Three decades ago Nintendo brought Metroid to the 16-bit era in splendorous fashion with Super Metroid. They took everything good about the original Metroid and improved, expanded, and fixed it. No game is perfect, but this one comes awfully close. It holds up brilliantly today. Super Metroid follows the formula of the original, with a semi-open world divided into different sections. In many respects it feels like a remake, similar to what Nintendo did with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past . The "bounty hunter" Samus Aran returns to the planet Zebes and travels through Norfair, Brinstar, and Tourian, facing the Space Pirate bosses Ridley, Kraid, and Mother Brain. The maps are different, though a few sections from the original are deliberately recreated. In fact, at the very beginning of the game, Samus passes back through the escape shaft and original chamber in which she defeated Mother Brain the first time, only now things look eerily abandoned. Then she has to leav...

Twenty years ago today Metroid: Zero Mission reinvented the original Metroid for a new generation. Improving upon the original by leaps and bounds, it's not so much a remaster as an entirely new game.  Metroid literally defined the "Metroidvania" genre, so you know what you're getting here. The protagonist, Samus Aran, clad in her armored, yellow Power Suit, explores a claustrophobic planet. She shoots alien monsters (like the iconic Rippers and Zoomers) with her arm cannon and, collecting upgrades and new laser beams along the way. These weapons and abilities allow her to access new areas. For example, bombs destroy certain blocks and floors. Missiles open locked red doors. She must locate and defeat the bosses of the nefarious Space Pirates: the monstrous Ridley and Kraid. Doing so unlocks the final area, where flying jellyfish called Metroids try to latch onto her and drain her life. At the end, she must defeat the Mother Brain living computer, then return to her ...

Thanks to the Switch release of Metroid Prime Remastered, I've finally played Metroid Prime. I remember watching my college roommate playing it (and Super Mario Sunshine ), back when I was skeptical of 3D games. It takes everything great about Metroid games and translates that flawlessly into the 3D space. It feels almost like a modern game, depite being 20 years old. In Metroid Prime, you once again assume control of the power-suit-clad, Mandalorian-esque "Hunter," Samus Aran. Set after the events of Metroid  (prior to the Game Boy game Metroid II ), she boards a Space Pirate ship, where she encounters a cybernetically-enhanced clone of Ridley called Meta Ridley. As the ship is destroyed, Samus's suit is damaged, and Meta Ridley flees to the planet Tallon IV. There, across seven regions connected by elevators, Samus must re-acquire her abilities, uncover secret paths, solve puzzles, unlock doors, and vaporize alien creatures while searching for twelve ancient artifac...

The second entry in the Metroid series arrived on the Game Boy at the end of 1991. It offers a more linear experience than the original , as Samus moves deeper and deeper into the cavernous SR-388 hunting Metroids. Although not as compelling as the original (let alone  Super Metroid ), Metroid II is a strong entry for the Game Boy. The plot of Metroid II is that Samus has been tasked with exterminating every last Metroid on their home planet of SR-388. A tracker at the bottom of the screen displays how many remain, beginning at 39. Periodically, after she has slain a certain quota, the screen rumbles as if there were an earthquake. Each time this happens a new downward path opens where there used to be lava. There are ten underground areas, plus the planet's surface where Samus's ship has landed.  The basic Metroids, called Alphas, are easy to destroy with missiles. These are not the same Metroids from the original. Apparently the classic Metroid is a larval form! Metroids met...

Metroid Fusion is a great sequel to a beloved classic, and after twenty years it now can justly be called a classic in its own right! After eight years, a sequel to Super Metroid , one of the greatest video games of all time, was worth the wait. Unlike previous Metroid games, Metroid Fusion contains many cutscenes and messages (and even some inner thoughts of Samus) that spell out a detailed plot. Samus Aran has returned to the Metroid homeworld, SR-388 (where Metroid II: Return of Samus took place). There she is attacked by a dangerous parasite, dubbed X, which damages her cybernetic Power Suit. Her life is saved thanks to a vaccine made from the baby Metroid (also from II). But then a mysterious explosion rocks the space station, and Samus must investigate... The X parasites are the game's central villain. They can mimic any living being they come in contact with. The space station is like a menagerie, but the X parasites run amok and begin duplicating everything. Because of the...

I loved Super Metroid as a child, but I never had a chance to play the original Metroid until the 3DS Virtual Console. When I finally did, I fell in love with it. Metroid is the sister game to Kid Icarus . It uses the same combination of vertical-scrolling and horizontal-scrolling sections. You control Samus Aran, a legendary "bounty hunter" (she's only called this in the West and doesn't collect bounties) hired by the Galactic Federation to recover flying jellyfish called Metroids. These are dangerous, life-sucking creatures thought to be responsible for the destruction of the civilization of the planet SR-388. The space pirates who stole the Metroids have set up a base on the planet Zebes, where coincidentally Samus finds power-ups compatible with "his" cybernetic suit. The main power-ups are held by mysterious statues of unknown bird-people. If you beat Metroid fast enough (under five hours), Samus removes "his" helmet to reveal that she was a...