Zincoshine's Hack Reviews - Metroid Construction

Super Metroid: Escape by Mr. Hiroishi [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 10, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own game and judge them accordingly while ignoring any similarities to super metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyse the mod from the perspective of someone who just bought it off of steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

Hidden well amongst a bunch of mediocre mods, the only reason this caught my eye was that it was the prequel to Escape II which is allegedly one of the 2 best mods made prior to the release of project base. Unfortunately, this prequel turned out to be as mediocre as expected. Bizarre and very unintuitive level design really hurts this and you're going to constantly get stuck. Doors sometimes work in illogical ways, teleporting you to areas you logically should not go to upon entering the said door. The main path itself sometimes consists of a secret passageway. It is evident the author made a real effort with this as there are no exploits so far but it's just far too illogical and bizarre to recommend, probably a product of its time.

edit: After having played more mods and getting a better perspective of things, I have realised that I overrated this. The rating has been revised to be one orb.

Edit 2: This remained the worst mod I ever played until very recently when I tried out super metroid the gathering. This is still the second worst mod I've ever seen.

Oxide by Cyclamen32 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 10, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own game and judge them accordingly while ignoring any similarities to super metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyse the mod from the perspective of someone who would have just bought it off of steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

Honestly I was split on this mod for the longest while but ultimately I had to stop playing. It is way better than the last thing I reviewed, super metroid escape, but it isn't good enough. The main problems are the poor layout, especially in the water levels, that will make platforming extremely annoying. Another problem is that the level isn't intuitive enough. I got stuck quite a few times but it was at least better than super metroid escape in this respect. The final straw was the illogical appearance of the last metroid and repeat of the routine from the original game where he almost kills you then flies away. It makes zero sense in this mod. immediately after that I end up in a toxic flood portion with extremely annoying platforming and I ever got myself softlocked. This is just too unpolished for a recommendation but it get 3 out of 5 for being much better than super metroid escape which got 2 out of 5 from me.

edit: also, there's no story to speak of. It's just random and illogical.

edit 2: After having played more mods and getting a better perspective of things, I have realized that I overrated this. The rating has been revised to be two orbs.

Super Metroid: space Junk (Not Contest Ver.) by Crystal Knight [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 11, 2022 (

)

95% in 1:58

note: This review has been remade for the latest version 1.2.2 which is not available on this page for some reason. That version fixes the second and third biggest problems with this hack but it doesn't fix the biggest problem of the hack which is the draygon softlock. This time around I decided to complete the hack regardless of the softlock and what I discovered is that the entire endgame is just a huge mess that contradicts the plot and forces you to run back and forth across the map several times. The latest version also fails to fix some minor problems as well. All in all, I still cannot recommend this although I would have been open to giving it a narrow recommendation if, at least, the draygon softlock was fixed.

Super Metroid: Advent by Shadow96 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 11, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own game and judge them accordingly while ignoring any similarities to super metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyse the mod from the perspective of someone who just bought it off of steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

First impressions are very good, but I had to end the run when I reached the first save room. This is because I discovered several negative things in that room:

1) There are secrets separating areas mandatory for progression, this is very bad gameplay design
2) The same rooms do not work
3) progression from the save room onwards requires first knowing about the secret passage, and then making a bomb while in a mid-air morph. This is "simon's quest" levels of bad level design.
4) The mod is unfinished and abandoned although completable in its current state.

Overall, this is not recommended for anyone. Stay away.

Super Metroid Ruin by personitis [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 11, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Update: new review after second attempt

From an artistic point of view, the level design is absolutely beautiful, being a perfect symphony of sound and graphics that really set the tone and theme perfectly. However, this is a metroidvania, not a painting and as far as gameplay is concerned, the level design is very poor. Secrets are too well hidden and so too is the passageway to the final boss. The final boss is nigh impossible and I've given up trying to defeat it. There is no plot other than the one communicated by the artwork: Samus is investigating ruins on planet Zebes and comes across ridley. She kills him and then Zebes decides to explode for no reason at all. This gets 3 orbs for the excellent visuals and sounds but certainly no recommendation.

The Adam Virus by Crystal_Knight [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 13, 2022 (

)

81% in 0:32

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own game and judge them accordingly while ignoring any similarities to super metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyse the mod from the perspective of a game that someone who just bought it off of steam and whether it could be recommended to your average metroidvania gamer. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

I've been playing mods in an order of alleged quality, from lowest alleged quality to highest. This is the very first mod I've completed as the previous ones had too many problems. It is short but sweet. It's biggest problem is actually the competition from which it arose. The competition actually called for modders to intentionally implement one of the most notoriously bad design decisions from Metroid other M: obtaining items right after the area the item would have been most useful. Understanding this context is extremely important as it means the difference between being either enraged at this horrible design in the mod or having a laugh at this well-made parody. Nonetheless, a bad design choice is a bad design choice even if it is intentional and I hope that this community will not encourage modders to intentionally make mistakes in their work. it's a 3.5 from me but unfortunately, I can't select anything between 3 and 4 so I went with 3.

Edit: After having played many more mods, especially zero mission mods I have realized it was wrong of me to recommend this. The scope is just too narrow and I see most people just seeing this as a poorly designed mod with little effort put into it, even though this is not true at all.

B2-TW by Grime [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 13, 2022 (

)

9% in 0:08

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own game and judge them accordingly, ignoring any similarities to super Metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyze the mod from the perspective of someone who bought it as a game on Steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

This is the first genuinely original mod I have played so far. Although short it plays very well. There is only one notable fault and that is that too well hidden passageways separate mandatory pathways for progression. Overall, it is recommended although it might be a little bit too linear for some metroidvania players.

edit: This is officially the first decent mod ever made for metroidvania players.

Super Made In Metroid - Attack Of The Rinkas by pontarou [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 13, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Although unique, it is not a metroidvania. It is instead an arcade mod. It's recommended for people interested in general metroid mods, it is not recommended for anyone else, especially for people looking for a metroidvania.

Super Made In Metroid 3: Geemers Are The Mighty by pontarou [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 13, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

probably the best of the made in metroid arcade hack series. Recommended for those interested in metroid hacks, not recommended for those interested in a metroidvania.

Super Made In Metroid 2: The Rinkas Came Back by pontarou [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 13, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Lost World by TROM [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 13, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Wow, this is the perfect example of why quality is more important than quantity. This mod is among the biggest ever made, but the quality leaves so much to be desired. First of all, I haven't seen tilework as bad as this since I checked out Super Metroid Escape (edit: super metroid mini is worse). Second of all, the individual rooms are way too big, dilute, and poorly structured. Third, you can get soft locked which means there was not enough testing. This is unsurprising, considering how large this is. It's really tragic that TROM misdirected his passion into an excessive focus on size and quantity instead of quality but it is what it is. definitely stay away from this one.

So Little Garden by MetroidMst [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 13, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own game and judge them accordingly, ignoring any similarities to super Metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyze the mod from the perspective of someone who bought it as a game on Steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

The biggest problem with this is the unrealistic layout of the rooms and their massive size. The rooms themselves offer boring uninspired repetitive gameplay. As such, this doesn't feel like a Metroidvania even though it is. It just feels like a rom hack. The design of the third boss was so poor that at that point I decided I was done with this mod. I'm however giving it 3 orbs because of all the original content added.

edit: oh and the difficulty rating is wrong. It isn't veteran, it's just slightly more difficult than vanilla.

Melancholia IV by FullOfFail [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 14, 2022 (

)

65% in 1:26

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own game and judge them accordingly, ignoring any similarities to super Metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyze the mod from the perspective of someone who bought it as a game on Steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

Oh man, this came so close to getting a recommendation. Until the end it was a very enjoyable metroidvania albeit lacking in savepoints. The difficulty was very low except for sudden very small spikes. Unfortunately the mod fails the landing with terrible unintuitive level design in the last section. In fact that section can itself only be accessed via a secret passage and that in itself is a bad design decision. It looks like the mod's current problems exist because the creator didn't bother to update it after submitting it for a competition and hence it is in a rushed state.

Tallon IV Tours: Chozo Ruins Rumble by dewhi100 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 15, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

A very beautiful hack that is unfortunately in a permanent incomplete state and can't technically be completed as there's no way to win. The hack demoes an attempt to port metroid prime to the super metroid engine. That is a project that has tremendous potential.... This is worth looking at if you want to know what such a project would conceivably look like. I would say the biggest problem with this hack is that it's listed under quick play instead of incomplete. Perhaps if it is moved to the correct section I would be inclined to give this a higher score.

Tallon IV Tours: Phendrana Frolics by dewhi100 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 15, 2022 (

)

91% in 1:14

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own metroidvania game and judge them accordingly, ignoring any similarities to super Metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyze the mod from the perspective of someone who bought it as a game on Steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

This is the next entry in the Tallon IV tours series which seeks to slowly piece together, mod by mod, the campaign in metroid prime 1. The author seems to have learned from the mistakes made in the first entry but there are issues near the end all the same after getting the heat visor. The game even freezes you if you try to backtrack from backtracking at the end (very unlikely to happen though and save states make this almost a non-issue). The ending is also abrupt and illogical because the game ends with zebes exploding even though I am on a completely different planet called Tallon IV. Nonetheless, the originality in this mod is unparalleled compared to what I've reviewed so far with new weapons, new bosses, new mini-bosses, new abilities, and a beautiful new tileset. It's a metroidvania I believe any experienced metroidvania player will enjoy. A definite 4/5 from me.

I Wanna Be The Metroid by Maxg26 [

Challenge], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 15, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I'm pretty sure most of the hacks here are already this thanks to glitch-gating in the older mods.

Metroid: The Blue Plague by Nodever2 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 15, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own standalone metroidvania game and judge it accordingly:

Overall this is most similar to space junk in both feel, theme, length and quality. However this is the better mod out of the two. It is the first mod I've encountered so far that has an actual plot as well as the first mod I've found that has a map with clearly shown doors. Unfortunately, the ice gun has been severely nerfed. While this by itself wouldn't normally be a problem, there is a very difficult mandatory section involving freezing enemies (rippers as JustMarbles, the guy below, calls them) and jumping on top of them to reach the super missiles. This section is just flat out impossible to do with the ice gun nerf and as such the mod cannot be completed by your average metroidvania player or even an advanced one. It is not known why the maker of this made made such an idiotic mod-breaking design decision at the end of an otherwise good mod but it is what it is. Not recommended.

Edit: after consideration, I have decided to drop the review score to 2/5 to match JustMarbles's score, in part because the author refuses to fix the hack but also because this has a lot of glitchy sprites and after reviewing many more mods I've realised that glitchy sprites are actually a really rare occurrence in mods. In fact, the only 3 with serious sprite problems are this, alliance, and ice metal uninstall.

Temple of the Winds by Moehr and Albert V. [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 15, 2022 (

)

71% in 1:39

One of the most ambitious and creative hacks ever made. unfortunately, there was no one to put all that creating energy into a cohesive experience as the level design fundamentals were poorly applied to the new mechanics. The list of issues is practically endless but the good news is that I have QA'd this together with Moehr and he might be releasing a new version with some fixes eventually. perhaps then this can get a recommendation.

Super Metroid Biohazard by Mentlegen, SMILEuser96 [

Speedrun/Race], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 16, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

420 spike landing site cre edit insta death barf kraid grapple clip hack by H A M [

Spoof], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 16, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

It's a parody mod that makes fun of all the bad mods made by developers who forgot that super Metroid is a metroidvania and not a precision platformer.

edit: reduced score to 3/5 due to crashes.

Super Metroid: HISHE by Scyzer [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 16, 2022 (

)

0% in 0:01

The plot in this makes a lot more sense than the plot in super metroid. Why on earth would you find the metroid and just leave it there on the ground for what seems like an eternity until ridley shows up?

Super Metroid: Hotlands by MetroidNerd#9001 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 17, 2022 (

)

81% in 2:28

As a super metroid rom hack this is absolutely perfect and any experienced metroid player should play this. However, as a purely metroidvania game this is best left alone. You're going to have to be familiar with advanced techniques to get by and for the majority of metroidvania players this is a nono. The hack goes from being challenging, to being extremely hard, to being almost impossible. It's a bit unfortunate it is this way since the spring ball upgrade would remedy this and make the hack accessible to all instead of just experienced metroid players. Aside from this one issue and some slowdown problems, this really is a truly excellent hack worth 5/5 but I have to deduct an orb for the slowdown issues and the missing spring ball.

Metroid: Operation Save Thanksgiving v1.1.1 (No Longer Broken) by Nodever2 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 18, 2022 (

)

83% in 1:09

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own metroidvania game and judge them accordingly, ignoring any similarities to super Metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyze the mod from the perspective of someone who bought it as a game on Steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

Well, this was a very pleasant surprise. I was expecting some stupid joke campaign because of the title and while the plot is indeed completely ridiculous the campaign was actually really solid and well put together. The biggest problems are the general emptiness of some of the rooms in the first half and the ending where Zebes illogically explodes even though this occurs before super Metroid.

Stardust by Tyjet66 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 18, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I approach every mod I review as if it were its own metroidvania game and judge them accordingly, ignoring any similarities to super Metroid (for obvious reasons). The idea is to analyze the mod from the perspective of someone who bought it as a game on Steam. With this disclaimer out of the way, here's the review:

This is from 2009, a time when mods for super metroid only focused on editing rooms with no focus whatsoever on logic, appearance, or anything. Unfortunately, this mod is basically typical of that era and is completely worthless nowadays. It does however get an orb for being functional and not requiring glitching or using glitches itself.

Super Hauntroid by Scyzer [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 18, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Super Metroid: Black Plague by JamieWebb16 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 18, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Well, First of all this is a demo for a mod that was never made. Second, only a minute after playing I end up trapped in some hallway at the bottom of the room so either the mod is glitch-gated or I don't know what's going on.... The tiles are hard to see.

Metroid: Expedition Z by DarkSamus [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 19, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

The developer doesn't seem to understand how to design difficulty properly. You'll die often and that's ok, what's not ok is that you'll be dying not because of your mistakes but instead because of mistakes with the design of many of the rooms. It's an exercise in frustration. Furthermore, more effort should have been put into modding the intro. When you start a new game it says you're on zebes, then the map says you're on zeron. Perhaps the plot should also have been put into the game instead of leaving it here on this webpage.

Difficulty is so-called "veteran" for sure.

SM Redesign: Axeil Edition by Drewseph [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 20, 2022 (

)

77% in 17:10

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.

Over the Moon by TestZero [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 26, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

As a NEStroid hack, this is ok. As a standalone metroidvania however this is just absolutely awful. While this isn't the first metroidvania without a map that I've played, it is unfortunately one that really needs a map thanks to the poor graphics and level layouts giving no indication of where you might want to go and avoid getting completely lost. The graphics themselves are pretty poor, even in comparison to the original. This is also severely overrated on metroidconstruct, it does not make sense to see this having a similar score to things like hotlands and B2-TW, it's nowhere near as good as those two (although hotlands didn't score that well because of glitch-gating at the end and an absurd and frustrating difficulty at the end). This is only highly rated because its good compared to nestroid, but nestroid is itself awful and has been replaced by metroid zero mission since 2004.

Metroid Incursion by Grimlock [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 26, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

As a metroidvania this is definitely much better than "over the moon". However, it is not something I can recommend as a standalone metroidvania. There are two main reasons for this. First of all, the enemies are simply too glitchy. The lack of polish reminds me of the space junk and blue plague rom hacks for super metroid and guess what? They didn't get a recommendation in part because of problems like this. Second, the developer has failed to design the textures in such a way that the player can tell whether or not it is possible to go through something or not. This results in the player constantly getting stuck. There's also the minor issue of the tile placement just not being very good in certain areas but it is a small problem, to be sure. This get 3/5 orbs due to the presence of a rudimentary map and save slots, but no recommendation.

Junkoid by P. Yoshi, Mindflower [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 27, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Well, this is definitely the best Nestroid hack I have seen so far. However, that's not saying much since there are only 4 existing ones that are even worth looking at. I've tried two of them already. As a nes hack this is exceptional because it replaces so much of the original. However, it still utterly fails when evaluated as a metroidvania. The first problem is that you will collect various items, and the game never hints at what these items do. Now Ok, I was able to figure out the mouse transform ability, the baseball throw ability, and the high jump ability pretty easily but then things get weird. You get stuff like a ring and a dress and they don't seem to do anything. The other problem is that only the starting biome has a map. I quickly got lost once I decided to descend into one of the other biomes.

Metroid II EJRTQ Colorization 1.3 by Quantam [

Improvement], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 28, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I honestly believe this is a better colorization than the one done for super mario land 2. In fact, I might fully play this hack instead of AM2R.

edit: I just realized this has no map. In that case, I'm playing AM2R instead... and deducting an orb.

Metroid - Rogue Dawn by Grimlock, Optomon, snarfblam [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 28, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Yeah this is without a doubt the best nestroid hack as well as the best NES hack ever made. Period. Unfortunately, This also shows that no matter how good you try to make Metroid on NES work, in the end, the limitations of the system will just make it impossible to enjoy, no matter how good it is. I really really tried to enjoy this, I wanted to complete this. I absolutely loved the modding. This was made with love and care. I just wish so much that the developers had put their love into a non-NES Metroid instead, or made an entirely new video game instead. They are truly capable of creating a masterpiece given a suitable canvas. I ultimately made it to the second boss before I just could not tolerate these NES limitations anymore and had to bail. I recommend this for anyone who is over the age of 40 as of the time of this review. I don't see anyone younger than that enjoying this, unfortunately. This partial recommendation is the best I can do, I'm sorry. I truly am. I tried my best.

Ancient Chozo by Albert V. [

Vanilla+], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 29, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I tried this a while ago. This along with project base is the definitive super metroid experience. While it slightly lacking in QoL compared to project base due to the slightly outdated base used, the graphics more than make up for it. If you've never played super metroid, play this (or play project base, your choice).

edit: played some more, I've come to realise it is clearly not as good as the original. You should play project base as your first super metroid playthrough but by all means play this one if you're interested in another playthrough with something to freshen things up.

Project Base 0.8.1 by begrimed [

Improvement], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 29, 2022 (

)

87% in 3:59

This is the definitive experience for super metroid. This adds a ton of modern QoL improvements to super Metroid and really highlights why it remains one of the best games ever made 28 years later. There's two issues with it thought that should be mentioned. The first is that the doors close too fast, this sometimes causes you to get stuck in them when you enter a room. The second problem is that tourian is pretty much ruined. The hoppers are alive and invincible for some reason, the super Metroid attacks the hopper in the other room before you're able to figure out what is going on. mother brain's hyper beam attack is made too short, both with charging and the attack itself, and finally, when you get the hyper beam yourself there is no uplifting victory music. While these are all purely aesthetic problems it does make me hesitant to recommend this to people who have never played super Metroid before as the emotional impact of all of these events is severely weakened as a result of these changes.

Edit: after consideration, I have decided to bump the score down to 4/5 orbs. I just cannot excuse the damage done to tourian. The whole point of me recommending this hack is to say that this is the definitive experience of super metroid for newcomers but how can I do that when I know how anti-climactic tourian is in this hack? I'll change my score back to 5 orbs if tourian gets fixed.

Super Zero Mission by SBniconico [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 30, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This hack has not aged well, the gameplay is particularly bad. Luckily, someone has updated it and brought it into the modern era and that version is extremely good. However, the update isn't linked on this page. Search for "metroid super speed zero mission" to find the up-to-date version of this.

Metroid: HD Custom Edition 2.1.2 by Aclectico [

Improvement], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 30, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

.....incredible. simply incredible.

Project ZM by FelixWright [ MZM

Improvement], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 31, 2022 (

)

72% in 4:20

I had never played the original before. A few days ago I began to play it but then I remembered that there might be an improvement hack worth checking out and so here I am. Overall playing this has been an exceptionally good experience, the level designs have been streamlined, there are lots of subtle QoL improvements all over. The option to switch between SNES and GBA controls was really nice but sadly it is useless for anyone interested in playing other rom hacks for Zero mission. This is because other mods don't implement this ability and that means you'll have to painfully revert back to the GBA controls. It's therefore best to just stick with the GBA controls and get used to them so that you're able to enjoy the other rom hacks. Anyway, aside from all this there actually is one big problem I found. There were times I got stuck with no idea what to do. That's fine, I expect this from metroidvanias as old as this. I looked up a video and got unstuck.... but I noticed there were blocks... with weird symbols....in the video... blocks that weren't in this mod. Huh, that was weird. I continued playing. Later on I got stuck again. I noticed that this was yet again happening right after having picked up a "unknown item". Once again I looked up a video and once again another block with weird symbols blocking the path, blocks that weren't present in the mod. Then I realized what was going on. Basically, the author has removed stuff that was present in order to prevent players from getting lost and these blocks subtly indicated where to go next after getting an unknown item. Without them, these secret passages they subtly revealed had become very hard to find. This unfortunately means that the author has intentionally removed these blocks without realizing that doing so hurts the level design. Unfortunately, due to this I can only give 4/5. If the guiding unknown item blocks are added back, then I'll update the score to 5/5.

Stargazer by Ing-ing [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Jul 31, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Having just recently completed Metroid Zero mission I decided it was time to begin playing through the MZM hacks that I was interested in. Stargazer is first since its the lowest rated short hack featured in FreezeFlame 2. In fact, its presence in FreezeFlame 2 is the only reason why it was on my list, to begin with as I had serious reservations about a hack made in just 24 hours. Good quality work takes time to make. Unfortunately, as expected, the hack has several problems as a result of being rushed, both as a rom hack and as a metroidvania. As a rom-hack the mod suffers from custom music that is far too loud, drowning out all the other sounds in the game. The music also fails to loop. The music also reverts back to the original in the menu if you enter and exit settings. As a Metroidvania it also suffers from a rushed level design that lends itself to many moments of frustration, most notably at the very start. This is also incorrectly labeled as being of vanilla difficulty. It absolutely is not, and as someone who just today completed MZM for the first time I certainly know what I'm saying in this regard. There is almost no plot at all and the start menu intro incorrectly presents the story of MZM instead of this hack. Ultimately I played until I got to the sudden ridley. I have no idea how the author expects me to defeat ridley with so little equipment, I don't see any way it can be done. I'm giving an orb for the super metroid graphics that were masterfully modded into the game but that's about it. Not recommended.

Metroid Mission II by Sapphron [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 01, 2022 (

)

75% in 0:26

This mod is a fully functioning metroidvania but it is very unpolished and the creator clearly didn't take it very seriously. This is most similar to so little bubble. Still, 3 orbs for making a proper Metroidvania.

Metroid: Combat by Multi-Man [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 01, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

metroid as a run & gun platformer? Sounds like a fun break from metroidvanias! Everything was going well until I ran into an unpassable section in norfair. I can't see any possible way, maybe there is some glitch I am supposed to use? Sadly, because of this problem, I can't recommend this. Still, it's a very cool idea.

Deep Freeze by Cpt.Glitch [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 01, 2022 (

)

96% in 1:02

This is a really cool mod with well done custom sprites, tiles, and music. It has a number of issues with the level design, camera problems and a semi-softlock. However the semi-softlock will almost certainly only be discovered by those who know how to escape it (you need to wall jump). As well as an unchanged title cutscene. The only other problem is the awful decision to change the color of the rooms on the map to the same color as the map background. Still, I find myself unable to stop playing so this mod is clearly doing something right.

Recommended.

Edit: I've completed the playthrough now. Unfortunately, I ran into major gameplay design issues at the space pirate ship and was forced to rewind back to a save I made before I even killed Kraid. I couldn't simply go back as there was no way back out the way I came in. At that point I decided to just find the quickest route to finish the game and be done with it. Combined with the aforementioned issues mentioned earlier I no longer feel comfortable giving this 4/5. However, the recommendation remains.

edit 2: I decided to revisit this and see if there was maybe something I missed that would help me with the pirate ship. Turns out there was... there was a lot. The review has been brought back to 4/5.

Metroid: Takeover by Spedimus [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 02, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This is the first normal length hack in my list of zero mission hacks to play and it is likewise the lowest rated one. However, If anything, this is overrated. First of all, it's only a 2/3 hack, second of all, neither the intro cutscene nor the title screen was changed. Most importantly, the world plays out like a really crappy version of the original game with all kinds of poor decisions taken in the level design. From empty hallways with little purpose other than to add more gameplay time, to very poor enemy placements, to unintuitive layouts in Norfair to poor platform placements in brinstar.... Yeah, just stay away from this one. It's not worth your time, neither as a ROM hack nor as a Metroidvania. If you really want to do a replay of zero mission, use project ZM instead.

Metroid SR387 by OneOf99 and NathanTech [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 04, 2022 (

)

100% in 2:17

This is the first Metroid rom hack I have found that has successfully fulfilled all the requirements of a metroidvania. It has enough custom content to feel like its own separate game as well. It also has no glitching required whatsoever. The only problems are repetitive rooms with the same enemies in each biome and a plot that doesn't fit at all with the events of the game. Indeed, the events within the game, especially the bosses feel like a weird remix of zero mission. I leaned towards giving this 4/5 orbs but in the end I decided to go for 5/5 because a) creators should be rewarded for using metroid games as a canvas for making good metroidvania games instead of making precision platformers and b) This mod is slightly underrated and needs a boost in it's score to help bring it into the 4.5 orb range.

Metroid: Return to Zebes by alexman25 [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 04, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

After having played through 3 MZM rom hacks that all managed to do well and get a recommendation from me I was feeling confident about the rest of my list, especially when you consider that I sorted out my list of mods to play in ascending order of alleged quality. This mod has now shattered that illusion and exposed my overconfidence. There's literally no reason for anyone to ever play this. Why? Because it turns out that this is just a very bad port of super metroid to MZM. Both ancient chozo and project base are much better remakes of super metroid. Regarding the quality, the porting of the music really didn't go well, it sounds all distorted and stuff. Furthermore, the creator decided to make it glitch gated. Well maybe it's not, maybe wall jumping is sufficient but the level design just seems really really bad compared to both zero mission and super metroid. The things SpookerK has mentioned are also very important to highlight here, I can't believe he gave 4 orbs in his review despite such an utter lack of polish for this mod. I mean patching softlocks is the bare minimum that can be expected from a creator.

Not recommended.

Metroid: Extraction by Conner, Exister, Raygun [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 05, 2022 (

)

90% in 0:58

What an incredible achievement! This is one of the best metroidvanias I've found so far on metroidconstruction and it was made in only two days! It does suffer from some issues at the end related to balancing, these issues are caused by the unnecessary time constraint the developers placed on themselves but this is still excellent. A real surprise considering the last rushed mod I played was in a pretty bad condition. It is really shameful that this has been underrated so much.

Metroid Subzero by Conner [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 05, 2022 (

)

100% in 0:40

It's deep freeze, but much better and a little bit shorter. Excellent as a metroidvania and one of the best mods I've played so far.

So Little Bubble by Conner [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 06, 2022 (

)

100% in 0:24

This is one of the few metroid zero mission hacks that are neither extremely good or extremely bad. As far as gameplay is concerned, the mod provides satisfactory gameplay until the end. The way the final boss was designed defies comprehension and I can only assume it was designed this way due to the time limit the author imposed on himself/herself. I'm giving this a very narrow recommendation as it is just good enough to try out.

Recommended.

Mintroid by Golden Warrior [ MZM

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 06, 2022 (

)

96% in 0:24

As of August 2022 this is the highest rated mini metroidvania zero mission hack on metroidconstruct. It's good but it's not the best one available. Subzero and extraction are better. Nonetheless I wholeheartedly recommend this. The only issue with this is that it is somewhat unpolished compared to other good mini metroidvanias, especially in the map menu.

edit: the score has been revised to be 5/5 orbs because I realised that giving this a lower score than SR387 is just absurd.

Phazon Hack by A_red_monk_called_Key [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 07, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

In addition to being glitch-gated, this unfinished metroidvania is listed under the wrong category. Instead of being listed under "incomplete" it is instead listed under "exploration" (should be called "metroidvania" instead IMHO). This is quite serious since the mod in its current state is not stable and will crash at certain points. I'll change the rating to 3/5 if the mod is moved to the correct category, until then 2/5 orbs.

Metroid Mission Rescue by Mettyk25jigsaw [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 07, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Having reached Maridia in super metroid axeil I decided to take a break from that and check out this mod. It turns out that this is the second worst super metroid mod I've ever played and it is almost guaranteed to retain that position even after I finish trying out everything I've planned to check out. So... what's wrong with this mod? well imagine Axeil, but much worse level design, unrealistic bizarre tilework, extremely dilute gigantic maps, no teleporters and no QoL map additions in a world that is more than twice as large as axeil... The creator put all of his effort into creating the manual and the size of the mod, leaving little effort into the actual quality of the mod. The only positive thing I can say about this is that at least there is a bare minimum amount of effort towards making the levels look credible. That positive is the only reason why it manages to be better than super metroid escape, The first and worst metroid mod I've ever played.

Super Metroid: Exercise by Mr. Hiryu [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 09, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Unfortunately, this ROM hack is typical of the era it comes from. Absolutely no effort was made to make the layout look decent or make the ROM hack feel like a real metroidvania instead of a throwaway super metroid rom hack. It is just really bad as a Metroidvania. Not recommended.

Precision by Bolognab [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 09, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

horrific.... I stand with KPF on this.

Super Metroid: MINI by Mr. Hiryu [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 10, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This is just slightly better than exercise, but the highly janky and hacky tilework ensures this gets only 1/5. There's no motivation to explore such an unrealistic janky world.

Metroid: Spooky Mission by Magconst [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 11, 2022 (

)

89% in 2:02

Well, this is way better than one might think when judging by the title. The quality of this is excellent and the customizations are awesome. However, it is not without its problems. The backtracking in this metroidvania is absolutely insane. Unless you decide to try and defeat the bosses without super missiles (not recommended!), you'll be going between the castle and the other two biomes several times. Another issue is the music is too loud in some areas. I wavered between giving this 4 or 5 orbs but ultimately I decided it leans more towards 4 orbs. Still, a very strong recommendation to play this, it is way better than it seems at first.

edit: as it turns out, the backtracking is actually optional... you could simply wall jump instead! I've decided to increase the score to 5, especially considering how impressive its non-linearity is.

Super Metroid: Redesign by Drewseph [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 12, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This is obviously not recommended seeing as there is a new version of this and even that version couldn't get a recommendation due to it being glitch-gated

Spooky Mission 2: The Nightmare Before Christmas by Spooky Team [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 13, 2022 (

)

85% in 7:20

With a name like "spooky mission" and a ridiculous excuse plot you don't have much expectations when going into this but it doesn't take long before you realize that you're playing a full scale metroidvania, one that exceeds the original game in the amount of available content and possibly even exceeds super metroid in terms of content. While plenty of massive metroidvanias have been made by modding metroid games, this is the first one I've encountered so far that is properly designed to be a Metroidvania. Actually, it isn't just properly designed, it is perfectly designed. This is something that should cost money honestly. It's better than the vast majority of metroidvanias that have come out on steam this year. While it is not the best mod I've ever played it is the best one that isn't a quick play. Having said all of this, the mod is not without its flaws as I did encounter an out of map exploit at the end in the glacial area. Also, ridley is hidden behind a secret passage in a tiny very rare case of bad level design. This mod is rated as "veteran". However, it is not like most other older mods that were rated as veteran purely due to terrible level design. This mod is actually veteran in the sense that it is hard and challenging like hollow knight or blasphemous. The secrets act as a good way of training the player to use advanced techniques.

All in all, this is one of the highest-rated mods and the content and quality matches the rating. Is it the best metroid mod ever made? That is not known yet as there is still plenty of stuff to play but this definitely has the potential to be the magnum opus of metroidconstruction. Just make sure you play this after you've played some other zero mission mods first. It's a tough one and the mod is clearly designed for those with prior experience playing mods. There is no shortage of good zero mission mods to play before this....

edit: it looks like my review was able to nudge this into the 5 orb/star category... and honestly, that seems to be where it belongs.

Metroid: Scrolls 6 by Conner, OneOf99, CaptGlitch, JRP [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 17, 2022 (

)

97% in 2:43

This is currently the highest rated metroidvania made by modding metroid zero mission and my rating of 5/5 orbs won't change that, but the question is, is it truly the best metroid zero mission rom hack ever made? Well.... that depends on what qualities you consider to be more important because spooky mission 2 is in many ways inferior to this but also superior in many ways. They seem evenly matched. Whereas this mod takes itself more seriously and can be played by newcomers, spooky mission 2 has an extremely interesting and unforgettable world design of the likes normally only seen in the best metroidvanias ever made. The level design in scrolls six conversely feels similar to that of your generic steam indie Metroidvania. The only thing I do know for certain is that both are extremely highly recommended and it is recommended you play this before playing spooky mission 2.

Metroid FreezeFlame 2: Twisted Dimensions by Conner [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 17, 2022 (

)

91% in 1:24

This mod is a celebration of past zero mission based metroidvania hacks with several of them mashed together.... or at least that is what this would have been if it wasn't so terribly unpolished. It's a functional metroidvania but it is the most unpolished one I've ever seen made off of metroid zero mission. The cherry on this unpolished cake was when I reached the escape ship after killing mother brain and a bunch of garbage sprites jumped out and tried to shoot at me, followed by the ship floating into the ceiling and then the beeping alarm from the base continuing all the way through to the explosion of the pirate ship (which is funny as well since I'm supposed to be on an asteroid not a ship), into the credits, and even the final score. Amazing.... Aside from that, this also suffers from a decision to not only mash together some of the greatest mods made at the time, but also 2 of the worst: Return from zebes and stargazer. return from zebes doesn't really cause any problems but stargazer here is just as bad as in the original. Overall, I cannot recommend this in its current unpolished state but it is getting 1 orb each for the original idea, the cool freeze flame switch mechanic, and for being a functional metroidvania.

Edit: I might as well rate each part of the map:
FreezeFlame: 2/5
spooky mission: 4/5
Subzero/DeepFreeze: 5/5
SR387: 4/5
RTZ: 3/5
Scrolls 6: 5/5
Stargazer: 0/5

Metroid: Lost Chozo by jasinchen [ MZM

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 18, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This was the last remaining metroid zero mission mod left for me to play. I thought that by leaving this to the end I was saving the best mod for last. I assumed this because of how new this is and how big it reportedly is. Instead, I got the biggest disappointment of any mod played so far. It turns out, this is unpolished, unfinished, and virtually unplayable thanks to soft locks that you will stumble into with no effort. I was willing to forgive the failure to remove the original game intro (even though every decent mod has been doing this since 2018) and I was willing to overlook the bad English in the actual story, but when I quickly got soft-locked at the start just by moving around normally on the most natural path I could find, it became depressingly clear this mod is not currently in a playable state.

edit: I tried it again after reading the review by djcdubz. It turns out that not only was the path I took the most natural path but it was also the only one available and it wasn't a soft lock. The low production value simply made me think it was. OK, so since it doesn't have soft locks I'll give this an additional orb to make the score 3/5 but a recommendation is out of the question. The fact that players keep getting stuck shows that the level design lacks intelligent design. Plus, the low production value with the poor English and unchanged intro already gives a very bad first impression for potential Metroidvania players. I can foresee most assuming the mod is simply broken when they get stuck because of that poor first impression.

Super Metroid Revolution EX by RealRed [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 20, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Wow, this is a complete mess. Hell, even the description for this mod is just a bunch of excuses for why it's so bad. Now I've seen worse but this is definitely similar to other mods I have rated 1/5. I guess this is to be expected from a mod with a name similar to revolution X, the worst SNES game ever made.

Ice Metal Uninstall by Crys [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 20, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This was the best mod made in 2010, with 2010 being the keyword here. The mod has not aged well but unlike nearly all of the other mods made before 2014, this actually has tremendous potential to be an extremely good metroidvania if it is ever remastered. The world design is on par with hollow knight in how things are interconnected and how multiple passageways can lead you to tackling your goal in multiple ways. This mod contains an excellent palette and customisation that really makes you feel you're playing a new entry in the metroid franchise rather than a mod of super metroid. Unfortunately, it has rusted badly enough over the years to the point that it can't be recommended in its current state. The problems are as follows:
- The map has no QoL improvements over the original and instead features a bug where the map shown by the map revealer terminal will be shown as explored (except on the minimap). This makes it extremely hard to know where to go next.
- garbage sprites occasionally show up on the HUD. They can be cleared vi saving and loading however.
- There is an entirely new plot, but the opening cutscene is missing and unmodded. Whats worse is when starting a new game the loading menu opens up and shows PLANET ZEBES when we clearly are not on zebes.
- the geography of the map is unnatural and claustrophobic... and also illogical with how the ship is under terrain that it would not be able to pass through when landing on the planet. the geography leads to several minor problems and this needs remastering more than anything else.
- music switching is glitchy, particularly between outside criteria and inner criteria (known in this mod as "surface")
- the tunnels immediately under the surface are weird and illogical and will likely turn off many players before they can get to see how much this mod has to offer.
- inconsistent tile properties. Tiles in one area behave completely differently to identical tiles placed elsewhere. This problem is most common with tall thin structures.
- The X-RAY vision item is unreachable.

I hope in the future this gets remastered, I would happily give it a 5/5 when that happens.

Angry Remnants by DSO [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 20, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Wow, what a catastrophe. As far as physics modding is concerned, this is the worst I've encountered. The layout is also very bad as is the lighting. Sappron and Syphon were definitely smoking weed when they played this. This actually comes really close to being as bad as super Metroid escape. I didn't even make it out of the starting room before it was clear I am not willing to play more of this.

Super Metroid Gathering by Leodox [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 20, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

I did it, I finally did it. I found a mod worse than super metroid escape. This world is pure unadulterated jank, it barely even qualifies as an exploration/metroidvania type mod. The cherry on the cake is that the map doesn't even work.

Super Metroid: Z-Factor by Metaquarius [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 21, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Compared to its contemporaries at the time this was made, this is a beautiful-looking hack (although not as good looking as Eris). One of the first with proper tilework that makes the world look vibrant and real. Unfortunately, no attention was given to the actual gameplay of the level design. It's a remake of super metroid that is better than super metroid redesign but worse than its polished successor redesign axeil edition. As far as the level design gameplay is concerned. You're going to get extremely frustrated with the ill-conceived decisions made during the design of the rooms. The worst of all is the insane heat run that is required, in order to get the wave gun which is then required to use to kill an enemy in a room with a locked door, go through that locked door, and then find the varia suit back in brinstar. This whole sequence was so poorly thought out that I just decided to quit instead. This needs an axeil overhaul. I'm giving this 3 out of 5 despite its problems because visually this is very polished and it's deserving of the prize it was awarded 10 years ago at a time when nearly everything else was even worse.

Airy by Cyclamen32 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 21, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

It looks like 2013 was a very bad year for super metroid, seeing as this is considered the best hack released that year. The best hacks of the other years are better than this.

Eris by Digital_Mantra [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 22, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Edit: The review has been redone.

For many years this was the most beautiful metroidvania ever made by modding a metroid game and it still is a mod with an excellently designed world that tells its story through its visuals. However, this has two serious issues that make it impossible to recommend to metroidvania fans. The first problem is that right off the bat you have to use really advanced in order to traverse the map, really difficult and advanced techniques too. The second problem is that this has one of the worst maps (not world) I have ever seen in a metroidvania that does include a map. It doesn't show doors, it is extremely cramped and therefore doesn't show path or direction, it doesn't show items you haven't managed to get, or have gotten except for a red icon showing for key items once you've gotten them. It doesn't show save rooms, it doesn't show area names.... I could go on. As you get deeper into the game it gets more and more beautiful and unique but the mod does not want you to enjoy any of it because it becomes impossibly difficult to navigate while at the same time amping up the insanity of the techniques required.

This is ultimately a mod that metroidvania players will love to look at but absolutely hate with a passion when they try to play it. It's just not something I can imagine anyone except a super metroid professional speedhacker enjoying. This really needs a remaster that makes it something metroidvania players can enjoy.... an axeil edition.

Super Metroid: Darkholme Hospital by Cloud12 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 22, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

When I started this up, I was wowed by the modded title screen, then the modded intro, then the modded and well-done graphics at the start. I thought maybe I had finally found a super metroid based metroidvania that can compete with all the great metroid zero mission metroidvanias that have been made. Instead, it turns out this is just a precision platforming metroidvania that relies on really advanced techniques instead of combat to progress. It reminds me of unbound: worlds apart butnot as well designed. If you come across an obstacle that you don't know how to get through then you're stuck and that's exactly what eventually happened to me. It's a real letdown, this could have been both a great mod and a mod that teaches the player how to do advanced techniques but instead its basically just a challenge hack exclusive for the speedhackers on metconst. Still, I'm giving this 3 orbs for the excellent customization and high-quality feel. I'm not giving it a recommendation though.

Super Metroid Alliance by Mentlegen, Tundain, Dewhi100 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 23, 2022 (

)

83% in 1:45

After several revisions, a stable build for this hack is finally available: Version 1.06 which can be found on the forums. The 1.03 file available here is broken so keep that in mind. Anyway, on to the review. For the first half of the hack, the hack is somewhat easy, linear and straightforward. The custom music is some of the best I have seen so far in a metroid hack and the new graphics for the laboratory is also pretty great. On the second half, there is an absolutely massive difficulty spike as you suddenly end up confronted with endgame enemies in this hack's equivalent to lower Norfair. If you think that you're too early you're right. There is another place you're supposed to go first but you're going to have a hard time finding it since the entrance is well hidden. Towards the end there are minor glitches involving the camera refusing to go into certain squares but it's playable from beginning to end. All in all the concept is nice but the execution is sloppy. Can I recommend it? Well, if you've read this then you're already familiar with the problems in this hack so, why not give it a try? Just remember what you've learned from this review while playing it.

edit: score changed to 4/5 in response to the final changes.

Super Metroid: Escape II by Hiroishi [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 26, 2022 (

)

67% in 7:08

This is the first rom-hack-based normal-sized Metroidvania ever made that is good enough to be more than just a rom hack exclusive for other rom hackers and speed hackers. It won the award for best hack in 2014 and it certainly deserves it, nothing else from 2014 comes close. It isn't as good as super Metroid and it is quite hard so you'll want to play this only after playing super Metroid at least once. With that said, there are many unique positives and some negatives that should be mentioned.

The positives:
- The game adapts to your playstyle, with multiple ways of getting around the world depending on whether you're a speedrunner, a veteran, or a newcomer
- multiple possible escape paths for the endgame.
- an excellent map with innovations that would later become standard by the time the pandemic started.
- new mechanics for existing upgrades.
- vast world with many pathways and warp mechanics.

The negatives:
- lower norfair is badly designed with grey doors that remain inexplicably closed and the golden chozo going AWOL. I wasn't able to figure out how to get through and ended up taking the speedrunner path instead.
- The new mechanics are poorly taught or explained to the player. This is particularly problematic with the spring ball upgrade as it is never explained that it allows you to speed boost in ball form, an act that is necessary for collecting several missiles as well as the plasma gun and the screw attack.
- The world structure looks unrealistic and unprofessional. This is not surprising considering that the author's previous work was super Metroid escape which is the second worst Metroidvania mod ever made for super Metroid. Thankfully the tiling is decent and the geometry is good.
- ceres station is badly designed and I nearly quit at that early point.

Overall, a solid 4/5 that any Metroidvania fan can pick up and play.

Edit: This is also the only Japanese metroid hack I can recommend.

Super Metroid: Hidden by TN [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 27, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This is a half hack that isn't worth any metroidvania player's time. Perhaps some super metroid addicts might enjoy it? I don't know. I don't know why anyone would want to play a worse super metroid. I found it to be comparable to other mods that have gotten a 2/5 so that's the score I am going to use here. I was rolling the dice here when I decided to check this out as the "unknown" tag could mean anything and the description did seem to indicate it might be a metroidvania (known in this community as "exploration" hack).

Metroid: Falling by TN [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Aug 31, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This started a lot better than expected, considering how lame TN's later hack would be. Really interesting and original route. This is called falling for a reason... Unfortunately, I can't recommend this and there are 3 reasons why. The first thing is that the plot is the same as super metroid, but it is immediately completely contradicted when ceres station fills up with other metroids for some reason. The second problem is, as others have mentioned, the bosses have been reduced to massive extremely boring bulletsponges. The third is that the creator seems to have a taste for trolling the player with platforming sections that are just needlessly made ridiculously tedious, at least compared to similar sections in the original game. Anyway, there is better stuff out there.

Super Metroid: Aquamarine by NORTHa [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 01, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

The screenshots do a great job of self-reviewing the hack.

Reimagined by SavageWizzrobe [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 03, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Best exploration/metroidvania hack in 2016? This? Arrival is clearly a much better metroidvania than this despite Arrival's faults.

Super Metroid: Arrival by Jefe962 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 04, 2022 (

)

85% in 2:41

Hmmm this hack came really close to getting a recommendation as a meteroidvania but the disappointing design of the last biome proved to be the final straw for me. I cannot recommend this. This was also the last remaining 2016 hack left for me to review. This means that sadly there don't exist any hacks from 2016 that are worth playing unlike 2013 which has B2-TW and 2014 which has Escape II.

The good things:
- Crateria, Brinstar, and maridia are well designed
- The physics and gun changes give the game a nice fact paced zero mission feel

The bad things are:
- lower norfair and tourian are badly designed in terms of gameplay with countless bad choices made throughout with level design, enemy design, and so on.
- The golden chozo boss battle is the worst one I've seen in a hack. Thankfully it is optional. I had to give up on that.
- Title screen fails to mention this is super metroid arrival
- intro was edited but instead of using that as an opportunity to tell the story, the creator saw fit to use it to make the whole hack look like a late 90s anthrox trainer hack.
- No coherent story to speak off. The one on this page doesn't seem to match the events, even the planet name is different.
- the escape sequence is very poorly designed at one point.

Super Metroid Nature by Jefe962 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 05, 2022 (

)

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.

Super Metroid YPX by YP [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 07, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This seemed like a very refreshing take on metroid with new graphics, new physics, new world. It all seemed to be going so well.... that was until I discovered that despite the physics changes making it virtually impossible to wall jump.... you're actually somehow still supposed to be able to do it. That's crazy, why make the gravity so strong if you want wall jumping to still remain usable? Because of this absurd design decision, the game ceases to be playable right after getting the super missiles as you need to wall jump shortly afterwards in order to progress. Normally I would give a 3/5 in this situation but this is one of those beautiful but unplayable hacks that were actually fixed and given a new release. As such this is deprecated and earns 1/5 orbs just like super zero mission and the original redesign. In this case, the name of the fixed version is called YPX Redux. You might want to check that out in a few days from now and see if it has gotten a recommendation as it does have potential...

Edit: turns out the "fix" was just as bad, just bad in a different way. Score has been changed to 3/5

Super Metroid YPX 1.21 Redux by Noxus, YP [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 07, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Apparently Noxus's idea of fixing YPX is to replace the gravity of this world with the gravity of zebes and then to add an alternate type of difficulty he decides to randomly add megaman spikes. Uhm, what? The problem with YPX is that its virtually impossible to walljump but the game expects you to. How does this fix the problem? I'm guessing the logic went something like "ok, I'll fix the gravity issues with YPX by using zebes gravity but that would make it too easy so to retain difficulty I'll turn this into a megaman game". Well let me tell you something, even a chimpanzee could come up with a better idea than this. What do these megaman spikes everywhere even accomplish? I'm still able to get across, it's just that now I have to abuse save states like crazy. I gave the original a 1/3 and was going to give this a 3/5 but both are just as bad so I'll change the review on the original to 3/5 as you have to choose between unenjoyable gameplay or unplayable gameplay.

Harvest by Oi27 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 10, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This won second place on the oatsngoats competition, a competition where the third and first place are among the highest rated hacks... yet this has a significantly poorer average score that puts it in the range of mediocre hacks. Why is that? Well, its for two reasons. First, the hack has placed style over substance. You see, Oi27 is a truly gifted advanced hacker, but he has one weakness, he had no talent for the most basic type of hacking: gameplay level design. The result is a hack that does some of the most phenomenal stuff I've ever seen in a hack, while having a level design that, in terms of gameplay, feels like its something taken straight out of 2010. Second, the hack's shortcomings can be completely overridden by professional speedrunners who will not even be able to notice them. This is exactly what happened with the oatsngoats competition. The guy in charge, oatsngoats, is a professional speedrunner. He ever noticed the good stuff and blew right past all of the problems.... but there's a 99% chance that the person reading this review is either:
A) not as proficient in metroid as oatsngoats is and will therefore not have a good time
B) the person reading this has already played the hack.

It doesn't help either that this hack has been miscategorized as being vanilla difficulty. RT-55J and Zhs2 do a great job of explaining some of the problems with this hack and what you will feel if you're just a normal gamer like them looking for something to have fun playing. Avoid this.

Polarity by Oi27, Moehr [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 10, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This is one of the most innovative hacks ever made yet this has a significantly poorer average score than those of its peers in innovation. Why is that? Well, it's for two big reasons. First, the hack has placed style over substance. You see, Oi27 is a truly gifted advanced hacker, but he has one weakness, he had no talent for the most basic type of hacking: gameplay level design. The result is a hack that does some of the most phenomenal stuff I've ever seen in a hack, while having a level design that, in terms of gameplay, feels like its something taken straight out of 2010. Second, although another person was involved in the development of this hack, it seemed like that person was either too afraid or too disinterested in pointing out the design problems to Oi27 (or they simply didn't have enough time to fix the hack before the conclusion of the contest it was in). A player like oatsngoats, a professional speedrunner, would be able to blow right past all of the design problems.... but there's a 99% chance that the person reading this review is either:
A) not as proficient in metroid as oatsngoats is and will therefore not have a good time
B) the person reading this has already played the hack.

It doesn't help either that this hack has been miscategorized as being vanilla difficulty. Zhs2 explains some of the design problems but doesn't go deeply enough into how this almost feels like a challenge hack where even simple jumps can end up being almost impossible to do at certain points.

Metroid Super Speed Zero Mission by advancedpillow, SBniconico [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 11, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This is a fix for super zero mission that fixes a huge amount of problems with the original hack. The readme details the many things that were done to improve this. Sadly, upon playing through this I discovered that a few number of very serious issues remain. The first issue is the small heat run required in norfair. Now, the heatrun by itself isn't bad, the problem is that the room you have to run through has spikes on the roof and the player WILL run into those and think it was the heat damaging them. That's going to convince the player that there isn't a heat run and that they actually hardlocked. A very big problem insofar as recommending this to metroidvania players. Nonetheless, I dealt with this and continued onwards especially as it was good afterwards... that was until the nauseating/epileptic spospo boss battle. I mean what drug would you have to take to think that it is OK to violently shake the screen the entire boss battle? At that point I realized I could never recommend this to anyone outside this community and I decided to quit my playthrough. It is also worth mentioning that the story of this hack is the metroid zero mission story so... I recommend playing project ZM instead. 3 orbs for the massive effort, both by SB and advancedpillow. I wish advancedillow would make further improvements but I guess that isn't going to happen...

Hyper Metroid by RealRed [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 15, 2022 (

)

91% in 9:04

This is definitely the best super metroid rom hack I've played so far, it has the production value of polarity and the gameplay of escape II. At the time of its release it was the best rom hack ever made and it would hold onto that title for a few years after that. The only major problem is the endgame which will require you to use really advanced tricks to get to 4 mandatory switches that you must trigger. One thing I'll mention is that in this hack you keep your speed boost momentum if you somersault jump and you can somersault jump in ANY direction and keep your momentum as long as you don't touch a wall. You'll need this information for accessing the last part of maridia that holds the final switch and the final boss battle before mother brain. Overall it is recommended, but be prepared for some minor issues and the aforementioned major issue at the very end of the game.

Recommended.

Super Duper Metroid by Metaquarius, Daltone [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 20, 2022 (

)

86% in 6:01

The first 5/5 super metroid exploration hack I've managed to find. It gets all the metroidvania design elements right without any major flaws whatsoever. The only notable negative thing about the hack that I can think of is that it feels derivative of hyper metroid, although that's probably my fault since I played this right after playing hyper metroid. You should definitely play both, but play hyper after this because hyper's endgame is significantly harder. For that matter, I have no idea why this is listed as a veteran hack, there's no advanced tricks needed anywhere on the mandatory path and it is easier than hyper metroid. All in all it's just a good all-around well designed metroidvania that any fan of metroidvanias is going to enjoy.

GR2 Halfhack2 by GR2 [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 21, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

With a name like "GR2 halfhack2" you can already tell that this is a hack that has literally zero amount of effort put into it. It almost feels like it is supposed to be some kind of parody of some sort. You can't even leave the damn landing site! To be honest, KPF gave a better review but it was in violation of the rules and got removed.... so here is his review, but edited so as to comply with the rules of the website:

FUCK THAT SHIT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JUST ANOTHER BULLSHIT ASS HACK.
HACKS LIKE THIS MAKE PEOPLE NOT WANT TO PLAY ANY SUPER METROID EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

V I T A L I T Y by Digital_Mantra [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 28, 2022 (

)

72% in 6:45

Wow... WOW. Where do I even begin? This hack certainly can't be reduced to a numerical score but I've given the best approximation I can think of. There's nothing else like this hack and there will never be anything like it ever again. Let's talk about the good things first.

This hack takes all the preexisting graphics in super graphics and turns them into palettes for a masterpiece of a painting that this world is. Aesthetically this is really great but there are issues this causes which I'll address later. Another good thing about this hack is how the world changes at various points in response to your effects on it. Finally, there is the incredibly shocking ending which is... well, just play and see it for yourself!

Then there are the negatives, and unfortunately, there are plenty of problems with this hack. The first problem is the lack of nearly all QoL features that you can now find in most modern hacks thanks to project base. I was worried that this would make the map useless but it turned out not to be the case, instead the biggest problem ended up being that mid air morphing is harder than it needs to be. project base has QoL improvements for mid air morphing which this hack really needs. Yes, the hack DOES teach the player to mid air morph and that means metroidsvania players in general can play this but there are some areas where it is really hard to do. It didn't need to be that way. The second problem is that the excellent aesthetics were made at the expense of gameplay... Now, what do I mean by this? Well, it is difficult to navigate in some dark areas, it is difficult to tell background from foreground objects in other areas. Lava seems virtually invisible... you get the idea. You're going to have a lot of visual problems with the hack.

All in all, despite its problems, this hack will provide you with an unforgettable experience if you are willing to be patient with its limitations.
Recommended.

edit: removed the mention of the heat run problem as it turns out that this was actually handled well and I simply didn't notice.

Metroid Depression by Silver Wing [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Oct 21, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

The name is accurate. This will make you very depressed.

Super metroid familiar by Tundain [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Dec 23, 2022 (

)

79% in 4:32

This hack is basically super Metroid nature, but better. It suffers from a countless number of small issues with most of those issues being related to taking damage from hazards that players can't reasonably see coming, such as damage when moving to an area the camera isn't scrolling to yet or when entering a new room. Crateria suffers from long boring shafts and tunnels and most the post crocomire norfair room layouts prior to reentering brinstar are janky and unrealistic. It also suffers from a lack of modern QoL improvements, particularly with the map.

All in all, this earns a recommendation and narrowly earns 4 orbs.

With the review aside, I have to comment on the absurd premise of this hack, that because of the existence of SMART old fashioned hacks will become rare and therefore this was made. It's an illogical and untrue premise, most hacks released will continue to be dated, and only a few good ones will use SMART. Furthermore, I am pretty sure that nearly all super Metroid hacks do not use SMART so SMILE hacks are definitely not rare.

Super Metroid: Ascent by Benox50 [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Dec 28, 2022 (

)

87% in 7:03

This is the highest rated hack on metroidconstruction for a reason. It's almost a totally different game that is nearly twice the length of the original and better than most metroidvanias on steam. However, this is also categorized as a veteran campaign for a reason. While it is technically possible to complete the hack without using advanced techniques (or glitches as I used to call them), you will need those techniques to make your life easier, particularly with getting the spazer which is found in zone two but hidden very well. You're advised to play this hack when you've played nearly all the other hacks you've taken an interest in playing so that you'll have the skill necessary to complete it.

Super Metroid: Subversion by TestRunner and AmoebaOfDoom [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Jan 04, 2023 (

)

93% in 10:01

In addition to being the best Metroid hack ever made this is also the best Metroidvania to be released in at least two years as well as the best metroidvania ever made that doesn't cost any money. It has it all, it has everything you would expect from a standalone game, the world is absolutely massive with tons of unique biomes to explore. The gameplay is good. The map system is the best that has ever been seen and it even comes with a endgame map revealer so you can go for 100%. The only minor problems are the lack of a warp gate, the unbalanced difficulty of the enemies in a certain secret area and the unfitting norfair music for that biome right below the mountain peak.

Metroid Fusion: Special Edition by Lostglaceon [

Vanilla+], rated by Zincoshine on Jan 17, 2023 (

)

54% in 4:08

This is THE definitive experience for metroid fusion. The original game should be avoided as it has a lot of problems that this resolves. This is something I couldn't say for the primary improvement hack for zero mission (the removal of the unknown item blocks cause the player to get stuck) nor project base 0.8 (tourian's plot aspects are butchered). Don't ever play Metroid fusion, play this instead.

a nice place visit by neen [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Jan 08, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

Graphically this is way too rough around the edges, what you see in the screenshots are what you are going to get. There is a clear sign of effort put into this though so I'll give it an extra orb for that.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag by Juan Dennys [

Vanilla+], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

You can't exit the landing area due to ability gates but there is a chozo statue nearby. Probably there is supposed to be a ability on it but a bug it preventing it from appearing.

As such, this hack is unplayable until the bug is fixed.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag 2 by Juan Dennys [

Vanilla+], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

I was able to leave the landing area! but that was just about it. The next room is impassable due to the roof being too low. Another unplayable hack.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag 3 by Juan Dennys [

Incomplete], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

OK this is officially the worst hack I have ever played in my life, if it can even be called a hack. I could probably make this myself in 5 minutes. Completely unplayable right from the moment the game starts.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag 4 by Juan Dennys [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

I was able to get to two rooms aside from the landing zone, making this the best homenag rom hack I've played so far.... but still completely impossible to beat.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag 5 by Juan Dennys [

Challenge], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

I was able to make it to brinstar here... only to realise this is because the hack does almost nothing other than introduce a few bugs and change some colors. Completely pointless and useless hack.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag 6 by Juan Dennys [

Unknown], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

This is the same thing as homenag 5 except that here the textures are replaced with bizarre stuff and there is a bug that causes your ears to be raped for the duration of your time in a room after you shoot until you exit the room.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag 7 by Juan Dennys [

Challenge], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

It's literally just homenag 5 with a super low firing rate for your blaster.

Super Metroid: Cristener Homenag 8 by Juan Dennys [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

The worst ceres station in human history

Thank god this series is finally over. I am going to bed.

Super Madtroid by dewhi100 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 26, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

It's like Homenag 2 and PRECISION had a baby. Trying to play this catastrophe will cause you to lose faith in humanity.

Achelous DX by Exister [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 28, 2024 (

)

% in 0:59

I suspect that the previous reviews were all for the 1.0 version of the hack because they don't seem to align with my experience playing this. This is the second best quickplay super metroid hack that I've ever played (thanksgiving is the best one). The positives are that the world a cohesive unit with decent ability gates and can be completed without advanced moves. Another positive is the originality of this world: Instead of another incarnation of zebes we get a totally original setting in a space ship. The negatives are the lack of QoL features for the map, the hi-jump being hidden in a secret spot despite it being a critical upgrade needed for progression, and the very blocky/ugly tiling for the interior of the ship. I was not able to defeat the final boss but that's probably just a skill issue as I get acquainted with the controls on the steam deck. I definitely recommend trying this out.

The Cereth Invasion by OmegaDragnet9 [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 29, 2024 (

)

94% in 1:19

WOW. This community has really changed since 2022. Back in 2022 the thanksgiving quick hack was the only decent quickhack available for super metroid. Now you have things like this that would go viral on steam and sell for a lot of money. Excellent custom biomes, custom music, custom everything. Even a custom escape sequence that changes a biome instead of ending the game. Fun from start to finish. It really feels like an entirely separate game. The only faults are that you drop into a pit of spikes in the Ridley battle room and that some minibiomes become completely superfluous if you do things in a different order than intended. There is no super metroid quickhack that even comes close to this level of quality... but then again, there are a lot of quickplay hacks released since 2022 so who knows, maybe there is something among that bunch that is even better. OmegaDragnet9, you have outdone yourself, I'm excited to see you make a normal sized hack of this quality!

SM: Search and Destroy by lenorator [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Sep 29, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

I guess my luck had to come to an end eventually. This was a superbly good hack with a ton of custom biomes, enemies, and great level design.... But then the endgame is reached and almost immediately the hack becomes a complete homenag disaster with a terribly designed room followed by a virtually unbeatable boss. Kind of reminds me of blue plague which was so good until the mandatory path was blocked off by a virtually impossible and unfair platforming challenge.

Super Asteroid by Ob [

Exploration], rated by Zincoshine on Oct 02, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

Right at the start, the lack of a customised title and pretitle forbode that this hack was going to have poor level design. The first example came when I found the first boss. It's very tough and you'll certainly take some damage, but that's not the problem. No, the problem is that if you die you lose all progress because up until this point there have been no save points except for the landing site and the player just isn't going to know that they have found the boss before it is too late.

Later on, in the ship, navigation becomes an absolute nightmare thanks to the way the dev tried to implement a bi-layered map. This REALLY could have used that hack that allows for rooms with a picked item to be differentiated from rooms with an unpicked item.

Just when it is conquered and all seems well, I stumble into the chozo biome, where navigation was just as bad and some truly bizarre speed boost block placements appear. Traversal is awful here. The last straw was when I found the map station but I couldn't access it because I dunno, maybe some advanced tenique is needed to bring the platform up? This to view the map in a map station? Are you serious?

On the bright side, the new weapon gives this an extra orb though as it was a lot of fun using that.

Do not recommend.

Super Metroid: Eleven by Metaquarius [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Oct 02, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

Sigh. This is the best example yet on how not to do level design. So many mistakes all over the place that create a frustrating experience from trying to explore the world. At no point did I find myself enjoying playing this except for a brief moment when I acquired the spazer. It was for naught however as shortly afterwards I would find myself stuck with nearly the entire world traversed but nowhere left to go as brick tiles bar the way to the remaining few fuel tanks. Maybe there is a hidden bomb powerup somewhere that breaks them but I could never find it.

Super Metroid Isolation by Mentlegen [

Quick Play], rated by Zincoshine on Nov 17, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

Homenag 9. Gave it an extra orb due to its original setting and biome.

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