Super Metroid Nature
Release date: Dec 25, 2018
Author: Jefe962
Download: Nature V1.03 UH (11396 downloads)
Genre: Exploration [?]
Game: SM
Difficulty: Vanilla [?]
Average runtime: 3:45
Average collection: 83%
Read Me: Nature Readme
Forum Thread: Nature Forum Thread
Rating: Star Star Star Star Star
Awards:
  • Top Hacks 2018: Best Exploration
Description
SUPER METROID NATURE
By Jefe962
It's finally here. The "Finish Nature" jokes can finally be put to an end.
Super Metroid Nature is a full-sized hack of the popular game Super Metroid. The design of the world, palettes, enemies and atmosphere is entirely different to the original story of Zebes.
The difficulty will resemble that of the original, but a tad harder in sections.
Nature, while resembling parts of the original, is a whole different experience, with new items, rooms, and ways to play.
Screenshots
Screenshot Screenshot Screenshot Screenshot
Ratings and Reviews
By Lenophis on Dec 24, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
You know what, he finished Nature. He deserves 5/5. Nicely done, Jiff.
By MetroidNerd#9001 on Dec 24, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
92% in 0:00
This hack is really good. It keeps the feel of vanilla with unchanged physics and mostly similar tiles, but it freshens it up with new palettes, music, and a whole pile of beautiful looking rooms to explore. This hack looks amazing, but it also plays very well. I had fun wandering around, sequence breaking, and seeing how well designed parts of this hack are. You never feel like you're being forced the way you're supposed to go. It's very open and fun to explore. I had a few annoyances along the way, but nothing made me want to stop playing the hack because a lot of it was me sequence breaking and trying too hard to get where I'm not supposed to go. The hack allows for it, but it won't always be easy, and that's good. This is a joy to play. 10/10 would recommend. Give this hack a run through. You won't regret it.
By personitis on Dec 25, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
I'd liken Nature to a modern day 2018 (Super) Metroid Legacy. Nature plays and feels just like vanilla Super Metroid but with graphical touch-ups in both palettes and room designs while also bringing generous distribution of expansions to the table. There are very minimal changes to the enemies themselves as well, usually banking on their placement to add difficulty to them. This makes the romhack lean toward the easier side of the spectrum; more around the original game's difficulty.

Experienced Metroid players may find that a lot of stuff looks suspicious when it otherwise isn't. I think that's okay here because Jiffy (the author) has done a fair job at signaling important areas and tucked away expansions. So much so that the player shouldn't have much reason to suspect any sneaky items after a while (there may be a few "Momma Turtle Missiles" hidden around that I've forgotten about though).

A few extra things:
- Super Metroid's Samus has always felt really smooth to control to me and the changes to her animations makes her look just as smooth as she controls.
- That sweet, sweet Red Brinstar remix. While it's out of place compared to the rest of the vanilla music, having custom audio is usually a plus. Not to mention I had many times left the game running in the background just because it's so chill to listen to.
- There's a new item which gives Power Bombs some extra functionality. Quite fun to use and shreds through enemies, adding to your classic Metroid power-trip.

Nature is an enjoyable and easygoing experience for anyone who likes the original Super Metroid and wants some more.
By Sapphron on Dec 25, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
93% in 0:00
Hands down, the best vanilla hack that I have played. Go check this out now, it'll be worth it.
By Digital_Mantra on Dec 26, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 0:00
Merry Christmas
By Mentlegen on Dec 26, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
86% in 0:00
Super Metroid Nature was an eye catching journey that was visually appealing from start to finish. All of the main areas have been given a fresh coat of paint that synergises with the vanilla aesthetic, along with various graphical variance throughout Zebes.

Well done Jiffy
By mccad on Dec 26, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
76% in 0:00
This hack does a pretty decent job at remaking and redesigning the original game, with improvements along the way stylistically, graphically, and in game design. Overall, it's just 'alright'.
There is a lot of room for improvement in Nature's level design, and lots of nitpicky little errors. My biggest gripe with the hack, overall, is the lack of loops in the level design. There are lots of areas with rooms that, on the map, seemingly loop back to previous rooms. However, in practice, they rarely do. This can cause a lot of annoying backtracking where it isn't really needed. It really bogs down the gameplay at times and overall i feel the hack is executed a lot worse than vanilla. Worth a play, but not that spectacular
By BFrobber on Dec 26, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
70% in 0:00
By SnakeLancer on Dec 26, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
64% in 0:00
AWESOME HACK, LOVED IT.
By PHOSPHOTiDYL on Dec 26, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
93% in 0:00
Thanks for the hack!!
By Metroid3D on Dec 27, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
68% in 0:00
FINISHED NATURE.

Great hack, definitely recommend for anyone looking to get into Romhacks! There are a couple of minor difficulty bumps(Lower Norfair, Escape) but overall it's great!
By SeanCass on Dec 27, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
73% in 0:00
super fun to play :>
By Oi27 on Dec 27, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
79% in 0:00
This hack was amazing. The item placement stuck fairly close to the original, and advanced techniques allowed a lot of things to be gotten early, or in a different order. There are a few minor gripes here and there, for instance I think the escape sequence was a little too strict, and there didn't seem to be any animals to save. There were some significant acid dives in lower Norfair as well.
The rest of the level design was a joy to play through, and everything else was about vanilla difficulty.
Quality hack; 4.5/5

EDIT: The animals are in Bomb Torizo's room, like usual, but the timer makes saving them a lot harder.
By ažder on Dec 28, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
57% in 0:00
This was amazingly fun to play through. The graphical changes were very refreshing, the rooms were aesthetically varied and fun to move through without being too simple or too annoying, and the hack had its significant challenge points that gave me the taste of difficulty I was looking for, but without being over the top and inaccessible to newer players. I appreciate that surviving the escape is reasonably tough, but not frustratingly so.

I feel very comfortable recommending this to people who are new to romhacks or SM in general, which I think says a lot given how a lot of hacks are made.

One particular thing that others have also mentioned is that a lot of things seem minorly suspicious but really aren't. I found myself bombing a lot of odd-looking places "just in case" but was quickly trained not too expect too much, but I also never got the feeling that any of the suspicious spots were unfairly baiting me. I think Lunaria, for instance, is of the opinion that these suspicious spots should be more commonplace and not necessarily lead to anything, which I would agree makes the world seem more organic. This is very hard to actually do well in practice though, and I mention Lunaria because this is something Ice Metal tried to do, but there were too many useless spots that stuck out too much, and you could tell it was just for the sake of looking suspicious. Ice Metal turned me off of the concept a bit, but I think Nature has accomplished it in, while not perfect, a much more balanced way.
By CanadianOwl on Dec 29, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
34% in 0:55
(Time above is my first true speedrun, my first playthrough was over 2 hours IGT and 61%)

This hack is great, I blind raced it with a few people and while I was last (and had the wrong version), it was a lot of fun. I'm happy to say that I will try to continue to run this hack, and maybe try for sub hour any%.
By Daniel94Gomes on Dec 29, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
86% in 0:00
I Play The Version 1.03
By Dessyreqt on Dec 31, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
64% in 0:00
Some odd design choices, and by the time I finished I was ready to be done. Fun hack, but some minor frustrations in many places. Escape needs to be reworked IMO.

3.5/5
By Lojemiru on Jan 03, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
123% in 0:13
IT HAS BEEN FINISHED.

THE MEMES WILL NEVER BE.
By caauyjdp on Jan 06, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
90% in 0:00
Very well made but unfortunately nothing memorable. No challenging rooms in terms of enemies or hazards, and no interesting puzzles. Only things that stuck in memory are design oddities with optional items: needing 3 supers to get another super, needing pb to get a not hidden super, needing a super to get a missile, having to do a speedball to get a missile.
By MetroidMst on Jan 15, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
84% in 0:00
The hack itself I recommend. It's a very solid vanilla hack. But unfortunately, that also really holds it back. It is far too vanilla for my tastes. It doesn't take risks, doesn't try anything new really. It has one item and one sequence that is exceptional, and the rest is almost like playing a halfhack.

Now, this was the author's intention, to make a very vanilla hack, and in that he definitely succeeded. If you want to play something that feels new though, this is not going to do it. I find that incredibly disappointing personally.

However, that being said, I still recommend this. It's well made and fun, just won't fill the "new hack" void in your heart. I look forward to Jiffy putting this kind of effort into doing some more risky things and trying to branch out away from the vanilla footprint.
By Derxu on Jan 19, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
77% in 0:00
One of the best hacks I ever played. It felt really fresh, but was still a hack following the classic Metroid-Formula.
Pretty much vanilla in terms of difficulty, some slightly higher difficulty-spikes and some slight changes to the game's mechanics.
Very straight forward most of the time, with some opportunities to sequence break, which gives an interesting opportunity of routing.

In general the game built up a very nice atmosphere while I was playing it.
My only down points are that you need to use some advanced techs for certain items (correct me if I'm wrong) and an imo too tight escape timer to save the animals (didn't really try it a second time tbh), but in terms of creating a nice tension right at the end, it does a great job.

Again, very nice hack which I can recommend to everyone who likes vanilla-ish ROM-hacks.
Good job!
By Syphon on Feb 01, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
91% in 0:00
This is a nice gateway hack recommended for everyone new to romhacks or fans of vanilla hacks.
By Shenjoku on Feb 03, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
72% in 0:00
Really fun hack. Has a fairly obvious progression that was easy to follow for the most part, which is always nice to have. I did fall into a few traps thinking I was soft locked when I was really wasn't since the exit wasn't obvious at first, but I eventually figured it out. Really dig that custom music :)
By BlacklyoN7M on Feb 22, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
86% in 0:00
A really good hack, I enjoy it very much, I did spend a lot of time running around the Zebes but It was pretty much my fault. It is definitely one of the best vanilla hack I have played yet

Thank you so much!!!
By Multi-Man on Apr 15, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
71% in 0:00
A fantastic hack that's really great for beginners who want to try a new Super Metroid experience.

One of the things I like about it is that it's not too big at all. It's roughly similar to the size of vanilla SM, so nothing has ever overstayed its welcome.

I like the new power up introduced as well, it's very creative.

Over all I'd say this is was a very enjoyable hack to play, and I recommend it to everyone, both beginners and veterans.
By thedopefish on Apr 21, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
82% in 3:19
[Watch Video]  
I really enjoyed this one. The tiling work especially in brinstar was very nice, as I'd expect from Jiffy. Lots of hidden paths and items with subtle hints, just as it should be. I was unlucky/dumb/bad and managed to miss the reward for a couple of early bosses on my first pass, and had to hunt around for a little bit, but I never felt stuck or lost. Difficulty-wise, there was some challenge and tension in several places but it never felt super hard.

I'm not sure how open-ended it was intended to be, but I always felt like there were multiple paths open to me, and I'm pretty sure I did several things out of order as a result. Notably I killed Phantoon before getting speed, killed Draygon before getting spacejump, and never even found grapple.

Would definitely recommend for anyone wanting an enjoyable vanilla-style hack.
By hyzr on May 12, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
72% in 0:00
By sanojes on May 14, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
84% in 0:00
Very good rom hack
By Ri2nOneRok on Jun 09, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
98% in 0:00
I enjoyed nature quite well and eventually memorized the map! Its a large hack but not overwhelmingly large. Fun to replay and overall well done.
By ptoil on Dec 03, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
73% in 0:00
Wow this was fun. Particularly enjoyed LN and Tourian
By RT-55J on Apr 23, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
81% in 0:00
Mmmmm... delicious vanilla.
By Silver Skree on May 20, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
79% in 0:00
This was a lovely hack. The only thing I'd knock it for is that a lot of the rooms and map space felt a little bit sparse, but most areas were visually appealing enough that I didn't mind wandering through twelve screens for a missile pack. The whole Lower Norfair sequence was very entertaining, and the escape actually managed to raise my heart rate some. I think I made it with about 10 seconds left... ?

In any case, great aesthetics, good design sense, mild difficulty reminiscent of Vanilla, and a few choice mechanical and aesthetic tweaks to spice up the presentation and improve QoL made for an awesome few hours of play. Definitely has my recommendation!
By dcr on Jul 11, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
90% in 2:43
What a really solid hack! It felt very vanilla like, but the new palettes and room layouts really made it feel fresh. Solid level design. I also appreciated the Red Brinstar remix; that was a nice touch. I may have tried to sequence break a little too much :P
By Contendo on Jul 27, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 4:44
Bad Half-Hack
By DeviousB on Sep 22, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
87% in 5:11
I've only beat hyper, ancient chozo, oxide and ascent but this hack is my favorite. It's pretty addictive, the maps flow and the difficulty is perfectly balanced (for me anyway), 10/10 must play.
By Kremit44 on Oct 06, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
84% in 3:33
Nature is basically a lesser but competent Super Metroid with a few twists. All new layout but still familiar. It's a great hack to play but IMO it stands well back of the more ambitious hacks on this site, many oddly rated lower. It's not difficult by any means but it's not so easy as to be numbing. Navigation was too simplistic for my liking with everything feeling very straight forward. For what it is it's really well executed but for me also felt a little boring because of it. I liked the challenge of saving the animals and the new powerup. I hummed between a 4 and a 3 but I honestly think it's lack of creativity, despite it being reasonably well executed, just makes it difficult for me to put on par with some other hacks i've given a 4. An option to rate 3.5 would be great. I'm glad this hack exists and the author should be proud of what he's accomplished,I certainly appreciated playing it.
By benox50 on Oct 18, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
A good place to start your hack journey
By drr3member on Dec 21, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
78% in 5:19
I'm going to give an honest review with this one. This hack feels like a worse version of the original.

I was enjoying this hack 100% up until Kraid. Now this may seem like an early point in the game to not enjoy the hack, however the required path is so unintuitive that it overshadows the areas that were well-hidden. I searched literally everywhere I could think of that was suspicious for the boss entrance, only to find that you have to bomb a random wall. What??

Maridia was alright. Draygon was fine because I killed him the easy way, but when I saw the floor in Botwoon's room... *sigh* let's just say I was ready to be done there. But I kept playing because I had already put in 3 hours.

The moments leading up to the Ridley fight were cool. The first acid run was kind of BS, but the one after you get screw attack was exciting. There's a sense of danger and dread in Lower Norfair; you have to be careful how you traverse each room. Enemies in that area hit like a semi-truck though.

I thought Tourian was going to be different, but it was basically the same as vanilla. Some metroids and rinkas, and then Mother Brain. But the escape sequence was broken af, I had 5 seconds left on the clock. It should give you at least 3 minutes to get out.

Beam Burst is the new powerup in this hack, and it's okay. It's only practical use for me was in the Ridley fight, but other than that it's useless compared to X-ray scope.

In general, the world design is weird and not convenient. My game time would be under 5 hours if it wasn't for the crappy backtracking in this game. There are plenty of connecting to paths to other areas, but they are all so out of the way and annoying to get to that it's a pain to go anywhere. The OG layout had a flow that this hack doesn't match.

Like others have said, the creativity in this hack is lacking. I agree with that, but I also understand it. It's hard to make a rom hack for any game, Super Metroid in particular, since it's such a complex game. However it is noticeable that most of the game is unchanged despite the new layout. What I mean is that the item progression is almost exactly the same and only vanilla tiles are used, which isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't feel like a new planet or even a new Zebes.

Overall, it's not terrible, but it doesn't deliver a fulfilling experience. It's worth at least one playthrough. There are more interesting hacks out there.
By Kandier on Feb 24, 2021 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
This hack was a disappointing for me... I didn't finish it... it's good until more or less the first boss... after that, when you have the Hi-jump Boots, Samus hits various platforms with her head, she looks like Mario or Luigi & isn't funny, it's stupid, I remember a terrible Speed Booster puzzle in Norfair, I couldn't get through, when I went back to Brinstar, it was difficult to get to Crateria, the tour was tedious & annoying, the map screen didn't help, if it had a map like Hyper Metroid or Super Metroid: Escape II would be excellent, but... finally... I got tired of playing it
By shaktool7 on May 07, 2021 (Star Star Star Star Star )
99% in 4:27
Very Accesible, except for a few flaws:
a) The entrance to mini-kraid's room blends in too well.

b) The tiling makes it look like there's more secrets than there are, every other crevice looks like it might be morph tunnel, this might just be me. This was very apparent trying to 100% and i'm still a reserve short.

c) Could have tried making Beam Burst more apparent(?)

Would rate this 4 and a half. Other than the aforementioned flaws this is a great starting point for hacks. Recommended

04:27
99%
Animals Abandoned
By GUCHAKICHI on May 11, 2021 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
RDPK Completed.
By Pixel_Tiger on May 25, 2021 (Star Star Star Star Star )
90% in 0:00
If you want a fresh experience with an almost Vanilla-like difficulty, this hack might be for you. Solid room design and enemy placement. Item progression is fair (can sequence break if you know some tricks) and overall it's a solid piece of work. -1 because the escape sequence timer is a bit tricky (2 minutes hardly gives any room for mistakes, learned it the hard way..... even on a ok-ish run had only 15sec left which left me thinking how some more inexperienced players might struggle on that)!
By LetsPlayNintendoITA on Jul 23, 2021 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 5:36
[Watch Video]  
really liked nature.
Fresh paint not very difficult and had fun with Beam Burst. Secrets were cool. 100%ed it of course.
Vanilla+ done good :)
By Viktor_Kadic on Jan 08, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
75% in 6:18
By Zhs2 on Feb 10, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
85% in 3:14
Pretty good hack. Nothing wrong with it (the latest version of course, I understand earlier versions had rough bugs the author didn't want to fix) so far as I could tell, kinda lame to use such a calm song for red Brinstar but that's an aesthetic choice that didn't detract from the experience. Like Reimagined, this is a three-quarters hack that's sure to occupy a decent three hours of your time.
By Exister on Apr 18, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
68% in 2:47
Fun hack! Very solid vanilla feel with a lot of really cool moments. Ridley's lair has to be my favorite part, was a very very fun section even though I skipped the acid lower torizo lol. The recolors all looked nice, the tiling was good, and level design was spot on. I do have a couple of critiques though: Speed booster lava escape was absolute BS, if you made any mistakes you were done for because of how slow you move in lava. Ironically this structure was fixed in the ridley's lair escape, where it was one small room that eased you into the idea that you should be trying to ascend as fast as possible before letting you into rooms that actually test your skills. I think the speed booster escape if structured this way, would work much better and avoid what's essentially a guaranteed first playthrough death. The only other critique I have is a minor one, and that's that the escape pallet in Tourian flashed quite a bit too much. I don't have epilepsy but it did make my eyes hurt. Shame that's the last impression you get, but the tight timer still made the escape fun with how tense it got. I only had 5 seconds left! Overall a very good hack and one I'd definitely reccomend.
By Zincoshine on Sep 05, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
For a very long time this is just super metroid, but with a slightly worse designed world. It's an extremely conservative reimagining of super metroid that is best described as a full hack that feels like a half-hack (and that's not a good thing). Nonetheless, as the world seemed well enough I played through until I got the space jump. Then the whole hack went to shit. The second half of maridia from that point becomes extremely tedious. As for lower norfair, this ends up being as bad as the one the same creator designed for his previous mod. At that point I decided I had enough. There is no conceivable demographic for which this can be recommended. If you want to play super metroid again just play project base, if you want a world that feels somewhat new play ancient chozo. Are you really experienced and want the biggest baddest super metroid there is? Axeil. God, did I just recommend axeil? Whatever. Just avoid this. What a waste of my time.
By vsf3000 on Oct 11, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
78% in 4:05
Enjoyable. Pretty much a remix of SM. If a player is looking for something drastically different, then this isn't for you. But if you want a moderately altered experience of the original SM, this is fantastic. A tiny bit more challenging than the original.
By Sickwood on Feb 13, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Hack looks better each time I play it. Just really aesthetic palette choices everywhere. Fun for a 2 hour romp a couple times a year during hack droughts and for nostalgia.
By JohnnieEpic on Apr 07, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
80% in 3:43
Nice casual hack. I enjoyed the layout of most areas with only some minor gripes late game (draygon entrance and GT im looking at you) I feel like it is too obscure compared to the rest of the hack, but that said it could almost not even be in the hack and it would still play well. That acid bath was fun and I had a blast with the rest of lower norfair and on the clock for the escape.
By jakoliath on May 06, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
69% in 3:00
Really enjoyed the platforming, the exploration, the bosses. I was drawn to this hack because of the mostly-vanilla physics and difficulty. Not a lot to say that hasn't been said already.

Whenever I got lost, I never felt like it was unfair; every path forward (or toward an item) was telegraphed in some way.

Did some accidental sequence breaks but still was able to move forward and progress without too much trouble.

Several places where I was really impressed with the room tiling/level design/blending and the palette choices. Side note, the tiles for the doors made them all look similar to a gadora to me, which I felt added to the atmosphere, perhaps unintentionally. :)

Recommend to anyone who's interested in something similar to vanilla or a fresh take on vanilla without straying too far from the feel of the original.
By KPF on Jul 02, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
OK. After watch a certain video i'm like (DUH, I KNEW THAT).
So I will try this again.
More new later. ("film at 11")
By yuriks on Aug 14, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
89% in 4:27
(time is IGT)

A pretty enjoyable hack which, unfortunately, ended up not feeling super memorable. The themes and ideas here are mostly really well executed, but there's not much in terms of those ideas, environments or mechanics that stand out or feel very original. Some areas are better about this, I felt like the Wrecked Ship and Lower Norfair in particular stood out as being more unique. The map is pretty well laid out and I never really got lost, even after taking a long break in-between sessions.

The tiling was a stand out and one of my favorite aspects of the hack. It's really detailed without looking too busy or out-of-place, and I thought the area color schemes all looked very good. I do wish it had been a bit more consistent with hidden passages: There's secrets required for progression that are only hinted with barely noticeable flipped tiles, while at the same time having lots of suspicious-looking details that ended up not being anything. Not enough to be annoying but it felt like wasted potential when those could be incorporated as clues a bit more frequently instead.

Difficulty was pretty easy as a seasoned SM player, except for a sudden difficulty spike during the escape, which has a very tight timer and took me a few tries to beat.

Recommended, especially if you're looking for something pretty Vanilla-ish. 3.5/5
By sbelmont85 on Aug 21, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
98% in 4:14
Solid remake of the original SM game... For first time hack the author did a great job, complete and didn't find any glitches.

Pros: Atmosphere, similar but smaller map and play through as the OG SM! Graphics and Atmosphere on par and better then OG in places. New weapon was a neat idea but felt nerfed based off what ammo was used, how quickly it depleted and the damage output.

Cons: Items/everything mostly too obvious and too sequential, the few backtracking items forced to take original, excessive long routes with no shortcuts or round-abouts, map needs better routing. Few challenges and hidden items on the map or places locking out access items needing a specific power-up. It's much easier than OG SM, except the escape. It felt like the timer should be lengthened because the hack otherwise is super easy and the ending, which is not, should be balanced as such for a similar skilled player.

In my case, I needed a few more seconds to finish with very little slip-ups, and I enjoy playing hard hacks like Redesign Axeil Ed. Took me a handful of tries before I finally made it to the ship with 1-2 sec left, which made the finish feel more like an accomplishment and I enjoyed that challenge, but felt very unbalanced compared to the entire play through.

I was getting board mostly after defeating spore-spawn because of how obvious everything was going to be throughout the game. It felt less like exploring and more like: "go down one path collect the item on the map, then go down the next path on the map to collect the next item and so on". I finished it to do the review all dew credit.

I think the best thing that could improve this hack is better routing, don't have the map show everything from the beginning, last create and leave more clues to areas that can't be reached until later. I think one of the most enjoyable things about SM is finding somewhere you can't get to just yet and later realizing a power-up you just got will give you access, there was almost no game design with this in mind.
By guilhermebrum526 on Nov 10, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Good thing
By SakuraUnit on Nov 14, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Honestly, probably one of my favorite romhacks. I have revisited this one a few times, and it's always a wonderful experience. Vanilla feel, but great exploration, and doesn't make you feel bad for taking extra time in areas. Very aesthetically pleasing, and a lot of fun! Recommend for anyone looking to play a vanilla hack with exploration value!
By NateTheGameK on Nov 19, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 13:00
Really great job, Jefe.

* Removed X-ray, which sucks but whatever (beam burst is funny enough)
* Early springball, which basically made up for the loss of X-Ray
* Not too much changes from vanilla in terms of physics or mechanics, which I can appreciate
* AWESOME visuals and great room design
* Great atmosphere and attention to detail
* Increased difficulty from vanilla, especially in LN and Tourian (really enjoyed the screw attack sequence especially)
* While it may not account for low%, it definitely has several nods to speedrunners spread throughout

My personal favorite hack. Play this, you won't regret it.
By ironrusty on Mar 01, 2024 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Nature hits all the right notes, even if the progression feels a little constraining at times. Very good map and details.
By starlightintheriver on Jun 17, 2024 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 4:30
QUICK NOTE BEFORE THE REVIEW: I haven't done any testing on this, but the palettes in the escape sequence could very possibly be harmful if you suffer from epileptic seizures. If I were certain this were a danger, it would probably eat off at least another star, NGL. If there's one thing to know about this hack going in, this is it.

Time above is my most recent playthrough, with the help of the Project Maptroid maps by badatmetroid. Not sure if they have a different name here on MetConst but iunno.

Nature is an excellent hack that's bogged down a little by a few major flaws; if those few things were fixed, it would easily be a 5/5 hack. However, what's good is very good and you can tell Jefe spent a lot of time crafting each room to be unique and memorable.

In terms of progression and level design, Nature isn't too much different from the vanilla game; what's different is how much it touches up every little thing there is to appreciate. Palettes are nicer (I especially appreciate the slight purple hues in Tourian and the less aggressive Norfair palettes), and vanilla tiles are interwoven beautifully. As other reviews have mentioned, Nature replaces X-Ray with a brand new Beam Burst upgrade, clearly inspired by the upgrade from Samus Returns. I got it a little too late to really appreciate it, but it was still a lot of fun when I got the chance to use it. I should mention that having five Charge shots on screen at once will absolutely lag your game and cause screen flicker, especially if you have Plasma.

Now, for the bad. There are three principle complaints: the lack of respin, the way secrets are hidden, and a particular room in Maridia that I would change if I were making this hack. I may be ignorant for saying this, but I don't really understand why anyone would make a hack without including respin in this day and age considering how much it adds.

Many of the secrets are hidden relatively well, and I was able to find them on my own. However, there were several that I couldn't find on my own because they require you to walk through intangible walls that look exactly like the other walls around them. Between that and a lot of spots which look to my eye like they hold secrets but don't, this kinda made it hard to motivate myself to actually check out suspicious looking spots, so I missed a lot of other secrets. (For example, the large room after Grapple really looks to me like it should have an item under the lava, but it doesn't)

The last complaint is about a particular green gate in Maridia. The switch is on the left, meaning it's possible to skip through, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it blocks off what would be the most convenient way to get into the main areas of Maridia from Kraid's Lair. Because of it, you instead have to take a long and circuitous route through the Space Jump room and through a long passage that basically goes all the way to the other end of Maridia. Considering Wave Beam is *in* Maridia, there's really no reason in my mind why that gate couldn't have been blue, so that Maridia could open up a little once you get most of its major items.

Sorry the review is so long, haha. This is one of those hacks where I really can't help but think about all sorts of specific moments I appreciated or didn't appreciate, and every little thing I would change if I were designing this. Really, I could go on all day about it. Please play this hack so I have someone to infodump to.
By UDtheAesir on Sep 16, 2024 (Star Star Star Star Star )
96% in 4:57
It's a good hack, I recommend playing it. Palettes are nicely done with subtle changes, liking the little bursts when hitting enemies. Burst powerup's pretty cool. Escape from Tourian's nice and straightforward but the timer's a little tight to save the animals which I didn't.

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