Release Date: August 6, 1986
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Last month, I celebrated Samus Aran’s 30th birthday by paying homage to one of my favorite games on the SNES, Super Metroid. I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize the matriarch of the series: Metroid for the NES.
As a 15-year old obsessed with girls and cars, I missed this gem. I had to graduate from my teenage years before I experienced it. In fact, I didn’t play the original Metroid until AFTER Super Metroid. I wasn’t impressed when I did because I had a taste of the 16-bit title first. It took me years of cleansing before I could see the original for what it was: a trailblazer in the action-adventure genre.
In Metroid, you are Samus, and you need to stop the Space Pirates from trying to exploit the organisma known as Metroids in their quest for domination of the galaxy. Samus descends into the caverns of the planet Zebes in the first game. It was during this quest that Samus had to defeat tons of enemies, including guardians Kraid and Ridley. Eventually, Samus reached the cybernetic boss Mother Brain in an effort to destroy all Metroids and foil the plans of the Space Pirates.
Playing it now, much of what made the game trailblazing is missing. It just seems like a typical side-scrolling action-adventure platformer. The NES library had similar games, including Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Battle of Olympus, and the Castlevania series. What set this game apart is the way the levels are designed. Power-ups were scattered across the levels, and grabbing them opened up new levels that were previously inaccessible. That was a mechanic that was not used too often outside of the Legend of Zelda series. It did, however, introduce a new mechanic to side-scrollers.
The biggest innovation that the game introduced was not visible until the end of the game. If a player helps Samus defeat Mother Brain and escape Zebes in less than five hours, the player is shown that Samus is, in fact, a WOMAN!
Prior to this moment, there was only one character that could classify as a female protagonist: Ms. Pac-Man. The stories of male gamers beating the game in fewer than five hours, seeing the FEMALE Samus waving at them, and getting butthurt about playing as a girl are as funny as they are common. Decades later, female protagonists, like Lara Croft, Jill Valentine, and Bayonetta are commonplace. Back in 1986, however, that was almost blasphemous.
As for the game itself, it is good to play through and complete. There are numerous challenges along the way, and the way the game teaches you to get past sticky situations without hand-holding is testament to the level and game design.
Still, it’s lost its luster after all this time. It was an early game for the NES, and later titles like Castlevania III and the Mega Man series would do run-and-gun (or –whip, as it were) way better in the NES’s later years. The graphics are quite muddy, and the chiptune music is primitive compared to later NES titles. But the painstaking level design and progression were top-notch. All of those lessons learned in this game and its direct sequel, The Game Boy’s Metroid II – Return of Samus were applied, honed, and perfected in 1994’s absolutely timeless Super Metroid.
Does it still hold up? Surprisingly, yes. Modern gamers will not be able to appreciate the rather primitive gameplay present, but they will recognize the basic mechanics and hail this game as the progenitor of the Metroidvania gameplay style. It is still a fun game to play, and speedrunners have really embraced this game.
The good news is that Metroid fans can grab this game in a number of ways. Apart from the NES original, there is the Game Boy Advance reboot, Metroid: Zero Mission, that adds a backstory and enhanced graphics. In addition, the game is available on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. Finally, the upcoming NES Classic Edition will contain Metroid as one of its 30 bundled games.
Although the game’s presentation may seem ancient, the gameplay still holds up. For any retro gamer interested in the roots of the Metroidvania style, Metroid is a no-brainer.
Good: Tight run-and-gun platforming; genesis of the Metroidvania gameplay style; great replayability for speedrunners
Bad: Graphics and sound have aged poorly; gameplay is relatively short
Final score: 8.5/10
