Metroid (NES)

This blog entry doesn’t exactly have a vivid memory to go with it, but the game in question does carry a fair amount of nostalgic value for me.

1987 - NES (Nintendo)

Metroid wasn’t a game I played too often as a kid.  Even as I grew up, the series wasn’t exactly one of the most obvious things on my radar.  Still, the original NES title did get a few hours of play in my household, even though I didn’t know where I was supposed to go half the time, or what I was supposed to do.  I just explored, enjoyed the amazing music and atmosphere, but never really made a serious attempt at completing the game.

After the release of Metroid Prime for the GameCube, I forced myself to go back and play through what is now considered by many to be a classic.  I quickly realized this endeavor would be no walk in the park.  Sure, I had guides to tell me which paths to take, what floors were fake and could be bombed to make shortcuts, and strategies for taking on enemies.  Still, this game was just hard, and unforgiving to the point of frustration.  With a little bit of patience, I got better, and learned to appreciate the little things that made this game so popular.

One of those things happens to be the environment Samus Aran is a part of.  It’s big, it’s intimidating, and every area is overflowing with life.  The planet of Zebes feels lived in; and by that, I mean that various rock formations and creatures make it feel like Samus is actually an anthropologist, and not a bounty hunter like the game’s manual says.  Strange insects creep and crawl along the floor and walls, while alien sculptures and hieroglyphs decorate it in other areas.  Of all the things to grab my attention when I was little, they were the ones what freaked me out the most…

 

Freaky faces...

Would YOU want to get on this elevator?

 

…while these just made me hungry for breakfast cereal…

 

These look awfully wheat-ey...

...wheat-ey and delicious, that is.

 

…and then these.  I never made it this far into the game until later, but they reminded me of those candies my grandparents always had at Christmas time…

 

Careful - these rocks can be destroyed...

...while the worst these do is gum up your teeth.

 

All in all, I actually think Metroid has aged better than most games from the 8-bit area.  Still difficult as hell, though.

 

 

Most of the game’s storyline is laid out in the instruction manual…  something about a Galactic Senate and the taxation of trade routes to Naboo or something, I dunno.  Basically, Samus is sent to investigate the Planet Zebes, though in the intro is curiously called “Zebeth”, leading me to believe whoever communicated the planet’s name to the game’s writer had a lisp.  There, she needs to defeat the Mother Brain, the queen of everything that’s bad in the galaxy.

Like other 8-bit games without cutscenes, I had to improvise a bit.  Here’s Samus Aran’s journey through Zebes as she collects every item, travels through every region and finally conquers a rather lazy final boss.

4 Comments on “Metroid (NES)

  1. I honestly can’t believe you didn’t at all touch the fact that “olyshitit’sagirl!!!1!”

    Because let’s face it. We all thought it was a dude.

  2. I STILL, to this day, can’t appreciate this game. I really can’t. For a Nintendo title, it’s quite ugly and clunky. Seriously, compare it to any of the Mario games, Zelda, or Kirby games, and when you see Nintendo’s name as the developer, you’re used to fluid gameplay, and colourful palettes.

    Maybe someday, I’ll go through it, start to finish, and appreciate it like Super Metroid. Until then, though… I just don’t get what the big deal is.

    See also: Kid Icarus. People want this game brought back?!

  3. It really isn’t that charming on the surface… but if you play it, and give it an honest go, it really plays quite nicely. Not that it’s easy, but it grows on you if you let it. haha

    Kid Icarus is exactly the same, of course because it’s by the same team that made Metroid. Again, with that game, I was more intrigued by the atmosphere and music than anything else. I’m planning on playing through it entirely, eventually, so I’m hoping to get more appreciation for that one, as well.

    I’m on the fence about the new one – I like me a good platformer, and I was kinda hoping that’s how it was going to go.

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