Super Metroid
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| Super Metroid | |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo R&D1 (design) Intelligent Systems (program) |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Gunpei Yokoi (general manager) Yoshio Sakamoto (director) Makoto Kanoh (producer) |
| Platform(s) | Super NES, Virtual Console |
| Release date | SNES JPN March 19, 1994 NA April 18, 1994 EU July 28, 1994 Virtual Console NA August 20, 2007 JPN September 20, 2007 EU October 12, 2007 KOR April 26, 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Action adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults) |
| Media | 24-megabit cartridge |
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Super Metroid (スーパーメトロイド Sūpā Metoroido?) is an adventure video game developed by Nintendo R&D1 and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. Super Metroid was the third released game in the Metroid series of video games. With its 24-megabit cartridge size, it was the largest game available for the console at the time of its release.[1]
Super Metroid is a two dimensional platform video game with action and adventure elements. Game progression revolves around sequentially gathering power-ups that allow Samus Aran (the main character) to surmount obstacles in order to access new parts of the world. Like most 2-D Metroid games, the world has a nonlinear design and features many hidden areas, making exploration a central concept of the game.[2]
Super Metroid was also made available on the Wii's Virtual Console service on August 20, 2007 in North America, as part of the "Month of Metroid" Wii Shop Channel event. Super Metroid has been in the Top 20 Most Popular Downloads on the American Virtual Console since its debut and was the Number 1 download from August 21 to September 9, 2007, displaced by Super Mario Bros.[citation needed]. It was made available on the Japanese Virtual Console on September 20, 2007.[3]
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[edit] Gameplay
Super Metroid takes place mainly on Planet Zebes (the same planet seen in the original Metroid; a section near the beginning of the game is taken almost directly from the original game). It is a large, open-ended world with many different areas connected by doors and elevators. The player controls Samus as she searches the planet's many caverns and varied environments for a stolen Metroid larva, hunting the Space Pirates as she goes. Along the way, the player must collect a number of powerups that enhance Samus's armor and weaponry, as well as granting her special abilities such as her trademark Screw Attack. These abilities allow Samus to access areas that were previously inaccessible, a gameplay element that has become a staple of the series.
The game introduces several new concepts to the series. Among them are the ability to enable and disable weapons and abilities in an inventory screen, and a "Moon walk" ability, named after Michael Jackson's famous dance move, that allows Samus to walk backwards while firing. It also introduced the ability to combine beams, although this has only been brought back a few times in the series. The game brought back Metroid II's save system; the player can save and restart their game at any of the save points scattered throughout the planet. However, Super Metroid added the ability to save at Samus's gunship, which also recharges her energy and ammunition.
There is a PAL version that offers French and German subtitles.
[edit] Plot
Super Metroid begins with a brief introduction that summarizes the ending of Metroid II: Return of Samus, in which bounty hunter Samus Aran tells of how she eradicated the Metroids from their home planet, SR-388. A Metroid larva had hatched from an egg and imprinted upon Samus, believing her to be its mother. She brings this larva to the Ceres Space Colony, where scientists discover that the powers of Metroids could be harnessed for the benefit of mankind. However, just after leaving the colony, Samus receives a distress call and returns to discover the larva missing and the scientists dead. She encounters Ridley, who attacks her and then flies off with the stolen Metroid. Samus escapes the colony as it self-destructs and follows Ridley to planet Zebes, a Space Pirate base.
Samus spends the remainder of the game exploring the inner caverns of the newly rebuilt base, which was all but destroyed in the first Metroid. She searches for the stolen Metroid larva and destroys many Pirates and several bosses, while collecting many powerups and suit expansions along the way. Upon entering the final area, the new Tourian, she encounters newly bred Metroid clones, and then enters a room where many creatures have turned to dust. Samus is then attacked by an enormous Metroid (the eponymous "Super Metroid"[4]), which drains her of almost all her energy. However, the Metroid stops feeding just before she runs out of energy – it reveals itself to be the larva she encountered on SR-388, and it follows her for a short while like it did at the end of the previous game.[5]
After the Super Metroid departs, Samus recovers her energy and goes on to confront Mother Brain, which reveals itself to be attached to a giant bipedal form. Mother Brain nearly destroys Samus, but is then attacked by the Metroid larva, which then restores Samus's energy. Mother Brain recovers from the attack and destroys the Metroid in retaliation, but is subsequently destroyed by Samus, who now possesses the Hyper Beam. This triggers a self-destruct sequence that causes the entire planet to explode, with Samus narrowly escaping.
[edit] Development
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
Super Metroid was the third game produced in the Metroid series. Metroid producer Gunpei Yokoi oversaw the project, but owing to him being busy with designing the Game Boy Pocket and Virtual Boy, Super Metroid was produced by Makoto Kanoh, who had devised the original game's storyline. The game's early planning began in 1990 with Nintendo's Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1) headed by Yoshio Sakamoto. The first-party developer Intelligent Systems, consisting of former members of R&D1, was asked to program the game. With a total of twenty-two employees, the game was completed in 1993.[6] It was the last Metroid game to be released in Yokoi's lifetime.
[edit] Reception
At the time of its release, Super Metroid was universally praised. To this day, it remains one of the most popular and critically lauded games released on the Super Nintendo and in video game history. It has sold 1.4 million units (780.000 in Japan and 460.000 in North America)[citation needed], becoming a Player's Choice. It frequently appears in "best games of all time" lists; Electronic Gaming Monthly has named Super Metroid the best game of all time,[7], it came in 4th place on the reader's choice edition of IGN's 100 greatest video games of all time, and IGN ranked it the third best game of all time in its 2003 "top 100" list, and fourth best game of all time in its most recent 2006 list, with the motivation:
- "Hailed as one of the best 2D adventures ever, Nintendo's sci-fi epic still provides one of the most thought out and intriguing gameplay experiences around. Ranging from extensive platform challenges to gigantic boss battles to a comprehensive power-up system, Super Metroid has attained a divine place in the hearts of longtime gamers. Certainly, it stands as something players and developers can idolize for years to come."[8]
Swedish game publication Super PLAY ranked Super Metroid number 6 in the "top 100" list its March 2003 issue, commenting on its atmosphere (the following is a translation from Swedish):
- The graphics and sound form a wonderful symbiosis, creating an almost tangible atmosphere. Concerning the looks, there is no individual part that sticks out; the game maintains an even, stable, and thoroughly crafted graphical style. The music mostly consists of reserved, dark and mystical melodies that lurk in the background. After a while they consume you, fully immersing you in the Samus role. And the role is indeed an exciting one to play. The pure joy of exploration is on top and constantly makes you thirst for more.
In a Metroid feature in its December 2002 issue, Super PLAY also noted the game's care to detail:
- Super Metroid remains one of the most well made adventures ever produced. Every detail, from the echoing ice shafts to the statue that shifts color to illustrate which of the game's four bosses have been defeated, is indicative of an almost manic dedication among the developers at R&D1.
However, Super Metroid has sometimes been criticized such that its introduction cut-scene is too long with no way to skip it, although many players consider this a minor issue.
In the July 2006 issue of GamePro, Super Metroid was listed as one of the "15 Retro Games For The Nintendo Wii You Must Play".[9]
[edit] Legacy
Super Metroid served as a formula for subsequent 2-D games in the Metroid series, as it refined and provided a definitive version of concepts introduced in the first two Metroid games. Additionally, a number of background music tracks from the game have been remixed for many later games – among the most notable of these is one of the boss themes, which has become synonymous with Ridley both in and out of the series.
The two dimensional Castlevania games beginning with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PlayStation/Sega Saturn and continuing on the Game Boy Advance and DS borrow elements from Super Metroid, such as the "retraversal" style of gameplay involving items that grant new abilities to access new areas, as well as the style of map.
Super Metroid's open-ended gameplay style has made it a popular choice for speed-runs. Due to unintended sequence breaks, many players compete to see who can complete the game fastest, or with the fewest items, or both. This has caused Super Metroid to be a major contributor to the speedrun phenomenon, and one of the most popular games for both tool-assisted and unassisted speed-runs.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Greatest 100 Games Ever: 40-21. PAL Gaming Network. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
- ^ Allen Varney (2006-04-04). Metroid Primed. The Escapist. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Nintendo staff (August 15, 2007). Nintendo's 'Month of Metroid' Builds to Awaited Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Launch. Nintendo.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
- ^ Nintendo Power Player's Guide: Super Metroid
- ^ Super Metroid, introduction (Samus Aran): "The Metroid followed me like I was its mother."
- ^ Super Metroid — Development Summary. N-Sider.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ 100 Games Of All Time. gamers.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
- ^ IGN's Top 100 Games of All Time. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Feature: 15 Retro Games for the Wii You Must Play. GamePro.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
[edit] External links
- Super Metroid at Nintendo.com (archives of the original at the Internet Archive)
- Super Metroid at GameFAQs
- Super Metroid at The Metroid Database
- Super Metroid speed runs at archive.org
- Super Metroid Tricks at TASVideos.org
- Super Metroid at MobyGames
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