Your Metroid History

[super_etecoon]

My first Metroid game was Metroid on the NES. I never owned it (you think games are expensive now?) and the password system was quite the pain, even then. So mostly you tried to beat the game in a single sitting. The music, the atmosphere, the amount of information you had to keep in your brain as you navigated this massive maze, was unlike anything I had ever played. The only thing that got close was maybe Pitfall 2, but this was that on steroids.

Next up was Super Metroid, which I found with a buddy the Summer of ‘94 at a video store. I didn’t even know it was coming out. We played all night and beat the game in 16 hours. What a rush. Then when I went to college my roommate had the game and that’s when I began my quest for 100% and ended up becoming (as we all did then) kind of a speed runner before we even knew what that was. You know, so Samus would take off the suit. Haha.

I didn’t buy an N64 because the rep at the mall informed me that no Metroid 64 was in the works so I headed over to Sony land for that gen and had no regrets. I stayed there throughout the PS2’s life until Metroid Prime was released. I bought a GameCube for that one game and if that’s all I ended up liking on the system it would have been worth it.

Metroid Prime was not what I expected. I’ve never been a big FPS fan and I had the same reaction to the change of perspective that we all did for the Cel shading of Link in Wind Waker. But just like that game, a small taste of a demo would change your mind instantly.

The feeling I got playing the original Metroid Prime probably wouldn’t be replicated until the first time I played Breath of the Wild and I’m not sure I’ll ever get that exact amount of awe and wonder from a game again. Even with Metroid Prime 4 my expectations are in check for that to happen.

Metroid Other M was an interesting situation. I was at E3 when it was announced sitting in the Nokia theater with Matt Cassamassina from IGN sitting one row below me. It was absolutely my game of show for that E3 and the highlight of my entire experience. Sadly, the voice acting and item acquisition mechanic were huge letdowns but I still enjoyed my play through for the most part. I just don’t have much interest in going back.

I’ve played the handhelds with Metroid Fusion being…ok. I appreciate that it brought in a lot of younger players to the series as it held your hand throughout the game. Metroid 2 was also pretty forgettable to me (haven’t played the remake) and Zero Mission was a nice Super Metroid skinning of the original.

I haven’t played Pinball, Federation Force or much of Hunters.

Metroid Dread was amazing and (confession time) I still haven’t beaten the last boss (or what I think is the last boss). I got stuck on the boss before the last boss and had to restart and really learn the parry defense and I finally beat that one but didn’t have the energy to learn the next one. I’ll go back eventually.

At this point, though, my eyes are forward on Metroid Prime 4. I wish we had gotten rereleases of Primes 2 and 3 (there’s still time, right?) but Metroid Prime Remastered was enough to get me hyped. I’ll probably take it for one more spin before Prime 4 releases.

This is my favorite time. Those weeks before a new Metroid release where everything is unknown. After this, after we play Prime 4, there is nothing but waiting, waiting to hear word of a sequel. But for now we know…we absolutely know that we’ll be playing a new Metroid title in less than a month. Here’s to hoping it’s another gem in a long line of great games and here’s to hoping that the Switch effect is still a thing. Samus deserves some love.