written by Rhett Quiban
Mature gamers of today have a lot of video games they cherish in their nostalgia box. Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and our focal point today, Metroid. Metroid was one of those games you played as a kid that you never really understood. The only thing you knew, and the only thing that mattered, was that it was incredibly fun to play.
It wasn’t until you got a little older that you got a grasp as to what Metroid was really about. Once you understood the story, it made you fall in love with it even more. If you’re a die-hard fan and you took the time to read the comics exploring the protagonist’s back story, learning the game’s lore surely made you giddy and excited, yearning for more Metroid material.
The first Metroid game was released in 1986, initially on the Family Computer Disk System. It was made available on the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, just a year later. Gamers immediately fell in love with the game. It was challenging, it gave you a sense of fulfillment, and again, it was simply incredibly fun to play.
The way Metroid’s gameplay is arranged isn’t exactly straightforward. This is one of those games that spark conversations between yourself and friends who also played the game just to figure out how you can progress further into the game. It’s almost as if the game encourages you to explore more. To find its secrets. And once you do, it’s oh so fulfilling.
The adventuristic feel of every Metroid game is what makes it such an amazing series. Or at least, one of the reasons why it’s such an amazing series. Metroid games have gone from being a side-scroll shooter to being a first-person shooter. How the game is played is not Metroid’s primary component, it’s how the game makes you feel. It makes you feel accomplished.
When you begin the first Metroid game, your protagonist, Samus Aran, isn’t quite that powerful yet. As you progress throughout the game by exploring the labyrinthian map, you will find power-ups that will give you more abilities and upgrade your attack and defense. Your character will become stronger as you keep on playing and exploring. Previous areas that were too difficult for you will seem like a cakewalk once you’ve gathered enough power-ups. This aspect of the game is one of the many aspects of the series that makes it highly re-playable and quite addictive. The level of satisfaction and seeing your character grow more and more powerful under your command. This is what all Metroid games have in common and it’s what gamers want in the next Metroid game.
Speaking of the next Metroid game, Metroid Prime 4 was announced by Nintendo during an E3 showcase in 2017. This announcement was received with incredible excitement. There hasn’t been a Metroid release that wasn’t a spin-off since 2010 and to finally hear a new main installment coming understandably made fans jump out of their seats.
Metroid Prime 4 was initially reported to have been developed by Bandai Namco Studios, but that changed in 2019 when Shinya Takahashi, development general manager at Nintendo, officially announced that the game was now under the helm of Retro Studios, the development team responsible for the original Metroid games.
There haven’t been any new updates regarding Metroid’s next title, unfortunately. All we currently know is that it’s in development and Retro Studios is doing their hardest to create a Metroid game that will live up to the expectations and feel the same way a Metroid game should feel.
A Metroid game is exactly what the industry needs. Lately, there have been discussions regarding female protagonists in video games and how they affect sales. However, one needs to only take a glance at games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, The latest remakes of Tomb Raider, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Bayonetta, Nier Automata, Alien: Isolation, Resident Evil 3, Half-Life: Alyx, Uncharted: Lost Legacy and The Last of Us, all games supporting a compelling female lead, which did quite well adding massive revenue to their respective publisher’s bottom line. People seem to be forgetting that our beloved Samus Aran, the legendary space bounty hunter, powerful enough to go against strong Metroids and space pirates, is a female herself.
An amazing game such as Metroid, with a strong character in Samus Aran at the forefront, would certainly make a wide ripple on the video game industry today. Nintendo, please hurry up! The video game industry needs Metroid!