The Metroid games are a series of video games produced by Nintendo. One of the company's most successful franchises, the series spans through several Nintendo systems, starting with Metroid (1986) on the NES, and sequels on the Game Boy, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Revolution.
The Metroid games chronicle the missions of female bounty hunter Samus Aran in a science fiction setting which has been compared to that of the Alien movies. Central plot elements are the terrifying Metroid organisms, and the Space Pirates which try to exploit the Metroids' powers. The gameplay combines adventure based on exploration and item-gathering with platformer and shooter dynamics. The Metroid games are particularly associated with nonlinear gameplay, which was pioneered by the first installment in the series.
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Release history
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Increased frequency
Following Prime and Fusion, new Metroid titles have been produced with increased frequency.
A second Metroid game for the Game Boy Advance, Metroid: Zero Mission, was developed by Nintendo and released in 2004. It is an enhanced remake and re-telling of the original NES Metroid story, featuring areas and gameplay elements from previous games as well as entirely new ones. The story, which sheds a little more light on the character background of Samus Aran, is more detailed than in Metroid.
The GameCube title Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was also released in 2004, like Metroid Prime developed by Retro Studios. It is a first-person adventure in the style of the first Prime, but introduced a new device: the concept of the light and dark worlds, somewhat similar to that seen in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past but in terms of different dimensions rather than magical worlds.
Metroid Prime Pinball, a pinball video game for the Nintendo DS, deviates significantly from previous game installments. Although it is not part of the official Metroid timeline, the game borrows many story and graphical elements from the Prime series.
Three Metroid games are in development:
- Metroid Prime: Hunters, the first Metroid game to appear on the Nintendo DS (not including the spin-off Metroid Prime Pinball) and the first 3D Metroid game for a portable console. A demo called Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt was released with the first shipment of the Nintendo DS system, featuring the gameplay modes "Regulator", "Morph Ball", "Survivor", and "multiplayer". The final version of the game is set to release in the United States on March 20, 2006. [1]
- Metroid Prime 3 is currently in development by Retro Studios. Prime 3 has been hinted to be the last in the Prime series and will take advantage of the Revolution's new features, such as the controller[2]. Nintendo illustrated how Metroid Prime 3 might work with the Revolution's controller with a modified version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes at the Tokyo Game Show in 2005[3].
- Metroid Dread, another 2D side-scrolling game announced in the June 2005 edition of Game Informer. According to moderators on the Game Informer internet forums, the game is being developed for the Nintendo DS, and its story is set after the events of Metroid Fusion[4]. Recent rumors have it that the game, which had never been officially announced, has been cancelled. [5]
Chronology
The chronology of the Metroid fictional universe does not match the release order of the games. According to the official timeline released by Nintendo[6], the games currently released are ordered as follows:
- Metroid: Samus travels through the caverns of the planet Zebes to stop the Space Pirates from exploiting the Metroid species for galactic domination. She confronts the cybernetic lifeform Mother Brain, as well as her guardians, Kraid and Ridley.
- Metroid: Zero Mission: After a retelling of the events of the first game, Samus is ambushed by Space Pirates, and her ship crash-lands back on the surface of Zebes. Stripped of her Power Suit, she is forced to infiltrate the Space Pirate Mother Ship in order to find a way off the planet.
- Metroid Prime: Samus travels to Tallon IV to stop the Space Pirates from exploiting a powerful substance known as Phazon. She discovers that the ancient people who raised her, the Chozo, once settled on this planet, and their disappearance is somehow linked to a meteor that crashed into the planet's surface.
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes: The Space Pirates again try to make use of Phazon, this time on the planet Aether, a world split into light and dark dimensions. Samus is pursued by a mysterious look-alike known as Dark Samus, a remnant from the first Prime game.
- Metroid II: Return of Samus: Samus travels to SR388, the home planet of the Metroids, to exterminate the species entirely.
- Super Metroid: Samus returns to the rebuilt base on Zebes to stop the Space Pirates in their new plan to clone the Metroids and use them as a weapon.
- Metroid Fusion: While acting as a bodyguard for researchers on the planet SR388, Samus is infected by a creature known as the X Parasite. She is nearly killed by the creature, and recovers after having her body infused with Metroid DNA. She is then sent to investigate a disturbance at the space research facility, Biologic Space Labs, where researchers attempted to contain her infected Power Suit.
Important people
Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission were all developed by Nintendo's internal R&D1 section. The games which have been developed by second-party teams are Metroid Prime 1-3 by Retro Studios, Metroid Prime: Hunters by NST and Metroid Prime Pinball by Fuse Games.
The central figures in the creation and development of the Metroid series are Yoshio Sakamoto who has directed or supervised the development of all the games (excluding Metroid II), Gunpei Yokoi who headed R&D1 and produced the three first games before his death in 1997, Makoto Kanoh who directed and designed scenarios for the first three games, and Hiroji Kiyotake who designed the characters for the original game. Shigeru Miyamoto, who created the Mario and Legend of Zelda series, has not been involved with the creation of Metroid, but he did act as producer for both Metroid Prime and its sequel.
The Metroid series has been noted for its music and has had several composers during the years:
- Hirokazu 'Hip' Tanaka - Metroid, Super Metroid
- Ryohji Yoshitomi - Metroid II: Return of Samus
- Kenji Yamamoto - Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3
- Minako Hamano - Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission
- Kouchi Kyouma - Metroid Prime
- Akira Fujiwara - Metroid Fusion
Franchise spin-offs
Comic books have been released based on Metroid, Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. Samus Aran and other Metroid characters also feature in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books.
A live-action movie version of Metroid is reportedly in development by Lion Rock Productions, based around Samus Aran, along with her early battles with the Metroids and the Mother Brain. It is scheduled to be released in theatres around 2006. [7]
Speedrunning
The Metroid games have been a popular target for speedrunning, the art of completing a game in the fastest time possible. In addition to the nonlinear level design that allows alternate routes to be taken through the games, the Metroid games encourage speedrunning by displaying item collection and completion time statistics at the end of the game. Better times and item collection rates are also rewarded by showing different endings, typically involving Samus Aran posing in less clothes, in some games down to a bikini.
To finish a game as quickly as possible, speedrunners exploit glitches and secrets that provide shortcuts. There are many of these in all games, both unintentional glitches and features added deliberately by the developers. For an example of the latter, the key to speedrunning in Super Metroid is the wall jump move, which is not described in the instruction manual but revealed in a secret room in the game. Wall jumping, as well as the shinespark move, also appear in Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission.
References
- ^ Matt Casamassina (August 3, 2005). "Metroid Prime 3 Details Emerge". IGN
- ^ Sources for the official timeline:
- "History". Metroid Zero Mission Official Site (Japanese version). Accessed on August 21, 2005.
- Ice27. "Metroid Prime 2 Echoes Bonus Disc FAQ/Walkthrough." GameFAQs. Accessed on August 21, 2005.
- ^ "Ask GI: Metroid Dread?". Game Informer Forums. Accessed on August 21, 2005.
External links
- Official
- Fan sites
- Samus.co.uk The popular UK based Metroid site, renowned for its information on Metroid speed runs, "Metroid In Motion," a fan-made DVD that provides incredible amounts of information concerning the game series, and an in-depth forum.
- WikiTroid - Metroid Wiki
- The Metroid Database
- New Tourian
- The Metroid Galaxy Guide — features original articles about the fictional Metroid universe
- Metroid.eu — European fan site
- Metroidonline.com
- Metroid 2002
- Other resources