Metroid Megathread v1 - We don't talk about Other M. - Games

[img]http://i.imgur.com/v7VqPkw.png[/img] Hey, welcome to the Metroid Megathread, where we talk about our mutual friend, the badass bounty hunter Samus Aran and all her adventures. For those not in the know, here's what Wikipedia has to say about the series: [quote]Metroid (Japanese: メトロイド Hepburn: Metoroido) is a series of science fiction action-adventure video games by Nintendo. It chronicles the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran who protects the galaxy from the depredations of the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness the power of the eponymous Metroids. It is noted for having one of the first female protagonists in a video game and for its nonlinear gameplay. Metroid combines the platforming of Super Mario Bros. and the exploration aspect of The Legend of Zelda with a decidedly darker atmosphere. As of 2011, the Metroid series consists of eleven games, with releases on every Nintendo home and portable console except the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and Virtual Boy. As well as being one of Nintendo's most financially successful franchises with over 17.44 million games sold as of September 2012, it is also one of the company's most highly acclaimed series, with a GameRankings average score of 85% across all eleven titles.[/quote] [u][b]Games:[/b][/u] [i]Listed in order of release[/i] [b]Metroid (1986)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/Metroid_boxart.jpg[/img] The game that started it all, it was pretty impressive for its time, but now suffers from a severe case of NES-itis. The lack of map and general lack of indication towards any kind of objective means it is one of the more inaccesible games of the series (if not the most). It chronicles Samus' first solo mission where she is commisioned by the Galactic Federation to take out a Space Pirate installation on Planet Zebes. [b]Metroid II - The Return of Samus (1991)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Metroid2_boxart.jpg[/img] The first handheld Metroid game. To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about Metroid II, having not played it myself but as far as I know it's a bit okay. Gameplay is slightly different to others in the series, instead of progress being reliant on the collection of items and abilities, Samus must kill all Metroids in an area before being allowed to progress further. This time Samus is tasked with visiting planet SR388, the home planet of the Metroid species, with sole purpose of completely eradicating its Metroid population. Interestingly, towards the end of a game Samus finds a freshly hatched Metroid, which then imprints on her, making Samus effectively its mother, Samus decides not to kill it, but to keep it in order to give it to Galactic Federation scientists. [b]Super Metroid (1994)[/b] [img]http://lvls.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/sm-snesbox.jpg[/img] Here it is, the one Metroid game everyone and their grandma knows and loves. It is definitely a fine piece of kit and is responsible for pretty much every trope and tradition evident in not only the metroidvania genre itself but a fair few adventure and platforming games as well. The baby Metroid that imprinted on Samus during the SR388 mission is stolen from the Galactic Federation space station it was being held. Samus tracks the Metroid from the space station to Zebes, where she finds that the Space Pirates have again set up a base of operations. [b]Metroid Fusion (2002)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/45/Metroid_Fusion_box.jpg[/img] Metroid Fusion was kind of harshly criticsed by fans when it first came out for being incredibly linear in comparison to the other games in the series. In retrospect though, I do not feel it to be particularly limiting in its linearity, there are still all the hallmarks of a Metroid game: backtracking, item based progression, energy tanks, hidden upgrades and such. The only thing I don't particularly like about it is how hard it is, simple attacks from enemies usually take at least 40-60 damage, which makes the first couple of hours particularly punishing. The game is also notable for being the first game to really give Samus a voice, while she did give exposition in the intro to Super Metroid, it was just that, exposition. In Fusion the narration from Samus delves into more personal aspects of herself. After returning to SR388 with a crew of Galactic Federation troops, Samus comes in contact with a parasite known as "X". Almost killing her, she is surgically removed from her suit and is administered with an antidote made from Metroid DNA, making her part Metroid. Samus is then sent to Biologic Space Labs, where specimens brought back from SR388 have been found to be infected with the X Parasite. While there she finds that the remnants of her old suit became infected by the X Parasite as well, meaning that a parasitic, incredibly powerful double of herself is walking around the station, hunting Samus down. [b]Metroid Prime (2002)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/MetroidPrimebox.jpg[/img] My personal favourite, a radical change for the series as it is the first 3D Metroid. Metroid Prime is played from the first person perspective rather than the side scrolling perspective of the previous games. I feel that this makes the exploration elements of Metroid deeper and the whole experience overall more immersive although admittedly makes the platforming elements a little bit more awkward than previously. Almost universally praised on release by both fans and critics, Prime is a masterclass on adapting a previously 2D only series to the third dimension (take that, Castlevania and Sonic). Samus, while exploring recieves a distress beacon coming from a Space Pirate frigate. Arriving to see the place in tatters she explores to find out the cause of the destruction. She finds one of her old nemeses, Ridley, reincarnated in a robotic form. Ridley escapes to the planet the frigate was orbiting, Tallon IV. Samus flies down to the planet in pursuit. While there she finds the Space Pirates have set up a scientific lab and mine, focussing on the research and harvest of a new element called Phazon. Phazon is deadly to the touch and has the capability to mutate the fauna of Tallon IV. With the mission to eradicate the pollution Phazon has caused and to destroy the Space Pirate base, Samus begins her investigation into the depths of Tallon IV. [b]Metroid: Zero Mission (2004)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7d/Metroid_--_Zero_Mission_%28box_art%29.jpg[/img] An enhanced and expanded remake of the first game in the series, there is absolutely no reason to play the original now that this game exists. Probably the closest the series has come back to Super in structure and design, Zero Mission is barely recognisable as a remake of the original game. The game also marks the first appearance of Samus in her Zero Suit, so we have this game to blame for all the Rule 34 and "OMG SUMAS IS TEH HOTT" type YouTube comments. [b]Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6e/Echoesboxart_%28Large%29.jpg[/img] I said before that Fusion was pretty hard, well it ain't got shit on this game. Prime 2 expands on the precedent set in the first game, mostly making more interesting use of various mechanics introduced in it (most notably the morph ball mechanics, many awesome boss battle are to be had in this game and entirely in morph ball form). It did this weird Zelda-eqsue thing of splitting the world into a Light World and Dark World. The light/dark dynamic is not implemented in the same way as it would be in a Zelda game though, in Prime 2 it acts more as a facilitator for dimension shifting puzzles and such, rather than an indicator of how far into the game you are. Also introduced was the stupid idea of ammunition for beam weapons, and it was never heard from again. Also included was an entirely forgettable multiplayer mode. Samus responds to a Galactic Federation distress beacon coming from a battalion ship that was shot down on the planet. She finds them all dead at the hands of dark nether beasts called the Ing, after being attacked by a group of them she finds herself taken in by the last remaining member of a race called the Luminoth who were at war with the Ing. The Luminoth and the Ing both reside on their own parallel version of the planet, the dimension shift caused by a meteor strike containing Phazon. Samus is tasked by the last Luminoth to fight the forces of the Ing who are trying to take over the Luminoth dimension. Samus discovers that the meteor strike was caused by a version of herself made entirely of Phazon, called Dark Samus, presumably made from her previous encounters with Phazon on Tallon IV. [b]Metroid Prime Pinball (2005)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/Metroid_Prime_Pinball.jpg[/img] Real talk, this game is actually pretty cool. [b]Metroid Prime: Hunters (2006)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Mph_cover_updated.jpg[/img] An entirely forgettable singleplayer experience, but honestly one of the most fun multiplayer FPSes I've ever played. Playing a bit like Quake, the multiplayer is fast, frantic and tons of fun. The story is about some eternal power or something being awakened and a bunch of bounty hunters trying to get at it, I dunno, who cares. Multiplayer is where it's at. [b]Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Metroid_Prime_3_Packaging.jpg[/img] The final instalment in the Prime trilogy. Prime takes a more episodic approach to the Metroid gameplay, similar to Hunter's singleplayer campaign. The gameplay is stretched over multiple planets. These planets are overall smaller than the overworlds of any previous Metroid games, but do all exhibit the same design elements. This approach means that gameplay feels more broken up and as result the game feels smaller even though technically it's just as long a game as the previous two Prime games. Samus becomes infected with Phazon, along with a few other bounty hunters after an encounter with Dark Samus. The Space Pirates are using Dark Samus and all of their Phazon infused tech to wage an all out offensive against the Galactic Federation. Samus and the other bounty hunters, after getting devices that inhibit the Phazon infection are given the task of aiding the Federation in fighting back the Space Pirate assault. [b]Metroid: Other M (2010)[/b] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Metroid_Other_M_Cover.jpg[/img] As I said in the title, we don't talk about this game, but if you must. Other M essentially is the first Metroid game I would call objectively bad. The gameplay, handled by Team Ninja, is not what's at fault here (although it is admittedly rather dull), what is at fault is the completely continuity defying plot and characterisation, and overall design of the game. This game is the first Metroid game to feature fully voice acted cutscenes and a plot that goes further than the intro and outro sequences of the game. In a game so focussed on player freedom and exploration as Metroid it goes as well as you'd expect. Though that's assuming the game even has the capacity for exploration, more often than not you'll be finding your self going through corridor after corridor waiting for the next bit of exposition, which you can expect the next boss battle to come right after. The game resigns itself to a formula of "corridor, room with enemies, corridor, save point, room with enemies, cutscene, boss battle, cutscene" very early on and it wears thin very quickly. I really don't want to go into the mess that is the Other M plot so suffice it to say that [url=http://moonbase.rydia.net/mental/blog/gaming/metroid-other-m-the-elephant/article.html]this[/url] is all you need to know about not only it's poor pacing, inconsistent tone or unresolved plot points but also the nasty implications it has behind it and for the writer, who incidentally and unfortunately is Yoshio Sakamoto, one of the original creators of the Metroid series. Now after all that, I need to explain that the release order is not at all the chronological order in terms of overarching plot, no that goes a little something like this. [b]Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission *Metroid Prime *Metroid Prime: Hunters *Metroid Prime 2: Echoes *Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Metroid II - Return of Samus Super Metroid Metroid: Other M Metroid Fusion[/b] *The Prime series' placement in the timeline is actually still unknown, most fans place it between the first game and the second game due to the abundance of Metroids in them but given that they still manage to frequent the games after II wherein they are supposedly wiped out, they could be anywhere. I assume they're just placed at random intervals all over the place, I see them as just random missions Samus has gone on over her career. [u][b]Other Stuff:[/b][/u] [url=http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid_Wiki]Wikitroid: The Metroid Wiki[/url] - It's the Metroid Wiki, duh [url=http://www.metroid-database.com/]Metroid Database[/url] - Metroid news site and forums [url=http://www.metroidmetal.com/]Metroid Metal[/url] - Zelda gets a symphony, well we get metal [url=http://smproject.ocremix.org/]Relics of the Chozo[/url] - OCRemix album of Super Metroid, actually quite different from their other remix albums, very ambient and flowing. Good Stuff. [u][b]Thread Music:[/b][/u] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxnNZC4ZQ2Q[/media]

I bought a Gamecube JUST so I could play the Metroid Prime games. No money was wasted that day. Don't have it any more though, which is a damn shame because I've been desperate to play them for years now.

OP, you forgot to mention the Metroid Prime Trilogy.

We'll it's just the three Prime games put into one handy package, and I was just putting the games themselves in the list, not all manner of compilations and stuff. If I did that I'd also have to mention the GBA port of the first game (as in the actual port, not Zero Mission) and all the virtual console releases. But yeah, Prime Trilogy is a thing that exists and it has the best version of all three Prime games, so get that if you can, which might be harder than you think because it's become a collectors' item due to the limited release of it.

You think we'll get another proper metroid game?

I feel like Other M probably would've fit better in the storyline had it been set as a prequel to the first game, although considering the fact that Fusion was the only game that made any mention of Adam, and no other game exploring her past, it still probably wouldn't have made any sense. If Other M had been the first in the "timeline," a lot of what makes the character so appealing to people probably would've made a lot more sense. Other M could've taken place when she was in her younger years, possibly being directly involved with the Federation instead of just being a gun for hire, so her being at the behest of Adam would've actually been plausible. At the same time, all the emotions she had during that game would've also been plausible. She would've been younger and had no experience in what she would be doing in the years to come. The sacrifice to someone she apparently respected could've hardened her emotionally and given her the "personality" she has in the other games. Because for years, she never really had a personality, so expanding on why she's like this in the other games would've been understandable. And then when Fusion comes around, it's one of the first times she actually has to sort of "cope" with the death of Adam (Since this is the first time she's ever made mention of him.) I dunno though. That's just how I think it should've been handled. I haven't actually played Other M and I was actually really surprised when I heard so many bad things about it. The way the trailer from 2010 made it seem like what I just said would've been a possibility.

[QUOTE=Kegan;39771049]You think we'll get another proper metroid game?[/QUOTE] I was expecting one from both the past Nintendo Directs, but no dice. I think it'll be on the 3DS and maybe a 2D one, but who knows. Retro have that project that "everyone wants them to do" I don't think many people wouldn't want another Prime.

[QUOTE=Kegan;39771049]You think we'll get another proper metroid game?[/QUOTE] WiiU will no doubt get one at some point.

[B]EVENTUALLY[/B]

I'd really want another 2D Metroid game on the 3DS, but after Metroid Prime Hunters on the DS I assume it's going to be a 3D game again. It's not that I don't like 3D Metroid games, I really like the Metroid Prime trilogy, but I've always wanted another 2D one like Fusion and Super.

nintendo get off your kiddy overmilked mario and git on metroid already we need a 3DS metroid game damnit and it should be that 'Metroid Dread' that was rumoured years back

Are Gamecube emulators considered warez? If not, I might see if I can get one just to play Metroid Prime again. Assuming they aren't warez, anyone able to recommend me one?

Dolphin is pretty good, I'm using it to replay my old copy of Metroid Prime right now and it runs great at a high res with 4xAA Metroid is great, MP is literally the only reason I was envious of anyone who had a gamecube until I played it.

Title should be changed to "We're not authorized to talk about Other M."

"Any objections Ridley?

[QUOTE=Hellborg 65;39772596]Are Gamecube emulators considered warez? If not, I might see if I can get one just to play Metroid Prime again. Assuming they aren't warez, anyone able to recommend me one?[/QUOTE] Not unless you pirate the games. Emulators aren't piracy or warez inherently. Also Dolphin is objectively the best/only good emulator for Gamecube/Wii games.

Also, this should be added to the OP. [img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/Sam-or-Samus2.gif[/img]

I really liked fusion to be honest.

I really hope the series can recover, and maybe try having a stronger story written by someone else.

I don't even know how they managed to fuck up Samus' character so much, I mean the series always been pretty deeply inspired by the Aliens series of films, so all they really had to do is make Samus Ripley and call it a day.

[QUOTE=The Stills;39776707]I don't even know how they managed to fuck up Samus' character so much, I mean the series always been pretty deeply inspired by the Aliens series of films, so all they really had to do is make Samus Ripley and call it a day.[/QUOTE] Ridley corners Adam in a room, he's injured, Samus dashes in and yells "Get away from him you [I]bitch![/I]" And then epic Ridley fight. Seriously Ridley fights are always so badass and frantic. [editline]4th March 2013[/editline] And on the topic of Dolphin, I have Dolphin running fine but I can't get the speed any faster than 60%, so the game is rather sluggish. Any tips?

I jut beat Fusion with a time of 2:15 and 70% items. I sometimes wish I knew all the locations in MZM for powerups so I could get something similar but the suitless sequence and the power bomb search seems to take me too long even though I know where to go and what to do.

[QUOTE=Mikaru-Yanagida;39796064]I jut beat Fusion with a time of 2:15 and 70% items. I sometimes wish I knew all the locations in MZM for powerups so I could get something similar but the suitless sequence and the power bomb search seems to take me too long even though I know where to go and what to do.[/QUOTE] I think I've done sub 2 hours and 60%ish for Fusion, best time on Zero is around 1:30 with 50%.

I tend to play through as fast as I can with as much items as I can generally because I think I couldn't pull off an actual speedrun, for additional challenge.

The Zero Suit part of Zero Mission made me wish they implemented some kind of stealth elements to more Metroid games.

My record in Fusion is 1:48 with ~60% items and 2:59 with a 100% completion. Some of the puzzles to get certain items are very, VERY tricky, so I wasted some time solving them.

am I the only one who liked prime: hunters? I played the singleplayer all the way through twice, it was probably my favorite DS game :v:

It was a good game for me, the only problem was the controls: why not make them like in Metroid Prime instead of having common FPS controls? Aiming stuff with the stylus really hurts your hand on the long run. I recall the demo version that came out when the DS launched had different controls, but I'm not too sure about that.

I liked it too. I mean, I wouldn't by any means say the singleplayer in Hunters was bad. I enjoyed it. It just didn't leave much of an impression or impress that much. The multiplayer, on the other hand, definitely overshadowed it though. I cannot even begin to quantify the amount of bonding I had with friends over that game, especially with Danny. Good old Danny. He always played Trace, and I played Sylux. Even at close range I had to be careful with him, he could still score a headshot just as easily as he could from far away. I still remember the last round I played with him before he moved away. We kept playing even after he got in the car to go home, and we played until we lost connection.

I honestly can't think of anything bad to say about Super Metroid, it's just perfect. I wanna get one of those USB SNES controllers so I can play Super Metroid Redesign as if I were on an SNES.