Honestly, if you're going to map the place out, just look at an online map. It's unnecessary extra work otherwise. Also, holy shit you made it to Ridley before Kraid, I didn't think that was possible!
One thing that really pissed me off about the original Metorid, is how fucking hard it is to refill your supplies. It's practically like RPG grinding. I was trying to kill Kraid, but i didn't have all my energy and missiles, plus I got knocked into a pit. So when I tried to refill my stuff, I remember taking forever and my shit was only half full! I turned off the game in disgust after that.
There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
Valdronius
Moderator
Title: SydLexia COO
Joined: Aug 22 2005
Location: The Great White North
Posts: 4459
Posted:
Oct 03 2009 03:04 pm
JRA wrote:
Honestly, if you're going to map the place out, just look at an online map. It's unnecessary extra work otherwise. Also, holy shit you made it to Ridley before Kraid, I didn't think that was possible!
Did you even read the first few paragraphs? Or the title? It was a blind run.
Klimbatize wrote:
A Hispanic dude living in Arizona knows a lot of Latinas? That's fucking odd.
JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
Posts: 3474
Posted:
Oct 03 2009 07:28 pm
Valdronius wrote:
JRA wrote:
Honestly, if you're going to map the place out, just look at an online map. It's unnecessary extra work otherwise. Also, holy shit you made it to Ridley before Kraid, I didn't think that was possible!
Did you even read the first few paragraphs? Or the title? It was a blind run.
and then you went and drew out a map.
Look, if you're gonna run a game blind, that means no map, makeshift or not.
There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
SoldierHawk
Moderator
Title: Warrior-Poet
Joined: Jan 15 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 6085
Posted:
Oct 03 2009 09:57 pm
JRA wrote:
Valdronius wrote:
JRA wrote:
Honestly, if you're going to map the place out, just look at an online map. It's unnecessary extra work otherwise. Also, holy shit you made it to Ridley before Kraid, I didn't think that was possible!
Did you even read the first few paragraphs? Or the title? It was a blind run.
and then you went and drew out a map.
Look, if you're gonna run a game blind, that means no map, makeshift or not.
No, a blind run means you don't know whats coming next because you've never played it before. It doesn't mean you can't keep track of where you are, especially in a game like Metroid. Good grief.
William Shakespeare wrote:
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
Pandajuice
Title: The Power of Grayskull
Joined: Oct 30 2008
Location: US and UK
Posts: 2649
Posted:
Oct 04 2009 07:14 am
SoldierHawk wrote:
No, a blind run means you don't know whats coming next because you've never played it before. It doesn't mean you can't keep track of where you are, especially in a game like Metroid. Good grief.
To be fair though, it wasn't really a blind run at all as Vald had played Super Metroid, which is pretty similar. So similar, in fact, that he knew where and what the bosses were, the general layout of the map, and that the world is divided into seperate zones with unique names. That's a lot more information than what I had before reading the article as I've never played any of the Metroid games, so it was a little disappointing to read the article and find out that Vald did indeed have a lot of general knowledge about Metroid that made the run easier.
I think for a true blind run, you have to have zero knowledge of the game whatsoever just like it would have been in 1986, which may be impossible these days.
Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24869
Posted:
Oct 04 2009 07:27 am
He didn't know where the bosses were. He just chose not to provide you with dozens of screenshots of himself wandering around aimlessly.
And a blind run can include a read-through instruction manual, which has the bosses' names. I don't think Norfair and Brinstar are formally named in the NES game, but I'm not sure.
He didn't know where the bosses were. He just chose not to provide you with dozens of screenshots of himself wandering around aimlessly.
Well, this statement at least implies that he knew where they were before even going into their rooms, and that's exactly how I interpreted it:
"Intuition tells me that Ridley lies in wait down this elevator, but as I haven't beaten Kraid yet, I'm not sure I should be taking on Ridley. Decisions, decisions. I'm a bit of a lazy bastard, so all that backtracking to get to Kraid seems undesirable at this point."
Everything in that statement screams foreknowledge to me and is definitely not something I personally would even be able to guess at having never played any Metroid game. I wouldn't know where Ridley was until I walked right into him, and I sure as hell wouldn't have any clue that you're supposed to kill Kraid first.
It was still an enjoyable read, just a bit disappointing to me that it wasn't technically a blind run since Super Metroid is such a similar game and gave Vald so much foreknowledge and intuition about the layout.
Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24869
Posted:
Oct 04 2009 10:41 am
The elevator led to Ridley's subsection of the game, not directly to him.
I could have said, "Intuition tells me that a harder boss lies ahead, seeing as it took me longer to get to this scary elevator." Because that's really all I was going on. I chose to call Ridley and Kraid by name for the sake of the people here who have played Metroid before, and who have OCD, so that they didn't yell at me through their monitors for not being specific.
Knowing the name of a boss does not help you defeat them. This isn't The Wizard of Earthsea. My previous knowledge really gave me no in-game benefit whatsoever.
And yes Hawk, you are correct. A blind run means no outside help to assist the game play. It does not mean that I'm going to play it with my eyes closed the entire time.
Klimbatize wrote:
A Hispanic dude living in Arizona knows a lot of Latinas? That's fucking odd.
JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
Posts: 3474
Posted:
Oct 05 2009 12:45 pm
I just think taking the time to draw out a map is a wasteful alternative to looking one up.
There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
SoldierHawk
Moderator
Title: Warrior-Poet
Joined: Jan 15 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 6085
Posted:
Oct 05 2009 01:10 pm
But the point of the exercise was to find his own way around. Looking up a map would have defeated the purpose of this run. Drawing one himself, on the other hand, allowed him to keep track of where he had been (and what he already knew) without giving him unnecessary advanced knowledge of what was to come.
William Shakespeare wrote:
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
Rydog
Title: Dragon Slayer
Joined: Aug 11 2009
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 1511
Posted:
Oct 05 2009 01:54 pm
^ This, plus some people find it an added bonus to complete the game without outside help.
ReeperTheSeeker
Joined: Aug 26 2007
Posts: 2752
Posted:
Oct 05 2009 02:47 pm
JRA wrote:
I just think taking the time to draw out a map is a wasteful alternative to looking one up.
I did that with ducktales for the nes just so i can keep track of short cuts and hidden items but soon, i memorized everything and lost track of the maps.
Links, pics, vids . . . I shall post these when given the chance
Transformers 2 Review: ". . . Did i mention SHIT BLOWS UP?!!!"
AJ Fox
Title: HylianFox
Joined: Jun 26 2009
Location: Calatia
Posts: 63
Posted:
Oct 15 2009 10:32 pm
JRA wrote:
Honestly, if you're going to map the place out, just look at an online map. It's unnecessary extra work otherwise. Also, holy shit you made it to Ridley before Kraid, I didn't think that was possible!
What? I always fight Ridley first. He's tons easier than Kraid and makes for less back-tracking.
Also, how does making your own map defeat the purpose of a "blind run"? I fondly recall making tons of maps for Zelda. You know, before the internet existed.
PJX
Joined: Jun 20 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 408
Posted:
Oct 18 2009 08:51 pm
docinsano wrote:
Not a bad article Vald, a blind run of Metroid sounds painful: I spent countless hours lost in the labyrinths back in the day. And about the wave beam, it's worthless in this game so it's good you never got it. Oh yeah, for some reason there are two ice beams in the game. I've played this game many a time and have also made a playthrough on youtube for anyone who needs some guidance in the game. The article was solid. Keep up the good work Vald.
The wave beam is the best weapon in the game! it's about 3 times as poweful as the ice beam and it hits ground hugging enemies. I get the wave beam as soon as i can and keep it until it's time to go to tourian.
