Metroid Zero Mission

Metroid Zero Mission -
Gameboy Advance 

In the year 2004, two years after the series' debut on the Gameboy Advance with Metroid Fusion, we received a game that would not only be the second Metroid title on the Gameboy Advance, but many gamer's second chance to experience the Metroid series in its original capacity. While Metroid Zero Mission is technically a remake of the original Metroid released on the NES in 1986, it certainly has no problem justifying its own existence. Updated graphics along with the original Metroid in-full now being literally in the palms of your hands are nice touches, but careful consideration must be made when reviewing this retouched game; does the original Metroid still hold up even with meticulous updating, or is this one classic better left back in the 80's?

The story, as is the case with many Metroid games, is easy to understand. Our protagonist, Samus, is sent to Planet Zebes in order to annihilate the mechanism being used by opposing space pirates to build super weapons. With the exception of a few cutscenes added in order to update the feel of the original (at that point) 18 year old game, Metroid Zero Mission pretty much leaves you to explore on your own. Those who have never played a Metroid game before should have no problem entering the series via Zero Mission, as multiple difficulty levels are available to select right from the start, and even on Normal difficulty, the game isn't too challenging.

The difficulty usually associated with the Metroid series stems from the player lacking the intuition necessary in order to figure out where in each of the game's 7 (later, 8) worlds they must explore next. Navigating each room in each environment is simple enough, and the map, upgrades, and new abilities come with the exploration, along with the opportunity to uncover secret passages that more often than not will lead the way to the next area or even to supplementary power-ups such as an increase in missile-storage capacity, or health buffs. Updated graphics borrowing assets and art design from Metroid Fusion are extremely successful in bringing life to the once aging world of Planet Zebes. Hardware limitations of the Gameboy Advance seemed to be no hindrance at all while designing Metroid Zero Mission; from start to finish, Planet Zebes is an absolute pleasure to explore.

Often if a game is too easy, it can become boring. Then again, if a game is too challenging, it can become discouraging. Despite Metroid Zero Mission being a little bit on the easy, and while I'm at it, short side, it does not lack any bit of the magic that gamers have come to expect from other Metroid games. Initially, the map sizes of many of Zero Mission's environments, such as Norfair or Ridley, can feel intimidatingly ambitious. While "intimidating" can often mean "discouraging", as it does in many other games, Zero Mission finds a way around this through building up the confidence of the player by building up the strength of Samus. Small power-ups, such as the Charge Shot, Missiles, Super Missiles, and Morph Ball just to name a few, are awarded frequently, and the types of power-ups obtained are never too similar to the power-up most recently acquired. Missiles and Super Missiles are acquired at opposite ends of the game, as are Morph Ball and Power Bomb, as well as many other similar upgrades. This rapid change in arsenal often supports rapid changes in scenery; if you've just acquired a new weapon, you can expect a new type of area, thus a new type of gameplay.

Unlike most modern Metroid games, Metroid Zero Mission only features 3 boss fights, which is 1 more than the original featured. While Zero Mission does involve a great deal of combat, from blasting small nuisances of enemies to bringing down both Kraid and Ridley, the environments prove themselves to be much more threatening than any monster, especially in the later 20% of the game. Often, the way forward will be shown on the map, but left purposely unclear in the world. Using every weapon to try to blast through every wall in the hopes of revealing a hidden path is a habit that all players of Zero Mission will get into, and even still, will often finish the game far from 100% completion.

Though an average playtime of Zero Mission will probably only last around 3-4 hours, there is plenty of content to be enjoyed after the initial play-through is completed. Finishing the game once will not only unlock Hard mode, but will unlock the original Metroid game which can be played by selecting it in the Options menu. Inputting a certain sequence of buttons on the Options menu of a game file after having completed Normal mode will also unlock Time Attack mode, which will time how quickly you can complete 1 play-through on Normal difficulty.

Metroid Zero Mission is short, being only a little bit longer than the original because of an extra chapter exclusive to this version, and it can be easy if played on Normal or Easy difficulty, especially if this isn't your first Metroid game. Despite this, Metroid Zero Mission is excellent. Everything from the graphics to the tone to the pacing is absolutely wonderful, and the life exuding from Planet Zebes' environments serves as a praise-worthy example of how hardware limitations can be over-come through clever art and carefully considered level-design. Whether you originally played Metroid back in 1986, or have never considered playing Metroid before, Metroid Zero Mission is not only a perfect example of what this series has to offer, but a perfect example of how fun timeless game design can be.

Metroid Primate

The distance between my WiiU and me has put me back in the mood to go on some kind of grand adventure. I was super into Darksiders II on the WiiU and as a result of me leaving my WiiU at home, I am left to my Gamecube while I am here, at school. Now normally, this wouldn't be any issue at all since Nintendo is known for it's large adventure games with great characters and gameplay. With a longing for something bigger than I am, I decided to resume my Metroid Prime experience. Unfortunately, I found that this game was much more of what the doctor diagnosed, as opposed to what the doctor ordered.


Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime is the Metroid franchise's debut into the 3D world, much like how The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time paved the first 3D path for the hero of time on the Nintendo 64. Many fans were horrified of the idea of Metroid transitioning from 2D to 3D. "What if they fucked it up?", they asked. "I hope they don't do it wrong!" they exclaimed. Well unfortunately, the fans were wise to be so concerned. Metroid Prime is simply a lazily made game with embarrassingly bad graphics, power-ups and abilities copied from other series, and a soundtrack that is only memorable because of how annoying it is.


Let's start with the environment, since it is this aspect of the game that we as the player have the misfortune of having to deal with more than anything else. This game was released in 2003. At that point, Nintendo had only been making video games for about 18 years, so I am willing to be merciful when I judge a game made with only a few years of experience under their belts, but it seems obvious that Nintendo's claims of compensating for bad graphics with better gameplay started way before the days of the Nintendo Wii, only the gameplay here too was shoddy. The graphics in this game are shockingly mediocre at best. There are times when the graphics do have some strong points, for example, the design for the space pirate enemies are admittedly somewhat realistic, but generally, the environments are bland, monochromatic wisps of negligible design that serve not as a compliment to the game, but as a reminder only of what could have been had Nintendo spent some more time considering level designs. I give it a B-

Next we have control scheme and soundtrack, appropriately written about simultaneously because they are both frustrating and poorly done. In the past, Nintendo has had success making attempts at being innovative and breaking molds - just take a look at the Nintendo 64 controller. When it comes to controls though, Metroid Prime was a collection of new ideas that should have never made it to the final product. Shooting, for example, is done unconventionally with the A button as opposed to the industrially-standardized R button. This transition took weeks for me to get used to before I finally had to reconfigure the controls manually and reassign the shoot command to the R button, like how everyone in the whole world is used to. Thank you Nintendo for trying something new, but please, don't fix what isn't broken. And speaking of broken, the soundtrack to this game! I honestly think that the speakers on my TV are broken when I play this game. To me, it seems that the soundtrack is half-missing from the disc! What comes off as some pretentious attempt to add a soundtrack that compliments the environment really only leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Some people praise the soundtrack for this game, but they're elitists who claim to have grown out of music that requires drums or guitar. Excuse me for thinking that a piano and ambient-exclusive soundtrack gets boring after playing the 60 hour game for the first 15 minutes. Perhaps a soundtrack that compliments the environment would have worked better if there was any real environment to compliment. Nintendo, if you're going to base every bit of your game off of the surroundings, then please make sure that you remember to include the surroundings in your game. C+

And finally we end this nightmare of a game with a brief discussion of how every single power-up in this game is stolen from another franchise. Understanding the way that other games execute their ideas is essential to developing your own game, but the similarities must be subtle unless they are obviously references, like how Dragon Ball Z's 7 Dragon Balls is a blatant reference to Sonic The Hedgehog's 7 Chaos Emeralds. Let's take a look at some specific examples:
Charge Shot = Mega Man
First Person Camera = James Bond 007: Golden Eye
Morph Ball = Sonic The Hedgehog
Spider Ball = Spider-Man 2
Double Jump = Dragon Buster
Ice Beam = Rayman Arena
Missiles = Galaga
Energy Tanks = Legend of Zelda
Grapple Beam = Indiana Jones
The Life-Sucking Metroids = Stand By Me (film)
Female Protagonist = Alien
Wave Beam = Wave Race 64
Arm Cannon = Planet Terror

Overall, this game was too easy, too long, and too annoying to actually play through. Admittedly, I only played through about 20-25 minutes of the game before deciding that it was not for me. Maybe I am missing something, but if you ask me, this game is simply a no-go. Happy April Fool's Day.

This Bitch Contains Spoilers

I've been playing a whole bunch of Metroid Prime recently. I feel like I am somewhat near the end of the game, but I have hit what seems to be a little bit of a wall- and by "wall", I mean "huge fucking monster with fucking all this shit that he keeps using to fucking kill me over and over." I am currently up to the Omega Pirate fight in Metroid Prime, and it really is such a damn good boss fight. It got me thinking about other memorable bosses I've had to slay in the past 19 years, and I just felt like writing about some of my favorite, or least favorite ones.

Omega Pirate - Metroid Prime

Jesus Christ this boss had been wrecking my shit. Basically what happens is Samus enters a chamber with a giant fucking monster sealed inside. The monster appears to be locked inside a pod, but evidently, the real breakthrough in locking technology didn't come until well after these science experiments were stored away. So, of course, the monster sees Samus and breaks out of her prison with the purpose of becoming Samus' best friend and falling in love with her and making sure no harm ever befalls her for the rest of her days. So Ms. Omega Pirate starts fucking attacking you. She has 4 weak spots encased in ice and they all must be struck in order to weaken her. So you shoot some missiles at her icy limbs while dodging the shock waves emitted from her giant ground-pounding fists of doom BUT these attacks must be timed properly or else they will be absorbed by Omega Pirate. Once her limbs are annihilated, she will send in some of her subordinate bitches to distract you from attacking her while she becomes invisible and attempts to regain her health. If you are able to destroy her minions quickly, you will have enough time to strap on your X-ray visor to see the invisible asshole and shoot her in the chest. You gotta do this like, 4 times to beat her, and it's HARD. FUCK.

Deathborn - F-Zero GX

This was literally a race from hell. Captain Falcon basically gets transported to hell in order to race a guy named Deathborn. If Deathborn wins, he will be able to seize the power of light and darkness for himself and destroy the universe. Because that's how it works. So this track is long, there are so many sharp turns, there are bombs all over the track AND even if you manage to survive all of the crazy shit happening on the track, you still have to navigate that shit faster than Deathborn does. I could barely beat this guy on Easy mode; I can't imagine what it is like on Hard. This is one great game, but sometimes it is so unbelievably difficult, and this boss fight doesn't make it any easier.

Andross - Starfox Adventures

So basically after spending an ENTIRE game on foot, out of your arwing, and with a dinosaur at your side, you fight the final boss of this game, Andross, the SAME EXACT way you fight bosses in Starfox 64. Andross claims to be the one responsible for all of the misfortune that has befallen Dinosaur Planet, but he is NEVER mentioned before this fight, not even a little tiny bit. As soon as he appeared on my TV screen, I just screamed "What the hell!". Andross had NOTHING to do with Starfox Adventures, yet at the end of the game, there he is, waiting yet again to be slayed by Starfox and Falco. OH YEAH. Also Falco makes his first appearance in this game during the last boss fight. Apparently before the events of the game unfolded, he bailed to start his own star-team, but I guess it didn't work out(?)  This boss was in such contrast to the rest of the game that it is literally laughable. It's still fun in my opinion, but it is so sloppily done.

Giga Bowser - Super Smash Bros. Melee

Mwahahahahaha Giga Bowser! Event Match 51, everybody. I remember beating this colossal-sized King Koopa in elementary school. I remember my friend telling me that I had to use Jigglypuff's Rest attack in order to win. It wasn't until many years later did I go on to beat Giga Bowser and friends with Marth, Link, and Luigi, in addition to Jigglypuff, but before those days were simpler times and simpler melees. Now, I play this boss over and over just for fun but I used to really struggle with it. This boss isn't really too hard if you're good at Smash Bros., but it sure is fun.

Ganondorf  - Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess

THIS boss. This may be my favorite boss fight in any video game I've played. Finally, after all these 20 years of Zelda do we get a real 1 on 1 sword fight with Ganondorf himself. I wish playing against this boss for fun was more viable. Tedious smaller boss fights between this final fight and the last time you are able to save the game puts about 20 minutes of playing other shit before I get to fight Ganondorf, but if that wasn't the case, I would play this fight everyday, and I am probably not kidding. You get a small arena in the middle of Hyrule field where you and Ganondorf each draw your swords and take turns swinging away and blocking all of the swift strikes dealt. No gimmicks, no waiting for him to expose his weak spot or become dizzy from doing his spinning-attacking or anything, just a straight-up duel. Of course, there is always the option to distract him by casting your fishing rod! The first item of the game comes back with an easter egg so lethal that you can almost save the world with it alone! But if that is not your style, you just lure him in and attempt to knock him about the arena with your master sword, ending the fight by...! Well you'll just have to play the game to find out.

Introducing: What's Good With That Game?

So first, a little prologue: I was getting a little bored with the Playground Series, so I decided to start a second series called What's Good With That Game. Allow me to state that the Playground Series, my series of reviews of games that meet certain qualifications, WILL continue, but will coexist with What's Good With That Game. WGWTG was conceptualized so that I could continue writing while I play new games. In the past, I've had to take breaks from writing in order to play new games to write about, but that sucks and WGWTG should create more opportunities for me to write without increasing the amount of time between each post.
What's Good With That Game will be an archetype of posts where I will describe a game that I have started playing only recently, and haven't finished yet. In each post, I will describe my initial feelings about the game, progress so far, what I am expecting, and what I didn't expect. Inspired by my friends all asking me "so what do you think of this game so far?" I imagine that this series is going to be a lot of fun, so I am more than excited to launch my first post right now. So get ready, because this next series is going to be so prime.

What's Good With That Game: Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime. This game's legacy extends beyond that of Halo, Gears of War, and Call of Duty, as it's debut from 2D to 3D made the jaws of players not only drop to the floor, but break through to the earth and pop out the other side of the planet. Much like how The Legend of Zelda switched from 2D to 3D on the Nintendo 64, the Metroid Series transcended dimensions on the Nintendo Gamecube. Frightened fans awaited the release of that tiny little disc and when they finally summoned the courage to start up their Gamecube's with the new game inside, they were spellbound. Samus Aran in 3D. It was amazing. Graphics, gameplay, story, depth, length, feel, controls. It's no wonder why I saw it's name make on of the top 3 spots on each and every list of Best Gamecube Games I came across. So why am I playing it for the first time at age 19, and not 10? Well, the reasons are as good as they are bad.

The game is deep. REALLY deep. The game is all story mode, much like Legend of Zelda, but the story is never explained to you. In fact, learning the story is almost optional. Keeping in mind that I am only about 20 percent through the game, it seems that the actual story behind Metroid Prime is contained in text scattered throughout the world Samus is exploring. In addition to each of Samus' weapons one may observe by playing Super Smash Bros, she has a myriad of abilities more geared towards exploration. One of these abilities is a scanner. Entering Scanner Vision will enable you, as the player, to scan different objects, enemies, and terrains in order to learn more about them. Often, the information gained by scanning is obvious, for example, when it comes to enemies, but other times, sections of terrain, buildings, and walls can be scanned. The information pulled from these locations sometimes is ancient Chozo writing translated by Samus. Reading this deciphered text is key to understanding the story, but is easy to miss. If you do miss these opportunities, then gameplay will still be fun, but you will lose a dimension of depth. After about a half hour of playing, I started asking myself "You know, running around shooting things is fun as fuck, but what the hell am I here for?" It wasn't until I started to make a habit of scanning my surroundings was I able to begin to understand the small puzzle pieces of the story. Once I realized that THAT is how the story was being told, I fell in love. 20% in, and I am in love with this game. It would appear that instead of spoon-feeding you the story via cutscenes, this game is making the player seek the story out. Every time I enter a new room, I become ecstatic at the possibility of learning more about the story. So basically, to answer my question asked about half-a-rant ago, this game didn't appeal to me as a child because there was a lot of reading, a lot of uncertainty of where to go next, and I didn't quite see the game for what it was.

So I am 20% into the game, and I am only putting it down to go to class or wipe my ass. I LOVE it. Next is a bit about what I didn't expect, and what I am expecting from now on.

I did not expect to like this game so much. I thought it was going to be too difficult for me, too boring, too dragged out. AND I thought I would hate it because it is in 1st person. I do NOT like first person games. In my most recent years, I have learned to appreciate 1st person cameras very occasionally (Mirror's Edge), but generally, they are not my cup of tea. Now that I am playing a 1st person Metroid game, I cannot see it working any other way. The whole idea of Metroid Prime (as far as I can foresee) is to keep the player guessing what is going to come next. It is not supposed to be mysterious in a creepy way, rather it is supposed to be mysterious in a magical way - in a way akin to the feeling you got when you were a little kid reading a Disney book. You would fall in love with all of the pictures and words on one page, then when you turn that page to see more, you are even more awestruck then you were on the previous page. That's how Metroid Prime is so far. By the way, ten years old and the graphics are only slightly worse than anything I've ever seen in a Halo game. For that reason, I have come to the conclusion that this game ages marvelously. Anyway, I didn't expect the game to be so multidimensional. There are so many layers to it, as I touched upon while describing the method by which you gathered the story. The controls are tight, the graphics are beautiful, and the depth is so appropriate.

20% into the game, I understand that even though this game is supposed to be amazing, maybe even the best on the Gamecube, games have flaws- even the best ones. I anticipate that the game might eventually feel a little dragged out, predictable, formulaic, and perhaps some longer sections may start to blend together. It would appear, so far, that the formula for this game is similar to that of Legend of Zelda, but without the dungeons. What I mean is that you seem to guide Samus through a medium-length section of the world, she'll find a new power-up which will allow you to progress further into the world, and occasionally, you'll fight a boss. It is not boring yet, but it may become, as I already stated, formulaic and predictable. I hope that I am wrong about my anticipation, but these kinds of issues are found all over the gaming world, especially with really good games. Legend of Zelda is the best example.

I have found 1 Chozo artifact. I wonder what they do and how they will work into the story. There's no questioning how they influence the gameplay - you will have to find all of them without the game just handing them to you periodically throughout the game, but their influence on the story is something that I am very excited to witness. Sections of the game require something called a Spider Ball. I can't wait to get that because it sounds so cool.

My incompletion of this game is essentially why I decided to terminate my Top Ten Favorite Gamecube Games series- because I understand that no list is complete without it, so once I finish this game, be on the lookout for a full review. Until then, Ill keep you updated with posts regarding my progress. Wish me luck!