Difference between revisions of "Metroid"

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'''''Metroid''''' is a platform adventure game with a science fiction theme. You play the bounty hunter Samus Aran who is trying to stop Mother Brain from creating an army of terrible Metroids, an organism which can suck the life out of all living things. The game is the sister project to [[Kid Icarus: Angel Land Story]] which uses a very similar engine. Metroid is groundbreaking, but suffers several serious flaws that prevent it from being accessible to modern gamers, but it's 2D sequels are fantastic.
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[[Image:Metroid - NES - USA.jpg|thumb|256x256px|North American box art.]]
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'''''Metroid''''' is a platform adventure action game with a science fiction theme released by [[Nintendo]] on the [[Famicom Disk System]] in 1986 and ported to the [[NES]] in 1987. It's the first game in the [[Metroid (Universe)|Metroid series]]. You play a bounty hunter trying to stop Mother Brain from making an army of Metroids, a terrible organism which can suck the life out of all living things.
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Metroid is a pioneer of the [[Metroidvania]] genre, which is one of my favorite types of games. Unfortunately, like many pioneers, it suffers from several serious flaws that prevents it from being accessible to modern gamers. Thankfully, Nintendo remade it as [[Metroid: Zero Mission]], which I suggest as the starting point for anyone wanting to get into the series. Metroid is also the sister project of [[Kid Icarus: Angel Land Story]], and they share similar game engines. A lot of awesome sequels have been made, some with a similar 2D platform style, others with a first-person 3D format.
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I never owned Metroid growing up, but I must have borrowed it from a friend, because I remember playing it while I was still quite young. I didn't get very far on my initial run and died as I was ascending the first vertical shaft! I was a bit shocked to find that you only got one life, which gives you an idea of how popular the 3-life arcade style of game was at the time. Later, my brother and I beat the game with a lot of help from [[The Official Nintendo Player's Guide]]. I still remember wasting hours trying to fill up energy at an enemy spawn site. Much later, in my 30s I decided to try and beat the game again, just from my memory. I did pretty good (only needed to consult a map a couple times), and got a better ending because I did it all in one sitting.
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==Status==
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I own this game on the NES and have beaten it and seen the ashamed ending and helmet reveal ending.
  
 
==Review==
 
==Review==
 +
* '''Overall:''' 6/10
 +
* '''Best Version:''' [[Metroid: Zero Mission]] for Game Boy Advance
 +
 
===Good===
 
===Good===
* The graphics are amazing for the time. Each zone has its own feel and ambience. Areas like Norfair feel alive and crawling with dangerous beasties. and Kraid's hideout feels creepy and dangerous.
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* The graphics are great for the time. Each zone has its own feel and ambience. Areas like Norfair have a hellish inferno feel, Kraid's hideout is alive and creepy, while Ridley's hideout is desolate and dangerous.
 
* [[Hirokazu Tanaka]]'s score adds so much to the feel of the game from the motivational Brinstar theme, to the loneliness of Norfair, the power of Kraid's hideout, and the insidiousness of Ridley's hideout and Tourain. The title and ending themes are fantastic and even the quietness of the item rooms and the game start and get item jingles are very hummable.
 
* [[Hirokazu Tanaka]]'s score adds so much to the feel of the game from the motivational Brinstar theme, to the loneliness of Norfair, the power of Kraid's hideout, and the insidiousness of Ridley's hideout and Tourain. The title and ending themes are fantastic and even the quietness of the item rooms and the game start and get item jingles are very hummable.
* While the game has the typical platformer power-ups (high jump, longer range shot, better armor, etc.), Metroid pioneered a lot of interesting ideas like the ability to morph into a ball and drop bombs, the screw attack, and the ice beam making enemies turn into platforms.
+
* While the game has the typical platformer power-ups (high jump, longer range shot, better armor, etc.), Metroid pioneered a lot of interesting ideas like the ability to morph into a ball and drop bombs, the screw attack, and the ice beam turning enemies into platforms.
 
* There are a lot of bonus items to find if you keep at it long enough.
 
* There are a lot of bonus items to find if you keep at it long enough.
* Having Samus be a female was very progressive of the game creators (having her lose clothes for how well the player does was not).
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* Having Samus be a female was quite progressive of the game creators, and I like that expert players could play with her as an obvious female.
* Playing as Samus without her powersuit is a nice reward for beating the game quickly.
 
  
 
===Bad===
 
===Bad===
* The game is very difficult, too much of which comes from the poor player control. You can't shoot at angles, you can't duck, you slide while walking, getting hit throws you around erratically, etc. Thankfully, all of these problems were fixed in [[Metroid II: Return of Samus]].
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* The game is very difficult, too much of which comes from the poor player control. You can't shoot at angles, you can't duck, you slide while walking, getting hit throws you around erratically, etc. Thankfully, these problems were fixed in subsequent Metroid games.
* Without a basic map or quest log, it is pretty much a given that you're going to get lost a lot and spend much of your time back tracking. You're pretty much forced to draw your own map, but this is difficult due to the scrolling nature of the screens.
+
* Without a basic map or quest log, it is pretty much a given that you're going to get lost a lot and spend much of your time back-tracking. You're pretty much forced to draw your own map, but this is difficult due to the scrolling nature of the screens.
* Several sections of the map are entirely useless (especially in Ridley's lair) and serve only to waste your time.
+
* Several sections of the map are useless (especially in Ridley's lair) and serve only to waste your time.
 
* While there are a lot of bonus items, many of them are really hard to find, and, due the difficulty of the game, they're more mandatory than optional (like the screw attack and varia).
 
* While there are a lot of bonus items, many of them are really hard to find, and, due the difficulty of the game, they're more mandatory than optional (like the screw attack and varia).
* Refilling energy and missiles is a very tedious process, and you're forced to do it every time you restart a game with a password.
+
* Rewarding players by having Samus take more of her clothes the better they do is not only inappropriate for a kid's game, but also makes the game insulting to female players. If they had stopped with the final reveal that Samus was a woman, it would have been much better.
* While the FDS version records your time and displays it to you at the character selection screen, the cartridge versions do not, which is disappointing.
+
* Refilling energy and missiles is a very tedious process, and you're forced to do it every time you restart a game with a password, killing your chance at getting the best ending.
 +
* While the FDS version records your time and displays it to you at the character selection screen, the cartridge versions do not, which is disappointing, and instead require a long complicated password.
  
 
===Ugly===
 
===Ugly===
 
* Most of the secret items are hidden without any visible hints, which makes you end up trying to bomb the floor, ceiling, and walls of nearly every room to find them. Also, since the maps must reuse rooms, several places have what appear to be hidden passages, only to turn into a dead-end.
 
* Most of the secret items are hidden without any visible hints, which makes you end up trying to bomb the floor, ceiling, and walls of nearly every room to find them. Also, since the maps must reuse rooms, several places have what appear to be hidden passages, only to turn into a dead-end.
 
* The fake Ice Beam room in Brinstar is really obnoxious and punishes you for exploring.
 
* The fake Ice Beam room in Brinstar is really obnoxious and punishes you for exploring.
* The battle with Kraid is hard, but getting back up from his hideout is stupid frustrating, as is getting his hidden energy tank.
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* The battle with Kraid is hard, getting his secret energy tank is torturous, and getting back up the long tower from his hideout is stupid frustrating.
  
==Releases==
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==Box Art==
The game was originally released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan which would let you save your character on disk. All other regions got a regular cart with a password system. Two versions were created for the Game Boy Advanced, one could be unlocked in Metroid Fusion. Unfortunately, the GBA's height resolution isn't as tall as the NES, so all the graphics are squished making them look terrible. There are four different versions of box art.
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The game was originally released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan which would let you save your character on disk. All other regions got a regular cart with a password system. Two versions were created for the Game Boy Advance, one could be unlocked in Metroid Fusion. Unfortunately, the GBA's height resolution isn't as tall as the NES, so all the graphics are squished making them look terrible. There are four different versions of box art.
  
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
File:Metroid - NES - USA.jpg|The original North American box art. My least favorite for obvious reasons.
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Metroid - FDS - Japan.jpg|Japanese box art for original Famicom Disk System release. Definitely my favorite.
File:Metroid - NES - NA.jpg|North American box art: Re-release. Huge improvement, and quite nice to look at, but it uses Samus's later suit which isn't actually used in this game.
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Metroid - NES - USA.jpg|The North American box art. My least favorite for obvious reasons. The designer must have gotten faulty advice, because zoomers don't float in the air, a rippers don't skid along the ground. However, if they were switched, Samus would be shooting at an invincible ripper.
File:Metroid - NES - China.jpg|Square box art for Asia and some European markets. I rather enjoy this art.
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Metroid - NES - China.jpg|Square box art for Asia and some European markets. I rather enjoy this art.
File:Metroid - FDS - Japan.jpg|Japanese box art for original Famicom Disk System release. Definitely my favorite.
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Metroid - NES - NA.jpg|North American box art: Re-release. Huge improvement, and quite nice to look at, but it uses Samus's Varia suit from Metroid 2, which isn't actually used in this game.
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</gallery>
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==Documentation==
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<gallery>
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Metroid - NES - Manual.pdf|Game manual.
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Metroid - NES - Manual (Revision).pdf|Game manual revision.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 051.jpg|Nintendo Player's Guide, part 1.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 052.jpg|Nintendo Player's Guide, part 2.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 053.jpg|Nintendo Player's Guide, part 3.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 054.jpg|Nintendo Player's Guide, part 4.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 055-056.jpg|Nintendo Player's Guide, part 5.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 057.jpg|Nintendo Player's Guide, part 6.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 058.jpg|Nintendo Player's Guide, part 7.
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Official Nintendo Player's Guide - 128.jpg|Official Nintendo Player's Guide, blurb.
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Nintendo Power - 1988-06 - 050-051.jpg|Nintendo Power, power-up Maps.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
 
==Gallery==
 
==Gallery==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
File:Metroid Map.png|The complete map with spoilers.
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Metroid - NES - Start.png|The start of the game.
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Metroid Map.png|The complete map with spoilers.
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Zac Gorman - Samus At Home and Away.gif|Art by Zac Gorman.
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Zac Gorman - Samus Takes a Break.jpg|Art by Zac Gorman.
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Metroid - Deimon-Remus - 30 Years Fan Art.jpg|30 Year Anniversary art by Deimon-Remus.
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Metroid - Deimon-Remus - Retro Samus.jpg|Retro Samus fan art by Deimon-Remus.
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Metroid - Deimon-Remus - Samus Jumpsuit.jpg|Jumpsuit Samus fan art by Deimon-Remus.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
[[Category: Game]]
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==Links==
[[Category: Videogame]]
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* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/metroid mobygames.com/game/nes/metroid] - MobyGames.
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_(video_game) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_(video_game)] - Wikipedia.
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* [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Metroid_(NES) vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Metroid_(NES)] - Music.
 +
* [http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Games/Hacking/Wiki/index.php/Metroid thealmightyguru.com/Games/Hacking/Wiki/index.php/Metroid] - NES Hacker Database.
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[[Category: Games]]
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[[Category: Video Games]]
 
[[Category: Action]]
 
[[Category: Action]]
 
[[Category: Platformer]]
 
[[Category: Platformer]]
 
[[Category: Adventure]]
 
[[Category: Adventure]]
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[[Category: Run and Gun]]
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[[Category: Metroidvania]]
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[[Category: Games I've Beaten]]
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[[Category: Favorite Games]]
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[[Category: Playable Female Character]]
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[[Category: Science Fiction]]

Revision as of 15:51, 6 October 2017

North American box art.

Metroid is a platform adventure action game with a science fiction theme released by Nintendo on the Famicom Disk System in 1986 and ported to the NES in 1987. It's the first game in the Metroid series. You play a bounty hunter trying to stop Mother Brain from making an army of Metroids, a terrible organism which can suck the life out of all living things.

Metroid is a pioneer of the Metroidvania genre, which is one of my favorite types of games. Unfortunately, like many pioneers, it suffers from several serious flaws that prevents it from being accessible to modern gamers. Thankfully, Nintendo remade it as Metroid: Zero Mission, which I suggest as the starting point for anyone wanting to get into the series. Metroid is also the sister project of Kid Icarus: Angel Land Story, and they share similar game engines. A lot of awesome sequels have been made, some with a similar 2D platform style, others with a first-person 3D format.

I never owned Metroid growing up, but I must have borrowed it from a friend, because I remember playing it while I was still quite young. I didn't get very far on my initial run and died as I was ascending the first vertical shaft! I was a bit shocked to find that you only got one life, which gives you an idea of how popular the 3-life arcade style of game was at the time. Later, my brother and I beat the game with a lot of help from The Official Nintendo Player's Guide. I still remember wasting hours trying to fill up energy at an enemy spawn site. Much later, in my 30s I decided to try and beat the game again, just from my memory. I did pretty good (only needed to consult a map a couple times), and got a better ending because I did it all in one sitting.

Status

I own this game on the NES and have beaten it and seen the ashamed ending and helmet reveal ending.

Review

Good

  • The graphics are great for the time. Each zone has its own feel and ambience. Areas like Norfair have a hellish inferno feel, Kraid's hideout is alive and creepy, while Ridley's hideout is desolate and dangerous.
  • Hirokazu Tanaka's score adds so much to the feel of the game from the motivational Brinstar theme, to the loneliness of Norfair, the power of Kraid's hideout, and the insidiousness of Ridley's hideout and Tourain. The title and ending themes are fantastic and even the quietness of the item rooms and the game start and get item jingles are very hummable.
  • While the game has the typical platformer power-ups (high jump, longer range shot, better armor, etc.), Metroid pioneered a lot of interesting ideas like the ability to morph into a ball and drop bombs, the screw attack, and the ice beam turning enemies into platforms.
  • There are a lot of bonus items to find if you keep at it long enough.
  • Having Samus be a female was quite progressive of the game creators, and I like that expert players could play with her as an obvious female.

Bad

  • The game is very difficult, too much of which comes from the poor player control. You can't shoot at angles, you can't duck, you slide while walking, getting hit throws you around erratically, etc. Thankfully, these problems were fixed in subsequent Metroid games.
  • Without a basic map or quest log, it is pretty much a given that you're going to get lost a lot and spend much of your time back-tracking. You're pretty much forced to draw your own map, but this is difficult due to the scrolling nature of the screens.
  • Several sections of the map are useless (especially in Ridley's lair) and serve only to waste your time.
  • While there are a lot of bonus items, many of them are really hard to find, and, due the difficulty of the game, they're more mandatory than optional (like the screw attack and varia).
  • Rewarding players by having Samus take more of her clothes the better they do is not only inappropriate for a kid's game, but also makes the game insulting to female players. If they had stopped with the final reveal that Samus was a woman, it would have been much better.
  • Refilling energy and missiles is a very tedious process, and you're forced to do it every time you restart a game with a password, killing your chance at getting the best ending.
  • While the FDS version records your time and displays it to you at the character selection screen, the cartridge versions do not, which is disappointing, and instead require a long complicated password.

Ugly

  • Most of the secret items are hidden without any visible hints, which makes you end up trying to bomb the floor, ceiling, and walls of nearly every room to find them. Also, since the maps must reuse rooms, several places have what appear to be hidden passages, only to turn into a dead-end.
  • The fake Ice Beam room in Brinstar is really obnoxious and punishes you for exploring.
  • The battle with Kraid is hard, getting his secret energy tank is torturous, and getting back up the long tower from his hideout is stupid frustrating.

Box Art

The game was originally released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan which would let you save your character on disk. All other regions got a regular cart with a password system. Two versions were created for the Game Boy Advance, one could be unlocked in Metroid Fusion. Unfortunately, the GBA's height resolution isn't as tall as the NES, so all the graphics are squished making them look terrible. There are four different versions of box art.

Documentation

Gallery

Links