Metroid: Zero Mission

"Much more than a mere port."

Introduction

To call Metroid: Zero Mission a direct port of the original Metroid is wrong. It is much more a brand new game that is strongly based on the original. As if you needed any kind of idea as to exactly how different this updated version is, the original Metroid is an unlockable feature at the end of the game. This does give, in my opinion, at least, an added sense of value to the cartridge in that it is technically two games in one. Granted, the original Metroid was also unlockable if you owned both Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, and a game link, but who in the hell besides me was stupid enough to buy a game link?

First, let's address the differences between the original Metroid and Zero Mission. Even if you've beaten the original Metroid a thousand times over, Zero Mission will still be a fresh experience to you. Granted, having played the original, you'll be going into Zero Mission with a bit of an advantage in that you'll already have a fairly good idea of the map layout and you'll have a good idea of where you need to go next, but that's it. A lot of new items from the later Metroid games have been added to the game, such as the Speed Booster, and to compensate for this fact, most of the puzzles (and in a few cases, the game's geography itself) has been changed significantly.

Challenge-wise, I firmly maintain that Zero Mission is a little easier than the original Metroid was, but not because any of the enemies or battles were made any easier. Mother Brain handed Samus's ass to her just as many times this time through as she did back in 1986. What makes the gameplay unfortunately a lot easier is the influences of the latter Metroid games present in Zero Mission. Namely, the automap, downloadable map data for each area, conveniently-placed save points that replace the harsh and unforgiving password system of the original Metroid, and the way the game is constantly holding your hand and telling you which area to explore next. The fact that the item statues now restore Samus's health and missiles is kind of a gray area here, mainly due to the fact that even in the original Metroid, all you had to do to fully restore your health and missiles was stand over an enemy generator and keep shooting. I finally wrote it off as an issue of convenience.

Sound: 10/10

The sound was, in my opinion, one of Zero Mission's marvelous achievements. All of your favorite music from the original returns in Zero Mission, sounding just as good, if not better than it always has. The sound effects meet my one and only requirement in that they must not be overly obnoxious, mainly because you have to listen to them more or less constantly throughout the game. So there's no complaints here, and Zero Mission gets a perfect 10 out of 10 in the sound and music section.

Graphics: 10/10

Given the graphics in the original Metroid, you're probably assuming that Zero Mission was retooled to look a lot nicer. And you'd be right in that assumption. Metroid: Zero Mission closely resembles Metroid Fusion in the graphics department. The backgrounds are much more detailed than before, everything looks a lot better than before, yet at the same time, the ''old-school'' look is still deeply present. This is probably because both Metroid Fusion and consequently Zero Mission look suspiciously similar to Super Metroid for the SNES. And the whole package is topped off with the occasional CG cutscene at appropriate plot intervals (this seems to be a standard in most NES and SNES that have been ported over to the GBA). Though I can't help but pick on Nintendo just a little bit for finally breaking down and depicting an invariably sexy suitless Samus in these CG scenes. Looks like Nintendo finally tossed what little integrity it had left down the drain.

Gameplay: 10/10

And then there was the gameplay. Metroid, at it's heart, has always been about classic side-scrolling action and massive exploration. And that's exactly what you get with Metroid: Zero Mission. The classic Metroid formula of open-ended exploration action gameplay remains ever-present in this latest installation in the series. To compare it to the latest game before it, Metroid Fusion, Zero Mission is very similar while at the same time doing a lot to improve on it. Namely, though Zero Mission still tends to hold your hand and walk you through the game, it does it to a far lesser extent than Fusion did. You might recall that the linearity was one of peoples' major complaints about Metroid Fusion, along with the overall short length of the game itself. And that brings me to my next point.

People complain a lot that this game is very short, even with the additional area (which I'll talk about in just a minute), and can be completed by a gamer of average skill in about six hours. However, these same people consistently neglect to mention that there isn't a Metroid game in existence much longer than that, so I really wish they'd quit their bitching and shut up already. The Metroid series has never been about extensively long games, but it has always crammed a lot of fun and enjoyment into the short and complex games it offered, and that is exactly what Metroid: Zero Mission delivers.

I also mentioned a new area before. Metroid: Zero Mission attempts to further explain the plot of the original Metroid, and it doesn't stop at just entirely rearranging the specific events of that game, therefore kind of writing it off more or less as a bad flashback of sorts. This game contains a brand-new playable area that picks up right after the events of the original game end. To avoid spoiling anything, there isn't much I can say about it except that it adds a considerable amount of length and playability onto a game that was already a remake of an entire Metroid game. Though, as I mentioned above, this addition still doesn't seem to be enough to quench many players' thirst for an apparently endless Metroid game.

Overall: 10/10

In short, even if you own and love the original Metroid, (especially if you own and love the original Metroid), Zero Mission is a worthy purchase and a great addition to any Game Boy Advance library. The same can be said for Metroid Fusion- if you liked it, you'll like Zero Mission, especially seeing as Zero Mission has done a lot to improve upon Metroid Fusion as I discussed earlier. The addition of an unlockable version of the original Metroid to Zero Mission is just icing on the cake.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/04