Like a lot of other people, the big news of Nintendo finally making Metroid Dread has inspired me to play through the main series. Before the announcement of Dread, I had already played some of the NES Metroid, beaten Metroid: Samus Returns, gotten rather far in Super Metroid, and I beat Metroid Fusion. So why did I wait so long?
Playing through the Metroid Games
Since my track record with the series has been spotty—I was introduced to Samus through Smash Bros. and Metroid Prime in the early Gamecube days—I decided there’s no time like the present. I’m your garden variety Nintendo fanboy, so I already have a Wii U, which is where I played most of Super Metroid and where I finished Metroid Fusion.
Why Didn’t I Play this Game Sooner?
One night as I laid in bed, replaying the spine-tingling Dread trailer in my head for the hundredth time that day, I thought: “Why don’t I get Zero Mission on Wii U Virtual Console? It has to be on there.” I was not alone in thinking so, and I downloaded it the next day as it and Fusion rocketed to the top of the Wii U eShop.
Dusting off and hunting down the cables for that old black brick of a console was a chore, but when the game was ready, I dove in.
Why you Need to Play Metroid: Zero Mission
Gameplay
Borrowing the control scheme set up in Metroid Fusion, Zero Mission knows what it is doing. The GBA is one of my favorite systems, so regressing to just having an A and B button, D-Pad, Start, Select, L and R was more fulfilling than frustrating.
The ability to edge grab is a quality-of-life improvement that honestly makes me wish it been done back in ‘93 with Super Metroid. It’s a satisfying animation, and the ledge catching sound is great (but not as good as Fusion’s). I do wish holding A or double-tapping A would let you get up on the platform instead of needing to press up on the D-Pad.
Being able to save is significant for a game this size, and it’s a shame Metroid for NES didn’t have a save functionality. Edge grabbing, saving and all the other quality-of-life improvements are really what made this game for me. The map was mostly based on the original NES game, and it left nothing lacking.
Difficulty
Zero Mission feels a little hand-holdy right in the beginning, but it’s far less intrusive than console games were getting to be around 2004-2010. Strike a negative tally when it comes to difficulty spikes, though. Except for some puzzles that made me scratch my head, no part of the game felt challenging, just difficult to understand… UNTIL MOTHER BRAIN. Things absolutely feel different as you enter Tourian, and the Metroids themselves made me play seriously. I didn’t realize it would take so long to encounter them for the first time, but that was quickly out of my head. Fighting Mother Brain was one of the biggest spikes in difficulty I’ve ever faced in a game. I must have died seven to ten times before actually killing it. Up to that point in the game I hadn’t died at all! They could have worked on the balance there a little.
Cue my stupid goblin brain thinking I should exit to the right when the self-destruct sequence. I got to the Crateria elevator to find it blocked with power bomb blocks. Power Bombs weren’t even in the game yet! Dying by running out of time sucked, and fighting Mother Brain again was even worse. I won’t spoil what happens after that.
Graphics
It’s a GBA game redoing the 8-bit environments and sprites of the original, and it did quite well. Animations were good, sprites were great, and the environments look as good as Fusion’s. If you don’t mind the gameplay being interrupted by pixel art of Chozo hieroglyphs and still shots, the art for all of it is great.
Audio
If you haven’t played any of the Prime games, a lot of sounds and music will sound new. If you don’t like Prime, you probably won’t enjoy how heavily it borrows from the Gamecube series. Otherwise, everything is bright and clear, unlike the “my head is underwater” effect all of Super Metroid has.
Should I Play Metroid: Zero Mission?
If you’re asking yourself this question, I recommend it. It’s $7.99 on the US Wii U eShop, and you get to join a bunch of others playing it right now. Otherwise, search your local used games store for a copy. Watch out for imitation cartridges, especially online. Maybe a garage sale or a few minutes on Facebook marketplace will lead you to a copy. Pick it up and a Gameboy Advance if you need one, and play through 1, 2, 3 and 4 before Dread launches!
I give Metroid: Zero Mission an 8/10. As good as it is, I think Fusion is better, and Mother Brain might be hard enough to make a lot of players just quit right there. Don’t get discouraged though, keep trying new methods and you’ll win eventually.
The Phyronian Chronicle 