Nothing complicated here, Zero Mission was just a joy to pick up and tear through, blasting missiles and lasers in quickfire run and gun while maneuvering a tightly packed planet filled with careful and precisely placed powerups. It's no Super Metroid in terms of level design (no "Geemer crawling out of the wall" moments of discovery, at least), but the map is solid and with enough tinkering and studying, you'll basically be able to figure out exactly where to go and how to progress as long as you remember what goes where, since the map will mark collectibles/destinations but not specific color-coded obstacles for the correct powerup. Hell, I was even okay with most of the extended stealth section, since getting caught was not an instant reset as long as I stayed on my feet to quickly outrun and avoid the pirates, and it was super satisfying to scrape by the skin of my teeth at times. My biggest gripe is that I do think the boss fights feel less memorable than those of Super Metroid; a bunch of scattered fights vs giant worms and larvae and a Mother Brain fight where I got pinballed by a million projectiles while trying to escape the lava to get back onto the platform can't compare to the likes of Phantoon's ghastly spectacle or Draygon's underwater confrontation. But regardless, it's a nice and snug package of a Metroidvania with classic GBA visuals and upgraded 8 bit tunes of the original with plenty of abilities to exploit over the course of a few hours while picking up a few tidbits concerning Metroid lore and Samus's past, and I'm happy to say that it's basically comfort food for me at this point.

Reviewed on Sep 15, 2022


Comments