Metroid: Zero Mission

"Zero Mission Looks Nice, is quick fun, but nothing special"

I've played all the Metroids. The first one I played was Super Metriod, seeing as I didn't even get a NES until after N64 came out. They are all fun games, but I can't feel anything but disappointment after this one. It just doesn't seem to do anything new.

Game play-
First off, this game is way too easy. Comparing to the original Metroid, this is just child's play. I died once on Mother Brain, and that was it. The other bosses took less than a minute or two to dispatch. The final boss was a joke, and I'm not all that good at video games.

Controls are good. I actually like holding ''R'' to shoot a missile rather than ''select''. The angle button is nice, and I'm not sure if it was new or not from Fusion, but angling down was helpful. I do prefer the physics of Super Metroid. Turning into a ball and keeping your upward momentum is really missed in this game at times.

Probably the worst thing about this game are the Chozo statues that tell you where to go next. That takes all the fun out of exploring. At least in Metroid Prime, it was an option to turn it on, like if you rented it and wanted to complete the game or play enough to know to buy it. But here you can't even skip the statues, they are in the way. Also, the game was so linearized from the original. You could collect just about every powerup and ability before finding a boss. Here, you just follow along like a little child where the game tells you.

Most of the item locations are similar to the original, again something I liked. But anyone who thought previous knowledge from the first game would help is sadly mistaken. Knowing where the Varia suit is doesn't help you get it any sooner, unless you are really good at the bombing jump trick which I am pathetic at. Plus, the game was going to tell you where it was anyway, so you don't feel anything special when you find it. I remember having sense of accomplishment when I found an important powerup, especially since most were not required in the original.

Story-
Um, it's not really there, at least not anything new. Just about anyone that is a Metroid fan knows the storyline for this game anyway. Maybe not the new additions, but the major points. Speaking of the new additions, they just kind of confused me. Some powerups are not activated until after the original Metroid story ends, which seems appropriate. However others are not. If you are going to wait to activate most of the powerups seen in Super Metroid, why not wait for all of them? I wasn't very happy to find a super missile very early in the game. Okay, back to the story that was attempted to be ''better explained'' in the remake. So we saw a picture of the Mother Brain observing Samus, big deal. The stills were a joke. I know GBA doesn't have the best processing power, but still...

Graphics and Sound-

Wonderful, although graphics aren't the most important part of the game. I still play old NES games all the time, and it isn't for the graphics. I almost wonder if they spent too much time on the graphics and not making the game play better or longer. The game looks as good as Super Metroid and I love the remixes. I actually like Kraid's original music better, but this is still great, especially compared to some of the lesser soundtracks other games have employed. I've never really been able to tell what is a good sound effect and what is bad. I can tell what is horrible (like a wooden club making a clang when it hits something), that's about it. Never had anything that stuck out to me, so...

Play Time/Replayability-

This is where this game has a huge downfall. It's just too darn short. I was under three hours on my first time through. I admit, I only found a bit over 1/3 of the items, but still. The main storyline game play should be a lot longer than this. Other than collecting the powerups, there really isn't that much more to do after you beat it. Second time through, got 100% also in less than three hours. I know to get the best ending you need to do it in less than 2, but I just don't feel the desire to try to sprint through an already short game just to get a new picture still of a cartoon videogame character. Maybe if the storyline changed, but not for stills.

Early Metroids were not that long either but the limited space on a cartridge played a huge part in that. The original Metroid made up for some of the time by being hard. Yes, having only 30 life after dying was a big pain, but honestly I think that was the only way the programmers could get some extra length into those old games.

As for replayabilty, you could go two ways on this. A die hard fan could play through this numerous numerous times without a problem, especially if reaching the 100% and under 2 hours is a goal. I'm sure it's easy for some people, but I think it would take me quite a few times to get that. Some of the ''storing the dash charge'' items can be a pain in the rear to get. I don't want to think how many times it took me to get that second to last energy tank.

Overall, I'd say the average gamer, who doesn't feel they have to put in as many hours on a game as dollars it cost, wouldn't want to play this game more than 2-3 times, total of 10-15 saved hours max.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/18/04