Collection essentials #84: Metroid (NES)

While on the same level of popularity as series like Mario or Zelda, Metroid is a very significant and acclaimed series from Nintendo, and this hit NES game is the one that started it all.

Metroid appears to be a normal side-scrolling action platformer, but upon spending even a short time with it, you’ll realize it’s quite different from those games. Most platformers use a level-based structure, where the game presents a series short and linear stage for you to get through. Metroid, on the other hand, is almost like one huge wide-open level (albeit divided into sections) that the player can explore freely. And littered throughout the world are many power-ups so the player will gradually grow stronger and gain more abilities as they explore. Upon acquiring certain abilities, the player will be able to access areas that they couldn’t before, creating an extra incentive to go back to revisit old areas and providing a thrill when the player is rewarded for doing so. This blueprint provided by Metroid became a whole genre called the “Metroidvania” (the second half of the term I won’t be explaining until we get to a certain game months down the road) which has become one of the most popular genres for independent game developers in modern times. Metroid is also a game that is meant to be played through and beaten multiple times as the player becomes more familiar with the world and learns how to get through it quickly, as the game has better endings depending on how fast you finish it.

Metroid is also notable for challenging gender norms and expectations in its players. You play as Samus, who wears this very cool high-tech suit of armor with a gun who traverses a dangerous alien world. It seems like a very masculine fantasy, and the game’s instruction manual refers to Samus with male pronouns too, so obviously most NES gamers (mainly, in the 1980s, young boys) assume that Samus is male. However, upon completing the game, Samus takes off their helmet to reveal that...she’s a woman! Samus was certainly not the first female protagonist in video games, but aside from Ms. Pac-man, there really weren’t any others that starred in such a significant title, at least in the West.

As far as its merits as a game, the original Metroid is rendered a bit obsolete by the future games in the series. The third game in particular, releasing on a more advanced console, hugely improved on the formula in a wide variety of ways and set a new bar. And on top of that, this original game received a remake nearly 20 years later that’s a lot more fun and easier to get into. That’s not to say the original Metroid is totally unenjoyable, but you have to really know what you’re getting into ahead of time to have a good experience. One issue, for example, is that there is no map the player can access in-game. Aside from very early examples, every single game in the genre has some kind of in-game map, since it’s very important for navigation. To get around this issue, the player must refer to an external map or (as the instruction manual suggests) draw one for themselves as they progress through the game. The controls will also feel inferior compared to newer games in the series and in general. I wouldn’t recommend this game to those curious about the series and wanting to try it for the first time.

I’ve very much enjoyed the Metroid series in the past, but my experience with it didn’t start with this game, in part because it was before my time. You’ll have to stay tuned to hear more about that. But it should be pretty obvious from what you’ve read that this original game is an absolute essential.