| Super Metroid | |
|---|---|
 North American box art featuringSamus Aran battlingRidley | |
| Developers | |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Director | Yoshio Sakamoto |
| Producer | Makoto Kano |
| Programmer | Kenji Imai |
| Artists |
|
| Composers |
|
| Series | Metroid |
| Platform | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Release | |
| Genre | Action-adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Super Metroid[a][b] is a 1994action-adventure game developed byNintendo andIntelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is the thirdMetroid game, following theGame Boy gameMetroid II: Return of Samus (1991). The player controls bounty hunterSamus Aran, who travels to planet Zebes to retrieve an infantMetroid creature stolen by theSpace Pirate leaderRidley.
Following the established gameplay model of its predecessors,Super Metroid focuses on exploration, with the player searching for power-ups used to reach previously inaccessible areas. It introduced elements such as the inventory screen, anautomap, and the ability to fire in 8 directions. The development staff from previousMetroid games—includingYoshio Sakamoto,Makoto Kano andGunpei Yokoi—returned to developSuper Metroid over the course of two years. The developers wanted to make a true action game, and set the stage for Samus' reappearance.
Super Metroid received acclaim, with praise for its atmosphere, gameplay, music and graphics. It is often cited as one of thegreatest video games of all time. The game sold well and shipped 1.42 million copies worldwide by late 2003. AlongsideCastlevania: Symphony of the Night,Super Metroid is credited for establishing theMetroidvania genre, inspiring numerousindie games and developers.Super Metroid was followed in 2002 byMetroid Fusion andMetroid Prime. It has been re-released on several Nintendo consoles and services.
Super Metroid is a2Dside-scrollingaction-adventure game,[2][3] which primarily takes place on the fictional planet Zebes from the original game—a large,open-ended world with areas connected by doors and elevators.[4]: 18–19 The player controlsSamus Aran as she searches the planet for aMetroid that has been stolen byRidley, the leader of theSpace Pirates.[4]: 5 Samus can run, jump, crouch, and fire a weapon in eight directions; she can perform other actions, such aswall jumping—jumping from one wall to another in rapid succession to reach higher areas. The "Moon Walk" ability, named after thedance move of the same name, allows Samus to walk backwards while firing or charging her weapon.[5]: 8–9
Throughout the course of the game, the player can acquirepower-ups that enhance Samus's armor and weaponry, as well as grant her special abilities, allowing them to gain access to areas that were previously inaccessible.[3] The Morph Ball[c] allows Samus to curl into a ball and roll into tight places; in this form, she can plant bombs once the Bomb power-up is acquired. The Spring Ball adds the ability to jump while in Morph Ball form.[5]: 10–11 The Speed Booster can be used to run at high speeds and destroy barriers and enemies.[6] The Hi-Jump Boots allow for a higher jump, and the Space Jump allows Samus to jump continuously in midair.[4]: 24 The Grapple Beam can be used to swing across open areas.[6] The X-ray Scope is used to see hidden items and passages.[5]: 12
Theheads-up display shows Samus'shealth, the supply mode for Reserve Tanks, icons that represent weapons, and a map display showing her location and its surroundings.[5]: 7 The inventory screen allows the player to enable and disable weapons and abilities. While the beam weapons can be combined, the Spazer and Plasma beams cannot be used simultaneously. At the game's end, Samus obtains the Hyper Beam, a powerful weapon generated by the energy given to her by the "super Metroid", the matured version of the larval creature that she seeks.[7][8] The backup units called Reserve Tanks can be used automatically when Samus's health is depleted.[4]: 14–15 Theautomap helps the player navigate the different areas, and map computers in each area reveal unexplored areas.[4]: 13 Tosave their progress, the player must use save stations located around the planet.[4]: 16 Players can also save and recharge their health and ammunition at Samus's gunship.[4]: 18
Super Metroid has three endings based on the time taken to complete it, which determine whether Samus poses with or without her suit. The best ending is achieved when the game is completed under three hours.[5]: 119 If the player rescues the Dachora and the Etecoons, friendly creatures encountered by Samus, they are shown leaving the planet in the distance.[5]: 118–119
| Metroid | |||
| Story chronology | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main series inbold, remakes in parentheses | |||
| [9][10] | |||
Samus Aran brings the lastMetroid to the Ceres space colony for scientific study. Investigation of the specimen, alarva, reveals that its energy-producing abilities could be harnessed for the good of civilization. Shortly after leaving, Samus receives adistress call alerting her to return to the colony immediately. She finds the scientists dead, and the Metroid larva stolen byRidley, leader of theSpace Pirates. Samus escapes during a self-destruct sequence and follows Ridley to the planet Zebes.[11] She searches the planet for the Metroid and finds that the Pirates have rebuilt their base there.[4]: 5
After defeating fourbosses including Ridley in various regions of Zebes, Samus enters Tourian,[5]: 109 the heart of the Pirates' base, and fights several Metroids that have reproduced. A Metroid that has grown to enormous size attacks and nearly destroys Samus, but relents at the last moment. It is the larva that was stolen from Ceres; because Samus was present at its hatching on SR388, the Metroid hasimprinted on Samus, recognizing her as its "mother".[5]: 113 [7][12]
Samus fightsMother Brain, abiomechanical creature that controls the Zebes systems. Mother Brain overpowers Samus, but the Metroid intervenes, crippling Mother Brain and healing Samus. Mother Brain rises again and kills the Metroid, but upon death, the Metroid gives Samus the Hyper Beam, a powerful weapon strong enough to kill Mother Brain. Samus escapes Zebes as it self-destructs.[5]: 116–119
_cropped.jpg)
Super Metroid was developed byNintendo R&D1[13] with a staff of 15 managed byGunpei Yokoi. It was written and directed byYoshio Sakamoto, and produced byMakoto Kano.[14][15][16]: 3 Intelligent Systems, who co-developed theoriginalMetroid with R&D1, handled theprogramming.[17] The opening was narrated byDan Owsen, aNintendo of America employee.[14][18]
Super Metroid was released almost a decade after the originalMetroid. Sakamoto said: "We wanted to wait until atrue action game was needed. [...] And also to set the stage for the reappearance of Samus Aran".[15] It took half a year for Nintendo to approve the project, and two further years to develop.[15]
The developers' primary goal was to make a "good action game". It is the firstMetroid game to let Samus fire in all directions while moving.[15] It is among the firstopen world games with a map feature, which shows the outlines of rooms and indicates important locations and items.[13] The team wanted to create a large map, but found it difficult to organize the amount of graphic data involved, and so broke it into smaller parts. Areas from previousMetroid games were included to create a sense of familiarity.[15]
Shortly before the game's release, the North AmericanEntertainment Software Rating Board, a self-regulating organization, was formed in response to the increasing violence in games such asMortal Kombat (1992).[19] Asked whether he thought the controversy would cause a backlash forSuper Metroid, Sakamoto explained that Samus's purpose is to maintain peace in the galaxy, saying: "It's not violence for the sake of violence".[15] The game was demonstrated at the Winter 1994Consumer Electronics Show, and was named the best Super NES game at the show byGamePro.[20]
The music was composed byKenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano,[14][16]: 4 [21] and uses 16-bit versions of music from previous games.[15] TheSuper NES'ssound hardware allowed the playback ofsamples simultaneously on eight channels, as opposed to threePSG channels and one noise channel of the NES. Yamamoto decided that rich and expressive sounds, such as a female chorus, would be required to portray the setting realistically.[22] He composed the main theme by humming while riding his motorcycle from work.[22][23]
Yamamoto also served as a sound programmer,[23] and wrote a program that sends sound data to the audio chip.[22] He also createdsound effects,[23] including those created for an infant Metroid to convey different emotions.[22] The simultaneous roles as a composer, a sound programmer and a sound effect creator gave Yamamoto ideas to produce a distinctMetroid soundtrack "with a sound programmer's ear, with a sound effect creator's ear, and with the approachmethodology and theory of a composer". Thearrangements andremixes of the game's themes were used inMetroid Prime and its sequels, because Yamamoto wanted to satisfy oldMetroid fans, describing it as a "present" for them.[23]
A soundtrack album,Super Metroid: Sound in Action, was published bySony Records on June 22, 1994. It contains 38 tracks and has a running time of 58:49. It includes the originalMetroid soundtrack byHirokazu Tanaka, and additional tracks arranged by Yoshiyuki Ito and Masumi Ito.[24]
The game was released byNintendo in Japan on March 19, 1994,[25][26] in North America on April 18,[26] and in Europe on July 28.[26] It was distributed on a 24-megabitcartridge.[27] It was re-released through theNintendo Power service in Japan on September 30, 1997.[28][29]Super Metroid became available as aWiiVirtual Console game in North America on August 20, 2007,[30][31] in Japan on September 20,[25][32] and in Europe on October 12.[33] InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, it is one of the trial games available in the "Masterpieces" section, which uses Virtual Console technology to emulate older hardware and have time constraints.[34] The game was released on theWii U Virtual Console in May 2013, initially available during the trial campaign for a cheaper price before reverting to its regular price the next month.[35] TheNew Nintendo 3DS-specific Virtual Console also received the release in April 2016.[36] In September 2017, Nintendo released theSuper NES Classic Edition, which includedSuper Metroid among its games.[37]Super Metroid and other Super NES games were added to theNintendo Classics service in September 2019.[38]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 97%[39] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | 4.5/5[40] |
| Aktueller Software Markt | 10/12[41] |
| Consoles + | 91%[42] |
| Computer and Video Games | 91/100[43] |
| Edge | 8/10[44] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9/10, 9/10, 9/10, 9/10[45] |
| Famitsu | 8/10, 8/10, 8/10, 8/10[46] |
| Game Informer | 9.5/10[47] |
| Game Players | 97%[48] |
| GameSpot | 8.5/10[49] |
| Hyper | 94%[50] |
| IGN | 9.5/10[51] |
| Jeuxvideo.com | 19/20[52] |
| M! Games | 95%[53] |
| Mega Fun | 90%[54] |
| Nintendo Life | 10/10[55] |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | 92/100[57] |
| Player One | 94/100[56] |
| Super Play | 92%[58] |
| Total! | 94%[59] |
| Video Games (DE) | 80%[60] |
| Games World | 94/100[61] |
| Super Action | 93%[62] |
| Super Gamer | 95/100[63] |
Super Metroid received highly positive reviews,[64] being one of the highest rated games onreview aggregator websiteGameRankings.[39]Famitsu reviewers complimented the game comparing it to theLegend of Zelda series for its quality in exploration and that the difficulty was just right.[46] Chris Slate of theGame Players video game magazine thoroughly enjoyedSuper Metroid, claiming that it "easily lives up to everyone's high expectations". He was satisfied with howNintendo mixed "smooth", "complex" gameplay, with "state-of-the-art" graphics and sound. Slate found the newly added auto-mapping feature something that the player really needed, saying that it was the only feature inSuper Metroid that the originalMetroid should have had. Slate said that action fans will not missSuper Metroid, but also remarked that due to the large space available to explore and numerous secrets, the player will have to play through several times even after they have beaten it.[48]Nintendo Power mentioned that the game "may well be the best action adventure game ever", calling it the "wave of the future", and they praised the game's graphics, sound, and controls.[2]Electronic Gaming Monthly gaveSuper Metroid their "Game of the Month" award, comparing it favorably to the originalMetroid and applauding the graphics, the many weapons and items available, and the music. Each of the four reviewers gave it scores of nine out of ten.[45]GamePro criticized the controls as often awkward or difficult and said that many of the power-ups are either lifted from other Super NES games or simple upgrades of other power-ups in the game, but praised the game's massive size along with the auto-mapping feature.[65] Andy Robinson ofGamesRadar was pleased with the game's "phenomenal" soundtrack, complimenting it as "one of the best videogame scores of all time".[66]
Super Play critic Zy Nicholson said thatSuper Metroid is "more of an experience than a game", likening it to watching a late-night movie due to the cinematic structure and atmospheric graphics and sounds. He found the game so compulsive that he was tempted to play "without eating or sleeping".Super Play critic Tony Mott cited the atmosphere as its best aspect, and described it as a mixture ofAliens,Turrican,Exile, andNodes of Yesod. Mott applauded the refined controls, and calledSuper Metroid "undoubtedly the best game I've played this year so far" and "a game destined for classic status". James Leach agreed with Nicholson and Mott thatSuper Metroid was whatMega Man X should have been, containing "everything I look for: playability, hidden tricks, powerful weapons and steamingly evil baddies". All three reviewers in their verdict calledSuper Metroid one of the best games for SNES platform.[58]
Edge criticized the graphics and short length, but praisedSuper Metroid as "intensely playable" and "full of memorable moments".[44]IGN calledSuper Metroid's Virtual Console version a "must-own", commenting that although the game was released nine months after the Wii launched, they felt that it was worth the wait. For the player who had never playedSuper Metroid,IGN claims that they owe themselves as gamers to "finally find out about what you've been missing all these years".[51] In his review forGameSpot, Frank Provo found it "absolutely astonishing that Nintendo let 13 years go by before makingSuper Metroid readily available again", but considered the most important thing was that the player "can now play this masterpiece without having to track down the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge or fumble with legally questionable emulators". Despite admitting that the Virtual Console version was essentially "nothing more than a no-frills, emulated version of a 13-year-old SNES game" that was no longer cutting-edge, he was still pleased with it and reiterated his belief thatSuper Metroid is "one of the best 2D action adventure games ever produced".[49]
In Japan,Super Metroid was the ninth-best-sellingvideo game of 1994, with 531,000 copies sold that year.[67] In North America, despite receiving critical acclaim, Rus McLaughlin ofIGN said thatSuper Metroid arrived at a time when the lifecycle of SNES platform was coming to an end.[68] Robinson similarly noted that, in a series tradition, the game was released at wrong place and time.[66] With the help of strong marketing from Nintendo,Super Metroid sold well in North America,[16] topping the Super NES sales chart inMay 1994.[69] A year after its release, Nintendo placed it on theirPlayer's Choice marketing label.[30] By late 2003, the game had shipped 1.42 million copies worldwide.[70]
Super Metroid received several awards and honors.Electronic Gaming Monthly namedSuper Metroid a Game of the Month for May 1994, gave it an Editors' Choice award,[45] awarded it as the Best Action Game of 1994,[71] and named it the best game of all time in 2003.[72][d]IGN rankedSuper Metroid 3rd (2003), 10th (2005) and 7th (2007) in its top 100 games of all time lists.[74][75][76] Likewise,IGN readers ranked the game 11th in its top 99 games of all-time list in 2005,[77] and 4th in its top 100 games in 2006.[78] Richard George ofIGN also rankedSuper Metroid 3rd in its top 100 SNES games, crediting its "flawless action, impeccable level design, out-of-this-world atmosphere, a totally badass heroine and an enormous overworld to explore".[79]GamesRadar namedSuper Metroid the best SNES game of all time,[80] whileNintendo Power named it the best game in theMetroid series, beating outMetroid Prime andMetroid: Zero Mission.[81]GamePro listedSuper Metroid as one of the fifteen must-play retro games on theWii.[82]Game Informer placed the game 29th on their top 100 games of all time in 2001.[83] In 2018,Complex listed the game 3rd on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time". They opined thatSuper Metroid is "tour de force from Nintendo" and described the gameplay as perfect.[84] In 1995,Total! rated the game 17th on its "Top 100 SNES Games" list.[85] In 1995,Flux listedSuper Metroid 62nd in their "Top 100 Video Games" list. They praised the game for its challenging gameplay and haunting atmosphere, although they felt that it is too similar to itspredecessor.[86]
Super Metroid is often regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time.[6][16][87] Jeremy Parish ofUSgamer wrote thatSuper Metroid is a "game you can return to time and again and always come away with some fresh insight or observation".[7] Chris Hoffman ofNintendo Power wrote thatSuper Metroid is "truly one of the best", noting that the game "set a new standard for side-scrolling adventure games."[88] Andrew Webster ofArs Technica found the game's atmosphere impressive, and noted that the developers had perfected the aspect on solitude, a concept introduced in the firstMetroid game.[3]Game Informer writer Joe Juba cited the game's ending as "one of the most memorable and empowering moments in gaming history".[8] In 2009,Official Nintendo Magazine called the game "challenging, deep and undeniably epic", placing it 24th on a list of the greatest Nintendo games.[89]
AsSuper Metroid gives the player awards based on how long it took them to complete the game, and because its open-ended structure lends well tosequence breaking, it has become a popular choice forspeedrunning, a style of play in which the player intends to complete the game as quickly as possible.[16][87][90]Super Metroid, alongsideKonami's 1997 gameCastlevania: Symphony of the Night, is also credited for establishing the "Metroidvania" genre.[91][92] It was cited as an influence on other Metroidvania games, includingShadow Complex[93] andAxiom Verge.[94]
SeveralROM hacks were released by fans, which add new features.[95]Super Metroid: Redesign, created by "drewseph" in 2006, features new items, expanded areas and modified physics.[95][96][97] In 2011, a Japanese hacker named "SB" released,Metroid: Super Zero Mission, which intends to combine elements fromSuper Metroid andMetroid: Zero Mission.[95] Later hacks, such asHyper Metroid by "RealRed" andSuper Junkoid by "P. Yoshi", add altered game mechanics, graphics and new stories.[98][99]
Nintendo did not release anotherMetroid game for eight years, as the series had not matched the success of theMario andLegend of Zelda franchises.[16] Yokoi left Nintendo in August 1996, amid the failure of theVirtual Boy, and died in a car accident in October 1997.[100][101]
Fans eagerly awaited aMetroid game for theNintendo 64 (N64).[87] According to Nintendo producerShigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo did not develop aMetroid game for the N64 as they "couldn't come out with any concrete ideas".[102] Sakamoto said he could not imagine how theN64 controller could be used to control Samus. Nintendo approached another company to make an N64Metroid, but the offer was declined because the developers thought they could not make a game to equalSuper Metroid.[103]
In late 2002, Nintendo releasedMetroid Fusion, a 2D sequel developed for theGame Boy Advance by Nintendo R&D1,[87][104][105] andMetroid Prime, afirst-person game developed for theGameCube by American developerRetro Studios, and the firstMetroid game to use3D graphics.[87][106] BothFusion andPrime garnered acclaim,[16] withPrime winning severalGame of the Year awards.[107]Metroid Prime received three spin-offs, 2009 compilationMetroid Prime: Trilogy, containingPrime, its 2004 sequelMetroid Prime 2: Echoes, and 2007Wii sequelMetroid Prime 3: Corruption,[16][87] and anupcoming fourth sequel.[108] In 2010,Metroid: Other M was released, taking place betweenSuper Metroid andFusion.[109]
After a long development period, a fifth 2D game and sequel toFusion,Metroid Dread, was released in 2021 for theNintendo Switch to critical acclaim and developed byMetroid: Samus Returns developerMercurySteam.[110]
1994 / NINTENDO / PRESENTS / METROID 3
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Super Metroid incorporates 24 megabits of memory – a Super NES record – to create six very large worlds.
[Koji Igarashi's] work inspired an entire genre that's partially named in honor of his work — the "Metroidvania", which is a reference to the sprawling, contiguous design sensibilities that defineSymphony of the Night and Nintendo'sSuper Metroid.
Mustard:Super Metroid, to me, is the pinnacle of 2D game design, and there's no reason we shouldn't be pushing that pinnacle forward and see what else we can do with it.
"Super Metroid influenced the overall map structure," Happ says.
| Games |
|  | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characters | ||||||||||||||||||
| People | ||||||||||||||||||
| Companies | ||||||||||||||||||
| Related | ||||||||||||||||||
