Metroid: Nintendo's Awkwardly Mildly Sucessful Forgotten Stepchild

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.

WiiU Controller's potential for Success/Disaster

The WiiU controller was unveiled a couple months ago and we still are quite confused as to what its going to do alongside the WiiU system. The controller showcased its technological capabilities, but didn’t really dab into what it will do to our video games, our favorite franchises, and our favorite genres of games. And while I don’t have the answer to any of those questions, I can pretty much give opinions and predictions.

First off, the specs:
• Built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, speakers, front-facing camera, sensor strip, microphone and a 6.2 inch (15.7 cm) 16:9 resistive touchscreen
• Two Circle Pads and one D-pad
• Stylus
• Select, Start, Home and Power buttons
• A/B/X/Y face buttons, L/R bumper buttons and ZL/ZR trigger buttons
• Controller sync button

Let’s look at a few more images of the WiiU controller.




And now, let’s predict whether the controller will help/hurt certain games, franchises, genres of gaming.


Category #1: Mario
Predicted Verdict: Hurts

This controller is a bit too mighty for Super Mario, as he is a simple plumber engaged in forever-simple games that can usually be learned in a few minutes. Our fondest memories with older Nintendo systems usually involve Super Mario, and jumping and running your way through colorful levels. With that massive screen in the middle, it makes the controller a lot wider. Mario’s appeal was its simplicity. Platform games never need an extra screen, don’t let anybody else tell you different. Look at the Mario Bros. games, they are among the best is history and needed just a couple buttons. That screen? Waste of space—if you plan on playing as Mario.


Category #2: Zelda
Predicted Verdict: Helps

Zelda has always been more of an adventure game and less a combat game. While Zelda combines action and adventure with usually flawless precision, this game is far more exploration/adventure based to nearly a point of it being an RPG. As a matter of fact, some gamers out there do classify this as an RPG. That extra screen gives plenty of potential to the Zelda franchise, as you can use this screen for maps, for configuring items, for searching for hints, for fun interaction with people you meet along the way, and much more. You may think we’ve exhausted all the ideas for this franchise—this controller can honestly open the door to some new and clever ideas.


Category #3: Metroid
Predicted Verdict: Hurts

The new controller can help Samus and the Metroid brand, but this all depends on whether Samus will be 2-D or 3-D. If Samus is going to eventually hit her 2-D stride (this idea was dabbed upon with Metroid: Other M) then this new controller will not help in the least bit. The only potential I see is for maps—and its not enough of a reason to made the controller wide enough to toughen the fast reflexes sometimes required for 2-D Metroid games. If Metroid reverts back to full-fledged 3-D like in the Prime days, then it can definitely help with maps, weapon selection, and moving the fangled thing around searching for clues and details about her environment. That might justify the screen—but Metroid to me works best with simple controllers, and a simple adventure into a vastly unknown atmosphere.


Category #4: Pokemon
Predicted Verdict: Helps

This controller and Pokemon were meant to be together. Pokemon was never a fast-paced franchise, but instead a franchise built on strong and very lengthy RPG adventures full of items to collect, monsters to find, and quests and adventures to fulfill. With the extra screen, you can modify your Pokemon team without displaying what you have on the screen—making for some awesome 2-player action. You can use the screen for maps, the Pokedex, organizing items, gambling at the casinos, trading with others, altering the looks of your Pokemon, sending/receiving messages from other trainers, making phone calls, and just too much more for me to place in this already-long paragraph.

Category #5: Kirby, Donkey Kong
Predicted Verdict: Hurts

See category #1. These are simple franchises that only need simple, small controllers for fast-paced action, fast-paced reaction, and a simple pick-up-and-play experience.


Category #6: First-person shooters
Predicted Verdict: Hurts

None of the XBox 360 gamers want to hear this, but I speak the truth: The Wiimote is hands-down the best controller configuration for shooters in the history of gaming. If you could work the sensitivity within the movements of the Wiimote, you could have made an assortment of shooters that feels better and plays better than shooters done with regular controllers. But, only ONE Wii game got the configuration correct: Metroid Prime 3. This vastly underrated game amped up the action and proved to the world that the Wii can make great shooters given the right amount of effort. WiiU’s controller will obliterate everything they got right the past generation by giving us a fat controller that removes all realism and freedom of movement offered by the Wiimote. Thank goodness the WiiU is backwards-compatible.


Category #7: Star Fox
Predicted Verdict: Helps

Imagine controlling your airwing with the WiiU controller, making it like the wheel of the ship, and then using the back buttons to launch your fire. Then use the touch screen to check up on your friends and use the extra buttons for more heavy artillery. Then use the circle pads to alter the camera of the game and get a good look of the environment around you. Star Fox can definitely benefit from this.


Category #8: Mario Kart
Predicted Verdict: Helps

While I am a racing purist, preferring the classic controllers to race against others, the WiiU controller can instantly be turned into a driving wheel, and all you need are the back-shoulder buttons to drive and apply the brakes. As long as it can fix the small glitches that the WiiWheel experienced, then Mario Kart will be a heck of a good time on the WiiU. Potentially.

Category #9: Fighting Games
Predicted Verdict: Disastrous Hurt

Look at the controller. Now try to picture yourself creating a 7-button combo while holding that controller. That's all the evidence you need.


Bottom Line: The WiiU controller is definitely a hit-or-miss piece of hardware that can make the upcoming Nintendo system or completely destroy it. On one hand, you have to hand it to Nintendo for trying to introduce different ways to play the game, but at the same time some already-awesome ideas are sacrificed and risked. It was a pure miracle that the Mario Galaxy games were borderline-flawless, because the revolutionary Wiimote was not meant to interact well with platformers. Maybe all we gamers want is a simple SNES-like controller? Maybe the focus should be on improving the software?

Either way though, this controller isn’t all bad news. While some genres might be reckoned and tarnished (with fighting games suffering the most), some classic franchises like Zelda, Star Fox, F-Zero, and especially Pokemon can enter a new realm of quality if the controller and all the new features are utilized correctly. Only time will tell if this indeed happens, but one thing is certain: the WiiU controller is about to turn the Nintendo universe topsy-turvy.

P.S. One sequel that NEEDS to happen with this new controller:







Pokemon Snap 2.

Nuff said.