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GBA | Action | Metroid: Zero Mission

Boxart for Metroid: Zero Mission
Metroid: Zero Mission 39 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 5.0
  • SOUND: 4.5
  • CONTROL: 4.5
  • FUN FACTOR 5.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.3
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.5
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Hands-On: Metroid: Zero Mission

Hands-On by SYRIEL | 01/24/2004 | 14:16:17 PM PST

Return to Zebes for Samus' original adventure in this reimagination of the NES classic, Metroid.

?Director?s Cuts? of films are all the rage among DVD collectors, but among video games the treatment isn?t nearly as common. Sure, game developers will often release compilations of old games or sometimes update one slightly, but rare is the day when an older title is completely re-made from the ground up.

Set for release in early February, Nintendo?s Metroid Zero Mission is one such game. A retelling of the original NES Metroid game, Zero Mission takes players back to the familiar Planet Zebes and Samus? fateful mission against Ridley, Kraid and Mother Brain. While the title offers up plenty of familiar experiences, Nintendo has taken time to ensure that there is also a good deal of fresh content to be found. Just like the director?s cut of a film has extra footage inserted back in, Zero Mission has extra gameplay.

If you?ve played the original game then the opening of Zero Mission will be familiar territory. Samus? first power-up, the morph ball is found just to the left of her start position and the main map bears a striking similarity to the original layout. As you start to progress farther in though, little differences begin to appear -- and we?re not just talking about visual upgrades. New areas have been hidden within the game and creative new obstacles have been thrown into Samus? path. There are even a few new enemies to deal with.

One of the new devices in the game is a sort of pinball shot that fires Samus across the screen when she is in ball form. Often hidden, these cannons will grant access to otherwise inaccessible sections of the map.

Unfortunately we were only granted a limited amount of time with the preview version of Zero Mission, so the latter half of the game (where are the new goodies are located) remained out of our reach, but what we?ve seen so far already has us drooling. Beginning in Brinstar and then moving to the fire world of Norfair, the game had us criss-crossing all over the map (even taking a side trip to the surface of Zebes, dubbed Crateria) before facing off against the first boss, Kraid.

Fighting Kraid was quite the experience and much different than you might remember, given his increased size. The bad boy now takes up two full screens and is night invulnerable save for a small section of his head. You can only damage Kraid by shooting a missile into his eye and then unloading into his mouth when he screams. Simple enough right? Well, you also have to avoid the large claws firing out of his belly and the random shards that he throws your way -- definitely a bit more intense this time around.

Visually the game looks and feels much like Metroid Fusion. The auto-map makes a return, as have both the map room and the save points. Navigating through the game is much easier with a full map. In addition to keeping tabs on your location the map also serves as an indicator of hidden items. Every room with a power-up in it will be marked with a circle on the map. You have to determine how to actually get the item in question, but you will never run by a room and not know there is something there.

Like the vibrant visuals, the control scheme is also lifted from Fusion, making the game a joy to play. While many of us remember the original Metroid fondly, the honest truth is that the game was a bit rough in the control department. Not so here, especially if you are playing through a GameCube and Game Boy Player.

Speaking of Fusion, owners of the game will be able to link both Fusion and Zero Mission to unlock an art gallery on Zero Mission. Neat, but it wasn?t what really had us clamoring. The big news is that Zero Mission also contains the original version of the game as an unlockable extra. Sweet.

A solid synergy of old school gaming and new school flash, Metroid Zero Mission promises to re-addict a legion of old-school gamers as well as telling the tale of Samus? first adventure to a new generation.


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