Metroid mOTHER Reproduction Review

I received my reproduction of Metroid mOTHER today, so I'll post a quick review.

I noticed SuperUFO on Ali Express had a listing forMetroid mOTHER, but the label said European version. I asked them to make sure I could get the NTSC version. I told them, I did not want the European version. They told me it was no problem, so I ordered one. After a few days, I checked my Ali Express account again, and SuperUFO was asking me what game I wanted. I thought that was clear by the listing, but I told them again, and reminded them that I did not want the European version.

It arrived very quickly. Its in a high quality black cartridge, that smells like chlorine, with a decent label. The corners of the label are square, but the quality is pretty good. It does, however, read, "European Version" on the label. The cartridge feels solid, heavy, and not cheap or flimsy at all.

I popped it in my front-loader with the Blinking Light Win, and it went to a blue menu screen. The screen has a strange picture of Mario in the upper left-hand corner, but his face is transparent, making his skin appear blue. The words, "CUSTOM MAKE CARTRIDGE" appear followed by "1 -METROID MOTHER, 2 -COCORON, 3-RAINBOW SILK ROAD" then at the bottom right it reads, "SUPERUFO" This wasn't supposed to be a multicart, and I began to worry.

I loaded Metroid, and it started right up. I got the Maru Mari, and immediately died on purpose. I selected the save option, and turned off the console. I reloaded the game, and my save file was right where I left it. It was only then I breathed a sigh of relief.

I tried Cocoron, and that game is bizarre. It seems to have good control, and I beat the Moon Boss. I'll have to come back to this one. I tried Rainbow Silk Road, but there seems like there's a lot going on, so this one's filed under, "Eventually"

I returned to Metroid mOTHER and played quite a bit. There are some minor graphical glitches that appear after a while. Some of the blocks flash with a different pattern, then return to normal. I could not replicate the error after resetting, and I don't know if it is a glitch in the hack or in the reproduction. It wasn't game-breaking at all. Metroid mOTHER is a hack of the original Metroid that adds the aforementioned battery save feature, beam stacking, a fancy new intro, and some updated graphics. It retains all the original levels and enemy placement, making the game a nice update from the original.

I played most of the game, and got my ass handed to me in Mother Brain's room. I would rate the overall cart 8/10. For $20 bucks its a great deal for what I wanted. The additional games are a nice bonus, but there is no mention of them on the label, and menu screen isn't very attractive. I'll probably design a new label for it and put it in a grey cartridge eventually. I'll probably purchase from SuperUFO in the future, but right now I'm going to take another run at Mother Brain.