Can I just skip Metroid 1 and 2, and play this instead? I wouldn't miss out on anything would I?

To bounce off what this user is saying about the mechanics progression, it is going to be a bit of a wtf to go from zm>am2r and then super because super just feels slower and clunkier than those two.

But we're in 2019 and people have accounted for this: romhacking.net/reviews/4291/#review
This essentially updates Super to play more like ZM/AM2R. I always have to grab the heavier gravity hack to make it even closer to them, you can get that here with the Project Base + Extras begrimed.com/pb/

Also, since I'm metroid posting, might as well share this:
youtube.com/watch?v=yrxilZip5Fs

I ran across a dude that got banned from a site called Metroid Construction for stealing sprites, he has his own yt channel and uploaded a full remake of all of Samus' poses for Super Metroid. mediafire.com/file/7dcz32nbehio5di/Super_Metroid_%28JU%29_%5B%21%5D_-_Samus_Redesign.ips/file
It's not gonna be immediate to a metroid noob but it's just a better drawn Samus than the original. I assume it's composed of stolen sprites from a dead(?) project.

New sprites on the left, original on the right.

Attached: file.png (580x624, 400K)

The physics hack fucking ruins Super, don't use that dreck.
If you really want to change the controls, just use this.
romhacking.net/hacks/405/
Now you can have ZM-like controls without butchering the gameplay.

Best Metroid game

How do you think it ruins it? Just makes it feel faster to me, I don't like hanging in the air for so long.

Zero Mission is a nice remake of the original Metroid, and AM2R is a remake of 2 made in the same style. There are some references you'll miss in the latter if you haven't played Super or Fusion, but otherwise I prefer it over Samus Returns.

That hang time is super important for being able to practically do sequence breaking like early Norfair or Red Tower. Super Metroid is fast enough once you learn the level design.

ZM > S > AM2R > F > II > SR > I

Super > Prime > Fusion > Prime 2 > ZM

If you're playing Metroid 1 and 2, it's more for historical value than for them being good games.
I like Metroid 2's atmosphere and spritework a lot, but even it is lost without seeing it for the gigantic gameplay leap it is from 1. 1 is a fucking mess of a game, levels are all giant long lines with constant "guess where the hidden block is" progression.

If you're just after good games, play Super then decide how much of a fuck you can give about the series afterwards. Zero Mission and AM2R are decent, Fusion is a bit of a mess, Prime is a different beast altogether, Other M doesn't even get brought up and Samus Returns is big stinky doo-doo mechanically and aesthetically.
The series is a fucking mess of quality dips on what should be a hard-to-fuck-up formula.

Attached: Metroid-2-Shot-05.png (640x576, 33K)

Where would you put Samus returns remake?

I'd say ZM and AM2R are the friendliest to series newcomers. Super Metroid is the franchise's peak but it requires a bit more patience to fully appreciate.

Samus Returns is the only Metroid game I dropped. It wasn't straight up terrible like Other M, but it was really uninteresting.

If you want to play the core 2D entries in series order

>1
Metroid (NES) or Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)
>2
Metroid II Return of Samus (GB) or Metroid Samus Returns (3DS), or AM2R (PC)
>3
Super Metroid (SNES)
>4
Metroid Fusion (GBA)

For playing the first game, vanilla Metroid isn't great. Consider a patched version which implements battery saves, a mini-map, and the ability to combine the wave and ice beams.
romhacking.net/hacks/1186/
romhacking.net/hacks/4471/
The latter hack may somewhat diminish the original core gameplay.

For playing the second game, Metroid II is still plenty playable but its age shows. Either the official 3DS remake or the PC fan remake are highly recommended, but they also play very very differently. AM2R however is more in-line with the classic tile based level design and gameplay controls/mechanics of its contemporaries.

For playing the third game, I recommend playing it vanilla, at least the first time. There's a plethora of hacks out there that change up the graphics, the map layout, the physics, the controls, etc, to being outright whole new adventures.
Project Base is a key example of how the original game is "revamped".

Additionally, for playing the third game you might want to look into the newer versions of BSNES that allows for emulated SNES overclocking.
gbatemp.net/threads/bsnes-and-mesen-s-add-newly-developed-snes-overclocking-method.545475/
This will eliminate slowdown that occurs when using super bombs, when fighting bosses or large numbers of enemies, etc. I've yet to try it myself but am keen to.

Finally for playing the fourth game, there really isn't much else to it other than just playing it.
A common criticism is that you're told directly where to go to progress the game, with linear progression and little opportunity for exploration. But there is a hack that removes the map and the markers so you actually have to depend on your sense of exploration.
romhacking.net/hacks/751/

Don't include the prime games in 2D series ranking, that never ends well

This game holds your hand like a motherfucker. It's not THAT hard.

It has some difficulty spikes like SA-X chases and certain boss fights.
But these are also never far from a save room so you just try and try again.

It's the hardest 2D game that isn't just hard for cheap reasons like screen crunch or not refilling your health when you spawn.

Oh I was talking about AM2R, not fusion. Although Fusion fucked me a lot, since it was my first metroid game.

Wait wait wait wait wait, does that Fusion hack completely remove all of the Adam navigation room railroading? Making the entire station free to explore? Because if it does I will totally download that shit right now

I don't think it makes it free to explore, it just hacks out the map and the markers.

You still have limited exploration of the station as the scenarios call for, but you're not given directions, only instructions.

Seriously there's only two hacks for Fusion, this, and another that enables debug mode.

That's no good then. I want a hack that totally removes all the navigation rooms and makes it possible to wall-jump/bomb-jump like in Super, Zero Mission or Fusion. That way there could be real total freedom exploration and sequence breaking.