scoobyff666's Ratings and Reviews
Sort Oldest First or Sort Best First or View Tier List
Super Metroid: Subversion by TestRunner and AmoebaOfDoom [SM Exploration], rated by scoobyff666 on Nov 06, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
100% in 11:17
This may be my new favorite hack of all time.

There are lots of new stuff implemented, like the log system that provides descriptions for locations, items, bosses and tips for progression. I loved the new use for the grapple beam, that makes it actually required for some stuff, unlike the original game and most hacks. The game design in general is great, with lots of surprises for players of the original game and for players of other hacks alike, one example being the whole thing of turning off then on the power, that I found creative and fun. The graphics are beautiful and very unique to each area and there are lots of different music taken from different sources, some being from other unrelated games and some different arrangements of Super Metroid music that sounds really good (some were composed specifically for this game? I don't know).

Making this hack certainly required deep knowledge of the game code and certainly a lot of work, but don't think this is just some showcase of coding/hacking skills. It's an all around awesome game that (as you probably already noticed) I can't praise enough.
SM - Cryogenesis by Onnyks [SM Exploration], rated by scoobyff666 on Nov 26, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
90% in 2:58
A great hack. Very smart level design in general, a very cool original upgrade (loved playing around with it) and really beautiful visual composition.

Unfortunately, although I understand this is a contest hack and that comes with its limitations, I think the game feels incomplete. I was kinda shocked when I found the last boss and when it actually clicked that it was the final boss, since it felt like I was in the middle of the game, searching for the next area. It was also strange to find an upgrade that could only be used in the escape sequence, but that was not really useful there at all.

Another problem are some scroll related bugs. Depending on how you do a particular screen transition on the screen with the first super missiles, the sprite layer becomes permanently unaligned with the other graphics, making it really hard to play until you save the game and reset. There's also a room where the view simply does not scroll for you to find an item.

From what I read in the forum, it seems the developer is still working on this, and I will be glad to review again if a new version is released, hopefully addressing these issues.