A Nintendo Direct aired on June 15, 2021 took many by surprise with the announcement of Metroid dread, new 2D adventure by Samus Aran, legendary character from Big N. 19 years after her last unpublished 2D adventure, Metroid Fusion, seeing the series chronology move forward is a dream come true for many fans, including the one who writes to you. 6q1k3r

But along with that, many people who were watching the event probably didn't understand the real impact of the ad. In this special, we intend to explain the history of Metroid as a whole, but focusing only on its 2D games. In this case, the series Prime e OtherM will not be addressed. 

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When the NES came out in the mid-80s, game design as a whole was still in its infancy. Most existing games at the time followed the arcade model, that is, games with repetitive gameplay where the main objective was to achieve a higher score than previously recorded. 

Much of the so-called revolution brought by Nintendo to games, in particular, was due to leaving this model. Super Mario Bros. brought the experience of progressing through worlds and phases continuously, The Legend of Zelda it gave the player freedom to not only move forward (although, in this first game, the freedom was so great that it seemed that the was getting lost).

However, although both titles were different, there was some similarity between them that could be applied together. That's how, together with strong inspirations from the famous film series Alien, Metroid would be born. Being made by the Nintendo R&D1 team, the game would blend the exploration of Zelda with the platformer gameplay of Mario. When the title came out in 1986, it was received as a success by the planet's atmosphere. Zeebes, the ingenious progression of picking up items to be able to go through new barriers and, finally, the big surprise: the protagonist.

Finishing the game in under four hours, Samus' armor was removed revealing a female figure in a bathing suit. I confess that looking at it from a modern point of view, the need for her to wear this type of outfit is sexist, but looking back at the time, the game broke several standards, mainly because Samus was one of the first female protagonists of games – and, to this day, continuing to be one of the most famous.

In 2004, a remake of the title was released for the Game Boy Advance. Called Metroid Zero Mission, the game reimagines the first title as if it came out in the Super Metroid era. Honestly, unless for historical value, there is no reason to currently return to the first title other than in its remake. 

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It is with music with irritating and despairing tones that Metroid II show your face for the first time. There's the title screen, the logo and the music that, perhaps, is one of the sound pieces that annoy me the most in video games. Not because it's bad, quite the opposite. The despairing tone is certainly great, but I don't think any track defines the loneliness of Metroid II as well as this song.

As much as the first Metroid is already a game that has a heavy atmosphere, the second takes it to a new level. Samus' mission is to exterminate a race, in this case, the titular Metroids, to prevent them from being used as the terrible weapons of destruction they have the potential to be. It is with this in mind that Samus goes to the planet SR388, with the goal of, in the end, leaving there with one less worry for the galaxy. 

Given the theme, the game changes a little figure in its initial moments. Upbeat music accompanies you as you walk across the planet's surface until you find your first metroid. The metroid counter indicates that there are still 39 on the planet. When you eliminate that first one, the number drops to 38 and an earthquake occurs, opening a age that was previously unavailable. It is at this point that the game already gives you all the necessary information, and it starts for real. The lively music comes out, a ballad comes in more along the lines of the desperate title song. From here on, the journey only gets worse.

E Metroid II: The Return of Samus it's just interesting because of that. It's the most linear of the games in the franchise, but it's still open enough for you to get lost. It has an obvious progression divided by areas, which are only released after you kill a certain number of metroids in that area, which are like small worlds where linearity is practically null.

You know where the end of the area is from the lava column there, not allowing you to , but you can get lost trying to find the steps necessary to make the lava disappear, allowing progress. It is an interesting and paradoxical experiment, but still unique and, for many, it makes the experience more interesting.

And all this coupled with the fact that this game is from the remarkable little Nintendo original, the Game Boy. Note, without the Color. In addition to the obviously inferior power compared to the Nintendo, the console did not generate colors. Metroid II is a completely black and white game — a very important part of its atmosphere.

Metroid II also received a remake, in 2017. Made by the Spanish company MercurySteam, who is also responsible for Metroid Dread, it is a fantastic game, albeit very different from the original. The main point is that the feeling of loneliness is no longer so present, but it is an interesting first attempt to adapt the series to more modern games. 

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Of the first 3 titles in the franchise, it is quite possible that Super Metroid be the most important of them. Unlike many games of its time, Super Metroid has every appearance of being something remarkable and epic. From its heavy introduction to its cinematic conclusion, the Super Nintendo game uses underused techniques to become a timeless game. Almost every visual and sound aspect of the game remains functional to this day.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Super Metroid is how it manages to be intuitive for any player, something that the two previous titles sinned a lot. Using less text, until Super Mario World, the third episode of the Samus series manages to be more complex, but still extremely intuitive. 

The opening scene of the game, at the station Ceres, allows the player to learn the basics of movement and combat in the game without worrying about enemies until the confrontation with Ridley, a tutorial-fight that cannot be won. After this process, the player has already learned all the basics of the game.

By following Ridley to zebes, the same planet where the events of the first Metroid took place, the game shows its genius: everything that is available to the player serves as a clue to know where to go, and each item found on the journey makes the player want to re-explore past areas to discover something secret. It's fantastic. Not surprisingly, Super Metroid, along with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is considered the creator of the genre. Metroidvania.

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The ending of Super Metroid is one of the most defining narrative moments in video games in the 16-bit era, and it's mind-boggling to think that this was achieved without a single use of dialogue. A simple, well-developed and emotional moment that happens mostly through actions.

This, by no means, was new to the Metroid series, as Metroid II: Return of Samus had the birth of the last member of the metroid race in a scene with the same type of driving, in which you understand very well what is happening. without needing to be told in direct words.

Eight years after the Super Nintendo masterpiece, we received the next title in the series: Metroid Fusion. Released for the Game Boy Advance in November 2002, the game was the long-awaited return of the franchise after its absence on the Nintendo 64. Expectations were high and the game had a huge legacy to honor. What was the surprise of many to see that the game, despite having numerous similarities with Super Metroid, somehow still managed to be completely different?

Metroid Fusion is an excellent game. Despite the eight-year wait for a new title, it is everything fans could ask for, even with drastic changes from the experience normally found in the franchise. The franchise, as a whole, has always had a sense of loneliness. Samus is always alone on her journey.

Without loneliness, the aforementioned Super Metroid ending might not be so strong: for the first time in three games, she's not alone. The metroid baby, seeing her as a mother, wouldn't let her face the chaos of life. mother brain by itself. A heavy and emotional scene that puts all the loneliness of games in perspective, and how sometimes having company is important.

Metroid Fusion changes the way the narrative is presented, and with that it excludes loneliness. In this game, Samus' mission is much more defined than in previous games: she's not just exploring a planet — she's exploring a space station while following various directions from her ship's computer.

Such guidelines direct the bounty hunter to the most varied parts of the planet and, although it may sound like any other adventure in the series, it presents a clear change: there are no longer countless ways to get around a problem, a situation. Now Samus is trapped under orders, and so she explores a linear path. 

This takes away a little of the personal relationship of each player, now everyone will necessarily go through the same path, but at the same time it serves for an experience more consistent with a portable video game. In small game sessions you can make more progress than if it were something in the exact style of Super Metroid.

But the main change in Fusion isn't linearity. Due to limitations and for reasons of “immersiveness”, several old games turned their protagonists into characters without personality — as if they were just a graphic representation of their players.

As the media progressed, the developers began to want to turn them into something more, real drivers of the story. This raises certain problems when you think about idealization and immersion. Series that defined themselves with their silent protagonists will suffer complaints for breaking a fully established feature.

This is true of Metroid Fusion and its new narrative style, which takes Samus Aran's status as a mere avatar for players and transforms her into a full-fledged character. Her relationship with her computer, which is very reminiscent of Commander Adam, an old friend of hers, explores various facets of the character and increasingly deconstructs Samus' solitary nature, which, for many, was her most striking feature.

But then we get into a bigger argument: the seemingly established features of Super Metroid and other games were never grounded or concrete — when we talk about them, they are all our own, personal assumptions and impressions. This fits a lot into something called “idealization”. In the end, everyone idealized a Samus from the quiet protagonist they knew, and none of them is more true than the other. Fusion defines a real situation, taking this possibility out of the multiplicity of impressions.

Now, it has indisputable and non-theorizable characteristics, which makes it more complete. As boring as it sounds, it's a necessary step for the series' universe to expand.

Metroid Fusion also carries the weight of being the last game in the series, chronologically speaking. Everything that came out of the 2002 series here at no time took place after the events told here. the announcement of Metroid dread It's also important for that: after 19 years, the continuation of the Metroid story has finally arrived.

For more Nintendo news, like everything announced by the company at E3 2021, keep an eye on showmetech.