Metroid - Zero Mission Previewed

Thanks to Nintendojo for posting a preview of the forthcoming GBA title, Metroid: Zero Mission. This game, which the site says is rumored to be either a prequel, or more likely, a partial remake of the NES Metroid, was shown only in video form at E3. The Metroid Database comes to similar conclusions about the game, saying "..it looks as though we will be taken back to Zebes for Samus' first encounter with Mother Brain, but this time our girl will have all the abilities and weapons she's gained in all her adventures since then."

Comments

The switch

[Snowspinner]

The move from ignoring Metroid for almost a decade to massive support of it on Nintendo's part is a strange one, particularly since Metroid Prime, though acclaimed, didn't do all that well for them in sales.

Still, I can't say I mind. =)

Re:The switch

[edwdig]

Metroid Prime didn't do too bad. Just under a million sales last I heard. Yes, for a major Nintendo title, that is on the low side. But for most publishers, that's a huge success.

They ignored Metroid for so long because Japan doesn't care for it much. But every time Miyamoto came to the US, he kept getting asked about a new Metroid. So he realized that the US likes Metroid, and that's what caused Nintendo to bring it back.

I really hope..

[Inoshiro]

that it's just a remake, and not a prequel. Up until Metroid 4 (Fusion), the Metroid timeline was fairly easy to take seriously. Samus killed Space pirates, then killed the rest of the Metroids, then killed the last of the Metroids.

Then they added Prime and Fusion. Oh, look, more Metroids secretly bred by the scientists. Oh, look, the Space Pirates have more metroids in between 1 and 2.

Kinda like how in Mega Man 3, the robots "went evil" by themselves -- but it turned out to be Dr. Wily. Then in MM4, the evil Dr. Cossak was causing trouble -- because of Dr. Wily. And so on until Mega Man 8. Wily was a cool foe, but then he became overused and became a parody of himself.

Re:I really hope..

[fredrikj]

Metroid Prime is indeed redundant, the setting is so predictably boring and unimaginative that it hurts. The space pirates are mining a mysterious energy source on a new planet. Right, never heard anything like that before.

Fusion, on the other hand, is a fresh addition to the Metroid universe. The story jumps off the space-pirates-with-Metroids train and heads for something entirely new instead, while also introducing a new kind of gameplay and featuring fantastic interactive storytelling.

Personally, I certainly do like Metroid Fusion better than Metroid Prime.

Re:I really hope..

[nicksthings]

Admittedly, the story is getting a bit convoluted, but come on - you're hoping for another remake and not an entirely new adventure? I wouldn't complain about a remake since it's been some 10+ since I played through Metroid, but I'd definitely take a brand new adventure, no matter how many kinks it throws into the Metroid/Samus universe, anyday.

Yipee! Whatever it is, it should be good, probably

[SamBC]

The look of the graphics looks to me like an attempt to recover as much, stylistically speaking, from the original NES game as possible.

However, ignoring timelines for a moment, Super Metroid on the SNES rather struck me as an extended remake of the original Metroid anyway - how much scope is there to do this again?

Looking back to timelines, then it strikes me that this could go either way - it could sort out the minor hiccups in the timeline, *or* it could confuse it more. Just have to wait and see.

I'd prefer the remake.

[Inoshiro]

While the GBA doesn't have some of the features of the SNES (the lack XY buttons and 8-bit sound being my disapointment with a GBA SP), I'd love to see a Metroid pack with 1, 2, and 3 remade for the GBA. Even if they were released separately, it'd be really nice. Nintendo could even include a feature, ala Golden Sun, where beating the first one unlocked features in the second (..).

I think that'd be much nicer than making the plot continuity be broken and laugable.

If you think a cool Samus adventure would be good, I know I'd like to see more about the Col. and Samus than was revealed in Fusion. But, please, no more Metroids.