--Samus Aran, Super Metroid
Super Metroid is one of a handful of Metroid games available on the 3DS virtual console on the eShop, only a resident on the eShop for around a year as of yet. Although I downloaded it in the spring of this year, I didn't get around to finishing it until a bout of Metroid fever recently gripped me and I had a strong urge to revisit the world of my favorite bounty hunter, Samus Aran. How does this ported installment hold up?
Production Values
The quality of the game's aesthetics and audio struck me as quite impressive for a 1994 release from more than two decades ago! This is a direct port to the eShop, not an actual remaster. This is the old game on a new system. Some minor slowdown occurred during particularly intense and chaotic sections like the escape from Mother Brain's lair, but the game runs very well other than this. There is no spoken dialogue, unlike the Wii's The Other M (which chronologically follows the story in this game), but the soundtrack and audio effects are very competent. Some of its tracks were even reused (even if altered somewhat) in later entries, so series fans may find some nostalgic tunes here.
Gameplay
This classic side-scrolling Metroid adventure sees Samus exploring Zebes yet again, beginning without equipment like the morph ball and missiles. Bit by bit, players obtain new abilities and weapons that unlock more rooms and kill enemies more swiftly. By the end of the game, Samus can be quite powerful--with more than 200 missiles and loads of other items! Fights with enemies gradually become easier and easier and the progression system rewards players who diligently search obscure crevices and use Samus' abilities properly.
Though the map system is nowhere near as detailed or helpful as the one in Metroid Prime (for a review of that game, see here [1]), it certainly facilitates travel and exploration. Sometimes the map frustrated me because it doesn't show doors, much less whether they have been unlocked or not, yet it can help remind players of unentered areas. Checking the map can also instill confidence at just how much ground has been covered!
Per series tradition, different animations of Samus appear at the end of the game depending on the amount of time taken to complete the game, with one depicting her in her full power suit, one without her visor, and one with her in a black bikini-like undergarment. Here, the different animations are triggered by finishing in over 10 hours, between 3-10 hours, and under three hours. I achieved the latter two. The ones I unlocked are below!
Story
Metroid chronology:
1. Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission (NES/GBA)
2. Metroid Prime (GameCube)
3. Metroid Prime Hunters (DS)
4. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube)
5. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
6. Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS)
7. Metroid II: Return of Samus/Metroid: Samus Returns (Game Boy/3DS)
8. Super Metroid (SNES)
9. Metroid: Other M (Wii)
10. Metroid Fusion (GBA)
There is not much of a structured plot in this game, but spoilers will follow.
At the beginning, Samus recounts a summarized version of the first two Metroid games. She tells of how she defeated Mother Brain, the leader of the imperialistic space pirates, on the planet Zebes. The space pirates sought to use a dangerous species called metroids as biological weaponry, yet Samus stopped them. She also details how she later visited the metroid homeworld SR388 and then annihilated all of the infamous creatures except for one. This single metroid hatched in her presence and mistook her for its mother.
Samus escorts the baby metroid to Galactic Federation scientists on a ship near Zebes--the scientists hope that they can harness the natural powers of the metroid to benefit the galaxy, the inverse of the goal of the space pirates. After Samus departs the ship in her own vessel, she returns due to a distress signal aboard the Ceres station. Samus finds the corpses of scientists aboard the ship and that the metroid is in the possession of the monstrous flying organism known as Ridley, who escapes with it and flees to Zebes.
Samus then travels to Zebes, where she eliminates Ridley, Kraid, and other creatures before confronting Mother Brain, where she is saved by the metroid that Ridley abducted, which is now enormous compared to its size as a baby. It saves Samus from being killed by Mother Brain and dies protecting her, at which point Samus defeats Mother Brain and starts a chain reaction that destroys Zebes.
Intellectual Content
The intellectual challenge of Metroid games has always been something I have found attractive about the series. And this game has plenty of hidden secrets that new players will quite likely miss altogether. I myself was astonished at some of the concealed collectibles I learned of via a YouTube walkthrough after playing the game some by myself. Yes, Super Metroid has little to ponder about thematically and has a very minimal story, but the maze of locations and the variety of hidden items can keep even sharp minds stimulated and occupied.
Conclusion
Super Metroid, like its fellow Nintendo classic Ocarina Of Time, has been honored as one of the greatest games of all time. Its intelligent level design and concealment of collectibles testify to its competence in delivering exactly what the series is known for. Players seeking a challenge will be glad to discover that the game does little to nothing to hint at where you need to travel to next, meaning it oozes an atmosphere that remains enigmatic until curiosity or chance leads to the next great discovery.
Metroid has seen an unfortunate hiatus over the past few years that has just recently ended with the release of 2016's Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the 3DS (I may play and review it sometime), but the two new installments announced this summer have definitely excited my enthusiasm for the franchise! At least in September the 3DS will receive the welcome updated version of Metroid II called Metroid: Samus Returns. I'm very pleased about that title's imminent release, and any 3DS owners who are Metroid fans who haven't tried Super Metroid may find great delight in it as they wait for September. Expect a review of the upcoming game in September shortly after its debut!
Content
1. Violence: Beam and missile weaponry bloodlessly vaporizes miscellaneous creatures.
[1]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/03/game-review-metroid-prime-gamecube.html
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