Groundbreaking: Metroid
August 6, 1986 saw the debut of one of Nintendo’s most recognizable and beloved franchises in its video game history, Metroid. Produced by the legendary Gunpei Yokoi, one of the more influential software and hardware designers at Nintendo, Metroid was a groundbreaking title in many areas. It was one of the first (if not the first) home video games that featured scrolling along both the X- and Y-axis, and starred a female protagonist, Samus Aran – a sharp contrast to the “Save The Princess” plot motif that was the norm at the time. But more-so than these achievements, what was truly groundbreaking was its non-linear gameplay and minimalist environments and music.
The action of Metroid is very simple. Samus has been directed to search the planet Zebes for Space Pirate activity and stop their plans of using a parasitic organism, called a Metroid, against galactic civilization. Scattered throughout Zebes are numerous power-ups that strengthen Samus’ firepower and stamina. Collecting these power-ups is necessary to gain enough power to challenge the Space Pirates and their leader, the Mother Brain. Speed also plays an important role, as different endings are triggered by different completion times, giving rise to the current concept of game “speed runs” and “sequence breaks”.
Metroid’s non-linear world design instantly set itself apart from other games of the same era. Instead of a relentless progression forward to an arbitrary “end”, backtracking to previous areas was encouraged, and even required for advancement. The player’s character, Samus Aran, must scour every nook and cranny of the entirely alien Zebes in the hope of finding the one power-up that would unlock the next area. It is interesting to note that the level designers were very careful to make sure the player could not easily enter, and get stuck in, an area that required a specific power-up to get through or back out of.
The atmosphere of the world itself also ran counter to the usual presentation of that time. Instead of bright, flashy colors, Zebes’ backdrop was plain, flat black. No sky, no clouds. The lack of any visible background or reference of an “outside” further to drive the sense of exploration of ancient tunnels and claustrophobia in the player. Dotting the foreground, and providing the platforms to navigate, is spritework that evokes “alien” and “ancient”. Why are there faces etched in some of the stones where Samus first appears?
Amplifying this sense of “ancient, alien, and unknown” is the music. Developed by Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka, Metroid’s music is dark, creepy, and elicits emotions of suspense, fear, and trepidation in the player. Rather than providing catchy music to cheer the player along, Tanaka chose to avoid simple melodies that uplift the player. He felt that the recent popularity of game music in Japan forced composers to write music in a way that was contrary to the atmosphere of the games they were set against. It was this dislike that inspired him to compose the subdued themes of Metroid. In his words, he tried “to create the sound without any distinctions between music and sound effects.” He composed the music so as to deny the player a simple melody to hum along with; only after completing the game is any “catchy” music played.
Some have described Metroid as a first step into the Survival Horror genre of video games. The panic experienced when a Metroid first latches onto Samus would support this statement. Similarities between the Metroid series and the Alien series of movies certainly does not hinder the argument, either.
The latest installments of the series have, unfortunately, taken a step back from the minimalistic and moody approach of the original, inadvertently reducing the overall feeling of mystery and suspense of the games. Fans of these newer sequels owe it to themselves to explore the original (and its two first sequels – Metroid 2 for Gameboy and Super Metroid for Super NES) to truly understand what the series is all about.