Metroid
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| Released on August 15, 1987 for the NES by Nintendo, and developed by Nintendo R&D1, Metroid is the titular first entry in the storied action-adventure series starring spacefaring bounty hunter, Samus Aran. |
Metroid is yet another one of those NES games I'd cluelessly play at other people's houses as a kid in the late 80's and early 90's. I'd run around as the game protagonist, Samus Aran, with no idea what I was doing, until I died several times, then moved on to playing something else. It was far too difficult for me and I could never figure out what I was supposed to be doing. However, once later entries were released, and particularly by the release of 2002's Metroid Prime for the GameCube, I was hooked on the series. For some reason, though, up until recently, I didn't have the impulse to finally return to and complete that first 1987 game for the NES. Maybe it's just because I'm still on a high from Metroid Dread, but over the last few weeks, I've played through the classic Metroid...the original version...without save states.
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| Well, technically the Game Boy Advance port, but the point remains, I didn't use save states! |
Metroid, like many other classic NES games, has a simple story. Space Pirates have captured deadly and extremely hostile newly discovered organisms called Metroids, which can suck the life force from any living being. The pirates have taken the Metroids to the planet Zebes to experiment upon and awaken them, in order to set them upon the rest of the galaxy. The Galactic Federation has called in bounty hunter, Samus Aran, to venture to Zebes to take out the Space Pirates, before they can unleash the Metroids. The player takes control of Samus, who wears a cybernetic suit that gives her incredible powers, like the ability to fire energy projectiles and missiles, to curl up into a ball, and to jump higher, among many others...once those abilities are discovered.
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| Here is what the opening screen offers for story, just in case you've taken the art of modern game translation for granted. |
When Samus first lands on Zebes, she can only jump, move left and right, and fire short range energy blasts through the 2D alien cave landscape. The game gives players no direction of where to go or what to do. Eventually, you might figure out you've got to search for new abilities in order to progress through this very early example of an open world environment.
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| Yet another iconic opening gameplay screen from an NES major series game! |
After playing through several classic NES games in a short span, it is becoming apparent to me just how much Nintendo pioneered the open world game concept well over 30 years ago. Both The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II put players in a central location, and send them out to explore and progress through the world however they see fit. The only thing loosely guiding progression is that, early on, certain areas are clearly more difficult to progress through than others, while some can not be accessed until a certain item is acquired.
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| It's incredible how immediately iconic the Chozo statues holding new items are right here in the first game, considering essentially every subsequent 2D Metroid game has followed their design. |
Like in The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II, you're not even given a map to help you not get lost in this game's large open world. Unlike in those two games, you don't even get the benefit of an old hermit giving you esoteric hints. You are completely on your own here, immediately setting up the Metroid series' long-standing fan favorite quality--it's loneliness. As Samus, you're a silent protagonist exploring an isolated alien environment that rewards your curiosity. However, if I've got one major knock against this first Metroid game, it's at just how bizarre and relentless your curiosity has to be in order to beat it without any sort of a strategy guide.
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| I guess I'll just...bomb everything then? |
It's one thing that once you acquire bombs, you've got to bomb floors and walls and shoot ceilings, constantly looking for secret passageways in order to progress through the game. It's another that at one point you've got to dive into lava, which generally kills you, in order to find a hidden hole in the floor that let's you progress. That sort of thing is...quite frustrating, and it happens several times throughout Metroid. Figuring out where you should go, how to find the two sub-bosses that must be defeated to unlock the final region, are already tough enough without adding moments where you have to actually go AGAINST the established game rules in order to progress. Because the other elements of this game are very enjoyable, I recommend having some type of strategy guide or Game FAQ nearby in case you get stuck for too long, just as I do for Zelda II.
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| So instead of shooting this Zoomer...I should eat it? |
The actual difficulty inherent in the gameplay here is solid, but never overly frustrating, and Metroid is otherwise so fun, it's a shame to give up, as I did as a child, simply because you can't figure out the game's sometimes opaque methods of progression. After all, Samus controls extremely tightly, and even in this first iteration, it's a joy to bounce around and blast through the game's environments, particularly when moves like Samus' killer spin attack or weapons like the wave beam are found. Also, as in future Metroid games, the player can find missile and life meter upgrades for Samus, so that eventually, she can fire hundreds of missiles without running out and take a massive amount of damage without dying. Those RPG-lite/Metroidvania elements are here from the beginning, though I hate to use the term Metroidvania in regard to Metroid when Metroid invented this style of gameplay, and Castlevania, another favorite series of mine, merely adopted (and adapted) it.
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| I guess Dracula and Mother Brain are interchangeable...wait a minute...Metroids are vampires!!! |
The graphics here are pretty simple, but in that Nintendo-produced, NES 8-bit pixel-art perfection mold. Samus' iconic musical motif is already present here, and each of the game's five regions is given its own distinct theme. Most of the sound effects are perfect, though a few are just a little grating. Unlike Zelda and Zelda II, Metroid does not feature battery-backed saving, but it does have a unique, 16 letter/number password system that allows the player to type in and then start the game in whatever of the five regions they died in, with whatever items and suit enhancements they'd acquired. Again, these early mainline Zelda and Metroid games are incredibly progressive. There are even incentives to speedrun, as the faster your game time, essentially...well, essentially the less clothes Samus is wearing during the end credits. This is less of a lascivious thing, and more of a way to shock players in the late 80's who never expected that the person inside this suit would be a woman. Finishing Metroid very quickly even grants the player the ability to play back through with Samus wearing what amounts to today's Zero Suit.
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| Humina Humina!!! |
On a final note, I really enjoy just how frightening the Metroids in this game are when they are finally encountered. Nintendo saves them for the game's final fifth, but the moment one zips over to you from the other side of the screen, latches on, and starts draining your life meter, you'll be frantically trying to run away. While Metroids can be killed with a specific and very logical weapon combination, the sense of menace once they are encountered is ever-present, and I appreciate how the series titular antagonist immediately become the star of the show as far as enemies go as soon as they make their entrance. That's good design right there.
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| Love and hate aren't too off from one another |
1987's Metroid is a must play for fans of the series or 8-bit games in general. It's still a favorite of speedrunners, and though its esoteric moments might scare off the layman, a guide or quick Google session will make those moments easily defeatable. I'm glad I finally went back and finished it. And a reminder...if you want to own this...and I mean really own it, the GBA port, with its portability and the ability to just put the DS you're playing it on (plays it on a DS) to sleep when you want to take a break is the definitive version.
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