There was a time when Metroid games were few and far between. But the last year has had a bevy of them. Metroid Prime was hugely successful for the GameCube; Metroid Fusion was equally successful for the GameBoy Advance. This spring saw Nintendo come out with the newest addition to their lineup with Metroid Zero Mission.
Zero Mission at first glace appears to be a remake of the original Metroid back on the NES. Samus is back on planet Zebes, like she was in the first adventure, and the enemies she faces are quite similar (at first) the ones she fought in her 8-bit days. She’s also there to destroy the Mother Brain again, but that’s where the similarities end. Zero Mission has more in common with the likes of Fusion, and even has elements reminiscent of Prime in it, with Chozo elements and figures throughout.
When Fusion came out, it was a great gaming experience for the GBA, but many gamers felt that the whole design was a little to hand-holding. You got told exactly where you needed to be, and there was only the fact that you had to get there that stood in your way. This idea first started in Prime, but was a little less rigid. Now it may disappoint some, but this system makes another return in Zero Mission. There are certain times that the game doesn’t tell you exactly where to go, but most of the time when you leave the particular area you’re in you’ll get an update. This does ease up the difficulty factor quite a bit, as in the first Metroid games you were constantly looking for places that you could go based on your items. Half the fun of all the Metroid games is finding new abilities for your arm-cannon and your suit, and then testing them out in the areas that were previous off limits. Now, it’s not to say that you’re stuck in a linear system in this game. There is a little bit of leeway here and there, but for the most part you know exactly what you have to do next.
Talking about the abilities, you’ll have a ton of them in this game. With favorites like the morph ball and the ice beam, to newer ones like the power grip, and screw attack. You’ll have to use all the abilities in order to go anywhere on Planet Zebes. And like previous Metroid games you’ll be retracing your steps many many times to get them all.
One of the more serious gripes on the last installment of Metroid on the GBA was the rather anticlimactic ending. Rest assured in Zero Mission they do up the ending in a big way. All the usual ratings are there for completion time and percentage completed, and you’ll see 8 different endings depending on how well you do. One thing to note about this game though; the end doesn’t come exactly when you think it should, so prepared to be surprised.
Zero Mission does it’s best to be the supreme GBA Metroid game, and goes to serious lengths to prove it. Included on the cartridge is a port of the original NES version that you can play in entirety. As well there is the ability to link your GBA up to another one with Metroid Fusion in it. When you do this you unlock certain secrets and galleries. All ways to improve your over-all Metroid-ing experience.
Fusion was a great game when it came out, but in all honesty, this game just feels truer to the Metroid series and does a great job of tying the original story arc to that of Prime. If you have a choice between this and Fusion, buy this one. But, of course buying both wouldn’t hurt, as they’re both a great romp. And with Metroid Prime 2 coming out by years end we can look forward to even more action, and it’s more than welcome as far as I’m concerned.
