It was clear the development team borrowed liberally from Ridley Scott's film Alien, down to the name of one of the game's boss characters, but the game's appropriation of the themes from the Alien series goes deeper than some faux- Giger designs. The final encounter pitted Samus against a pulsating brain, but the real bad guys were always the Metroid life-forms themselves. It wasn't a sunny game, and you sure as hell weren't fighting turtles or the cute little enemies from Legend of Zelda. The game made you feel alone in a hostile environment filled with native life forms that wanted nothing more than to feed on your corpse. You had to explore the environment to unlock new weapons and abilities, which would then help you explore even further to fight the increasingly powerful enemies put in your path. The game had the platforming elements of the Mario series and the non-linear exploration aspect of Legend of Zelda. Every game stands on the shoulders of the titles that came before it, but Metroid took games of the time and mixed them together to create something new and amazing. The original Metroid, released in 1986 on the NES and making an immediate splash in the United States, was built on well-known influences. That's just fine: the game's hero, Samus Aran, has always been a loner. No new Metroid games have been announced, but the upside is that Metroid remains one of the few series that Nintendo has not beaten into the ground. Besides, Nintendo is busy worrying over the success, or lack thereof, for the 3DS and paving the way for the upcoming Wii U. Nintendo's lack of enthusiasm for one of its core franchises isn't surprising Metroid has always been an odd duck among the company's games. Fans took to the cause with gusto, however, and a wave of fan-made art and musical projects have spread across the Internet. Nintendo of America's official Twitter account reminded us to log into the 3DS e-shop to download the free version of Metroid Fusion we were promised as ambassadors, but that was it. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Metroid series of games, and Nintendo is celebrating in muted style. Photo illustration by Aurich Lawson reader comments 100 with
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |