Recommended Hacks for a Metroid Veteran

[djcdubz]

Ever since Dread came out, I've been addicted to all things Metroid. I am a veteran player in terms of skill and am looking for new (quality) hacks to play. I know there are many out there, but it feels like I'm running lower on options and am looking for suggestions.

I have played the following, all as of late:

Hyper Metroid
Ancient Chozo
Ascent
Super Duper
Redesign: Axeil Edition (played the original many years ago)
Super Zero Mission
Nature
Opposition
YPX
Z-Factor
Scrolls Six
Fusion Special Edition

Also, I may ultimately get to the hacks by Digital_Mantra, but I'm not a fan of his design choices (sorry) so I'm waiting on those at this time until a later TBD date.

Any recommendations or other personal favorites?

[Conner]

If you liked Scrolls 6 you might also like Spooky Mission.
Spooky Mission is one of the older ZM hacks but doesnt lack in quality. For its time it was a very revolutionizing hack.
Today it is still one of my favourite hacks. It is pretty small though. Expect about an hour of gameplay: Metconst Page

If you beat Spooky Mission you can also play Spooky Mission 2: The Nightmare Before Christmas.
I worked on that hack so I am not gonna give my opinion on it, but the majority seems to enjoy it. It takes a more linear turn but opens up
in the last third of the game. In contrast to the first hack this one is also very long, the longest ZM hack so far probably: Metconst Page

List of other recommended ZM hacks in no particular order:
Mintroid
Subzero
Deep Freeze
Return to Zebes
SR387

If anything in that list peaks your interest its definitely worth a shot!

If you're not a fan of Zero Mission hacks though I worry that I can't help much here, since thats where I know the most.
If you want more Super Metroid hacks I can recommend the Y-Faster Trilogy, since it seems like you have not played those yet.
Y-Faster
Y-Faster 2 Fast
Y-Faster 2 Furious

Hope this helps

[djcdubz]

If you liked Scrolls 6 you might also like Spooky Mission.
Spooky Mission is one of the older ZM hacks but doesnt lack in quality. For its time it was a very revolutionizing hack.
Today it is still one of my favourite hacks. It is pretty small though. Expect about an hour of gameplay: Metconst Page

If you beat Spooky Mission you can also play Spooky Mission 2: The Nightmare Before Christmas.
I worked on that hack so I am not gonna give my opinion on it, but the majority seems to enjoy it. It takes a more linear turn but opens up
in the last third of the game. In contrast to the first hack this one is also very long, the longest ZM hack so far probably: Metconst Page

List of other recommended ZM hacks in no particular order:
Mintroid
Subzero
Deep Freeze
Return to Zebes
SR387

If anything in that list peaks your interest its definitely worth a shot!

If you're not a fan of Zero Mission hacks though I worry that I can't help much here, since thats where I know the most.
If you want more Super Metroid hacks I can recommend the Y-Faster Trilogy, since it seems like you have not played those yet.
Y-Faster
Y-Faster 2 Fast
Y-Faster 2 Furious

Hope this helps

Thanks! Much appreciated. I'll give them a shot.

[FelixWright]

I have played the following, all as of late:

Hyper Metroid
Ancient Chozo
Ascent
Super Duper
Redesign: Axeil Edition (played the original many years ago)
Super Zero Mission
Nature
Opposition
YPX
Z-Factor
Scrolls Six
Fusion Special Edition

Any recommendations or other personal favorites?

SNEStroid hacks (honestly so many to recommend but I'll try and keep it brief):
Project Base: More like project BASED haha. No but seriously it's an absolute dream to play! With so many QOL additions and customization and options (most if not everything can even be toggled off) It really becomes exactly what YOU want super metroid to feel like.
Temple of the Winds: Havent finished it yet but so far it is an absolute treat.
Space Junk: Crystal Knight delivers again, this time with P U R P L E
Phazon (AKA Altername M: Episode Phazon): Oldie but goldie. Step into the shoes of Dark Samus in a struggle to become the apex predator. It's huge, I recall patching being a funky process, and it has some flaws but it's a cult classic. worth at least one playthru.
Retroid: Slick remake of NEStroid using Super Metroid.
Rotation: It's raining Super Metroid sideways!
Reimagined: If you like SM, and want more SM, this one's a goodie.


GBAtroid hacks:
Project ZM: Improvement hack for ZM. I'm biased as its creator but if you liked Fusion Special Edition it may be worth a try.
Super Metroid GBA Edition: Honestly a well designed "remake" hack, in the same vein as Retroid being an SM remake of NEStroid.
Return to Zebes: Constantly changing. Alexman never fails to impress.
Zero Fall (Alpha): Very short demo hack but great atmosphere & aesthetic.
SR387: Good hack. One of the areas has corrupted music which is somehow a real banger.
Freezeflame: Fun hack with interesting portal mechanic.
Spooky Mission: Whaddya MEAN you haven't played this yet? One of the best ZM hacks around.
Spooky Mission 2 - The Nightmare Before Christmas: A sequel to an already fantastic hack.
Zero: It's like an alternate universe Zero Mission, but instead of playing as Samus Aran, you are Houston Armstrong. What this means for you is that there are no drops or refills. Houston, how far will YOU make it on your Zero Mission before we have a problem? (Sorry I couldn't resist)

BONUS: Metroid 2
Metroid II EJRTQ Colorization 1.3: You'd be surprised how much nicer this game is with a splash of color.

I may ultimately get to the hacks by Digital_Mantra, but I'm not a fan of his design choices (sorry) so I'm waiting on those at this time until a later date.

I'll bite; What design choices of DMan's don't you like?

[djcdubz]

I have played the following, all as of late:

Hyper Metroid
Ancient Chozo
Ascent
Super Duper
Redesign: Axeil Edition (played the original many years ago)
Super Zero Mission
Nature
Opposition
YPX
Z-Factor
Scrolls Six
Fusion Special Edition

Any recommendations or other personal favorites?

SNEStroid hacks (honestly so many to recommend but I'll try and keep it brief):
Project Base: More like project BASED haha. No but seriously it's an absolute dream to play! With so many QOL additions and customization and options (most if not everything can even be toggled off) It really becomes exactly what YOU want super metroid to feel like.
Temple of the Winds: Havent finished it yet but so far it is an absolute treat.
Space Junk: Crystal Knight delivers again, this time with P U R P L E
Phazon (AKA Altername M: Episode Phazon): Oldie but goldie. Step into the shoes of Dark Samus in a struggle to become the apex predator. It's huge, I recall patching being a funky process, and it has some flaws but it's a cult classic. worth at least one playthru.
Retroid: Slick remake of NEStroid using Super Metroid.
Rotation: It's raining Super Metroid sideways!
Reimagined: If you like SM, and want more SM, this one's a goodie.


GBAtroid hacks:
Project ZM: Improvement hack for ZM. I'm biased as its creator but if you liked Fusion Special Edition it may be worth a try.
Super Metroid GBA Edition: Honestly a well designed "remake" hack, in the same vein as Retroid being an SM remake of NEStroid.
Return to Zebes: Constantly changing. Alexman never fails to impress.
Zero Fall (Alpha): Very short demo hack but great atmosphere & aesthetic.
SR387: Good hack. One of the areas has corrupted music which is somehow a real banger.
Freezeflame: Fun hack with interesting portal mechanic.
Spooky Mission: Whaddya MEAN you haven't played this yet? One of the best ZM hacks around.
Spooky Mission 2 - The Nightmare Before Christmas: A sequel to an already fantastic hack.
Zero: It's like an alternate universe Zero Mission, but instead of playing as Samus Aran, you are Houston Armstrong. What this means for you is that there are no drops or refills. Houston, how far will YOU make it on your Zero Mission before we have a problem? (Sorry I couldn't resist)

BONUS: Metroid 2
Metroid II EJRTQ Colorization 1.3: You'd be surprised how much nicer this game is with a splash of color.

I may ultimately get to the hacks by Digital_Mantra, but I'm not a fan of his design choices (sorry) so I'm waiting on those at this time until a later date.

I'll bite; What design choices of DMan's don't you like?

First, thank you for taking the time to list the hacks. This is f'ing awesome and I'll definitely be investigating this further, so thank you for taking the time to list these with descriptions. I don't know what's gotten into me, but I have been playing Metroid games non stop for like 4 months straight and frankly don't see an end to this obsession for at least another 4 months if not longer. You've given me plenty of material to chew on haha.

Second, DM hacks: To be transparent, I've only played the first IDK 25-35% of V I T A L I T Y. From what I played (plus screenshots of his other hacks and corresponding descriptions to confirm), I thought it was 1) an absolute slog with an imbalance of weapon drops/enemies/damage and general level design, 2) OVERLY dark (I am very, very, VERY sensitive to aesthetics), 3) overly designed (I know that everyone praises his graphical work - and I can appreciate the attempt to design something novel, I truly can - but I personally think it's a case of people bandwagoning because it's different rather than seeing it as overdesigned and excessively busy, which is confusing/distracting on the eye), 4) due to point 3, the gameplay suffers because you can't readily tell which platforms are in the foreground/background which screws with the flow of the game, 5) there's an over-reliance, from pics I've seen on all of his hacks, on symmetry to create interesting backgrounds and to me it feels less than authentic despite it striving to achieve the opposite; in short it feels gimmicky. Keep in mind, I'm pretty self aware and haven't played Eris/Cliffhanger Redux (on my list because of its apparent emphasis on advanced techniques), and V I T A L I T Y, so I know I may change my mind on this upon spending more concentrated time with it/them. These concerns have just made me push his hacks to the back burner for now.

[djcdubz]

I owe Digital_Mantra an apology. I beat Cliffhanger Redux a while ago and that is the single best challenge hack I've ever played. I was fucking thrilled/smiling ear-to-ear by the shit I was pulling off and have to say that by and large, it was wonderfully designed, at least on the level of pushing the player to use their full arsenal of techniques.