Metroid (Nintendo Entertainment System, 1986)

Ok so here is my first attempt at creating a website full of video game reviews, so bear with me!

This is my review of the 1986 NES classic, Metroid.

This is the first Metroid game I've ever played, on New Year's 2011 at age 23. Little did I know what I was missing out on all these years!

I'm going to split this review into five parts. Story, gameplay, graphics, music, and overall.

Story

Metroid is the story of bounty hunter Samus Aran, who is sent to the planet Zebes to exterminate the lethal species known as the Metroids and their A.I. ringleader, Mother Brain. Samus would also encounter two mean, nasty dragons along the way. Ridley, who is Samus's long-standing nemesis, and his partner Kraid. For those of you who don't know, Samus is a woman.

Actual storyline in the game is pretty cut and dry. Explore and kill bad guys. Collect power ups. Escape before the area explodes. If you beat it in a certain amount of time, you will get a certain ending. If you beat it in over 10 hours, Samus will turn away from you, almost in shame. If you beat it in under 10 hours and more than 5, she will raise her arm in victory. (That's the ending I got on my first playthrough, even though I think she should have flipped me the bird!) If you beat it between 3-5 hours she will take off her helmet. Under 3 she takes off her suit and she is revealed as a woman in red leotard and she will wave at you. Under 1 hour and she does the same thing except she's in a bikini. Sorry boys, she does not get naked. No 8-bit ta-tas for you!

My very first ending. (Not my actual game, this is a stock photo!)

Gameplay

I found the controls in this game to be pretty easy to use and get used to. They are simple, press A (or 1 on the Wii) to shoot and B (2) to jump. Use the D-pad to move and press select to switch to missiles, and press down to roll into morph ball form and press the attack button to lay a bomb in this form.

I was rather impressed with the actual gameplay. Samus jumps really well even before collecting the Hi-Jump Boots. There is nothing in the game that can instantly kill her. No monsters, acid, nor lava. You don't even get injured from falling, much less die. Her health system is energy based. She gets hit, she loses a few units of energy. She kills a monster, they often drop energy balls which refill your health. Some are worth 5 units, some are worth 20 units. Collect an energy tank and her maximum health increases by 100 units of energy, and full health is restored upon collection. Nice. Same system applies to her missiles, except missiles are not restored upon collection of a missile tank. Not cool, but oh well. Oh, and missile tanks increase maximum missiles by 5 and enemy dropped refills are worth 2 missiles. Collect the Varia suit and the amount of damage Samus takes is halved. Awesome. This is also one of the very first games that offers backtracking (in fact it's required!).

As for the difficulty of the game, it really depends. My first playthrough was pretty difficult, but it was still doable. It's most difficult at the beginning before you collect energy tanks and the Long Beam. The boss fights are somewhat difficult and at first the Mother Brain fight at the end of the game was extremely hard and frustrating, considering the final fight is more or less against the level than MB herself. Leading up to it you have to kill Metroids (which can only be killed by freezing them then shooting 5 missiles at them) and they drop a lot of energy and missiles. In the final level you have to shoot a few of MB's life support systems (called Zeebetites) until they disappear and you take a lot of damage in the meantime. MB just kind of sits there and takes it while those annoying rings (called Rinkas) float around and drive you insane, not to mention there is some nasty liquid that you can fall into and it can be difficult to get out of. It's a lot easier now since my husband had the genius idea of going back and killing Metroids to refill my health. (Destroying the Zeebetites was half the battle and they stay gone.) There is an escape sequence at the end which is somewhat difficult if you aren't careful, but it follows an exact pattern so it becomes predictable. Overall Samus is a tough character and she can take a lot of damage.

The weapon systems are ok, the ice beam is pretty effective and the missiles are powerful. Your original power beam has very limited range until you collect the Long Beam upgrade where you can shoot all the way across the screen. The only problem is that the beams do not stack so you can only have the ice beam or the wave beam, and the ice beam is required to defeat the Metroids, so the wave beam is kind of pointless in my opinion.

One major con is that there is a spot in the first area where if you bomb through the floor you will fall into a pit that you can not get out of and you have to reset your game. I wonder why the heck that spot is even there?

Another con is that an enemy can get trapped inside a hatch with you as you are passing through and damage you. Not awesome. At all.

Graphics

I have to say that the graphics in this game, for being on an 8 bit system and coming out in 1986, are pretty darn good. The details are pretty good in the environment, and same goes for the monsters. I have to say I was extremely impressed with the graphics of the final area (Tourian) and they did an excellent job on Mother Brain. The details were really something. The only thing is that a lot of the areas look the same at first and it gets really confusing.

The impressive details of Tourian and Mother Brain

 Music and Sound

The music in this game is no less than fantastic. From the catchy, upbeat tune of Brinstar to the laid back tune of Norfair, from the beautiful and haunting melody of Kraid's Lair to the intense and foreboding tune of Ridley's lair. Finally you encounter the creepy, ambient sounds of Tourian and the equally creepy and intense sound of the final fight tune. I also need to mention the Title theme which starts with an intense, bad ass sounding melody that smoothly transitions into a beautiful, moving song. There is also the theme of the item room, which is mysterious and ambient as well as the intense escape sequence and then the ending theme which stars out kind of intense then transitions into a happy, victorious melody. You just can't underestimate how good 8 bit instruments can be.

The sound effects are good as well. They are typical of 8 bit sound systems but there are quite a few of them, including the grotesque shrieks of the bosses when they are injured and the swampy sounds of Samus's footsteps. The only sound effect that annoys me and is common amongst other 8 bit games (I'm looking at you, Legend of Zelda and Zelda II!!!!) is the high-pitched low health alarm that just beeps nonstop until you recover enough health to shut that thing up!

Overall

Overall I found this game to be very enjoyable and it set the foundation for me to play the other Metroid games and I haven't been disappointed by a Metroid game yet. It's a fun game with good gameplay, excellent music, and beautiful graphics (for an 8 bit system).

Some of the cons are this:
There is a pit that you can get stuck in and have to reset the game. The simple fix is to know where the pit is and avoid it.
The final fight is very difficult at first. It could use an extra platform for Samus to stand on.
The beams do not stack.
The ice beam can be a little clunky.
The low health alarm is annoying.
It's almost a death sentence for a Metroid to latch onto you.
There is no diagonal or downward shot.
You cannot crouch.
Some of the areas look the same.
The game is initially really difficult without a walkthrough.

Yes, that's a lot of cons, but they are forgivable and the pros were talked about in the rest of my review.

Rating
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
8 out of 10

The second best ending, which I finally got! :)