A masterpiece unlike any other: Super Metroid

Super Nintendo

To this day, when anyone asks me: what is your favorite video game of all time? My answer is Super Metroid. It has been this answer since 1994. Everything about this game is perfect but before I get into that, let us start from the beginning.

Developed and published by Nintendo, the first game in the franchise, Metroid, was released in Japan in 1986 and in the US in 1987 for the NES. Building on top of the traditional platformer-style mechanics and set in the year 20X5, the game introduced players to Samus Aran, a female bounty hunter sent to planet Zebes to destroy Mother Brain and the evil space pirates who just recently seized the Metroid specimens from and intergalactic research facility. They planned on replicating the creature and use it for I don’t know, some purpose. It really didn’t matter. It was just cool. You are a bounty hunter. You are in space. You go to an alien planet and zap your way through alien lifeforms. The game was very well received.

Anyway, the idea behind Metroid was greatly inspired by the Alien movie franchise. Even our hero, or I should say heroine, was inspired by the movie’s Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver.

Metroids are dangerous floating organisms, which can latch on to any organism and drain its life energy to kill it.

Then, in 1992, Nintendo released Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy. You are now on a mission to travel to the home planet of the Metroids, SR388, and you must destroy every living Metroid in an effort to ensure that no one can misuse the the creature ever again. So, you travel deep into the caverns of the planet destroying every instance of the creature (and its many evolved forms).

The game ends with Samus defeating the Queen Metroid but also discovering a newly born baby Metroid which attaches itself to Samus, thinking that Samus is its mother.

Now, enter Super Metroid…

Again, released by Nintendo in 1994, Super Metroid set the standard on how side-scrolling exploration platformers should be. It defined a new genre which would later be dubbed Metroidvania (after the release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, in 1997).

There isn’t a single key to Super Metroid’s success. There are many ingredients that makes this game awesome. And that is part of the reason why it continues to top many charts and personal favorites. But let us start from the beginning of this title.

The story continues from Metroid II. The Metroid hatchling discovered at the end of the game serves as the focal point of this new game. Samus hands the creature over to a research space colony and what do you know? Space pirates from the planet Zebes, led by Ridley, the same pterodactyl looking creature from the first game in the franchise, steal the Metroid and escape back to their planet.

Here we go again. In pursuit of these space pirates, Samus travels to the planet but everything seems eerily quiet. Not a creature in sight. That would be because the last time Samus battled Mother Brain, a self destruct sequence activated and nearly destroyed the planet.

Anyway, everything remains quiet until Samus trips some security alarms and then the creatures come out of hiding. The rest of the game is spent progressing through the various locations and underground caverns and while the plot itself sounds simplistic, the game is not.

Each new area is accessible after learning a skill discovered from yet another area. And various new locations are now available which were not part of the original game for the NES. While yes, you still have Brinstar, Norfair and Tourian. Now you have the underwater caverns of Maridia and a wrecked ship on the surface of Crateria (which gets explained in the Game Boy Advance remake, Metroid: Zero Mission). Zebes has become quite large and exploration is now a series of puzzles.

The items you collect and the skills you learn add more depth to the game. Such as the awesome Speed Booster which allows you to travel and super fast speeds and bust through impenetrable barriers. The Power Bomb or Super Missile which are upgrades to the originals. A grappling beam which provides access to out-of-reach places and more.

The graphics are beautiful for the 16-bit console. And the environment around you just comes to life. To this day, every time I hear about newly discovered water planets within and outside of our solar system, I still wonder if it is anything like the Maridia of Super Metroid.

The controls of the game are tight and perfect. The atmospheric soundtrack is absolutely amazing and sets the tone for every setting in the game. Norfair has the best music! And despite the lack of dialogue, you observe an entire story unfolding until the very end.

While there are a couple of mini-bosses. Once you beat the four major bosses of each area, your path to the New Tourian is revealed where you battle against, you guessed it, Mother Brain (again).

Words cannot describe how I feel about this game which is why if you have yet to experience it yourself, you probably should take the time to enjoy it. And the best feature of the game is that it has a high replay factor. Coupled with the fact that you are timed to unlock three different endings, you will likely replay it at least until you achieve the best ending.

What sole video game would you consider a masterpiece?