The franchise of Metroid turned 25 a few moments ago. Wait, you didn’t know this? Well, Nintendo definitely made a splash for Mario and Zelda when they turned 25. So where on earth is the hoopla for Metroid? Where is the love for the franchise that back in the 80s changed the face of gaming forever by introducing the first (and arguably the only) strong heroine in this entertainment field? Where is the love for the franchise that produced two of among the greatest video games of all-time? By the way the answers are Metroid Prime and Super Metroid (The latter is hands-down one of the 10 best). While Metroid doesn’t have the sales numbers of Mario or Zelda or Pokemon, it’s a franchise that has dealt with tons of unnecessary changes, tons of questionable decisions, and heavy competition and remains one of the better-respected grouping of games out there.
But do you want to see just why I consider Metroid as the “Meg” of the larger Nintendo franchises? Check this out.
After Super Metroid, it had been 8 years before we saw another Metroid title. At that same rate, we saw 2 major Zelda games (and a third in development), 2 major Mario games (and dozens of spin-offs), 2 Star Fox games, 2 major Pokemon titles (and dozens of spin-offs), and even 2 major Kirby titles. Despite the fact that Nintendo did an awesome job with Metroid at first, they still decided to hand the franchise to a rookie company with no prior experience (and already a couple failed games) to make a 3-D Metroid title. I don’t see them ever risking that with Zelda. And luckily for all of us, Retro Studios delivered with Metroid Prime.
And then they release Metroid Prime 2 just a few days after the massive release of Halo 2. That never makes sense no matter which way you look at it. And then they release Metroid Prime 3 in 2007 in August—far away from the holiday season—and with such little marketing that it started confusing and baffling major gaming publications everywhere. P.S. if flopped quite badly. And then, lastly, there is the Metroid Prime Trilogy which is an excellent deal that was removed from shelves with no explanation whatsoever. Why remove it so quickly? We can still get Mario Party 8, but no Metroid Prime Trilogy? Hardly makes sense.
And of course, there’s Metroid: Other M. This game quite literally stripped away everything we loved about the Metroid games and butchered everything we knew (or thought we knew) about Samus. Nintendo in a baffling manner hands the franchise to Team Ninja, a company with NO experience working with Nintendo and with experience working mostly on M-rated games. Metroid: Other M is the equivalent of pitting Mario in a Grand Theft Auto game or throwing Link in a God of War-like game. It was disgusting, misguided, and barbarically atrocious. The presentation and marketing was indeed a step in the right direction, but everything else….well, it’s become the Indiana Jones IV of the gaming world—it happened but to some of us, it doesn’t exist. Worst of all, it was Nintendo working on that script. Nintendo doesn’t seem to know its own child sometimes.
The handheld front is a bit better, but the fact that we don’t have a colored or updated version of Metroid II: Return of Samus, the most important entry in the plotline of the franchise is rather saddening. And while Zelda, Mario, and Pokemon have done blasts in the past with remakes/re-dos of some of their better titles, we STILL don’t have an updated/enhanced/remade version of Metroid’s best title: Super Metroid. No HD, no remake, not even a GBA or DS OR 3DS version of Super Metroid, one of the greatest games you’ll ever play. And the final nail in the coffin: we still don’t have anything for Metroid’s 25th anniversary (as of now, we hope this changes), when we’ve seen games, re-releases, and major announcements concerning the birthdays of Samus’ friends. No love for the heroine.
Nintendo, come on now. Step it up a little. I think its time for Nintendo’s Intelligent Systems (whom worked on the handheld Metroids and Super Metroid) to get back the franchise and strip it back to the basics. A massive 2-D Metroid with a few nice cut-scenes scattered about would be perfect for whether the 3DS, the WiiU, or perhaps maybe both. While Metroid: Other M got nearly everything else wrong, they did prove that Samus in the 2-D format can still look pretty good and can be fun. Just don’t mess it up with storytelling. That being said, Samus in 3-D is still a lot of fun, and while I want Retro Studios to once again work on it, I doubt they will want to give it a fourth shot. Nonetheless, Nintendo needs to step up its marketing and hype for the franchise, because I’d hate to see this series of games ceasing to exist. And lastly, don’t just throw the game out there on a random date, give it time and a chance to make some good sales and make ripples in the industry. A good HD, high-quality Metroid game can definitely help the WiiU come launch time.
Bottom Line: Samus and the Metroid name have dealt us a lot of excellent games and a lot of wonderful moments. But with that a lot of anti-love (accidental or not) from the company by bouncing it around different companies, releasing several games with minimal hype, and just not giving it the respect it deserves. Nintendo knows how to hype (even if in recent years they have not been as good) but totally drop the ball on a consistent basis with Samus. And we have the latter Metroid Prime titles (including the DS title) as the best examples. Come on Nintendo, Samus deserves better. Much better.
Give her a proper 25th birthday.
In case you don't know about the awesomeness that is Super Metroid, here is some footage:
Happy Birthday Samus.
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