The hottest rooms are tinted in a wave of orange that clouds the entire screen.
Red caverns are replaced with pink pillars while sickly crimson centers appear on bubbles. Norfair is home to ancient ruins and strange bubble-like geography that crop up the deeper in you go. Blood red caves in the background and boiling lava keep the lowest part of Zebes intimidating. What looked like sand in the original turns out to be golden pools of acid. Bugs roam in large numbers, with little purple parasites actually latching onto Samus and dealing damage if you let them sit. Rocks and crumbled pillars sit in the distance, replacing the NES’ empty voids with detailed scenery. The Brinstar caverns connected to Crateria maintain their rocky blue hue, but the background is now a mix of black and green, alluding to the lush jungles of Upper Brinstar.
You can still get the classic Metroid hostility by playing on Hard Mode, but difficulty no longer stems from the obtuse level design.īrinstar and Norfair take notable cues from Super while remaining wholly unique. Zebes is livelier thanks to a greater enemy and visual variety. Samus is in a dangerous setting, but she has the means to fight back. Zero Mission is atmospherically more colorful and energetic than Super. Visuals are distinct enough to prevent the setting from coming off as derivative. Little details linking to Super lend a passage of time to the planet - vibrant backdrops and a peaceful skyline make it clear that this is a younger Zebes. An active effort is made to ensure consistency between Samus’ two adventures. Super Metroid references are abundant, but they were Metroid I references, to begin with. Zero Mission’s depiction of Zebes is steeped in two layers of homage. Added shortcuts connect major areas, and there are even new maps to expand the adventure. Repeated settings and dead ends are replaced with some of the most creative rooms in the series. Upgrades and bosses are exactly where they were in the NES original. Zebes’ general layout stays the same but is greatly expanded upon. Level design is as faithful as can be without translating Metroid I’s nuisances. This, in a way, goes against the spirit of the original, but Zero Mission finds intelligent ways of modernizing its source material while never straying far enough to become unrecognizable. Zero Mission turns the least accessible Metroid into the most accessible.
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In that respect, Zero Mission feels just as much like a remake as it does an evolution of the series thus far. Zero Mission keeps the best qualities of the original Metroid, reinterprets the worst, and rounds out the edges by taking cues from both Super Metroidand Metroid Fusion. Intro song is "8-Bitter" by Subtastics, and is used with permission, mainly because Jeremy P is in that band.Released eighteen years after the 1986 original, Metroid: Zero Mission is one of the finest remakes in the medium and a prime example of how you can reimagine a game while still respecting it on a fundamental level.
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If you enjoy this podcast, why not write a review wherever you download it from? It's easy, and helps people find us by accident. If you would like additional bonus episodes of Retrovaniacs or to request a game we must cover, our Patreon is located here : Join us over on our Discord to discuss games, food, or really anything over at Want to get right to Metroid: Zero Mission? Jump to that 16 minute mark. We also talk about the most recent Nintendo Direct and answer some listener mail about getting burned out, tastes changing over the years, and some Final Fantasy. However, we are very excited about Metroid Dread, and so we're taking a look at the 2004 remake of the original Metroid - Metroid: Zero Mission for the Game Boy Advance. Metroid Dread is on it's way, but it's going to show up in October, and we'll be busy with our annual month of horror games.