Metroid (video game)

is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo. The first installment in the ''Metroid'' series, it was originally released in Japan for the Family Computer Disk System peripheral beta version in August 1986. North America received a release in August 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System in the Game Pak ROM cartridge format, with the European release following in January 1988. Set on the planet Zebes, the story follows Samus Aran as she attempts to retrieve the parasitic Metroid organisms that were stolen by Space Pirates, who plan to replicate the Metroids by exposing them to beta rays and then use them as biological weapons to destroy Samus and all who oppose them.

The game was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 (Nintendo R&D1) and Intelligent Systems. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi, directed by Satoru Okada and Masao Yamamoto, and scored by Hirokazu Tanaka. It pioneered the Metroidvania genre, focusing on exploration and searching for power-ups used to reach previously inaccessible areas. Its varied endings for fast completion times made it an early popular title for speedrunning. It was also lauded for being one of the first video games to showcase a female protagonist.

''Metroid'' was both a critical and commercial success. Reviewers praised its graphics, soundtrack, and tight controls. ''Nintendo Power'' ranked it 11th on their list of the best games for a Nintendo console. On Top 100 Games lists, it was ranked 7th by ''Game Informer'' and 69th by ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''. The game has been rereleased multiple times onto other Nintendo systems, such as the Game Boy Advance in 2004, the Wii, Wii U and 3DS via the Virtual Console service, and the Nintendo Switch via its online service. An enhanced remake of ''Metroid'' featuring updated visuals and gameplay, '' Metroid: Zero Mission'', was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004.

Gameplay

''Metroid'' is an action-adventure game in which the player controls Samus Aran in sprite-rendered two-dimensional landscapes. The game takes place on the fictional planet of Zebes, a large, open-ended world with areas connected by doors and elevators. The player controls Samus as she travels through the planet's caverns and hunts Space Pirates. She begins with a weak power beam as her only weapon, and with only the ability to jump. The player explores more areas and collects power-ups that grant Samus special abilities and enhance her armor and weaponry, allowing her to enter areas that were previously inaccessible. Among the power-ups that are included in the game are the Morph Ball, which allows Samus to curl into a ball to roll into tunnels; the Bomb, which can only be used while in ball form and can open hidden floor/wall paths; and the Screw Attack, a somersaulting move that destroys enemies in its path.

In addition to common enemies, Samus encounters two bosses, Kraid and Ridley, whom she must defeat in order to progress. Ordinary enemies typically yield additional energy or ammunition when destroyed, and the player can increase Samus's carrying capacities by finding storage tanks and defeating bosses. Once Kraid and Ridley have both been defeated, the player can shoot their statues to open the path to the final area and confront the Mother Brain.

Plot

In the year 20X5, the Space Pirates attack a Galactic Federation-owned space research vessel and seize samples of Metroid creatures—the parasitic lifeforms discovered on the planet SR388. Dangerous floating organisms, the Metroids can latch on to any organism and drain its life energy to kill it. The Space Pirates plan to replicate Metroids by exposing them to beta rays and then using them as biological weapons to destroy all living beings that oppose them. While searching for the stolen Metroids, the Galactic Federation locates the Space Pirates' base of operations on the planet Zebes. The Federation assaults the planet, but the Pirates resist, forcing the Federation to retreat.

As a last resort, the Federation decides to send a lone bounty hunter to penetrate the Pirates' base and destroy Mother Brain, the biomechanical life-form that controls the Space Pirates' fortress and its defenses. Considered the greatest of all bounty hunters, Samus Aran is chosen for the mission. Samus lands her gunship on the surface of Zebes and explores the planet, traveling through the planet's caverns, finding upgrades like missiles, energy tanks, the morph ball, bombs, screw attack (lightning ball), and ice beam, and uses these weapons to dispatch the alien creatures who get in her way. She comes across Kraid, an ally of the Space Pirates, and Ridley, the Space Pirates' commander, and defeats them both. Eventually, Samus kills the Metroids, and finds and destroys Mother Brain. A timed bomb goes off to destroy the lair and Samus is able to escape before it explodes.

Development

After Nintendo's release of commercially successful platforming games in the 1980s, including ''Donkey Kong'' (1981), ''Ice Climber'' (1985), '' Super Mario Bros.'' (1985), and the critically acclaimed adventure game ''The Legend of Zelda'' (1986), the company began work on an action game. The word "Metroid" is a portmanteau

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