I tried playing Harvest Moon on the SNES today and having played Stardew Valley for hours, I thought I'd try and see how tolerable the original Harvest Moon was in comparison. I know and understand it is unfair because there's a 20 year gap between Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, while also discrediting Harvest Moon's later entries since there's more than one.

Harvest Moon to me is a bit hard to revisit. Having to get used to only carrying two tools at the same time, your farm doesn't seem as big, you don't have a way to know that you're tired as readily, you just have to watch for the signs and the village you visit doesn't seem as characteristic. It's a basic farming sim, it has to start somewhere.

But Stardew Valley does so many things that it is easier to revisit.

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[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 38 points 6 days ago (2 children)

NES Metroid, being replaced by Metroid Zero Mission.

NES Metroid is interesting to play through to see where the franchise came from, or for the nostalgia factor, but Metroid Zero Mission is vastly superior in nearly every conceivable way, its not even close. Its not like Silent Hill 2 or Resident Evil 3, where the originals are still better than the remakes overall, everything taken into account (though in that case, SH2 remake is superior to the RE3 remake). Absolutely every element of Zero Mission is an improvement on the original.

Metroid Zero Mission did not make vast sweeping changes to alter the identity of the game, making only minor adjustments to designs that were not thematically important (for example, the physical appearance of Ridley or Kraid being different is not thematically important). There were not big amounts of cut content, with only minor elements being cut like the fake Kraid enemy, which was not thematically important. The music is all familiar with the same composition, but with added flair. Its not different just for the sake of being different. Items and suit upgrades are almost all in the same places as the original NES Metroid, with the addition of new items that were added to the Metroid setting later on such as the Charge Beam and Super Missile. A map was added to the game, and the beam weapons now stack like in Super Metroid, rather than replacing the last beam you had.

All in all, Zero Mission leaves very little reason for the player to play the original game, especially if all the player cares about is the overall story of the Metroid IP. The player won't get more thematically important designs that enhance the story like they would playing the original Silent Hill 2, and they won't get more original game content and story like they would playing RE3 Nemesis. They wouldn't get an improved experience. The choice to play NES Metroid mostly just comes down to nostalgia, historical value, or personal preference. Or if someone only has an NES or device capable of emulating the NES but not the GBA.

[–] MimicJar@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I completely agree and to I'll add that this also applies to Metroid II. As Metroid II was on the Game Boy the game resolution is far too small to ever revisit. For a side scrolling game you can barely see what is in front of you.

Luckily the fan game AM2R, or the slightly less good but still excellent 3DS remake do for Metroid II what Zero Mission did for the original.

[–] kratoz29@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Luckily the fan game AM2R, or the slightly less good but still excellent 3DS remake do for Metroid II what Zero Mission did for the original.

I just started with the Metroid saga (it is never too late I guess) and I started with Zero Mission, I am actually struggling with what is next for me, whether to start with AM2R or the 3DS one... Both look appealing to me, but as I don't have nostalgia googles for the older 2D games and the 3DS one has always called my attention, I might lean more to it... On the other hand, AM2R is a fan game... And I have a huge respect for those...

[–] Isthisreddit@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Did you look into Super Metroid for SNES? I was just replaying it recently and it still holds up as a true gem

[–] MimicJar@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Super Metroid is definitely the gold standard. Zero Mission definitely feels like it uses Super Metroid as its base. The same is also true for AM2R.

I think if you are getting into the series for the first time, Zero Mission, AM2R, Super Metroid & Metroid Fusion is the order to go in. They all share a similar set of gameplay & graphics.

I think the 3DS Metroid II remake is great, but in terms of cohesiveness, it's going to stand out among the four games.

That being said it's made by the same developers who will then go on to make Metroid Dread, which is probably my favorite Metroid game behind Super Metroid, which is the best.

[–] kratoz29@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I haven't played it, I guess this one should come after Metroid II shouldn't it?

Anyway, yeah, I obviously know about Super Metroid and it is one of the prettiest games even today.

[–] Isthisreddit@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

I don't know if it really matters if you play them in any sort of order - Super Metroid really perfected the style and set the standard for the rest of the games

[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

If youre playing the games according to lore timeline order, I believe that the Metroid Prime games all take place inbetween Metroid Zero Mission and Metroid II. Prime 1, Prime Hunters, Prime 2, Prime 3, and potentially Prime 4. Then Metroid II, Super Metroid, Metroid Other M, Fusion, and finally Dread.

[–] kratoz29@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

I didn't know, I actually was gonna make my way with the 2D series first and at the very end the Prime series.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I have an NES and a PS5. I guess I'll be on the old version.

[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

If you have a smartphone, or a computer built after 2005, you can definitely emulate Metroid Zero Mission, but unfortunately Nintendo makes it really hard to do it the easy way.