Metroid

"Bring a Map"

The original Metroid is a very special game, because at the time most of what was out there was linear side scrolling games. But, Metroid, [much like The Legend of Zelda] put you into a completely non linear environment where you had to look into every nook and cranny of where you were in order to complete the game, which was almost impossible if you did not draw a map of every room you went through. So, lets light this candle.

Story: 8

Storytelling wasn't very frequent in games back in the NES days and all we got was a backstory in the manuals. So I'll just go by whats in there.

In the year 2003 C.C [Cosmic Calendar] the leaders of several planets came together to create the Galactic Federation which also allowed the people who lived there to meet and their technology vastly improved, beckoning a new era of prosperity. Earth also came into contact with the Galactic Federation at this time and everything was good.

But, the Space Pirates came about and started attacking the ships, and looting them. The Federation then created the Galactic Police, but even they could not defeat the Space Pirates.

Now, it is the year 20X5 C.C. [I have no idea what the hell that X is for] and the Space Pirates have stolen canisters containing the Metroids from the planet SR388 which will multiply if exposed to beta rays. Which the Pirates subsequently do, so the Federation sends search teams to the Pirate stronghold inside of the planet Zebes but they are too weak to stop them.

So, the first lady of gaming Samus Aran [who in the manual was a male cyborg with superpowers] is sent into Zebes to obliterate the Space Pirates, their leader Mother Brain, and the Metroids.

You really don't get stuff like this in the manuals anymore.

Gameplay: 8

I mentioned above how linear the game is and any Metroid player will tell you, you can do the game in pretty much any order you want.

The main object of the game is to explore the planet and find the powerups that can make you even stronger, and you have to kill some mini-bosses. You also don't really know where the hell you are most of the time, you just have to look everywhere until you find the way you are supposed to go. So, you can probably think of Metroid like a 2D Zelda, except Metroid doesn't have a map.

The powerups you find are things like Energy Tanks which give you 100 more hit points [although it is a pain in the ass that you only have 30 whenever you start the game], and Missile Tanks which add 5 more Missiles to your inventory. You also get to find more unorthodox things like boots that make you jump really high, the morph ball which turns you into a ball and allows you to drop little energy bombs, the screw attack which turns your jumps into some kind of energy buzz saw, an attachment for your armor which makes it more durable, and able to withstand high temperatures, and different energy beam add ons like the Wave Beam [penetrates walls] and the Ice Beam [freezes things, and is necessary to kill the Metroids], you also have to find the Long Beam which allows you to hit things that are farther away than six feet away from you.

The enemy's you fight are simple things, they mostly just bounce around, crawl around, or shoot things at you. But going by the time this game was made, they are quite advanced.

As for the levels you are in, they are big maze like areas filled with long corridors that go up or down and are filled with small areas which usually have a Missile Tank or an Energy Tank in them.

All of this is well and good, but the problems are simple things that could of been changed to make everything better, like Samus being unable to duck down or aim in angles to hit things, only starting with 30 hit points whenever you load a game which will run out very quickly if you don't find health fast, and the lack of a map which means that if you want to know where you are going, draw a map.

Challenge: 9

One of the things you have to remember about old games is that they are hard, and Metroid is no exception. And that is basically for the reasons I have already mentioned. You have no map, so you have to look through every inch of every room to find everything, and if you want to remember where the hell you are going, you need to have some kind of map to find it.

Everything in here is much tougher than the newer games like Hunters, Fusion, Zero Mission, and the Prime series because they held your hand most of the time. In this game, you just get dropped into a huge maze and you have to find your way though everything without any help.

If you were able to beat this game without using a map when it came out, I salute you.

Controls: 6

While by today's standards Metroid would be horrible in this section, for its time it was quite good.

It is easy enough to move Samus around but jumping can be a pain sometimes in some of the vertical corridors where it is easy to miss and fall back down to the bottom. I also mentioned being unable to crouch down to fire at enemies close to you, which was only doable by jumping in the air, aiming down, and hammering on the fire button. And the inability to aim in other angles besides up, down, and forward is a pain.

Most of these things would be acceptable in 1986 [when the game came out] because of the limitations of the NES controller, but nowadays, the game would be shunned. Luckily, the GBA remake of this game [Zero Mission] does a good job at fixing these problems.

Graphics: 8

Although for the NES all that had to be done for the score to be high here was making everything look real enough, Metroid looked really good for its time. You can tell what everything is, and the levels you are in look good enough, from the creepy cave like areas to the lava bubbling in Norfair, and the well designed enemies.

There isn't really much to be said except that the areas are well designed, the enemies look good, and the colors look good.

Sound: 9

Considering that all of the music and sound effects at the time were digitally synthesized bleeps and bloops, the developers of Metroid did an amazing job.

Most of the music like the Brinstar and Norfair themes are catchy and were good enough to be remixed into the newer games. The sound effects are also good, Samus' attacks sound distinctive enough, and even the sound of Samus running sounds good.

Atmosphere: 9

As I have said, the levels are creepy, you always feel like you are lost and on your own, and you are given free reign to explore Zeebes. Metroid does a good job of immersing you into this adventure Samus is on.

Replayability: 7

The main reason people keep playing Metroid is Speed Running and Sequence Breaking. If you look around you can find some websites where people have beaten this game in half an hour and posted the video of it online. While I am not very good at speed running, the people who are can keep playing so they can get the best record which I think is currently 18 minutes.

Pros:
Massive areas to explore, great sound effects, Samus is one of the first female heroes in a video game, the beginning of one of Nintendo's best franchises [and my favorite Nintendo Franchise].

Cons:
Does not stand the test of time very well, clumsy controls by today's standards, damned tough if you don't know what you're doing.

Should you get it:
I would recommend this to anyone who still owns a NES, and if you don't at least try getting Metroid: Zero Mission which is a great remake of the game, or download it on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Overall:

Metroid began one of Nintendo's best franchises very well, and proved that women could be just as badass as men were in video games. And although Metroid does not stand the test of time very well, it is still an excellent game if you can handle the differences between this one to other Metroid games like Metroid: Fusion and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption which came out around 20 years after this game was released.

8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/08

Game Release: Metroid (US, August 1986)