Metroid
| Metroid | |
| Missing image Metroid_box.jpg Box art of Metroid | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Gunpei Yokoi |
| Release date(s) | 1986, 1987 |
| Genre | Action Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | E (2004 NES Classics re-release) |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance |
| Media | 1-megabit cartridge |
- This article is about the video game called Metroid, the first game in the Metroid series. For the titular fictional species from the Metroid games, see Metroid (video game species).
Metroid is the first game in the Metroid series of video games, and was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. The game was designed by Gunpei Yokoi, one of Nintendo's most famous game and hardware designers. The game is also very notable for its music, which was composed by Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka.
The first Metroid takes place on planet Zebes, and Samus travels through the planet collecting weapons and upgrades to advance new areas and defeat Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain.
This game provided one of the first highly nonlinear game experiences on a home console, and the series continues to provide nonlinear gameplay with the ability to sequence break. This game, along with the rest of the series, is also notable for its blending of various genres superimposed onto a persistent world model of play.
In addition, it has been noted as one of the first games to use a password system - the original game was released for Famicom Disk System which allowed saving state on disk, but the American release was in NES cartridge form, and battery back-up didn't exist yet. When Samus Aran ran out of energy, the player was presented with a 24-character password. At the title screen, two options were available: Start and Continue. "Start" began a new game, while "Continue" led to a screen where players could enter the password they received at the end of the last game. After doing so, they could continue playing starting from the location from which they ended the game with the same powerups and progress they had obtained. However, many gamers did not enjoy this particular feature. The sequel, Metroid 2: Return Of Samus, instead used a save system reminiscent in some ways to Legend Of Zelda.
The game is present as an unlockable bonus in Metroid Prime. In 2004, Nintendo released an enhanced remake titled Metroid: Zero Mission for the Game Boy Advance. That game also includes the original Metroid as an unlockable bonus. In addition, in the same year Nintendo re-released the original Metroid for Game Boy Advance, as part of the Classic NES Series.
| Contents |
Plot
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The story for Metroid was not very detailed at first. Only the manual for the original NES game provided details on Samus' background, and, as mentioned above, most were intentionally misleading. Super Metroid, the third game in the series, was the first to have a plot that went beyond "shoot this, collect that". Samus' monologue at the beginning of Super Metroid briefly explains the previous two games, where she battled the Space Pirates on Zebes, and then hunted the Metroids to near extinction on SR388. She then describes how she encountered a larva Metroid, the last in the galaxy, and couldn't bring herself to kill it. Delivering it to a research station, scientists discover the Metroid's energy draining abilities could benefit society. After leaving the station, it is immediately attacked by Space Pirates. This is where gameplay begins.
Most of Super Metroid takes place on Zebes, and many of the locations from the first game can be seen (including the ruined lair of Mother Brain). Bosses who were supposedly killed in Metroid return. The encounter with Kraid is especially memorable because it parodies the battle in the first game. In Metroid, Kraid was the same height as Samus. In the hallway leading to Kraid's lair in Super Metroid, a miniture sized Kraid appears. Players familiar with the original title could be misled into thinking this was the true Kraid, only to discover in the next room that the real Kraid is enormous, taking up several screens.
Metroid Fusion was a very story driven game, albeit one that is considered a turn for the worse for the series in terms of gameplay and linearity. Samus regularly converses with a computerized commanding officer. There are also implications that the Chozo created the Metroids (possibly to explain why there were Chozo statues holding powerups in Metroid 2). Along with the story in Metroid Prime, there are several inconsistencies in the Metroid timeline. The timeline was retconned with the release of Metroid Zero Mission, a remake of the original NES game with a heavy emphasis on the story, as well as some insight into the childhood of Samus Aran. Zero Mission is now considered the "official" story of Samus' first adventure, and the NES game is no longer considered canon.
Even more details on Samus' life before becoming a bounty hunter can be found in Kodansha's Metroid e-manga. The first two installments of the series are available for free, but additional volumes can only be accessed with a paid membership to Kodansha's e-manga service.
Officially, these are only available in Japanese, but a third party has created an English translation. This unofficial translation, however, is in the form of still images, not animated like the original Flash file.
JUSTIN BAILEY
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JUSTIN BAILEY refers to a famous Metroid password that gives the player all the power-ups needed to win the game in a short amount of time. Since in the game there are four lines of six characters each for entering in a code, the top two lines should be filled in with JUSTIN and BAILEY and the last two lines should be filled in with entirely spaces.
Metroid has four different endings that vary depending on how much time the player took to finish. They show Samus Aran in various stages of undress. The "best ending" features Samus in a bikini.
A great deal of speculation surrounded the password. For instance, "Justin Bailey" was originally thought to be one of the creators of the game, but no such name appears in the game credits. It is also often said that the Justin Bailey code was a reference to an English or Australian term for a bathing suit. Allegedly, bathing suits are referred to as "bailey," so "Justin Bailey" literally means "Just In Bailey" or "Just In Casual Swimwear," which is what Samus wears when the code is used.
It was also rumored that the password violated Metroid's normal checksum verification, which would suggest that JUSTIN BAILEY was deliberately coded into the game. A website called The Metroid Database debunked this myth using password generators.
"If you play around with Metroid's password system, ...you can come up with other names and words that work as passwords. The 'Justin Bailey' code is one which was found early on and happened to work pretty well, so it became widely reported." (The Metroid Database - General Metroid FAQ. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2005.)
The password is now regarded as a total fluke, with no special meaning.
Furthermore, the JUSTIN BAILEY code starts the game with some power-ups. To play the game with armorless Samus, no power-ups, and starting from Brinstar, use the code "000000 000020 000000 000020"
However, at least one code that was recently uncovered is known that is built-in to the game and will not check with password generators - namely, NARPAS SWORD0 000000 000000. This code gives Samus infinite health and missiles, making the task of clearing the game much easier; since one code is defined in the game as such, it is possible (though not probable) that more exist that are not known about to this day. There were small debates on what the password stood for. Some thought it referred to a "Narpas" sword. Others feel the password is properly read as "NAR PASSWORD", with "NAR" as an abbreviation for the name of the person who handled the conversion from the FDS and designed the password system, Tohru Narihiro, or, as an acronym of "North American Release".
See also
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External Links
| Metroid video game series: |
|---|
| Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission | Metroid Prime | Metroid Prime 2: Echoes | Metroid II: Return of Samus | Super Metroid | Metroid Fusion |
| Upcoming Metroid games: |
| Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt | Metroid Prime 3 | Metroid Prime Pinball |
| See Also: |
| Samus Aran | Characters | Chozo | Items | Kraid | Locations | Metroid species | Mother Brain | Power Suit | Ridley | Zebesian Space Pirate |