Classic NES Series Metroid: Freeze'em Then Finish'em

One of the other Classic NES Series games I won a little while back was Metroid. As a kid I never really got into the Metroid phenomenon. I appreciated what it was all about, but I always felt too overwhelmed by the large map to really get that much into it. It wasn't until Castlevania Circle of the Moon until I really appreciated what Metroid was all about. It wasn't until a few months ago until I really sat down and gave the original Metroid the chance it deserved all along.


Story

The story places Samus Aran on the planet Zebes in an effort to stop some interstellar pirates from releasing the Metroids on the unsuspecting universe. It's up to you to stop the pirates and to save the universe from the Metroid scourge. The story doesn't take too many twists and turns and doesn't really play too much of a prominent role in the way the game plays out. There aren't any cut scenes that serve to advance the story. What you learn about the story is obtained from the game manual, opening credits, and ending credits.


Gameplay

Like all the other Classic NES Series games, Metroid remains faithful to the original NES counterpart right down to the smallest detail.

Metroid on the surface is an open-ended action platformer. Samus runs, jumps, and shoots her enemies. I don't recall any bottomless pits, but there are lava pits that can kill your character off slowly but surely. You start off with a certain amount of energy points and when it reaches zero you die. When you die you're given a password to save your progress and you can resume where you left off only with a lot less energy. To help prevent such sudden and painful deaths, you can find energy tanks that add more points to your maximum life total.

When you play Metroid, you'll notice there aren't any levels. Instead Zebes is wide open for exploration. The problem is that you have to find certain items hidden in certain areas of Zebes to access others. For instance, some areas you can only access by finding an item that allows you to crouch into a small ball. Other areas are only accessible by getting high jump. This also means you'll have to backtrack from time to time. Some gamers find the amount of backtracking the slightest bit annoying, but it's just about right for me. I found the amount of backtracking to be roughly comparable to Castlevania Circle of the Moon. There are also many hidden areas in Zebes which allow you to get extra energy tanks or missiles. Finding them is a little tricky on your own, but possible. Having a map definitely helps out your cause a little more.

As you traverse Zebes you'll encounter a diverse amount of enemies that that can swoop in a number of different ways. Enemy placement plays a significant role in Metroid where enemies can come at you unexpectedly and at first it helps to take your time to go through certain unfamiliar areas. Certain weapons do a better job against certain foes too. This is especially the case with more powerful creatures like bosses and Metroids. Speaking of bosses, there are a few bosses you'll find along the way that protect some very powerful powerups. The bosses can be pretty challenging at first for a newcomer, but typically you can figure out certain patters and adapt to their tendencies like many other platformer bosses.

With one notable but spoileriffic exception, you can take your time exploring Zebes looking for secrets and items to help you open new doors and areas. This is all the while trying to avoid all the creatures bent on taking you out. One of the big themes behind the Metroid gameplay is that it's wide open and not bound by the typical structure of levels and worlds you see in other platformers.


Controls

The controls are pretty simple but can tie your fingers in knots at times. The A button jumps and the B button fires your weapon. Your weapon can be toggled between your current beam weapon and missiles by pressing the select button. When battling Metroids, you can really tie your hands in knots switching weapons on the fly so often. Usually it's not a problem since missiles are so limited, but when Metroids are on the screen all bets are off. One of the major shortcomings is that directional shooting is limited to up, right, and left. No diagonal shooting is allowed here. Overall the controls are pretty simple, but they get the job done.


Graphics

The graphics in Metroid are really drab and not very vibrant. Most of the games from this era of NES games tend to have these drab colors. Animations aren't terribly diverse, but they're better than Super Mario Brothers. Samus moves pretty smoothly though the spinning jumps look a little overdone from a rotational standpoint. Most of the sprites don't take on a sense of realism like they do in later games; however you begin to take to their purpose and sense of being after you've reached a few new areas.


Sound

The music in Metroid is pretty good for a NES game. Only certain Konami games have better NES musical scores than Metroid. Musical themes change from area to area and are pretty diverse in terms of tempo and overall mood. Sound effects are a little more sparse and low key. It's good because the sound effects aren't as shrill as many other games that came out at that time. Overall the audio from Metroid is well above average for a NES Classic Series game, but pretty primitive for a Gameboy Advance game.


Replay Value

There isn't a lot of replay value in Metroid for the mainstream gamer of today. Once you beat it, the game doesn't really evolve in any significant way. There is the secret ending for beating the game in less than 2 hours. However, the gameplay doesn't really change in any significant way. For those who fall in love with this game there are challenges such as skipping certain powerups by getting through barriers in a non-conventional way. However, beyond that the game doesn't really change. Yes the gameplay is strong enough to play it over again and just enjoy the experience, but there are plenty of Metroid games that just provide more satisfaction to replay than this game.

Unfortunately, this Metroid: Zero Mission makes this game pretty obsolete. For a little more money you can purchase Zero Mission, which is a graphically updated version of this game which also hashes out the story of the original Metroid. Overall it's a much better experience than this one. Yes you can get this cartridge for a song, if you can find it, I just feel as if Zero Mission is the better buy all the way around.