Headscratchers / Metroid II: Return of Samus

• In the area with the Screw Attack (the Nintendo Power guide may refer to it as the "Grand Cavern") there is an inexplicable area with pure darkness where you really can't navigate it without blind guesswork or a guide (and even at that, with more guesswork). The objective is to obtain one missile and one energy tanks (granted, you don't have to pick up every collectible in the game). There is no illumination whatsoever, the only thing visible out of the black void is Samus's Morph Ball and her bombs. Because of this, there's no way to even tell whether you're going left or right besides laying bombs and seeing if they are trailing you (in which case you're still bearing in the direction you're holding on the D-pad) or if they're stationary (in which case, so are you). There are similar areas in other Zelda and Metroid games, but in those they have some means of illumination (e.g. the lamp in LTTP, firebugs in Super Metroid). You may say that well, the limitations of the Game Boy meant they couldn't simulate degrees of illumination, but at least in the DX mod I'm playing, you can see a low-lit version of it as you transition to another room. So why couldn't they use that and at least have bomb blasts light up your immediate surroundings more? Because I enjoyed the rest of the game, this isn't Complaining About Shows You Don't Like, but yeah, what were they thinking? If you figure you'd have to be at least an older kid to competently play this relatively intricate and complex game, well, wouldn't most kids (and some adults even!) be put off by an almost totally blind puzzle? Maybe to the point of not wanting to complete the game? One hopes that both remakes of this game injected a modicum of common sense into the area, or perhaps just reworked or cut it entirely.
  • Same poster: Another Metroid 2 Remake definitely improves it, using limited illumination in the vicinity of the Morph Ball, such that you can find your way around.

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