I've been meaning to record what I'm playing in this blog, including when I start and stop playing long story-form games. I've just finished Metroid Prime, but I nearly gave up before the end due to Meta Ridley. That stopped me on my last play-through.
All Metroid games follow an amazing design: near the end of a game you feel like you know the game-world inside out. (My friend used to think of the map like the London Underground - "Take the Overworld line, change at Chozo Ruins West"). I love it, but I've never finished a game because somewhere there is a boss so infuriating that it makes me quit. Meta Ridley is that boss in Prime.
From the nearest save-point, it's two minutes before I can fight him. The fight always takes at least ten minutes, usually longer. (When I first beat him, the second part of the fight took nine minutes alone.) He is a classic multi-attack boss: a big metal dragon with an area-effect smash, a sweeping laser, a bombing run. There's a counter-move to each, and as long as you spot the cue it isn't difficult, just laborious. With perhaps a quarter of his energy left he switches to his ground stage, introducing his special pause-and-charge - my big gripe with this boss.
There is a signature movement that warns you that a charge is coming - a bull-like duck with his head. Early on, it's best to move soon: the quicker you dodge, the more likely you'll escape. Later, the tactic changes: you must move at the last second. Moving early won't help because he aims at you later. His head movement doesn’t change.
Let's get this straight: all bosses are about learning cues and reading them to land counter-blows against their massive attacks. Meta Ridley throws out the cardinal rule: he gives the same clue, but the trick you've practised, optimised against him, because ineffective. The better you got at it, the less effective it becomes! Brilliant.
There are other niggles - the many attacks that can only be dodged with no opening (the bombing swoop is a particular offender, taking an age), the inconsistent escapes from other attacks, and the lack of a save point immediately following (Yes! I beat him once but didn't survive to a save point. Thanks for that) amongst them. I don't understand why people rave about it. It reminds of people's tendency to over-rate very long books because they've managed to finish them. I think people rate Meta Ridley because it puts them through the emotional wringer, for all the wrong reasons.
I am particularly angry because I expect this bullshit from bad games, or arcade games designed to prise coins from your pocket (hello, Time Crisis). I have loved playing through Prime, and not only were many problems suggested by the switch to 3D (how will jumping work? The Morph Ball?) answered comfortably, but several innovations were introduced by this game (The HUD, the visors, scanning for story details). One horrific design mis-step near the end of the game almost denied me the chance to finish it.
