The story of Ridley

Before Metroid: Other M, the character of Ridley was rather shrouded in mystery. In other M, the whole mystery of Ridley comes into light. In the story of other M, you have just killed Ridley on Planet Zebes and report to this other station. Here you continue to run into a weird creature, starting as a small white fluffy creature and it slowly becomes that fearsome dragon that we all fear at the end of the Metroid games. It's kind of nice to know they choose to develop these minor characters just as much as the main characters. This also makes the whole series make sense because we now know how there are several of this creature.

Wii Controls for Samus

The most recent games in the Metroid series: Other M, Corruption, and later Trilogy were released on the Wii console. These games let you take direct control of Samus' arm cannon and hands. In corruption, you can pilot your spaceship using the wii controls in both hands and operate computers and controls. Combat is at first awkward, but later it becomes much easier to change targets and fight effectively. Many of the interactions around the world are activated by motion controls to further immerse you in the experience.

Other M features just the remote, no nunchuck. The controls are super simple with just a few buttons and not much motion control. When you change to first-person controls, you take on controls like the Prime game.

The Face of the Legend

Samus' appearance has changed dramatically over her journey through the game systems. In her 16-bit days, she was a hidden character, but then revealed to be a ambiguous female with brown hair. She has changed from blonde to brunette a couple of times through the ages. In Metroid: Prime she was revealed as sort of homely brunette, then changed to a more cartoony blonde with a sideswept hairstyle. The GBA releases made her real "cutesy." Finally, Metroid: Other M has her pictured like the bottom picture above, with a kind of intense demeanor, while retaining her blonde, cartoony appearance.

You have to wonder if the appearance of Samus changes with the idea of attractiveness in culture. I'm sure the blonde cartoon-like variation was influenced by South-Asia culture. It is a mix of anime and their perception of beauty which stereotypes describe as a blonde American.

Prime Time

The much anticipated release of Metroid: Prime for the Gamecube brought Samus Aran into a whole new dimension, literally. Prime was a first-person Metroid adventure, casting aside the traditional side-scrolling epics and focusing on some immersed gameplay from behind her visor. Retro Studios did a great job with this game, having nostalgia mixed with novel gameplay to create a great Metroid game. The graphics were even revered as the best for the generation of gaming, and it came out immediately with the release of the gamecube.

The idea to keep the morph ball experience third-person was necessary and was executed flawlessly. The whole game felt just like an older Metroid game, which is very important to the fans of the Metroid series.

Controversies in Metroid: Other M

The adventure of Metroid: Other M takes you through a derelict space station (big surprise there) and has you following the orders of a former Commanding Officer named Adam Malkovich. Unlike every other Metroid game where you collect all your power-ups, you must be told by Adam that you are allowed to use them.
This has stirred a bees-nest of controversy on many levels. First, Metroid fanatics were appalled to be stripped of their ability to find all the power-ups as they go, and are forced to wait for permission to get them. Mostly, people were pissed because Adam usually decides to let you suffer in an area where you need the ability before allowing you to use it...
Second, there was this whole attack on the developers for degrading Smaus to something like a house wife, where she needs permission from the dominate male in the game in order to be powerful. I see the argument here, and wonder if the developers were thinking of the social criticism when creating this title. It was produced in America, and as a nation, we are rather aware of women's rights.

Thanks Adam, i think we get it...

Metroid Re-makes

The community behind the metroid series has recently evolved to include fans taking the Metroid game to as whole new level. Game making programs have allowed people to take the Metroid engine and create their own adventure. The most popular platform is the Super Metroid engine, where people make an entire 2hour+ game experience totally different from the original. Talented programmers will alter the game code and physics, allowing for new abilities and dynamics. A popular download is Metroid Impossible, where unless you have an emulator and the best skills of the game, you will not make it.

The most recent big project in the making is a Metroid 2 remake by DoctorM64. He is taking the game which arguably was the worst in Metroid history, and giving it new life. Using the complicated Zero Mission engine, he is custom building the graphics and sprite, as well as abilities and physics. The entire game is being re-created from scratch yo enhance the image of the original title. It is a very promising project.

The first deal in Metroid world?

The three Metroid: Prime games were all combined into one disk in 2010. Spanning two different consoles and entirely different control schemes, Metroid: Prime Trilogy offered all the prime games at the price of one brand new game. It also incorporated the wii-motion controls to the dated, Gamecube games. So, technically, it improved upon the older games and offered them in a different style.

Replay Value

The ultimate meaning of "Replay Value," Metroid has founded the concept of speed running, where players compete for the lowest times. This also promotes the playing of the game over and over, like laps in a race, to find the shortest way through the game. Each and every Metroid game has alternative endings for those willing to take their game completion to a whole new level. Knowing you didn't qualify for the "best" ending makes you want to play the game again, to earn the "gold medal" of the Metroid race.

PS - that video is an hour long, i wouldn't necessarily recommend activating it here...(it might crash my blog)

Value in online culture

Samus has hit many more scenes than the game consoles. Samus and friends have been an incredible hit on the deviant art and fan art sites, where talented web artists have taken Samus and developed comic, or incredibly stylized renditions of Nintendo's heroine. Perhaps this hasn't hit the pop-culture status that pac-man has, but a quick search on Google will turn up a lot of creative content:

Outside value of the Metroid series

The Value of the metroid series must be an incredible asset for Nintendo.

Being one of their longest-lasting and highest-earning franchises, the Metroid series has made Nintendo much more money than simply game sales. Especially recently (2007+) more and more mechandise has hit the retail scene. Comical shirts have been produced, action figures and plush toys have been getting sold.

Samus and her iconic counterparts in her games will forever be invested in Nintendo culture. She will always appear in any Nintendo conglomerate games like Super Smash Brothers.

Death in Super Metroid

Now for super Metroid, which took death in a different direction. Utilizing better graphics and effects, Super Metroid decided to remind us that Samus was a woman when she lost all her energy. If you were just starting the Metroid series, this may come as a surprise, as Samus' true gender is still veiled in confusion.

This more detailed death gave you a different feeling upon witnessing it. You almost felt bad, as she looked like she was in serious pain as her suit gets ripped off. It kind of makes you feel bad. One has to wonder if it is because she is a woman, or just because you have caused her death.

This is really how death should be in video games, you should feel something negative from ending the life of your on-screen character.

Death in Metroid

As the week continues, we are looking at death in video games. Whilst watching a video on the best ways to die in video games, Metroid was mentioned. Apparently, being obliterated into several pieces is one of the worst ways to die. It's true, every single enemy in this game dies the same way. They take enough damage and explode into tons of pieces and fall off the screen. Even Samus, the main character simply "pops" and cues a sad tone upon death.

LCD Games

We spent time in class today playing with some of the oldest forms of games. These games are incredibly challenging and require a totally different level of concentration that today's games. Playing the old Mario Brothers was an incredible challenge, having to split attention on both screens and think between ticks of the game.

I was surprised to see these primitive games have such depth and complexity. They make great use of all the images they included on the screen, as they re-use and recycle some of the sprites.

Metroids 101

Okay, before going any farther with the story of Metroid, lets visit a major character in the Metroid series.
The title of the series: Metroid, is a conglomeration of the words metro, meaning rapid transit and android. This is obviously speaking of Samus, being the android-like main character of the first game. So how did this become the name of her arch-nemeses?
We never find out.
The actual creatures, revealed by the storyline of Metroid Prime, were created by the Chozo, an ancient race and foster parents of Samus. They were created to eradicate a dangerous parasite Samus encounters in Metroid Fusion, the X-parasite. Metroids have appeared in every Metroid game except Metroid: hunters.

The next installment in the Metroid Series is Metroid II: Return of Samus. Utilizing save states and the portability of the Gameboy brought this game a lot of success after it's debut in 1991. The developers at Nintendo took the original metroid to a whole new level with this title. They overhauled the graphics and gave Samus a very human-like appearance. She was taller and her suit had much more detail.
The story followed Samus through the caverns of SR-388. A small planet which is home to her nemesis, the metroids. Her task this time was to destroy every last one of the creatures and therefore force them into extinction.
Althought limited by the greyscale technology of the Gameboy, the sound continued to excel. It had less of a soundtrack in this edition and more of a context based background noise. Music was not constantly playing, yet the sounds of the creatures roaming the dark caves made up the soundtrack.
Metroid II saw the release of more interesting upgrades to Samus' suit. She could now jump in her morph ball and had more beams at her disposal. The game still did not feature a map and this title is arguably more confusing than the last.

Movie Influences

In the time of release for Metroid, a very iconic movie was also hitting it's peak influence. Robocop was a huge hit in 1987, possibly lending it's popularity to the similar character in Metroid. Being a US release, perhaps Robocop influenced Japanese culture during the time of Metroid's development.

The beginning of the legacy

The 1986 release of Metroid was an epic release from the claimed developers at Nintendo's R&D Team 1. The concept is hailed as a perfect combination between the platforming action of Super Mario Bros. and the open-ended exploration of The Legend of Zelda. Metroid is categorized as a sci-fi action adventure, and its style is a sidescrolling adventure. This was one of the first games to feature the password save system on the NES. The character Samus Aran, the protagonist of the series was perceived as a man for her first entry into the videogame world. Not until the very end of the story was she revealed as a woman, shocking players. There was even a code available so you could change the sprite of samus to a suit-less version of Samus where she can run around and shoot baddies in a bikini. The game featured elements such as rooms which are impossible to get through and a very difficult learning curve.

Overview

The metroid series started in 1986 with the NES release of Metroid. The series traditionally follows a 2D sidescrolling platformer style, but this design has been challenged in the last decade. The metroid history is full of interesting games and background. This blog will be discussing the various elements that helped this game become an iconic part of videogame history.