"Say... This looks a lot like the original Metroid. Is this...a remake? You bet your sweet ass it is! And a good one at that."

Another Metroid game eh? How could they go wrong? I plopped the little cartridge into my GBA and off I was. The game opens up to some snazzy little cut scenes, giving some background on the story. Metroids on planet Zebes! Go kill them! Upon reading it I thought to myself, “Hmm, that sounds an awful lot like the 1st Metroid. O well.” I started the game, and then thought again, geez no originality. The starting point is the same as the original also, o well. I decided to take a left 1st because I remembered how in the original, the morph ball was immediately to the left, so I wanted to see if it was there to. Sure enough sitting there exactly the same as the original was the morph ball. Crap, I soon realized that I was stuck, smack in the middle of another Nintendo remake. God, how many times has Nintendo remade old games for the GBA? Like 50? How utterly lame. Here I was expecting an entirely new game and I get a freaking remake of the original, which I own. Needless to say I was disappointed, but I already opened it, so there would be no returning it for me, sigh… Well my expectations were low as I started playing through the remake of the original Metroid.

Gameplay - 9/10
Has more in common with Super Metroid than Metroid (the original). The environment and map layout is the same as originally, however a lot of new areas and secrets have been added. Items not in the original but in Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion have also been added. Ex. Super Missiles, Super Bomb, Space jump. New abilities have also been added; Ability to wall jump, hang onto ledges (extremely useful), etc. These new features are nice, but make the game extremely easier than originally. No longer are precision jumps required on a daily basis, you can now sloppily jump from ledge to ledge, without to much concern, knowing that if Samus lands anywhere near the edge, she’ll cling to it and hoist herself up. Speaking of easy, this game reeks of it. The word hard and Metroid: Zero Mission, need not be used together in the same sentence. However, there is a “hard mode” to be played once you beat the game for the first time. One of the new features to this game is where the end of the original Metroid comes, this game continues. Nintendo has added in a large playable area, after where the game originally ended. Gameplay is like what you would expect from a Metroid game, completely non-linear. Lots of secrets, hidden passageways, and multiple paths can be taken to arrive at your destination. On a different note, Ridley and Kraid (the bosses) look a lot better. They have been enlarged and no longer look like retarded midgets. They now look more intimidating and present more of a challenge, than they originally did, when they jumped around the screen and shot at you, stupidly. Remember what they looked like and how they acted in Super Metroid? Well, evidently Nintendo was hoping you wouldn’t, because they use the exact same attacks and fighting patterns as Super Metroid. Geez… a little originality please. This remake also provides the user with a much-appreciated map. This helps a lot, I remember playing this game when I was younger, and since they didn’t provide you with your own map, I was forced to make one, because without it, I would have become hopelessly lost. In conclusion, when I first started to play this game I was upset because it was a remake, but the more I played it, the more I liked it. Gameplay is good and reminds us what a real Metroid game was like.

Funfactor – 10/10
How can this be given anything less? Game is almost identical to Super Metroid, which could possibly be the most fun game ever made. A lot of fun. You will enjoy your experience in this game, I guarantee it.

Control – 9/10
Controls are flawless except for the way Samus jumps. It is hard to explain, but when you play, you will notice what I’m speaking of. A cool feature is, instead of hitting select to switch to your missiles, you now hold the R button and fire. I didn’t like it at first, but the more I used it the more I liked it. It is an easier and faster way to unload missiles on your alien counterparts. Good controls.

Graphics - 10/10
Good, I guess. It’s on the GBA, so I cant really tell how good they really are. Looks good to my eyes. I can see what I need to shoot, and that is what is important

Replayability 9/10
A lot is here, as you can probably figure. Game is not at all, as linear as Metroid Fusion. There are multiple difficulties and endings you can try to get. Plus, rounding up all the items lying around may entice you to try and play through it again. Since the game can be beaten in about 3 hours, your first run through may leave you unfulfilled and wanting more.

Music/Sound 6/10
Yuck Metroid sound… the same damn theme runs over and over again, depending on what part of the game you are in. Not to mention the music is the same as it was in Super Metroid. Someone tell the Metroid creators that it’s ok to make more than 6 musical tracks for a Metroid game. Sound effects are good. I suppose…

Story – 7/10
Story is introduced at the beginning and the player is shown various cut-scenes throughout the game. Other than that there is not much of a story introduced. What little of a story there is, goes something like this: Once upon a time, in the future, a group of space pirates steal, from a deep-research station, a capsule containing an unknown life-form that has been newly discovered on Planet SR388. This life form has been suspected of destroying the civilization on planet SR388. If this organism were to fall in the wrong hands and be allowed to multiply, disaster would be imminent. The space pirates are tracked to Planet Zebes, but due to the complexity of the planet and the pirate’s defenses, the research station has been unsuccessful at trying to recapture its specimen. As a last attempt to recapture the specimen, they send one lone bounty hunter into Planet Zebes. Not a bad story, which needed to be implied more.

Overall – 9/10

Pros
- New areas
- New weapons/abilities
- Game continues where the original ended

Cons
- Short
- New abilities make the game very easy

A good remake of the original. I feel like it’s a little easy and definitely to short. I also get the feeling like Nintendo held my hand through the game, telling me where to go, recharging my life at every couple of screens, etc. Still a good game that is worth buying if you have or haven’t played the original.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/04