Episode 23: The Beginning and Rebirth of Samus Aran - Metroid (NES) and Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

This week, we're diving into the original Metroid and one of the best remakes ever made in Metroid: Zero Mission for the GameBoy Advance. It's the first in our mini-series that will culminate to our episode celebrating Super Metroid's 30th Anniversary in April! We thought it would be fun to revisit the beginning of gaming's first bounty hunter and her iconic remake.

In 1987, Nintendo R&D1 was inspired by Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror classic 'Alien' and released Metroid for the NES. To say it's influential is a bit of an understatement considering it spawned an entire genre that would be known as "metroidvanias" (and one of Donny's favorites). It was one of the earliest NES games that broke the mold. You weren't going from left to right the entire time, you were going back and forth collecting items and abilities to progress. The sense of dread and isolation coupled with graphics that were heavily influenced by the works of H.R. Giger gave way to an experience that was never seen before, or thought possible on the NES. We also can't forget one of the biggest mindblowing twists in gaming history when we discovered Samus Aran was a woman!

 

17 years later, Nintendo wanted to reinvigorate the original and introduce the original Metroid to the new fans who played Metroid: Prime on the GameCube and the previously released GBA classic Metroid: Fusion. By this point, the original NES Metroid already felt dated and brutally difficult. Nintendo R&D1's remake is one of the best games you can play on the GBA and perfectly captures what made the original so great while modernizing it. This was one of our favorite GBA games to playthrough and we talk about the differences and similarities between the two games. It's incredible Zero Mission recently celebrated it's 20th anniversary and still feels amazing to play, even more incredible is the original Metroid is now 37 years old itself. Join us as we dive into Planet Zebes once again and celebrate gaming's first female bounty hunter!

 

Next week: Metroid II: Return of Samus (GameBoy) and Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)

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