1. Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour (PC)
2. Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter* (PC)
3. Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter (PC)
4. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (PC)
5. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (PC)
6. Deadcore (PC)
7. Yakuza 4 (PS3)
8. Hyper Light Drifter (PC)
9. Doom 2: Valiant (PC)
10. Resident Evil 7 (PS4)
10. Doom 2: Ancient Aliens (PC)
11. Doom 2: Vanguard (PC)
12. Doom 2: Doom 2 The Way id Did (PC)
13. Doom 2: Community Chest Pack 4 (PC)
14. Doom: Doom The Way id Did (PC)
15. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (PC)
16. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 (PC)
17. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (WiiU)
18. Dishonored 2 (PC)
19. Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
20. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (GB)
21. Super Mario Land (GB)
22. Super Mario Land 2 (GB)
23. Mighty Final Fight (NES)
24. Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES)
25. Trip World (GB)
26. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (Genesis)
27. Aladdin (Genesis)
28. Streets of Rage (SMS)
29. Bare Knuckle (Genesis)
30. Bare Knuckle 2* (Genesis)
31. Bare Knuckle 3* (Genesis)
32. Marchen Adventure Cotton 100% (SNES)
33. Earthworm Jim* (Sega CD)
34. Ghouls'n Ghosts (Genesis)
35. Contra (NES)
36. Super C (NES)
37. Final Fight 2* (SNES)
38. Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES)
39. Final Fight 3* (SNES)
40. Operation C (GB)
41. Contra Hard Corps [End B] (Genesis)
42. Mega Turrican (Genesis)
43. Prey (PC)
44. Dark Souls 3 DLC: Ashes of Ariandel & The Ringed City (PS4)
45. Spec Ops: The Line (PC)
46. System Shock Enhanced Edition (PC)
47. Tekken 7 (PS4)
48. Nier Automata [Platinum] (PS4)
49. Nier (B) (PS3)
50. Drakengard 3 (A-C) (PS3)
51. FEAR Extraction Point* (PC)
52. FEAR Perseus Mandate* (PC)
53. Transmissions: Element 120 (PC)
54. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
55. Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4)
56. Sonic CD* (PC)
57. Alan Wake* (PC)
58. Deus Ex* (PC)
59. Momodora III (PC)
60. Mega Man 7* (PS4, MMLC2)
61. Mega Man 8* (PS4, MMLC2)
62. Mega Man 9* (PS4, MMLC2)
63. Mega Man 10* (PS4, MMLC2)
64. Rockman & Forte* (SNES)
65. Mega Man Legends (PSX)
66. Sonic Mania (PC)
67. Mega Man Legends 2 (PSX)
68. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (PC)
69. Yakuza 0 (PS4)
70. Metroid Samus Returns (3DS)All aboard the SR-388 train!
Normal | 100% | 10:29
Samus Returns ruled. I'm happy Metroid is back and this one did really well critically, even hitting the top of sales charts in Japan which is impressive, since Metroid has generally been a bigger deal in the West. I hope this makes Nintendo put more faith back in Metroid. I don't need another decade plus in between their releases! I finally played Other M last year to verify what the fuss was about and overall thought it was fine, nothing amazing and it lands in a 7/10 range or so for me. Issues for Other M I'll spare you aside, it feels like Samus Returns is an extension of some of the things that worked best there gameplay wise and refines everything.
However there are things about this kind of Metroid that I don't prefer, it's far more combat focused and enemies are bullet sponges, even armored, even late game beams still might not take some of them out. The respawn rate it quite high too, the rooms are big and sprawling with little doors in between, yet the enemies will still respawn if you go far enough in a single room without leaving it. Granted, the high encounter rate is probably necessary because of how much ammo you're unloading into enemies or the Metroid's themselves, not to mention you also take high damage from everything so you are constantly in need of ammo/health. It's far more action and twitchy than the original games, but I guess that's the direction it's been heading in. I hope Prime 4 slows things down again.
The art direction is a big mixed bag as well. I'm going to be that guy, but I don't think I can come up with a single game in the 2.5D style that I really like a lot visually... maybe Tropical Freeze. The graphics here are impressive and it certainly is Metroid, but it could be nicer. There are a lot of different areas in Metroid 2's world, but a lot of it blends in and doesn't have unique personality in between areas at times. Heck, the lava areas were pretty much all the same spread throughout the whole world. The music is awesome, but there's only a few standouts. It's top notch, but not the best Metroid aesthetics for me. That said, I think I like Samus Returns' looks more than Zero Mission and Fusion, which were getting a bit too cartoony for me. Samus Returns at least looks kind of dark and gritty again.
For some huge positives, Samus Returns has as
much little story as the original Metroid and Super... ie, you get the introduction and that is literally it. Thank goodness. There is absolutely no hand holding or finger pointing in this game from start to finish and that goes a long way for me. You don't even get map downloads now, but rather a cool ability that lets Samus scan the perimeter around her location which I thought was neat. Metroid 2 is also a lot more linear in design overall, but I actually like that about it quite a bit. It's a different flavor and that's not bad, because the game is still huge and you've got a lot of branching paths. It really feels like you explore every available inch of hollow SR-388's innards. The only odd thing about the flow though, is that backtracking at any point before the end game is honestly pretty pointless. Most of the E-tanks you'll stumble upon at point blank, an unfortunate issue with most of them after Prime 2, and yeah I got through everything just fine without the extra pickups when I did a full cleanup to get 100%. It's fun to give the whole map a second quick run though and pretty easy to navigate once you have all the abilities and there's frequent teleports. Also, I love the Metroid battles and even the Queen, some of them were tough but it's a cool element that sets 2 apart from the rest of the series.
Some nitpicks aside, I think it beats out some of the others for me and I'd still rank it higher. But I'll be the first to say I like AM2R more. Thankfully they're completely different flavors and experiences, but if we're ranking them I think my Metroid ranking is something like this:
Super Metroid
Metroid
Metroid PrimeAM2R
Samus Returns
Zero Mission
Fusion
Other M
Notes: There is a monumental drop after Super and Metroid, Prime is very high though and still a 10/10. I'm not sure where I would put Prime 2-3, but I still loved them unlike most. I think Prime 1 just had the best OST and everything else. After those, it's all kind of 9/10 material or so and my rankings probably clash a little with where I might put some Iga Castlevania, even though there's things about 2D Metroid I still like more. But they kind of equal out. Fusion and Other M are more like 7/10's though, very flawed and I've run through Fusion a few times by now but I still don't like it as much as some. I still have never beaten Return of Samus actually, might set that for a goal next year, two remakes might make it easier to digest along with knowing it can be played with color too. Unfinished business!