Metroid (video game)

This article is about the first game in the series. For information on the series as a whole, see Metroid (series).

Metroid
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Gunpei Yokoi (producer) Yoshio Sakamoto (director)
Platform(s)	Famicom Disk System, NES, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console
Release	NES JP: August 6, 1986 NA: August 1987 EU: January 15, 1988 Virtual Console EU: July 20, 2007 NA: August 13, 2007
Genre(s)	Action Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player

Metroid is the first game in the Metroid series of video games. It was released first for the Famicom Disk System on August 6, 1986, and later for the Nintendo Entertainment System in August 1987 (North America) and on January 15, 1988 (Europe). The game was produced by one of Nintendo's most prolific game and hardware designers, Gunpei Yokoi, and was directed by Yoshio Sakamoto. The game's music was composed by Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka.

Gameplay

Metroid provided one of the first highly nonlinear game experiences on a home console. The basic gameplay is a mix of action adventure and platform shooter. The player controls Samus Aran across sprite-rendered two dimensional landscapes, starting with only a weak blaster shot and jumping ability, preventing progress to certain areas of the game world. As the player explores more of the area, they will encounter power-ups that can be used to pass the previously encountered obstacles, allowing them to explore further and find more power-ups. In addition to common enemies that inhabit the world, Samus will encounter bosses that she will need to defeat before progressing further.

Metroid introduces many power-ups that are re-used in other games in the series. The morph ball power-up (known in this game as the "maru mari") allows Samus to morph into a sphere, allowing her to roll through narrow passages, as well as placing bombs that can be used to damage foes or remove obstacles. Samus gains better jumping power and eventually the spin attack power-up (called the Screw Attack in later games), allowing her to jump to great heights as long as the player keeps her spinning, damaging foes that get in her way. Many power-ups increase the power or alter the effect of Samus' blaster, as well as granting her a stockpile of missiles for more damaging shots.

The game uses an energy meter that starts with 99 units of energy and is depleted when Samus takes damage; should the meter drop to zero, the game is over. However, foes may leave behind energy spheres that can recharge this meter, and finding energy canisters will not only refill the meter completely, but will add an extra 100 units of energy, allowing Samus to take more damage before failure. Similarly, missile upgrade packs can be found to increase the quantity of missiles Samus carries, and missile refills can be left by defeated foes.

The game world is divided into several regions that vary by appearance and music. Within each region are a series of either strictly-horizontally or strictly-vertically scrolling sections, with doors connecting these sections. Most doors require a single blaster shot to open, though other doors require one or more missile shots or various blaster upgrades to open. Several secret areas also exist in the game, containing additional power-up benefits for the player.

Metroid has five different endings that vary depending on how much time the player takes to finish the game. The endings feature Samus Aran in various stages of undress, the slowest ending featuring Samus turning her back in shame to the player. The second slowest has her in full attire waving to the player, the middle ending having Samus removing her helmet to show she is indeed a female human and not a robot or male, the second fastest ending featuring Samus in a leotard and the fastest ending featuring Samus in a bikini.

Story

In the year 2003 C.C. (Cosmic Calendar), the leaders of various planets united in order to form a congress that became known as the Galactic Federation in an attempt to construct a fair and structured universe that would enable society to grow and prosper. Under the guidance of this new federation, the individuals of the planets began to associate with each other, and a new civilization began to develop. Various leaps in technology for transportation were created, such as interstellar spaceships, and society flourished through the use of such expansion.

Note: According to Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus's manuals, the year of the Galactic Federation formation was the year 2000. In Metroid: Zero Mission's manual, the year of the Galactic Federation formation was 2003, retconning what was stated in the Metroid and Metroid II manuals.

At this time, Earth came into contact with individuals from these other worlds, and the advanced technology that these people possessed was shared with the humans of Earth. All seemed well in this new society. However, devious groups known as "Space Pirates" began to attack the spaceships in the hopes of looting valuable goods, striking fear in the hearts of the people. In order to counter these attacks, the Federal Bureau set up a new combat force known as the Federal Police. Yet the pirates were extremely difficult to battle in the depths of space, even with the advanced technology of the Federation. Thus, they recruited a group of courageous individuals who became known as "Space Hunters", equipped with the best weapons available. The Federation provided huge financial bonuses to the Hunters in reward for hunting down and destroying the pirates.

Samus Aran surrounded by enemies near the start of the game.

It is now the year 20X5 C.C., and the universe has continued to develop while battles still rage throughout space. Recently, reports have indicated that a spaceship is traveling with a capsule containing an unknown life-force from the deserted planet of SR388. This planet has been attacked and seized by the Space Pirates. While research about this life-form, currently in hibernation, is incomplete, it is known that exposure to beta rays for 24-hours will cause it to multiply. Some scientists believe that this life-form may have been the cause of destruction of life on SR388. Scientists decide to call this being a "Metroid" and the mere thought of it being in the hands of pirates is utterly disturbing. If the pirates learn how to multiply it and use it as a biological weapon, the cost of lives could be overwhelming. The Federation launched search teams to find the pirates and were fortunate to discover that their base was located deep within the planet Zebes. However, none of the forces are strong enough to take the pirates down.

During this outside battle, operations to multiply the Metroid within the Space Pirates' headquarters were soon becoming a reality. Desperate for a solution, the federation decided that the only option left was to attempt to infiltrate Zebes and destroy the leader of the Space Pirates, "Mother Brain." To make matters difficult, the structure of the planet Zebes is a natural fortress that consists of a large maze. Scattered throughout the maze are various traps and allies of the Space Pirates. This mission clearly requires a special individual to complete, and so the federation has selected the most dominating Space Hunter of the entire organization. This space bounty hunter is known as "Samus Aran."

Samus, though human, has a cybernetic suit, thus providing her with an uncanny amount of power. She has, to this date, completed many missions considered impossible, and her suit has the power to withstand lethal attacks, while providing many itself. Samus makes her way through the fortress-planet Zebes, collecting weapon and health upgrades, advancing to new areas, defeating Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain, and, in the end, destroys all Metroids on Zebes.

Development

Metroid, and its sister game Kid Icarus, were both developed by Gunpei Yokoi and his team and originally released on the Famicom Disc System. Both titles featured saves slots, unlike the North American release which used passwords to save players' progress. Although Kid Icarus is a more linear title in the majority of its 13 stages, overall both titles feature remarkably similar gameplay as they utilize the same game engine. They were released on the same day in America, and a big selling point for both titles was its use of passwords. Although titled "Sacred Words" in Kid Icarus, the password system is identical in both games. Kid Icarus even features Metroids as enemies in Level 3, the Skyworld, although they do not behave the same as they do in Metroid.

Metroid is notable for featuring a female protagonist at a time when the vast majority of games relegated female characters to variations of the "damsel in distress" role. However, this fact was not revealed until the end of the game, and then only if the game was completed within a certain total amount of time. The English instruction manual simply described Samus as a "space hunter" (now "bounty hunter" in Metroid canon) and specifically stated that Samus's identity was "shrouded in mystery." At some points, the English manual used masculine pronouns in relation to Samus, either in error or as deliberate misdirection. Japanese third-person pronouns tend not to be gender-specific, making the surprise easier to carry off in the Japanese version (and the potential for either deliberate or accidental errors less likely). Further, the on-screen character was rendered more or less androgynous, so the game gave no clues to its protagonist's identity until the ending credits.

The player's manual included with the game, which has been credited to have been written by Chi Orochimaru, presents the term "Metroid" as both singular and plural, but this was changed in later Metroid titles.

The original Metroid is present as an unlockable bonus in the Nintendo GameCube game Metroid Prime. In 2004, Nintendo released Metroid: Zero Mission for the Game Boy Advance, a modern "re-imagining" of the original Metroid which also includes the emulated NES game as an unlockable bonus. Also in 2004, Nintendo re-released the original Metroid for Game Boy Advance as part of the Classic NES Series.

Nintendo released Metroid for Wii's Virtual Console on July 20, 2007 in Europe. It is available for download for 500 Wii points, equivalent to $5USD or £3.50GBP in the U.K. On August 13, 2007, the game was released on the American Virtual Console.. Metroid was in the Top 20 Most Popular Downloads on the American Virtual Console until October 30, 2007, and was the Number 1 download from August 18 to August 21, 2007, displaced by Super Metroid.

Password system

Metroid was one of the first games to use a password system for saving game information between play sessions. The original game released for the Famicom/Famicom Disk System allowed saving of games on the disk, but the American release was in NES cartridge form (the Disk System, though originally planned for the American market, was never released there), and didn't implement battery-backed memory (as The Legend of Zelda, also ported from the Disk System, did).

After the title had shown lackluster sales in Japan, Nintendo of America denied the Metroid development team access to a battery-enabled save system that The Legend of Zelda had. As an alternative, the Metroid password system was born. Nintendo released Metroid and The Legend of Zelda on the exact same day in America to compete against each other.

Metroid presents the player with passwords when Samus runs out of energy. Passwords are normally entered via the title screen, where the options "Start" and "Continue" are given; "Continue" leads to a screen where players can enter the password they received at the end of the last game. After doing so, they may continue playing, starting in the area where they ended the game, with the same power-ups and progress they had obtained. The password continuation feature was considered quite inconvenient and cumbersome by many gamers, and the sequel, Metroid II: Return of Samus, instead used a battery-backed save system. Metroid was the only game in the series to use a password system as its primary saving function.

JUSTIN BAILEY

File:Metroid Justin Bailey.png

Samus after using the JUSTIN BAILEY code.

JUSTIN BAILEY refers to a famous Metroid password that gives the player (nearly) all the power-ups needed to win the game, and allows the player to use Samus in a purple leotard rather than her armored suit. (The difference is purely visual; Samus has the same abilities and takes the same amount of damage from enemies that she would if she were wearing her suit.)

The password starts the player in Norfair as an armorless Samus with five Energy Tanks, 255 missiles (see below), the morphing ball, the Varia Suit, the Hi-Jump Boots, the Screw Attack, and the Wave Beam. Both mini-Bosses have been defeated and the path to the game's final area, Tourian, has been opened. The player must find the Ice Beam (this is required to defeat the Metroids in Tourian), and may opt to find a final Energy Canister before attempting to defeat Mother Brain.

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 "bailies," so "Justin Bailey" would more accurately be rendered as "Just In (a) Bailey" or "Just In a Swimsuit," which is what Samus appears to wear when the code is used. However, no such slang for bathing suit actually exists (and Samus's outfit with this code is more of a leotard than a bathing suit).

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 has attempted to debunk this myth using password generators:

...the JUSTIN BAILEY password is a total fluke. If you play around with Metroid's password system (something you can do with the Metroid Password Generator program, found in Fan Apps), 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.

Many players previously thought this code was the only way to play as an armorless Samus, but every password actually contains a flag indicating whether the player will be using armorless Samus or not. Armorless Samus is also a bonus that is normally available when you clear the game in under three hours. (This applies only to the NES version; see the Famicom Disk System section below.)

One glitch with this code relates to the number of missiles Samus has at the start. Although the player starts with 255 missiles, the player's maximum number of missiles is 205; collecting a missile left behind by an enemy or collecting an upgrade will reduce the counter to 205 missiles.

There are some variations of the code, such as adding dashes in the bottom row instead of spaces. These will result in different starting points.

NARPAS SWORD

This recently discovered code was purposefully built-in to the game and will not check with password generators:

NARPAS SWORD0

000000 000000

This code gives Samus infinite health and missiles, the Ice Beam, and every power-up in the game with the exception of Energy Tanks and Missile Expansions (and the Wave Beam, as Samus cannot carry both the Ice Beam and the Wave Beam). The player must still find and defeat both mini-Bosses. It is interesting to note that when this password is used, the Ice Beam's projectiles are represented by a different sprite than is used during regular gameplay or when using the "JUSTIN BAILEY" password. The sprite is the same one used to make up Samus' Wave Beam only rendered in a different color. (This combined sprite can be seen by selecting both the Ice Beam and Wave Beam using a Metroid password editor.)

There have been small debates on what the password stands for. Some think it refers to a "Narpas" sword, Narpa's Sword, or possibly even Narpas's Word. Others feel the password is properly read as "NAR Password," with several suggestions having been offered for the meaning of "NAR": an abbreviation for the name of the person who handled the conversion from the FDS and designed the password system (Tohru Narihiro); an acronym for "North American Release"; or an acronym for "Not A Real", as in "Not A Real Password".

See also: Password (video games)

Famicom Disk System

File:Metroid for Famicom save screen.png

The save screen from the FDS version of Metroid.

The game was also released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System. Unlike the NES versions, this uses a three-slot save system (very similar to the save system used in the Legend of Zelda games) rather than lengthy passwords. In addition, as armorless Samus was a bonus feature added for the NES port, it was not included in the FDS version. The FDS version instead adds a money bag image to the save slot, which indicates a completed game.

The FDS version utilizes the system's additional tone generating sound channel for several sound effects, such as doors opening and larger monsters being hit. One other major sound change was to the "countdown alarm" when Mother Brain dies: in the FDS version, it's a loud screeching siren, and in the NES version, it's a slightly soft "whoop whoop" sound. Five song themes in the game also use the channel, adding an extra instrument to the music. In the NES version, this instrument was removed completely. The character initialization and item collection themes in most other Metroid titles were based on the themes from the FDS version of Metroid; however, Zero Mission uses a combination of both the FDS and NES music (with the exception of the "Planet Escape" theme, based on the FDS version, whereas the NES version was extended with a section of the song. The NES version is the one that is commonly remixed by fans of the games' music).

Legacy

Comic books and manga

Samus Aran appeared as a character in Captain N comic book and Nintendo Comics System comic book series published by Valiant in 1990. She appeared in place of Simon Belmont of Castlevania fame and Mega Man from the original Mega Man series, who were both seen in the animated series the comic was based upon. Belmont and Mega Man did not appear in the comic books because they were owned by Konami and Capcom, respectively, not by Nintendo. Nintendo Power later ran a six-part Super Metroid comic. More recently, a short Metroid Prime manga (varying greatly from the actual events of the game) was printed in Nintendo Power; this miniseries was done by Dreamwave. The supposed name for most of these comics was known as Metroid manga; the manga series primarily dealt with Samus in her early life, mostly her childhood. The original language for these manga is Japanese, but there are translated versions.

Mechadrake has recently been featuring translated versions of Metroid e-manga that chronicles all the events leading up to Metroid. Tokyopop had at one point listed a Metroid Manga amongst the list of upcoming books, but it has since softly disappeared.

See also

• Gunpei Yokoi
• Kid Icarus (uses the same game engine as Metroid)
• Metroid: Zero Mission
• Metroid (series)

References

• "General Metroid FAQ". The Metroid Database. Retrieved 2006-06-29.
• Intelligent Systems. Metroid. Nintendo, 1987.

External links

• Official Metroid series website
• Template:Nintendo.com
• Template:StrategyWiki
• Password Generators Many password generators for Metroid.
• The History of Metroid
• Metroid Manga translated
• Metroid Level Data / Design
• Wikitroid: The Metroid Wiki
• Metroid Retrospective Comprehensive look back at all the Metroid games and their place in history.