Metroid is a classic action-adventure game that has wowed many gamers all over the world upon it's release. And the main character is Samus Aran, who has been protecting the galaxy from hostile alien races long before Isaac Clarke and Master Chief ever existed. However, this game is remembered not only for it's gameplay, but for it's storyline, difficulty and so on. The game's creator is the late Gunpei Yokoi, and I believe that he was inspired by the 1979 film, Alien.
Plot. In the distant future, Space Pirates have attacked a Galactic Federation-owned space vessel and seize samples of Metroid creatures. Dangerous floating organisms, Metroids can latch on any organism and drain it's life energy to kill it. The Space Pirates plan to replicate Metroids by exposing them to beta rays and then use them as biological weapons to destory anyone who oppose them. Enter bounty hunter, Samus Aran, who is hired by the Galactic Federation Police to destroy the Space Pirates and wipe out the Metroids before all is lost.
Other power-ups include high-jump boots, enabling Samus to jump much higher than earlier. Also there's the Screw Attack, a somersaulting move that destroys enemies in it's path.
Concept. The world of Planet Zebes is comprised of five different levels: Brinstar, Kraid's Lair, Norfair, Ridley's Lair and finally Tourian. Brinstar is the cavernous area of Zebes, where you obtain the Long Beam, Missiles, Energy Tanks, Ice Beam. To progress further in order to get to Tourian, you must defeat the two bosses Kraid and Ridley. Kraid's Lair is located in the depths of Brinstar, and Ridley's Lair in the depths of Norfair. Norfair is the lava world of Zebes, and finally Tourian is where the final boss, Mother Brain, awaits.
Design. After the success of platforming games such as Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, Ice Climber, and also the adventure game The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo started to plan an action game. The game was dubbed Metroid, a portmanteau of words like "metro" and "android". Gunpei Yokoi was the game's producer and the game was developed by Nintendo Research and Development 1 and Intelligent Systems. After defeating Mother Brain, the player is given an end screen based on the time it took them to get there. Metroid is one of the first games to contain multiple endings, with five in total. In the third, fourth, and fifth endings, Samus Aran appears without her suit, and for the first time, reveals herself to be a woman. Samus Aran was the first heroine in video games long before other video game girls such as Chun Li, Mai Shiranui, Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine ever existed.
Tips and Strategies. This game requires a lot of practice in many ways, because the more you progress, the harder it will get. The boss fight against Kraid can be very tough since he fires projectiles from his body and mouth. To defeat him, use your bombs on him. But this won't be a cakewalk. Once you defeat him, you obtain a great number of missiles. Ridley is the second toughest boss in the game since he spews fireballs and you need the Ice Beam to freeze them. Try not to fall into the lava, because once you fall, there is no coming out. As for Mother Brain, remember your previous boss battles, and Missiles are the only thing that can kill it.
Music and Sound. Hirokazu Tanaka was the game's composer and I remember the main theme of the game how it went from creepy to heroic. The Brinstar theme was so memorable that it recieved rearrangements in games such as Super Smash Bros series, Metroid Prime and so on. The game's sound effects were a top notch, but some of them were a little cheesy. My favorite theme of the game is the ending theme, because it is so damn epic.
Memories. When I was 4 years old, I played this game a lot with my siblings. They taught me the code where Samus appears without her suit and I STILL remember it up until this day. The password is JUSTIN BAILEY and below the words you had to type the dashes. A special code for invincibility is NARPAS SWORD0 000000 000000. Taking a break from Metroid we would play games such as Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Super Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros 3. Oh memories of back in the day. Years later during high school, I played this again on the NES emulator in my PC. And I still remember how Metroid is a target for longplays and speed running.
Rantings. Though the Ice Beam is cool and all, it doesn't make any sense of how you shoot a frozen creature and then it unfreezes. I mean, when something frozen is struck, it's supposed to shatter for crying out loud. Also, the enemies that I despised over the years were the Reos and the wavers. They always pissed me off. Also, my most hated boss fight happens to be the Ridley boss fight, because it was hard to hit him with all those fireballs he spewed.
Good Aspects. The game's story, gameplay, design, and music are very memorable. My respects to Gunpei Yokoi, may he rest in peace, who created a great game series. This game also inspired Gunpei Yokoi to create yet another game series, and that is Kid Icarus which has similarities to Metroid. The original Metroid has a million great qualities, high replay value, and it is highly memorable. You can download this game for 500 Wii Points.
Overall. The original Metroid game happens to be one of my favorite and memorable childhood games of all time. This game gets an 8 out of 10.
God Bless and Play Hard Gamers!