Metroid Teaches Us How to Overcome
NES Catalog #047
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Metroid
PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: Nintendo
RELEASE DATE: Aug. 15th, 1987 (US), Jan. 15th, 1988 (EU)
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: Famicom Disk System, Gamecube (via Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion), Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console (Wii, 3DS, Wii U), Nintendo Switch Online
Samus wondered why the Galactic Federation had summoned her over some paltry theft. Space pirates will steal anything, they’re idiots, lowest common denominator scum of the galaxy. Of course, they’d steal a dangerous life form like this so-called “Metroid,” but they wouldn’t know what to do with it. They don’t have the brains! Hell, the thing would probably eat them en route to their next job.
The Galactic Federation agreed with her reasoning about the pirates, but their solemn faces unnerved the stalwart bounty hunter. The pirates didn’t steal the Metroid for themselves. They delivered the creature to the planet Zebes, home of the nefarious and mysterious Mother Brain. From what the Federation could deduce, Mother Brain’s goal was to replicate the Metroid and use them to take over the galaxy.
Samus had been on plenty of rescue missions before – retrieve this, shoot that, blast evil ship into smithereens - but this Mother Brain business… this was different. The Federation put their best soldiers into retrieving this creature, but none of them had even penetrated the planet. Samus knew she could find a back door in, that was no problem. But an uncharted planet, full of winding corridors and unknown assailants… sounds like suicide, and glory and honor mean nothing when you’re dead.
Then the Federation wrote down a price. She had never seen so many 0s in her life. To their credit, they admitted that they fully expected her to fail. Samus was skilled, certainly, but so were their most decorated officers, and they were all dead. She was their last hope. If she could succeed – retrieve the Metroid, destroy Mother Brain, and make it back to the Federation, alive – she’d never have to cruise around in that rust bucket gunship ever again.
She accepted, enamored with the thought of retirement. Now, here she was, feet on the cold, rocky ground of Brinstar. Her suit’s strongest functions ceased to function upon landing, so all she had was a single energy tank and a blaster. She doubted it would be enough, but who knows. Perhaps this planet – seemingly merciless and foreboding – would provide her with aid along the way…
Metroid is a journey into the unknown. The planet Zebes is dark and unforgiving, populated with creatures tailor-made to drain your essence. There is no reprieve, no bright and shining overworld to give your skin a taste of the sun. Midnight blue is the cheeriest color here. Three worlds within a world – Brinstar, Norfair, and Tourian – all connected by never-ending vertical and horizontal corridors. The occasional elevator reminds you that an Intelligence built this place, one you’re not sure you want to engage.
Mysterious statues present Samus with gifts, special powers that strengthen her suit and help her face increasingly difficult enemies. For example, the Ice Beam freezes enemies in place, allowing you to use them as platforms to higher areas or just provide a break from the onslaught. Likewise, the Screw Attack is a corkscrew jump that destroys enemies should they touch her. These powers ease some of your burden, although finding them is its own unique challenge.
Additional energy tanks and missiles are also scattered throughout, necessities to survive in a world more keen on death than life. Sometimes these lovelies are resting out in the open, but just as often, they’re hidden within walls, ceilings, and floors, tempting you with their just-out-of-reach placement.
Zebes is a proving ground, wild and disorienting. Rooms and hallways blend together, leaving you to wonder if you’ve already searched a particular area. Flying creatures work alongside creepy crawlies to make sure you don’t progress. Eventually, mid-bosses Kraid and Ridley absorb all your missiles, until suddenly, they explode in a fountain of replenishment, life and ammo a sparkling, short-lived reward.
Metroid teaches you progression through repeated deaths. If you enter an area you’re not properly equipped for, turn back and search for more help in the form of additional missiles, energy tanks, and weapons.
But even if you have all 255 missiles, eight energy tanks, and all the suit upgrades, Mother Brain will do her best to destroy every cell, every strand of DNA in Samus’ body to make sure she is wiped cleanly from the galaxy. Ammo, life, and special powers are great, but if you don’t know how to use them, just drown yourself in Norfair lava and spare Ma Brain the trouble.
Like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid’s legacy is stronger than ever nearly forty years later. The 2D side-scrolling, non-linear, action/adventure genre is now widely known as “Metroidvania,” a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania. Samus Aran being revealed as a woman at the end was unexpected and forward-thinking, particularly since the instruction manual continually refers to her as a man. Of course, a 1987 release still means that more of her clothes fall off the faster you beat the game. Swings and roundabouts.
Hip Tanaka’s eerie, minimalist score perfectly complements Samus’s descent down into claustrophobic, violent tunnels. The pixelated graphics make every creature – even the terrain itself - look sharp and dangerous. There are no places to rest and only small moments of triumph. Even after Mother Brain is laying in a pile of goo, Samus still has to escape from the planet before the timer reaches zero.
We love Metroid because it asks us to accomplish more than we think we can handle. It stretches us, tests our limits. Even the 24-character password system is a tedious grind. But when we overcome, when Mother Brain is vanquished, our sense of accomplishment and pride swells. We just achieved the impossible. We stand, like Samus, back straight, head held high, and with as few clothes as possible. We’re hot, and we don’t care who knows it.
*thanks to Youtube channel IntoTheInvasion for this image.
Famicom Disk System
This cover is… not great. Samus looks like she’s getting ready to beat something down, but what? And where?
Based on this and the also just-ok NES cover, methinks that Nintendo wasn’t quite sure how to sell Metroid to a mid-80s audience.
If you purchased the Famicom Disk System version, you could look forward to…
#1: a slightly better soundtrack, thanks to the Disk System’s wavetable sound channel
and #2: the ability to save your game, as opposed to a super-long password in the NES version. Saving your game right to the disk is great and all, but the disk also has fairly long load times, whereas the cartridge does not. You win some, you lose some.
There are other changes, but these are the two you’re likely to notice.
What are your favorite Metroid memories? Did you ever beat the game when you were a kid? Let me know in the comments!
I've just never really had the patience or interest in all the backtracking. I'd love a very linear Metroid though, like Castlevania 1, 4, Haunted Castle, etc. Haha, maybe one day!
One of my absolute favourites on the NES, it's very gratifying to read so many Substack posts lately that give this game its flowers; all the YouTube videos I've watched on it seem to beat it to a bloody pulp which is a real shame.
Thanks for posting.