"This game would sparkle with more! It is the truth in sense, yes!!!"

Ranking:

Graphics: 6/10
Sound Effects: 7/10
Music: 9/10
Originality: 10/10
Play Control: 8/10
Group Enjoyment: 5/10
Individual Enjoyment: 7/10
Challenge: 6/10
Ending: 5/10
Gameplay 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Picture, if you will, the future. Maybe not your idea of what the future will look like, but a future nonetheless. This future has many things our society does as well - bounty hunters, space exploration, high-tech artillery, advanced modes of transportation - but it is still a bleak place to be. To make a living, one must often do things they don't wish to do. Today's game is Metroid for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and our main character is a woman - Samus Aran, the intergalactic bounty hunter.

In this future, there exists a race of beings called ''Metroids'', energy-devouring monsters that have been attacking people and ships across the galaxy. Recently, there has been evidence that 2 intergalactic terrorists, Ridly and Kraid, have begun working in cooperation with the Metroids. Samus has been contracted to find out if there is any truth to these rumors, and rid the galaxy of the both the Metroids and the bounty hunters. Samus, knowing that she could be taken into a number of hostile settings and areas, suits up in her Protective Body Armor, configures her Arm cannon for action, and tracks a Metroid to the planet Zebes. Upon landing, she travels down into the darkness, unaware of what awaits her and her mission...

The game Metroid chronicles Samus and her plight beneath the surface of the planet Zebes. Samus starts off easily out-powered and out-maneuvered, but she gains more power and abilities from ''Item Balls''. Samus gains new weapons, new armor, and new abilities, which allow her to backtrack to previous sections of the game and explore new areas. Ultimately, though, Samus must locate and defeat the two Galactic Terrorists, then find her way to the final region of Zebes and destroy the Metroids and their leader once and for all.

So, does Samus make it, or does she fail miserably in her quest?

Good Points:
This game is pretty much a bunch of good points rolled into one. First off - the graphics. Samus is animated rather well, whether she's running, jumping, shooting missiles, or rolling into a ball. The enemies and landscapes look good as well. The music is quite nice, being catchy and well-written. The sound effects give a generalized idea of what these strange creatures would sound like, and I feel they match the mood and feeling of the game. Originality is through the roof, and the play control is easy to figure out and easy to do.

Bad Points:
To be honest, the game really is rather bleak. The only way you actually find out ANYTHING about the plot of the game, or what your objective is, is if you have the instruction book (or you read my opening). If you haven't read either, then you find yourself as a weird lookin' person walking around in dark areas, shooting bad guys and collecting power ups. You have no idea where you're headed, what you need new items for, or where you'll need them. It'd be nice if Samus had some sort of inner dialog, so you could at LEAST understand what the weapons did...

General Ratings:

Graphics:

Graphical Content - 3/5 points.
Animation - 3/5 points.
Total - 6/10.

The graphics were slighty above-average in this game. Samus is animated well, but the monsters were left with roughly 2 frames of animation each. What's even worse, though, is that along with the low number of enemies in the game, the number is actually lower because there's (gasp!) palette swapping! To be honest, I hate palette swapping because it gives the illusion of more enemies, when you're merely fighting a stronger version of an older enemy. Now, I can appreciate the fact that if a new enemy had been created, it would usually have to have a new set of parameters for movement, attacking, etc., but the programmers COULD have just made a completely new graphic for an enemy that happens to attack in the same way.

Rants aside, let me continue on with the graphics. The backgrounds are comprised of the Nintendo standard - several blocks of the same design, overlapped so as to give the ''bricklayer'' effect. There are LOTS of different styles of these bricks, so there is a lot of variety in the backgrounds. However, just like the enemies, there appears to be less variety in the bricks simply because they are used over and over, with different colors. Yeesh, what is this, Super Mario Bros.?


Sound:

Sound Quality - 3/5 points.
Sound Originality - 4/5 points.
Total - 7/10.

The sounds in this game are actually pretty good. While some of them aren't very suiting, the majority of them fit what they are used for, and don't sound overly obnoxious. For instance - Samus' footfalls when she runs from one area to another is perfect, but her jumping sound is a little hammy. The sound a missile makes when it blasts something (and causes it to explode) is great, while the sound of a regular shot hitting a red (or yellow) door is kinda silly. Granted, we have no idea what a pulse-shot would sound like if it ricocheted off of a bubble-esque door, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't sound like a cheap horn.

Music:

Music Quality - 5/5 points.
Music Quantity - 4/5 points.
Total - 9/10 points.

The music is great! It is catchy, yet well written. It doesn't get on your nerves, and it's upbeat and lively or slow and minor, depending on the mood of the stage it is used in. For example - the piece ''Norfair/Kraid'' is written in 3/8 time, but feels like it is slow and melancholy. The bass is playing a simple pattern, while the saw lead (the main melody) plays an alternating major/minor passage, then switches to a major passage, then switches to a minor patter on the bass with a major run on the lead. The song gives you the feeling of a depressing sanctuary, with redemption/refuge from the torment just around the corner. All this, in a 15+ year-old Nintendo game! And this is just ONE of the pieces in the game!


Originality:

Aesthetics - 3/3 points.
Controls Style - 3/3 points.
Plot - 4/4 Points.
Total - 10/10.

The originality is off the scale here. This game isn't your usual side scroller, as it truly isn't a side scroller (it include vertical areas as well). The game isn't linear at all, as you must find your way through each area to find items (some hidden, some not), then backtrack to get to a new area you couldn't get to before. The style of the game (you can get hurt, but replenish your life with items dropped by enemies) was previously unheard of (except for him 1942, but that was in a different application).

The plot is another good point of the originality...but that isn't actually cataloged in the game, sadly. If it was integrated more into the game, it would feel better, but it simply feels like the game was made, and a story was made after the fact. Not that this is detrimental to the game itself, I just wished the story was in the game.

Play Control:

Figuring out the Controls - 4/5 points.
Using the Controls - 4/5 points.
Total - 8/10 Points.

The play control starts out simple - jump, duck, and shoot - and gets more complex as the game goes on (multiple jumps, using bombs and missiles, combining jumping and bombs to travel to new areas, etc.). While some of the later moves are difficult to do, none of them are that difficult to figure out. Play control for this game = pretty good.

Enjoyment:

Can it hold others attention - 5/10 points (average).
Does it interest you - 7/10 points (above average).

The game holds your attention mostly when you discover a new weapon or area. You'll find that most of your time is spent wandering around, trying to find the next area. As for other people - since there isn't any interaction with them, the most this game can offer is ''Hey, I know where the next place you're supposed to go is!'' It gets an average rating...however, if this game had actually had a 2-player section, then it would have a different score (possibly...unless the 2-player part had been an AVERAGE 2-player part).

Challenge:

Challenge factor - 4/5 points.
Challenge pacing - 2/5 points.
Total - 6/10 points.

The challenge for this game is pretty high at times, which gave it high marks. However, as I stated earlier, the pacing is downright awful at times. In order to find certain items, you have to accomplish weird shots or jumps to make it to them. For instance - in order to get the Varia suit, you have to have the super jump boots. However, there is no way of finding out if you need the super jump boots, or if you're just supposed to try to bomb you way up there! For all you know, you HAVE to try a certain way to get to a certain area, only to find out later that there would have been an easier way. Geez talk about bad pacing...

Of course, an inner monologue would have helped here, too. If you couldn't make it to a certain area, have Samus think to herself ''Maybe if I could jump higher/further'' or ''I'll bet repeated bombing could get me in there'' would cut down on the confusion. However, an inner monologue probably wouldn't have helped if you simply stumbled into the wrong place - ''Ack! I'm stuck in lava, and I can't jump out because the stupid block reappears ON me instead of below me! To top it all off, I've got this irritating monster-thingy hitting me all the time, and I can't get rid of him! AHHH!!!!'' Oh well...

Gameplay:

Controlling the game - 4/5 points.
Understanding the game - 3/5 points.
Total - 7/10 Points.

The gameplay was VERY unique at the time - you are given a quest, and you have to accomplish that quest somehow. You have no idea how you're going to do it, but you must do it. Therefore, you set off and fight some enemies. You eventually collect items, which you must experiment with in different situations to figure out their usage. By figuring these out, you are rewarded with either better weapons, better items, more abilities, or new areas to explore. Get the picture? The gameplay is rather basic, and feels lagging at times (the figuring out of each area and/or weapon usage gets old after a while), but it's better than a lot of games for the Nintendo.

Ending:

Aesthetics - 1/5 points.
Story - 4/5 points.
Total - 5/10 points.

I can't give any spoilers, but I can say this - it's the typical ending for a Nintendo game. At least it wraps up what happened (and leaves it open for a sequel)...

Overall:
Overall, this game is a myriad of quests and trials rolled into one large game. You have to find stuff by accomplishing odd feats, then go back to previous areas so you can get that life tank that will allow you to survive the next area so you can get that next big gun so you can take on Ridley...you get the picture. While the game DOES have a plot, I wish it had been integrated into the game to cut down on confusion. Overall, though, the game is fun, and is sure to entertain...or at LEAST keep you occupied for an hour or so.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/01, Updated 01/17/01