Metroid Zero Mission — Dreadful Anticipation
A Proper Introduction
Metroid Zero Mission was fraught with strange memories outside the game. I got it close to release date with some hard-earned (or maybe it was from my birthday) money from Circuit City. Not the website, the store. If you also remember going to a brick-and-mortar Circuit City, don’t forget to hydrate. But, my acquisition sparked a strange rift between my brother and I, who also wanted it, but couldn’t afford his own copy. I vaguely remember trying to gift it to him for his birthday, but my parents were against the idea. So we probably did what we usually did: swapped it off with each other when one of us wasn’t playing. Many more nights were spent under bedcovers with the Wormlight drilling into our developing eyes, but it meant more Metroid. Our future selves would understand.
From its explosive and heart-pounding introduction, I knew, this was what I was looking for in a Metroid game, in THE Metroid game. It was more: more concrete in its direction, more colorful than its predecessor (NES or GBA), it had that solid Game Boy Advance-quality soundtrack, felt “the same, but different” to Fusion, and it expanded on canon events and even further into the mythos of Samus Aran. MZM was a solid game on its own, a worthy successor to Fusion, and (for all my opinions are worth) way more entertaining than Metroid on the NES. It felt like I was finally getting to experience the first chapter of the Metroid saga, and in a way that I was familiar with and comfortable with. It was a challenge, but it was still accessible. It elaborated on the story of Metroid, but it wasn’t overwhelming or heavy-handed with its information. It was a perfect reentry point for a fan of the series, and would be a great jumping-off point for new players.
I’ve been excited to dive back into this one for a while.
A Second First Impression
First, the old coming back: the title logo does the same shimmer and flash as the NES title! Even if I didn’t enjoy Metroid, little touches and tributes like that are still nice. Next, there’s musical cues from all over; primarily from Metroid itself, and a bit borrowed from Super Metroid (which I didn’t realize until this playthrough!). And the boss sounds and noises are still so well-composed, let alone the music and soundtrack. But what surprised me was how overpowering the music felt. Make no mistake, I still loved the music, but compared to the destructive power of missiles, beams, and charged blasts, those things sounded much quieter than in games past. It was a bit strange, but also might lead into some other elements I thought of later.
Next, the new: right off the bat, difficulty settings. Every little step a game, let alone a series that I love, takes to make itself more playable to a wider audience is a good step in my book. Keeping with the high levels of sound design, Zero Mission took the old item/upgrade jingle and gave it a sweet upgrade. Even more, Zero Mission took a note from Fusion, using the same understated “expansion-get” jingle that doesn’t detract from the overall soundscape.
Metroid Zero Mission does much more guiding, showing players (like I got used to in Fusion) where to go on their map. As with Fusion, it doesn’t tell players exactly how to get there, but it gives a general idea in the twisting caverns of Zebes. And on that vein, the fact that there’s a map is a massive step up, hints and objective-markers aside. However, unlike Prime (and again, similar to Fusion), players are unable to turn off the objective markers or necessary hurdles they have to go through that activate said markers. In its first two acts, Zero Mission is guiding players on a pretty linear path, and that is not necessarily for everyone. But for people who want a proper introduction to Samus’s legacy? It’s great.
On the downside, a minor gripe, but I remember the big bosses being harder. Like, you hyped these enemies up for so much of your childhood and formative years, across various games and experiences, and then the battle’s over so quickly and easily. Might be a good excuse to revisit on the Hard difficulty.
Zero Mission does a lot of experimentation, for as familiar as the formula is. The prime example is the stealth and depowered sections. Players have only ever known Samus in her Power Suit, so to have that removed from the equation was a strange departure. But it was also a welcome one, even on a return trip, forcing players to rethink how they approach problems and to, for the first time, not run head-long into a problem with brute force.
The secondary example is how Zero Mission just opens up near the very end of the game. It begins, as I’ve noted, a very scripted and linear action game. But at the end, it leans hard into its exploratory roots. Maps may exist, but they don’t show players everything. They may be fully kitted out with upgrades, but that doesn’t draw all expansions to them. For the exploration-minded players, Zero Mission teases them until the very end, and then looses them on a world (probably) still brimming with expansion tanks.
Zero Mission leans pretty hard into more modern design elements, as well. The maps are a big one, yes, but the bigger element for me was how fast the game felt. Samus moved faster, enemies dove at her more quickly, bombs detonated with less delay, everything just clipped along a bit faster than I’d every known in a Metroid game. At times, it almost felt like the game was pushing me forward with a “go, go, go” mentality, “you’ll be able to explore later, just keep going, don’t slow down!”
But to that end, Zero Mission seems designed for speedrunning. I’ve never been big into that community or practice, but I can appreciate those who want to/are able to do it. And I appreciate games for making themselves accessible to more than one kind of game experience.
The potential for exploration, light at the beginning before exploding out at the end, yes…but, it doesn’t force players down that exploratory path. Once players have their upgrades at their disposal, they can just as easily conclude the game: one final boss, and they can watch the credits and bask in their victory. Again, multiple different playstyles permitted in one experience.
Finally, Zero Mission is, more than a modern reimagining of Metroid’s first game, a proper first chapter in the Metroid saga. It lays breadcrumbs and groundwork for a much larger story, fulfilling long-time players or tantalizing newer players. There are cutscenes, albeit simple, that hash out the threats of the game and series. The guided elements of the game help players to appreciate the people Samus grew up with, and her innate bond with them. The musical elements, however overpowering they may seem, paint a soundscape over an otherwise alien and strange world. With little more than two text blocks and some wordless cutscenes, Metroid Zero Mission gives players a proper three-act structure to Samus’s first adventure. It’s not as introspective as Fusion, nor as “just-below-the-surface” as Prime, nor as isolating and foreboding as Return of Samus. It is its own game, and its own experience, given new life and jumpstarting the story of Samus Aran once more.
All images (except final image) courtesy of Metroid Recon
