Metroid: Zero Mission is a Metroidvania game for the Game Boy Advance, and is also an enhanced remake of the original Metroid for the NES. I've played a precious little bit of Metroid, finding the morph ball, and quickly losing myself in the depths of Brinstar, so I came into this with pretty fresh eyes. Metroidvania games are quickly moving up the charts of my favorite games, so I was really eager to get started with this one when I found it in a really good local pickup (Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid Fusion, all with manuals, for $20. End brag). Unfortunately, I was knee deep in an RPG at the time, then it slipped my mind a bit, but I finally circled around to try this one. I figured I'd go with Zero Mission first, as it's the first in the timeline, as well as a remake of the first one released.
Most of my experience with Metroidvania games has been with the Castlevania games, which I frankly prefer to Metroid. The grind of leveling up gives Castlevania meaning as you traverse back and forth across the landscape in a way that the Metroid titles really don't. I did enjoy Super Metroid quite a bit, however, and definitely appreciate Metroid and Super Metroid for establishing fertile ground in which Castlevania was able to take root.
Metroid: Zero Mission is a mostly faithful remake of the original, as far as I can tell. The map is definitely more expansive and the environment more detailed than the original, and the controls and UI are greatly improved. Most importantly, you now have a map, which is basically the reason why I quit Metroid so soon after starting it. Interestingly, they have added a substantial postlogue after the events of the original game that adds a good deal of content to the game. This extra portion has some extremely creative game design that subverts the traditional Metroid experience, and was easily my favorite part of the game.
The controls are pretty good, if a bit slippery. Luckily, you have tons of health, so falling into some lava or onto an enemy won't end your quest to stop the Space Pirates from unleashing the Metroids on their foes. The combat itself is mostly dull, to be honest, especially compared to the more precise and exacting nature of combat in the later Castlevania games. This is particularly focused in the boss fights, which mostly consist of firing as many appropriate shots at a vulnerable core as possible, as avoiding their attacks is nearly impossible in most cases.
You'll have a range of weapons from blasters to missiles to bombs to Samus' signature screw attack. Getting access to these various weapons and other powerups will unlock other areas of the map to continue the story. This gives a nice, satisfying feedback loop as you'll be able to return to areas which had powerups that were previously unaccessible and these are plentiful and feel rewarding. There is a great conveyance of the rules of the game, too, as it will naturally place you in areas that will introduce new power ups in an easy context, and then ask you to apply them in more and more difficult fashions.
I honestly didn't listen to the music too much, but what I did hear was excellent. Metroid has always had some great music, and this game seems to continue that trend.
The visuals are really nice, and work well on the GBA. There are some huge sprites for bosses, and the animations for your character and enemies are nicely detailed.
This is a well paced game, and felt like it was the right length. There's definitely a lot of pointless traversing back and forth that really demanded a teleportation function, especially given the lack of interesting things to do as you head back and fort on the map, but it definitely didn't feel like it was overstaying its welcome. I was able to clear it in less than 5 game hours, and could probably do so in far less time now that I've done it already. A nice, quick, tightly controlled game experience is always preferable to me, but be aware that you're not going to wring a ton of time out of this one, unless you greatly enjoy speedrunning, which seems to fit Metroid games very well.
I really enjoyed this game, although I felt it lacked some of the depth of competing titles of the era, which has Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow reigning comfortably as king. It's a very good game, and well worth inclusion in anyone's collection. I'd consider it a must buy for fans of the Metroidvania genre, as well. I'll give it an 8.9/10.
I honestly have no clue what I'll be tackling next on the handheld version of What I'm Playing so stay tuned! I might just run Metroid Fusion for a quick one off before I'm ready to dive back into a longer RPG. I guess we'll see where the spirit leads...
-TRO
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