Fearless, lethal and truly reckless when the situation calls for it. Samus Aran is an icon of video games and, although his playable legacy can be considered relatively bare when compared to that of other Nintendo superstars , the impact of the Metroid saga is overwhelming and his brilliant way of setting a new chair in video games unquestionable.

What’s more, despite the fact that the intrepid bounty hunter is fully integrated among the most renowned sagas of the nintenderas consoles, the tone of his adventures has always been rightly away from that friendlier and always emotional image that Mario , Pikachu, Kirby and company has always played in Samus’s favor. Making Metroid a unique saga, but also positioning itself as a new mold when it comes to enjoying and experiencing video games.

Because Metroid , the original video game, not only was a pioneer and continues to be a benchmark when it comes to experiencing authentic adventure and the most challenging action in non-linear settings, but it also dared to approach science fiction through suspense. Achieving, delivery by delivery, that its excellence in what is already known and its singularities, both in its classic stage and in its most recent installments, are always at the service of an impeccable playability.

A triple merit if we take into account that those ambitious premises were already manifested through such a limited medium – in today’s eyes – such as 8-bit consoles. If these concepts were already revolutionary in 1986, the reality is that it is only possible to establish the true essence of the Metroid saga if they manage to combine with mastery.

IN EXTRA LIFE

Where should I start if I want to play Metroid

After all, the saga of the nintendera bounty hunter broke molds since its debut on NES, but it knew how to dazzle with each new installment, crowning itself in Super Metroid , already in The Brain of the beast , and surprising by being completely reinvented and with great hit on GameCube and Game Boy Advance. Being true to herself and consolidating little by little as a great cult saga . And, in the process, leaving a very strong mark between players and creatives.

A journey full of dangers and through space that starts on August 6, 1986, the Japanese 8-bit systems from Nintendo and through Metroid. A game that intentionally sought to break with the molds established to date, taking advantage of the strong push that the Famicom Disk System provided to its creatives. When Nintendo still did not have such a defined self-image, but already dared to offer transgressive experiences.

What is a Metroid? The crisis of the planet fortress Zebes: 35 years of Metroid, the revolutionary science fiction saga with which Nintendo established a new chair in video games

The establishment and expansion of the Galactic Federation , founded in 2000, according to the history of the cosmos, was accompanied by a new era of knowledge and prosperity, the result of the exchange of culture and wealth between civilizations throughout infinite space. However, this new age of opportunity was also marred by its own collateral effects: looting and organized crime began to expand at the same rate.

The Space Pirates emerged and, after several decades, managed to put the defense and security mechanisms and forces of the Galactic Federation on the ropes. To great evils, great remedies with which it was decided to make a massive appeal to the most fearless heroes in the galaxy: the Space Hunters. Bounty hunters and mercenaries dedicated to containing these threats professionally in exchange for generous rewards.

And above all the bounty hunters, a legendary figure: Samus Aran , the most remarkable and accurate adventurer in the entire galaxy. A heroine whose armor commands equal parts respect and fear among Space Pirates. Enough, to be recruited by the Galactic Federation itself when facing the most delicate mission in its history.

According to the most recent reports, the Space Pirates have managed to seize a Metroid , a truly dangerous life form, by intercepting a ship originating from the planet SR388. The metroids (or Metroids) predatory organisms are able to absorb life until they are destroyed. In fact they have the potential to extinguish entire civilizations .

The Space Pirates’ plan is to revive the obtained metroid specimen and, deep within the fortress planet Zebes, generate new metroids en masse to use as a weapon of intimidation when conquering the galaxy. Samus’s goal: infiltrate Zebes, deal with the Space Pirates, and twist their intentions at all costs.

Luckily, Samus has more than his own reputation: his armor is capable of adapting to the most difficult environments, he has various types of devices capable of channeling residual energy from battles and, with the right upgrades, he becomes the ultimate weapon of a galaxy whose future is at stake.

Metroid: pure action and science fiction in 8-bit code: 35 years of Metroid, the revolutionary science fiction saga with which Nintendo established a new chair in video games

Just as Miyamoto wanted The Legend of Zelda to be the opposite of Super Mario Bros. in terms of gaming experience, the Metroid saga was born with the purpose of offering a frontal alternative to the NES console vendor. Or rather, offer what did not fit with the newly created Mario universe. Interestingly, this project – and the enormous challenge it implied – was in the hands of two novice designers.

Gunpei Yokoi , legend and key person in Nintendo’s transition to video games, had the firm belief that if a person could draw, they had the ability to create games. A vision that will mark his legacy in the video game industry through hardware and games like the Metroid saga itself .

The stages still radiate their very city-time timeless setting.

In this regard, commissioned by Yokoi and with a much more modest division dedicated to development, three employees decided to embark on the production of the next big project for the Famicom under the slogan of making something that had what Super Mario Bros. did not have . Something that Hiroji Kiyotake , one of the three initial developers, will clarify on the occasion of the launch of the Mini NES.

When we started working, the Super Mario Bros. bombshell hit. So we wanted to do something that had what Super Mario Bros. didn’t have. Like, for example, do you know Mario skidding a bit before he stops? Well, we try to get a dry braking. We wanted to create actions that Mario did not have.

However, what really makes the adventures and action of Metroid different is not the growing arsenal and skills that Samus Aran gains throughout the game, but the premise on which the game experience was built:

Super Mario Bros. is about avoiding the enemy. And if you touch one, you lose a turn. He did not understand why the enemy had to be avoided!

Metroid was not the first non-linear action game, much less the first to flirt with elements of science fiction, but few or no other video games had managed to offer an exploration experience and a setting as powerful as that of that foray to the planet Zebes. .

Illustration from the NES Metroid manual, explaining the game’s non-linear level system

Challenging from start to finish , of course, but with a grateful save system that not only allowed us to pick up the game right where we left off, but also rewarded our efforts, our great achievements and every small victory we achieved. And that, logically, had an emotional impact on the player. Something that, as we will see below, will become one of the essential aspects of the saga.

In fact, Yokoi’s creative freedom and having the project in the hands of designers seasoned at Game & Watch but with no experience developing games for desktop systems (or arcades) was especially productive: Metroid was not only full of good ideas. Instead, it offered different endings based on the player’s performance. Something that for the time was absolutely groundbreaking.

Ridley, a regular enemy in the saga and one of the most blatant tributes to the Alien saga

In fact, that Samus Aran is actually a woman in the first Metroid game was a secret that was only revealed by getting the proper ending. Generating, in an intentional way, a feeling of prize and great discovery that brought the obsession with the game of the screens to the conversations between the fans.

When we got into the final phase of development, we started talking about preparing different endings depending on how long it will take players to finish the game. We wanted to reward those who finished the fastest in some way. We were wondering how to surprise everyone and we talked about taking Samus’s helmet off.

Then someone said: “I tell you what would leave everyone with their mouths open, that Samus turns out to be a woman!” We all thought it was fantastic, and at that very moment we decided that she would be a woman.

At that time, people played games over and over again, so we wanted to reward those who finished quickly. So we decided to include four finals, with Samus taking off his helmet and so on.

During the game, everyone would assume that Samus was a tough guy who ruthlessly killed everyone who got in his way, and eventually they would find out that she was a woman. The players of then would be stunned. Even now people talk about it as if it were a legend. (Laughs)

As the Metroid project took shape and the Nintendo teams in charge of other games that were already on the shelves were integrated into it. What started with three creatives ended up leading to the full involvement of Nintendo’s Research and Development Department 1 in the last three months to finish the game.

Alternative ending for Metroid showing Samus without armor. To achieve this you have to beat the game in less than an hour

For reference, at that time a Nintendo game for the NES required between three and five months of development. Production of Metroid lasted ten months. And while the game was in the hands of developers with no NES gaming experience, creative freedom and the guidance and involvement of Yokoi and the rest of Nintendo were instrumental in shaping the game.

We were just thinking about how to make the game fun. Probably because we had no idea what developing a full game involved, but also because we were told that we could work a bit either way, so we didn’t get too stressed. (Laughs)

And we knew that in the end we would be supervised, so we assumed that as long as they didn’t have to completely discard what we had created until then, in the end everything would be fine.

The original Metroid offered a spectacular setting for the time. Visually it might seem basic, of course, but thanks to the careful artistic and sonic section and exceptional gameplay, it successfully conveyed that atmosphere of suspense blatantly inspired by sci-fi movies like Alien, Mysterious Ships or Dark Star. What’s more, Sakamoto himself acknowledged that HR Giger’s work on the Ridley Scott film was one of his biggest influences.

Super Metroid, and the challenge of reinventing action in video games: 35 years of Metroid, the revolutionary science fiction saga with which Nintendo established a new chair in video games

The weight of the Metroid saga is unquestionable. His legacy lives on and is present in some of the best indie games and major productions. However, despite the overwhelming commercial and popularity success of Samus Aran’s first adventure, the truth is that in Japan it is considered a niche saga .

A double yardstick that Nintendo is very aware of in the face of its priorities today, and that decades ago, conditioned the creation of a sequel in the words of Yoshio Sakamoto .

In Japan, Metroid games are also known as niche games, so I’m likely to be considered “a guy who only makes niche games” there. In other words, instead of creating games that can have general appeal, my true identity could be that of such a game designer.

When the Game Boy and the Brain of the Beast shared shelves, already in the twilight of the NES, Nintendo began to diversify its projects, so that the SNES received the most ambitious blockbusters, such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past , while that miraculous laptop received more experimental games from its star licenses, such as The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening . And, in the case of Metroid , a direct sequel: Metroid II: Return of Samus .

The quality jump of Samus’s third adventure in each of its sections was incredible

Curiously, the most modest -although very daring- Return of Samus and the enormous popularity of the saga beyond Japan will be the definitive push to resume the adventures of Samus Aran in a big way with an experience capable of extracting all the magic of the 16 bits of Nintendo and put it at the service of the player. A masterpiece created to give direct continuity to the sequel and, in a collateral way, make video game history: Super Metroid.

Actually, I didn’t work on [Metroid II: Return of Samus]. However, the scene in which Metroid’s baby is born in front of Samus and she thinks she is its mother inspired me to create Super Metroid for the SNES.

If Metroid II: Return of Samus hadn’t been created, the sequel would most likely have taken a different tack. And, more importantly, I would not be here today.

Again, Gunpei Yokoi wrapped up the new Metroid project for the Brain of the Beast, with 15 people leading development and a production run of no less than two and a half years, which was outrageous for the time. Of course, the technology of that console opened very interesting possibilities, and Sakamoto’s creativity was unleashed.

Super Metroid definitively laid the foundations of today’s metroidvanias

What’s more, Sakamoto had set out to raise the excellence of video games to the same level as film productions. And that, in the early 90s, was already a declaration of intent.

We were convinced that we wanted to create something that could be compared to the movies.

We went to great lengths to present the text and move the camera so that the collapsed researcher could be seen, then revealing that the peculiar cry was coming from a metroid baby and so on. He had created a VHS video before to convey that feeling.

But how did I edit it? I do not remember very well! (Laughs) Anyway, when it came to the cinematographic sequences – and there were many others – I was worried until the end because I didn’t know if they would be right.

The process of reaching that goal involved Sakamoto spending the first year of development familiarizing himself with the SNES technology in order to be able to bring any ideas that crossed his mind to Samus’s new adventure . Being aware that, despite being a niche game in Japan, the future was at stake, an applauded saga beyond the country of the rising sun.

Which brings us to another of the key premises of Super Metroid : how do you break down potential barriers when it comes to delivering the ultimate action adventure? Sakamoto’s response: instill emotions in the player at key moments. And for this, the design of the game itself had to be the engine of the experience.

We really didn’t want to explain things to the player using too many words, we just wanted to let them play and be able to figure things out on their own.

For example, suppose there is a mechanism where you must climb a ladder and place a bomb there to advance, as a component in solving a puzzle [game]; If that was all you needed to move on to the next area, you would miss out on all the other mechanics we had put in place and you wouldn’t even realize that certain parts of the game existed.

We wanted players to explore everything we’ve done and then move one. This is why we designed the maps in such a way that the player cannot escape without exploring, or in such a way that the layer ends at a starting point before moving forward. The player would be cornered / driven and eventually forced to stop and say, ‘How should I think in this area?’

That’s the essential point of the Super Metroid map design. Not using words meant that the player had to “feel” their way through the game, and that’s how we wanted it to be. When they discovered something new [an element / area] we wanted the player to feel that they had made that discovery independently, without the help of the game.

The inventory and menu system was a real blast

Super Metroid not only exceeded expectations, it was crowned one of the best games ever. The first 24 megabyte cartridge of the Brain of the Beast elevated the greatness of the NES classic by squeezing each and every one of the possibilities of Nintendo’s 16-bit and putting them at the service of the player in a 1994 in which a new generation of consoles was about to hit the shelves.

With Super Metroid , Nintendo dared to look at 32-bit machines with an SNES capable of producing true masterpieces. Timeless classics that continue to leave an imprint on those who play them decades later and whose direct legacy continues to this day. And it doesn’t look like that’s going to change.

From Samus’s applauded leap to 3D to Metroid’s not-so-celebrated installments

After the excellence of Super Metroid, with a canceled Star Fox 2 and a delicate panorama in the video game industry, Nintendo made a really difficult decision: Nintendo 64, the successor to SNES, would not have its own Metroid.

The reason? Although the popularity of Metroid was at a very sweet spot thanks to Samus’s new adventure, the truth is that Nintendo itself recognized that it did not know very well how to raise the bar for Super Metroid. Of course, it must also be recognized that in the Research and Development Department they were very inspired and linking masterpieces and obligatory appointments capable of dazzling the whole world.

Thus, Mario, Link, Donkey Kong and even Fox McCloud will have their opportunity to shine and reinvent themselves in the mega-cartridge system with games that will transform the video game industry such as Super Mario 64 , The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time or   Lylat Wars , but the return of Samus and his jump to 3D will have to wait for the new millennium. And what a return!

IN EXTRA LIFE

All the titles of the Metroid saga ordered from worst to best

Nintendo knew that bringing back Samus Aran was a responsibility, and despite his relative absence in N64 (the Metroid saga could not be absent in Super Smash Bros. ) he had very much in mind the expectations of some fans who were surrendered to Super Metroid . But, of course, how to make the saga evolve and stay faithful to the classic formula?

The answer was simply brilliant: Samus Aran would return with two new titles that, like the three previous Metroids published on the NES, Game Boy and SNES, would dare to put the Nintendero hardware on the ropes:

• On the one hand, Metroid Fusion will come to Game Boy Advance – Nintendo’s 32-bit portable – as a direct continuation of Super Metroid in the plot and the playable. A fourth installment of the saga lives up to expectations that, perhaps, did not dazzle like the SNES game, but managed to fascinate fans of the bounty hunter.

• On the other hand, Metroid Prime would be the long-delayed leap from the saga to 3D on GameCube, betting on maintaining the essence of the classic trilogy and experiencing it first-hand through the eyes of Samus herself. A first-person adventure from Retro Studios that not only earned console vendor status , but will become an instant classic.

The double rebirth of Metroid in 2002 was the beginning of the most prolific stage of the entire saga: just two years later, Nintendo itself would make an impeccable update of the original NES Metroid on the Game Boy Advance with Metroid: Zero Mission , a Essential remake for laptops that updates, expands and channels the entire saga into the playable and the storyline.

Samus’ jump to 3D made the saga a scandal

Meanwhile, Retro Studios was crowned again that same year with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on GameCube. Introducing multiplayer into the equation and, in the process, opening the door to a sub-series capable of matching the allure of the main series that will culminate three years later on Wii with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and the consequent Metroid Prime Trilogy.

During the first decade of the new millennium Samus was a key character for Nintendo and was in great demand: in addition to his cameos and stellar appearances, he also starred in secondary titles within the Metroid saga – and integrated into its chronology – that did not go unnoticed, such as Metroid Prime: Hunters for Nintendo DS or Metroid Prime: Pinball . Titles destined to expand the legacy of the saga before the brutal number of users of Nintendo DS.

Metroid: Other M you may like more or less, but it does not leave you indifferent

Very special -and inevitable- mention to Metroid: Other M of 2010, a golden opportunity for Team Ninja to show off with Samus on Wii that ended up dividing opinions : in the playable it must be admitted that much of the essence of the classics is It was still on the way, that is clear, but it also invited the player to meet the central character of the saga from new perspectives .

In any case, Metroid: Other M will be the last major project related to the series for too long.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the launch of Metroid , Nintendo will launch in 2016 and for Nintendo 3DS a Metroid Prime: Federation Force totally focused on multiplayer and that was severely punished by fans from its own letter of introduction in the form of a trailer.

What’s more, a campaign was even created on Change.org against the Federation Force , which, of course, surprised Kensuke Tanabe , producer of the series.

Interestingly, and as Tanabe himself told USGamer , the central idea behind Metroid Prime: Federation Force and its proposal for cooperative missions to four players had been around the Nintendo offices for years, and the capabilities of the New Nintendo 3DS ( which already incorporated a kind of second stick) and the anniversary of the original Metroid were a great opportunity to give them shape.

Since I was working on the Metroid Prime series, I had the idea to start developing [a Metroid game] that was not focused on Samus and to give more prominence to the Federation Force and their fight against the Space Pirates.

I didn’t have the opportunity to work on a project like that for quite some time, but when I heard about the development of the new New 3DS and that it would have a C-stick, I thought it could give a lot of play and even create an FPS for the console.

It cannot be disputed that Metroid Prime: Federation Force was far from being the triumphant return of the saga after a very long absence, but it must be recognized that at least it tried to contribute new ideas. However, Nintendo knew how to read between the lines and was quick to channel the latent interest in the return of Samus Aran.

Metroid rebirth: from Samus’ return to the terror of the Metroid Dread, and beyond

Metroid Prime: Federation Force had not yet been released – although it was formally presented – when Nintendo released the bomb: Metroid: Samus Returns , a total remake of Metroid II , was on the way to Nintendo 3DS from the hand of MercurySteam. And this time what was shown again dazzled fans of the galactic bounty hunter.

Although, it is true that it was a play very similar to that of Metroid: Zero Mission , being a safe bet for Nintendo itself and the fans; It must be admitted that Metroid: Samus Return s also supposed a total reunion with everything that made one of the most unique sagas of the Great N. great and distinctive.

To which must be added a collateral benefit, but very well calculated: to introduce the character of Samus to the first generation of players of Nintendo systems who were unaware of the Metroid saga , or simply saw it from the perspective of distance and the ignorance emanating from pixelated classics or the visual and playable limitations of adventure games from the beginning of the millennium.

They say that there are not two without three and, coincidence or not, after a reasonable margin of time since the launch of Metroid Prime: Federation Force and with a Nintendo Switch that had only been on the shelves a few months, the Big N revealed the third new project from Metroid during E3 2017 : nothing more and nothing less than Metroid Prime 4.

The bad new? What was shown was, in essence, a logo and a promise.

The development of Metroid Prime 4 is and remains a mystery in itself. The project was completely restarted at the beginning of 2019 and returned to Retro Studios (for the peace of mind of the fans), with the intention of corresponding with the expectations set in a saga that, at 35 years of age, continues to be an indisputable benchmark. .

Metroid’s legacy not only rests on the adventures of Samus Aran, but on a myriad of games strongly inspired by the Nintendo saga. Some, like Axiom Verge , are a declared love letter to the classic installments. And, in fairness, the vast majority of metroidvanias follow in their wake more or less cheekily.

Is Metroid still a niche saga in Japan? That Nintendo takes the development of Metroid Prime 4 so seriously is a positive sign, to say the least.

IN EXTRA LIFE

Metroid Dread, from myth to reality: how Nintendo and MercurySteam have resurrected the legend to write the future of the saga

And although the game, announced in an increasingly distant summer of 2017, will not be part of the anniversary of the saga on Nintendo Switch, fans will not be without a new adventure to mark the 35th anniversary of Samus Aran: the Big N will cover the launch of the OLED model Nintendo Switch with Metroid Dread , a game that appeared briefly in summer 2005 and that has taken no less than 16 years to be formally announced.

And what is more interesting: Metroid Dread is consolidated as the fifth main installment of the saga, which implies carrying the responsibility of being at the height of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion . Big words for a long-postponed and highly anticipated reunion.

Unlike sagas like Mario, The Legend of Zelda or Pokémon, the presence of Metroid is at that intermediate point between the timeless cult sagas and those that Nintendo should take advantage of more and better. Or, at least, at the same level as the previous ones.

Not only because of the excellence that the vast majority of the legendary bounty hunter’s adventures radiate, that they do, or because of the impact and depth that Metroid has caused inside and outside the nintenderos systems. But for those of us who witnessed how the original Metroid broke the molds of the video game to create new ones since its debut on the NES, and we can’t wait to see how Samus takes a new lecture when it comes to experiencing and reinventing adventure, suspense and action in the systems. Nintendo of the future.35 years of Metroid, the revolutionary science fiction saga with which Nintendo established a new chair in video games