I’m going to start out and say it, I’ve never been a fan of the Metroid series. The games are long and confusing to navigate, and did I mention, hard? Yeah, not a huge fan of playing Metroid games, and Metroid: Samus Returns may change my mind.
Metroid: Samus Returns is a remake of the second Metroid game, Return of Samus, which was released on the Gameboy in 1991. The game was considered to be a weak entry into the franchise and less entertaining than its predecessor. Metroid: Samus Returns will be developed by Mercury Steam, who recently helmed The Lords Of Shadow, a re-imagining of the Castlevania franchise.
MercurySteam doesn’t have a lot of video games under their belt, but they do have at least one 3DS game. The second chapter in the Lords of Shadow series: Mirror of Fate. This is the definite proof I’m going to fall in love with the Samus Returns– Mirror of Fate encompassed everything that was great about the early Castlevania games. Sprawling levels, puzzles, and fierce combat. It stayed true to the core elements–only tweaking where improvements needed to be made–MecurySteam made me fall in love with Castlevania. What also made it great, Mirror Of Fate was able to allow new players the chance to play a Castlevania game without frustration, and slowly ween them into how difficult and nerve-wracking a Castlevania title can be.
Metroid surpasses the level of difficulty that Castlevania resides on; but what really turned me off to the Metroid franchise? The lack of where to go, and what you’re mission is. It never gave a clear direction, which to me, is aggravating. The later games did give a little bit of navigation and made some things easy, but not enough to hook me into the franchise. This is where I think Mercury Steam will come into play–using their resources to create an experience for new and old fans alike: while keeping the core elements of the franchise intact and give the series a breath of fresh life. Other M, left a bad taste in the mouth’s of Metroid fans, but Samus Returns will deliver something sweet that fans will crave. It allows for new fans to join in what they couldn’t stomach before.
I’m glad Metroid is getting a rebirth, and I’m psyched it will be by a developer that has been successful at re-introducing long standing franchises. It’s a match made in Nintendo heaven.
