Metroid

"The game that started the amazing franchise."

If you're a gamer, then you should've at least heard of the Metroid series. Many amazing games were created under the Metroid name, including classics like Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. In this review, I'm going to tell you about the game that started it all.

Metroid was created during the era of the Nintendo Entertainment System. (or NES) It was one of Nintendo's major titles, alongside Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. While it wasn't as popular as either of the two aforementioned titles, it was still a great game.

Gameplay: 7/10

Metroid's gameplay was very unique for the time. If you merged Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda together then you would get this game. Metroid was a platformer, but there was a lot of exploration in it also. This exploration forced you to go somewhere that was unknown in platformers: left.

The main objective of the game is to defeat two aliens, Kraid and Ridley, so that you can destroy the evil Mother Brain. But Ridley and Kraid are not just sitting in plain sight. No, you must explore the planet to find them. You also need to find certain power-ups, such as the Screw Attack, which lets you saw through objects, the Ice Beam, which let's you kill Metroid‘s, and the famous Maru-Mari, (renamed Morph-Ball in later games) which turns you into a ball.

Most people considered the exploration factor of the game to be a good thing, which it is. However, there was one big mistake that Nintendo made that makes the exploration a whole lot worse: there's no map. This makes getting lost very easy. To you even more, a lot of the rooms in the game have no use at all, making the entire game a massive maze full of -ends. This can make the game somewhat difficult for a gamer who spent his/her whole life playing an X-Box 360 or Playstation 3, but gamers who grew up in the 80's shouldn't have any problems.

Believe it or not, Metroid isn't entirely about exploration. There is some action also. Many aliens will attempt to end your quest. To defeat them, you must use your Arm Cannon, which can fire your Beam and Missiles These weapons are essential in defeating monsters.

However, my other major complaint about the game has to do with the combat. You can only shoot up, left, or right, you can't squat and shoot like you can in the later games. This means that you can't kill enemies smaller than you until you get the Wave Beam later on in the game.

And finally, let's talk about the boss battles. They weren't utterly amazing, but they were somewhat difficult to beat, which is nice. The games three bosses continued to make many appearances in future games, though, so they obviously weren't that bad. Also, the final boss is one of the most famous bosses ever, and the fight is referenced many times in later games, even if they have nothing to do with Metroid.

All the bosses are defeated by firing missiles, dodging, and then firing missiles again. Nothing complex, but it was a nice change from bosses just by jumping over their head and hitting an ax.

Story: 8/10

Like many things in this game, the story isn't that great by today's standards, but it was wonderful back in the 80's when all video game stories were about saving princess' from monsters. Here's the story:

The evil Space Pirates have discovered a very dangerous creature called a Metroid. Metroid's are parasitic life-forms that will latch onto your head and suck out your energy, eventually you. Even worse, Metroid's will multiply when exposed to beta rays. The pirates figured that with an army of Metroids, they could conquer the universe.

Of course, the Galactic Federation doesn't like this idea, so they send bounty-hunter Samus Aran to the Space Pirates' base on Planet Zebes. According to the instruction manual, Samus is a powerful cyborg who is amazingly good at doing his job. So Samus flies to Zebes in his spaceship.

Once he lands, he heads toward Tourian, the core of the planet where all the Metroids and the Space Pirate supercomputer, Mother Brain are. However, he finds out that Tourian can't be accessed until the guardians, Kraid and Ridley, are defeated. So Samus embarks on his adventure to kill Kraid and Ridley, stop the Metroid cloning program, and destroy the Mother Brain.

Graphics and Sound: 9/10

The graphics and sound are the high points of the game. Both of them together can actually make you think that you are lost on a distant planet, something that not many NES games could do.

The graphics are the best you could get back when this game was released. Yes, you can easily tell that everything is pixilated, but not as much as games like Super Mario Bros. Every color used is a dark color, making the “lost on a distant planet” feeling even better. The Metroids receive bonus points from me, as they are easily the coolest looking creature I've seen on the NES.

Metroid also has some of the best music on the NES. When you first turn the game on, you are greeted by eerie music that you'll remember for the rest of your life. The rest of the music is just as good, playing happy and upbeat music sometimes, and dark and creepy music other times.

Replay Value: 8/10

Many gamers replay Metroid all the time. The game has five different endings, changing depending on how fast you beat the game. Most people will want to replay it until they get the best ending.

After you've seen all the endings, you may want to speed-run the game. Many people have completed the game in under an hour. When you get bored with that, you can sequence break through the game. (If you don't know what that is, then look it up!) The Metroid series is great for sequence breaking. And after you've done that, you can… well, you get the point. You can play through the game many times and never get bored.

Overall Score: 8/10

You might want to by this. It was amazing back in the 80's, and if you buy it then you'll be owning a piece of video game history. Also, the game is very easy to find. (I own eight copies.) However, if you have spent your whole life playing a current generation system then I would recommend not buying this game because it'll probably frustrate you like crazy. To close the review, I'll say this: Metroid is a very great game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/09/09

Game Release: Metroid (US, August 1986)