Metroid
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Metroid is an action-adventure platforming video game and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was released for the Famicom Disk System, arcade machines and Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986.
A remake of the game, Metroid: Zero Mission, was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance in 2004.
Why It Rocks
Overall
- The main protagonist, Samus Aran, is one, if not, the first ever female protagonists in a video game.
- This was one of the first metroidvania games where the player can explore a more open-ended world, Zebes, and find items that can help you on your journey.
- The player can collect power-ups that grant Samus special abilities and enhance her armor and weaponry.
- Morph Ball: It turns Samus into a sphere, allowing her to enter small tunnels and openings, which often lead to previously inaccessible areas.
- Bomb: While not of great use on many normal enemies, they can break certain objects to clear paths.
- Screw Attack: Allows Samus to kill enemies while somersaulting into the air.
- Energy Tanks: Increases Samus Aran's maximum energy by 100.
- Power Bomb Tank: Increases Samus' bomb capacity by 4.
- Varia Suit: A suit that reduces damage by 50%.
- Wave Beam: It fires wave energy (often in the shape of a sine curve) that can usually go through walls.
- Ice Beam: It fires a potent beam that has the power to freeze most enemies.
- Long Beam: Allows the shots to be able to travel much farther. This upgrade also slightly increases the strength of the Power Beam.
- Many acrobatic moves, such as high jumps and somersaults.
- The game introduces the famous "Justin Bailey" password, which makes Samus wear a magenta outfit.
- Great, atmospheric soundtrack, with most of the music pieces being remixed in later Metroid games.
- Memorable enemies and bosses, including the titular Metroids, along with Kraid, Ridley, and the final boss, the Mother Brain.
- This was one of the first games not to immediately end once you defeat the final boss, with Samus having to escape from Mother Brain's base before it self-destructs.
- There are five different endings that depend on how fast you beat the game. This would be a staple of every 2D Metroid game.
- Beat the game in over five hours, and Samus raises her fist in victory, but the armor stays put.
- Beating the game in over five hours with Armorless Samus will have her back toward you and her arm thrown over her face in shame.
- Beating it between 3 to 5 hours makes Samus' helmet disappear.
- Beating it in less than three hours makes Samus' armor disappear, revealing a purple leotard. Pressing Start at the end of the credits allows you to start a new game as Armorless Samus.
- Beat the game in less than an hour (two in the FDS version), and Samus will be shown wearing a bikini. This ending is one of the reasons speedrunning became popular.
Original
- The game manages to make the various areas of Zebes feel distinct even with the primitive graphics of the time.
Zero Mission
- Zero Mission makes a number of quality of life improvements.
- The game has been completely remade from the ground up with graphics that look amazing as they resemble more of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.
- Each area is now more distinct thanks to the Gameboy Advance being much more powerful.
- A map has been added which makes the game a lot easier to navigate.
- Adds new power-ups that have become a staple in the franchise like the Power Grip from Metroid Fusion and Dashing from Super Metroid.
- Allows the player to use all types of beams at once.
- Completion of the game unlocks an emulated version of the original Metroid game.
- Allows players to unlock the Metroid Fusion picture gallery by linking between Zero Mission and Fusion cartridges via the Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable.
- The game finds a good balance of the open-ended approach of Metroid and Super Metroid, and the much more linear design of Metroid II and Metroid Fusion.
- Adds an extended mode after the original ending, where Samus removes her Power Suit and you can play a stealth segment in her Zero Suit, which is also the debut of this form.
Bad Qualities
Overall
- The last part before you reach the Mother Brain is the hardest part of the game because you get hit from nearly every corner.
Original
- While it was great for its time, this entry hasn't aged well for many reasons.
- Much like The Legend of Zelda, this game lacks a map, making exploration much harder.
- Only the default beam, Ice Beam, and Wave Beam are in the game. The default beam doesn't even shoot across the entire screen and requires the "Long Beam" power-up to do so (which was never used again except in the remake).
- You're only allowed to use one type of beam add-on at a time, which forces you to back-track in order to switch between the different types of beam you need throughout the game. Also, the beams don't "stack" like in later games; for example, in Super Metroid the effects of the Charge Beam, Ice Beam, Spazer, and Wave Beam are all cumulative, whereas in this game Samus can only use one beam at a time.
- Samus cannot duck, nor can she shoot downwards while jumping. This makes it impossible for her to shoot any enemy who's on the same plane if they are shorter than she is.
- While the twist with the reveal of Samus' gender was groundbreaking, it hasn't aged well. If a game tried it nowadays, it would at best be considered a weird and pointless twist.
- A lot of the environments are copy-and-paste with the only difference being the color. However, this can be blamed on the limitations of the Famicom and NES.
- Mother Brain's boss fight is anti-climatic and the weakest part of the whole game. Mother Brain is a stationary target whose only methods of attack are her turret cannons and rinkas. It's a tricky fight, but if you have enough missiles after you destroy the Zebetites, it's far from insurmountable.
- Regardless of how many Energy Tanks you have, you always start the playtime with 30 Energy.
- The cartridge and the Famicom Disk System versions both have their issues - the cartridge version has a weaker soundtrack and more simplistic enemy AI, but the disk version has extremely long load times.
- The infamous "Engage Ridley Mother Fucker" passcode, which when entered crashes the NES console or resets the game to the title screen on later ports. One notable exception was the 3DS port where entering the passcode would brick the console. This has since been patched and it will crash the console instead.
Zero Mission
- In spite of the Zero Suit's debut in the game, it is a downgrade from normal Samus since her only defense is her emergency pistol.
Reception
Original
Metroid received critical acclaim upon release. Famicom Tsūshin (Famitsu) magazine rated it five out of five stars in 1989. Computer and Video Games said it was a "tough" platform arcade adventure with a "very handy" password system and recommended it to "avid" arcade adventurers. Game Players praised its "Excellent, fast-paced game play." In Nintendo Power's NES retrospective in 1990, Metroid was rated 5/5 for Graphic and Sound, 4.5/5 for Play Control, 5/5 for Challenge, and 5/5 for Theme Fun.
Metroid's gameplay, focusing on exploration and searching for power-ups to reach new areas, influenced other series, mostly the Castlevania series. The revelation of Samus being a woman was lauded as innovative, and GameTrailers remarked that this "blew the norm of women in pieces, at a time when female video game characters were forced into the role of dutiful queen or kidnapped princess, missile-blasting the way for other characters like Chun-Li from the Street Fighter series and Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series".
Remake
Metroid: Zero Mission was given "generally favorable reviews", according to Metacritic. The game was praised by a number of reviews, several which called it one of the best games available for the Game Boy Advance. Many including Eurogamer considered it one of the best remakes of all time.
Videos
Trivia
- The game uses a passcode system similar to the NES version of Metal Gear. That means certain words correspond to certain actions. For example, the aforementioned "JUSTIN BAILEY" lets you play as Samus in a magenta outfit and with green hair (Varia Suit).
- The idea to make Samus a girl came from an employee of Nintendo, who suggested "Wouldn't it be fun if the main player character was a girl?" It was also influenced by the Alien and Aliens movies, which also feature a female protagonist, Ellen Ripley.
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