FelixWright's Hack Reviews - Metroid Construction

Metroid - Rogue Dawn by Grimlock, Optomon, snarfblam [

Exploration], rated by FelixWright on Aug 12, 2025 (

)

63% in 3:53

As someone who doesn't like NEStroid normally, I really enjoyed this hack. I will admit I have picked up and set down this hack multiple times because the first 2 areas' similar appearance turned me off, getting myself lost and thinking every area was going to look the same. Fortunately I kept going and from there things really picked up! The custom music and graphics were beautiful, and the new abilities, enemies, puzzles and mechanics left me in awe! It still suffers from NESisms like poor performance but you can take care of that by using an emulator that can disable the sprite limit and overclock the PPU. The map is also fairly difficult to read but it's better to have one than none at all so I can't complain much. That may have even been intentional. The difficulty is higher than that of NEStroid, but with modern touches the playing field is more even.

Finished.
Recommended.

Metroid II EJRTQ Colorization 1.3 by Quantam [

Improvement], rated by FelixWright on Aug 12, 2025 (

)

91% in 2:45

There may still not be a map, but colors make it easier to notice landmarks so it's not nearly as difficult to navigate SR388.
This hack is even compatible with real hardware (GBC and onward I think)

Finished.
Recommended.

Junkoid by P. Yoshi, Mindflower [

Exploration], rated by FelixWright on Aug 12, 2025 (

)

% in 1:52

Any%: 01:52:00

Obtained all majors, 499 HP, 105 Balls, Unknown %

This hack blew me away. The difficulty is tame, the jank is mitigated, the graphics are immaculate and the soundtrack is sublime. I barely used the map at all, that did result in me getting lost a little bit... But when being lost means seeing cool sights, and hearing cool tunes, it's easy to excuse. The puzzles and secrets were perfect, they feel so natural and are easy to spot with a keen eye and pattern recognition.

I got slightly stressed out with how long it took to get a certain major item... While spending most of my playthru being teased with spots everywhere I could use it, once I finally did get it. But I actually kinda liked this.

Labyrinth and Heart were really gross and made me uncomfortable, Definitely my favorite areas in the hack.

This is my favorite song in the OST: https://youtu.be/vaOr1qqePL8?list=PLxTaaUuIOm_c3qdT3kHRwe31hevNPgzVq

P. Yoshi, Mindflower, you really outdid yourselves. Phenomenal work.

Finished.
Recommended.

P.S.: I share ZeroSuitSammy's sentiment about the final fight- annoying, but not annoying enough to hurt the hack for me

The Cereth Invasion by OmegaDragnet9 [

Quick Play], rated by FelixWright on Aug 12, 2025 (

)

78% in 0:45

Fun short and sweet hack, runs like butter, looks and sounds great. Some minor issues but not what you wouldn't see in other hacks, fixing them would simply further polish.
Finished.
Replayed.
Recommended.

Super Metroid: X-Fusion by Metaquarius [

Total Conversion], rated by FelixWright on Aug 12, 2025 (

)

99% in 12:51

Not a port of fusion, but instead a sort of remix. a sprinkle of this from super metroid, a bit of that from metroid fusion. a pinch of stuff from other metroid games. I find it lovely.. Most of the time.

This hack has extreme highs, but it's also crazy how low it will go at times. they hurt the experience A LOT!! like enough to hurt replay value which is really unfortunate!!

5 orbs for effort, -1 for obtuse and trial-and-error moments of main route. final verdict: 4

time will tell if the situation improves

Zero Fall (Alpha) by Passarbye [ MZM

Incomplete], rated by FelixWright on Aug 12, 2025 (

)

9% in 0:05

One of my favorite hack demos. Not much is here but it has THE VIBES.

+ Good atmosphere
+ Good graphickses
+ Good palettes
+ Interesting physics changes

- Incomplete.

"Finished."
Recommended.

if you want more of THE VIBES i recommend making these tweaks:

run animation
0x8248300 : 02 -> 02
0x8248310 : 02 -> 03
0x8248320 : 02 -> 02
0x8248330 : 02 -> 03
0x8248340 : 02 -> 02
0x8248350 : 02 -> 03
0x8248360 : 02 -> 02
0x8248370 : 02 -> 03
0x8248380 : 02 -> 02
0x8248390 : 02 -> 03
(basically, change every other row to 3)

spin animation
0x824FE64 : 02 -> 02
0x824FE74 : 01 -> 02
0x824FE84 : 02 -> 02
0x824FE94 : 01 -> 02
0x824FEA4 : 02 -> 02
0x824FEB4 : 01 -> 02
0x824FEC4 : 02 -> 02
0x824FED4 : 01 -> 02
(basically, set them all to 0x2)

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