replace them with 5 Missile Doors or Power Bomb doors or whatever. Or, even better, 1 Missile Doors!
* Early Energy tanks have been moved around, creating a shortage of them pre-Hell's Run.
* Which reminds me, why do Supers fire slower? Supers were already made somewhat pointless by Charge+Ice+Wave+Plasma totally out-damaging them, so lowering their firing speed is just a totally ridiculous nerf. Maybe if they were godlike like they are in Zero Mission would this be an okay decision, but here it's just silly. They're totally useless, after a certain point.
The shot block that looks like a bomb block is stupid and only serves to confuse players. There's no reason for its inclusion.
* Crateria Depths was increased? Why? WHY? It's easily the worst part of pre-Tourian. Underwater suitless isn't challenging or fun, it's just annoying and tedious. And why the heck did you keep it as part of the escape sequence?! Again, you must ask yourself what it brings to the table. Fighting the Elite Pirates was the only interesting part of it all.
* The abundance of Morph Ball Tunnel Puzzles. I like them as much as the next guy, but there's just too much. Add in the fact that many of them need double bomb jumping, and you have yourself many needlessly tedious sections of the game that could have easily been much more enjoyable had they been designed with reducing tedium in mind.
* The Speed Booster escape killed me like 4 times because of the incredibly tight window you're given to escape. You need to have a perfect run or else you're toast. After the vertical shinesparking section, if the lava gets too high you simply cannot escape. Make it so that you can escape even if you're stuck in the lava at that point.
* The Screw Attack puzzle is a bit too nebulous for my tastes. I had to look up the solution because I honestly never noticed that the switches ran on timers with differing lengths. This puzzle, along with the Lost Caverns, is easily the most "esoteric" for lack of a better phrase of the puzzles in Redesign. It's certainly a neat idea, but it will be the source of endless frustration for the vast majority of players unless this problem is addressed. The thing is with Metroid puzzles is that the player is taught to look for environmental cues and hidden passages and the like to discover items, and this is also true for the rest of the hack. However, the Screw Attack puzzle throws all preconceptions and intuitively-thought mechanics out the window in favour of a puzzle that will frustrate people. Players can easily miss out on the cues already given by not noticing a mere ONE SECOND of different between two separate switches. I realize you don't have problems with this puzzle, Drew, but that's because you created it.
* Fucking sandfalls in Maridia. They're just there to frustrate you and prevent you from reaching Botwoon early, the latter of which is absolutely fine, but did it have to affect the rest of the hack?
* Other than that, Maridia was honestly just kind of boring. Power ups were super scarce in comparison to other areas, especially Brinstar, and the enemies were damage sponges which would have been totally alleviated had we been given the Beam Combo earlier, but alas.
Why was the Plasma Beam kept until after Ridley? At that point, all you need to do is hunt down the Guardians and enter Tourian. There's just not much use for it outside of those instances. There's just not much to use it on aside from the Space Pirates in Tourian. Make it so that you can use it against Ridley, at least!
* Ridley's boss battle in Norfair. Attacking Ridley on Ceres was a SUPER cool idea, but your little readme neglected to mention that he'd deal more damage as a result. He shouldn't be taking off 3 energy tanks worth of health, god dammit. Either take out the damage buff or at least mention it in the readme before unsuspected players get gored on a totally bullshit and grimy trick.
* Acid. Now, this is a bit of weird point because I played 1.4 which cut back on the ridiculous damage given by Acid in favour of a suit integrity damage system, but it brings to mind a sort of cognitive dissonance that always pops in my mind whenever I think about Axeil: for a hack designed to be more accessible, why are there so many mechanics that are harder for the player?
* And now... for the big one. Tourian. Oh my gosh, Tourian. This was easily one of the least enjoyable experiences I've had playing a Metroid hack. I was not fucking ready for Tourian. No amount of trials and tribulations could have prepared me for the sleeping beast that lied dormant until I awakened those twelve fateful Chozo Guardians. Now, I realize I played version 1.4 which apparently cut back on the Metroids outside of the Ffff-ffEEEEDIng PIT aREAs... sorry, my rage peeped out for an instant. I'm sorry about that! Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, Tourian. As stated before, disarming the lasers was a cool idea, but it was pretty darn extreme. It's just super tedious, which you say is intentional but again you must ask yourself what the point of the tedium is. If you're designing a hack made to be more accessible, why would you deliberately design something more tedious? It's another sense of the cognitive dissonance I was talking about, and others have touched on this as well.
* The mega uber death lasers are a bit much. Tone down the damage because falling into one or jumping into one is instant death. Just make them a solid block that takes of a chunk of damage instead of sapping your health 300 HEALTH A FRAME.
* THE METROIDS. Ooooooooh man, the Metroids. I will admit I was pretty jazzed getting into Tourian as I honestly enjoyed myself despite all the criticisms I had for pre-Tourian sections of the game. I honestly, truly enjoyed myself, despite all the railroading and the blatant hate for sequence breaking and letting the player find their own route through the game, but then the Metroids attacked. The earth cracked and the sky shook with the ferocity of their attacks. I was emotionally spent after having completed the hack, and by golly god damn holy crap did those Metroids ever take a toll on me. There are just too much, they are too plentiful, they aggro from too far away, they hunt in these fucking packs, they take too much to get off, they're too fast, Supers are way too slow, they're too relentless, holy shit oh my gosh why
* THE FEEDING PIT. Wait! Let me... let me collect myself. I'm sorry, bad memories. Anyway, yes, the feeding pit. That feeding pit is the worst part of the hack, easily. I yelled, I was frustrated, it took forever, I had to make multiple trips out of Tourian and to my ship in Crateria to efficiently farm all that health back, and why did you put it in? Why did you put the feeding pit in a hack designed to be more accessible for players? WHY?! DREEEEEWWWWWwww... Anyway, yeah, they're a pain. Why do they dodge? Why do they take less time to freeze? Why don't Power Bombs work at all? Why do you need to kill them in an insanely fast amount of time? I got lucky and the Metroids decided to stay stunned for longer in the final feeding pit area, which was the sweet song of seraphim heard in my lover's bosom to me at that point, but AGAIN I must ask why it's included in a hack that's designed to be more accessible. If this was a challenge hack, great! Mission accomplished! However, neither this nor the original Redesign (though it's to my understanding that the Metroids weren't this insane in the original hack) were designed to be challenge hacks. In fact, as I've brought up doubtlessly countless times at this point, Axeil Edition was designed to be more accessible! So why, man? Why?
So, after having given an all-too-large bullet point list of my likes and dislikes of the hack (though I'll admit that I probably forgot a lot of stuff, though I feel others have stated their criticisms enough to cover the ones I forgot), I'll finish with my closing thoughts. I will restate that despite my criticisms, I still had fun with this game. There's
Now i had fun with the game.. i have never played the normal Redesign because of how hard it is supposed to be... now i do have some mixed feelings on this game. Now for times sake im not gonna say all the things i dislike,plus it has already been mentioned in all these reviews.. My only real complaints are how weak you are in the game and how looooooong tourian is and how hard it is.The escape was fine and kinda fun actaully but that's just my opinion. If you were a bit stronger with some tweeks to the enemies and beam powers i would enjoy this hack far more..
Note, my playthrough was on either v1.1 or v1.2.
So Redesign for beginners? (AKA Axeil, who for those not in the know had extreme trouble with Redesign which finally got Drew to tweak Redesign so beginner players could beat it.) Honestly, the main sticking point with me from Redesign still exists, the physics. They're improved, somewhat, but still annoying and awful. That is just my opinion, and you may have a completely different one and that's fine, but I can't stand them. And since they permeate the entire game, my opinion is again pretty low regarding the hack. That isn't to say they're all awful, as some tweaks are really good. Being able to get out of water, the boost from Grappling, not instantly falling at top speed, those are all great advances.
The thing with this hack that frustrates me the most though, is Drew's opinion that speedrunning is bad and any semblance of breaking his hack is bad and players should be actively punished for trying. Arm-pumping for instance now actively slows the player down, and yes it may be a bug, but why is it a bug? Because Drew didn't want people to be able to short-charge a Shinespark. Oh, and going out of bounds now just kills the player. Nice try, X-Ray climbing hacks, Drew hates you too! This does nothing but make me never want to play the hack again. I already hate the physics, and the endless tedium of doing anything in the hack, and now any chance of making the hack somewhat interesting and fun after the first playthrough is gone.
I will admit that there is a lot of improvement over the original Redesign, and a lot of the new features are really good and quite honestly a shame they aren't in other hacks too. That being said, I still suggest people play the original Redesign, and skip Axeil Edition. Why? Because it lies and insults the player. The purpose was to make Redesign accessible for beginner players, and it succeeds all the way up to Tourian. Once there, Drew suddenly decides that beginners no longer need to apply, and his hideous Metroids are just awful. The original Redesign isn't great, but I can still respect it.
See, the one thing that stands out in Axeil Edition is just endless tedium. The hack is nothing but farm ammo, 25-Missile doors, farm ammo, enemies that require Missiles if you want to live, farm ammo, farm ammo again because that's what you need to do, farm even more ammo, oh hey more 25-Missile doors, enemies, farm ammo, farm ammo, farm ammo, repeat farm ammo, and through in a bunch of tedious exploration. Not even fun exploration, just tedious exploration. The whole hack is literally nothing but tedium, and that isn't fun. The whole farm ammo thing falls under what Drew calls "ammo management" and is supposed to be part of the experience I guess. You know when the only time farm ammo is even slight fun? When it is part of a speedrun or after an actual thrilling segment that leaves the player depleted. But you know, those speedrunners can't touch this hack, so bye bye that option. Everything in the hack is just slow. Morph Ball is slow, your rate of firing Super Missiles is excessively slow, suitless underwater is even worse, you can't even jump off of crumble blocks anymore. It's like being stuck in 1,000 mile wide swamp, and you have to cross it while mud is up to your shoulders the entire way.
Drew is still working on the hack though. He "improved" the Metroids already from the version I played, though I hear they're still awful, and he has been doing some other random tweaks. Again, a lot of really good things in here, and some pretty cool things will be coming in a later version, but I won't be returning to it. The new stuff is not nearly enough to overcome the tedium and the hate for anyone trying to play the hack fast. This would easily be a 1-orb rating if it didn't have a boatload of actual good things to raise it up slightly.
So Redesign for beginners? (AKA Axeil, who for those not in the know had extreme trouble with Redesign which finally got Drew to tweak Redesign so beginner players could beat it.) Honestly, the main sticking point with me from Redesign still exists, the physics. They're improved, somewhat, but still annoying and awful. That is just my opinion, and you may have a completely different one and that's fine, but I can't stand them. And since they permeate the entire game, my opinion is again pretty low regarding the hack. That isn't to say they're all awful, as some tweaks are really good. Being able to get out of water, the boost from Grappling, not instantly falling at top speed, those are all great advances.
The thing with this hack that frustrates me the most though, is Drew's opinion that speedrunning is bad and any semblance of breaking his hack is bad and players should be actively punished for trying. Arm-pumping for instance now actively slows the player down, and yes it may be a bug, but why is it a bug? Because Drew didn't want people to be able to short-charge a Shinespark. Oh, and going out of bounds now just kills the player. Nice try, X-Ray climbing hacks, Drew hates you too! This does nothing but make me never want to play the hack again. I already hate the physics, and the endless tedium of doing anything in the hack, and now any chance of making the hack somewhat interesting and fun after the first playthrough is gone.
I will admit that there is a lot of improvement over the original Redesign, and a lot of the new features are really good and quite honestly a shame they aren't in other hacks too. That being said, I still suggest people play the original Redesign, and skip Axeil Edition. Why? Because it lies and insults the player. The purpose was to make Redesign accessible for beginner players, and it succeeds all the way up to Tourian. Once there, Drew suddenly decides that beginners no longer need to apply, and his hideous Metroids are just awful. The original Redesign isn't great, but I can still respect it.
See, the one thing that stands out in Axeil Edition is just endless tedium. The hack is nothing but farm ammo, 25-Missile doors, farm ammo, enemies that require Missiles if you want to live, farm ammo, farm ammo again because that's what you need to do, farm even more ammo, oh hey more 25-Missile doors, enemies, farm ammo, farm ammo, farm ammo, repeat farm ammo, and through in a bunch of tedious exploration. Not even fun exploration, just tedious exploration. The whole hack is literally nothing but tedium, and that isn't fun. The whole farm ammo thing falls under what Drew calls "ammo management" and is supposed to be part of the experience I guess. You know when the only time farm ammo is even slight fun? When it is part of a speedrun or after an actual thrilling segment that leaves the player depleted. But you know, those speedrunners can't touch this hack, so bye bye that option. Everything in the hack is just slow. Morph Ball is slow, your rate of firing Super Missiles is excessively slow, suitless underwater is even worse, you can't even jump off of crumble blocks anymore. It's like being stuck in 1,000 mile wide swamp, and you have to cross it while mud is up to your shoulders the entire way.
Drew is still working on the hack though. He "improved" the Metroids already from the version I played, though I hear they're still awful, and he has been doing some other random tweaks. Again, a lot of really good things in here, and some pretty cool things will be coming in a later version, but I won't be returning to it. The new stuff is not nearly enough to overcome the tedium and the hate for anyone trying to play the hack fast. This would easily be a 1-orb rating if it didn't have a boatload of actual good things to raise it up slightly.
Edition 1.4
I played with my brother trading off over znes netplay. Very little savestates and no TAS tools were used, so this is as close to a legit run as I could make.
--------------
Innovation and Standing Apart
* Redesigned feels like no normal Metroid hack, the new positive adjustments to Axiel feel very good. The only thing that I couldn't get down was infinite bomb jumping, but everything else was solid. I had no issues with shinesparks, spacejumps or screwattacks. For the most part the "skill automated" hype is accurate.
* There is many new small touches all over the hack, new sprites and nameplates show a level of polish many hacks dont have. Redesigned is clearly an undertaking in crafting Zebes. It feels much more like you're truely battling through an entire planet used as the space pirates base. The planet shifting makes Zebes feel like a real volatile place and gives character to the world you're explorint. I really enjoyed this aspect of the hack, and only wished there were more of it or that the shifts created bigger changes to the map.
* The new mapping and hints system is an incredible help but I'm still left wanting more out of it due to how complex Redesigned's maps are. I did use the express elevators but also found myself forgetting which elevator goes to what area very often since they are just blank. I would love to see them being color coded. This goes double for the doors, so many doors to keep track of would cut down on the backtracking if you didn't have to revisit an area just to see that it's a gray door or something else.
* I used hints very sparingly and only when I swept the maps for a while. They worked very well, right up until Grapple where it failed and SpaceJump where it didn't seem so obvious on continuing on due to you hiding an enemy behind a sandfall it was easily missed.
* The Lost Caverns is almost worth loosing the Wrecked Ship over except that it's merely a convoluted puzzle that will make the player become very frusterated and may only stumble onto the solution by blind luck. It was definitely interesting but the player will either spend far too much time guessing wrong and hate their life, or just breeze through the LC in no time with barely a glimpse at it. I would have preferred the Caverns as it's own big area to conquer and leave the maze til the end since it was intriging but short lived once you knew the way.
* One of the biggest beneficial changes to Axiel was the midair-morph. Many of the morph jumps are much easier now but this doesn't always work when it should. So the experience isn't flawless and the player must be able to midair morph at least a few times on their own. Though I suspect this is just an oversight. It feels incredibly fluid when it does work though.
* Beam Combo was a cool addition but felt strangely out of place in a spot that could easily be missed, yet it's so critical to have for the final run against LowerNorfair and Tourian.
---------
Difficulty
* The remade Redesigned rooms and general placement in Axiel 1.4 is a big step forward from the cruelty of the original Redesign. Instead of outright killing you however, now it seems like this hack punishes you by wasting your time. An improvement in difficulty but not much better for fun when it becomes too tedious to aquiring items, or progressing requires you to go through multiple tricks spanning many rooms. And if that's your design then you can expect people to use save-states.
* I didn't mind the acid since I learned early on that it was death and there was never really a point where I had to dive into it and pray. At first I thought it was a bug, but after paying attention to the suit I noticed that it was on a timer.
* There's lots of intentional decisions that Drewseph makes that ultimately hold the hack back from being a great experience that I could reccommend. The artificial fake difficulty where the core fundamentals are swapped around with no way to tell what will happen. Intentionally being locked in morph, knocked out of spacejump, Xray sometimes doesn't work on blocks, and so on. It just isn't fun, and it's a sin of good game design.
* The difficulty for Lower Norfair is either incredibly difficult or incredibly easy(with screw attack) which seems like a pretty odd trade off for such a critical item. Meanwhile Tourian was either very easy or very difficult with the Metroid rooms. The ending metroid rooms being the worst of it all, for all of the impressive work done to the AI the metroids just feel like a very stupid "challenge" that most players will just give up on, as it was some serious hell. But fhe final feeding pit metroids don't seem like a difficult thing to fix to me, just allow the supers to fire faster instead of having such a very long delay.
-------------------
Fun Factor and Pacing
* Overcoming Redesigned's challenges feels great when you understand what to do, or you have the chops to pull it off. (Sans locking your abilitys) But there's too many cases where you put in a lot of effort, mearly to unlock a faster path. This isn't an an adequate return for your work when you spent a lot of ammo or had to chain shines. This only punishes players to extra tedious routes if they can't pull off tricks. And if you're just going to gate shortcuts by skilled chains, that's not very good design.
* I found this hack to be very much hit or miss, there was some really great designed challenges like HellsRun, Crocomire, Ridley but then there was just some incredibly annoying ones as well like Phantoon, Botwoon and Draygon. Meanwhile others were a complete pushover like Kraid, Golden Torizo, and MotherBrain. An odd sense of the difficulty curve being all over the place.
* Lowest point of the hack was definitly Maridia when Drew changes the rules constantly with almost zero consistency. Maridia was just a slow and boring area filled with annoying artificial challenges. The only consistency for Maridia is if it will waste your time, it's going to happen.
* Redesigned doesn't really have much flow to the maps and actually puts constant tripping and roadblocks in your path designed to slow you back down and kill any speed you had. In early Crateria there's a huge amount of enemies that you will run into. The only plus to this sort of cobbled layout is that speedbooster chains are much easier to spot.
* There is far too many gates, or tedious areas where you must unlock to progress. Including poorly communicated 1-way gray doors that must be unlocked from the other side. Many many times I would open a new area just to be immediately blocked by a 1-way gray door, this actively discourages exploration which is a red flag for a Metroid game. I don't mind the feeling of circumventing the pirate's security systems but this is done to an excessive degree where it wears thin and becomes a chore by the time you reach Tourian which is the worst of it.
* I would get rid of the underwater segment of the escape through the depths as it's just slow and boring instead of difficult and exciting. There isn't a sense of tension until the top of Crateria filled with water as you close in on the final stretch.
* Locking the best item behind an easily failed 'puzzle' that you need a stopwatch for is unnacceptable to me. I would much rather you tied the chozo quests to unlocking the screw attack than having the chozos unlock Tourian which makes no sense in canon and it would feel like a true reward for your exploring instead of just a tedious quest to unlock Tourian, which is the most tedious area of the hack.
The last thing players want to do after battling through Tourian's final rooms is to turn around and go blow up all of the zebtites back through all of Tourian... again. Everything in Tourian after clearing the metroids is just incredibly dull and long for legitimately no reason.
The instant death laser gates in Tourian are not difficult so much as an annoyance that players will learn trial and error not to slip up and may loose progress by one swoop. Please get rid of the tractor beam and have it repell you instead, at least for the horizontal ones where touching one instantly kills you.
-----------------
Conclusion
If Drew improved the pacing, fixed the metroid difficulty and eased up on his incredibly linear pathing "my way or the highway" that changes established rules on a whim then it would be more fun to play. Metroid is loved because you had many tools at your disposal for very different skilled people and thus can be enjoyed by all ranges. Thanks to the physics locks, Axiel 1.4 edition only has 1 way to play it, Drew's way... and that's a turn off.
Becuase of that his hack flies against a large part of what makes a Metroid game so great. I would have enjoyed this hack much more if it wasn't holding me back even after I earned the abilities it never feels like I have very much freedom being pushed along the linear path. I would have prefered zero ability-disables and letting me walljump freely with the occasional slippery wall instead of the majority being too slippery. At the very least never lock abilitys I should be able to do in any other situation just because you don't want the player to find a better way... Not being able to crumble jump sucks but the worst is the morphlocks and Maridia's sand.
I missed seeing the old MB shaft of Metroid1 in the original SM, as well as the Wrecked Ship and the boss statues that had a feeling of mystery and wonder that this hack never really comes close to. Seeing the same platform sprites and gates all the way through makes for far less interesting changes in the scenery than vanilla, but the final Norfair area right before Ridley was a cool callback to Metroid1.
At the end of the day I was able to finish Axiel 1.4 when I couldn't finish the original due to the Chozo fetch quest and the excellent new hints-system remedied that, so it's easier at least on the map and exploration layout but it still needs a good bit of tweaking to really make it accessible and fun.
I played with my brother trading off over znes netplay. Very little savestates and no TAS tools were used, so this is as close to a legit run as I could make.
--------------
Innovation and Standing Apart
* Redesigned feels like no normal Metroid hack, the new positive adjustments to Axiel feel very good. The only thing that I couldn't get down was infinite bomb jumping, but everything else was solid. I had no issues with shinesparks, spacejumps or screwattacks. For the most part the "skill automated" hype is accurate.
* There is many new small touches all over the hack, new sprites and nameplates show a level of polish many hacks dont have. Redesigned is clearly an undertaking in crafting Zebes. It feels much more like you're truely battling through an entire planet used as the space pirates base. The planet shifting makes Zebes feel like a real volatile place and gives character to the world you're explorint. I really enjoyed this aspect of the hack, and only wished there were more of it or that the shifts created bigger changes to the map.
* The new mapping and hints system is an incredible help but I'm still left wanting more out of it due to how complex Redesigned's maps are. I did use the express elevators but also found myself forgetting which elevator goes to what area very often since they are just blank. I would love to see them being color coded. This goes double for the doors, so many doors to keep track of would cut down on the backtracking if you didn't have to revisit an area just to see that it's a gray door or something else.
* I used hints very sparingly and only when I swept the maps for a while. They worked very well, right up until Grapple where it failed and SpaceJump where it didn't seem so obvious on continuing on due to you hiding an enemy behind a sandfall it was easily missed.
* The Lost Caverns is almost worth loosing the Wrecked Ship over except that it's merely a convoluted puzzle that will make the player become very frusterated and may only stumble onto the solution by blind luck. It was definitely interesting but the player will either spend far too much time guessing wrong and hate their life, or just breeze through the LC in no time with barely a glimpse at it. I would have preferred the Caverns as it's own big area to conquer and leave the maze til the end since it was intriging but short lived once you knew the way.
* One of the biggest beneficial changes to Axiel was the midair-morph. Many of the morph jumps are much easier now but this doesn't always work when it should. So the experience isn't flawless and the player must be able to midair morph at least a few times on their own. Though I suspect this is just an oversight. It feels incredibly fluid when it does work though.
* Beam Combo was a cool addition but felt strangely out of place in a spot that could easily be missed, yet it's so critical to have for the final run against LowerNorfair and Tourian.
---------
Difficulty
* The remade Redesigned rooms and general placement in Axiel 1.4 is a big step forward from the cruelty of the original Redesign. Instead of outright killing you however, now it seems like this hack punishes you by wasting your time. An improvement in difficulty but not much better for fun when it becomes too tedious to aquiring items, or progressing requires you to go through multiple tricks spanning many rooms. And if that's your design then you can expect people to use save-states.
* I didn't mind the acid since I learned early on that it was death and there was never really a point where I had to dive into it and pray. At first I thought it was a bug, but after paying attention to the suit I noticed that it was on a timer.
* There's lots of intentional decisions that Drewseph makes that ultimately hold the hack back from being a great experience that I could reccommend. The artificial fake difficulty where the core fundamentals are swapped around with no way to tell what will happen. Intentionally being locked in morph, knocked out of spacejump, Xray sometimes doesn't work on blocks, and so on. It just isn't fun, and it's a sin of good game design.
* The difficulty for Lower Norfair is either incredibly difficult or incredibly easy(with screw attack) which seems like a pretty odd trade off for such a critical item. Meanwhile Tourian was either very easy or very difficult with the Metroid rooms. The ending metroid rooms being the worst of it all, for all of the impressive work done to the AI the metroids just feel like a very stupid "challenge" that most players will just give up on, as it was some serious hell. But fhe final feeding pit metroids don't seem like a difficult thing to fix to me, just allow the supers to fire faster instead of having such a very long delay.
-------------------
Fun Factor and Pacing
* Overcoming Redesigned's challenges feels great when you understand what to do, or you have the chops to pull it off. (Sans locking your abilitys) But there's too many cases where you put in a lot of effort, mearly to unlock a faster path. This isn't an an adequate return for your work when you spent a lot of ammo or had to chain shines. This only punishes players to extra tedious routes if they can't pull off tricks. And if you're just going to gate shortcuts by skilled chains, that's not very good design.
* I found this hack to be very much hit or miss, there was some really great designed challenges like HellsRun, Crocomire, Ridley but then there was just some incredibly annoying ones as well like Phantoon, Botwoon and Draygon. Meanwhile others were a complete pushover like Kraid, Golden Torizo, and MotherBrain. An odd sense of the difficulty curve being all over the place.
* Lowest point of the hack was definitly Maridia when Drew changes the rules constantly with almost zero consistency. Maridia was just a slow and boring area filled with annoying artificial challenges. The only consistency for Maridia is if it will waste your time, it's going to happen.
* Redesigned doesn't really have much flow to the maps and actually puts constant tripping and roadblocks in your path designed to slow you back down and kill any speed you had. In early Crateria there's a huge amount of enemies that you will run into. The only plus to this sort of cobbled layout is that speedbooster chains are much easier to spot.
* There is far too many gates, or tedious areas where you must unlock to progress. Including poorly communicated 1-way gray doors that must be unlocked from the other side. Many many times I would open a new area just to be immediately blocked by a 1-way gray door, this actively discourages exploration which is a red flag for a Metroid game. I don't mind the feeling of circumventing the pirate's security systems but this is done to an excessive degree where it wears thin and becomes a chore by the time you reach Tourian which is the worst of it.
* I would get rid of the underwater segment of the escape through the depths as it's just slow and boring instead of difficult and exciting. There isn't a sense of tension until the top of Crateria filled with water as you close in on the final stretch.
* Locking the best item behind an easily failed 'puzzle' that you need a stopwatch for is unnacceptable to me. I would much rather you tied the chozo quests to unlocking the screw attack than having the chozos unlock Tourian which makes no sense in canon and it would feel like a true reward for your exploring instead of just a tedious quest to unlock Tourian, which is the most tedious area of the hack.
The last thing players want to do after battling through Tourian's final rooms is to turn around and go blow up all of the zebtites back through all of Tourian... again. Everything in Tourian after clearing the metroids is just incredibly dull and long for legitimately no reason.
The instant death laser gates in Tourian are not difficult so much as an annoyance that players will learn trial and error not to slip up and may loose progress by one swoop. Please get rid of the tractor beam and have it repell you instead, at least for the horizontal ones where touching one instantly kills you.
-----------------
Conclusion
If Drew improved the pacing, fixed the metroid difficulty and eased up on his incredibly linear pathing "my way or the highway" that changes established rules on a whim then it would be more fun to play. Metroid is loved because you had many tools at your disposal for very different skilled people and thus can be enjoyed by all ranges. Thanks to the physics locks, Axiel 1.4 edition only has 1 way to play it, Drew's way... and that's a turn off.
Becuase of that his hack flies against a large part of what makes a Metroid game so great. I would have enjoyed this hack much more if it wasn't holding me back even after I earned the abilities it never feels like I have very much freedom being pushed along the linear path. I would have prefered zero ability-disables and letting me walljump freely with the occasional slippery wall instead of the majority being too slippery. At the very least never lock abilitys I should be able to do in any other situation just because you don't want the player to find a better way... Not being able to crumble jump sucks but the worst is the morphlocks and Maridia's sand.
I missed seeing the old MB shaft of Metroid1 in the original SM, as well as the Wrecked Ship and the boss statues that had a feeling of mystery and wonder that this hack never really comes close to. Seeing the same platform sprites and gates all the way through makes for far less interesting changes in the scenery than vanilla, but the final Norfair area right before Ridley was a cool callback to Metroid1.
At the end of the day I was able to finish Axiel 1.4 when I couldn't finish the original due to the Chozo fetch quest and the excellent new hints-system remedied that, so it's easier at least on the map and exploration layout but it still needs a good bit of tweaking to really make it accessible and fun.
A hack released on my birthday and zodiac year and I can't believe I missed it...
Axeil Edition is definitely one of those hacks realizing its mistakes and fixing them into a better satisfying experience that even new players will find themselves enjoying. While its easier and more bearable than the original it still has some problems that still got carried to here...
This is based off of v1.4
Likes:
+ Hint System
The hint system was really a nifty addition in this game and worked extremely well trying to find where to go next when you're lost. There is nothing bad about but I think it makes the game too easy ;) Metroid is a lot more fun being isolated and finding out where you're supposed to go next on your own.
+ Better Map Details
I can now tell what connects each other on the map which improves upon the original game.
+ Auto Wall Jumping
No complaints here. Perfect execution here.
+ X-Ray Improvement
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS... One major issue I most certainly had with the original was that the X-Scope couldn't reveal a lot of hidden walls. Especially some that are required to find to progress the game. However there are still some spots (2 or 3 of them) I noticed that couldn't be revealed by the X-Ray even though it does not lead to anything important. I'll post some screenshots on the topic of your hack.
+ Speed Booster
Quoted from the 'readme' - "D-pad LEFT/RIGHT ONLY: Samus will run and crouch automatically
recharging her charge for a new shinespark."
The automatic stop and recharged shinespark was neat addition and made things much more bearable to use. However the time that Samus stops to recharge needs to be slightly shorter. I had some trouble getting a Missile tank in Marida where this feature was almost less useful because I kept hitting a wall on a slope I was trying to stop on. (I'm referring to the missile tank that's near the elevator that leads to the mid-section of Crateria).
+ Auto Morph
Can't auto-morph in some spots but still a nice touch.
+ The world is still huge!
I've always enjoyed exploring huge gigantic worlds in games I play and you made it into a reality in this hack. Great stuff here.
+ Background tunnels.
I really love how you made this more of a thing in remake. It feels very reminiscent to Metroid 2's background tunnels something I wish Nintendo did more often in their 2D Metroid games since it adds a lot of detail with the environments.
+ Additional shortcuts
Good feature to save a ton of backtracking but I will get into it more in the dislike section...
+ Lost Caverns Improvement
A lot of people for some reason think this is worse than the original, the clue was more obvious this time around thanks to the polls.
Dislikes:
- Elevator shortcuts
Adding these was a good thing but was it really necessary for EVERY single one to have a purple hatch? I only found one of them to be useful but most of them felt useless especially when it comes to speed running. It still felt like I still had to do a lot of backtracking like the original.
- Hit or misses on how difficult getting additional tanks should be.
It felt like you were trying too hard trying to make getting addition tanks bearable as possible. A few examples:
1. There is a morph ball maze that leads to a missile tank, near the area where the Speed Booster is located that MetroidPeter was mentioning when he was going for 100%. While it does have some improvements, trying to back up and move past the bomb you plant just to get across a gap is a little to difficult to execute. In my playthrough you'll notice that I got it on my first try but it actually took like 30. I originally was going to post a fail montage bonus video for this but I ended up deleting it.
2. At the very west end of Marida, there is a spot where you have to IBJ to get a Missile tank. Was adding blocks above the player that they have to bomb through really necessary? I thought it was about mastering IBJ, not unnecessarily make it more stressful.
3. Once again at the very west end of Marida, there is a super missile that is blocked by some speed booster blocks. There is a sand fall that you have to wall-jump up that stops your space jumping. It took like 20 minutes to finally get up to that chozo statue that holds a super missile. I suggest bringing the statue down a little lower.
- Screw Attack Puzzle
I literally had to look up this forum just to find out how to unlock that gate. I think it would have been better if you gave some background hint on how to unlock it, or throw in some code hidden somewhere the player would have to find (a different code each time they start a new game so that every player will have to work to accomplish getting it besides looking up a walkthrough/video and go "Oh so that's the code to unlock it!").
-Red Plasma
Bleh... Red Plasma from Metroid Prime is so overrated. I definitely prefer the original green color.
- Ridley
The damage that Ridley keeps from the Cres fight was a neat touch but it certainly made things unnecessarily difficult that he can do more damage to you depending on how much damage you given it.
- No Wrecked Ship
I think it would be better if you threw in some enemies from the wrecked ship at least. Maybe add some of those indestructible robots in Tourian to really represent how much of a stronghold that Tourian really is.
- Tourian
I can easily see why many people stopped playing this because of this area. I can see what you were trying to go for here which is very good but the REAL BIGGEST ISSUE is the rooms with 3 metroids you have to kill before they repspawn is going to anger a lot of first-time players REAL quick. Because it leaves them wondering why is it not ending. The idea what you did with a certain amount of metroids you have to kill and the fact that they unfreeze faster and get more aggressive (and eventually can DODGE your shots!?) as you progress was spot on. But that kill before respawn thing was NOT A WISE MOVE...
- Rescuing the animals.
The escape sequence is better but the issue is you have to be too perfect to save the animals at the end.
Overall great hack and its definite must play for those who is a big fan to Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. I look forward to see more improvements from you!. Keep it up!
Axeil Edition is definitely one of those hacks realizing its mistakes and fixing them into a better satisfying experience that even new players will find themselves enjoying. While its easier and more bearable than the original it still has some problems that still got carried to here...
This is based off of v1.4
Likes:
+ Hint System
The hint system was really a nifty addition in this game and worked extremely well trying to find where to go next when you're lost. There is nothing bad about but I think it makes the game too easy ;) Metroid is a lot more fun being isolated and finding out where you're supposed to go next on your own.
+ Better Map Details
I can now tell what connects each other on the map which improves upon the original game.
+ Auto Wall Jumping
No complaints here. Perfect execution here.
+ X-Ray Improvement
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS... One major issue I most certainly had with the original was that the X-Scope couldn't reveal a lot of hidden walls. Especially some that are required to find to progress the game. However there are still some spots (2 or 3 of them) I noticed that couldn't be revealed by the X-Ray even though it does not lead to anything important. I'll post some screenshots on the topic of your hack.
+ Speed Booster
Quoted from the 'readme' - "D-pad LEFT/RIGHT ONLY: Samus will run and crouch automatically
recharging her charge for a new shinespark."
The automatic stop and recharged shinespark was neat addition and made things much more bearable to use. However the time that Samus stops to recharge needs to be slightly shorter. I had some trouble getting a Missile tank in Marida where this feature was almost less useful because I kept hitting a wall on a slope I was trying to stop on. (I'm referring to the missile tank that's near the elevator that leads to the mid-section of Crateria).
+ Auto Morph
Can't auto-morph in some spots but still a nice touch.
+ The world is still huge!
I've always enjoyed exploring huge gigantic worlds in games I play and you made it into a reality in this hack. Great stuff here.
+ Background tunnels.
I really love how you made this more of a thing in remake. It feels very reminiscent to Metroid 2's background tunnels something I wish Nintendo did more often in their 2D Metroid games since it adds a lot of detail with the environments.
+ Additional shortcuts
Good feature to save a ton of backtracking but I will get into it more in the dislike section...
+ Lost Caverns Improvement
A lot of people for some reason think this is worse than the original, the clue was more obvious this time around thanks to the polls.
Dislikes:
- Elevator shortcuts
Adding these was a good thing but was it really necessary for EVERY single one to have a purple hatch? I only found one of them to be useful but most of them felt useless especially when it comes to speed running. It still felt like I still had to do a lot of backtracking like the original.
- Hit or misses on how difficult getting additional tanks should be.
It felt like you were trying too hard trying to make getting addition tanks bearable as possible. A few examples:
1. There is a morph ball maze that leads to a missile tank, near the area where the Speed Booster is located that MetroidPeter was mentioning when he was going for 100%. While it does have some improvements, trying to back up and move past the bomb you plant just to get across a gap is a little to difficult to execute. In my playthrough you'll notice that I got it on my first try but it actually took like 30. I originally was going to post a fail montage bonus video for this but I ended up deleting it.
2. At the very west end of Marida, there is a spot where you have to IBJ to get a Missile tank. Was adding blocks above the player that they have to bomb through really necessary? I thought it was about mastering IBJ, not unnecessarily make it more stressful.
3. Once again at the very west end of Marida, there is a super missile that is blocked by some speed booster blocks. There is a sand fall that you have to wall-jump up that stops your space jumping. It took like 20 minutes to finally get up to that chozo statue that holds a super missile. I suggest bringing the statue down a little lower.
- Screw Attack Puzzle
I literally had to look up this forum just to find out how to unlock that gate. I think it would have been better if you gave some background hint on how to unlock it, or throw in some code hidden somewhere the player would have to find (a different code each time they start a new game so that every player will have to work to accomplish getting it besides looking up a walkthrough/video and go "Oh so that's the code to unlock it!").
-Red Plasma
Bleh... Red Plasma from Metroid Prime is so overrated. I definitely prefer the original green color.
- Ridley
The damage that Ridley keeps from the Cres fight was a neat touch but it certainly made things unnecessarily difficult that he can do more damage to you depending on how much damage you given it.
- No Wrecked Ship
I think it would be better if you threw in some enemies from the wrecked ship at least. Maybe add some of those indestructible robots in Tourian to really represent how much of a stronghold that Tourian really is.
- Tourian
I can easily see why many people stopped playing this because of this area. I can see what you were trying to go for here which is very good but the REAL BIGGEST ISSUE is the rooms with 3 metroids you have to kill before they repspawn is going to anger a lot of first-time players REAL quick. Because it leaves them wondering why is it not ending. The idea what you did with a certain amount of metroids you have to kill and the fact that they unfreeze faster and get more aggressive (and eventually can DODGE your shots!?) as you progress was spot on. But that kill before respawn thing was NOT A WISE MOVE...
- Rescuing the animals.
The escape sequence is better but the issue is you have to be too perfect to save the animals at the end.
Overall great hack and its definite must play for those who is a big fan to Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. I look forward to see more improvements from you!. Keep it up!
This review is based on v1.2. The original Redesign is a classic. It has its flaws, but it has always been one of my favorites. With Axeil Edition, it doesn't feel the same, but not in a good way. I mean that this hack sucks! There are a few good things about the hack such as the map, the hint system, easier to execute wall-jumping, auto morph ball, and the new morph ball looks cool. However, the bad outweighs the good and believe me, Drew has done more bad than good in the earlier versions.
Here's all the bad things this hack had to offer:
- Drew's intention in recreating this hack is done in such an irritating and poor manner. For a hack that was supposed to be made easier, he doesn't know how to properly balance it. What he tends to do a lot is take things out and replace it with something worse. I.E.: making a room easier, but adjusting it back to being irritating.
- Arm-pumping resets your momentum. It's like Drew hates when the speedrun community speedruns/TASes his hacks for some reason, so he decided to make this hack as anti-speedrunny as possible.
- Being unable to jump off crumple blocks. If I screw up a puzzle and fall on a crumple block, then why do you want us to try again from the start?
- Hack is extremely hand-holdy. What I mean is that this is like some kind of control freak-esque hack where Drew is basically saying "If you're gonna play my hack, you're gonna play how I want you to. Not how you want to.". This is Super Metroid, this game was supposed to allow players to explore. You might as well just take away the player's controller/keyboard.
- Screw Attack is worthless. What I mean is that certain enemies can damage you and even knock you out of Screw Attack. I dunno what you were thinking with this one Drew. Like I would understand making it so people can't get it super early like in the original, but this is Screw Attack I am talking about. This powerup is supposed to be the player's safety net, a means to protect us/kill enemies and since you move a lot faster when using Screw Attack, we'll be hitting enemies a lot.
- And here is the final nail in the coffin; The straw that broke the camel's back; the thing that makes me say this is the worst hack of 2015: Tourian as a whole. Oh... My... God! What a train wreck. The difficulty spike just skyrockets from this point onward. First of all, the Metroids love to avoid your shots and to make things even more annoying, they quickly latch on to you like a magnet and it's not like they all latch on to you, it's more like one at a time. When you bomb one off of you, the next one does. Bombing the Metroids is the only way to stun them so you can freeze them. Purple doors. Purple doors everywhere! Almost every door was locked with a purple door which is 25 missiles/5 Super Missiles. And let's not forget about the primary reason why Tourian was monotonous: Searching for the Zebetites to shut off the lasers. This was an interesting concept on paper, but the execution was poor. I spent at least an hour and a half trying to locate the first one. I didn't know it was in the first room after descending the elevator.
If you asked me about Axeil Edition, all I will tell you is this: IT'S JUST BAD!!!
I wish I could give this 1.5/5.
Here's all the bad things this hack had to offer:
- Drew's intention in recreating this hack is done in such an irritating and poor manner. For a hack that was supposed to be made easier, he doesn't know how to properly balance it. What he tends to do a lot is take things out and replace it with something worse. I.E.: making a room easier, but adjusting it back to being irritating.
- Arm-pumping resets your momentum. It's like Drew hates when the speedrun community speedruns/TASes his hacks for some reason, so he decided to make this hack as anti-speedrunny as possible.
- Being unable to jump off crumple blocks. If I screw up a puzzle and fall on a crumple block, then why do you want us to try again from the start?
- Hack is extremely hand-holdy. What I mean is that this is like some kind of control freak-esque hack where Drew is basically saying "If you're gonna play my hack, you're gonna play how I want you to. Not how you want to.". This is Super Metroid, this game was supposed to allow players to explore. You might as well just take away the player's controller/keyboard.
- Screw Attack is worthless. What I mean is that certain enemies can damage you and even knock you out of Screw Attack. I dunno what you were thinking with this one Drew. Like I would understand making it so people can't get it super early like in the original, but this is Screw Attack I am talking about. This powerup is supposed to be the player's safety net, a means to protect us/kill enemies and since you move a lot faster when using Screw Attack, we'll be hitting enemies a lot.
- And here is the final nail in the coffin; The straw that broke the camel's back; the thing that makes me say this is the worst hack of 2015: Tourian as a whole. Oh... My... God! What a train wreck. The difficulty spike just skyrockets from this point onward. First of all, the Metroids love to avoid your shots and to make things even more annoying, they quickly latch on to you like a magnet and it's not like they all latch on to you, it's more like one at a time. When you bomb one off of you, the next one does. Bombing the Metroids is the only way to stun them so you can freeze them. Purple doors. Purple doors everywhere! Almost every door was locked with a purple door which is 25 missiles/5 Super Missiles. And let's not forget about the primary reason why Tourian was monotonous: Searching for the Zebetites to shut off the lasers. This was an interesting concept on paper, but the execution was poor. I spent at least an hour and a half trying to locate the first one. I didn't know it was in the first room after descending the elevator.
If you asked me about Axeil Edition, all I will tell you is this: IT'S JUST BAD!!!
I wish I could give this 1.5/5.
Note that, for this review, I will not be mainly comparing this hack to previous versions of Axeil. Rather, I am rating the hack based on its merits as a standalone game, and how it stacks up to the original Redesign.
Version: 1.5
Story – 5/5 -> 100%
Being your standard hack, the story is pretty much identical to the original SM. I will give props for how Ridley was handled, though. Unlike the original Redesign, Ridley will keep whatever damage you gave him at Ceres when you finally fight him again at Lower Norfair. Definitely makes the game more believable.
Graphics – 4.5/5 -> 90%
Standard graphics as with most early SM hacks. There are questionable moments where the wrong graphics are used to represent certain obstacles, but that rant will be saved for the learnability section. The real problem here is telling the difference between objects with which you have to interact one moment and the same objects used as aesthetics the next, making it difficult to tell what is real and what isn't. You may not notice this until Tourian, though.
Sound – 5/5 -> 100%
The only major change made here is the shortening of the expansion sound effect to save time (although major upgrades still use the standard jingle). If you're really dedicated and make it through the new EPB route (explained later), you get to hear a neat little tune as you enter Tourian.
Exploration – 7/10 -> 70%
While Drew has made an effort to add alternate routes and sequence breaks, the game as a whole still follows the same linear design as the original Redesign. This does not necessarily mean that the game is a boring trek, though. The different values of expansions depending on where they are found mean that there are plenty of expansions to seek out and find. While the game is huge compared to vanilla SM, the inclusion of a new express elevator hub system helps to cut down on backtracking a lot.
In addition, this version of Redesign comes with a built-in hint system. If you are ever stuck, you can activate hints from the map screen which allows you to see where you need to go next as well as visual reminders of certain obstacles you've seen, such as power bomb blocks and speed booster blocks. Regardless, the few times you are expected to progress using secret passages can potentially create a frustrating experience for new players.
Resources – 5/5 -> 100%
Being a linear quest, you would expect balancing the game to not be a problem. However, Drew went the extra mile by adding more pipe enemies in more places. In addition, while Metroids have been buffed compared to the original Redesign, they also drop a lot more goods to make up for the extra difficulty.
Player Growth – 5/5 -> 100%
While players of the original Redesign still complain that the Beam Combo comes too late in the game, this version of the hack does a good job of rebalancing enemy beam vulnerabilities. If a particular enemy seems to take too long to kill, change weapons.
Learnability – 1/5 -> 20%
While Drew has proven that he can implement feedback, whether he understands Game Theory or not is highly questionable, as he constantly violates game rules left and right. While this is an understandable tactic for hiding secrets, this was done on way more than just secrets. Some examples include: 1) a shot block that looks like a bomb block (outside Bomb Torizo, at least), 2) different sets of spikes in the same room that look the same but deal different amounts of damage, 3) blue switches that are either triggered by shots or bombs without visual differences, and 4) blocks that are destructible in one game mode, but become indestructible in another without any visual differences. Aside from secrets, when players encounter an object with a particular appearance, they expect the object to act the same way every time they encounter one. Otherwise, massive frustration will ensue.
Another controversial decision that is well known is the Screw Attack and how certain enemies violate invincibility frames when you use it. Instead of fixing this issue, Drew avoided the problem by making the Screw Attack not work while flashing from invincibility. This is noticeable by the fact that the issue still exists with pseudo-Screw Attacks, but it also makes combat while simply getting from point A to point B more cumbersome in the process.
The biggest problems are the design decisions aimed at hindering players. While it is understandable that one would want to not allow players to get extra speed from arm pumping, making it actively slow the player down is downright mean. Finally, for those who read the message at the download screen, one of the phrases says “Expert skill made automated,” which will raise a red flag for just about anyone. Not only is this an insult (“You suck so bad that I have to do everything for you.”), but it is also guaranteed to cause more problems than it will fix, because freedom is removed from the equation (the automated move may not be the move the player wanted to do). While there are several offenses here, the biggest offender is definitely the grapple auto-release mechanic, which can easily wreck multi-grappling moments. Automation only creates more mistakes and frustration.
This category's only saving grace is the apparent removal of the blue-suit-removal invisible blocks from earlier versions of Axeil. Had those stayed in the game, it would have sunk the game to lower depths.
Difficulty - 15/15 -> 100%
Unlike the original Redesign which was brutally difficult at points, Axeil Edition is much more balanced in terms of its difficulty. It is by no means a beginner hack, but it should be at least playable by anyone who can beat vanilla SM. Do not fret if you are an expert, though. There are still several things you can do to satisfy your lust for challenging gameplay.
First, the Hell's run for the Ice Beam is no longer required and was even modified to force enemies to drop large energy all the time. However, the intermediary save station was removed, so not only do you have to watch your missile count, but you also have to do the whole thing in one sitting.
If the new Hell's run is not enough for you, a new route was added to the game called the Early Power Bomb (or EPB) Challenge. If you can succeed in navigating Crateria without triggering a working tripwire, you will get a Power Bomb, and, as a result, Bombs, Wall Jump Boots, and the Gravity Suit will become inaccessible. This challenge involves finding clever ways to navigate Zebes, including the new damage boosting mechanic and ice climbing.
Entertainment – 35/40 -> 87.5%
The biggest hinderance to entertainment is the aforementioned learnability. Beyond that, this hack should at least prove to be more enjoyable for the average player than the original Redesign. What really helps the entertainment here and counters some of the negativity of the learnability section is the new Tourian. Tourian has been completely updated into a base that you must slowly “dismantle” by destroying the various Zebetites strewn throughout. It does a good jump of creating the experience of a stealth mission to some degree.
Replay value – 3/5 -> 60%
While the vast number of expansions to find and the addition of the EPB route give the game some longevity, the linearity of the hack really hurts the replay value.
Total – 85.5/100 -> 85.5% -> 4.275/5
If you could never finish the original Redesign due to the difficulty, or you never played the original, I recommend at least giving this game a try. If you have finished it before, you should try the Axeil Edition at least once in order to experience all the new content.
Version: 1.5
Story – 5/5 -> 100%
Being your standard hack, the story is pretty much identical to the original SM. I will give props for how Ridley was handled, though. Unlike the original Redesign, Ridley will keep whatever damage you gave him at Ceres when you finally fight him again at Lower Norfair. Definitely makes the game more believable.
Graphics – 4.5/5 -> 90%
Standard graphics as with most early SM hacks. There are questionable moments where the wrong graphics are used to represent certain obstacles, but that rant will be saved for the learnability section. The real problem here is telling the difference between objects with which you have to interact one moment and the same objects used as aesthetics the next, making it difficult to tell what is real and what isn't. You may not notice this until Tourian, though.
Sound – 5/5 -> 100%
The only major change made here is the shortening of the expansion sound effect to save time (although major upgrades still use the standard jingle). If you're really dedicated and make it through the new EPB route (explained later), you get to hear a neat little tune as you enter Tourian.
Exploration – 7/10 -> 70%
While Drew has made an effort to add alternate routes and sequence breaks, the game as a whole still follows the same linear design as the original Redesign. This does not necessarily mean that the game is a boring trek, though. The different values of expansions depending on where they are found mean that there are plenty of expansions to seek out and find. While the game is huge compared to vanilla SM, the inclusion of a new express elevator hub system helps to cut down on backtracking a lot.
In addition, this version of Redesign comes with a built-in hint system. If you are ever stuck, you can activate hints from the map screen which allows you to see where you need to go next as well as visual reminders of certain obstacles you've seen, such as power bomb blocks and speed booster blocks. Regardless, the few times you are expected to progress using secret passages can potentially create a frustrating experience for new players.
Resources – 5/5 -> 100%
Being a linear quest, you would expect balancing the game to not be a problem. However, Drew went the extra mile by adding more pipe enemies in more places. In addition, while Metroids have been buffed compared to the original Redesign, they also drop a lot more goods to make up for the extra difficulty.
Player Growth – 5/5 -> 100%
While players of the original Redesign still complain that the Beam Combo comes too late in the game, this version of the hack does a good job of rebalancing enemy beam vulnerabilities. If a particular enemy seems to take too long to kill, change weapons.
Learnability – 1/5 -> 20%
While Drew has proven that he can implement feedback, whether he understands Game Theory or not is highly questionable, as he constantly violates game rules left and right. While this is an understandable tactic for hiding secrets, this was done on way more than just secrets. Some examples include: 1) a shot block that looks like a bomb block (outside Bomb Torizo, at least), 2) different sets of spikes in the same room that look the same but deal different amounts of damage, 3) blue switches that are either triggered by shots or bombs without visual differences, and 4) blocks that are destructible in one game mode, but become indestructible in another without any visual differences. Aside from secrets, when players encounter an object with a particular appearance, they expect the object to act the same way every time they encounter one. Otherwise, massive frustration will ensue.
Another controversial decision that is well known is the Screw Attack and how certain enemies violate invincibility frames when you use it. Instead of fixing this issue, Drew avoided the problem by making the Screw Attack not work while flashing from invincibility. This is noticeable by the fact that the issue still exists with pseudo-Screw Attacks, but it also makes combat while simply getting from point A to point B more cumbersome in the process.
The biggest problems are the design decisions aimed at hindering players. While it is understandable that one would want to not allow players to get extra speed from arm pumping, making it actively slow the player down is downright mean. Finally, for those who read the message at the download screen, one of the phrases says “Expert skill made automated,” which will raise a red flag for just about anyone. Not only is this an insult (“You suck so bad that I have to do everything for you.”), but it is also guaranteed to cause more problems than it will fix, because freedom is removed from the equation (the automated move may not be the move the player wanted to do). While there are several offenses here, the biggest offender is definitely the grapple auto-release mechanic, which can easily wreck multi-grappling moments. Automation only creates more mistakes and frustration.
This category's only saving grace is the apparent removal of the blue-suit-removal invisible blocks from earlier versions of Axeil. Had those stayed in the game, it would have sunk the game to lower depths.
Difficulty - 15/15 -> 100%
Unlike the original Redesign which was brutally difficult at points, Axeil Edition is much more balanced in terms of its difficulty. It is by no means a beginner hack, but it should be at least playable by anyone who can beat vanilla SM. Do not fret if you are an expert, though. There are still several things you can do to satisfy your lust for challenging gameplay.
First, the Hell's run for the Ice Beam is no longer required and was even modified to force enemies to drop large energy all the time. However, the intermediary save station was removed, so not only do you have to watch your missile count, but you also have to do the whole thing in one sitting.
If the new Hell's run is not enough for you, a new route was added to the game called the Early Power Bomb (or EPB) Challenge. If you can succeed in navigating Crateria without triggering a working tripwire, you will get a Power Bomb, and, as a result, Bombs, Wall Jump Boots, and the Gravity Suit will become inaccessible. This challenge involves finding clever ways to navigate Zebes, including the new damage boosting mechanic and ice climbing.
Entertainment – 35/40 -> 87.5%
The biggest hinderance to entertainment is the aforementioned learnability. Beyond that, this hack should at least prove to be more enjoyable for the average player than the original Redesign. What really helps the entertainment here and counters some of the negativity of the learnability section is the new Tourian. Tourian has been completely updated into a base that you must slowly “dismantle” by destroying the various Zebetites strewn throughout. It does a good jump of creating the experience of a stealth mission to some degree.
Replay value – 3/5 -> 60%
While the vast number of expansions to find and the addition of the EPB route give the game some longevity, the linearity of the hack really hurts the replay value.
Total – 85.5/100 -> 85.5% -> 4.275/5
If you could never finish the original Redesign due to the difficulty, or you never played the original, I recommend at least giving this game a try. If you have finished it before, you should try the Axeil Edition at least once in order to experience all the new content.
I have mixed feelings about this hack. While it does many things well, such as aesthetics and helpful mechanics (wall-jumping, hint system, etc.), other changes (physics, morph ball speed, etc.) make it very frustrating. Personally, I like the concept of a large, explorable world for a Metroid game. This hack is certainly large, but exploration is poorly done. The player is forced to progress exactly how Drewseph wants. This takes all the fun out the experience. At least the original Redesign had some sequence breaks. I have always liked Metroid games for making me feel powerful. This hack didn't make me feel powerful until I collected all the major items and lots of ammo. And even then, this feeling of power was taken away from me during the final area where it felt like I had to use everything just to survive. The escape sequence made this even worse since mother brain just so happens to strip the player of everything they worked so hard for. Others things like wall-jump boots and the beam combo item are just unnecessary. If you are new to Super Metroid or hacks in general, avoid this hack until you have built up skill. If this hack fixed all the negative changes, it could be one of my favorites.
Great potential, but falls short on execution.
Great potential, but falls short on execution.
I played version 1.52. Drewseph has listened to the critiques and now Redesign Axeil has been further balanced for a much fairer experience. It is fun and still difficult, but in a good way. It is no longer truly punishing. Outstanding game. Strap in and get comfy; it's a huge adventure!
Finished this beautiful gem last week...
We started using the final 1.21 (i think) original Redesign... I was extremely impressed at how massive it was... and also how HARD it was... I consider myself a real hardcore gamer... check out this page I made with all the games I played with my wife during the last 8 years and you'll understand why ;)
http://hugodhawkx.blogspot.ca/p/gamesweplayed.html
I have beaten Super Metroid many times in the past... and I am a pretty decent gamer too... but that original Redesign was HARD... after getting the varia suit (getting through the HELL run was crazy.. even with save state in an emulator) I downloaded a map to help find out all the secrets but ended up with a Axeil 1.5 map somehow... so i started doing some research... which led me here...
So I decided to try this version to see the differences for myself... and it was MASSIVE... so much that we started again from scratch using this 1.52 Axeil Edition!... Seriously this game is near perfect!... as long as you are a hardcore longtime fan of Super Metroid... and that you like crazy challenge! :) I would not recommend it for people who have not played Super Metroid or who are not very good at video games... AS much as this edition is easier, it still gets pretty hard near the end... And doing a 100% run is near impossible considering there is 1 spot (in Brinstar right above the EAST elevator) to get a power bomb upgrades that require "flying" while in morph ball... as well as that 1 place in maridia for another power bomb upgrade which required infinite bomb jump... both of thoses required me to use cheat codes to progress... so the game might not be 100% perfect... but 99.9% is close enough! :P ... Running it with an emulator helps a lot so you can quick-save and quick-load as much as possible! ;)
The tweaks and changes to gravity, control, morphball, jumping, lava/water and walljumping makes this the definitive version!
Audio, visuals and pretty much everything just feels Super Metroid... but bigger... the game is probably 2.5 times bigger than the original... i compared both maps on google image and Redesign is just massive! :) Tourian was crazy... it actually felt like a huge dungeon with puzzle and stuff to find out... at least enemies did not respawn -- ALSO, the brand new Warp feature is a godsent!! For Anyone wishing to go for a 100% run, backtracking is inevitable... and being able to warp all over the place is just amazing!
Seriously I have pretty much nothing bad to say about this game... It does get much harder... and some of the speed boost section requiring to recharge over and over were just insane... but overall the game is pretty awesome from start to finish! Beginning is much easier now with the new difficulty tweaks, weaker enemies that used to take forever to kill, and tons of polish that makes this version so much more enjoyable than the original... I can definitely say the years working on this edition paid off! :)
To the creator, thank you so much for making such an awesome game and allowing my wife (who never played the original) to enjoy it along side me (while also providing me with a new experience)
Thanks for reading! ;) and if you're not sure if you should play it or not... give it a try and see for yourself! you wont regret it!
-=Fire Hawk X=-
We started using the final 1.21 (i think) original Redesign... I was extremely impressed at how massive it was... and also how HARD it was... I consider myself a real hardcore gamer... check out this page I made with all the games I played with my wife during the last 8 years and you'll understand why ;)
http://hugodhawkx.blogspot.ca/p/gamesweplayed.html
I have beaten Super Metroid many times in the past... and I am a pretty decent gamer too... but that original Redesign was HARD... after getting the varia suit (getting through the HELL run was crazy.. even with save state in an emulator) I downloaded a map to help find out all the secrets but ended up with a Axeil 1.5 map somehow... so i started doing some research... which led me here...
So I decided to try this version to see the differences for myself... and it was MASSIVE... so much that we started again from scratch using this 1.52 Axeil Edition!... Seriously this game is near perfect!... as long as you are a hardcore longtime fan of Super Metroid... and that you like crazy challenge! :) I would not recommend it for people who have not played Super Metroid or who are not very good at video games... AS much as this edition is easier, it still gets pretty hard near the end... And doing a 100% run is near impossible considering there is 1 spot (in Brinstar right above the EAST elevator) to get a power bomb upgrades that require "flying" while in morph ball... as well as that 1 place in maridia for another power bomb upgrade which required infinite bomb jump... both of thoses required me to use cheat codes to progress... so the game might not be 100% perfect... but 99.9% is close enough! :P ... Running it with an emulator helps a lot so you can quick-save and quick-load as much as possible! ;)
The tweaks and changes to gravity, control, morphball, jumping, lava/water and walljumping makes this the definitive version!
Audio, visuals and pretty much everything just feels Super Metroid... but bigger... the game is probably 2.5 times bigger than the original... i compared both maps on google image and Redesign is just massive! :) Tourian was crazy... it actually felt like a huge dungeon with puzzle and stuff to find out... at least enemies did not respawn -- ALSO, the brand new Warp feature is a godsent!! For Anyone wishing to go for a 100% run, backtracking is inevitable... and being able to warp all over the place is just amazing!
Seriously I have pretty much nothing bad to say about this game... It does get much harder... and some of the speed boost section requiring to recharge over and over were just insane... but overall the game is pretty awesome from start to finish! Beginning is much easier now with the new difficulty tweaks, weaker enemies that used to take forever to kill, and tons of polish that makes this version so much more enjoyable than the original... I can definitely say the years working on this edition paid off! :)
To the creator, thank you so much for making such an awesome game and allowing my wife (who never played the original) to enjoy it along side me (while also providing me with a new experience)
Thanks for reading! ;) and if you're not sure if you should play it or not... give it a try and see for yourself! you wont regret it!
-=Fire Hawk X=-
Well.
I suppose as the namesake of this mod, I should give it a review right? Note that all this was for the 1.52 version.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stats
294.69km traveled
48,944 energy lost
3,355 enemies killed
16,009 shots fired
2,066 doors traversed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First off, this update is incredible. It's the outline of the same game I muddled my way through all those years ago but everything has been fixed up. I can tell you put a lot of work into it, and it really seems to be paying off. I think the changes make it a far more accessible game for the average player while still leaving some truly challenging elements for old pros.
Tourian is obviously the most radically altered part of the game from the original so I'd like to take some time to talk about it.
The most important thing is: I love the new Tourian. It's definitely the best part of the hack. It took me a little bit to figure out what was going on but once I did I was grinning. Additionally the change in layout for Tourian which makes the area feel more like a giant puzzle is great too. It really feels like you're breaking into a highly secured Space Pirate base instead of wandering in the front door like it does in the original.
The Metroids, while tough, are now much more fair than in the original version. Honestly, by the end of Tourian I was getting to enjoy killing them since the health drain is fairly minimal and they're somewhat easy to get off you. The challenge is getting them arranged in a pattern so you can kill all three in one go. Makes fighting Metroids more of a puzzle and less of a slog.
I also really enjoyed the electricity puzzle. You sort of set this up back in Maridia with the multiple gates you need to bomb by exploring the level. The only suggestion I have is making it a bit clearer where there are hidden morph ball tunnels. A lot of them had that blue circle on them, which I picked up on fairly quickly but not all were like that. Might make navigation easier for newbies.
Small Thoughts/Potential Improvements:
-The hint system is a godsend. No more aimlessly wandering without being sure of where to go. I also like how it will remember if you've seen speed boost blocks you haven't broken so you can remember to come back later.
-I really like the graphical changes to the morph ball. It's a small tweak but it makes everything look so much nicer.
-Some items don't give a dot on the minimap. Is that intentional? Can't remember if the original did that or not. It would be easier to track items if you could give some indication if an item is picked up or not. Or even a tracker for each zone for how many items the player still has yet to collect. It would make it easier to keep track of everything.
-The express elevator system is a really great change and makes the item/Chozo Guardian hunt in the endgame feel like less of a chore.
-Thank you for changing the Ceres Station timer back to 01:00:00
-Is it possible to add info about how many e-tanks you need for the Hell Run to the included readme/FAQ? I wanted to try the Hell Run but didn't know if I had enough tanks for it.
-The extra stats at the end are great. Any way you can add a tracker for how many times you died? :)
Final Thoughts
Despite my little gripes here and there, this is an absolute masterpiece of a game. A definite 5/5 and it would be a 6/5 if the small things I noted would get fixed. I'm proud to have my name attached to this game, and I've enjoyed my playthrough so much I've told some of my friends to check it out. One of them is currently exploring Brinstar and is using me as a guide.
Thank you Drewseph for all your hard work in putting together what I feel is the definitive edition of Super Metroid Redesign. See you next mission!
I suppose as the namesake of this mod, I should give it a review right? Note that all this was for the 1.52 version.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stats
294.69km traveled
48,944 energy lost
3,355 enemies killed
16,009 shots fired
2,066 doors traversed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First off, this update is incredible. It's the outline of the same game I muddled my way through all those years ago but everything has been fixed up. I can tell you put a lot of work into it, and it really seems to be paying off. I think the changes make it a far more accessible game for the average player while still leaving some truly challenging elements for old pros.
Tourian is obviously the most radically altered part of the game from the original so I'd like to take some time to talk about it.
The most important thing is: I love the new Tourian. It's definitely the best part of the hack. It took me a little bit to figure out what was going on but once I did I was grinning. Additionally the change in layout for Tourian which makes the area feel more like a giant puzzle is great too. It really feels like you're breaking into a highly secured Space Pirate base instead of wandering in the front door like it does in the original.
The Metroids, while tough, are now much more fair than in the original version. Honestly, by the end of Tourian I was getting to enjoy killing them since the health drain is fairly minimal and they're somewhat easy to get off you. The challenge is getting them arranged in a pattern so you can kill all three in one go. Makes fighting Metroids more of a puzzle and less of a slog.
I also really enjoyed the electricity puzzle. You sort of set this up back in Maridia with the multiple gates you need to bomb by exploring the level. The only suggestion I have is making it a bit clearer where there are hidden morph ball tunnels. A lot of them had that blue circle on them, which I picked up on fairly quickly but not all were like that. Might make navigation easier for newbies.
Small Thoughts/Potential Improvements:
-The hint system is a godsend. No more aimlessly wandering without being sure of where to go. I also like how it will remember if you've seen speed boost blocks you haven't broken so you can remember to come back later.
-I really like the graphical changes to the morph ball. It's a small tweak but it makes everything look so much nicer.
-Some items don't give a dot on the minimap. Is that intentional? Can't remember if the original did that or not. It would be easier to track items if you could give some indication if an item is picked up or not. Or even a tracker for each zone for how many items the player still has yet to collect. It would make it easier to keep track of everything.
-The express elevator system is a really great change and makes the item/Chozo Guardian hunt in the endgame feel like less of a chore.
-Thank you for changing the Ceres Station timer back to 01:00:00
-Is it possible to add info about how many e-tanks you need for the Hell Run to the included readme/FAQ? I wanted to try the Hell Run but didn't know if I had enough tanks for it.
-The extra stats at the end are great. Any way you can add a tracker for how many times you died? :)
Final Thoughts
Despite my little gripes here and there, this is an absolute masterpiece of a game. A definite 5/5 and it would be a 6/5 if the small things I noted would get fixed. I'm proud to have my name attached to this game, and I've enjoyed my playthrough so much I've told some of my friends to check it out. One of them is currently exploring Brinstar and is using me as a guide.
Thank you Drewseph for all your hard work in putting together what I feel is the definitive edition of Super Metroid Redesign. See you next mission!
I remember playing the original Redesign, and the many fustrations that came with it. faster falling speed, seemily overpowered enemies, and confusing terrain at times, and lets not forget the notorious lava pits of no escape.
That said, I actually haven't beaten the original. I made it to Maridia and lost interest before Space Jump when i couldn't figure out the route i was supposed to go to progress.
Axeil Edition fixed a lot of the grief that i recall from Redesign, and turned it into a hack that i felt compelled to finish, and capable OF finishing at that. i am not no no-hit death machine that some players are, but i'm not a noob by any means either. the interesting and not too brain-mashing landscapes were nice on the eyes, and really brought out that deep down in the catacombs feel in some places i felt came a bit short in the original SM. while enemies were challenging at times they were not merciless (aside from some...green jelly a-holes from hell >.>) and for the first time in any hack i've played so far, actually found myself having to be mindful of my health as i moved from area to area, even long after exploring with 12+ ETanks in tow.
Others may not agree, but personally i found that not being able to stack your beams as you go and having it as it's own unique powerup brought a challenge of it's own to the table. as in ways you really did not gain any true advantage beam-weapon wise and found missiles both more effective in most cases as well as invaluable even. making collecting them a priority as i carried on in my run.
The physics implemented here was interesting too. and honestly the auto walljump and morph was a nice touch and brought a bit more fluidity when traversing areas. I concur with those who say that its just not the same going back to the vanilla physics and similar of other hacks after playing this, it seems dull and slow.
It's a shame that the wrecked ship was not in this or the original redesign, as it would have been nice i think to see how you may have expanded on that area, nonetheless, the Lost Caves puzzle was as boggling to me as the original and took me a bit to figure out :B cool but boggling, and thats not a complaint, either.
Maridia, sorry to say, was a drag. Though not as confusing somehow compared to the original redesign, seemed horribly drug out. i found it more monotonous than any of the areas, and annoying almost. nice level design tho.
Norfair was pretty cool and had a lot of area to offer for exploration, and the acid in some places made for hairy and dangerous situations that i would have imagined the norfair of the vanilla to be.
I like that way it really gave the feel like you were in a massive volcano underground or at the core of a planet. no where was safe and one wrong move could cost you dearly. and making Hell's run an optional thing saved me a instance of much fustration that i remember from the original.
Crateria was pretty big in it's own right, and the depths was a nice but somewhat bothersome adventure ( i'm not a big fan of water and no gravity *shrugs*) even so, it was a nice surprise to be rewarded with gravity for it, so it made up for it.
Brinstar was interesting take on things, had it's hazards and no shortage of samus-eaters and spikefalls.
Tourian....oh ho ho...they weren't kidding when they said it was a Hellhole. I gotta say, confusing and tedious, as to be expected in a stronghold on lockdown, was a nightmare to traverse, and finding your way through to the end was a trial i have no intentions on undertaking again anytime soon. from the seemingly impossible to get a upper hand against Metroids to the uber-deadly zebetite barriers, Tourian was endgame Up Sh*t Creek without a paddle. but...that was some challenging craziness that definitely gave me a sense of accomplishment when i watched MB's head turn to dust and made one of the most intense escapes i've done in a metroid hack!
All in all Metroid: Redesign Axeil Edition is an amazing step further to an otherwise definitive invisionment of a remade Zebes/Super Metroid. with challenges and puzzles that test even the hardcore of Metroid enthusiasts, but not near as mind numbing as the original Redesign.
That said, I actually haven't beaten the original. I made it to Maridia and lost interest before Space Jump when i couldn't figure out the route i was supposed to go to progress.
Axeil Edition fixed a lot of the grief that i recall from Redesign, and turned it into a hack that i felt compelled to finish, and capable OF finishing at that. i am not no no-hit death machine that some players are, but i'm not a noob by any means either. the interesting and not too brain-mashing landscapes were nice on the eyes, and really brought out that deep down in the catacombs feel in some places i felt came a bit short in the original SM. while enemies were challenging at times they were not merciless (aside from some...green jelly a-holes from hell >.>) and for the first time in any hack i've played so far, actually found myself having to be mindful of my health as i moved from area to area, even long after exploring with 12+ ETanks in tow.
Others may not agree, but personally i found that not being able to stack your beams as you go and having it as it's own unique powerup brought a challenge of it's own to the table. as in ways you really did not gain any true advantage beam-weapon wise and found missiles both more effective in most cases as well as invaluable even. making collecting them a priority as i carried on in my run.
The physics implemented here was interesting too. and honestly the auto walljump and morph was a nice touch and brought a bit more fluidity when traversing areas. I concur with those who say that its just not the same going back to the vanilla physics and similar of other hacks after playing this, it seems dull and slow.
It's a shame that the wrecked ship was not in this or the original redesign, as it would have been nice i think to see how you may have expanded on that area, nonetheless, the Lost Caves puzzle was as boggling to me as the original and took me a bit to figure out :B cool but boggling, and thats not a complaint, either.
Maridia, sorry to say, was a drag. Though not as confusing somehow compared to the original redesign, seemed horribly drug out. i found it more monotonous than any of the areas, and annoying almost. nice level design tho.
Norfair was pretty cool and had a lot of area to offer for exploration, and the acid in some places made for hairy and dangerous situations that i would have imagined the norfair of the vanilla to be.
I like that way it really gave the feel like you were in a massive volcano underground or at the core of a planet. no where was safe and one wrong move could cost you dearly. and making Hell's run an optional thing saved me a instance of much fustration that i remember from the original.
Crateria was pretty big in it's own right, and the depths was a nice but somewhat bothersome adventure ( i'm not a big fan of water and no gravity *shrugs*) even so, it was a nice surprise to be rewarded with gravity for it, so it made up for it.
Brinstar was interesting take on things, had it's hazards and no shortage of samus-eaters and spikefalls.
Tourian....oh ho ho...they weren't kidding when they said it was a Hellhole. I gotta say, confusing and tedious, as to be expected in a stronghold on lockdown, was a nightmare to traverse, and finding your way through to the end was a trial i have no intentions on undertaking again anytime soon. from the seemingly impossible to get a upper hand against Metroids to the uber-deadly zebetite barriers, Tourian was endgame Up Sh*t Creek without a paddle. but...that was some challenging craziness that definitely gave me a sense of accomplishment when i watched MB's head turn to dust and made one of the most intense escapes i've done in a metroid hack!
All in all Metroid: Redesign Axeil Edition is an amazing step further to an otherwise definitive invisionment of a remade Zebes/Super Metroid. with challenges and puzzles that test even the hardcore of Metroid enthusiasts, but not near as mind numbing as the original Redesign.
You traveled: 387,67km
Energy lost: 52,703
Enemies killed: 4,016
Shots fired: 31,442
Doors traversed: 3,279
Before I get into my review, I just want to say thanks to Drew for his hard work in creating this hack. Rarely does a hack go into this level of detail and commitment, and it's clear that Drew has talent when it comes to game design. It was a long and frustrating journey, but even during the painful moments, I enjoyed the ride.
I can also tell that he's a huge fan of Metroid Prime, as this hack contains a lot of elements utilized in that series.
On to the review.
What I liked:
-Absolutely MASSIVE and sprawling overworld that is beautiful to look at and explore, if a little linear at times (surprising considering how huge it is).
-The physics are a massive improvement over the original, and I find it difficult to ween myself away from them when I play other hacks. I've adjusted to them too much, and now I prefer them to vanilla.
-Automated morphing and walljumping is a nice change, helps alleviate some of the frustration factor that was present in the original. Some tunnels don't work, but manually morphing into them isn't a big deal.
-The map system is fantastic. It shows you every possible way in or out of any given room. It gives you good general indicators of where to go without completely holding your hand; often you still have to find the correct path in that area and it isn't always obvious. Similarly, the map remembers where you've uncovered PB and SB blocks, so you can easily find them again when you have the appropriate upgrades. Very nifty.
-Sand and fluid mechanics are far, FAR better than the original. Acid is still extremely dangerous, but not instantly lethal just for touching it. You're given a chance to save yourself. Similarly, I like how Lava damages you more the deeper you fall, and makes it a legitimate threat to get dropped into, one that has to be navigated quickly but carefully if you do. Move quick and stay as high as you can.
-Items are well-hidden and even when you know where they are, the game makes you work for them. I like this to a degree, HOWEVER, there are a few problems I will address in the negatives later.
-Hells Run being an optional thing now is nice, as it was a source of unbelieveable frustration in the original.
-Missiles are actually a valued resource throughout the entire game, and the player is actually encouraged to manage them and seek out expansions whenever possible. Every little bit helps.
What I disliked:
-Item distribution is WILDLY unbalanced, in particular the early and middle game. The order in which you receive upgrades is okay, but the game often gives you either too little or too much to work with most of the time. The biggest issue is the beginning. I understand the need for advancement once you get the two key pickups, but the beginning of the game basically forces the players hand. "Okay, you have Morph Ball and 5 Missiles. Go directly to Brinstar. Do not explore Crateria. Do not collect any expansions." With so much of Crateria already explorable by the time Brinstar is accessible, why does the game do this? For a hack that puts emphasis on the importance of resource management, especially when it comes to Missiles, you don't really give the player anything to work with in the beginning, and being forced to fully reload our pitiful supply after every red door is just tedious, punishing the player for daring to press forward without restocking first. Is it really too much to ask to let us find at least 1 or 2 expansions before going to Brinstar, so we have at least SOMETHING to work with?
The lack of available E-Tanks in the beginning only compounds this. I mentioned earlier that it was nice to make Hells Run an optional thing, but a lot of E-Tanks were moved around to counter-balance this, creating a noticeable shortage of energy in the early game. E-Tanks should be well-hidden and rewarding to find, but more often than not the player is going to run by several of them in the beginning, lying in plain sight, and get frustrated because they won't be able to collect them until later, when they're really hurting for it right then and there.
Conversely, once you lay hands on Power Bombs, the amount of goodies you can collect increases astronomically, completely disproportionate to where the player currently is in their quest. Doubly so once the player lays hands on Speed Booster. You go from having a critical shortage of ammo and energy to an unjustifiable surplus by the time you make the second trip to Norfair. This needs to be balanced better. More available in the beginning, less available in the middle.
-Why do Supers fire so slowly?
-While I didn't mind all the morph ball and shinespark puzzles in the game, there are indeed an unnecessary surplus of them, and some of them are far more difficult than they need to be, at least when you consider the junk rewards you get from most of them (oh yay, another Power Bomb).
-The underwater segment of Crateria was unnecessarily long and frustrating for all the wrong reasons. It's like you want to make us feel ill-equipped and desperate for the next upgrade, and only when we've proven that we don't need them are you willing to give them to us.
-Not being able to jump crumble blocks or short charge only adds to the tedium of some of the games puzzles. One of the things that made Super Metroid so great is how there was often more than one way to solve something, whether it was through walljumping, bomb jumping, short-charging, precisely timed jumps off of crumble blocks, etc. Taking all that stuff away restricts the players freedom and the tools at their disposal to solve problems. It's like you only want there to be "one" way to solve things, like you hate people that sequence break or find alternative solutions or something.
-25 Missile Doors. Way too many of these. Why do these even exist? Often the rooms you find them in contain enemies to refill on, so if the purpose was to ensure the player had met a minimum threshold to crack these in one go, it's often defeated by refills. Even so, these things are just needlessly tedious to crack and only serve to slow the player down. These should be replaced with Power Bomb doors.
-Tourian, while breathtaking in its design, was unreasonably frustrating for a number of reasons. The big one being the zebetites. The mazelike nature of this place was beautiful in its own right, but finding the zebetites to shut down the insta-death lasers was a tedious exercise because the game isn't consistent with its own rules. Spot the blue blocks to find hidden paths to the zebetites, except until later where you need to X-Ray everything to find obnoxiously hidden SB/SM blocks and follow background tilesets to hidden morphball tunnels and hope they don't mislead you. Granted, once I broke through the first barrier near MB things eased up, but it's horrendously misleading and borders on sheer lunacy before that point.
-The Metroids. Where do I even start with these things. I played 1.52 which supposedly has the easier versions, but they are still terrifying little beasts. They move like greased lightning, they hunt like raptors, they barely stay frozen long enough to do anything about them, they ignore Screw Attack, they DODGE BEAM SHOTS, and you have to kill all three of them on screen before they respawn to unlock some doors, which is unintuitive and, quite frankly, just horseshit given how obnoxious these things are. These might not have been so bad if Supers fired a little faster, but often they don't stay frozen long enough to kill them all with the rate that Supers fire at. The only semi-workaround is to not touch refills to delay the respawn as long as you can, but even then these rooms require some very precise execution to get through. I understand what you were trying to do with the Metroids, but you just...overdid it. They're completely overwhelming the way they current stand, and I would not blame anybody for giving up at this point.
What can be improved:
-Distribute items more evenly throughout the game. Give the player more to work with in the beginning, at least more than a measly 5 missiles before Brinstar.
-Fewer morphball and shinespark puzzles, or at least tone down the difficulty on some of them. The one in Maridia involving multiple rooms of carrying a charge is just lunacy.
-Eliminate some of the games tedium. Remove the purple doors, remove or shorten the underwater journey to the Gravity Suit, make Tourian a little easier to figure out so the player isn't aimlessly wandering for hours trying to find super-hidden routes to zebetites blocking progress.
-NERF THE GODDAMN METROIDS!
Final score: 4/5. There's quite a few bad things in this hack, but the good is often enough to outshine it. It just needs to be balanced better.
Edit: 100% with Animals Saved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuxp0TdAaRg
Energy lost: 52,703
Enemies killed: 4,016
Shots fired: 31,442
Doors traversed: 3,279
Before I get into my review, I just want to say thanks to Drew for his hard work in creating this hack. Rarely does a hack go into this level of detail and commitment, and it's clear that Drew has talent when it comes to game design. It was a long and frustrating journey, but even during the painful moments, I enjoyed the ride.
I can also tell that he's a huge fan of Metroid Prime, as this hack contains a lot of elements utilized in that series.
On to the review.
What I liked:
-Absolutely MASSIVE and sprawling overworld that is beautiful to look at and explore, if a little linear at times (surprising considering how huge it is).
-The physics are a massive improvement over the original, and I find it difficult to ween myself away from them when I play other hacks. I've adjusted to them too much, and now I prefer them to vanilla.
-Automated morphing and walljumping is a nice change, helps alleviate some of the frustration factor that was present in the original. Some tunnels don't work, but manually morphing into them isn't a big deal.
-The map system is fantastic. It shows you every possible way in or out of any given room. It gives you good general indicators of where to go without completely holding your hand; often you still have to find the correct path in that area and it isn't always obvious. Similarly, the map remembers where you've uncovered PB and SB blocks, so you can easily find them again when you have the appropriate upgrades. Very nifty.
-Sand and fluid mechanics are far, FAR better than the original. Acid is still extremely dangerous, but not instantly lethal just for touching it. You're given a chance to save yourself. Similarly, I like how Lava damages you more the deeper you fall, and makes it a legitimate threat to get dropped into, one that has to be navigated quickly but carefully if you do. Move quick and stay as high as you can.
-Items are well-hidden and even when you know where they are, the game makes you work for them. I like this to a degree, HOWEVER, there are a few problems I will address in the negatives later.
-Hells Run being an optional thing now is nice, as it was a source of unbelieveable frustration in the original.
-Missiles are actually a valued resource throughout the entire game, and the player is actually encouraged to manage them and seek out expansions whenever possible. Every little bit helps.
What I disliked:
-Item distribution is WILDLY unbalanced, in particular the early and middle game. The order in which you receive upgrades is okay, but the game often gives you either too little or too much to work with most of the time. The biggest issue is the beginning. I understand the need for advancement once you get the two key pickups, but the beginning of the game basically forces the players hand. "Okay, you have Morph Ball and 5 Missiles. Go directly to Brinstar. Do not explore Crateria. Do not collect any expansions." With so much of Crateria already explorable by the time Brinstar is accessible, why does the game do this? For a hack that puts emphasis on the importance of resource management, especially when it comes to Missiles, you don't really give the player anything to work with in the beginning, and being forced to fully reload our pitiful supply after every red door is just tedious, punishing the player for daring to press forward without restocking first. Is it really too much to ask to let us find at least 1 or 2 expansions before going to Brinstar, so we have at least SOMETHING to work with?
The lack of available E-Tanks in the beginning only compounds this. I mentioned earlier that it was nice to make Hells Run an optional thing, but a lot of E-Tanks were moved around to counter-balance this, creating a noticeable shortage of energy in the early game. E-Tanks should be well-hidden and rewarding to find, but more often than not the player is going to run by several of them in the beginning, lying in plain sight, and get frustrated because they won't be able to collect them until later, when they're really hurting for it right then and there.
Conversely, once you lay hands on Power Bombs, the amount of goodies you can collect increases astronomically, completely disproportionate to where the player currently is in their quest. Doubly so once the player lays hands on Speed Booster. You go from having a critical shortage of ammo and energy to an unjustifiable surplus by the time you make the second trip to Norfair. This needs to be balanced better. More available in the beginning, less available in the middle.
-Why do Supers fire so slowly?
-While I didn't mind all the morph ball and shinespark puzzles in the game, there are indeed an unnecessary surplus of them, and some of them are far more difficult than they need to be, at least when you consider the junk rewards you get from most of them (oh yay, another Power Bomb).
-The underwater segment of Crateria was unnecessarily long and frustrating for all the wrong reasons. It's like you want to make us feel ill-equipped and desperate for the next upgrade, and only when we've proven that we don't need them are you willing to give them to us.
-Not being able to jump crumble blocks or short charge only adds to the tedium of some of the games puzzles. One of the things that made Super Metroid so great is how there was often more than one way to solve something, whether it was through walljumping, bomb jumping, short-charging, precisely timed jumps off of crumble blocks, etc. Taking all that stuff away restricts the players freedom and the tools at their disposal to solve problems. It's like you only want there to be "one" way to solve things, like you hate people that sequence break or find alternative solutions or something.
-25 Missile Doors. Way too many of these. Why do these even exist? Often the rooms you find them in contain enemies to refill on, so if the purpose was to ensure the player had met a minimum threshold to crack these in one go, it's often defeated by refills. Even so, these things are just needlessly tedious to crack and only serve to slow the player down. These should be replaced with Power Bomb doors.
-Tourian, while breathtaking in its design, was unreasonably frustrating for a number of reasons. The big one being the zebetites. The mazelike nature of this place was beautiful in its own right, but finding the zebetites to shut down the insta-death lasers was a tedious exercise because the game isn't consistent with its own rules. Spot the blue blocks to find hidden paths to the zebetites, except until later where you need to X-Ray everything to find obnoxiously hidden SB/SM blocks and follow background tilesets to hidden morphball tunnels and hope they don't mislead you. Granted, once I broke through the first barrier near MB things eased up, but it's horrendously misleading and borders on sheer lunacy before that point.
-The Metroids. Where do I even start with these things. I played 1.52 which supposedly has the easier versions, but they are still terrifying little beasts. They move like greased lightning, they hunt like raptors, they barely stay frozen long enough to do anything about them, they ignore Screw Attack, they DODGE BEAM SHOTS, and you have to kill all three of them on screen before they respawn to unlock some doors, which is unintuitive and, quite frankly, just horseshit given how obnoxious these things are. These might not have been so bad if Supers fired a little faster, but often they don't stay frozen long enough to kill them all with the rate that Supers fire at. The only semi-workaround is to not touch refills to delay the respawn as long as you can, but even then these rooms require some very precise execution to get through. I understand what you were trying to do with the Metroids, but you just...overdid it. They're completely overwhelming the way they current stand, and I would not blame anybody for giving up at this point.
What can be improved:
-Distribute items more evenly throughout the game. Give the player more to work with in the beginning, at least more than a measly 5 missiles before Brinstar.
-Fewer morphball and shinespark puzzles, or at least tone down the difficulty on some of them. The one in Maridia involving multiple rooms of carrying a charge is just lunacy.
-Eliminate some of the games tedium. Remove the purple doors, remove or shorten the underwater journey to the Gravity Suit, make Tourian a little easier to figure out so the player isn't aimlessly wandering for hours trying to find super-hidden routes to zebetites blocking progress.
-NERF THE GODDAMN METROIDS!
Final score: 4/5. There's quite a few bad things in this hack, but the good is often enough to outshine it. It just needs to be balanced better.
Edit: 100% with Animals Saved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuxp0TdAaRg
![[Watch Video]](images/video.png)
Proper Item Collection display: 100.0%.
Animals saved.
Quick Summary of the meaning of my SM hack ratings:
5 orbs: SM hacks within the 80% to 100% (90% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; SM hacks for outstanding wholesome playing experiences and at most minor inconveniences.
4 orbs: SM hacks within the 60% to 80% (70% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Well done SM hacks with noticeable design problems.
3 orbs: SM hacks within the 40% to 60% (50% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Normal decent average SM hacks.
2 orbs: SM hacks within the 20% to 40% (30% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Overall messy, confusing, or punishing SM hacks with some upsides.
1 orb : SM hacks within the 00% to 20% (10% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Ruthlessly unplayable, broken, or barely from the original game changed SM hacks.
Judgement parameters summary:
° Creative ideas and features, polished design, how enjoyable and fun the hack can be, lack of hard to find or cryptic required game elements, the difficulty, and if the hack can be finished without major guides or tools.
° Note that the length of a SM hack will not necessarily contribute to my rating of the SM hack, since instead the averaged out experience over the whole hack will be taken into account to get a relative comparison between SM hacks.
° Besides this, lack of impactful changes from the original SM game also went into the evaluation of SM hacks (otherwise one may consider them among the 3 stars hacks) as follows: Ultimately, for my ratings I consider a situation in which an SM enthusiast that already has, knows about and is familiar with the original game and its prominent mechanics could only choose 1 new SM hack to play and thus would really want to make sure he/she will get a fresh and fantastic experience or journey out of his/her 1 choice.
The goal of all these SM hack ratings is so that rather new players have an overview of the whole spectrum of SM hacks and how to sort them in, in relation to each other, where SM hacks that are rated lower might still be enjoyable for more experienced players.
Finally, sometimes for SM hacks it can be relevant that they may be significantly more enjoyable from a player standpoint at which the player is well practiced and familiarized with Super Metroid's game mechanics in general, and that in particular some of the best SM hacks may not be the outright best first SM hack choices to play otherwise because of this, and for beginner SM hack players this typically steers the best first SM hack choices towards some of the SM hacks that I rated with 4 orbs instead of 5.
Rating for some hacks may be off by 1 Star, but arguably not more, and ratings are not attempted to be provided within the precision of ''half orbs''.
Animals saved.
Quick Summary of the meaning of my SM hack ratings:
5 orbs: SM hacks within the 80% to 100% (90% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; SM hacks for outstanding wholesome playing experiences and at most minor inconveniences.
4 orbs: SM hacks within the 60% to 80% (70% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Well done SM hacks with noticeable design problems.
3 orbs: SM hacks within the 40% to 60% (50% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Normal decent average SM hacks.
2 orbs: SM hacks within the 20% to 40% (30% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Overall messy, confusing, or punishing SM hacks with some upsides.
1 orb : SM hacks within the 00% to 20% (10% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Ruthlessly unplayable, broken, or barely from the original game changed SM hacks.
Judgement parameters summary:
° Creative ideas and features, polished design, how enjoyable and fun the hack can be, lack of hard to find or cryptic required game elements, the difficulty, and if the hack can be finished without major guides or tools.
° Note that the length of a SM hack will not necessarily contribute to my rating of the SM hack, since instead the averaged out experience over the whole hack will be taken into account to get a relative comparison between SM hacks.
° Besides this, lack of impactful changes from the original SM game also went into the evaluation of SM hacks (otherwise one may consider them among the 3 stars hacks) as follows: Ultimately, for my ratings I consider a situation in which an SM enthusiast that already has, knows about and is familiar with the original game and its prominent mechanics could only choose 1 new SM hack to play and thus would really want to make sure he/she will get a fresh and fantastic experience or journey out of his/her 1 choice.
The goal of all these SM hack ratings is so that rather new players have an overview of the whole spectrum of SM hacks and how to sort them in, in relation to each other, where SM hacks that are rated lower might still be enjoyable for more experienced players.
Finally, sometimes for SM hacks it can be relevant that they may be significantly more enjoyable from a player standpoint at which the player is well practiced and familiarized with Super Metroid's game mechanics in general, and that in particular some of the best SM hacks may not be the outright best first SM hack choices to play otherwise because of this, and for beginner SM hack players this typically steers the best first SM hack choices towards some of the SM hacks that I rated with 4 orbs instead of 5.
Rating for some hacks may be off by 1 Star, but arguably not more, and ratings are not attempted to be provided within the precision of ''half orbs''.
Traveled: 200.90km
Energy Lost: 29,812
Enemies Killed: 2,367
Shots Fired: 14,076
Doors Traversed: 1,700
So I have played the original Redesign prior to this one: and I barely made it into Maridia before putting it down. As a challenge and a testament to wanting to get better: I picked up Axeil and ran headlong into it. It took me longer than I wished it did, but that is because it is very massive. The over all feel of Axeil is rather welcoming as it tones down the rather massive requirements to fully take on it's original form. Once you get a feel for the controls and how everything works: you will find Axeil to be a breath of fresh air.
With that said: I strongly encourage Redesign haters to at least dip their hooves into Axeil's waters at least once, if just to taste how different it really is.
Energy Lost: 29,812
Enemies Killed: 2,367
Shots Fired: 14,076
Doors Traversed: 1,700
So I have played the original Redesign prior to this one: and I barely made it into Maridia before putting it down. As a challenge and a testament to wanting to get better: I picked up Axeil and ran headlong into it. It took me longer than I wished it did, but that is because it is very massive. The over all feel of Axeil is rather welcoming as it tones down the rather massive requirements to fully take on it's original form. Once you get a feel for the controls and how everything works: you will find Axeil to be a breath of fresh air.
With that said: I strongly encourage Redesign haters to at least dip their hooves into Axeil's waters at least once, if just to taste how different it really is.
This Review is a rolling review as I've played the hack back when it was the original redesign, and I've played all the major axiel versions to date. Thus this review will compare and contrast to the original, and also be weighted on the fixes implemented all the way up to version 1.52
I heavily suggest you hit the read more button.
I played the original hack when I was a teenager. I'll keep it short and to the point; It was brutal. It was unfair, it had me doing stuff I thought impossible and it forced me to learn some really hard tricks. I am not ashamed to say that I used save states back then, because if I didn't it would have been an experience I'd liken to torture.
Axiel is majorly different. A few of the "reviewers" here complain that nothing has changed, that it's as hard as ever, that it's not easy, etc. They are only right on one account.
It Is Not Easy.
Do not be confused, though this hack is easier, more streamlined, and much more ergonomic and user friendly it is still not an easy hack. That being said I'll let you in on something; I did not need to use save states once while playing this. Be prepared coming into this, you're going to need basic understandings of special techniques such as: MockBall, Shinespark and Shinespark Extension, and Bomb jumping to get certain items. Specifically this hack will need you to understand how to do: Walljumping, Double Bombjump, Grapple Walljump, and horizontal shine sparking. Those last 4 things I listed are the only advanced techniques you need to know how to do to beat this hack. It's not that bad, Especially when you consider that the creator has added Auto Walljumping, Auto Morphing, and Auto Spacejump.
The RomHack starts out reasonably, and it is a moderately challenging start to the game. You're not completely limited in where you can go and what you can do, but the direction you ought to go is pretty laid out. The difficulty starts to ramp up after Kraid, and a lot of paths become open. I never found myself in need of a savestate like I said, but sometimes you just have to accept that, yes, you're going to die. When I came to an area that I felt was to tough i back tracked a little, powered up, and made it through. The enemies and bosses never felt completely unfair, and the trick requirements were reduced from the original. I had fun through and through. I did get pissed off sometimes, and sometimes I did feel completely lost, but I just pushed on and explored just as one would in the original Super Metroid. My only real gripe is at the end in tourian regarding the metroids. That area is not fun, just a chore. All in all this is a great labour of love and a desperately needed redesign of redesign ;)
Thanks Drewseph!
Final note: If you read that idiot Technomagus' review you can discard it. If you've seen the way he plays you'd tear your hair out. I know I did.
This should be your choice of RomHack if:
-You've played Super Metroid in excess of 20 times (assuming you've learned how to do some simple tricks along the way)
-You Speedrun Super Metroid
-You've played 2 or more Super Metroid RomHacks in the vanilla difficulty range, and are looking for a step up in difficulty
-You've made a horrible mistake and played an Expert difficulty hack and weren't even close to prepared.
Do not play, and definitely do not review this hack if:
-You've just beaten Super Metroid for the first time
-You do not know how to walljump, bombjump, or shinespark properly
-You die more than once in the original Super Metroid
You're seriously going to hurt yourself if you try to play this and you're not good enough. Your ego will be battered and bruised, and your time will have been wasted. Do not play if you aren't ready for a challenge well above a normal playthrough of Super Metroid, this is a veteran difficulty RomHack after all.
I heavily suggest you hit the read more button.
I played the original hack when I was a teenager. I'll keep it short and to the point; It was brutal. It was unfair, it had me doing stuff I thought impossible and it forced me to learn some really hard tricks. I am not ashamed to say that I used save states back then, because if I didn't it would have been an experience I'd liken to torture.
Axiel is majorly different. A few of the "reviewers" here complain that nothing has changed, that it's as hard as ever, that it's not easy, etc. They are only right on one account.
It Is Not Easy.
Do not be confused, though this hack is easier, more streamlined, and much more ergonomic and user friendly it is still not an easy hack. That being said I'll let you in on something; I did not need to use save states once while playing this. Be prepared coming into this, you're going to need basic understandings of special techniques such as: MockBall, Shinespark and Shinespark Extension, and Bomb jumping to get certain items. Specifically this hack will need you to understand how to do: Walljumping, Double Bombjump, Grapple Walljump, and horizontal shine sparking. Those last 4 things I listed are the only advanced techniques you need to know how to do to beat this hack. It's not that bad, Especially when you consider that the creator has added Auto Walljumping, Auto Morphing, and Auto Spacejump.
The RomHack starts out reasonably, and it is a moderately challenging start to the game. You're not completely limited in where you can go and what you can do, but the direction you ought to go is pretty laid out. The difficulty starts to ramp up after Kraid, and a lot of paths become open. I never found myself in need of a savestate like I said, but sometimes you just have to accept that, yes, you're going to die. When I came to an area that I felt was to tough i back tracked a little, powered up, and made it through. The enemies and bosses never felt completely unfair, and the trick requirements were reduced from the original. I had fun through and through. I did get pissed off sometimes, and sometimes I did feel completely lost, but I just pushed on and explored just as one would in the original Super Metroid. My only real gripe is at the end in tourian regarding the metroids. That area is not fun, just a chore. All in all this is a great labour of love and a desperately needed redesign of redesign ;)
Thanks Drewseph!
Final note: If you read that idiot Technomagus' review you can discard it. If you've seen the way he plays you'd tear your hair out. I know I did.
This should be your choice of RomHack if:
-You've played Super Metroid in excess of 20 times (assuming you've learned how to do some simple tricks along the way)
-You Speedrun Super Metroid
-You've played 2 or more Super Metroid RomHacks in the vanilla difficulty range, and are looking for a step up in difficulty
-You've made a horrible mistake and played an Expert difficulty hack and weren't even close to prepared.
Do not play, and definitely do not review this hack if:
-You've just beaten Super Metroid for the first time
-You do not know how to walljump, bombjump, or shinespark properly
-You die more than once in the original Super Metroid
You're seriously going to hurt yourself if you try to play this and you're not good enough. Your ego will be battered and bruised, and your time will have been wasted. Do not play if you aren't ready for a challenge well above a normal playthrough of Super Metroid, this is a veteran difficulty RomHack after all.
Your traveled: 279.28KM
Energy Lost: 44,861
Enemies Killed: 3,150
Shots Fired: 19,373
Doors Traversed: 2,166
--------
Review: (qualification 1 to 5)
--------
General Design: 5/5. The best Super Metroid hack thanks to this.
Doors
--
The doors open fast: 5/5
The purple doors: 5/5
Chozo Guardian: <3 5/5
Enemies
--
Pirate spaces strong 5/5
The phantoom most difficult 5/5
Arm
--
Combo Beam: is a good idea, the game is most difficult without power arms 5/5
Super Missilie: I hate that be very slow. :'( . I understand that be for most difficult, but... 3/5
Wall Jump: It's good that be an ability, but.. automatic wall jump? WTF? 4/5
Automatic Shinespark: I like it and I hate it.
X-ray Scope: Shot button for to used it? I believe that do you what avoid glitch with this arm. hahahaha 3.8/5
Samus
--
Physical 4.5/5
Gravity Suit: I like the new design. It's the real color.
Zones
--
Space Colony: 1 minute again, Does not bother me.
Crateria: Good idea the water zone without Gravity Suit. But I believe that is best Super Metroid Redesign in this zone. 4.5/5
Brinstar: It's a beautiful design. 5/5
Norfair: It's a great zone, but Lower Norfair is very easy. 4/5
The Lost caverns: I don't know how I did passed this zone LOL, The first zone helps to decipher the second zone?, I don't understand that :(. I like it. In Super Metroid Redesign was easier. 5/5
Maridia: My favorite, very difficult, the bronce doors everywhere. 5/5
Tourian: Headache!!, It have the good idea but, to return the firsts zones for the entry the final boss? :@ boooorrrriiingg 4/5
Time Bomb: I like it more Super Metroid Redesign, 25 minutes it's very thrill hahaha. 4/5
Misc
--
Bottom right caption: I love this!!. Entry the new zone and appears this. <3 5/5
Camera: I discovered in Tourian zone, I don't used a lot again, it's a good idea. 5/5
Many bombs whit Charged Beam: LOL, It's a stupid technique. 5/5
Redesign Morphing ball: I love the new design. 5/5
Jump Ball after Bomb: It's a good technique. 5/5
Map Design: Great!!! 5/5
Zone Lifts: <3 5/5
Energy Lost: 44,861
Enemies Killed: 3,150
Shots Fired: 19,373
Doors Traversed: 2,166
--------
Review: (qualification 1 to 5)
--------
General Design: 5/5. The best Super Metroid hack thanks to this.
Doors
--
The doors open fast: 5/5
The purple doors: 5/5
Chozo Guardian: <3 5/5
Enemies
--
Pirate spaces strong 5/5
The phantoom most difficult 5/5
Arm
--
Combo Beam: is a good idea, the game is most difficult without power arms 5/5
Super Missilie: I hate that be very slow. :'( . I understand that be for most difficult, but... 3/5
Wall Jump: It's good that be an ability, but.. automatic wall jump? WTF? 4/5
Automatic Shinespark: I like it and I hate it.
X-ray Scope: Shot button for to used it? I believe that do you what avoid glitch with this arm. hahahaha 3.8/5
Samus
--
Physical 4.5/5
Gravity Suit: I like the new design. It's the real color.
Zones
--
Space Colony: 1 minute again, Does not bother me.
Crateria: Good idea the water zone without Gravity Suit. But I believe that is best Super Metroid Redesign in this zone. 4.5/5
Brinstar: It's a beautiful design. 5/5
Norfair: It's a great zone, but Lower Norfair is very easy. 4/5
The Lost caverns: I don't know how I did passed this zone LOL, The first zone helps to decipher the second zone?, I don't understand that :(. I like it. In Super Metroid Redesign was easier. 5/5
Maridia: My favorite, very difficult, the bronce doors everywhere. 5/5
Tourian: Headache!!, It have the good idea but, to return the firsts zones for the entry the final boss? :@ boooorrrriiingg 4/5
Time Bomb: I like it more Super Metroid Redesign, 25 minutes it's very thrill hahaha. 4/5
Misc
--
Bottom right caption: I love this!!. Entry the new zone and appears this. <3 5/5
Camera: I discovered in Tourian zone, I don't used a lot again, it's a good idea. 5/5
Many bombs whit Charged Beam: LOL, It's a stupid technique. 5/5
Redesign Morphing ball: I love the new design. 5/5
Jump Ball after Bomb: It's a good technique. 5/5
Map Design: Great!!! 5/5
Zone Lifts: <3 5/5
Traveled: 217.42 km
Energy Lost: 39,542
Enemies Killed: 2,254
Shots Fired: 18,395
Doors Travelled: 1,856
I went into this hack with low expectations because of all the negative buzz around it, but I ended up enjoying this hack a lot. Unlike the original redesign, I didn't have any points where I got super frustrated and wanted to stop playing. There were a few annoying spots, but overall, it was very flowing and I enjoyed playing it. Version 1.6 is the version I played, and it probably fixed a lot of the problems that the reviews above mention. This hack is great. My main problems are the forced linearity and the fact that you can't jump off of crumble blocks at all. There are a couple of other minor things that were a bit annoying, but overall the hack was great. Tourian was not as bad as people made it out to be, but the escape had a bit too many rooms with rising lava that I was lucky to not fall in to. Either way, this is a fun hack.
Energy Lost: 39,542
Enemies Killed: 2,254
Shots Fired: 18,395
Doors Travelled: 1,856
I went into this hack with low expectations because of all the negative buzz around it, but I ended up enjoying this hack a lot. Unlike the original redesign, I didn't have any points where I got super frustrated and wanted to stop playing. There were a few annoying spots, but overall, it was very flowing and I enjoyed playing it. Version 1.6 is the version I played, and it probably fixed a lot of the problems that the reviews above mention. This hack is great. My main problems are the forced linearity and the fact that you can't jump off of crumble blocks at all. There are a couple of other minor things that were a bit annoying, but overall the hack was great. Tourian was not as bad as people made it out to be, but the escape had a bit too many rooms with rising lava that I was lucky to not fall in to. Either way, this is a fun hack.
I don't know what to say about this hack that hasn't been said already, but I really liked it.
The Early Power Bomb Challenge is a really nice touch, too.
The Early Power Bomb Challenge is a really nice touch, too.
EDIT: It was brought to my attention that I may not have the latest version of Axiel. Take the following comments with that in mind.
A well thought revision to the original Redesign hack. Responding to some of the other comments, it does have an overall quite different feel than the original. more on pros/cons below. The general progression through the game remains the same, yet enough is different to make it enjoyable all over again. I am currently only up to maridia, having acquired the
gravity suit, so i cannot comment beyond this.
Although i would have made a few changes, it's still one of the best hacks out there. the world is a better place having Redesign in it!
(Maybe some spoilers below? but not really)
Pros:
. Jump physics feels a little better.
. Auto wall jump is an excellent addition
. Auto ball morph is pretty cool. doesn't seem to work where mock ball would be nice.
. Axiel is definitely much easier than the original. This makes it more cartridge (vs emulator) safe, but i played the original on console. Much more rewarding with the higher difficulty.
. normal bomb sprite is nice. like an implosion.
. the map has been re-envisioned to show the transition from room to room more clearly. very nice.
. I don't recall if fast doors existed in the original, but it's nice.
. Some of the menuing loads quicker. noticeable when choosing a save file.
Cons:
. mock ball seems to have been removed, unless it is unlocked later in the game.
. water physics was revamped. acceleration is probably halved. This could be a pro if you like a more difficult underwater experience.
. ball physics is more haphazard. Moment seems to be carried much more making it difficult to control samus as a ball.
. IBJ seems to have made impossible or supremely difficult. bomb timing has been offset just enough to have this effect
. X-Ray seems to operate with the fire button instead of the run button. not sure why this decision was made.
A well thought revision to the original Redesign hack. Responding to some of the other comments, it does have an overall quite different feel than the original. more on pros/cons below. The general progression through the game remains the same, yet enough is different to make it enjoyable all over again. I am currently only up to maridia, having acquired the
gravity suit, so i cannot comment beyond this.
Although i would have made a few changes, it's still one of the best hacks out there. the world is a better place having Redesign in it!
(Maybe some spoilers below? but not really)
Pros:
. Jump physics feels a little better.
. Auto wall jump is an excellent addition
. Auto ball morph is pretty cool. doesn't seem to work where mock ball would be nice.
. Axiel is definitely much easier than the original. This makes it more cartridge (vs emulator) safe, but i played the original on console. Much more rewarding with the higher difficulty.
. normal bomb sprite is nice. like an implosion.
. the map has been re-envisioned to show the transition from room to room more clearly. very nice.
. I don't recall if fast doors existed in the original, but it's nice.
. Some of the menuing loads quicker. noticeable when choosing a save file.
Cons:
. mock ball seems to have been removed, unless it is unlocked later in the game.
. water physics was revamped. acceleration is probably halved. This could be a pro if you like a more difficult underwater experience.
. ball physics is more haphazard. Moment seems to be carried much more making it difficult to control samus as a ball.
. IBJ seems to have made impossible or supremely difficult. bomb timing has been offset just enough to have this effect
. X-Ray seems to operate with the fire button instead of the run button. not sure why this decision was made.
This review is based on the final version of Redesign: Axeil Edition.
Much better than the original Redesign and even the early versions of Axeil Edition (prior to 1.5). While still not an easy hack, it is less frustrating to play through. Sections that scream savestate abuse are fixed (such as that Grapple segment in Norfair shortly after getting the Grapple Beam). Metroids (espeically the ones in the feeding pit) are bearable to deal with.
My only main gripe is one of the rooms in Crateria during the escape sequence. It is easy to get trapped (but not permastuck) and when you do, you won't get out in time before the lava rises above you, effectively killing you.
I recommend this hack, but make sure you have the latest version!
Much better than the original Redesign and even the early versions of Axeil Edition (prior to 1.5). While still not an easy hack, it is less frustrating to play through. Sections that scream savestate abuse are fixed (such as that Grapple segment in Norfair shortly after getting the Grapple Beam). Metroids (espeically the ones in the feeding pit) are bearable to deal with.
My only main gripe is one of the rooms in Crateria during the escape sequence. It is easy to get trapped (but not permastuck) and when you do, you won't get out in time before the lava rises above you, effectively killing you.
I recommend this hack, but make sure you have the latest version!
Esta reseña se basa en la versión Final.
Estaba esperando algo muy bueno al leer las otras reseñas, pero creo que no me gusta la naturaleza exageradamente lineal de este Hack y reconozco que la versión original de Redesign era mucho peor pero aún tiene errores graves de diseño (Spoilers):
-Tienes que hacer mucho "backtrack" y es especialmente tedioso en algunas partes como Maridia y Tourian
-Tourian me pareció muy bueno en un principio, sin embargo fue tedioso tener que desactivar los láseres para poder enfrentar a Mother Brain
-Aunque ya lo dije vuelvo a recalcar que es muy lineal, y esto se aprecia a partir de maridia ya que existen muchas puertas cerradas que se abren hasta que logras ciertos objetivos
-El cambio en el movimiento de samus, aunque en este caso tiene razón de ser para evitar que alguien se salte ciertas partes del juego creo que en este hack los cambios son muy exagerados
Claro que también tiene algunas cosas positivas:
-La gran cantidad de secretos y la exploración que llevas a cabo
-La corrección de errores en comparación con el Redesign original
-El "Hint system" que te ayuda a no perderte tanto
De hecho pensaba en poner 2 orbs, pero decidí colocarle 3 orbs porque no activé el hint system y me perdí más de lo que debía. En general yo no lo recomendaría o al menos no sin usar el hint system, también ayudaría ver una guía de cómo pasarlo en las partes donde uno se sienta más perdido para evitar frustrarse.
Estaba esperando algo muy bueno al leer las otras reseñas, pero creo que no me gusta la naturaleza exageradamente lineal de este Hack y reconozco que la versión original de Redesign era mucho peor pero aún tiene errores graves de diseño (Spoilers):
-Tienes que hacer mucho "backtrack" y es especialmente tedioso en algunas partes como Maridia y Tourian
-Tourian me pareció muy bueno en un principio, sin embargo fue tedioso tener que desactivar los láseres para poder enfrentar a Mother Brain
-Aunque ya lo dije vuelvo a recalcar que es muy lineal, y esto se aprecia a partir de maridia ya que existen muchas puertas cerradas que se abren hasta que logras ciertos objetivos
-El cambio en el movimiento de samus, aunque en este caso tiene razón de ser para evitar que alguien se salte ciertas partes del juego creo que en este hack los cambios son muy exagerados
Claro que también tiene algunas cosas positivas:
-La gran cantidad de secretos y la exploración que llevas a cabo
-La corrección de errores en comparación con el Redesign original
-El "Hint system" que te ayuda a no perderte tanto
De hecho pensaba en poner 2 orbs, pero decidí colocarle 3 orbs porque no activé el hint system y me perdí más de lo que debía. En general yo no lo recomendaría o al menos no sin usar el hint system, también ayudaría ver una guía de cómo pasarlo en las partes donde uno se sienta más perdido para evitar frustrarse.
Traveled 279,17km
Energy lost 34,023
Enemies killed 2,208
Shots fired 28,796
Doors 1,926
A definitive Top 10 Super Metroid Hack. I never played earlier versions but this game was outstanding and immensely impressive in scope. I don't like some of the design choices but they don't ruin the game either. I however don't think one should dwell on that when this is a unique and fun Metroid experience on it's own merit. This isn't Super Metroid anymore, it's something else and that's all right. It's not insane hard but it is for veteran Super Metroid players. This was incredible, thanks to the creator and all who helped.
Energy lost 34,023
Enemies killed 2,208
Shots fired 28,796
Doors 1,926
A definitive Top 10 Super Metroid Hack. I never played earlier versions but this game was outstanding and immensely impressive in scope. I don't like some of the design choices but they don't ruin the game either. I however don't think one should dwell on that when this is a unique and fun Metroid experience on it's own merit. This isn't Super Metroid anymore, it's something else and that's all right. It's not insane hard but it is for veteran Super Metroid players. This was incredible, thanks to the creator and all who helped.
This rom hack was good,a lot of improvements upon the original redesign,hint system,phantoom was very very very very very annoying to get through,because the second half is 99% spinning fire attack,ridley's damages are way too much,the Metroid oh god... These Metroid appear a million of them at once,your beam takes forever to shoot at that part,multiple bombs at the Metroids so they can stop grabbing you,if you take too long to take out all the Metroids in the room,more Metroids come,making it worse,also the supers take as much time as the beam at the end of the game to shoot,the escape was very stressful,i had to do it 3 times,because there is a lot of dead ends in it,i was going to sace the animals,but it was not worth it,because i would not get to the ship in time,this rom hack would have been better if some more improvements were made to the stressful moments,but well,this rom hack is also not reccomendable to begginers(at the end),it weird how this rom hack and Stargazer have kind off the same story in rage moments at the end. This rom hack is good,but not really that good,reccomended.
Status at the precentage screen:
239.20km travelled
24813 energy lost
2279 enemies killed
16743 shots fired
2190 doors travelled
Status at the precentage screen:
239.20km travelled
24813 energy lost
2279 enemies killed
16743 shots fired
2190 doors travelled
Recommended if you can 100% vanilla. Not the best but certainly up there. Also the largest coherent sm hack.
65.5%
Travelled 458.58
Energy Lost 68923
Enemies Killed 4029
Shots Fired 33156
Doors Traveresed 3022
65.5%
Travelled 458.58
Energy Lost 68923
Enemies Killed 4029
Shots Fired 33156
Doors Traveresed 3022
-----------------------------------------------
Super Metroid Redesign - Axeil Edition Critique
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------
Redesign's main purpose - To revamp Super Metroid, add new things, and make it feel fresh and new. Whether or not the result was achieved is up to the player. This is my experience, and I've created a list of things that I like, dislike, think is okay, and what can be changed to better the experience.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------
The good:
The map and hint system, water physics that allow for slight sequence breaking, identification of the current area.
The expanded layout makes for a much more vast, and mostly proper expansion for Zebes.
(I'll get back to that "mostly" in the bad)
Auto morph.
Pretty nice puzzles.
Respin.
Respin if going fast enough after letting go of a grapple block.
Weather changes at certain points of the game.
Earthquakes, though they feel too frequent when you aren't causing them. .-.
Upgraded Tourian. Much better than Vanilla.
-------------------------------------------
The okay:
Addition of reflection mirrors that make shots go in different directions.
Certain Major Items changed.
More aggressive Metroids. Kinda feels like they're too fast, though. Actually, it feels like their AI is based off the Baby
--------
--------
The bad:
First and foremost, the physics feel extremely heavy and slippery which is not how a player should move.
Vanilla was too floaty, but allowed for you to turn around easily. this feels too heavy and stiff.
The player needs to have comfortable control whenever possible, even if that presumably breaks a bit of logic.
Auto Morph can be inconsistent with where it activates..
Some pathways aren't revealed with X-Ray Scope, defeating the purpose of it. That might be an improper tile placement issue, but it's still jarring.
Screw Attack activating with the run button while spin jumping just doesn't feel right.
Some spots that lead to upgrades don't feel too obvious.
Going back to the "mostly" earlier, the layout can be either too long, or too confusing. Some areas look like they're the same, even with the map.
Draygon's fight room just... no, the quicksand there shouldn't exist. No Grapple kill for Draygon.
A bunch of mandatory upgrades feel REALLY out of the way. (See the Wave Beam, as an example)
Three bombs unless you can figure out the new timing. Granted, Vanilla has five or so bombs that you can place at a time; however, the bomb reload just feels too long.
Purple doors exist, and they take up 5 super missiles/ 25 missiles, on top of being in areas that don't really make sense.
The chozo guardian hunt. I think there should only be one per area as opposed to 3 per area. Had to look up a walkthrough for some of them, which isn't a good sign at all.
Rinkas can attack you from within the pipes.
The last two puzzles before Mother Brain exist, ruining any sort of tension or build up that there was already.
The Escape itself is a little long and tedious. Granted, that's the point, given the 10 minute timer, but it still feels too long. You can die to means other than the planet exploding during the escape because you don't have your equipment. I was expecting to have it all back somehow when Samus achieved the Hyper Beam.
--------
--------
Verdict:
--------
Overall, I feel that this hack has a lot of potential, but a lot of the new stuff just doesn't help. I'll give a list of suggestions as to what can be changed to make a new variation of Redesign possibly feel much better to go through.
As of present, I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10.
Again, there's a lot of potential, but there's a bunch that need to be changed, which I'll suggest down below. It manages to re-invent the wheel, but to do that, it changes things that were perfectly fine in the original.
--------
EDIT: Upon thinking a little further, and obviously taking into consideration that this is a redesign of Super Metroid, meaning it's not really fair to compare it to the original, when there's so much that different, I'll be altering my score to an 8.75 out of 10. When you consider that Super Metroid Redesign Axeil Edition is its own beast, a lot of the design choices are pretty interesting. I used some of my own faults as an excuse to judge the game, which was clearly unfair. A lot of it can still be changed for a different version, but when I think about it, this is actually an extremely good hack, but it feels slightly overshadowed by what it's based on, which was one of the best games to ever exist.
EDIT TWO: Upon a quick revisit, I feel like I'll bump it down to 8.5. Again, this feels like a very ambitious hack, and I would be completely behind it if the mid air controls weren't so awkward. They were completely fine in Vanilla, and changing them to pretty much restrict exploration as much as possible, making the whole thing essentially linear just bogs down the experience. Yes, this is a redesign, but there are certain aspects that should not have been redesigned.
------------
Suggestions:
------------
Firstly, changing the physics and layout so that the player is in much better control at all times, like how it should be.
-The physics feel too heavy, as mentioned previously, and as a result, some jumps feel like I could literally fall through the Earth with them. This also applies to morph ball.
Don't make the physics feel too floaty, though. Try and find a balance between the two, and have people play test the physics to be sure it feels just right no matter what. Heavier gravity should not be a thing unless you have it occur in specific areas. A heavy gravity mechanic would work well in Tourian, for instance. (Essentially, make the control snappier and much easier to utilize.)
-Make the layout not extremely big. The hack feels really big, and it is; I can appreciate that, but some times it feels too big. Part of that is due to how the physics are now, which don't exactly work now, especially given how slippery 1.6 feels. I'll find myself crashing into enemies quite frequently.
Secondly, make the chozo hunt be six guardians as opposed to 12.
I know this is meant to be a reference to Prime 1, but with some of these guardians, I needed a walkthrough in order to solve (See the Maridia Puzzles), which I really don't want to have to use; not with this hack.
-Less guardians means less time hopping all over the world.
-Additionally, place them in relatively moderate spots, difficulty wise; especially since a good chunk of the map download doesn't show the general area the chozo guardians are in.
One in Crateria, Brinstar, Norfair, Lower Norfair, The Lost Caverns, and Maridia.
Expand the Lost Caverns area a little. It's too short once you figure out the trick to it.
Don't make Screw Attack activate with the run button while spinning, and have it disable when you change directions. It was perfect in Vanilla. Additionally, the horizontal speed for Screw Attack is extremely fast, but very awkward when going up a vertical shaft. Furthermore, when it comes to taking damage, the Screw Attack shouldn't be disabled. The player can find themselves saumersaulting straight into an enemy and taking more damage because the screw attack wouldn't activate.
Put Health and Ammo refills directly before boss rooms (and bring back the eye doors to better indicate that the room just ahead is a boss room.) so that the player doesn't have to backtrack to another one, and then come back, while risking taking damage and leading them back where they were just at.
Purple doors should only take 10 missiles, similar to how they operated in NEStroid. This would take up a lot less ammo consumption.
Maybe lessen the lightning effects, if possible. I was playing this mostly in the dark, so when I was on the surface of Crateria, the lightning flashes would really hurt the eyes, especially when it was "dusk".
Turn off Rinkas when in the pipes of Tourian.
Don't block off Mother Brain with the two security puzzles at the end. This is clearly padding, and isn't enjoyable in the slightest. It also ruins the tension. The player will be frustrated by the point they get to Mother Brain, rather than excited or pumped up, especially given that they went through a massive puzzle of navigating Tourian, killing Metroids, and turning off the electric beams.
Disable the items during Mother Brain's Beam rampage, until you have the Hyper Beam, at which point, the player has the option to turn them back on, or turn it all back on right then and there automatically.
Travelled 241.45 km
Energy Lost: 36,531
Enemies Killed: 2,581
Shots Fired: 16,202
Doors Traversed: 2,182
Super Metroid Redesign - Axeil Edition Critique
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------
Redesign's main purpose - To revamp Super Metroid, add new things, and make it feel fresh and new. Whether or not the result was achieved is up to the player. This is my experience, and I've created a list of things that I like, dislike, think is okay, and what can be changed to better the experience.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------
The good:
The map and hint system, water physics that allow for slight sequence breaking, identification of the current area.
The expanded layout makes for a much more vast, and mostly proper expansion for Zebes.
(I'll get back to that "mostly" in the bad)
Auto morph.
Pretty nice puzzles.
Respin.
Respin if going fast enough after letting go of a grapple block.
Weather changes at certain points of the game.
Earthquakes, though they feel too frequent when you aren't causing them. .-.
Upgraded Tourian. Much better than Vanilla.
-------------------------------------------
The okay:
Addition of reflection mirrors that make shots go in different directions.
Certain Major Items changed.
More aggressive Metroids. Kinda feels like they're too fast, though. Actually, it feels like their AI is based off the Baby
--------
--------
The bad:
First and foremost, the physics feel extremely heavy and slippery which is not how a player should move.
Vanilla was too floaty, but allowed for you to turn around easily. this feels too heavy and stiff.
The player needs to have comfortable control whenever possible, even if that presumably breaks a bit of logic.
Auto Morph can be inconsistent with where it activates..
Some pathways aren't revealed with X-Ray Scope, defeating the purpose of it. That might be an improper tile placement issue, but it's still jarring.
Screw Attack activating with the run button while spin jumping just doesn't feel right.
Some spots that lead to upgrades don't feel too obvious.
Going back to the "mostly" earlier, the layout can be either too long, or too confusing. Some areas look like they're the same, even with the map.
Draygon's fight room just... no, the quicksand there shouldn't exist. No Grapple kill for Draygon.
A bunch of mandatory upgrades feel REALLY out of the way. (See the Wave Beam, as an example)
Three bombs unless you can figure out the new timing. Granted, Vanilla has five or so bombs that you can place at a time; however, the bomb reload just feels too long.
Purple doors exist, and they take up 5 super missiles/ 25 missiles, on top of being in areas that don't really make sense.
The chozo guardian hunt. I think there should only be one per area as opposed to 3 per area. Had to look up a walkthrough for some of them, which isn't a good sign at all.
Rinkas can attack you from within the pipes.
The last two puzzles before Mother Brain exist, ruining any sort of tension or build up that there was already.
The Escape itself is a little long and tedious. Granted, that's the point, given the 10 minute timer, but it still feels too long. You can die to means other than the planet exploding during the escape because you don't have your equipment. I was expecting to have it all back somehow when Samus achieved the Hyper Beam.
--------
--------
Verdict:
--------
Overall, I feel that this hack has a lot of potential, but a lot of the new stuff just doesn't help. I'll give a list of suggestions as to what can be changed to make a new variation of Redesign possibly feel much better to go through.
As of present, I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10.
Again, there's a lot of potential, but there's a bunch that need to be changed, which I'll suggest down below. It manages to re-invent the wheel, but to do that, it changes things that were perfectly fine in the original.
--------
EDIT: Upon thinking a little further, and obviously taking into consideration that this is a redesign of Super Metroid, meaning it's not really fair to compare it to the original, when there's so much that different, I'll be altering my score to an 8.75 out of 10. When you consider that Super Metroid Redesign Axeil Edition is its own beast, a lot of the design choices are pretty interesting. I used some of my own faults as an excuse to judge the game, which was clearly unfair. A lot of it can still be changed for a different version, but when I think about it, this is actually an extremely good hack, but it feels slightly overshadowed by what it's based on, which was one of the best games to ever exist.
EDIT TWO: Upon a quick revisit, I feel like I'll bump it down to 8.5. Again, this feels like a very ambitious hack, and I would be completely behind it if the mid air controls weren't so awkward. They were completely fine in Vanilla, and changing them to pretty much restrict exploration as much as possible, making the whole thing essentially linear just bogs down the experience. Yes, this is a redesign, but there are certain aspects that should not have been redesigned.
------------
Suggestions:
------------
Firstly, changing the physics and layout so that the player is in much better control at all times, like how it should be.
-The physics feel too heavy, as mentioned previously, and as a result, some jumps feel like I could literally fall through the Earth with them. This also applies to morph ball.
Don't make the physics feel too floaty, though. Try and find a balance between the two, and have people play test the physics to be sure it feels just right no matter what. Heavier gravity should not be a thing unless you have it occur in specific areas. A heavy gravity mechanic would work well in Tourian, for instance. (Essentially, make the control snappier and much easier to utilize.)
-Make the layout not extremely big. The hack feels really big, and it is; I can appreciate that, but some times it feels too big. Part of that is due to how the physics are now, which don't exactly work now, especially given how slippery 1.6 feels. I'll find myself crashing into enemies quite frequently.
Secondly, make the chozo hunt be six guardians as opposed to 12.
I know this is meant to be a reference to Prime 1, but with some of these guardians, I needed a walkthrough in order to solve (See the Maridia Puzzles), which I really don't want to have to use; not with this hack.
-Less guardians means less time hopping all over the world.
-Additionally, place them in relatively moderate spots, difficulty wise; especially since a good chunk of the map download doesn't show the general area the chozo guardians are in.
One in Crateria, Brinstar, Norfair, Lower Norfair, The Lost Caverns, and Maridia.
Expand the Lost Caverns area a little. It's too short once you figure out the trick to it.
Don't make Screw Attack activate with the run button while spinning, and have it disable when you change directions. It was perfect in Vanilla. Additionally, the horizontal speed for Screw Attack is extremely fast, but very awkward when going up a vertical shaft. Furthermore, when it comes to taking damage, the Screw Attack shouldn't be disabled. The player can find themselves saumersaulting straight into an enemy and taking more damage because the screw attack wouldn't activate.
Put Health and Ammo refills directly before boss rooms (and bring back the eye doors to better indicate that the room just ahead is a boss room.) so that the player doesn't have to backtrack to another one, and then come back, while risking taking damage and leading them back where they were just at.
Purple doors should only take 10 missiles, similar to how they operated in NEStroid. This would take up a lot less ammo consumption.
Maybe lessen the lightning effects, if possible. I was playing this mostly in the dark, so when I was on the surface of Crateria, the lightning flashes would really hurt the eyes, especially when it was "dusk".
Turn off Rinkas when in the pipes of Tourian.
Don't block off Mother Brain with the two security puzzles at the end. This is clearly padding, and isn't enjoyable in the slightest. It also ruins the tension. The player will be frustrated by the point they get to Mother Brain, rather than excited or pumped up, especially given that they went through a massive puzzle of navigating Tourian, killing Metroids, and turning off the electric beams.
Disable the items during Mother Brain's Beam rampage, until you have the Hyper Beam, at which point, the player has the option to turn them back on, or turn it all back on right then and there automatically.
Travelled 241.45 km
Energy Lost: 36,531
Enemies Killed: 2,581
Shots Fired: 16,202
Doors Traversed: 2,182
Axeil edition. was something else. everyone was so into saying difficulty. but really wasn't that hard for me. maybe cause I had much more experience from playing hard hacks lately. It surely was an experience and something that helped me think outside the box on how to accomplish some stuff without the usual stuff that you see in certain hacks. Sorry animals. I'll save you next hack, hopefully. 12h precise to complete was nice pace. Thanks drew for the help and support. And everyone at MetConst server.
I'm a big fan of Super Metroid, Played the originals many times, both Metroid on NES and Super Metroid on SNES back when they were first released.
UDATE: This is now a review of the final version of the hack as of 23 Jan 2022. I’ve just recently replayed the final release after having had played many more hacks since the last time playing this hack and now I have a much better appreciation for Redesign Axeil. So the following is an update from my previous post. Many improvements over the original Redesign have been made, such as the map hint system, fast travel system, ibj’s are hard to get the hang of but very doable, and the hold jump button for auto wall jump and space jump are huge quality of life improvements.
I think this hack a 10 out 5 on a score for level design and quality put into building this hack. Drewseph did an amazing job; it’s truly outstanding and a masterpiece done to perfection. For overall playability I think it's a solid 5. Every area, room, and idea are designed precisely, bugs are removed issues were resolved; feedback was taken into consideration to come to the final release.
The games only downfall isn’t that it’s difficult, it’s that people expect it to be easier. It’s a real test of skills, especially to get all the optional items and the end area is a challenge to behold. The problem with all the low ratings from others posted above (and I was one of them previously) is because they “expected” to play a game at a similar level of difficulty as the original Super Metroid and went into playing this hack with those expectations. Although this hack is very challenging, it’s very doable once you are good at Super Metroid and have patience to work at getting better at the challenges this hack throws at you. Some of the optional things are very frustrating to the edge of a rage quit at times, especially if you’re a 100% completionist like me. These offenders are the maze puzzles with all the crumble blocks and the shinespark carry places. All of the more challenging ones are optional, so skip the optional ones and it’s a very doable hack. Also the most difficult to get optional item ammo packs are really just to tease or challenge you to get that 100% item collection. Many games back in the NES and SNES era were of similar design, difficult to the point of having to retry something over and over, often dying and restarting the entire game completely over again. (To name a few, Galagga, Bubble Bobble, Section-Z, Blaster-Master, Ninja Gaiden , Super Mario, etc…) So don’t hate on this hack just because it’s not like newer games that cater to making it too easy or give you a guarantee to completing the game without getting better at it. You’ll get significantly better as a player from playing this hack. The hack was designed with plenty of save stations that will help with not losing too much progress around the instant death or big fall locations and bosses aren’t overkill in health as some other hacks are. If you are in a place that seems too difficult, then either you shouldn’t be there yet, or you are not good enough to get whatever it is sooner.
The following things I found frustrating, tedious, or felt could be improved a little and that if changed I think would make this an even better hack and possibly give it a more unique touch. In order of importance are the following recommendations.
1) Consider adjusting the more difficult to execute and lengthy speedboost break placements and make them more accessible at end game.
2) Consider adjusting the more unforgiving maze puzzles.
3) Consider adding a few more sequence breaks and make current ones a little more forgiving.
4) Consider making the beam upgrades more of a joy for end game play and unique for your hack.
I know you can't please everyone, and I don't expect the hack to, but I think these changes would keep its intended level of difficulty, enable more replayability, and be more enjoyable by most players.
I recommend everyone play this hack, but after playing easier hacks and do not attempt if you’re not very comfortable playing the original Super Metroid through completely with 100%, and able to perform most techniques well. I’d consider this the hardest, 100% awesome, hack I’ve ever played. Expect 20 to 30+ hours on the in game timer for your 1st run, it's not your typical 1-3 hour game to complete. If you go into playing this hack with the expectation that it's very long, will be very challenging, you'll retrace the map many times, there are a lot of challenges you will have to have patience and practice getting better at before accomplishing, and a handful of the optional ammo packs are ninja skills to obtain, then I think you won’t be disappointed and really enjoy the challenge.
Drewseph, thank you for all your hard work and time providing an AMAZING and FREE game for us all to enjoy playing.
UDATE: This is now a review of the final version of the hack as of 23 Jan 2022. I’ve just recently replayed the final release after having had played many more hacks since the last time playing this hack and now I have a much better appreciation for Redesign Axeil. So the following is an update from my previous post. Many improvements over the original Redesign have been made, such as the map hint system, fast travel system, ibj’s are hard to get the hang of but very doable, and the hold jump button for auto wall jump and space jump are huge quality of life improvements.
I think this hack a 10 out 5 on a score for level design and quality put into building this hack. Drewseph did an amazing job; it’s truly outstanding and a masterpiece done to perfection. For overall playability I think it's a solid 5. Every area, room, and idea are designed precisely, bugs are removed issues were resolved; feedback was taken into consideration to come to the final release.
The games only downfall isn’t that it’s difficult, it’s that people expect it to be easier. It’s a real test of skills, especially to get all the optional items and the end area is a challenge to behold. The problem with all the low ratings from others posted above (and I was one of them previously) is because they “expected” to play a game at a similar level of difficulty as the original Super Metroid and went into playing this hack with those expectations. Although this hack is very challenging, it’s very doable once you are good at Super Metroid and have patience to work at getting better at the challenges this hack throws at you. Some of the optional things are very frustrating to the edge of a rage quit at times, especially if you’re a 100% completionist like me. These offenders are the maze puzzles with all the crumble blocks and the shinespark carry places. All of the more challenging ones are optional, so skip the optional ones and it’s a very doable hack. Also the most difficult to get optional item ammo packs are really just to tease or challenge you to get that 100% item collection. Many games back in the NES and SNES era were of similar design, difficult to the point of having to retry something over and over, often dying and restarting the entire game completely over again. (To name a few, Galagga, Bubble Bobble, Section-Z, Blaster-Master, Ninja Gaiden , Super Mario, etc…) So don’t hate on this hack just because it’s not like newer games that cater to making it too easy or give you a guarantee to completing the game without getting better at it. You’ll get significantly better as a player from playing this hack. The hack was designed with plenty of save stations that will help with not losing too much progress around the instant death or big fall locations and bosses aren’t overkill in health as some other hacks are. If you are in a place that seems too difficult, then either you shouldn’t be there yet, or you are not good enough to get whatever it is sooner.
The following things I found frustrating, tedious, or felt could be improved a little and that if changed I think would make this an even better hack and possibly give it a more unique touch. In order of importance are the following recommendations.
1) Consider adjusting the more difficult to execute and lengthy speedboost break placements and make them more accessible at end game.
2) Consider adjusting the more unforgiving maze puzzles.
3) Consider adding a few more sequence breaks and make current ones a little more forgiving.
4) Consider making the beam upgrades more of a joy for end game play and unique for your hack.
I know you can't please everyone, and I don't expect the hack to, but I think these changes would keep its intended level of difficulty, enable more replayability, and be more enjoyable by most players.
I recommend everyone play this hack, but after playing easier hacks and do not attempt if you’re not very comfortable playing the original Super Metroid through completely with 100%, and able to perform most techniques well. I’d consider this the hardest, 100% awesome, hack I’ve ever played. Expect 20 to 30+ hours on the in game timer for your 1st run, it's not your typical 1-3 hour game to complete. If you go into playing this hack with the expectation that it's very long, will be very challenging, you'll retrace the map many times, there are a lot of challenges you will have to have patience and practice getting better at before accomplishing, and a handful of the optional ammo packs are ninja skills to obtain, then I think you won’t be disappointed and really enjoy the challenge.
Drewseph, thank you for all your hard work and time providing an AMAZING and FREE game for us all to enjoy playing.
Played v1.6.
This hack is for you if you want more Super Metroid and more of a challenge. It necessitates you use every item and ability at your disposal if you want to get through it.
World is very large and there's plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. Physics are very heavy, and it'll feel jarring at first. As you play on though, you can pull off some pretty neat things, especially with some of the changes to some of the mobility upgrades.
It feels very satisfying to play, and you'll feel accomplished when it's over. Victory is earned, not handed to you on a plate.
This hack is for you if you want more Super Metroid and more of a challenge. It necessitates you use every item and ability at your disposal if you want to get through it.
World is very large and there's plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. Physics are very heavy, and it'll feel jarring at first. As you play on though, you can pull off some pretty neat things, especially with some of the changes to some of the mobility upgrades.
It feels very satisfying to play, and you'll feel accomplished when it's over. Victory is earned, not handed to you on a plate.
Click the icon next to my game percentage to watch my playthrough video.
Stats:
295.98 Km traveled
38,404 Energy lost
3,614 Enemies killed
21,365 Shots fired
2,388 Doors traversed
Review:
Played v1.6 ("final" 03/18/2021).
This hack is really good. If you like getting lost in a massive (much larger than SM) Metroid world with many cool and well designed puzzles and custom mechanics, you should try this. I would consider this a must-play today with how impactful Redesign has been to the SM hacking community and with how refined this hack has become over the years.
Quick warning though, while the newest version makes things a lot more accessible, it's still a hard hack. The difficulty is just much more fair now. I highly recommend checking out the readme if you ever feel stuck, it gives many tips and explains most major changes to the game compared to vanilla. Also, most bosses have a secret weakness, so try all your weapons on them if you're having trouble.
I love how the hack opens up once you get through early to mid brinstar. Definitely give the hack a chance to slowly open up, it might feel really slow at first but the payoff of how much the world opens up is worth it.
I have not played the original version of Redesign, but most of the things in this hack that I have been told have been added since then are good features. Drew believes this is the definitive version of his work and I am inclined to agree based on what I have heard, seen, and observed in my time here.
This hack has established quite a reputation in this community for some of the questionable design choices that used to be featured in the game, such as instantly killing the player when going out of bounds, having overly difficult Tourian, brutally fast death when entering acid, and more. However, many of these have been tweaked, redesigned, and improved over the many revisions of Axeil that have come out since 2015. The OOB instant death is entirely removed, Tourian and the feeding pits were very manageable with the information in the readme combined with many nerfs to the Metroids, acid has been nerfed, etc. As I said before, I believe the game's difficulty is generally in a very fair place right now.
This hack has many other features which are awesome and help navigate the world, including a robust hint system on the map (which I loved very much when doing the chozo guardian hunt), a well-implemented fast travel system, a way to manually scroll the camera up or down which I used more often than I thought I would, a checkpoint system for the escape sequence which is really helpful, and surely more smaller things that I am neglecting to mention.
With all of that being said, there are a few things I don't really like about this hack very much, even though I understand why they were implemented. Specifically, several of the physics changes didn't feel like they opened up new movement options, just making existing ones that I already knew how to do harder/different, requiring relearning things. Spin jumping never felt like something I could do with precision even by the end of the game due to the new momentum mechanics. I did like the morph/unmorph momentum preservation, but otherwise morph ball felt too slippery and having to press a brake button was annoying, I'd rather invert it and hold a button if I ever want to slide around so much since that feels less commonly useful. I don't like the heavy use of morph lock so much, especially since IBJ is possible anyway. Only being able to walljump off of specific tiles also just feels way less freeing than being able to walljump off of any wall which we are used to from vanilla (especially since you have to find an item to earn being able to WJ in this). I also missed crumble jumping, even if that would break puzzles, I'd rather the puzzles have been designed around crumble jumping instead if possible.
Lava, especially when it was rising upward filling a room, was probably my #1 source of death in this game. It feels really punishing to take more damage the farther you fall into it on top of moving slower, especially with how much this hack likes making you platform above lava. At many points in the game, falling into lava is a death sentence in practicality without gravity suit, especially if you don't already know where to go to get out of the lava.
There are some physics stuff that I really do love though, speedboosting/shinesparking has been improved a lot, allowing for chain sparking (!) and the controls for shinesparking are so much more intuitive than vanilla SM's borderline nonsensical approach to it. I also really loved Screw Attack, having it be a midair dash item was really fun and added more strategy to it, and it was a great reward for solving that puzzle.
Unlike some others, I also didn't mind purple doors. There were a solid amount of them but they kinda felt like it made ammo management more interesting in the late game when you'd normally never run out.
I thought Tourian in its current state was quite cool. Figuring out how to open all the gates was a fun puzzle and prevented fighting Metroids many times from becoming monotonous. It made Tourian feel much more like a stronghold that you must dismantle to get through. With that being said, it takes a very long time, so you may want to take a break before entering the area, lol. It definitely does not conform to what expectations you may have of most Metroid Tourian areas being short and quick.
oh also EPBC optional challenge is a thing which is quite cool if you're into that.
Conclusion:
You gotta at least try it. So much custom code, such a huge and fleshed out world. Such an important part of Metconst history. And loads of polish. If it's not your cup of tea, that's fine, but for those who can get past the physics there is certainly a lot to like here.
Stats:
295.98 Km traveled
38,404 Energy lost
3,614 Enemies killed
21,365 Shots fired
2,388 Doors traversed
Review:
Played v1.6 ("final" 03/18/2021).
This hack is really good. If you like getting lost in a massive (much larger than SM) Metroid world with many cool and well designed puzzles and custom mechanics, you should try this. I would consider this a must-play today with how impactful Redesign has been to the SM hacking community and with how refined this hack has become over the years.
Quick warning though, while the newest version makes things a lot more accessible, it's still a hard hack. The difficulty is just much more fair now. I highly recommend checking out the readme if you ever feel stuck, it gives many tips and explains most major changes to the game compared to vanilla. Also, most bosses have a secret weakness, so try all your weapons on them if you're having trouble.
I love how the hack opens up once you get through early to mid brinstar. Definitely give the hack a chance to slowly open up, it might feel really slow at first but the payoff of how much the world opens up is worth it.
I have not played the original version of Redesign, but most of the things in this hack that I have been told have been added since then are good features. Drew believes this is the definitive version of his work and I am inclined to agree based on what I have heard, seen, and observed in my time here.
This hack has established quite a reputation in this community for some of the questionable design choices that used to be featured in the game, such as instantly killing the player when going out of bounds, having overly difficult Tourian, brutally fast death when entering acid, and more. However, many of these have been tweaked, redesigned, and improved over the many revisions of Axeil that have come out since 2015. The OOB instant death is entirely removed, Tourian and the feeding pits were very manageable with the information in the readme combined with many nerfs to the Metroids, acid has been nerfed, etc. As I said before, I believe the game's difficulty is generally in a very fair place right now.
This hack has many other features which are awesome and help navigate the world, including a robust hint system on the map (which I loved very much when doing the chozo guardian hunt), a well-implemented fast travel system, a way to manually scroll the camera up or down which I used more often than I thought I would, a checkpoint system for the escape sequence which is really helpful, and surely more smaller things that I am neglecting to mention.
With all of that being said, there are a few things I don't really like about this hack very much, even though I understand why they were implemented. Specifically, several of the physics changes didn't feel like they opened up new movement options, just making existing ones that I already knew how to do harder/different, requiring relearning things. Spin jumping never felt like something I could do with precision even by the end of the game due to the new momentum mechanics. I did like the morph/unmorph momentum preservation, but otherwise morph ball felt too slippery and having to press a brake button was annoying, I'd rather invert it and hold a button if I ever want to slide around so much since that feels less commonly useful. I don't like the heavy use of morph lock so much, especially since IBJ is possible anyway. Only being able to walljump off of specific tiles also just feels way less freeing than being able to walljump off of any wall which we are used to from vanilla (especially since you have to find an item to earn being able to WJ in this). I also missed crumble jumping, even if that would break puzzles, I'd rather the puzzles have been designed around crumble jumping instead if possible.
Lava, especially when it was rising upward filling a room, was probably my #1 source of death in this game. It feels really punishing to take more damage the farther you fall into it on top of moving slower, especially with how much this hack likes making you platform above lava. At many points in the game, falling into lava is a death sentence in practicality without gravity suit, especially if you don't already know where to go to get out of the lava.
There are some physics stuff that I really do love though, speedboosting/shinesparking has been improved a lot, allowing for chain sparking (!) and the controls for shinesparking are so much more intuitive than vanilla SM's borderline nonsensical approach to it. I also really loved Screw Attack, having it be a midair dash item was really fun and added more strategy to it, and it was a great reward for solving that puzzle.
Unlike some others, I also didn't mind purple doors. There were a solid amount of them but they kinda felt like it made ammo management more interesting in the late game when you'd normally never run out.
I thought Tourian in its current state was quite cool. Figuring out how to open all the gates was a fun puzzle and prevented fighting Metroids many times from becoming monotonous. It made Tourian feel much more like a stronghold that you must dismantle to get through. With that being said, it takes a very long time, so you may want to take a break before entering the area, lol. It definitely does not conform to what expectations you may have of most Metroid Tourian areas being short and quick.
oh also EPBC optional challenge is a thing which is quite cool if you're into that.
Conclusion:
You gotta at least try it. So much custom code, such a huge and fleshed out world. Such an important part of Metconst history. And loads of polish. If it's not your cup of tea, that's fine, but for those who can get past the physics there is certainly a lot to like here.
This mod has undergone years of polishing and it shows. There are no bugs to be found here. The main problem with this mod is that it doesn't seem to have a target audience. It isn't a good pick for metroidvania players because the plot is exactly the same as super metroid, because it is glitch-gated, and because it sometimes fails to adequately explain certain mechanics in a way that someone new to super metroid would understand. The mod doesn't appeal to speedrunners and veterans because of the changes to the physics and the nerfing and removal of all of the glitches that they enjoy exploiting and because of the relatively linear path.... so who exactly am I supposed to recommend this for then? It is worth mentioning that this has the best map mod I've seen so far in a super metroid rom hack. I think the user friendliness of the map mod is what has kept me playing this despite it being clear there's no target audience to recommend this to.
This is an interesting case, Im not a fan of the physic because its like having a straitjacket and the snes screen is too small for falling that fast. Some SM mechanics dont work well with altered gravity like grapple because they were designed with the vanilla physic, however...
the dev did tremendous work to mold most of SM around the new physic and its vision. This is one of the rare hack where the dev not only added custom stuff, but also alot of core systems edits to make the game better, most of the time. An exemple is how the map center on samus when you pause, so much passion into small details, I love it.
Its like a really vanilla feel while also pumping hundreds of custom code to make it fresh,
the only hack of this kind... for the moment.
Most of the design decisions is based on the prime games.
The more limited gameplay forces you into a specific progression, but there is still ways to alter it. Another personal downer is the forced quest to unlock the last area, again based on the based prime games, but that aspect isnt based at all in prime1 and even worse in 2, the reason being that it forces you to spend more time in the same areas again, which you already did before when exploring for items.
If you like vanilla SM mood and want a challenge, but doesnt care about physic changes, then you should give this a spin. Play this and not the OG Redesign
the dev did tremendous work to mold most of SM around the new physic and its vision. This is one of the rare hack where the dev not only added custom stuff, but also alot of core systems edits to make the game better, most of the time. An exemple is how the map center on samus when you pause, so much passion into small details, I love it.
Its like a really vanilla feel while also pumping hundreds of custom code to make it fresh,
the only hack of this kind... for the moment.
Most of the design decisions is based on the prime games.
The more limited gameplay forces you into a specific progression, but there is still ways to alter it. Another personal downer is the forced quest to unlock the last area, again based on the based prime games, but that aspect isnt based at all in prime1 and even worse in 2, the reason being that it forces you to spend more time in the same areas again, which you already did before when exploring for items.
If you like vanilla SM mood and want a challenge, but doesnt care about physic changes, then you should give this a spin. Play this and not the OG Redesign
Yeah... This is the best version of Redesign you're going to get. Don't get me wrong, the new quality of life mechanics are good and useful. Auto-walljump, auto-sparkcrouch, and auto-spacejump are all welcome crutches to deal with Samus' snappy, rock-inspired physics. The hint system is great - no longer do you need to guess and check the world's many hostile environments in order to find the next major upgrade, you can instead be pointed to how to rush them so that actually traversing the world for expansions isn't a well of tedium. (I personally don't recommend exploring on your own until you get Gravity Suit or even Space Jump.) And Kraid's new puzzle path is very much welcome over the original ice heatrun. But beneath all of that, it's still the Redesign we know and don't love. All of the original pains in the ass are still there. Absolutely break out a web map if you want to find ANY hidden passages. Acid now completely empties all your energy tanks instantly if you fall in for three seconds (I hope you have a reserve tank noob!) The Lost Caverns are now somehow even less intuitive even though it looks like it should be more intuitive (hold the hack up to a mirror if you can when you're navigating the first room.) And even if traversing the world at large for all the upgrades is now 10% less annoying, your efforts to do so and collect as much as possible are met with the biggest, puzzliest, most irritating slog to be found in an SM hack to date: the new Tourian. Not only must you pay attention to the environment to clear out fatal laser beams so you can progress further (the more fun part of Tourian imo), you must also pay attention to your savestate button so you can clear out rooms of vicious Metroids that dodge your beams, anticipate your movements, latch on without fail, and need nine bombs to unlatch so you can finally deal with them after losing an energy tank or two. AND there's a good chance you'll encounter another wave of them in the same room if you're too slow to kill them all. FUK THESE BULL SHIT ASS METROIDS. DREWSEPH, YOU SUCK FOR MAKING THEM SHIT!!!!!!!! Oh, and let me not forget to mention that everything in Tourian is immune to Screw Attack, so you better not have missed any beams... It's just one thing after another with this hack. Play it only if you really want to experience an artifact of history with the least headache possible, but a headache nonetheless.
Special thank you to based KPF reviews for amusing me the whole time I played this and making it so much more bearable. They're the only reason I did.
You traveled 269.04km.
Energy lost: 33,277
Enemies killed: 3,849
Shots fired: 18,023
Doors traversed: 1,861
Special thank you to based KPF reviews for amusing me the whole time I played this and making it so much more bearable. They're the only reason I did.
You traveled 269.04km.
Energy lost: 33,277
Enemies killed: 3,849
Shots fired: 18,023
Doors traversed: 1,861
This is going off of my third playthrough of Axeil Edition.
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.
Overall I really enjoyed this hack. For a while I was torn, but I do believe this is the definitive version. I will admit the original Redesign absolutely still maintains relevance and is worth playing if you enjoyed this one.
Huge fan of the GFX. I love the richness of the palettes, the revamped CRE especially.
The level layout/design is top-notch, easily the most well-designed hack as far as level structure and cosmetics go.
Physics are a source of hot contention for some. While some of the changes were not what I would have done, they are quite polished and a tremendous improvement from the original Redesign.
Personaly, I love the fast momentum. I tend to favor Hyper's PB style of physics. But even from a recent playing of that hack, there are certain QOL things from Axeil I really enjoyed that were actually implemented better. Chief among these being the fast beam charging timer.
I grew to love the bomb-jumping mechanics, even preferring Axeil IBJ over Vanilla IBJ for it's sheer speed (from the crushing weight of Samus' morphball falling combined with a faster bomb exploding.) Learning this technique is difficult but a lot of fun once you've earned the muscle memory.
Edit: To clarify, I am overall in favor of the physics changes in Axeil, especially in the context of other hacks on Metconst. While I prefer PB's floatier approach, this version of the heavier physics was balanced just right and really reminded me a lot of the GBA Metroid games faster landing. I actually prefer this to Vanilla on some days. It's definitely a mature version of what Drewseph was attempting in the original Redesign.
The gate system. Not unique to Axeil, but a Redesign staple. A system that inspired a generation of hackers to reverse-engineer their own version of remote gates.
The only thing I felt stopped the hack for me was the revamped Lost Caverns. Some people found it more intuitive. I actually found it less so, but once I figured out the puzzle the clues at the beginning sort of made sense. I feel this could be conveyed more clearly at the beginning without giving the puzzle away.
As for Tourian, I realize much of the venom was for older revisions I never played. I can attest that the new version is a worthy final challenge once you accept it is another time-investment.
Frankly I would take this final puzzle over the long and dire escape from the original Redesign. Initial playthrough of that puzzle you feel lost and helpless. Once you figure out a few tricks for dispatching the evil Metroids, the puzzle becomes a relaxing experience.
I hold this Zebes, as well as Z-Factor's and Hyper's Zebes up as my top 3 favorite planet reimaginings.
Well worth your time.
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.
Overall I really enjoyed this hack. For a while I was torn, but I do believe this is the definitive version. I will admit the original Redesign absolutely still maintains relevance and is worth playing if you enjoyed this one.
Huge fan of the GFX. I love the richness of the palettes, the revamped CRE especially.
The level layout/design is top-notch, easily the most well-designed hack as far as level structure and cosmetics go.
Physics are a source of hot contention for some. While some of the changes were not what I would have done, they are quite polished and a tremendous improvement from the original Redesign.
Personaly, I love the fast momentum. I tend to favor Hyper's PB style of physics. But even from a recent playing of that hack, there are certain QOL things from Axeil I really enjoyed that were actually implemented better. Chief among these being the fast beam charging timer.
I grew to love the bomb-jumping mechanics, even preferring Axeil IBJ over Vanilla IBJ for it's sheer speed (from the crushing weight of Samus' morphball falling combined with a faster bomb exploding.) Learning this technique is difficult but a lot of fun once you've earned the muscle memory.
Edit: To clarify, I am overall in favor of the physics changes in Axeil, especially in the context of other hacks on Metconst. While I prefer PB's floatier approach, this version of the heavier physics was balanced just right and really reminded me a lot of the GBA Metroid games faster landing. I actually prefer this to Vanilla on some days. It's definitely a mature version of what Drewseph was attempting in the original Redesign.
The gate system. Not unique to Axeil, but a Redesign staple. A system that inspired a generation of hackers to reverse-engineer their own version of remote gates.
The only thing I felt stopped the hack for me was the revamped Lost Caverns. Some people found it more intuitive. I actually found it less so, but once I figured out the puzzle the clues at the beginning sort of made sense. I feel this could be conveyed more clearly at the beginning without giving the puzzle away.
As for Tourian, I realize much of the venom was for older revisions I never played. I can attest that the new version is a worthy final challenge once you accept it is another time-investment.
Frankly I would take this final puzzle over the long and dire escape from the original Redesign. Initial playthrough of that puzzle you feel lost and helpless. Once you figure out a few tricks for dispatching the evil Metroids, the puzzle becomes a relaxing experience.
I hold this Zebes, as well as Z-Factor's and Hyper's Zebes up as my top 3 favorite planet reimaginings.
Well worth your time.
This was played a long time ago so no stats have been preserve dunfortunately.
Once i discovered axeil edition was a thing, i was really excited to play this.
Having played OG redesign before and only one of the later versions of axeil, i can safely say this was an unforgettable experience. I was constantly comparing what changes had been made, which always made me happy because previously annoying sections had been incredibly improved. The lost caverns now was much better, and i managed to figure it out this time, tho i spent a long while in the hint room.
My favourite part of the hack is probably crateria depths. I actually liked the long suitless underwater section. Also since this edition does allow some sequence breaks, it was a cool challenge to try and keep a shinespark going through most of the section.
Tourian was also better, the metroids where challenging, tho i never really figured out how their behaviour worked, and i think there should have been some limit to how many will appear in a room.
Still no wrecked ship unfortunately :(, sadge
All in all, a perfect example of a creator who decided to improve upon mistakes and save his work of art. Good work!
Once i discovered axeil edition was a thing, i was really excited to play this.
Having played OG redesign before and only one of the later versions of axeil, i can safely say this was an unforgettable experience. I was constantly comparing what changes had been made, which always made me happy because previously annoying sections had been incredibly improved. The lost caverns now was much better, and i managed to figure it out this time, tho i spent a long while in the hint room.
My favourite part of the hack is probably crateria depths. I actually liked the long suitless underwater section. Also since this edition does allow some sequence breaks, it was a cool challenge to try and keep a shinespark going through most of the section.
Tourian was also better, the metroids where challenging, tho i never really figured out how their behaviour worked, and i think there should have been some limit to how many will appear in a room.
Still no wrecked ship unfortunately :(, sadge
All in all, a perfect example of a creator who decided to improve upon mistakes and save his work of art. Good work!
Okay I wanted to like this hack very much . I played the original like twice, one time when it first came out and again a few years later. In retrospective the 2nd time around man was it just miserable and after that I forgot about it. Now many years later I come back to redesign and here are with a new version that is supposed to be improved and has a lot of it's criticisms fixed.
Alright so like the first thing that is incredibly wrong about this hack you notice right away - the physics. Now the physics in the first iteration of this hack , it wasn't great but at least it wasn't like I'm playing as Luigi in super Metroid. I don't know , it felt like the first version of this hack I had more control despite the more annoying heavier physics.
So like the vertical momentum of your jumps - they feel alright , but the horizontal movement . Oh man - does it feel bad. I don't know why you decided to go with this, but boy does it feel so incredibly slippery and it feels like I have no agency in how I control Samus. Nine times out of ten it feels like I'm fighting the controls rather than the environment. This extends especially to the morph ball which feels so slippery for no reason at all. Not sure why you thought any of these changes were fun or even good ideas, they just feel awful to play.
Now level design wise - I thought this hack was fine, it's a little too big. I think the addition of fast travel was a nice touch, but some areas were just especially annoying to navigate when you don't create proper loops or shortcuts to navigate such giant areas. Especially when you made the main character incredibly annoying on purpose to control! Another thing - no idea why you're so adamant about not letting people sequence break your game. Like 90% of the fun of metroid is exploring and carving your own path with your newfound abilities, but here it feels so linear and just unfun because you rob people of their freedom of exploration until you get to the end game.
And now one of the biggest sins - Why nerf a lot of Samus's abilities. Like why make screw attack borderline unusable and annoying to use ? Why make wall jumps an item with only specific uses? Why remove IBJ and and nerf the ability to quick charge speedbooster? Why force the players to play your idea of the game instead of letting them have free agency?
Let's go to another point of unfun mechanics - Why did you decide to make the most unfun boss arenas known to man by making them just annoying to fight in? Not only that but super inflating boss health just cause? Seriously did you ever playtest your own hack and figured "Okay this is too much fun, let's add a dose of unfunium to this area."
And then there's tourian .. oh my god what were you thinking with this tourian rework? The metroids are just so hyper aggressive and you backspawn them for the sake of being mean to the player and not to mention the endless waves of them hitting you left and right when you're trying to progress such a tedious area with the annoying puzzles known to man just to fight mother brain.
I'm grateful you left mother brain intact because wow that's the first time i felt fun in a while cause it's just a vanilla fight ... then there's the escape sequence.
bro why did you make the most annoying jump shaft known to man with the worst physics imaginable for it? Why is it that in the later shafts if you make one mistake cause of things like the auto morph failing or something, you just die for it and have to redo the entire dumb 10 minute escape sequence? I'm sorry are you just allergic to fun mechanics in a metroid game? Who hurt you? I hear a game designer peer reviewed this but did you decide to ignore all advice and do the opposite? I streamed this and I felt like streaming bad rats was probably more productive
1/5 . DO BETTER. PLEASE DO BETTER NEXT TIME. HOLY HECK . I THINK THE ORIGINAL MIGHT OF BEEN MORE PLAYABLE.
Alright so like the first thing that is incredibly wrong about this hack you notice right away - the physics. Now the physics in the first iteration of this hack , it wasn't great but at least it wasn't like I'm playing as Luigi in super Metroid. I don't know , it felt like the first version of this hack I had more control despite the more annoying heavier physics.
So like the vertical momentum of your jumps - they feel alright , but the horizontal movement . Oh man - does it feel bad. I don't know why you decided to go with this, but boy does it feel so incredibly slippery and it feels like I have no agency in how I control Samus. Nine times out of ten it feels like I'm fighting the controls rather than the environment. This extends especially to the morph ball which feels so slippery for no reason at all. Not sure why you thought any of these changes were fun or even good ideas, they just feel awful to play.
Now level design wise - I thought this hack was fine, it's a little too big. I think the addition of fast travel was a nice touch, but some areas were just especially annoying to navigate when you don't create proper loops or shortcuts to navigate such giant areas. Especially when you made the main character incredibly annoying on purpose to control! Another thing - no idea why you're so adamant about not letting people sequence break your game. Like 90% of the fun of metroid is exploring and carving your own path with your newfound abilities, but here it feels so linear and just unfun because you rob people of their freedom of exploration until you get to the end game.
And now one of the biggest sins - Why nerf a lot of Samus's abilities. Like why make screw attack borderline unusable and annoying to use ? Why make wall jumps an item with only specific uses? Why remove IBJ and and nerf the ability to quick charge speedbooster? Why force the players to play your idea of the game instead of letting them have free agency?
Let's go to another point of unfun mechanics - Why did you decide to make the most unfun boss arenas known to man by making them just annoying to fight in? Not only that but super inflating boss health just cause? Seriously did you ever playtest your own hack and figured "Okay this is too much fun, let's add a dose of unfunium to this area."
And then there's tourian .. oh my god what were you thinking with this tourian rework? The metroids are just so hyper aggressive and you backspawn them for the sake of being mean to the player and not to mention the endless waves of them hitting you left and right when you're trying to progress such a tedious area with the annoying puzzles known to man just to fight mother brain.
I'm grateful you left mother brain intact because wow that's the first time i felt fun in a while cause it's just a vanilla fight ... then there's the escape sequence.
bro why did you make the most annoying jump shaft known to man with the worst physics imaginable for it? Why is it that in the later shafts if you make one mistake cause of things like the auto morph failing or something, you just die for it and have to redo the entire dumb 10 minute escape sequence? I'm sorry are you just allergic to fun mechanics in a metroid game? Who hurt you? I hear a game designer peer reviewed this but did you decide to ignore all advice and do the opposite? I streamed this and I felt like streaming bad rats was probably more productive
1/5 . DO BETTER. PLEASE DO BETTER NEXT TIME. HOLY HECK . I THINK THE ORIGINAL MIGHT OF BEEN MORE PLAYABLE.
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