Metroid: Zero Mission (Review)

My friend replaying the first Metroid Prime along with the Prime Trilogy’s recent release on the Wii has got me in the mood to play through some of the games in the franchise. Metroid: Zero Mission is a retelling of the first Metroid game for the NES. It adds some of the conveniences of the later games like save stations and a much needed map system, which pretty much eliminates the big problems I had with the original game. The game follows intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran as she ventures through Planet Zebes to destroy the evil Mother Brain and the space pirates armada. This version of the game tacks on a new final area and final boss that feel a little too disconnected from the rest of the main story, although it does help tie in some bits of Super Metroid.

Throughout the game, you explore the many areas of the planet, acquire different upgrades; such as morph ball, missiles, and the varia suit. The basic formula of the game (and every other game in the series) has you progress through the game until you reach an obstacle you can't overcome, so you have to backtrack (a lot) to get the item to overcome the obstacle. All of the weapons and upgrades will help in the mission and have their own interesting uses. The morph ball can let you roll up into a ball and reach tiny spaces, The missiles destroy certain blocks (and kills enemies faster) so blocked areas can be accessed, while the varia suit allows Samus to enter areas with high radiation and heat. After you get an upgrade, you immediately use it's core purpose, allowing you to practice with it. But you still find uses for all of the abilities long after you find them. All of the abilities are easy to handle and easy to control. The game has a very impressive gameplay control scheme, which helps create an atmosphere that puts you in Samus’ suit. The level designs are very good. Almost every room is unique, each with it's own set of puzzles and obstacles.

In the original game, there were only three bosses. But this one added a couple of new mini-bosses which, sadly, they only exist for the purpose of testing out new skills and weapons. The game isn’t that difficult as long you seek out the health and ammo upgrades. There is a rather sudden and bizarre increase and then decrease in difficulty at latter end of the game. Mother Brian is a horribly cheap bastard of a boss with attacks coming in at you from every angle at every second, while the new final boss hardly puts up a fight. Metroid Zero Mission mostly stayed true to the original game and the improvements to the game's formula have simply reduced frustrating and unnecessary difficulty found in the original due to the technical limitations. I enjoyed it and believe it’s a must play for fans of the series.