The Stories a Bounty Hunter Could Tell You: Super Metroid

Samus has seen some shit.

No really, she has.

The Metroid series, being both a sci-fi series and inspired by a particular Alien series, is rife with disturbing aliens and atmosphere. However, it’s kinda hard to see this in Metroid and Metroid 2, given how graphically limited the games are. Once the Super Nintendo came along, so did Super Metroid, and so did the fear. How did it set the mood? Well we can take a look into that right now!

The Atmosphere

In the intro of the game, Samus talks about her last mission, and how the last living Metroid is in captivity. It’s one that imprinted on her as her mom. She goes to check it out on the station above SR388, and there’s already something amiss. Power’s out and the music is low, and foreboding. Go deeper into where the little Metroid is supposed to be, and it is empty, save for a couple of dead bodies. Follow along the hallway and you’ll see more dead bodies up until you find the Metroid itself, still in its containment unit. You cannot pick it up, and it’s then that the door’s locked. It’s then that you see yellow eyes and a giant dragon-like thing, holding the Metroid; your Metroid.

Ladies and gents, this is Ridley, Samus’ nemesis you thought you took care of back on Zebes in Metroid 1. Now, far too strong, it takes the Metroid and flies out, setting the station to Self-Destruct, you escaping, and making your way back down onto Zebes.

And this is only the introduction.

Super Metroid does a wonderful job on isolating Samus and making you feel like you're alone on the planet. Almost every alien you meet on the planet is hostile, most of the hallways are tight and slightly claustrophobic, and the music for each area is both fitting and unsettling. You’re pretty much on guard as you navigate through the various sectors of this planet, and outside of save rooms, energy rooms and map rooms, you’ve little room to breathe from both the aliens AND the environment.

The Aliens and Metroids

And SPEAKING of aliens,

The planet is full of them. Again, the large majority of them are hostile, and your run the gamut of bug-like aliens, fuzzy aliens, giant aliens (and I’m not talking about the bosses), and aliens that mimic pieces of the environment. That last one? One of the first bosses you encounter is after you get your morph ball bombs. You get it out of what looks like a Chozo Statue (Chozo are bird-like aliens, both ancient and current, although sparse. They raised Samus Aran...as well as created the Metroids) which is holding the morph ball bomb upgrade. When you take it, the door locks, and it comes to life to attack you. When you nearly kill it, you blow off its head...AND IT STILL COMES AFTER YOU!.

A lot of the aliens that you fight, if you don’t see them the moment you step in the door, will come at you off screen. Sometimes it can be an awkward arc in their jump, or a bee-line straight to you, but it’s nerve wracking, especially on low missiles and low health. Certain aliens cannot be destroyed unless you have a certain power-up, be it a beam, a missile, what have you.

And since we’re talking about aliens, why not talk about the eponymous Metroid? Encountering them is dangerous, as the doors will lock while they are alive. Even if they don’t appear to be fully formed and are technically called Mochtroids (Had to look it up!), they’re still a threat, and CAN drain your energy, effectively sucking the life essence out of you. A look through later on in the game will show you what they can do, as you pass by enemies that are just...standing there, but lack a worrying amount of color. Upon touching them, they literally crumble to dust; tell-tale signs that a Metroid is in the area. And the one in this game?

Well, if you don’t mind a lil spoiler:

Damage it enough by shooting it in its mouth, and it breaks through the ceiling, expanding the arena and gearing up for round two. You are at about a fourth of its height when you first encounter it; once phase two hits, you are an eighth of it’s height. AND it has more attacks to try and do you in.

After a few more bosses and more exploration, you come face to face with a reptilian-like boss known as Crocomire. Well, technically a mini-boss, as it’s not one of the main bosses you need to take down to reach the final one. However, that’s not to say this isn’t a tense fight. On one end of the corridor you’re in, spikes are at your back. On the other end? A pool of acid, which is at Crocomire’s back. Each of your attacks push you back, and it’s only a matter of time before one pushes the other back into death. With you being Samus, you’re badass enough to beat it back into the acid. The moment you do so it is...unsettling. Crocomire SCREAMS bloody murder as his flesh is literally dissolved by the acid, melting into a skelton and sinking to the bottom.

And you think that’s it then? Oh no, you’re still trapped in the room. So you’re wondering where you have to go...and then you head back to the spike wall. The boss music ramps up again, and IT BUSTS THROUGH THE SPIKE WALL, as if ready for round 2, before finally crumbling into dust. The first time I saw this? Legit got me to scream, cause I was NOT prepared for it.

And the last boss I’ll talk about is...well, the last boss: The infamous Mother Brain. Approached similarly to how she was back in Metroid 1, Mother Brain is literally a big brain in a jar, with an eye at the front, and turrets shooting at you from various directions. Eventually you break through the glass and unload onto the big brain until you take it down…..right?

No.

I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of this game, but it is worthy of an entry in this with the way how it ramps up the tension as you play the game, to the fear that you feel as you enter certain sectors, to the enemies you encounter into one full experience. Super Metroid really set the tone for how the Metroid series should be, and I will DEFINITELY talk about a few others as the month goes on!

Source credit:

Youtube (genesisSOC, tinkerbellcutie)

metroid.fandom.com

--Choco (10/21/2021)