"Metroid: Heavily flawed, irritating as Hell... and one of the best games in all of videogame history!"

Metroid is an Action\Platform or Action\Adventure developed by Nintendo. It is the first game in the Metroid series, one of the best franchises Nintendo has ever created, with Super Metroid one of the best games ever made. Metroid is also… heavily flawed, annoying as hell and probably the worst in the series… however in an almost magical way it holds a very special place in the hearts of many gamers and for a damn good reason!

Story: N/A

Metroid is one of these rare occasions where you have a story… without a story! These games tend to be my favorite when it comes to storytelling because they make me feel like I'm into the game… like I am experiencing the events the moment they happen. Apart from 2 sort messages, one as intro and another one as the ending, Metroid has no additional text whatsoever but it manages to have a great plot… even though most of it is in the game's manual. Metroid is a sci-fi tale that takes place in the distant future, a time where various civilizations combined their powers and created a Galactic Federation and while trade between planets prospered so did various space pirates… The GF hired bounty hunters to track them down and kill them and the best one and the most mysterious is Samus Aran, whose identity is hidden under a powerful robotic exoskeleton. Of course most of you know who is Samus, but I won't say anything else for the few that don't… I just don't want to spoil it for you. Now on with the story… some scientists have found a strange creature -that they've named Metroid- in a planet empty of life and after a while came to the conclusion that the Metroid was the thing that actually destroyed everything! They take it back to their labs to examine it… but suddenly Pirates attack the scientists, steal the creature and take it back to their Planet Zebes where they plan to multiply it and set it loose to destroy everything. Your mission? Go underground in Zebes, kill all the Metroids and the Mastermind behind this evil plan, the mysterious Mother Brain.

Gameplay: 6.8/10
Replay Value: 5.5/10

Metroid was quite a revolutionary title for its time, since it wasn't linear and it was mainly an exploration game and not just another run & jump title. In Metroid you have to explore a vast world full of secrets, strengthen your hero and gain special items that will help you reach a certain area you couldn't before. For example you will find an Ice Beam with which you can freeze flying enemies and step on them and use them as platforms, use High Jump boots to reach a very high place or morph into a ball and roll inside narrow passages. People that don't like exploration games will hate Metroid and all the titles of the franchise. That's what Metroid is all about… searching, searching, searching! Along your quest you will also find missiles, with which you can kill powerful enemies or open certain special doors and you will also find Energy Tanks that will add another 99 health points to your hero's suit. While not a very big game Metroid will take you some time to finish it and that mainly due to the fact that Zebes is a very dangerous maze. Also while not so complex, many of the areas of the game are way too similar with each other so unless you draw a map or have a good sense of orientation the game will drive you nuts! Another good thing is that Metroid due to its non-linearity is a great game for Speedruns. There are multiple endings that have to do with the time it takes you to reach the end but they aren't something special… the real fun is in the gameplay.

So far so good, but while I love this game I'm obliged to tell you about its many problems. First of all Samus is not the uber-soldier of Super Metroid. You can only shoot in front of you and upwards and only 3 shots at a time so you have to time them carefully in order to shoot some of the faster enemies. The problem is that Metroid was built for multidirectional shooting because there are many areas where enemies will attack you from all possible directions and in very narrow areas and you won't be able to do anything… oh, and you can forget about evading moves… Samus while fast is not fast and agile enough, not to mention that controls are quite bad. Samus slides a bit too much and is hard to jump around, leading to a lot of lost energy from diving into acid\lava. It's not challenging… its unfair! Finally when restarting a game, (by entering a certain password), you have only 30 points of health!!! So if you have collected all six energy tanks you have to start killing enemies and gather more than 500 health points, a process extremely boring especially when you want to fight the final boss.

Graphics: 7.5/10
Design: 7.8/10

I love the graphics of Metroid and that for 3 reasons. First of all for its minimal design. I always hated 8-Bit era games that tried to look more “realistic” by the use of complex sprites and overall design. Wake up people! NES games need simplicity… like Super Mario 2 & 3 and Kirby, which are simple but look wonderful! Second reason: Metroid looks unique. Its world is something you haven't seen before and it looks believable. By believable I mean that unlike most games we don't have 6-7 worlds with different themes, (grassland, lava land and so on), but a very big world that looks “alive” it looks “real”. There is unique alien vegetation, unique rock formations and creatures that while different from each other have a “similar” design as if they evolved together. Finally Metroid is simply one of the most atmospheric games of the 8-Bit era. Clearly inspired from the original Alien movie, planet Zebes creates a unique feeling of claustrophobia, a feeling of isolation… it is just you and a vast underground world full of unknown dangers. Especially the last area of the game still manages to raise my heartbeat rate… yes folks, an NES game is able to do that! Now besides my personal tastes the game actually looks good. Like I said it is simple but everything has a very good, unique and distinctive design, especially the Metroids and Samus who apart from looking good has great animation.

Sound: 8/10
Music: 9/10

One of the things that contribute to the wonderful atmosphere of the game is the music. Metroid simply has one of the best soundtracks of the NES, starting with the mysterious and “Alien” title theme that creates a feeling of danger, the heroic Brinstar theme, or the claustrophobic themes of the boss lairs, the almost frightening ambient theme of the last area and finally two truly epic themes for the ending of the game… quite simply among the best our humble NES can offer. I also like the sound effects because #1 they are not irritating and #2 they are very distinctive and have a nice variety…. that is all I need from a NES game.

[+]:
-Wonderful non-linear exploration game
-Great for Speedruns
-Great graphics & music
-A very atmospheric game with a great feeling of isolation

[-]:
-Hard to shoot\avoid enemies
-Bad controls
-You start the game with only 30 HP, even with all Energy Tanks collected
-Extreme similarity between areas

Also Play:
Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon (GBA)
Metroid (Series)(SNES, GB, GBA, DS, GC, WII)

Overall: 7.4/10

Metroid will reward those that have enough patience to get past the many problems of the game, because underneath all its annoying flaws Metroid is a wonderful game, an experience like no other on the NES, due to its great atmosphere, its non linear nature and most of all the exploration of a vast and unique world.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/10

Game Release: Metroid (US, August 1986)