For Samus's 25th birthday, the NWR staff recalls many happy memories.
This week was Samus Aran's 25th anniversary. Everyone's favorite Power Suit-wearing bounty hunter and the intergalactic jellyfish she routinely battles celebrated 25 years since their debut in Metroid on the NES in 1986. We at NWR decided to commemorate this by putting together a series of our favorite moments from the Metroid series.
Scott Thompson
When considering defining moments of the Metroid series, nothing floods my mind quicker than the Phendrana Drifts in Metroid Prime. While the earlier areas in the game are generally made up of dark caverns and forests, the Drifts strike a sharp dichotomy with their sheer vastness and cool color scheme. Blues and whites permeate the frozen landscape and make the area visually unique to any other. The wonderment is bolstered by a piano-laden track that is light and prancing, not unlike the falling snow itself, which I feel astutely captures the series as a whole. There isn't a sense of danger, rather a feeling of solitude and a thirst for understanding. Even Meta Ridley flying overhead, casting its shadow sprawling across the ground below, doesn't strike fear into the player, it's only a reminder that your journey is far from over.
Matt Walker
The exploration and item expansion mechanics of the original Metroid were thrilling. It was such a rush finding a new item to see how you could use it. Also, Metroid was the first game that made me aware of Japan. Looking at the back of the cart and seeing 'Made in Japan' gave the realization that Japan must be an awesome place. 25 years later, I live and work in Tokyo.
Andrew Brown
I'll never forget my first experience with Super Metroid. After the harrowing escape from the G.F. Research Colony, Samus touches down on Zebes and goes exploring the eerie, deserted tunnels filled with fog, and many areas closed off from you in your current state. Proceeding further down, you come across some derelict ruins of what appeared to be some kind of facility... as I had not played a Metroid game before I wasn't aware, but it dawned on me later that you were actually exploring the remains of Mother Brain's tank and battle room, and the escape route that Samus took at the end of the first game. Now devoid of life, the silent chambers do little to prevent you from taking an elevator down into Brinstar. Then there are the creepy eye-cameras that spotlight you as you approach. You don't know who or what is watching on the other end, only that your presence has been discovered and it can't be good. Upon collecting the Morph Ball and some Missiles from some very familiar-looking territory, you return to find that everything is buzzing with life, Space Pirates, Geemers, and other monsters are crawling around everywhere!
Several other parts of the world map are ruined remnants from the first game and the original Zebes layout, too. It really adds to the continuity of the series and even adds to the epic escape at the end of the game, having Sammy burst through a wall and appear in that same vertical shaft where she must frantically hop between tiny platforms as the timer ticks away... I can just imagine her thinking "Crap, I never thought I'd have to do this again!"
Nicholas Bray
A great moment in Metroid for me was first landing on Tallon IV in Metroid Prime. Looking around the lush environment and beginning to explore this strange world was really absorbing for me. I love to just explore and experience the world in games, and the first Metroid Prime delivered this in spades. I loved the look of the landscape in the opening area, the sun hitting the sandy surroundings always seemed very realistic, with just the right amount of light to give it a sense of that afternoon sun.
Danny Bivens
My first true experience with a Metroid game was with the original Metroid Prime on the GameCube. After buying it on launch day, I rushed home to play what would be the best games I played last generation. The jaw-dropping graphics, awesome enemy design, and the small details, for instance, rain drops showing up on your visor as you look to the heavens on Talon IV, really help immerse you into the experience. After playing Prime, I purchased nearly every Metroid game available so I could experience more of Samus Aran's world.
Pedro Hernandez
I am not a big Metroid fan. In fact, Metroid Prime bored the hell out of me when I first played, didn't see the appeal and haven't followed any game since.
HOWEVER: In 1994 I played Super Metroid and I think its intro may be some of the best ever seen on the SNES. Rather than just saying "Super Metroid, press start" you see the lab destroyed, the screeching and all the scientists on the ground. It was very creepy and actually scared me as a kid, but always fascinated me in how well presented and atmospheric it is.
Nate Andrews
My first exposure was as a wide-eyed youngster in the basement of my babysitter. Her son, an incessant gamer with a large collection I'd paw through in his usual absence, was home sick that day. As he made his way down the stairs in the early morning, I immediately knew something was up: he only ever came downstairs to plop himself in a deep chair in front of his legion of systems and play the hours away. It was surely going to be an event. He slapped a cart in the SNES and himself in the seat, and as I made my way over to the adjacent couch where I'd often pretend to busy myself with LEGO pieces and action figures as he'd play, I witnessed the opening of what would be a multi-hour, vicariously-experienced odyssey of fascinating exploration and wordless atmosphere. I witnessed all of Super Metroid that day, and I knew, somehow, it was special.
James Dawson
Having played through the entire Metroid series, there is one antagonist that stands out among the rest - the parasitic doppelganger of Fusion, SA-X. This one enemy is responsible for some of my most memorable moments in gaming as a child. My first encounter with the SA-X left me dreading every subsequent meeting with the creature. Its ability to overpower the newly Metroid-infused Samus, which relegated Samus to playing a game of cat and mouse with the parasite, was the first time I had ever felt truly helpless in a videogame. This helplessness was carried throughout the game with each encounter, which culminated in the knowledge that there were ten or more SA-X monsters on board the research station, after the first one was destroyed along with the Metroids in the Restricted Laboratory. This feeling continued on to the first and only evenly matched fight with the SA-X. As I was eleven at the time of my first play through, I did not quite have the reflexes that I have today, and I must have replayed the boss fight for an hour until I was finally able to advance. Shortly after finishing off SA-X, I was rewarded with yet another boss fight with an infant Metroid that had escaped from the Restricted Laboratory and grew into an Omega. In true Super Metroid fashion, a burdened Samus is saved in the end by her former opponent, who not only drives the Omega Metroid back, but also allows Samus to absorb its powers so the final Metroid left on the research station can be defeated. Nintendo R&D1 did an amazing job at using the SA-X to invoke a feeling of vulnerability throughout the game, but they were also able to use the parasite in a way that completely reversed that feeling in the end.
Zachary Miller
I played Super Metroid when it first came out and didn't get it. Back then, I needed a more linear experience. Almost a decade later, like many of my colleagues, I sank my teeth into Metroid Prime and never looked back. It inspired me to retry the entire series, and I'm sure glad I did. Now I play Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion on a semi-annual basis. There are so many great moments scattered throughout the series, but my favorite? That's tough to say. I'd have to say that my favorite moment is from one of my least favorite Metroid games: Echoes. As some of you know, I really like looking at the art direction in games, and when I saw the Sanctuary Fortress, my jaw hit the floor. It was so unique - among any Metroid game - that I just could not wait to explore it. It was so technological and colorful and epic, almost the complete opposite of every other location in that game (or any Prime game).
Happy birthday from the entire NWR staff, Samus. Here's hoping for many more adventures with you.