Metroid (1986)

Metroid (1986) – 89/100

– The game that started the whole franchise, and yet it was the last one for me to play. Heck, I even played it’s remake Zero Mission (which I will review later) before I played this one. The thing is, I’ve played it for years on a computer, but it wasn’t until recently that my good friend Arta got me the Game Boy version of it, which allowed me to play it on a GameCube, so I could finally enjoy the original story with a controller as it should be.

The game was originally released in Japan in 1986, North America in 1987, and Europe in 1988. It was re-released and remade for Game Boy Advance in 2004, released for Wii in Europe and North America in 2007, and finally released for Wii in Japan in 2008.

The story is the first in the Metroid chronology, and sets place on Zebes where Samus is trying to retrieve Metroid organisms stolen by Space Pirates. They plan to replicate them by exposing them to beta rays in order to use them as biological weapons. This is basically the premise that gets re-imagined in many of the later games such as The Prime Trilogy and Super Metroid. In addition, the game play and scenery also feels familiar.

Like in Metroid II: Return of Samus, there are no cut-scenes or intros to explain the game.  You start right in the caverns of Zebes with enemies to your left and a power up to your right. The powerups don’t tell you what they do, and your only way of knowing what they do are based on the symbols (which have become standard in the franchise). Also, like Metroid II, there are no maps, and it is very confusing to know where to go at first. The story is hard to understand at first. The rooms/tunnels all look the same, seem to go on forever, and eventually end up with either a power up or a temporary dead end. However, once you find the room with the two boss statues, things start to make sense.

I am obviously not going to keep making comparisons to how this one is similar to Zero Mission (because they are  the same game). The differences lie in the fact that this game does feel older instead of just looking older. Like Metroid II, the controls are not smooth at all. This can be very frustrating when you get hit by enemies over and over again. Zero Mission feels a lot smoother like Metroid Fusion does, has more bosses, more areas, and… oh yeah… has SAVE STATIONS. Have I mentioned that this game does not have them???

Instead of Save Stations, when you die, you return to the beginning of the area with your power ups, but only with 30% health, which is why once you’ve died, it’s so easy to die again. This is all due to a password system to get you back to the start with your power ups. However, if you play it on the Game Boy version, the passwords are already saved for you.

The locations, bosses, and objective (because it all takes place on Zebes) is very similar to Super Metroid. However, like Zero Mission, that game has way more going on. More bosses, more areas, and more powerups. This game is very basic in comparison to those later games, though it may not seem so at first. To get to Tourian and face the Metroids and Mother Brain, you have to beat Kraid and Ridley to open the pathway.

There are two areas in the game: Brinstar and Norfair. No water areas, no forests, no haunted spaceships, just caverns and lava areas. Each area has a path that leads to lower areas. These areas are Kraid’s Hideout and Ridley’s Hideout. These areas are basically mazes to get through to face these two bosses. What’s interesting in this game is that there are not as many powerups around. There are quite a few hidden missiles, but you actually get the majority of your missiles from beating these two bosses.

Other power ups include the Long Beam (which makes your beam shot farther.. obviously), the Screw Attack, High Jump Boots, the Varia Suit (which helps reduce damage done to you), and 8 energy tanks are hidden throughout the game.

The two types of beams in this game are the Wave Beam and the Ice Beam. I am not a fan of the Wave Beam because it does not shoot rapidly. It is harder to control, but does more damage. The Ice Beam is more helpful, and it is necessary to beat the Metroids at the end (which is why there are actually two of them hidden in the game).

Once you beat both bosses, you go to Tourian, face the Metroids and face Mother Brain. This boss battle always takes me two tries, cause the first time you have to shoot things to get to Mother Brain, and all the stuff going on around you racks up a lot of damage. Luckily, those things won’t be there if you die and try again. If it takes you two tries, going straight up to Mother Brain and shooting it over and over again is very easily.

Finally the game ends with you going up a very tall room to escape before the time runs out. This is slightly hard because of the controls, but I have always been able to do it on my first try.

All in all, it was very enjoyable playing the game that started the franchise. It actually amazes me because it is quite a difficult game, and I can’t imagine how people must have felt about it when it came out in 1986. The beauty of the version that I played is that once I won, is that it started me at the beginning with all the power ups already in hand. This was fun, because it made the game much easier and quicker. It made me try to speed-run it (though I haven’t gotten the best time yet) and appreciate the detail of the game so much more than just getting frustrated at it over and over again.

Metroid Fusion (2002)

Metroid Fusion (2002) – 91/100

– With the success and critical acclaim of Super Metroid, fans desperately wanted a new game in the franchise and the creators tried to release one for the N64 system. This ended up not happening and there was an 8 year gap between games. On November 17th, 2002, the creators made up for it by releasing not one, but two new games. One of them was Metroid Fusion which was originally released on the Game Boy Advance (however, like Metroid 2, I played this game on the GameCube thanks to the attachment). Metroid Fusion (also known as Metroid 4), bears heavy resemblance in visuals and in gameplay to Super Metroid. However, the creators made sure that this game would have a new story and objective rather than just being a sequel or a rehash. The game focuses on Samus, who while investigating the planet SR338 comes in contact with the deadly X Parasite virus. To save Samus, she is sent to the Biological Space Lab (BSL) where they inject her with DNA from the metroid she saved in previous games. This makes her weak to cold but it also allows her to bond with X Parasites and regain her health. Parts of her infected power suit could not be removed and instead she wears a partial armor suit known as the fusion suit. When she wakes up, she is sent by the Galactic Federation to investigate an explosion that happened on the BSL and the game begins. The space station contains a Main Deck and 6 lower sectors (to observe and study different kinds of creatures) that are all accessible from the Main Deck through elevators. The lower levels are Sector 1 (SRX – a re-creation of the planet SR338), Sector 2 (TRO – a jungle area), Sector 3 (PYR – a fire/lava area), Sector 4 (AQA – a water area), Sector 5 (ARC – a snow/ice area), and Sector 6 (NOC – a dark area). With the help of her ship’s computer (nicknamed Adam), Samus explores the areas in such of answers. The gameplay is very linear (in the way that Metroid 2 was). Samus goes to Navigation Rooms to tell her where to go next (much like the hint system in Metroid Prime). Adam will tell Samus to find control rooms so that different color doors will open (she must find hidden ways into them), or he will tell her to go to development rooms in order to acquire a specific upgrade, or he will also tell her to go to rooms to check out something that is wrong (which will usually end up as a boss fight). It is possible to ignore these commands for a little while and explore the areas to find missile and health upgrades. The boss fights are similar to the style of previous Metroid games (focused on spamming missiles), but like the boss fights in Super Metroid, each boss is fun and challenging to face (not as unique from each other as later Metroid games, but more unique than the bosses from Super Metroid in my opinion). One function that allows a little more diversity in this game is the ability to climb on ladders and to hang from them so that you are able (and might have) to shoot bosses from above. The story is definitely the main focus, which is not a problem because it makes it very unique in the series. It was the first side scroller game in the franchise to have cutscenes. Also, Samus eventually finds out that the X Parasite has the ability to replicate its host, and Samus encounters a replica of herself known as the SA-X. The SA-X is way too powerful for Samus to deal with in her still weak condition, and she will either have to hide or run away from it during their many encounters. Also, Samus eventually finds a hidden lab, and discoveries that the Galatic Federation have been secretly using the metroids DNA to clone metroids in order to try and harness their powers. She finds out that the Galatic Federation are on their way to the ship, and knows that the X Parasite will overcome them. In order to prevent the spread of the virus throughout the galaxy, she decides to crash the ship into SR338. Along the way, she has to deal with a final battle against the SA-X as well as the final boss in the game: An Omega Metroid. Overall, the story is definitely the most impressive aspect of the game (that is not an insult to the gameplay). I found the boss fights to be challenging but not as memorable as other games. I really liked the different areas and thought that it had a nice diversity of creatures and areas for platforming. The music is good (better than Metroid 2, but not better than Super Metroid or Metroid Prime), and the game doesn’t bring a lot of new upgrades into the mix (but then again, it didn’t need to because all of the classic items are still there). Not my favorite Metroid game but enjoyable to play and very memorable overall.

Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991)

Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991) – 87/100

– At the time that I did this review, it was the earliest installation of the franchise that I have played, and yet it was also the most recent game I had played through. This game was originally released on the Game Boy console, however I played it on a Game Cube system thanks to the attachment. Unlike the other Metroid games I played, this one did not start with an area to get used to your controls or get an idea of the plot (I am unaware of the story was in the booklet that game in the original game). The game starts with Samus existing her spaceship on some planet’s surface, and immediately you control her to enter the caves of the tunnels below. Eventually you run into a metroid and once you kill it, you realize that there is a number with a picture of a metroid in the corner has decreased from 39 to 38. And suddenly, it all makes sense. You have come to this planet (known as SR388) by orders of the Galatic Federation to exterminate all of the metriods that exist on it. So you’re off in search of the remaining metroids. This was the first Metroid game I played that did not have a map. It was frustrating for me at first because I kept getting lost and all the corridors looked the same (and this was in color. I can’t imagine what it must have been like playing it in just black and white). Eventually, after the playing the game for a while, it all starts to make sense. The planet contains little subsections, and you can not move on to the next one without killing all the metroids in that specific area. Each time you do, the earth shakes, and an area that used to contain lava will become accessible. Along the way, there are lots of power ups. You can gain missiles, an assortment of beams, health, and typical Samus abilities such as the screw attack and the morph ball. All these things will help you on your way. There are also save stations along the way so that you are able to save your progress and pick up from where you left off. As you go through different areas, you encounter different kinds of species of metroids that are tougher and tougher to kill. Metroids stop looking like jellyfish, and start looking like giant lizard creatures. After 9 areas (not including the one you started on), you will reach the final area where you will encounter the queen metroid and complete your objective once and for all. All in all, it took me about over 5 hours to complete the game the first time. The controls were a little frustrating for me at times. Sometimes they were too touchy, sometimes they weren’t touchy enough. I found myself having to climb up the same cliffs over and over again because the controls just weren’t as smooth as in later games. Also frustrating is how you don’t have much control over Samus when she gets hit and she is most likely to get hit several more times before you get your grounding again. I finally got used to the controls and style of the game towards the end of the first play. Because of this, I instantly played the game again so that I could enjoy the beginning of it now that I was used to it. I was really happy to say that I enjoyed the second time a lot better and completed the game at just above 3 hours. It is definitely more linear than most Metroid games I’ve played due to the subsections, however there is still plenty of chances to get lost and wonder where everything is. Aside from that, I enjoyed the concept and like the idea of counting down how many enemies remain. I also found the final boss to be a challenging fight when you are not sure what to do, but a really fun boss fight once you know what to do. I also really enjoy the ending, after you have beaten the boss and make your way back to the surface level.