UNITED STATES─After last week’s column where I discussed in detail my fondness of retro gaming and how it allows me to have a moment of peace and clarity when I need it most, I decided it was time for me to discuss some of my favorites games in hopes of others rekindling great childhood memories or doing something that brings them joy, peace, happiness and a host of positive things.

I am a huge fan of the Super Nintendo, it is known by many gamers as the SNES. Nintendo delivered a treat to gamers, a few years ago by re-releasing a miniature version of its classic console, after seeing the success of the NES Classic that was released back in 2016. That success of that device spawned the release of the gaming system that I literally grew up with. I mean I would spend hours on top of hours with my little brother playing this video game console.

We were natural gamers, and till this day I tease my little brother that everything he learned about gaming came directly from him watching me playing video games. One of our all-time favorites has to be “Super Metroid.” It’s an elevated, intricate and visually stunning, find all the secrets you can, enhancement of the 1986 NES Classic, “Metroid.” Its ‘Super’ alright because everything is 10x better than the original, and let’s start with the visuals.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m someone who hates the thought of having anything incomplete. This is a game, where you get a percentage at the end, and anything less than a 100 is not good in my book. I know only a select few people with the memory capacity that I hold and I mean I know where every single missile, super missile, super bomb, energy tank and any other secret items are in this game. Is the game difficult? Not quite, but having a few techniques helps your ability to obtain items a lot sooner than later.

The bosses are fairly easy if you study their patterns. Kraid might be the easiest of them all, but watch your energy level because you don’t have a lot when you first encounter him. When it comes to Phantoon stay away from using super missiles as it angers him and he unleashes and attack that can take you out quite fast. Out of all the bosses I would argue Draygon is the most difficult. Not only are you battling the creature in the water, but he has a deadly attack that can literally take 6-7 of your energy tanks in just one attack. There are tips to utilize to defeat him easy; just utilize your grappling beam to electrocute him to death.

With that said, Ridley might be the easiest of the bunch simply because you have a ton of energy tanks and weaponry by the time you do battle. Beyond that when you get to the final boss, Mother Brain, the only way you can lose is if you don’t know how to fire your missiles. The great thing about “Super Metroid” is exploring the various worlds: Crateria, Brinstar, Norfair, The Wrecked Ship, Maridia and finally Tourian. There are so many gadgets to obtain in this game from the Ice Beam, to Grappling Beam, the X-Ray Scope, the Screw Attack, Spring Ball or my absolute fav: the Space Jump.

Each time you gain a new item it advances your ability to do things you could not do before, which makes the game so much fun. You have time constraints after beating certain bosses, where if you don’t escape on time you will literally explode. It is visually fun to watch, not to mention the exploration of the game makes “Super Metroid” one of a kind. Some would like to equate it to “Zelda: A Link to the Past,” but I argue otherwise. It is not as easy to find all items in “Super Metroid” it takes you to actually put on your thinking cap to locate some items that are well hidden. They are not as obvious in plain sight as some might think.

The best thing I love about “Super Metroid” is the fact that every time I play this game, I feel like I’m playing it for the first time. It takes me back to my childhood and that is an amazing feeling people that I cannot describe with words.