Quite possibly no game has ever needed a remake quite as desperately as the original Metroid, a game bursting with fresh ideas and artistic talent that unfortunately came too early to take advantage of it. Seriously, a metroidvania without a map is nigh unplayable. So how fortunate we are to have received this game. Metroid: Zero Mission is a faithful recreation of the original experience, minus the getting hopelessly lost, the empty backgrounds, the lack of any idea where you're supposed to go next to progress, and, in general, all the bad parts. It overcompensates a little too much at times and gets handholdy, but if that's too big of an issue, the original game is included in this one as a reward for beating it!

There are a few problems. Some of the controls are still janky (looking at you, screw attack), some of the flashing effects are overwhelming, and I have mixed feelings on the final chapter. The stealth mission segment is fun and creative, but is not a satisfying follow-up to fighting mother brain and doesn't suit the game's style very well. However, getting that overpowered suit at the end and blasting through everything with the triumphant music is definitely a more fitting conclusion. I only wish the final boss was more climactic. A few super missiles, and he's dead. Way easier than mother brain.

Overall, this is the definitive way to experience the first metroid, and I'm so glad it got a second chance.

I think, for the most part, that great games are timeless. I say most part, because I think Metroid falls into a strange place where I cannot in good faith call it a good game, but nor can I call it a bad one. I suppose the best way to describe it would be a good game limited by the technology of the time. I respect it a lot more than I like it.

Samus isn’t as much of a pain to control as I’ve seen people say she is, but wandering endless identical halls without a map in sight is only remotely tolerable thanks to some excellent music. It’s a slog to sit down and play through.

And yet, this game is brimming with so much ambition I can’t bring myself to hate it. I’m happy knowing it got a chance to reinvent itself with better tech and become so iconic. I look forward to playing them for myself. So hats off to you, Metroid, for starting it.

I don't think it's possible for me to be more of an ocean nerd than I am, so I got a lot of enjoyment out of seeing all of the different critters you can discover. The models were realistic and mostly pleasant, and a nice variety of creatures are represented. The story can be comfortably beaten in a few hours, but there are plenty of secrets to explore that'll definitely kill some more time. Unfortunately, the controls could be janky, the music was unremarkable, and having to go back and reinteract with every creature in order to unlock all their trivia dragged the game down.

The game starts strong, with an intriguing mystery and good interactions between our lead characters (and somehow better models for Phoenix and Maya than the ones in the mainline 3D games?). But the story falls apart the longer it goes on, complete with poorly executed depictions of trauma and suicide, which gives the latter part of the game a bad taste.

The crux of all the game’s problems is Espella, who’s a wholly uninteresting character despite the game’s entire mystery surrounding her. It makes it very difficult to get invested and by the end of the game, I was just waiting for it to be over.

I will say: this game gave us Maya bashing you over the head with a pipe and Luke being absent from the last act because he was busy getting forklift certified is extremely funny.

(Note: since this review was written, I have actually played some Professor Layton, as I was previously only familiar with Ace Attorney. My rating of the game has decreased since, realizing how subpar and derivative the Layton elements of the game are. I was also too generous in general originally.)

This is a very charming little adventure game! I don’t have much experience with games like this, so this was definitely an adventure. I didn’t have much trouble getting the game to recognize my commands, which is something I worried about. Everything was fairly intuitive.

The plot wasn’t anything special, but it had some decent spooky vibes and (the main reason I checked this game out) some of the first LGBT characters in video games. In the blue version (the one I played), the character is unfortunately the villain (although a sympathetic one), but it’s always interesting to see such early representation, even when it isn’t good. Definitely worth a look for a bit of queer history.

The different versions based on the color you choose at the beginning, with a different solution to the mystery in each, are very interesting! Perhaps I’ll check them out in the future. I wasn’t aware of this feature going on, so I just honestly chose my favorite color (blue)!

It’s unfortunate that this game has a bunch of extra content like a physical letter and brochure. I’m sure it was cool at the time, but since I obviously don’t have access to it, it dampens the experience slightly. Apparently, it contained much more elaborate descriptions of the castle and as a result, the in-game descriptions are a little lacking. This game definitely could have benefitted from some more atmosphere.

Overall, this is a fun, quick mystery that isn’t too difficult to crack! Recommend it if you want to experience some old text-based computer games.