Metroid: Zero Mission | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Nintendo R&D1 |
Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
Director(s) | Yoshio Sakamoto |
Producer(s) | Takehiro Izushi |
Designer(s) |
|
Artist(s) | Hiroji Kiyotake |
Writer(s) | Yoshio Sakamoto |
Composer(s) |
|
Series | Metroid |
Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Metroid: Zero Mission [lower-alpha 1] is a 2004 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is a remake of the original Metroid (1986), and retells the story with updated visuals and gameplay.
Like other Metroid games, the player controls bounty hunter Samus Aran, who travels to planet Zebes after learning that the Space Pirates are experimenting with Metroids, hostile parasitic creatures. The gameplay focuses on exploration, with the player searching for power-ups to reach previously inaccessible areas. The remake adds items, additional areas, mini-bosses, difficulty levels and a rewritten story that explores Samus's past.
Zero Mission released on February 9, 2004 to critical acclaim, with praise for its new content, graphics, gameplay and improvements over the original, though it received minor criticism for its short length. The game received several honors, including a 46th-place ranking in a list of the Top 200 Games compiled by Nintendo Power . It was also named the ninth-best Game Boy Advance game by IGN . It had sold over 487,000 units in the United States and 93,000 in Japan as of February 2005. The game was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan on June 19, 2014, in PAL regions on March 12, 2015, and in North America on January 14, 2016.
Metroid: Zero Mission takes place on Planet Zebes, a large, open-ended world with areas connected by doors and elevators. The player controls Samus Aran as she travels through the planet's caverns and environments, hunting Space Pirates. Along the way, the player collects power-ups that enhance Samus's armor and weaponry, as well as grant her special abilities. These abilities allow Samus to access areas that were previously inaccessible, [1] so that the game can be played linearly or non-linearly. For example, the player may come across caverns that bypass certain sections, a method termed sequence breaking. To save their progress, players can enter either Save Rooms or Samus's ship on Crateria. As a remake of Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission's layout bears a resemblance to the original, and various powerups and items make reappearances from previous games in the series, with similar uses, effects, and appearances. [1] However, the game adds items, areas, and mini-bosses, [2] as well as a new area named Chozodia. [1]
Zero Mission is the first game in the Metroid series to include a sequence in which the player controls Samus without her Power Suit. In this portion of the game, Samus is more vulnerable to damage, must crawl through ducts on her hands and knees without the help of her Morph Ball mode, and has a weak pistol that briefly stuns enemies as her only weapon. Samus still retains all energy tanks she acquired previously. [3]
Completion of the game unlocks an emulated version of the original Metroid game. Zero Mission allows players to unlock the Metroid Fusion picture gallery by linking between Zero Mission and Fusion cartridges via the Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable. [1]
Metroid | |||
Story chronology | |||
---|---|---|---|
Main series in bold, remakes in parentheses | |||
[4] [5] | |||
Space Pirates attack a Galactic Federation-owned space research vessel and seize samples of Metroid creatures. Dangerous floating organisms, Metroids can latch on to any organism and drain its life energy to kill it. The Space Pirates plan to replicate Metroids by exposing them to beta rays and use the Metroids as biological weapons to destroy all living beings that oppose them. While searching for the stolen Metroids, the Galactic Federation locates the Space Pirates' base of operations on the planet Zebes. The Federation assaults the planet, but the Pirates resist, forcing the Federation to retreat. As a last resort, the Federation decides to send a lone bounty hunter to penetrate the Pirates' base and destroy Mother Brain, the mechanical life-form that controls the Space Pirates' fortress and its defenses. Considered the greatest of all bounty hunters, Samus Aran is chosen for the mission. [1]
Samus lands on the surface of Zebes and explores the planet, traveling through the planet's caverns. [1] She comes across Kraid, an ally of the Space Pirates, and Ridley, the Space Pirates' commander, and defeats them both. Samus finds and destroys Mother Brain. While Samus leaves the planet in her ship, it is attacked by Space Pirates, causing it to crash back onto Zebes, near the Space Pirate Mothership. [6] With both her ship and Power Suit destroyed, Samus infiltrates the Mothership, leading her to Chozodia, where a Chozo Statue offers her a trial. Upon passing the trial, Samus is rewarded with a new fully upgraded Power Suit. Continuing to explore the Mothership, Samus reaches the Mecha Ridley, [7] a robot built in the likeness of Ridley. After defeating it, Samus escapes the planet using one of the Space Pirate's shuttles, while the Mothership self-destructs. [6]
Metroid: Zero Mission was directed by Yoshio Sakamoto, a Nintendo veteran who has been involved with the Metroid series since its debut with the Nintendo Entertainment System game, [8] [9] and has played a role in every game in the series except for Metroid II: Return of Samus . [10] Sakamoto was the only member of the original Metroid development team to work on Zero Mission. [8]
While working on the concept for the next Metroid game after Metroid Fusion was released in 2002, [8] one of the developers for Fusion suggested that Super Metroid be ported to the Game Boy Advance, but Sakamoto decided to port the original Metroid instead. [11] The development team decided to return to the roots of Metroid gameplay by creating a game based on the NES original. Sakamoto, noting that Fusion's gameplay and structure were drastically different from previous games, wanted to "show people who had never played a Metroid game prior to Fusion, the roots of the Metroid franchise, that this is what Metroid is, this is the style of gameplay that Metroid sprang from [...] at the same time, retell the story of Samus's original mission". [8]
One of the biggest challenges that the developers faced was adding enough elements to Zero Mission to make it feel new, while keeping the spirit of the original Metroid. Because both games were made for the Game Boy Advance, Zero Mission uses a rebuilt version of the game engine used for Fusion so that it did not need to be built from scratch. [8] This marked the first time two Metroid installments have been released for the same video game console. Metroid Fusion had offered connectivity with Metroid Prime on the GameCube, and Zero Mission was planned to offer similar functionality with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes , but these plans ultimately fell through. Sakamoto explained that because there was not enough development time for Zero Mission, compounded by the fact that both of their release dates were too far apart, the team was prevented from doing so. They did, however, manage to include the ability for Fusion to connect with Zero Mission. [10]
In addition to retelling the plot from Metroid, Zero Mission introduces cinematics to push the story forward. Sakamoto believed in the importance of having a story to complement a game. He found it particularly difficult to convey the game's plot accurately in a way that the player can understand, because of the sparse use of dialogue in the Metroid series. The story for Metroid: Zero Mission was rewritten to explore Samus Aran's backstory more than in the original Metroid. Cinematics are used to show Samus' memories to move the story forward and to keep the plot open for interpretation. Sakamoto claimed that this was intended to expand the original story while retaining some mystery. The game is the first in the series to let the player choose a difficulty level at the start; each of three levels varies in the amount of damage caused by enemies with the third option only unlocked after finishing the campaign once. [8] The battle with Mother Brain marked the end of the original Metroid, but Zero Mission offers an extra story segment featuring Samus in her blue Zero Suit. [10]
Nintendo revealed Metroid: Zero Mission at the E3 convention in 2003, [12] and its North American release date of February 9, 2004 was announced later that year. [13] In other territories, Zero Mission was released in Australia on March 19, [14] in Europe on April 8, [15] and in Japan on May 27. [16] The game was later re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan on June 19, 2014. [17] This was followed by the release in Europe on March 12, 2015, [18] and in North America on January 14, 2016. [19]
Zero Mission was ranked the best-selling Game Boy Advance game in the United States in its debut month of February 2004, selling 151,807 units, and was the 3rd best-selling game across all video game systems in that month. [20] By May, the game's sales dropped to 7th among Game Boy Advance games, with 31,619 copies sold and $938,681 in revenue. [21] By February 2005, the game had sold over 439,000 units in the United States and 69,000 in Japan. [22]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 90.19% [23] |
Metacritic | 89/100 [24] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | A [25] |
Eurogamer | 9/10 [26] |
Famitsu | 34/40 [27] |
Game Informer | 9.5/10 [28] |
GamePro | [29] |
GameSpot | 8.5/10 [2] |
GameSpy | [9] |
GamesRadar+ | 89% [30] |
GameZone | 9/10 [31] |
IGN | 9/10 [32] |
Nintendo World Report | 9.5/10 [33] |
X-Play | [34] |
Metroid: Zero Mission was given "generally favorable reviews", according to Metacritic. [24] The game was praised by a number of reviews, several which called it one of the best games available for the Game Boy Advance. Japanese game magazine Famitsu gave the game a score of 34 out of 40. [16] X-Play and GamePro enjoyed the game; X-Play said the game was "perfect for blasting space pirates on the go", [34] and GamePro was "constantly surprised" with what the game offered. [29] GameZone said it surpassed the "style and addictive action" of Metroid Fusion. [31] Nintendo World Report called the game a masterpiece and the perfect example of how a Metroid game should be done, saying that the designers carefully mixed all the best elements from the other games and layered them on top of the original level design and concepts of the original Metroid. [33] Eurogamer appreciated every minute of the game, affirming that Metroid: Zero Mission should be considered one of the best games available for the Game Boy Advance. [26]
A number of reviews were pleased with the new content added to Metroid: Zero Mission. Game Informer appreciated the new material, and believed that fans of the Metroid series would "absolutely adore" Metroid: Zero Mission, which they considered one of the greatest video games in the history of gaming. [28] 1UP.com considered Metroid: Zero Mission to be one of the "most ambitious, comprehensive and successful" remakes for a game such as Metroid, noting that Metroid: Zero Mission expands on its source material with refined control, gameplay ideas retrofitted from its sequels, new plot hooks for subsequent chapters of the saga, and some innovations which add new layers of complexity to the series. [25]
Criticism of the game stemmed from its short length. Regarded as a "weak one-shot experience", IGN felt that players would enjoy the game only after they had completed it and played it again. [32] Eurogamer was also critical of the length. Even though GamesRadar liked the game's quality, they said that Nintendo should have "[made] the experience last longer". [26] GameSpot was disappointed with the "short-lived experience", but blamed the game's captivating quality that compelled them to complete the game in a few sittings. [2] Calling Metroid: Zero Mission stale, GameSpy asserted that players less familiar with Metroid games would get more enjoyment out of it because of its similarities to previous Metroid games. [9]
The game was ranked the 46th-best game for any Nintendo system in Nintendo Power 's Top 200 Games list. [35] In their March 2010 issue, the magazine also ranked Metroid: Zero Mission as the eighth-best game to be released on a Nintendo console in the 2000 decade, in their "Best of the Decade" feature. [36] Metroid: Zero Mission was voted IGN's Game Boy Advance Game of the Month for February 2004, [37] and IGN staff named it the best Game Boy adventure Game of 2004 [38] and the ninth best Game Boy Advance Game. [39] GameSpot also named it the best Game Boy Advance game of February 2004, [40] and nominated it for the year-end "Best Game Boy Advance Game" award. [41] Electronic Gaming Monthly also named it the best handheld game of 2004. [42] During the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Metroid: Zero Mission with "Handheld Game of the Year". [43] Official Nintendo Magazine ranked the game 94th in a list of the best Nintendo games. [44] Nintendo Power also ranked it the best Game Boy Advance game of all-time in its August 2011 issue. [45] In 2020, IGN named Zero Mission the fifth-greatest video game remake. [46]
Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic Metroid creatures.
Metroid Prime is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. Metroid Prime is the fifth main Metroid game and the first to use 3D computer graphics and a first-person perspective. It was released in North America in November 2002, and in Japan and Europe the following year. Along with the Game Boy Advance game Metroid Fusion, Prime marked the return of the Metroid series after an eight-year hiatus following Super Metroid (1994).
Metroid II: Return of Samus is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. The first Metroid game for a handheld game console, it was released in North America in November 1991 and in Japan and Europe in 1992. The game follows bounty hunter Samus Aran on her mission to eradicate the Metroids from their home planet, SR388, before the Space Pirates can obtain them. Players must find and exterminate the Metroids to progress.
Super Metroid is a 1994 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third installment in the Metroid series, following the events of the Game Boy game Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991). Players control bounty hunter Samus Aran, who travels to planet Zebes to retrieve an infant Metroid creature stolen by the Space Pirate leader Ridley.
Metroid Fusion is a 2002 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1, which had developed the previous Metroid game, Super Metroid (1994). Players control the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates a space station infected with shapeshifting parasites known as X.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. The sequel to Metroid Prime (2002) and the first Metroid game with a multiplayer feature, Echoes was released in North America, Europe and Australia in 2004 and in Japan under the name Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes in May 2005.
Ridley, also known by his aliases Geoform 187 and the Cunning God of Death, is a fictional supervillain and one of the main antagonists of the Metroid series. An evil and aggressive draconic extraterrestrial hailing from the planet Zebes, he became Samus Aran's archnemesis after murdering the latter's parents as he led a Space Pirate raid on her homeworld. Though having been destroyed numerous times by Samus, he is always resurrected, due in equal part to Space Pirate engineering and his natural regenerative ability, which allows him to swiftly recover from what would otherwise be fatal wounds as long as he is able to consume enough biomatter from his fallen adversaries.
Metroid Prime Hunters is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo Software Technology and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in North America in March 2006, with other territories later. The story takes place in between the events of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Players assume the role of series protagonist Samus Aran, who investigates a mysterious message that originated from the Alimbic Cluster and comes into contact with a legion of bounty hunters.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a 2007 action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The seventh main game in the Metroid series, it was released in North America and Europe in 2007 and in Japan the following year.
Metroid Dread is a 2021 action-adventure game developed by MercurySteam and Nintendo and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on October 8, 2021. Set after the events of Metroid Fusion (2002), players control bounty hunter Samus Aran as she investigates the source of a mysterious transmission on the planet ZDR. It retains the side-scrolling gameplay of previous 2D Metroid games and incorporates stealth elements.
Hiroji Kiyotake is a game designer for Nintendo and has been a part of the history of Nintendo since 1983.
Mother Brain is a fictional character created by Nintendo for the Metroid series. She is one of the most prominent antagonists within the series, serving as the main antagonist of Metroid and Super Metroid.
Samus Aran is the protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo. She was created by the Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano and was introduced as a player character in the original 1986 game Metroid.
Metroid is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo. The first installment in the Metroid series, it was originally released in Japan for the Family Computer Disk System in August 1986. North America received a release in August 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System in the Game Pak ROM cartridge format, with the European release following in January 1988. Set on the planet Zebes, the story follows Samus Aran as she attempts to retrieve the parasitic Metroid organisms that were stolen by Space Pirates, who plan to replicate the Metroids by exposing them to beta rays and then use them as biological weapons to destroy Samus and all who oppose them.
Metroid: Other M is an action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja and Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo for the Wii on August 31, 2010. It is part of the Metroid series, and takes place between the events of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. The player controls intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates a derelict space station with a Galactic Federation platoon, including her former commanding officer, Adam Malkovich.
Metroid is a series of nonlinear science fiction action games published by Nintendo, featuring side-scrolling, metroidvania, and first-person shooter elements. The player character and protagonist of the series is Samus Aran, a space-faring bounty hunter who battles Space Pirates and a species called the Metroid.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. Taking place after the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007), players assume the role of Galactic Federation Marines attempting to thwart the continuing advances of the Space Pirates after Samus Aran eradicated the deadly Phazon mutagen. The gameplay places a greater emphasis on the shooting mechanics and multiplayer, similar to its handheld predecessor Metroid Prime Hunters, albeit with cooperation instead of competition. It also includes a competitive soccer-based game mode known as Metroid Prime: Blast Ball.
Metroid: Samus Returns is a 2017 action-adventure game developed by MercurySteam and Nintendo EPD and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS handheld game console. It is a remake of the 1991 Game Boy game Metroid II: Return of Samus. Players control series protagonist Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who is contracted by the Galactic Federation to exterminate the parasitic Metroid species on their home planet of SR388. While the story and structure parallel the original game, Samus Returns features redone graphics, updated controls and user interface, and new gameplay mechanics not seen in previous 2D Metroid titles, such as a melee counterattack and the ability to aim freely at any angle.
The SA-X is a creature in the video game Metroid Fusion. She is a parasite that originally infected the protagonist, Samus Aran, as well as her Power Suit, before Samus was cured by injecting Metroid DNA into her. The SA-X later appears, having replicated her Power Suit, including all of her most powerful weapons from Super Metroid. She is pursuing Samus throughout the game, who is much weaker and thus must avoid her until she is able to fight back against the SA-X.
First off, [Yoshio] Sakamoto is behind the main series, taking care of all of that, the timeline. I'm in charge of the Prime series. I had the conversation with him to decide where exactly would be a good spot for me to stick the Prime universe into that whole timeline and the best place would be between Metroid II and Super Metroid. As you know, there are multiple titles in the Metroid Prime series, but everything takes place in that very specific point. Metroid Series go down the line, but with the Prime Universe, we have to stretch sideways to expand it as much as we can in that specific spot.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)