Metroid
The Metroid (メトロイド, Metoroido) games are a series of video games produced by Nintendo. One of the company's most successful franchises, the series spans through several Nintendo systems, starting with Metroid (1986) on the Famicom Disk System, and various ports, sequels, and remakes on the NES, Game Boy, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Wii.
The Metroid games chronicle the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran in a science fiction setting which has been compared to that of the Alien movies. Central plot elements are the terrifying Metroid organisms, and the Space Pirates which try to exploit the Metroids' powers. The gameplay combines adventure based on exploration and item-gathering with platformer and shooter dynamics. The Metroid games are particularly associated with nonlinear gameplay.
As of June 2006, 10 games in the Metroid series have been released. This includes four main games (Metroid, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion), a port and a remake of Metroid, a spin-off Nintendo DS game ([[Metroid Prime Pinball]]), a first-person adventure game, with wireless and online multiplayer (Metroid Prime: Hunters), and a nearly complete trilogy (Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 having been released) with the third game in the trilogy Metroid Prime 3: Corruption underway for the Wii.
Themes
The Metroid games are set in the same fictional universe. They share most main characters and fundamental gameplay elements, with a few notable exceptions.
Setting and characters
The heroine, Samus Aran, is a bounty hunter. She wears an extremely powerful and adaptable exoskeleton made by the ancient Chozo adapted to fit her.
The eponymous in-game Metroids are large, jellyfish-like creatures with quadripartite nuclei. They are capable of siphoning an undetectable life energy from any living organism; generally causing the death of the victim in the process. Metroid II established a five-stage life cycle in which those Metroids native to SR388 go through two stages of ecdysis followed by two stages of mutation, thus maturing through four previously unknown forms: Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and Omega. Metroid Prime introduced two new, Phazon-mutated forms: Hunter Metroids, which sport tentacles enabling long-range energy siphoning; and fission Metroids, which divide into two new Fission Metroids (with different elemental weaknesses) after absorbing a discrete amount of energy. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes has a Phazon-mutated subspecies of Metroid, the Tallon Metroid. Instead of siphoning all of their power from victims, they can feed directly off Phazon. They are born as Infant Metroids from cocoons and mature into adulthood when exposed to Phazon. The game also introduces Dark Tallon Metroids; Tallon Metroids corrupted by the Ing.
The main villains of many of the Metroid games are the Space Pirates. Mother Brain is the biomechanical defense of Zebes. Kraid appears as an important boss in Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission, and Super Metroid. Ridley, a leader in the Space Pirates army, appears in Metroid, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission (as both versions, metal as final boss and normal as a normal boss), and in Metroid Prime (as the mechanical version of himself as a boss). He is also confirmed to be in Metroid Prime 3. The organization also includes a winged, mantis-like species, the KiHunters. The Space Pirates are very interested in Metroid research, especially in using Metroids for energy generation or as soldiers. Their Phazon experiments produced all the Metroid variants seen in the Prime games.
Gameplay
The gameplay of all Metroid games revolves around Samus collecting items, or power-ups, that give her the ability to overcome obstacles. Many of the items recur throughout the series, with some modifications, such as the Morph Ball, which allows her to curl into a small ball to access tight spaces and drop bombs. Despite the series having a chronological element to it, each game requires the acquisition of the upgrades. For instance, Metroid Prime occurs just after the first Metroid, however you still start with the same minimal gear.
The main enemies of the games in the Metroid series are divided into two groups: bosses and final bosses. Each game contains multiple bosses that are often encountered by entering a large sealed room and engaging in combat with a large creature. When successful, the room opens and allows further progress, usually resulting in the acquisition of an item. Final bosses are at the end of each Metroid game, and usually consist of a fight similar to a normal boss, and then a timed dash back to Samus' gunship to complete the game. In Metroid Prime, however, Samus only dashes back to the gunship at the beginning of the game, her power-ups malfunctioning along the way.
In Metroid and Super Metroid, Kraid and Ridley make appearances as bosses, and Mother Brain sometimes appears as a final boss. In some of the games, a Metroid in some form can take the role of a boss, and sometimes even a final boss. The combat model for bosses and final bosses is usually standardized, though there are a few exceptions throughout the series.
The Metroid Prime titles diverge from the typical gameplay of the series by presenting the game through Samus's first-person perspective. As a result, the Prime titles contain heavy first-person shooter elements while retaining the sense of exploration and item collection from the 2-D series. An additional element present in the Prime series is the ability to scan creatures and objects to obtain information about them.
Evolution of Story Telling
The narration of the Metroid series has changed substantially throughout the various installments. While the original Metroid marginalized its storytelling to the accompanying instruction booklet and the ending, this was notably changed in Super Metroid, with the opening even narrated by Samus herself. With the releases of Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion, the series took on a more detailed plot, albeit using slightly different methods. While both games expanded the use of in-game cutscenes, dialogue, and narration, Prime makes use of the Scan Visor to give Samus the option of uncovering information about the plot, thus allowing the player to immerse themselves at their own pace.
Release history
Third/Fourth Generations of Video Games
The original Metroid was released for the Famicom Disk System (FDS) in 1986 and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987, introducing Samus Aran, who at the time was unusual in being a female video game character; in fact, the advertisements and instruction manual described Samus as male. In the Japanese version of the manual, Samus was referred to in a gender-neutral way of speech as to not spoil the surprise for the players completing the game and thus seeing Samus as a woman. If the 'he' in the American/European version of the manual is intended to save that "surprise" or if it's just a translation error remains something of a mystery, as there is currently no proof either way. Featuring a labyrinthine world in which the player chooses which direction to explore, it was notable for providing one of the first highly non-linear game experiences on a home console. Because of the time required to play through it, a password save system (on the NES) and a saved-game slot system (on the FDS) were implemented to let players take breaks and resume later. Metroid was among the first games with these features. Subsequent Metroid games removed the password function, relying entirely on battery-backed or memory-card saves. Metroid has remained one of the most popular games from the NES era. The NES port of Metroid features lower quality music and sound effects than the original FDS version.
The first sequel, Metroid II: Return of Samus, was released in 1991 for Nintendo's portable console, the Game Boy. Unlike Metroid, the goal is not primarily to collect items but to locate and kill Metroids. Metroid II contributed to the series' development by providing a set of new weapons and items, and also revealed some details about the Chozo and Metroids. Although it initially received positive reviews, its legacy has not been as enduring as that of either its predecessor or its successor in the series; possibly due to its greyscale graphics and comparatively linear gameplay, although it is not as linear as the later Metroid Fusion. Retro players should note that when the game is played on a Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance system one of the built-in colour palettes can be used. This also works with a Super Game Boy.
The third game in the series, titled Super Metroid, was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1994. It returned to a gameplay style closer to that of the first game, however expanding the arsenal of power-ups available to Samus. Super Metroid is set on the same planet as the original game, but with help from the capabilities of the SNES (and an unusually large cartridge at 24 megabit) features larger and more diverse environments, as well as a more detailed in-game plot than was found in the first two games. Super Metroid was one of the most popular games for the SNES when it debuted, receiving praise for its graphics, sound, and size. It has remained popular, frequently occupying top positions in "greatest game of all time" lists, including a number one spot awarded by Electronic Gaming Monthly.
Sixth/Seventh Generations of Video Games
In 2000, Nintendo announced that Retro Studios was developing a new Metroid game for Nintendo's next-generation console, the GameCube, and that Nintendo itself was creating Metroid IV for the Game Boy Advance. Both games were released in 2002 with Retro Studios' effort titled Metroid Prime and Metroid IV renamed Metroid Fusion. Fusion took place some years after Super Metroid ended, whereas Prime is an "interquel" between the series' first two installments. Released nearly simultaneously, the games also feature connectivity bonuses: players who beat Metroid Prime can play through the game with Samus wearing the new Fusion suit; beating Fusion allows unlocking the original Metroid as a fully playable extra.
Although much-hyped, Prime was controversial before its release. The first Metroid game to be set in three dimensions, using a first-person shooter perspective, some worried that its gameplay would not preserve the qualities associated with the 2D platform action of the first three games. [citation needed] These fears were reinforced by the fact that Prime was created by a second-party developer instead of an internal Nintendo team. Some pre-emptively complained that the game would simply be a Halo-esque "run and gun" shooter. Nintendo countered this by referring to Metroid Prime exclusively as a "first-person adventure".
When released, most journalists and fans found Prime to have preserved and developed the Metroid theme and gameplay, and it is among the most highly rated games of all time among game critics.[1]. Metroid Fusion, on the other hand has been given solid reviews, but criticism has been aimed at its use in-game narratives and cutscenes, the "hint system" which discourages exploration and adds linearity to the gameplay, and the partial demystification of Samus's character. [citation needed].
Following Prime and Fusion, new Metroid titles have been produced with increased frequency.
A second Metroid game for the Game Boy Advance, Metroid: Zero Mission, was developed by Nintendo and released in 2004. It is an enhanced remake and re-telling of the original NES Metroid story, featuring areas and gameplay elements from previous games as well as entirely new ones. The story, which sheds a little more light on the character background of Samus Aran, is much more detailed than in Metroid. Zero Mission also included an emulated version of the original Metroid as an unlockable bonus.
The third and fourth Metroid games for the Game Boy Advance were direct ports of both the original FDS Metroid and the American NES port. The FDS version was released as Famicom Mini: Metroid in Japan, and the NES version as Classic NES Series: Metroid in North America and NES Classics: Metroid elsewhere.
The GameCube title Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was also released in 2004. Like its predecessor, Metroid Prime, it was developed by Retro Studios. It is a first-person adventure in the style of the first Prime, but introduced a new device: the concept of the light and dark worlds, somewhat similar to that seen in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but in terms of different dimensions rather than magical worlds. It also introduced a new ammo system, but many fans of the series didn't like the addition. It incorporated combination ammo, similar to Metroid Prime: Hunters.
In 2006, the Metroid Prime series went portable again through the release of Metroid Prime: Hunters for the Nintendo DS. It is largely credited as being the finest first person adventures/shooters to be released for any handheld system. Though many new weapons, hunters, worlds, bosses, and mazes were added, the game is said to be more linear than its many other counterparts. However, the multiplayer more than makes up for this minor criticism, offering numerous modes and online play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Chronology and Storyline
The chronology of the Metroid fictional universe does not match the release order of the games. According to the official timeline released by Nintendo,[2][3] the games currently released are ordered as follows:
- Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission (1986/2004)
- Samus travels through the caverns of the planet Zebes to stop the Space Pirates from exploiting the Metroid species for galactic domination. She confronts the cybernetic lifeform Mother Brain, as well as its guardians, Kraid and Ridley. In the 2004 remake Metroid: Zero Mission, it is revealed that afterwals she was ambushed by Space Pirates after defeating Mother Brain and escaped from Zebes, and her ship crash-lands back on the surface. Stripped of her Power Suit and her ship destroyed, she is forced to infiltrate the Space Pirate Mother Ship in order to find a way off the planet with only an emergency pistol for protection. After recieving a fully-powered suit from deep within the chozo ruins, she steals an escape pod from the Sapce Pirate mothership, as well as triggering it's self-destruct sequence after eliminiating mecha-ridley.
- Metroid Prime (2002)
- Samus receives a distress signal in her new ship and she travels to Tallon IV to stop the Space Pirates from exploiting a powerful radioactive substance known as Phazon. She discovers that the ancient people who raised her and bestowed her with the Power Suit, the Chozo, once settled on this planet, and their disappearance, as well as the emergence of Phazon, is due to a meteor crashing on the planet at an unknown date. The chozo sealed away the source of the phazon, and left the planet. Their prophecies foretold Samus' arrival, and they left her numerous weapons to help her defeat the source of the phazon. After gathering all the ablilities, having her suit corrupted by phazon and collecting the 12 artefact keys, she unseals the impact crater and confronts Metroid prime, the source of the phazon corruption of the planet. After killing it, Metroid Prime absorbs the phazon in her suit, and apparently dies. Collecting 100% of the items reveals that Metroid Prime has lived on using the Phazon Suit.
- Metroid Prime: Hunters (2006)
- When the Federation receives an unusual telepathic message, Samus is sent to the remote Alimbic Cluster in the Tetra Galaxy to uncover the rumored "Ultimate Power." Six rival bounty hunters that also heard the message actively attempt to secure the power before anyone else, including Samus. It transpires that the promise of ultimate power was actually a lie sent by the creature Gorea, sealed away by the Alimbics in a void between dimensions. After killing Gorea, Samus and the 6 bounty hunters all leave the cluster, empty handed, but alive.
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)
- Samus is sent to investigate the planet Aether after a squad of GF Marines were lost there. Samus finds them all dead, killed by several creatures, mainly consisting of an evil race called the Ing. Upon meeting the only remaining member of Luminoth race, Samus learns Aether has been split into two dimensions by a meteor similar to the one that crashed on Tallon IV. Samus helps save Aether from the Ing, but encounters Dark Samus in the process, a being with Samus' genetic code and a mutated version of her Varia Suit.
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007)
- Retro has announced that this is the third and final chapter of the Metroid Prime trilogy. Mark Pacini, the game director at Retro, states that "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a direct sequel to Metroid Prime 2, and the goal of the game is to wrap up the storyline that involves the material Phazon." What is known so far is Dark Samus and the space pirates have joined together in an attempt to corrupt the universe with phazon. Samus obviously tries to stop them, but she too is corrupted. Will she be able to destroy phazon before she, and the universe, succumbs to it's corruptive power?
- Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991)
- Following the events of the previous chapters, the Galactic Federation deems the Metroid species too dangerous to exist, and, after their own failed attempts, employs Samus to travel to the Metroid homeworld, SR388, and exterminate the entire species. After killing every metroid, Samus finds an unhatched egg sac. As she prepares to destroy it, a metroid larva pops out and decides Samus is it's mother. It follows her back to her ship, and Samus hands it over to the GF for research.
- Super Metroid (1994)
- Samus receives a distress signal from the research lab where she took the Metroid hatchling saved at the end of the previous game. She returns just in time to see Ridley stealing the hatchling. She then follows Ridley to the rebuilt base on Zebes to stop the Space Pirates in their new plan to clone the Metroids and use them as a weapon. She kills the reborn versions of Ridley, Kraid, Mother brain and others, blowing up Zebes (again) and killing the last few remaining Metroids.
- Metroid Fusion (2002)
- While acting as a bodyguard for researchers on the planet SR388, Samus is infected by a creature known as the X Parasite, the original prey of the Metroid species. Doctors surgically remove her Power Suit and cure the X infection with a vaccine created from Metroid DNA, allowing her not only to survive the parasite but to absorb its life energy and use it as her own. She is then sent to investigate a disturbance at the space research facility, Biologic Space Labs, where researchers attempted to contain the infected Power Suit. It turns out that the infected suit became an X mimicking Samus, the SA-X. This released other X parasites inside the other specimins, and began to infect the entire station. Samus attempts to stop them, but eventually decides, with the help of her computer Adam, to crash the station into SR388, killing both the X on the station, and on the planet.
Metroid Prime Pinball is not a separate canon game in the Metroid storyline but actually retells the story of the original Metroid Prime in pinball format. It includes several of the same bosses and areas, such as Phendrana Drifts, Thardus, and Metroid Prime. Despite playing as a pinball game, there are a number of powerups that can be collected in the multi-game mode, including missiles and power bombs. The game is bundled with the Nintendo DS Rumble Pak and was the first game to employ it.
Important people
Metroid, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission were all developed by Nintendo's internal R&D1 section. The games which have been developed by separate teams are Metroid Prime 1, 2, and 3 (Retro Studios), Metroid Prime: Hunters (Nintendo Software Technology Corporation), and Metroid Prime Pinball (Fuse Games).
The central figures in the creation and development of the Metroid series are Yoshio Sakamoto who has directed or supervised the development of all the games (excluding Metroid II), Gunpei Yokoi who headed R&D1 and produced the first three games before his death in 1997, Makoto Kanoh who directed and designed scenarios for the first three games, and Hiroji Kiyotake who designed the characters for the original game. Shigeru Miyamoto, who created the Mario and Legend of Zelda series, has not been involved with the creation of Metroid, but he did act as producer for both Metroid Prime and its sequel.
The Metroid series has been especially noted for its music and has had several composers during the years:
- Hirokazu 'Hip' Tanaka - Metroid
- Ryohji Yoshitomi - Metroid II: Return of Samus
- Kenji Yamamoto - Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Minako Hamano - Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission
- Kouchi Kyouma - Metroid Prime
- Akira Fujiwara - Metroid Fusion
- Lawrence Schwedler - Metroid Prime: Hunters
- James Phillipsen - Metroid Prime: Hunters
Franchise spin-offs
Comic books have been released based on Metroid, Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. Samus Aran and other Metroid characters also feature in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books.
Samus is also featured in the Super Smash Bros. series (Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl) in both Varia Suit and Zero Suit versions.
A live-action movie version of Metroid was reportedly in development by Lion Rock Productions, based around Samus Aran, along with her early battles with the Metroids and the Mother Brain. It was scheduled to be released in theaters around 2006, but either has been cancelled or remains in development hell.
Speedrunning
The Metroid games have been a popular target for speedrunning, the art of completing a game in the fastest time possible. In addition to the nonlinear level design that allows alternate routes to be taken through the games, the Metroid games encourage speedrunning by displaying item collection and completion time statistics at the end of the game. Speedrunning is also encouraged by the fact that completion time is one of the primary factors determining what ending the player sees, and completing the game in a short time allows the player to see Samus without her suit on.
To finish a game as quickly as possible, speedrunners exploit glitches and secrets that provide shortcuts. There are many of these in all games, both unintentional glitches and features added deliberately by the developers. For an example of the latter, the key to speedrunning in Super Metroid is the wall jump move, which is not described in the instruction manual but revealed in a secret room in the game. Wall jumping, as well as the shinespark move, also appears in Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission.
See also the Metroid series section of the speedrun article for Metroid-specific speedrunning terminology.
Shinespark
The Shinespark is an ability that debuted in Super Metroid, where it was known as the Super Jump. It has more recently been used in two other Metroid games as well, Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission. The name "Shinespark" was officially given to the technique in Metroid Fusion during a "secret" conversation that, to witness, requires the player to perform a complicated series of Shinesparks, or exploit a glitch in the US and European versions. The technique requires the Speed Booster upgrade and allows Samus to break through Speed Booster Blocks as well as some blocks that can be destroyed with Bombs and the Power Beam. Metroid: Zero Mission takes the move one step further by allowing the player to do the move while in Morphball form as well. In Super Metroid, using the Shinespark inflicts damage on Samus. The "Shinespark" name is a reference to the signature finishing move of Getter Dragon, a robot in the Super Robot series Getter Robo G.
The Shinespark is performed by running over a distance until Samus glows, crouching and then jumping. The run must be uninterrupted, and the charge lasts only for a few seconds. After crouching, Samus can stand up and move around as normal while the charge lasts, with the exception of normal jumping, which activates the shinespark. Spin jumps do not activate the Shinespark. The Shinespark can be performed vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. In addition, if a horizontal Shinespark is performed into a slope, Samus will begin running along the slope at full speed. This feature debuted in Metroid Fusion, and is key in performing multiple Shinesparks in a row.
Suitless Samus
A traditional aspect present in each Metroid title (with the exception of Metroid Prime Pinball) is the ability to see Samus's appearance without her powersuit. In the first Metroid, this could be achieved by beating the game in under three hours or by entering passwords into the NES version's password screen. Originally used as a method of keeping Samus's gender a surprise, it has become a series custom to display an image or movie of Samus without her suit if the player beats the game within a specific time frame and/or finishes the game with a specific percentage of items collected. Metroid: Zero Mission was the first game to break from tradition by including a sequence during the course of normal gameplay in which the player is forced to play as Samus after she has lost her powersuit.
References
- ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/simpleratings.asp?rankings=y. Accessed on June 6th, 2007.
- ^ "History". Metroid Zero Mission Official Site (Japanese version). Accessed on August 21, 2005.
- ^ Ice27. "Metroid Prime 2 Echoes Bonus Disc FAQ/Walkthrough." GameFAQs. Accessed on August 21, 2005.
External links
- Official
- Other resources
- N-Retro (Metroid and Retro Studios)
- Translated Metroid e-manga
- Metroid series at MobyGames
- Video of the Metroid Fusion shinespark sequence, with the secret message at metroid2002.com (.mp4 format).
- Wikitroid, an external wiki
| Games |
|  | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characters | ||||||||||||||||||
| People | ||||||||||||||||||
| Companies | ||||||||||||||||||
| Related | ||||||||||||||||||
