Alright, first to everyone hating on this game for being too hard. What are you talking about? It's very much so beatable. I can see that you'd be mad about that you start with only 30 energy and every time you load a game, it's 30 energy, but I mean.... I didn't have a problem with that (and I'm not even a pro at this. I had never played it before). Just play through it in one sitting if that bothers you so much.

Anyway, this game is awesome. If you're looking at this, you probably know how great the Metroid series is, so I won't go into why this game rocks. I have just two problems with it. One: It needed a map. It's hard to figure out where you are. I fixed that by finding one on the Internet, but it should be built into the game. Two: Some areas of lava won't let you get out. You can tell it was supposed to because of the lowered platform, but you can only get even with it. I guess the developers didn't check everything before it was released. It will make you mad when you just have to sit in the lava and watch your 4 energy packs drain away. Thus, I had to take off for the "fun" level. Too much frustration at times, but hey, that's how it was back in the day.

Of course, there's no reason to buy the stand-alone original. Get Metroid: Zero Mission instead. It has the game remade as a GBA title (with an added twist). That's all I'll say about Zero Mission. And after you beat it, you unlock the original Metroid FOR FREE. That's a bargain. So yeah, get Metroid: Zero Mission. Even if you agree with everybody who thinks it's impossibly hard to beat the original, you can still play through ONE game.

The game I received was in great shape, my grandson had hours of fun playing the game.I would order again from Amazon, the product is exactly what they say it is.

Ah, the original Metroid. I love the original. However, this is a waste of money. Why could such a classic game be a waste? Cuz if you buy Metroid: Zero Mission and beat it (which actually only takes about 2-3 hours for an average gamer), you'll unlock this game. So basically you get 2 games in 1 with 0M. But still, this game is fun, insanely tough, and it's just classic. Zero Mission may give you all the updates to the Metroid series like wall jump and Speed Booster and combining of beams, but it's a cakewalk compared to the original. This is a good game, but if you want more money's worth, just get it with 0M.

THE GOOD: Takes you back to those early days of gaming - frustration and all; cool music, original idea... at the time

THE BAD: Difficulty is insane; why buy this when you can get Zero Mission?

DIFFICULTY: Impossible

The original Metroid introduced us back in the day to a game where exploration was key. Total exploration, without any clues or maps or even so much as a convenient save system (thankfully, this version saves automatically when you die). Now, while this sounds all well and good, the idea with the technology back then, was way ahead of itself. While it's great to provide such an idea, the challenge that went along with it was unpolished, mostly because controls back then just didn't provide an adequate job of what the game was supposed to represent. See the problem is that Samus back then jumped like a bouncy ball, a tap would do a small jump, but holding more than that would cause her to stay in the air longer than necessary, and since she flowed downwards like honey, landing on objects became an incredible trial of a person's frustation levels. This wasn't so bad at first, but once you get into the game and have to start landing on very small platforms, while trying to avoid enemy attacks, AND hitting enemies with your very limited shooting directions (later enemies move into spots which makes them near impossible to even shoot), it was an instant recipe for Anger Management courses that would later come. Now, unlike the remake, Zero Mission, Samus doesn't power up as quickly therefore making the game even unnecessarily harder. At some points you may scratch your head wondering where in the hell you're supposed to go, basically because you may have to blast some random wall you never knew needed to be blasted in order for you to progress.
Though all this is annoying, the graphics were killer at the time and the music is some of the most memorable in gaming history. Of course this all only lasts for so long.
In closing, this game really is unnecessary, because the MUCH better and more balanced Zero Mission is available for only a few dollars more, and this original NES game is unlockable after you beat that game. So this is pretty much a waste of money.

BOTTOM LINE: Buy Zero Mission instead. It's actually, get this, FAIR, and you get more for your money.

When I first heard about the classic NES series for GBA it was a dream come true. Metroid was one of my favorite games for the NES and the series from that to Prime Echoes is nothing short of excellent. This is action adventure at its best and it is even more nostalgic when played through the Gamecube GBA adapter right on your 20" TV screen. Only thing better than this is if I had my original NES and Metroid game.