Every so often I find a podcast that I really enjoy and binge listen to it. Bonfire-side chat is a Souls-centric podcast that I discovered when they had just started diving into Dark Souls II. I wound up forgetting about them waiting for them to finish covering the game, and recently stumbled upon them again. They do appendix episodes between most regular episodes to cover listener questions and whatever else. In Appendix 55: 3D Dot Heroes one of their listener's raised a point about how they felt Metroid isn't actually a good video game series, but that it has one great game. I'm here to say, fuck that person.
A while ago I decided to play through the entire Metroid series, and while I didn't manage to play through them all that was due to series fatigue rather than the games themselves lacking. Marathoning straight through any series is usually a bad idea. Of the twelve games in the series out so far (I'm including the Metroid themed Nintendo Land attraction because why not) I've beaten nine of them. I haven't gotten around to Zero Mission, Prime 3 Corruption, or Other M, though I have limited experience with the first two. Even without having beaten each game I'm familiar enough with the series to refute the bullshit claim that the Metroid series consists of a sole good game.
The original Metroid is a tough game to defend at this point in time, especially without having played it when it was still new. I won't lie, without a map this game becomes so much more of a hassle. Everywhere looks the same and some of the item locations are beyond obtuse. It's basic and frustrating but it's a foundation. Claiming the original Metroid is a bad game is like claiming the original Super Mario Bros or The Legend of Zelda are bad games because they merely opened the door for the splendor to come. With Metroid it is admittedly a little difficult to pinpoint where it stands as to whether it helps support my case or should be counted among the low points of the series. It certainly isn't the greatest, but it holds it's ground as the beginning.
Metroid II Return of Samus is another difficult game to judge due to being a Gameboy game, but I believe it's ambitious nature raises it above it's technical limitations. It's a damn shame this game has never been remade properly as I truly believe the idea behind it is among the most interesting found in a Metroid title. Samus is back to exterminate every last living Metroid, in doing so discovers that, given time, these alien monsters eventually evolve. It introduces various stages of the Metroid lifespan all the way up to the final, epic, encounter with the Queen Metroid. After the battle the last Metroid hatches and instead of attacking Samus develops a childlike bond with her. The screen is too small. Samus' sprite is too big. Technically this isn't that great of a game, but both the idea behind it and the game world manage to be interesting enough to not get bogged down by the technically limiting factors. I can't defend this game against people who hate it for these reasons, but for those who can see past it's shortcomings will see this game still brings something worthwhile to the table. If only it had gotten a proper remake. There is hope that one day this fan remake will make that a reality, it's actually much further along than I expected.
When people claim there is one good Metroid game I have to assume that Super Metroid is what they're referring to (though I've seen some people lean towards Fusion or even the original Prime). Super Metroid perfects the formula set forth by it's predecessors, just the simple addition of a map makes the game infinitely more enjoyable to play. Beyond that the atmosphere has been perfected as well, dark, gloomy, lonely, with specks of beauty here and there. Super Metroid revisits Zebes, the setting of the original game, and truly brings it to life. Kraid and Ridley were made into much more interesting fights and can anyone forget the epic Crocomire fight? Whether intentionally or not this also just so happens to be one of the best games to speed run as there are a multitude of methods to break the intended game sequence, and considering the series rewards quick play times it fits in well. Samus even manages to befriend more alien fauna who subtly teach her a brand new skill in wall jumping, while another friend she befriended in Metroid II shows up to ultimately save the day. As, almost undeniably, the pinnacle of Metroid games you'd be hard pressed to argue this was a bad game.
Metroid Fusion maintains the overall Metroid feeling while changing things up quite a bit. As of now this is the final game in the series' chronology, Samus has been infected with an X parasite and injected with it's natural predator's DNA to combat it, Metroids. X parasites are weird creature which posses and transform other creatures into, usually, deadlier monsters. Taking place on a space station that had been studying various lifeforms from various planets there is a wide variety of areas to explore and mutated animals to destroy. Some complain the game is much more linear than other games in the series, but I personally don't see linearity as a bad thing. My major problem with the game is how they introduced Samus' commanding officer Adam. Well, kind of. He's a computer version of her commanding officer, but really he's just an annoying narrator that over explains where Samus needs to go next and why. It isn't really that big of a problem, just slightly annoying. While exploring the space ship Samus is being chased by the X parasite who has possessed her varia armor known as SAX. SAX, even in a GBA game, manages to instill at least a bit of fear in the player. Unbeatable until late in the game, she hunts Samus down mercilessly during specific parts and really nails how truly on her own Samus is. Fusion is an excellent game, worthy of any gamer's time and effort.
When Metroid Prime was announced to be a first person shooter take on the franchise many scoffed at the notion. There was no way anyone could take the Metroid formula and make it work in a 3D environment. Turns out Retro Studios make damn fine games (hello Donkey Country Returns/Tropical Freeze)! Prime might be the most atmospheric of the games, environmental effects affecting Samus's visor, getting to see her reflection sometimes due to this, the music that permeates Tallon IV as you explore fits amazingly. The controls are, by today's standards, a little wonky but work perfectly fine. Scanning is a new feature that, while somewhat annoying, gives players a chance to learn more about the world around them and figure out exactly what's going on with all this phazon gunk. It's truly amazing to me that Retro Studios managed to pull this game off as well as they did, and anyone decrying it probably just hasn't played it or is unwilling to cope with slightly awkward FPS controls.
Metroid Prime 2 Echoes, while this game doesn't live up to the original game it's still a strong game in it's own right. The most interesting thing to me is a more proper introduction of the Galactic Federation's involvement in galactic affairs. They've been referenced, and Samus Aran's commander was kind of a main character in Fusion, but aside from that (and some friendly space aliens) Samus has been all alone thus far. Getting to see snippets of a failed Galactic Federation task force on Aether really excited me and made me wonder exactly how big the Metroid universe was. Truthfully it's been pretty small, in the games Samus has only really visited a handful of planets (although Prime 3 Corruption and Hunters both have a decent selection of worlds to explore). The Ing are a decent enemy, even if the idea of a dark/light world they inhabit was introduced long before this game in A Link to the Past (Nintendo really seems to enjoy this light/dark dichotomy). While dark Aether can be a little irritating until Samus obtains a suit that makes traversing it's treacherous terrain less troublesome, the world fits the plot well enough to justify it. Not to mention it adds tension to some of the boss battles. Echoes might not be the cream of the crop, to call it anything less than good would be a massive disservice.
Metroid Prime Pinball at first glance doesn't seem to make much sense insofar as why it was made, but boy howdy is it a good time. Pinball acts as a very strange and unique remake of the first Prime game. I'd never really thought about it, but the morph ball works really well as a pinball. For the most part it plays out like a normal pinball game, going down lanes, hitting bumpers, spinning spinners, all to gain a high score. You can undertake missions that introduce unique gameplay elements like a short shooter section, or some wall jumping bits leading to a boss fight and eventually the next level. It covers the main areas found in Prime, and does so surprisingly well. It suffers the same problems as normal pinball does (such as luck factoring in a lot more than it would in an action game), but it's really a great time overall unless you just absolutely hate pinball (aka lack a soul). Another winner in my book, offshoot of the main series or no, Metroid Prime Pinball is a worthy holder of the title Metroid.
Metroid Prime Hunters is an interesting experiment that, ultimately, fails to live up to expectations. While the rest of the Prime games so far have been great to excellent Hunters is a weird take on the series that just doesn't gel too well with me, even if the concept is really interesting. Several hunters, including Samus Aran, are gathered up by some mysterious force to hunt down several stones to open up a portal to some super weapons. The other hunters are all less than savory, so it's up to Samus to keep these weapon out of evil's hands. Prime Hunters is interesting due to being an original DS first person shooter, that works fairly well. The problem though is due to being a DS game (shades of Metroid II) the planets all look fairly basic and less impressive than areas in previous games, and the gameplay itself is rather repetitive. You fight the same two bosses over and over to retrieve these stones, but along the way you'll run into the other hunters (which act as much more interesting mini-bosses) which is mostly neat. Unfortunately they can steal the rocks you've collected which leads to having to chase them down and re-retrieving them. So really how annoying this game is depends on how often you lose to these other hunters. The most interesting part of this game however was the multiplayer mode (which first appeared in Prime 2 Echoes in a rather ho-hum manner) which allows you to play as any of the hunters, which retain their unique movesets including various morph ball transformations. I kind of wish there was a way to play through the main campaign, or at least mini-campaigns as these hunters as they really are quite unique. While fun, it's limited to how many people you can convince to play a DS FPS game with you, though download play is available. Overall though Hunters kind of drops the play. I do think that the addition of the other hunters is worth abandoning the isolated feeling of the previous games, but the games shortcomings (lame plot, horrendous bosses, and irritating fetch quest set up) hold it back too much.
Metroid Blast might not be a full game, but I still felt inclined to at least mention it, mostly due to the lack of entries into the Metroid Saga. This is one of many attractions to be found in Nintendo Land, a launch title for the Wii U that is kind of similar to Wii Sports in that it exists as a kind of showcase for the what the Wii U's all about. It isn't a must have, but it's cheap and mostly interesting. Metroid Blast is one of the reasons as to why it's worth tracking down. Being little more than a mini-game Metroid Blast doesn't have as much meat as the main games. Instead it acts as a quirky little battle arena game where up to five players work together to defeat enemies. Up to four people using wiimotes will be on the ground in various armors blasting away, while the person with the game pad gets to use Samus' gunship to rain destruction on the various monsters. Of course being Nintendo Land it isn't actual Metroid creatures, but cutesy animatronic recreations. The game is a joy to play, and there is even a competitive mode where players fight against each other, but for me the co-op mode is where it's at. I can't really count this as a full Metroid game, but the experience is worthwhile regardless.
At least five of these games can't be considered bad games, while three others vary depending on how forgiving/understanding of a player you happen to be (or are a Nintendo Land mini-game). Regardless, there is no way you could sum up the Metroid series as a single good game. It's a damn shame that Nintendo has been holding back on releasing more Metroid games (seriously why do they do this with some of their properties?), and while many people have already lambasted the unreleased Federation Force it looks promising to me. As for the other two games I haven't played I've heard nothing but positive things about Zero Mission, while Other M allegedly has one of the worst stories to ever grace a video game but I've heard some praise the game play. Maybe when I finish them I'll write another entry about them. Bottom line, the Metroid series is full of quality games and it's ignorant to claim you can boil the series down to one single worthwhile experience.
BONUS ROUND: What is the deal with so many people hating the idea of Metroid Federation Force? A co-op-centric Metroid game starring souped up members of the Galactic Federation hunting down bounties together in an improved Metroid Prime Hunters engine sounds fucking amazing. Why do you guys not want the franchise to grow and have other aspects of the universe shown? Samus Aran is NOT Metroid, and while you could make a better argument in that having friends along for the ride ruin the lonely atmosphere of the series you're still wrong. This is just exploring another aspect of the world of Metroid that, I for one, have been excited to check out since Metroid Prime 2 made it obvious the Galactic Federation did more than send Samus Aran into the fray. It irritates me so much that fans of the series are so eager to jump all over a game they've never even fucking played because it isn't exactly what they expected or wanted. It does suck that Metroid has seen so few releases over the years, but when something comes out that you weren't necessarily looking for that doesn't mean it's going to be awful. Next Level games, the developers, have done nothing but make pretty good to excellent games. Give it a chance before you call a game garbage before even getting an opportunity to give it a spin.
Metroid Fusion maintains the overall Metroid feeling while changing things up quite a bit. As of now this is the final game in the series' chronology, Samus has been infected with an X parasite and injected with it's natural predator's DNA to combat it, Metroids. X parasites are weird creature which posses and transform other creatures into, usually, deadlier monsters. Taking place on a space station that had been studying various lifeforms from various planets there is a wide variety of areas to explore and mutated animals to destroy. Some complain the game is much more linear than other games in the series, but I personally don't see linearity as a bad thing. My major problem with the game is how they introduced Samus' commanding officer Adam. Well, kind of. He's a computer version of her commanding officer, but really he's just an annoying narrator that over explains where Samus needs to go next and why. It isn't really that big of a problem, just slightly annoying. While exploring the space ship Samus is being chased by the X parasite who has possessed her varia armor known as SAX. SAX, even in a GBA game, manages to instill at least a bit of fear in the player. Unbeatable until late in the game, she hunts Samus down mercilessly during specific parts and really nails how truly on her own Samus is. Fusion is an excellent game, worthy of any gamer's time and effort.
When Metroid Prime was announced to be a first person shooter take on the franchise many scoffed at the notion. There was no way anyone could take the Metroid formula and make it work in a 3D environment. Turns out Retro Studios make damn fine games (hello Donkey Country Returns/Tropical Freeze)! Prime might be the most atmospheric of the games, environmental effects affecting Samus's visor, getting to see her reflection sometimes due to this, the music that permeates Tallon IV as you explore fits amazingly. The controls are, by today's standards, a little wonky but work perfectly fine. Scanning is a new feature that, while somewhat annoying, gives players a chance to learn more about the world around them and figure out exactly what's going on with all this phazon gunk. It's truly amazing to me that Retro Studios managed to pull this game off as well as they did, and anyone decrying it probably just hasn't played it or is unwilling to cope with slightly awkward FPS controls.
Metroid Prime 2 Echoes, while this game doesn't live up to the original game it's still a strong game in it's own right. The most interesting thing to me is a more proper introduction of the Galactic Federation's involvement in galactic affairs. They've been referenced, and Samus Aran's commander was kind of a main character in Fusion, but aside from that (and some friendly space aliens) Samus has been all alone thus far. Getting to see snippets of a failed Galactic Federation task force on Aether really excited me and made me wonder exactly how big the Metroid universe was. Truthfully it's been pretty small, in the games Samus has only really visited a handful of planets (although Prime 3 Corruption and Hunters both have a decent selection of worlds to explore). The Ing are a decent enemy, even if the idea of a dark/light world they inhabit was introduced long before this game in A Link to the Past (Nintendo really seems to enjoy this light/dark dichotomy). While dark Aether can be a little irritating until Samus obtains a suit that makes traversing it's treacherous terrain less troublesome, the world fits the plot well enough to justify it. Not to mention it adds tension to some of the boss battles. Echoes might not be the cream of the crop, to call it anything less than good would be a massive disservice.
Metroid Prime Pinball at first glance doesn't seem to make much sense insofar as why it was made, but boy howdy is it a good time. Pinball acts as a very strange and unique remake of the first Prime game. I'd never really thought about it, but the morph ball works really well as a pinball. For the most part it plays out like a normal pinball game, going down lanes, hitting bumpers, spinning spinners, all to gain a high score. You can undertake missions that introduce unique gameplay elements like a short shooter section, or some wall jumping bits leading to a boss fight and eventually the next level. It covers the main areas found in Prime, and does so surprisingly well. It suffers the same problems as normal pinball does (such as luck factoring in a lot more than it would in an action game), but it's really a great time overall unless you just absolutely hate pinball (aka lack a soul). Another winner in my book, offshoot of the main series or no, Metroid Prime Pinball is a worthy holder of the title Metroid.
Metroid Prime Hunters is an interesting experiment that, ultimately, fails to live up to expectations. While the rest of the Prime games so far have been great to excellent Hunters is a weird take on the series that just doesn't gel too well with me, even if the concept is really interesting. Several hunters, including Samus Aran, are gathered up by some mysterious force to hunt down several stones to open up a portal to some super weapons. The other hunters are all less than savory, so it's up to Samus to keep these weapon out of evil's hands. Prime Hunters is interesting due to being an original DS first person shooter, that works fairly well. The problem though is due to being a DS game (shades of Metroid II) the planets all look fairly basic and less impressive than areas in previous games, and the gameplay itself is rather repetitive. You fight the same two bosses over and over to retrieve these stones, but along the way you'll run into the other hunters (which act as much more interesting mini-bosses) which is mostly neat. Unfortunately they can steal the rocks you've collected which leads to having to chase them down and re-retrieving them. So really how annoying this game is depends on how often you lose to these other hunters. The most interesting part of this game however was the multiplayer mode (which first appeared in Prime 2 Echoes in a rather ho-hum manner) which allows you to play as any of the hunters, which retain their unique movesets including various morph ball transformations. I kind of wish there was a way to play through the main campaign, or at least mini-campaigns as these hunters as they really are quite unique. While fun, it's limited to how many people you can convince to play a DS FPS game with you, though download play is available. Overall though Hunters kind of drops the play. I do think that the addition of the other hunters is worth abandoning the isolated feeling of the previous games, but the games shortcomings (lame plot, horrendous bosses, and irritating fetch quest set up) hold it back too much.
Metroid Blast might not be a full game, but I still felt inclined to at least mention it, mostly due to the lack of entries into the Metroid Saga. This is one of many attractions to be found in Nintendo Land, a launch title for the Wii U that is kind of similar to Wii Sports in that it exists as a kind of showcase for the what the Wii U's all about. It isn't a must have, but it's cheap and mostly interesting. Metroid Blast is one of the reasons as to why it's worth tracking down. Being little more than a mini-game Metroid Blast doesn't have as much meat as the main games. Instead it acts as a quirky little battle arena game where up to five players work together to defeat enemies. Up to four people using wiimotes will be on the ground in various armors blasting away, while the person with the game pad gets to use Samus' gunship to rain destruction on the various monsters. Of course being Nintendo Land it isn't actual Metroid creatures, but cutesy animatronic recreations. The game is a joy to play, and there is even a competitive mode where players fight against each other, but for me the co-op mode is where it's at. I can't really count this as a full Metroid game, but the experience is worthwhile regardless.
At least five of these games can't be considered bad games, while three others vary depending on how forgiving/understanding of a player you happen to be (or are a Nintendo Land mini-game). Regardless, there is no way you could sum up the Metroid series as a single good game. It's a damn shame that Nintendo has been holding back on releasing more Metroid games (seriously why do they do this with some of their properties?), and while many people have already lambasted the unreleased Federation Force it looks promising to me. As for the other two games I haven't played I've heard nothing but positive things about Zero Mission, while Other M allegedly has one of the worst stories to ever grace a video game but I've heard some praise the game play. Maybe when I finish them I'll write another entry about them. Bottom line, the Metroid series is full of quality games and it's ignorant to claim you can boil the series down to one single worthwhile experience.
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