review: Metroid Reloaded

I was left feeling cold by Metroid Fusion, chastising it for being a sneaky remake of Super Metroid that was tweaked out and put into a different package. It's one of the better titles for the GBA, though, so actually investing in that purchase would not be a mistake. This time around I can't use that excuse, because Nintendo has made it clear we are seeing a massive redesign of Samus Aran's first encounter with Metroids. But what players didn't know was the extent of the surprise at the end of the game. And I plan on divulging, so beware of the spoilers interspersed in this review.

Metroid: Zero Mission is a retelling of Samus Aran's mission to planet Zebes, which first appeared as Metroid on the NES in 1986. And as I've noted before, it's very similar to the facelift that the original NES Mario Brothers games underwent for Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES. The same exaggerated, cartoonish styling was transplanted onto Metroid to yield Zero Mission. The visuals are definitely the strong point of this game, followed very closely by the much improved soundtrack. Where Sword of Mana seems like Secret of Mana with a few minor changes, Zero Mission is a completely refreshing take on a classic adventure.

Like any Metroid game, you start with nothing and are driven by an unseen force to acquire new powerups and weapons. The simple formula has been repeated time and again in this series (and others like it), yet gamers never complain. I suppose the simple act of getting and replacing your suit's many upgrades is reward enough. And the moderate level of difficulty lends itself well to marathon sessions where you've obtained about 10 new missile tanks and wonder where the fuck the time has gone.

Some of the weapon and power suit upgrades are actually carry-overs from Metroid sequels, like the Speed Booster from Super Metroid and the "Power Grip" that first appeared in Metroid Fusion, which allows Samus to hang off of ledges. Adding these new abilities provides a different experience from the original, and each of the game's areas were redesigned to suit.

Zero Mission tends to feel more free-form than Fusion, because sequence breaking is a lot easier. You are no longer limited by locked elevator accesses and different "sectors". It essentially starts once you get bombs and can bomb jump your way to unreachable corridors or Power Tanks. After a while it becomes very obvious where you're supposed to go, however, and there is always a way out.

My game clocked in at just under four hours, and this was played over the course of a week or so. Sure there were some challenges, but I think my largest complaint with the game is that it was too easy. When you have the Automap to fall back on, it's very difficult to get lost, and you occasionally get clues as to where to head next. All powerups are revealed in this manner as well (as they were in Fusion) and it's just a matter of blasting your way to them. Unlike the original Metroid, where part of the game was actually remembering where you were (this is where graph paper came in handy). Even Ridley - traditionally one of the hardest bosses - was a pushover. Kraid was the only boss that presented a real challenge. Mother Brain was easy to defeat as long as you had a sufficient missile loadout.

If you're even slightly into this game, by now you've heard about the additional mission that takes place after the destruction of Mother Brain. The "suitless Samus" sequence, while fun for awhile, quickly became annoying due to your lack of a power suit and no real way to defend yourself. I almost felt like I was playing a 32-bit version of Starcraft: Ghost.

Playing through Metroid Prime revealed some interesting information about the origins of Samus' Power Suit and the Chozo civilization, but Zero Mission takes it a step further. At the end of the game, you see a close up of some scribbled graffiti on the mural that you fought previously to gain your fully powered Armour back. It shows a young Samus holding hands with some Chozo elders, which fully canonizes some information about Samus' heritage that was mostly made up of fan speculation and snippets from game instruction manuals. There was also a short animated sequence you saw after destroying Mother Brain where you see the same situation. If you don't mind looking at pictures (unless you can read Japanese), there is a e-manga Shockwave cartoon that goes into a little more detail on this subject. From what I understand, as a child Samus was the survivor of a Space Pirate attack on her home planet that was led by Ridley. She was taken into custody by the Chozo and grew become the fearless bounty hunter we know today. As far as I can tell the comic is officially sanctioned material.

I could easily recommend this game above Metroid Fusion, because Zero Mission truly captures the feel of the only two fully original games in the series: Metroid and Metroid 2: The Return of Samus. Metroid Prime was a departure in many ways, but the more I think about it the more I can compare it to Zero Mission and its quasi-openness and automap directives. If you want a highly addictive side scrolling adventure, you cannot go wrong with Zero Mission - in fact it's impossible. Nintendo could have easily gone the lazy route and just prettied up the graphics on the 1986 classic. But they did more than give the game a comic-like style - they included familiar powers that have been introduced into the series since its debut, as well as added a novel end sequence where you can play as Samus sans power armour. And to be able to unlock the original 8-bit Metroid and two galleries (Fusion and Zero Mission) make this an excellent package. I'd hate to see this series devlove into incestuous remakes, but I think Nintendo had to get Zero Mission out of its system. Another original Metroid game for the GBA and the Gamecube (like Metroid Prime 2 for example) would be a more welcome addition to the series.

those evil-natured robots