Something's wrong with me. I'm starting to enjoy wandering through copypasted corridors and testing to see if the "secret spot" in the template actually connects to a missile tank room.
I recently replayed Metroid Zero Mission. After I booted it up, I was struck by how terrible the main theme sounded, I remembered it being so much crisper. I had to revisit the original soon after.
Metroid was already a relic by the time I was properly introduced to video games. My first contact to the series was via Prime, which I acquired by whim due to the cool cover-art. I wanted to try the elder titles in the series soon after, including Metroid (1986). What immediately stood out to me was how moving the title theme was. Ominous and bittersweet with a promise of grand adventure. Even now I still find it's tone captivating. Much like Xevious was a trailblazer beginning to interweave narrative and greater theatrics into what was then still a medium dominated by electronic amusement devices, Metroid combines visual and auditory aesthetics with an overarching narrative driving your journey to Tourian to deliver a full fledged virtual world to explore. In a mere 128 kilobytes Metroid crafts an actual place.
On technical matters:
The NES and FDS versions have several notable differences. The music and SFX differ due to alternate sound hardware at play. The NES version features both a password system and what is effectively an NG+ mode where you start from the beginning with all non-missile and e-tank powerups you collected retained. FDS par-time for the striptease is 2 hours, NES par-time is 1 hour. I believe this discrepancy is due to the inclusion of NG+ allowing you to much more easily pull off the 1hr clear. Slowdown is also worse on NES regrettably.
As so many games arguably derive inspiration from the follow up Super Metroid, I believe this is one of the most important games ever developed in the history of the medium, and maybe even worth returning to by any adventurer looking to be lost for a few hours. While Super Metroid perfects the formula, this is the genesis point.
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I recently replayed Metroid Zero Mission. After I booted it up, I was struck by how terrible the main theme sounded, I remembered it being so much crisper. I had to revisit the original soon after.
Metroid was already a relic by the time I was properly introduced to video games. My first contact to the series was via Prime, which I acquired by whim due to the cool cover-art. I wanted to try the elder titles in the series soon after, including Metroid (1986). What immediately stood out to me was how moving the title theme was. Ominous and bittersweet with a promise of grand adventure. Even now I still find it's tone captivating. Much like Xevious was a trailblazer beginning to interweave narrative and greater theatrics into what was then still a medium dominated by electronic amusement devices, Metroid combines visual and auditory aesthetics with an overarching narrative driving your journey to Tourian to deliver a full fledged virtual world to explore. In a mere 128 kilobytes Metroid crafts an actual place.
On technical matters:
The NES and FDS versions have several notable differences. The music and SFX differ due to alternate sound hardware at play. The NES version features both a password system and what is effectively an NG+ mode where you start from the beginning with all non-missile and e-tank powerups you collected retained. FDS par-time for the striptease is 2 hours, NES par-time is 1 hour. I believe this discrepancy is due to the inclusion of NG+ allowing you to much more easily pull off the 1hr clear. Slowdown is also worse on NES regrettably.
As so many games arguably derive inspiration from the follow up Super Metroid, I believe this is one of the most important games ever developed in the history of the medium, and maybe even worth returning to by any adventurer looking to be lost for a few hours. While Super Metroid perfects the formula, this is the genesis point.
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