Metroid

Metroid (メトロイド, Metoroido^?) is the first game in the Metroid series of video games. It was released first for the Famicom Disk System on August 6, 1986, and later for the Nintendo Entertainment System in August 1987 (North America) and on January 15, 1988 (Europe). The game was produced by one of Nintendo's most prolific game and hardware designers, Gunpei Yokoi, and was directed by Yoshio Sakamoto. The game's music was composed by Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka.

Gameplay

Metroid provided one of the first highly nonlinear game experiences on a home console. The basic gameplay is a mix of action adventure and platform shooter. The player begins with a very limited amount of power-ups, but must always use their ingenuity to achieve the next "locked" or unreachable area. Because the game world is presented in one multi-screened "level," there are often areas that can be reached before they were meant to be by creative players. In this and later games in the Metroid series, this openness would lead to out-of-sequence speed runs. Metroid has five different endings that vary depending on how much time the player takes to finish the game. The two fastest endings feature Samus Aran in various stages of undress, with the fastest ending featuring Samus in a bikini.

Story

In the year 2003 C.C. (Cosmic Calendar) the leaders of various planets united in order to form a congress that became known as the Galactic Federation in an attempt to construct a fair and structured universe that would enable society to grow and prosper. Under the guidance of this new federation, the individuals of the planets began to associate with each other and a new civilization began to develop. Various leaps in technology for transportation were created, such as interstellar spaceships, and society flourished through the use of such expansion.

Note: According to Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus's manuals, the year of the Galactic Federation formation was the year 2000.^[1][2] In Metroid Zero Mission's manual, the year of the Galactic Federation formation was 2003,^[3] retconning what was stated in the Metroid and Metroid II manuals.

At this time, Earth came into contact with individuals from these other worlds and the advanced technology that these people possessed was shared with the humans of Earth. All seemed well in this new society. However, devious groups known as "Space Pirates" began to attack the spaceships in the hopes of looting valuable goods from them and to strike fear in the hearts of the people. In order to counter these attacks, the Federal Bureau set up a new combat force known as the Federal Police. Yet the pirates were extremely difficult to battle in the depths of space, even with the advanced technology of the Federation. Thus, they recruited a group of courageous individuals who became known as "Space Hunters", equipped with the best weapons available. The Federation provided huge financial bonuses to the Hunters in reward for hunting down and destroying the pirates.

It is now the year 20X5 C.C., and the universe has continued to develop while battles still rage throughout space. Recently, reports have indicated that a spaceship is traveling with a capsule containing an unknown life-force from the deserted planet of SR388. This planet has been attacked and seized by the Space Pirates. While research about this life-form, currently in hibernation, is incomplete, it is known that exposure to beta rays for 24-hours will cause it to multiply. Some scientists believe that this life-form may have been the cause of destruction of life on SR388. Scientists decide to call this being a "Metroid" and the mere thought of it being in the hands of pirates is utterly disturbing. If the pirates learn how to multiply it and use it as a biological weapon, the cost of lives could be overwhelming. The Federation launched search teams to find the pirates and were fortunate to discover that their base was located deep within the planet Zebes. However, none of the forces are strong enough to take the pirates down.

During this outside battle, operations to multiply the Metroid within the Space Pirates' headquarters were soon becoming a reality. Desperate for a solution, the federation decided that the only option left was to attempt to infiltrate Zebes and destroy the leader of the Space Pirates, "Mother Brain." To make matters difficult, the structure of the planet Zebes is a natural fortress that consists of a large maze. Scattered throughout the maze are various traps and allies of the Space Pirates. This mission clearly requires a special individual to complete, and so the federation has selected the most dominating Space Hunter of the entire organization. This space bounty hunter is known as "Samus Aran."

Samus, though human, has a cybernetic suit, thus providing her with an uncanny amount of power. She has, to this date, completed many missions considered impossible, and her suit has the power to withstand lethal attacks, while providing many itself. Samus makes her way through the fortress-planet Zebes, collecting weapon and health upgrades, advancing to new areas, defeating Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain, and, in the end, destroys all Metroids on Zebes.

Development

Metroid is notable for featuring a female protagonist at a time when the vast majority of games relegated female characters to variations of the "damsel in distress" role. However, this fact was not revealed until the end of the game, and then only if the game was completed within a certain total amount of time. The English instruction manual simply described Samus as a "space hunter" (now "bounty hunter" in Metroid canon) and specifically stated that Samus's identity was "shrouded in mystery." At some points the English manual used masculine pronouns in relation to Samus, either in error or as a deliberate misdirection. Japanese third-person pronouns tend not to be gender-specific, making the surprise easier to carry off in the Japanese version. Further, the on-screen character was rendered more or less androgynous, so the game gave no clues to its protagonist's identity until the ending credits.

The player's manual included with the game presents the term "Metroid" as both singular and plural, but this was changed in later Metroid titles.

The original Metroid is present as an unlockable bonus in the GameCube game Metroid Prime. In 2004, Nintendo released Metroid: Zero Mission for the Game Boy Advance, which in addition to being a modern "re-imagining" of the original Metroid also includes the emulated NES game as an unlockable bonus. Also in 2004, Nintendo re-released the original Metroid for Game Boy Advance as part of the Classic NES Series.

Nintendo plans to release Metroid for the Wii Virtual Console sometime in 2007. It will be available for download for 500 points, equivalent to $5USD.

Password system

Metroid was one of the first games to use a password system for saving game information between play sessions. The original game released for the Famicom/Famicom Disk System allowed saving of games on the disk, but the American release was in NES cartridge form (the Disk System, though originally planned for the American market, was never released there), and didn't implement battery backed memory (as The Legend of Zelda, also ported from the Disk System, did).

Metroid presents the player with passwords when Samus Aran runs out of energy. Passwords are normally entered via the title screen, where the options "Start" and "Continue" are given. Continue leads to a screen where players can enter the password they received at the end of the last game. After doing so, they may continue playing, starting from the location at which they ended the game with the same powerups and progress they had obtained. The password continuation feature, however, was considered quite inconvenient and cumbersome by many gamers, and the sequel, Metroid II: Return of Samus, instead used a battery backed save system. Metroid was the only game in the series to use a password system as its primary saving function.

JUSTIN BAILEY

JUSTIN BAILEY refers to a famous Metroid password that gives the player (nearly) all the power-ups needed to win the game, and allows the player to use Samus in a purple leotard rather than her armored suit. (The difference is purely visual; Samus takes the same amount of damage from enemies that she would if she were wearing her suit.)

The password starts the player in Norfair with five Energy Canisters, 255 missiles (see below), the Varia Suit, the Hi-Jump Boots, the Screw Attack, and the Wave Beam. Both mini-Bosses have been defeated and the path to the game's final area, Tourian, has been opened. The player must find the Ice Beam (this is required to defeat the Metroids in Tourian), and may opt to find a final Energy Canister before attempting to defeat Mother Brain.

A great deal of speculation surrounded the password. For instance, Justin Bailey was originally thought to be one of the creators of the game, but no such name appears in the game credits. It is also often said that the Justin Bailey code was a reference to an English or Australian term for a bathing suit. Allegedly, bathing suits are referred to as "bailies," so "Justin Bailey" would more accurately be rendered as "Just In (a) Bailey" or "Just In a Swimsuit," which is what Samus appears to wear when the code is used. However, no such slang for bathing suit actually exists (and Samus's outfit with this code is a leotard, not a bathing suit).

It was also rumored that the password violated Metroid's normal checksum verification, which would suggest that JUSTIN BAILEY was deliberately coded into the game. A website called The Metroid Database has attempted to debunk this myth using password generators:

...the JUSTIN BAILEY password is a total fluke. If you play around with Metroid's password system (something you can do with the Metroid Password Generator program, found in Fan Apps), you can come up with other names and words that work as passwords. The "Justin Bailey" code is one which was found early on and happened to work pretty well, so it became widely reported. (The Metroid Database - General Metroid FAQ. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2005.)

Many players previously thought this code was the only way to play as an armorless Samus, but every password actually contains a flag indicating whether the player will be using armorless Samus or not. Armorless Samus is also a bonus that is normally available when you clear the game under three hours. (This applies only to the NES version; see the Famicom section below).

One glitch with this code relates to the number of missiles Samus has at the start. Although the player starts with 255 missiles, the player's maximum number of missiles is 205; collecting a missile left behind by an enemy or collecting an upgrade will reduce the counter to 205 missiles.

NARPAS SWORD

This recently discovered code was purposefully built-in to the game and will not check with password generators:

NARPAS SWORD0

000000 000000

(All "0"s are "zero," except for the one "oh" in "SWORD.")

This code gives Samus infinite health and missiles, the Ice Beam, and every power-up in the game with the exception of Energy Canisters and Missile Expansions (and the Wave Beam, as Samus cannot carry both the Ice Beam and the Wave Beam). The player must still find and defeat both mini-Bosses.

There have been small debates on what the password stood for. Some thought it referred to a "Narpas" sword, Narpa's Sword, or possibly even Narpas's Word. Others feel the password is properly read as "NAR Password," with several suggestions having been offered for the meaning of "NAR": an abbreviation for the name of the person who handled the conversion from the FDS and designed the password system (Tohru Narihiro); an acronym for "North American Release"; or an acronym for "Not A Real", as in "Not A Real Password".

See also: Password (video games)

Famicom Disk System

Prior to the NES release, the game was released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System. Unlike the NES versions, this uses a three-slot save system (very similar to the save system used in the Legend of Zelda games) rather than lengthy passwords. In addition, as armorless Samus was a bonus feature added for the NES port, it was not included in the FDS version. The FDS version instead adds a money bag image to the save slot, which indicates a completed game.

The FDS version utilizes the system's wavetable sound channel for several sound effects, such as doors opening and larger monsters being hit. One other major sound change was to the "countdown alarm" when Mother Brain dies: in the FDS version, it's a loud screeching siren, and in the NES version, it's a slightly soft "whoop whoop" sound. Five themes in the game also use the wavetable channel, adding an extra instrument to the music. In the NES version, this instrument was removed completely. The character initialization and item collection themes in most other Metroid titles were based on the themes from the FDS version of Metroid; however, Zero Mission uses a combination of both the FDS and NES music (with the exception of the "Planet Escape" theme, based on the FDS version, whereas the NES version was extended with a section of the song. The NES version is the one that is commonly remixed by fans of the games' music).

Legacy

Comic books

Samus Aran appeared as a character in the Captain N: The Game Master and Nintendo Comics System comic book series published by Valiant in 1990. She appeared in place of Simon Belmont of Castlevania fame, who was seen in the animated series the comic was based upon. Belmont did not appear in the comic books because the character was owned by Konami, creators of Castlevania, not by Nintendo. Nintendo Power later ran a 6-part Super Metroid comic. More recently, a short Metroid Prime comic (varying greatly from the actual events of the game) was printed in Nintendo Power. This miniseries was done by Dreamwave. The supposed name for most of these comics was known as Metroid Manga, where as most of the manga series delt with Samus in her early life times; most being during her childhood. The original language for these comics is Japanese, but they do have translated versions.

mechadrake.com has recently been featuring translated versions of metroid e-manga that chronicles all the events leading up to Metroid. Tokyopop, at one point, listed a Metroid comic amongst the list of upcoming comics but it has since quietly disappeared. Although unofficial releases, several Metroid doujinshi also exist.

See also

• Gunpei Yokoi
• Kid Icarus (uses the same engine as Metroid)
• Metroid: Zero Mission

References

Wikipedia information about Metroid This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Metroid". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.