There's a couple other things I'd like to mention concerning Metroid before I drop the subject for a while. I find it somewhat odd that I've had Metroid on the brain so much since the announcement of Metroid Other M. I'm a huge Zelda fan, but I guess I never really considered myself that big of a Metroid fan. I think a lot of that fandom was taken away by Metroid Prime
I think the Metroid Prime series adds a whole lot of glitz and glamor and takes away from some of the charm and prestige that Metroid garnished on the Super Nintendo. I thought it was nice that they took it a different direction than Legend of Zelda for the transition to 3D, but it felt empty. There was no emotion in the game.
Anyways, I still think Metroid Prime 1 and Metroid Prime 3 are pretty fun games. And I think what makes Metroid Prime 3 so great is the fluid controls of the Wii-mote. So far I think it's one of the best designed games on the Wii.
Luckily!, Nintendo is re-hashing many of their Gamecube classics with Wii-mote / Nunchuck "enhanced" controls. Nintendo has announced that in August, they'll release Metroid Prime Trilogy. A collection of all 3 Metroid Prime games with Wii-controls for a mere $50.
For those of you who missed Metroid Prime 1 or 2, or who loved the new controls of Metroid Prime 3, this is the perfect opportunity to revisit these games and experience the full "story" arc of the Metroid Prime series.
I think what makes Super Metroid so rich are the emotional moments experienced between Samus and her Metroid hatchling. Samus found the Metroid hatching after traversing the depths of SR388 uncovering a horrible grotesque plot of Metroid mutation. The Metroid hatching thinks of Samus as her mother, and there are a couple moments where this mother/child relation fosters itself into something few games did at that time.
2 years ago, Chad Concelmo of Destructriod wrote an article that focused primarily on this aspect of the game in full detail. It's a great read: The Memory Card .01: The return of Baby Metroid.
Metroid 2 is probably the most difficult to replay out of any Metroid game. Released in 1992 for the Game Boy, Metroid II has not been officially re-released since its debut. Every Metroid game except Metroid 2 can be played on a modern gaming device. (Unless you discount the DS Lite due to the DSi release) You'd need to find a Gameboy Advance in order to play Metroid 2.
Anyways, Project AM2R has been working on a remake of the game to make it more playable for today's generation.
Here's their most recent trailer:
It looks pretty fantastic. ^_^. Check 'em out at http://metroid2remake.blogpost.com/.
I wonder how long it'll be before Nintendo shuts them down.
The song in the background of that trailer totally reminds me Metroid Metal. Metroid Metal is a group of dudes who've repraised many of the songs throughout the Metroid series in the Metal Rock genre. Their tracks are pretty slick.
Check 'em out @ Metroid Metal dot Com
News!: As you may have noticed from their website, Metroid Metal will be playing Live at the Penny Arcade Expo this year. Spiffy!