Metroid Series Retrospective: My journey with Samus

 

Earlier this year I finally beat Super Metroid. It was an excellent game that aged perfectly. A game that lives up to the hype surrounding it. I was thrilled to finally beat my first Metroid game. I always admired the series from afar. I watched numerous video essays on how the Metroid games design their worlds and encourage exploration. Now that I had beaten the legendary Super Metroid, I was ready to dive head first into the rest of the series. 

Not long after, I obtained the Metroid Prime Trilogy.  The Prime Trilogy is the 3d branch of the Metroid series and similarly to Super Metroid, I had heard great things about these games. I was a little more cautious this time. The Prime games are first person shooter/adventure games. I normally don't care for first person games. I don't know why, I just find it harder to get into games like that without a hook like multiplayer. However, Metroid Prime managed to get me invested even more than Super Metroid did.

After Prime I was convinced to try the rest of the games. I had my plan to play through the rest of the story. I planned to go to Samus Returns, then Other M, then Fusion. I chose this order as a recommendation from my cousin and as a way to prepare for Metroid Dread. 

Today I want to chronicle my journey through the Metroid Series in the order I played them. Starting with Super Metroid and ending with Metroid Fusion. Enjoy!

(Spoilers for all of these games, I heavily encourage you play this series. If spoilers don't bother you then awesome! Enjoy!)

Super Metroid

Super Metroid is considered by many to be a masterpiece. It took what previous Metroid games did and refined every aspect to a tee. It's the game that singlehandedly established the Metroidvania as a genre. I am happy to say that I think it is the best Super Nintendo Game I have played. 

Super Metroid was the game that took me the longest to beat. Since it was my first Metroid game I was not used to how the series constructs its worlds and progression. However, that did not stop me from getting immersed in Zebes. Super Metroid got me accustomed to what makes Metroid special.

Super Metroid picks up right where Metroid 2 left off. Samus dropped off the last Metroid with the Federation, this universe's space government/military. Samus flies away only to recieve a distress signal from where she just left. She flies back to the space station and the game begins. 

You go through the space station to get accustomed to how Samus Controls, and fight a losing battle with Ridley, leader of the space pirates. You escape the station and follow the Space Pirates to their home base, Zebes. It is here where the true game begins.

One thing that was tough to get used to in this game was the controls, specifically the jump. Super Metroid has a more floaty jump than any other game in the series. If you have enough speed when you jump you go into a flipping animation that behaves differently from jumping from a standstill. This game doesn't demand precise platforming for most of the runtime, however when it does it doesn't feel great. These moments are few and far between, and ultimately it's a minor grievance.

Metroid's true strength lies in its progression, exploration, and freedom. Super Metroid is a prime example of excellent map design and slowly opening up the world.  The main loop of the game is as follows:

1: Explore new areas

2: Note places you can't go yet

3: Find new power up

4: Use power up to get to new places

In the Youtube series Boss Keys on the channel GameMaker's Toolkit, Mark describes the loop as a series of locks and keys. I find this to be a very accurate description of how the game works. You encounter locks that you don't have the right key for, you explore and eventually find the ability that unlocks the next part of the game. Sometimes the next area is behind a lock you've already discovered, sometimes the locks lead you to more locks or smaller rewards. Either way you are learning how to move around the world more efficiently.

The area I think Super Metroid excels at is giving players the freedom to do certain things in different ways. For example there is a ledge early on that leads into a new area, Brinstar, but you can't get up there yet because you can't jump high enough. The normal way to get up the ledge is to find the High Jump Boots. However Samus can also wall jump with very precise timing. The ledge is just low enough to allow you to wall jump up and skip the High Jump boots for awhile. The wall jump is hard to preform  but it's there as an option for players to use. To this day Metroid has not replicated that level of freedom to do things out of order.

One more area I think should get a look is the combat, specifically the bosses. Samus uses her arm cannon for every weapon. You will primarily be using your beams and missiles to attack enemies. You find energy tanks to gain more health, and ammo upgrades to hold more missiles and bombs. Combat isn't a huge thing in Super Metroid. Despite the intimidating and isolating atmosphere, the game never gets too difficult with combat. If you do a decent amount of exploring you can tank most of the bosses and enemies as long as you know how to damage them. I'm not normally super fond of difficult games so Super Metroid was a great introduction to how combat works for the series. 

Super Metroid was a perfect first game to play in this series. It expertly guides the player and lets them explore a vast world filled with secrets. It was one heck of a first game to beat. However a question lingered in my mind: can Metroid get any better than this?

Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime came 8 years after Super Metroid. It was the first 3d entry in the series and one of the few examples of a 3d Metroidvania. This game blew me away. I was hooked! Metroid Prime cemented the series as one of my new favorites.

The Prime Trilogy takes place in between Metroid 1 and 2, and kind of has its own story. Metroid Prime starts similarly to Super Metroid except it's the space pirates that send the distress signal this time. Samus uncovers that the pirates were experimenting with a new element called Phazon and have set up their research center on the planet Tallon IV. After a fight with the Parasite Queen, Samus escapes the station and heads to Tallon IV to figure out what the space pirates are up to and put a stop to it.

Once you land on Tallon IV you immediately get to see one of the game's biggest strengths, the world design. Metroid Prime uses a first person perspective to view the world and they make full use of this perspective. The area you land in, the Tallon overworld, is constantly raining. Not only can you see the rain around you, but it also runs down Samus' visor. Different elements in the environment can affect your vision. You run through a waterfall and the visor gets fogged up for a second. This effect helped me get immersed in this world and in the role of Samus. I felt like a powerful explorer conquering any obstical in my path.

 Prime ended up having my favorite world to explore. There is just so much detail in the environments and each area has a story behind it if you want to look for it. The Chozo Ruins house many statues of the Chozo and ancient writings about the "planet's poison". Phendrana Drifts houses a Space Pirate labratory where you can read about how the Space pirates are struggling to deal with Samus. One of the coolest moments for me was realizing that some of the Space Pirate reports talked about things I did earlier in the game. It was super empowering, I was striking fear into the hearts of these pirates.

In addition to the variety of environments, the lack of friendly creatures and intellegent allies only adds to the atmosphere. You are completely alone for the entire adventure. This lets the environments come to the forefront since there are no traditional characters to grab your attention. The environments do all of the talking and they have a lot to say if you look for it.

The core loop I described in the Super Metroid section is applied with expert execution here. One thing I liked about Prime is how many places are inaccessible at first. It may seem like an odd praise but Metroid Prime does an expert job of making these roadblocks memorable. I remember in the Tallon Overworld seeing a big half pipe and thinking "I should come back later". I rarely forgot these roadblocks too, so keeping a mental map was easier than I expected.

There are only 2 things I didn't care for in Prime. The first was the map screen. The world itself is so much fun to explore, however the map can be a tad confusing at times. It goes for a 3d wireframe-esque look and it's functional for the most part. The most confusing part of the map is trying to figure out if it is rightside up after spinning the map around for awhile.

The 2nd and arguably bigger thing is the bosses. Out of all the games I played so far, Prime had the worst set of bosses. I was so frustrated on bosses like Thardus and The Omega Pirate. They take so long even after you figure out how to beat them. This would be fine if the other aspects of the fight were interesting but most of the time you are just waiting and moving to the side. One boss I did like on the other hand is Flaahgra. In this fight you have to shoot the satelites to reflect the sun onto Flaahgra. The fight is kept interesting with you trying to get enough satelites down in time while Flaahgra flips them back up. It's an interesting back and forth and my personal favorite fight in the game.

The combat overall is actually super interesting. Since this is a first person shooter, that style is the basis for the combat. However the focus is shifted from aiming to movement. Prime has a lock on button so precise aiming isn't necessary. Instead you move around each enemy and try to get at their weak points. It's a fun and engaging way to design enemies.

The upgrades in this game are another highlight. You get different suits, beams, a double jump, different visors, and the classic missiles and bombs. The standout upgrades in my opinion are the visors. These upgrades change the way you view the world in a very literal sense. Switching between thermal vision, x-ray vision, and scan visor provides different information depending on your situation. The scan visor is the one I used most often to get data logs and info on different objects and enemies. The thermal visor helped me see in the dark and underwater. The x-ray is probably the least useful since it lets you see invisible platforms. I'm not a huge fan of invisible obstacles but it isn't terrible here. The visors are a particularly inspired addition that benefits from the first person perspective. 

Overall, Metroid Prime is an absolutly phenomonal game. It's the game that made me go from really liking Metroid to truly loving it. The world and sense of immersion hit just right to make a truly magical experience.

Metroid: Samus Returns

Samus Returns is a remake of the Gameboy game, Metroid II: Return of Samus. Released in 2017, Samus Returns was the first 2d metroid game since Zero Mission on the Gameboy Advance. It set out to not only remake Metroid II, but to revive the Metroid series from it's slumber. I think that Samus Returns succeeds at revitalizing the 2d Metroid series and brings a classic game to a new generation.

Samus Returns takes place after the first Metroid game. The Galactic Federation took note of how dangerous Metroids were and sought to either exploit or eliminate them. They sent a research team to the Metroid homeworld SR388. The team gets wiped out by the Metroids. The Federation then decides to send in Samus to exterminate the Metroids. 

Samus Returns relies on a decidedly different structure from the previous games I played. Since the original was for the Gameboy, Samus Returns completely segments its map into different and separate areas. There are 8 areas each with a different amount of metroids to find and exterminate. You still find upgrades to find new areas, but the areas you explore are segmented. With Metroid Prime and Super Metroid, different areas connected together seamlessly. To go from a fully interconnected world to completely separate areas is a little strange.

This does not mean that exploration is any less fun in Samus Returns. On the contrary, Samus Returns uses its more segmented structure to give us a bunch of mini metroidvania maps. Each area still retains the expert map design of Prime and Super just in smaller chunks instead of the entire game. This was a nice palate cleanser since I didn't have to keep track of the entire world the whole time.

There are three things that Samus Returns excels at: combat, control, and bosses. Samus Returns is a logical next step for controlling Samus. The Gameboy Advance games introduced many improvements to the controls that Samus Returns carries over. In addition to these refinements, Samus Returns introduces a few more tools of its own. By holding the L button you can activate 360 degree aiming. This is an incredibly useful feature for precise aiming and getting enemies from a distance.

Bosses are another ace up Samus Returns’ sleeve. In each area you hunt down a set number of Metroids. These Metroids all come in 4 different stages: alpha, gamma, zeta, and omega. Within each type there are many different attack patterns that the Metroids can adopt, as well as different arenas they move around in. Each Metroid moves and attacks at least slightly different and it makes for engaging bosses.

Samus Returns has 4 Bosses outside of the Traditional Metroid encounters. I don’t want to go through all of them but there are 2 that I wanna highlight. The Diggernaut is a midgame boss that is foreshadowed through waking it up and an intense chase sequence. The Diggernaut is an intense and difficult boss fight that tests every skill you’ve learned so far. You space jump through lazers and spider ball up the arms to bomb its core and it’s just SO COOL!!

(spoilers for the final boss of the game)

The other boss I wanna talk about is the single best boss in the entire Metroid series, Proteus Ridley. This boss is interesting because it doesn’t rely on normal pattern based boss design. You can fire away at Ridley the entire time, as long as Ridley doesn’t kill you first. Since you have all of your upgrades, this is a duel between Samus and Ridley at their full power and it is intense! You can space jump up to the clouds while Ridley flies to give chase, melee counter his charge attack to wail away on him, activate lightning armor to defend from his viscious attacks. It’s like a dance with Samus and Ridley trading blows till one of them goes down, all set to a stormy sky with Ridley’s theme blasting in the background. This fight is truly epic!!

The last thing Samus Returns excels at is the combat. It makes sense since the bosses and controls are so good. These three things all connect to give us a truly engaging combat system. Samus can counter enemy attacks with her new melee counter, blast enemies with her missiles, freeze them with the ice beam, and move around them with ease. Samus Returns gives you plenty of options to deal with enemies.

Samus Returns also has the most important plot point in the entire Metroid series. Samus' actions here permeate every game that takes place after this point in the timeline. Her quest to exterminate the galaxy's most dangerous creatures on their home turf has galaxy wide consequences. Safe to say this is an important game that needed to be remade.

Overall, Samus Returns is a fantastic return to form for the Metroid series. It has all the things I love about Metroid. The exploration is still here, the combat is phenomenal, and Samus feels better than ever to control. Samus Returns remade one of the most important Metroid games masterfully. At this point I was impressed on how every game I played was a masterpiece in its own right.

Metroid: Other M

Metroid: Other M is the prequel action game to Fusion. Released in 2010 on the Wii, it is infamous among the Metroid community as it was the last game before a 6 year long drought of Metroid games. I heard many things about this game before actually playing it. I heard the story was what killed the game for many and that the gameplay was only a husk of what Metroid stood for. Samus as a character was ruined for many. After playing it for myself, I would like to offer a different perspective.

The game takes place after Super Metroid, Samus recieves another distress call from a place called the Bottleship, a federation ship that was used for unknown experiments. You arrive on the ship and meet up with Samus' former captian Adam and his squad of federation soldiers. Adam demands cooperation from Samus since she is on their turf and she agrees to investigate under his orders.

Metroid Other M is fundamentaly different from every other Metroid game. The core loop I described back in the Super Metroid section is basically non exsistant. Exploration takes a backseat to flashy action setpieces and a more direct narative. I'm personally fine with this, linear games tend to agree with me. However this is only the case if it is done well. 

Starting with the combat, it has become far more complicated while also still being quite simple. You can shoot, jump, dodge, aim missiles, and perform flashy finisher moves. Some of these moves feel awesome to pull off like the finishers. Some are extremely awkward like using missiles. You have to point the Wii remote at the screen to aim and fire missiles. That would be fine if you could use the Nunchuck but this game forces you to use the sideways Wii remote. This means you cannot move while firing missiles in combat. It lead to a lot of frustration, but as time went on I got used to it.

The combat is at its height with the bosses of the game. Out of all the games I played, Other M has some of the best bosses in the series. The most fun I had with this game was when I was fighting Ridley. It was a thrilling back and forth where I would fire away at his health while he tried to stab, slash, and grab me. The more cinematic approach makes these fights look and feel more grand and epic.

The progression is way more artificial this time. You don't find your big upgrades out in the world anymore. Samus locks away most of her abilities until Adam authorizes their use. This was fine for the most part, but some abilities are so useful that it makes no sense why Adam wouldn't authorize their use immediately. Why would he not allow the Morph ball or missiles right away? 

The story on the other hand is more of a mixed bag in my eyes. A lot of the story rides on how Samus and Adam interact. Many people have complained that Adam is bland and obnoxious. He locks away your weapons until he decides you can use them and orders Samus around like just another one of his soldiers. I didn't mind this as much as others, however I wish Adam had more personality than 'Cold Leader'. We don't really know what he is thinking throughout the game. Frankly I found it hard to care about him. I don't despise him like many in the fanbase do, but I don't really like him either. 

Samus on the other hand I do care about. I've played as her across 3 different adventures where she rarely spoke. I got the impression she was confident, determined, and guided by what she thinks is right in the moment. This game gives a glimpse into her mind and it's not quite what I expected, but I think it's alright. It shows a more sentimental and emotionally vulnerable Samus which is a tad offputting. However at the same time I never got to see Samus with her guard down in all the games I played so far. In every game, she was always on a mission deep in enemy territory. She always had to watch her back and couldn't afford to let her guard down. Since a bit of time passed between Super Metroid and Other M it makes sense that she needs a bit of time to get back into the adventuring mindset. Reuniting with old friends and mentors would make anyone nostalgic.

On the other hand, Other M is the first Metroid I played where the fact that Samus is a girl is explicitly referenced multiple times. I don't mind seeing a more emotional Samus or references to Samus' gender in isolation, but with both combined it comes accross as a weird gender stereotype.  I wouldn't blame anyone for raising an eyebrow at this aspect of the game. However it isn't as prominent as I initially thought it would be. Samus still takes down her enemies with confidence and style and she outperforms the federation squad at every turn. 

There is one more infamous moment in the game I want to address. When Samus confronts Ridley in this game she freezes for a second. She is shown to be terrified, even though she has faced Ridley multiple times in the past. Here I have my own theory. In the metroid wiki article on Ridley it says that he somehow survives most battles with Samus. He uses robot enhancements while he recovers from his battles to help the healing process. In Super Metroid, Samus blows up planet Zebes and kills the real Ridley once and for all. The federation is shown to have cloned Ridley in this game. If this lore is all canon then of course it would be shocking to see Ridley if Samus killed the real one. She also isn't even frozen in fear for that long so I'm not too bothered by it, especially since the Ridley fight is so cool.

The story was a lot better than I thought it would be, in part because I could talk about it with my cousin. We played Metroid Other M and Fusion together and that definitely helped. I was able to talk theories and opinions in real time while geeking out over cool moments. Shoutout to my cousin for helping me out with playing these games!

Ultimately Other M was a fun game. It provides a satisfying action game with epic boss fights and satisfying power ups. However it's definitely the most flawed game I played. It didn't end up wowing me like all the others did before, but it did provide plenty of context for the next and final game I had to play before Metroid Dread.

 

Metroid Fusion

Metroid Fusion is the final game in the Metroid timeline (before Metroid Dread comes out later this year).  Released in 2002 for the Gameboy Advance, Metroid Fusion was the first 2d Metroid to be released after Super Metroid. It came out on the same day as Metroid Prime too so there was a lot of hype surrounding the release. I think that Metroid Fusion is not only a worthy follow up to Super Metroid, but the most distinct Metroid game to date.

Metroid Fusion takes place not too long after Other M. Samus was hired by the federation to protect a research team on SR388. On SR388 she encounters a mysterious lifeform that infects her suit. She thinks nothing of it until she finds herself losing consciousness while piloting her gunship, causing it to crash. Luckily the federation was able to rescue her. Unfortunately this parasite had infected her suit and her body, so the federation had to surgically remove Samus' power suit and inject her with the baby Metroid's DNA. With her new immunity to the newly dubbed "X parasite", Samus is tasked with infiltrating the B.S.L. station and investigating an unidentified explosion. 

Fusion has a more involved plot than most other Metroid games. It tells it's story through conversations with the federation AI that directs Samus from place to place. Samus nicknames this AI after her former commander Adam. This makes sense to me since it seems fitting that Adam is as bland as an AI. I think the AI Adam fits well into this plot.

The structure is fundamentally similar to the games that came before it, however it has many differences. For one Fusion is far more linear than most of the games. It gives you clear instructions one where to go and why you are going there. I don't mind this since the map still follows Metroid conventions. 

The B.S.L station is broken up into 7 sections. The beginning area, and 6 segmented biomes that the researchers use to study different lifeforms. It's similar to how Samus Returns structured its areas. The main difference this time is the emphasis on structured exploration. Since you are always shown where to go, the only question left to solve is how to get there. Since the maps still retain the feel of traditional Metroid maps, exploring to find the right path is still satisfying.   

The things that Metroid Fusion excels at are its controls and atmosphere. The leap from the Super Nintendo to the Gameboy Advance was significant for Metroid. It still has that 16 bit look but the difference can be felt in how quick Samus moves. Her jump is snappy and she runs at a quick pace. The floaty jump of Super Metroid is gone since you need to be a bit more precise with movements. The game doesn't have you doing anything too difficult in this area but the platforming still feels better than ever.

Metroid Fusion sets itself apart from the other Metroid games with its atmosphere. Fusion is far more intense and oppressive than other entries. Samus' original power suit is now unusable so she has to use a new suit. It's very unsettling with a more biological look. The new suit is also way less durable. Samus takes so much more damage in this game. This is the game where I ended up dying the most. The difficulty adds to the intensity and dread of the game.

A lot of the atmosphere can be attributed to the X parasite. The X is a species that started thriving on SR388 after Samus wiped out the Metroids. It infects other lifeforms and gains the ability to transform into anything it infects. This means that not only can it take the form of any creature, it can copy Samus too. The parasite that infected Samus at the beginning of the game did just that. Adam decides to call this specific parasite the SA-X. This parasite is so much stronger than you are throughout the entire game. Every time you encounter the SA-X you have to run away. These sequences are some of the most tense segments in the Metroid series.

Metroid Fusion also has a ton of respect for the story that has come before. It includes details that show how well the development team understood the story. For example, the Ice Beam is an iconic weapon that has been around since the first game. It is the weakness of the Metroids since they can't handle the cold. However now that Samus' DNA has been altered with Metroid DNA she can't take the cold. She can't use the Ice Beam directly so they introduce Ice Missiles. These details make a world of difference and got me way more invested in the story and world of Metroid. 

 Overall, Fusion is a fantastic continuation of the Metroid series. I loved how different it felt while still being recognizable as a Metroid game. Its atmosphere is so tense and the control is precise. One of my favorites for sure.

Conclusion

Well we have reached the end. This post only grew and grew in scope as I played each of these games. Every single one gave me so much to say. 

The Metroid series is something truly special. Every mainline game is a masterpiece in its own right and I was constantly impressed by each game I played. It's not a stretch to say that Metroid has become one of my favorite series in gaming. No other series feels quite like it. The exploration, atmosphere, combat, progression, and story all combine to make a series that consistently impresses. 

Metroid Dread is only a few days away. After playing some of the games I can safely say that I think Metroid Dread is going to be fantastic. If what I played is any indication, it won’t be anything less than epic!

Thank you for joining me on this crazy long Metroid journey! This post took awhile to make and I put a lot of passion into it because I’m just that excited about Metroid. I love this series now and I hope you give it a try! It’s 100% worth it. Let me know your experiences with Metroid in the comments! I'd love to hear other people's stories. Thank you so much for reading! 

Shout out to my cousin Patrick who helped me figure out which games to play! It was a ton of fun talking about what I was playing with him and being hype for Dread together :)

Another shout out to my friend Amanda who helped me edit this post! She is an awesome writer and has a blog of her own so go check it out! She was a huge help. Link to her blog below.

https://iplaytheaccordion.blogspot.com/