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===History===
===History===
[[Image:NES Metroid.png|thumb|left|''Metroid'' provided a thoroughly nonlinear gaming experience.]]
[[Image:NES Metroid.png|thumb|left|''Metroid'' provided a thoroughly nonlinear gaming experience.]]
In the mid-1980s, Nintendo's [[Nintendo Research & Development 1|RD&1]] team started simultaneous development of two games for the [[Famicom Disk System]]: ''[[Kid Icarus]]'' and ''[[Metroid]]'', both released in 1986. ''Metroid'' was designed to be a shooting game that combined the platform jumping of the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' with the non-linear exploration of ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' and also as intensive. Half way through development, one of the staff said "Hey, wouldn't that be kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman?", and the vote carried.<ref name="history"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/488/488084p3.html|title=Metroid: Zero Mission director roundtable|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=[[2004-01-30]]|accessdate=2008-02-20}}</ref> While ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' was never mentioned during development, the team is said to have been influenced by that film's atmosphere, and the [[Alien (film series)|films]] have since been one of their biggest inspiration origins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.n-retro.com/reportajes/origenmetroid.htm|title=El Origen de Metroid|language=Spanish|publisher=N-Retro|accessdate=2008-02-20}}</ref>
In the mid-1980s, Nintendo's [[Nintendo Research & Development 1|RD&1]] team started simultaneous development of two games for the [[Famicom Disk System]]: ''[[Kid Icarus]]'' and ''[[Metroid]]'', both released in 1986. The two games, released on the same day, have been called "companion games", as they shared developers and gameplay elements such as the introduction of the password system that allowed players to save their games.<ref>{{cite web|author=William Cassidy|date=[[2003-09-14]]|url=http://www.gamespy.com/articles/488/488733p1.html|title=Hall of Fame: Kid Icarus|publisher=[[GameSpy]]|accessdate=2008-03-19}}</ref> ''Metroid'' was designed to be a shooting game that combined the platform jumping of the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' with the non-linear exploration of ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' and also as intensive. Half way through development, one of the staff said "Hey, wouldn't that be kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman?", and the vote carried.<ref name="history"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/488/488084p3.html|title=Metroid: Zero Mission director roundtable|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=[[2004-01-30]]|accessdate=2008-02-20}}</ref> While ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' was never mentioned during development, the team is said to have been influenced by that film's atmosphere, and the [[Alien (film series)|films]] have since been one of their biggest inspiration origins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.n-retro.com/reportajes/origenmetroid.htm|title=El Origen de Metroid|language=Spanish|publisher=N-Retro|accessdate=2008-02-20}}</ref>


After ''Super Metroid'''s release, it would take eight years until the next game was released. A [[Nintendo 64]] title was considered during the period, but Nintendo "couldn't come up with any concrete ideas".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/377/377563p2.html|title=Metroid Prime Roundtable QA|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=[[2002-11-15]]|accessdate=2008-02-20}}</ref> Then in 1999, [[Retro Studios]], a newly formed [[second-party developer]] based in Texas, was given the project for ''[[Metroid Prime]]''. It was the first time that Nintendo allowed a studio outside of [[Japan]] to work on one of their titles.<ref>{{cite web|author=IGN Staff|url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/377/377001p1.html|title=Quotes from Metroid Prime Roundtable|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=[[2002-11-11]]|accessdate=2008-02-17}}</ref>
After ''Super Metroid'''s release, it would take eight years until the next game was released. A [[Nintendo 64]] title was considered during the period, but Nintendo "couldn't come up with any concrete ideas".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/377/377563p2.html|title=Metroid Prime Roundtable QA|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=[[2002-11-15]]|accessdate=2008-02-20}}</ref> Then in 1999, [[Retro Studios]], a newly formed [[second-party developer]] based in Texas, was given the project for ''[[Metroid Prime]]''. It was the first time that Nintendo allowed a studio outside of [[Japan]] to work on one of their titles.<ref>{{cite web|author=IGN Staff|url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/377/377001p1.html|title=Quotes from Metroid Prime Roundtable|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=[[2002-11-11]]|accessdate=2008-02-17}}</ref>

Revision as of 02:38, 20 March 2008

File:Metroidlogo.png
The title "Metroid" cropped from the logo of the game Metroid Prime 3: Corruption; there is no consistent series logo.
"SR_388", "SR-388", and "SR 388" redirect here. For the list of highways numbered 388, see List of highways numbered 388.

Metroid (メトロイド, Metoroido) is a series of science fiction adventure video games produced by Nintendo. The series was conceived by longtime Nintendo designer Gunpei Yokoi.[1] Metroid combined the platforming of Super Mario Bros. and the exploration aspect of The Legend of Zelda with a decidedly darker atmosphere.[1] The series features one of the first female protagonists in a video game. The series is also noted for nonlinear gameplay. Metroid chronicles the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran to protect the galaxy from the depredations of the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness the power of fictional organisms such as the Metroid against civilization.

The Metroid series currently consists of ten games across different video game platforms. All of the games in the series have been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, though each installment has seen varying levels of success. It is also one of Nintendo's best selling franchises with 13 million games sold.[1] Samus Aran has also been featured in many other Nintendo produced games.

Overview

Common gameplay elements

The Metroid series games contain elements from shooter, platforming, and adventure games.[1] The games are notable for their non-linear progression and solitary exploration format where the player only controls Samus Aran, with few or no other characters to interact with. The series has been a 2D side scroller in all its incarnations until the Metroid Prime series changed the format to a first-person perspective, leading to a strong first-person shooter element while still retaining its adventure and exploration features. The player gains items and power-ups for Samus' cybernetic suit by defeating alien creatures through real-time combat with her arm cannon, which enables further exploration.[1][2] Frequently recurring upgrades include the Morph ball, where Samus curls into a tight ball and can roll into tight places and plant bombs.[1] Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the first game in the Metroid series to use extensive voice acting; however, Samus remains a silent protagonist.[1] There is very little story explanation in the first few Metroid games, though more backstory was introduced in Super Metroid with its opening narration, and the Prime series with the scanning visor that allows the player to read information off of walls and computer terminals.[3]

The Metroid games have been a popular for speedrunning, which is the act of completing a game in the fastest time possible. Speedrunning is encouraged by the game design as the completion time has often determined what ending a player gets to see, with a shorter time being better.[1] Super Metroid is thought to have helped popularize speedrunning in video games through the non-linear design that allowed for sequence breaking through secret passages and other means.[4] Also, the original Metroid introduced the challenge of having 3 minutes to escape from either a planet or a ship that is set to self destruct, which is another gameplay innovation of the Metroid series.[1]

The games are influenced by the two other major Nintendo franchises, Mario and The Legend of Zelda.[1] From Mario, the game had extensive areas of platform jumping, and from Zelda, non-linear exploration, but Metroid decidedly differs from those games in its atmosphere of solitude and foreboding.[1] Further, Metroid had five different endings based on how quickly a player could complete the game, a design unheard of at the time.[1]

Recurring characters

See also: Samus Aran

The heroine, Samus Aran, is a proficient galactic bounty hunter. She wears an extremely powerful and adaptable exoskeleton suit made by the ancient Chozo who specifically designed it for her.[5]

The antagonists of the Metroid series, the Space Pirates are a hostile group of "interstellar nomads" resembling humanoid insects, who plunder colonies and ships. A single Pirate may have many biological differences between individuals of their own species, most likely because of their willingness to perform self-experimentation and mutation. Important leaders include Ridley, the Space Pirate commander, Mother Brain, the biomechanical defense of Zebes controlled by the Space Pirates, and Kraid, a recurring boss. The organization also includes a winged, mantis-like species, the Ki Hunters. The Space Pirates are interested in Metroid research, especially in using Metroids for energy generation, as soldiers, and for experimentation — their Phazon experiments produced all the Metroid variants seen in the Prime games with the exception of Prime itself.

File:Omega Ridley.jpg
Ridley, supposed leader of the Space Pirate Army.

A high-ranking and bloodthirsty Space Pirate, and one of Samus's main antagonists, Ridley shares features with both the pterodactyl and the mythical European dragon.[1][5] Ridley led the Space Pirate attack on Samus's home colony of K-2L, which inevitably lead to the deaths of all the colonists including Samus's mother and father, the former of which Ridley was directly responsible.[6][5] Samus has since had a personal vendetta against Ridley because of this, and that coupled with her objective to rid the galaxy of Space Pirates of which he is the leader.[1][5] Samus confronts several different versions of Ridley in the series, such as Meta Ridley from Metroid Prime, Omega Ridley from Metroid Prime 3, and also a clone in Metroid Fusion and a mechanized version in Zero Mission.[5][7] Ridley also makes cameos in games where Samus is featured, such as Super Smash Bros., where he can be seen flying through the level Zebes, and in Super Smash Bros. Melee both as a Trophy and in the game's opening, where he is fighting Samus at Ceres Space Station.[8] In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ridley, in both normal and Meta Ridley forms, appears as a boss character.[9] Ridley was the number two most requested Nintendo character by IGN and number one by the fans to be added as a playable character to the Super Smash Bros. series.[9]

Kraid is a gigantic dinosaur-like beast allied with the Space Pirates, possibly one of their leaders.[5] First appearing in the original Metroid, he is the first part of the mini-boss duo along with Ridley.[7] In Super Metroid he appears in his giant form, two screens tall and almost a screen wide. Metroid: Zero Mission retconned his size and appearance, showing he did not grow between games.[10] Kraid also appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a trophy that revealed him to be a bioengineered Space Pirate, and a stage hazard in Brinstar Depths, where he would rise from the lava lake and rotate the stage with a swipe of his claws. He was also slated to appear in Metroid Prime as a boss in the Phazon Mines, with a metal dome covering his head and blue Phazon veins on his belly, but was removed due to time constraints.[11]

Mother Brain is a recurring game boss in the series. Her exact status has always been unclear, as she has been referred to as the leader of the Space Pirates, or a supercomputer that operates the Space Pirate home world of Zebes, or even a friend of the Chozo.[12] Samus seemingly destroys Mother Brain in the original Metroid, but again confronts her in Super Metroid, where she is almost defeated, but the intervention of the baby Metroid brings about her final defeat.[5] It was revealed in Metroid Prime 3 that the Galactic Federation had constructed supercomputers called Auroras, and that there were plans for a "Future Aurora Complex", which appears to be Mother Brain from the original Metroid.[12] She has been called the number 4 all-time best video game boss.[13]

The Galactic Federation is as its name suggests, the governing body of the galaxy. The GF was formed after numerous space-faring species made contact, and the subsequent cultural convergence led to rapid technological advancements.[14] They often contract Samus with large missions to complete, and aim to eradicate the Space Pirates. Samus trained in the Federation's military before becoming a bounty hunter. It is assumed that she left following the death of her commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. Samus has a profound respect for Adam because he died in order to save Samus in a previous mission.[15] The Galactic Federation's soldiers use powered armor similar to Samus's; however, they are much weaker. Their technology usually bears multiple versions of their symbol, a stylized cross-shape that seems based on their visors. Troopers are also given a basic repeating assault weapon, and in Metroid Prime 3, some are equipped with the Phazon Enhancement Device.

A species of bird-like bipeds, the Chozo raised Samus Aran and outfitted her with armaments.[16] They are portrayed as mysterious and sage-like throughout the Metroid series. The origins and age of the Chozo race and civilization are unknown, but they were once spread across several planets in the Metroid universe, though none have been seen alive in the current time of the games. The Chozo were extremely technologically advanced, but took pride in their elaborate statuary. They also exchanged knowledge with other species, including the Luminoth of Aether, the Reptilici of Bryyo, the Elysians of Elysia (robots which they themselves built), and several other as yet unseen species.[17] In the Japanese versions of the games, the Chozo are only ever identified by the generic term chōjin-zoku (鳥人族, lit. "race of bird-humans"), of which the name "Chozo" is an anglicized version. In Super Metroid, some of the Chozo statues would rise up and attack Samus; these bosses are called Torizos. In Metroid Prime, in some areas later on in game play, Chozo ghosts appear and attack Samus. Although originally allies, they have been maddened by the Phazon corruption of their planet, and can no longer distinguish friend from foe. However, they appear only at important Chozo religious sites, greatly limiting their range.

The eponymous in-game Metroids are large jellyfish-like with quadripartite nuclei. They are capable of siphoning an undetectable life energy from any animal, generally causing the death of the victim in the process.[1] This energy can also be siphoned from the Metroid in turn, allowing it to be used as a living power source. Metroid II established a five-stage life cycle in which those Metroids native to SR-388 go through two stages of ecdysis followed by two stages of mutation, thus maturing through five previously unknown forms: Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, Omega, and Queen. Metroid Prime introduced two new, Phazon-mutated forms: Hunter Metroids, and Fission Metroids, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes has a Phazon-mutated strain of Metroid, the Tallon Metroid. Instead of siphoning all of their power from victims, they can feed directly off Phazon. They are born as Infant Metroids from cocoons and mature into adulthood when exposed to Phazon. The game also introduces Dark Tallon Metroids, Tallon Metroids corrupted by the Ing. In Metroid Prime 3, three new forms of Metroid appear: Phazon Metroid, which is almost exactly like a common Metroid, except that it is capable of phasing in and out of local timespace; Hopping Metroid, which cannot hover, phase out of local timespace, or drain energy, but can fight using its claws as melee weapons and armor for defense; and the Metroid Hatcher, a boss which can float and spawn Phazon Metroids, but cannot phase out of local timespace.

A highly radioactive and mutagenic compound, Phazon is a major plot element of the Metroid Prime trilogy. In Metroid Prime, a phazon meteorite crashes into Tallon IV and causes Samus to investigate, where she discovers a Metroid that has been mutated by Phazon exposure, and though it is defeated by Samus, it steals her Phazon Suit and becomes Dark Samus. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes sees Samus fighting against Metroid Prime as it attempts to absorb more Phazon in order to survive. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is centered around Dark Samus, in conjunction with the Space Pirates, spreading Phazon across the galaxy. Samus’s body begins to naturally produce Phazon, but is in danger of corruption because of overexposure. Samus eventually tracks Dark Samus to the planet the compound originated from, and defeats Dark Samus and all Phazon as a result.

Story

The ten games in the Metroid series focus on the adventures of Samus Aran and her assignments to wipe out threats to the Galactic Federation presented by the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness various biological weapons such as the Metroids and also the radioactive and mutagenic compound Phazon. The first Metroid game had Samus exploring the planet Zebes to stop the Space Pirates from exploiting the Metroid species to conquer the galaxy. She confronts the cybernetic lifeform Mother Brain, as well as its guardians, Kraid and Ridley.

The chronology of the Metroid fictional universe does not match the release order of the games. This section will list the games in chronological, rather than release, order.[18]

Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission (1986/2004)
Samus travels through the caverns of the planet Zebes to stop the Space Pirates from exploiting the Metroid species for galactic domination. She confronts the cybernetic lifeform Mother Brain, as well as its guardians, Kraid and Ridley.[7] In the 2004 remake Metroid: Zero Mission, it is retconned that she was ambushed by Space Pirates after defeating Mother Brain and escaped from Zebes, and her ship crash-lands back on the surface. Stripped of her Power Suit and her ship destroyed, she is forced to infiltrate the Space Pirate mothership in order to find a way off the planet with only an emergency pistol for protection. After receiving a fully powered suit from deep within the Chozo ruins, she defeats Mecha-Ridley and escapes from the mothership before it self-destructs.[5]
Metroid Prime (2002)
Samus receives a distress signal in her new ship and travels to Tallon IV to stop the Space Pirates from exploiting a powerful radioactive substance known as Phazon. She discovers that the Chozo once settled on this planet, and their disappearance, as well as the emergence of Phazon, is due to a meteor impacting the planet decades ago. After ruining a Space Pirate mining operation and collecting the twelve Chozo Artifacts that allow access to the sealed impact crater, she confronts, and seemingly destroys, Metroid Prime, the apparent source of the planet's Phazon corruption.
Metroid Prime Pinball (2005)
Not a separate canon game in the Metroid storyline but actually retells the story of the original Metroid Prime in pinball format.[19]
Metroid Prime Hunters (2006)
When the Federation receives an unusual telepathic message, Samus is sent to the remote Alimbic Cluster in the Tetra Galaxy to uncover the rumored "Ultimate Power." Six rival bounty hunters that also heard the message actively attempt to secure the power before anyone else, including Samus. It transpires that the promise of ultimate power was actually a lie sent by the creature Gorea, sealed away by the Alimbics in a void between dimensions. After killing Gorea, Samus and the 6 bounty hunters all leave the cluster, empty handed, but alive.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)
Samus is sent to investigate the planet Aether after a squad of GF Marines was lost there. Samus finds them all dead, killed by several creatures, mainly consisting of an evil race called the Ing. Upon meeting the only remaining member of Luminoth (the others were frozen in stasis chambers until the end of the game, where the last of the energy is replaced, and Dark Aether is destroyed), Samus learns Aether has been split into two dimensions by a meteor similar to the one that crashed on Tallon IV. Samus helps save Aether from the Ing, but encounters Metroid Prime once again, now called Dark Samus, a heavily mutated being who had copied Samus' genetic code and stolen her Phazon suit at the end of her Tallon IV adventure.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007)
Space Pirates shut down Galactic Federation computer systems and then engage in large scale combat in an attempt to further spread Phazon. Enormous Phazon-based seedships, known as Leviathans, impact planets and begin corrupting them with Phazon. Samus is charged with destroying the 'Phazon Seeds' and restoring functionality to the Federation's computer network. After purging three planets of Phazon (including the Space Pirate homeworld), the Federation locates the source of Phazon, planet Phaaze, which is made entirely of Phazon. As the Federation engages the Space Pirates in orbit, Samus enters the depths of the planet, and succeeds at finally destroying Dark Samus and Phazon once and for all.
Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991)
Following the events of the previous chapters, the Galactic Federation deems the Metroid species too dangerous to exist, and, after their own failed attempts, employs Samus to travel to the Metroid homeworld, SR388, and exterminate the entire species. After killing every Metroid, Samus finds an unhatched egg behind the Queen Metroid's chamber. Before she gets the chance to destroy it, it hatches a tiny Metroid larva which imprints Samus as its mother. Helping her escape back to her ship, it is handed over by Samus to the Galactic Federation's research station for study.[7]
Super Metroid (1994)
Before the scientists can conduct extensive research, Samus receives a distress signal from the research lab. She returns just in time to see Ridley stealing the hatchling, having killed all of the scientists. She then follows Ridley to the rebuilt base on Zebes to stop the Space Pirates in their new plan to clone the Metroids and use them as a weapon. She kills the reborn versions of Ridley and Kraid, as well as new guardians Phantoon and Draygon, in order to confront Mother Brain once again. Samus is nearly killed in the battle, but is saved, and her suit supercharged, by the Metroid hatchling, shortly before Mother Brain kills it.[7] Samus proceeds to destroy Mother Brain, and once again escapes Zebes during a countdown to an explosion. This time, the entire planet explodes, taking with it the few remaining cloned Metroids.
Metroid Fusion (2002)
While acting as a bodyguard for researchers on the planet SR388, Samus is infected by a native creature known as the X Parasite, originally the prey of the Metroid species. Doctors surgically remove portions of her Power Suit and cured the X infection with a vaccine created from the DNA of the baby Metroid from her previous adventure. The vaccine not only allowed her to survive the parasites, but to absorb them to power up her energy and weapons. She is then sent to investigate a disturbance at the space research facility, Biologic Space Labs. Here, the researchers had attempted to contain the infected Power Suit as well as a number of creature specimens taken from SR388. It is revealed that not only have the specimens been carriers of the X parasite, but an X mimicking Samus, nicknamed the SA-X, has taken control of Samus's old suit. The SA-X methodically breaks into different parts of the station to allow the X parasites to infect the entire station.[7] While trying to destroy the rapidly multiplying X as well as clones of the SA-X, Samus discovers a secret Federation Metroid breeding program. The Federation intends this for peaceful purposes and plans to capture the SA-X and conduct research on her. Realizing the threat this would pose, Samus' shipboard computer, Adam, suggests that she self-destruct the station, as well as alter its propulsion to intercept with SR388 and destroy the planet as well in order to finally wipe out the X and Metroid populations. Samus is confronted by one of the SA-X, which she defeats, but the parasite escapes. After changing the station's propulsion to intercept with SR388, and activating the self-destruct cycle, Samus races back to her ship. Once there, she encounters an Omega Metroid combating the weakened SA-X she had fought earlier. The SA-X is quickly destroyed by the Metroid, and Samus absorbs the SA-X parasite in order to use her regained weapons to destroy the Omega Metroid and leave the station before it explodes.

Games

Title Year Platform Notes
Metroid Nintendo Entertainment System If a player completes Metroid Fusion, a copy of the original Metroid will be available to be played in Metroid Prime on the GameCube.[20] On August 13, 2007, Metroid was made available on the Virtual Console.[21]
Metroid II: Return of Samus Game Boy The first sequel, Metroid II: Return of Samus, caused several changes to the game, including showing Samus' armor upgrades with a bulkier suit instead of a color change, that would become a recurring of the series. Also, the password system was replaced with Save Modules and cheat codes were also removed.[1] There was discussion after the release of Metroid: Zero Mission that a similar remake of Metroid II would be made, but by then R&D1, who made Zero mission, had been broken up and absorbed by EAD.[1]
Super Metroid Super Nintendo Yoshio Sakamoto, director of the original Metroid, held off on participating in making Metroid II in order to prepare a Metroid sequel for the Super Nintendo that had not yet been approved.[1] The game featured Mode 7 effects, highly original level designs, and high replay value.[2] It was intended by Metroid creator Gunpei Yokoi to be the final game of the series.[5] On August 20, 2007, Super Metroid was made available on the Virtual Console.[21]
Metroid Fusion Game Boy Advance The same team that designed Super Metroid created Metroid Fusion.[22] Fusion was the first Metroid that allowed interaction with the console release (in this case Metroid Prime), allowing the sharing of information to unlock special features in each Metroid game upon completion.[22] The game was also noted for having sharper graphics and more character animations than Super Metroid, which it was compared with.[23]
Metroid Prime GameCube Retro Studios had been tasked with five projects by Nintendo, all of which floundered and were scrapped to focus on a 3D Metroid. Shigeru Miyamoto became personally involved, scrapped the 3rd person perspective of the game and introduced a first person perspective.[1] When it was reported that Metroid Prime would be a first-person perspective game instead of a side scroller, initial fan reaction was negative, fearing it would be too similar to the game Half-Life and become entirely a shooting game without its puzzle and exploration features.[24][2]
Metroid: Zero Mission Game Boy Advance Zero Mission was the first Metroid game to have cinematics sequences and an adjustable difficulty level.[25] The graphical engine of the game was based on Metroid Fusion but was also rebuilt in areas.[25]
Metroid Prime Hunters Nintendo DS A demo cartridge of Metroid Prime Hunters was included with the launch of the Nintendo DS portable gaming system.[26] Hunters was the first Metroid or Nintendo DS game to allow voice chat between players over the internet.[27]
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes GameCube Developers noted that the quality and quantity of cinematics was increased over Metroid Prime, and that the audio and visual features had all been redone from Metroid Prime and nothing had been carried over.[28] It was decided after the games release that the difficulty level was too high outside of the boss encounters, which might discourage exploration that is a signature part of the series, so the difficulty was moderated in the final Metroid Prime game.[29]
Metroid Prime Pinball Nintendo DS Initial reports of Metroid Prime Pinball's coming release was met with wary reaction, as the company developing the game, Fuse Games, had also made Mario Pinball Land, which had been met with negative reviews.[30]
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Wii Metroid Prime 3 was the final game of the Prime trilogy, and was developed by Retro Studios just as the previous two had been. They took an extra few months to develop the game in order to perfect the controls, as they had to be fundamentally redesigned from the GameCube controls.[31]

Development

History

Metroid provided a thoroughly nonlinear gaming experience.

In the mid-1980s, Nintendo's RD&1 team started simultaneous development of two games for the Famicom Disk System: Kid Icarus and Metroid, both released in 1986. The two games, released on the same day, have been called "companion games", as they shared developers and gameplay elements such as the introduction of the password system that allowed players to save their games.[32] Metroid was designed to be a shooting game that combined the platform jumping of the Super Mario Bros. with the non-linear exploration of The Legend of Zelda and also as intensive. Half way through development, one of the staff said "Hey, wouldn't that be kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman?", and the vote carried.[1][33] While Alien was never mentioned during development, the team is said to have been influenced by that film's atmosphere, and the films have since been one of their biggest inspiration origins.[34]

After Super Metroid's release, it would take eight years until the next game was released. A Nintendo 64 title was considered during the period, but Nintendo "couldn't come up with any concrete ideas".[35] Then in 1999, Retro Studios, a newly formed second-party developer based in Texas, was given the project for Metroid Prime. It was the first time that Nintendo allowed a studio outside of Japan to work on one of their titles.[36]

Rumors abounded since 2005 about the development of a title called Metroid Dread. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, there is a message on a computer panel that if scanned says "Experiment status report update: Metroid project 'Dread' is nearing the final stages of completion." Developers from Retro Studios gave a full but cryptic denial of any connection with the rumored game, and Nintendo has denied they are making another 2D Metroid title at this time. [37][38][39]

Creation and design

Metroid Prime introduced 3D to the series

Metroid, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission were all developed by Nintendo's internal R&D1 section. The games which have been developed by separate teams are Metroid Prime, 2, and 3 (Retro Studios), Metroid Prime Hunters (Nintendo Software Technology Corporation), and Metroid Prime Pinball (Fuse Games).

The central figures in the production and development of the Metroid series are Yoshio Sakamoto who has directed or supervised the development of all the games (excluding Metroid II), Gunpei Yokoi who headed R&D1 and produced the first three games before his death in 1997, Makoto Kanoh who directed and designed scenarios for the first three games, and Hiroji Kiyotake who designed the characters for the original game.[1] Shigeru Miyamoto, who made the Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, has not been involved with the production of Metroid, but he did act as producer for both Metroid Prime and its sequel.

Audio

The Metroid series has been especially noted for its music. Hirokazu 'Hip' Tanaka, composer of the original Metroid, has said that he wanted to make a score that made players feel like they were encountering a "living organism", that had no distinction between music and sound effects.[40] The only time the main Metroid theme was heard was once Mother Brain was defeated, giving the victorious player the catharsis. At all other times, no melodies are present in the game.[41] Metroid Prime's Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound was designed by a member of Dolby Digital.[42]

Other media

Video games

Samus is a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series, which also includes stages and minor characters taken from Metroid games.[43][44] Super Smash Bros. Brawl, also features Zero Suit Samus, a version of the heroine using the blue form-fitting suit seen in Zero Mission and the Prime series, and Ridley as a boss.[45][46] She also makes appearances in other Nintendo games such as Tetris (NES version), Galactic Pinball, Kirby Super Star, and Wario Ware.[47][48]

Comics and cartoons

Comics and manga have been made for various magazines based on Metroid,[49] Super Metroid,[50] Metroid Prime,[51] and Metroid: Zero Mission[52] in both the United States and Japan. Samus Aran and other Metroid characters also feature in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books by Valiant Comics.[53] Mother Brain was also the main villain in the Captain N: The Game Master TV show.[54]

Live-action movie

A live-action movie version of Metroid was reportedly in development by Lion Rock Productions, based around Samus Aran, along with her early battles with the Metroids and the Mother Brain. It was scheduled to be released in theaters around 2006, but either has been canceled or remains in development hell.[55] On April 1, 2005, IGN posted an article reporting that critically panned director Uwe Boll would be directing the Metroid movie, with Samus herself being portrayed by Michelle Rodriguez, despite her opinion that the GameCube was a "machine for kids". The supposed movie, with a $19 million budget, would not follow the games' storylines; instead, it would have Samus, a "scientist for the government," donning a Power Suit to defend Earth from alien invaders in the near future, in a plot similar to that of Half-Life. At the end of the "report," however, Casamassina reveals the whole article was an April Fools Joke.[56]

Reception

Aggregate review scores
Game Metacritic Game Rankings
Metroid (GBA re-release)
58 out of 100[57]
62%[58]
Metroid II: Return of Samus
—
80%[59]
Super Metroid
—
96%[60]
Metroid Fusion
92 out of 100[61]
91%[62]
Metroid Prime
97 out of 100[63]
96%[64]
Metroid: Zero Mission
89 out of 100[65]
90%[66]
Metroid Prime Hunters
85 out of 100[67]
84%[68]
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
92 out of 100[69]
92%[70]
Metroid Prime Pinball
79 out of 100[71]
81%[72]
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
90 out of 100[73]
90%[74]

The series has been highly praised by critics, being ranked by IGN as the 8th best franchise ever.[75] In 2001, Electronic Gaming Monthly chose Super Metroid as the best game ever.[76] The Metroid games have since appeared in other "best game" lists, with all games released up to 2005 included in a Nintendo Power "Top 200 Nintendo Games list",[77] Prime in the IGN top 100,[78] Metroid, Super Metroid, Prime and Echoes in a list by GameFAQs users;[79] Metroid and Super Metroid in Game Informer's list;[80] and Prime and Super Metroid in Edge's list.[81] The series has been influential in many other games, including Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.[2]

The original Metroid has been described as being boosted by its "eerie" music, adding a "sense of mystery and exploration" to the game by making the game "moody and atmospheric".[1][40] IGN praised the well timed music that helped add suspense to the experience.[82] Metroid Prime was considered one of the best games ever upon release, winning Game of the Year from various publications and websites.[83][84][85] GameSpot described Super Metroid as better than the original "in literally every conceivable way", [86] IGN called the aural experience with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes "mesmerizing".[87] On the popular video game music site OverClocked ReMix, Super Metroid is the 11th most remixed video game, with Metroid tied for 19th.[88] Music from Metroid has been frequently been re-released as part of "best of" video game music releases.[89][90][91] Metroid Prime's soundtrack was called the best sound design on the GameCube, and composer Kenji Yamamoto utilizes heavy drums, piano, voiced chants, clangs of pipes, and electric guitar. The sound effects were also noted for a high degree of accuracy and blending with the soundtrack.[42]

References

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  6. ^ "Metroid eManga pgs. 34-64". Retrieved 2007-10-18.
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  8. ^ IGN Staff (July 31, 2001). "Smash Profile: Captain Falcon". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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External links

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