Introduction

Let's Play Super Metroid: Eris (2012 edition)

What is it?

As the name implies, Super Metroid: Eris is a Super Metroid hack. It was created by DigitalMantra and is probably the most artistically impressive hack out there. Super Metroid has a vast tileset and effects library which has been put to some extremely creative uses here; the hack author also made numerous graphical edits, which are almost entirely seamless with the original art. The result is a highly atmospheric hack with numerous distinct and characterful environments. The hack also has a few minor changes to the game engine, the most notable being that you can start spinning in midair without having to touch ground again.

The challenge level is mostly pretty reasonable, but it can be uneven at parts, especially in the early part of the game before Samus can gear up a bit. In particular, the second and third bossfights are punishingly lethal and have limited room to maneuver. This is also a hack that expects you to have full control of Samus; you don't need to pull off any glitches, but you do need to be able to walljump and midair morph.

Finally, this is the 2012 edition of the hack. Compared to the original edition (published in 2009, I believe), some items and barriers have been moved around to tweak the item sequence, and a few small areas were added. I don't think there's a good reason to play the 2009 version at this point, in particular because it leads with a lengthy suitless underwater section.

What's the LP going to be?

This is a video LP, with subtitles showing Samus' thought processes (vaguely similar to Freeman's Mind, if not quite so deranged). Subtitles are provided via YouTube's closed-captioning/subtitles system, so make sure to turn them on by clicking on the "CC" icon (or don't, if you want a "silent" LP).

Full disclosure: I abused savestates mercilessly for this run, just to keep things going smoothly. If you like, imagine Samus dying over and over again during the aforementioned boss fights, and a few times during exploration. It happened, but I see no reason to subject you to watching Samus repeatedly walk back from the save station. You won't ever see me actually save or load state, though; that's all been excised through movie magic (read: I recorded the controller input, TAS-style, then made an encode of the playthrough).