A Very Metroid Thanksgiving

We may be located all over the world, but that won’t stop us from celebrating thanksgiving here at Shinesparkers! The team have decided to share why they’re thankful for Metroid. We have also included several comments from members of the Metroid community.

Darren

When it comes to Metroid, I have a lot to be thankful for. This series has been hugely inspirational to me and I certainly wouldn’t be running Shinesparkers if it hadn’t impacted me in the way that it did! But beyond that obvious point, I am thankful to Metroid Prime for the significant impact it had in my journey back into music. The soundtrack of Metroid Prime was a catalyst for creating the Harmony of a Hunter albums, and because of the great work of Kenji Yamamoto, Clark Wen and others on the team, it encouraged me to explore more deeply into further chapters of the Metroid story and its music.

I am thankful to the hundreds of Metroid fans I have met over the years since I first created Shinesparkers and the stories they have shared with me on how they became fans of the series. I am also thankful for the highly creative Metroid community, made up of talented artists, musicians, cosplayers and speed-runners. Last but not least, I am thankful to the friends I have made through being a part of the Metroid community. These people continue to inspire me, to push myself harder and further than I thought possible of myself. Metroid is more than just a video game series to me, it is a significant part of what has made me the person I am today.

RoyboyX

If you asked me about the moment in my life I am most thankful for, I would tell you it was discovering and falling in love with Metroid. It was unlike any other game I had ever played in my young life. The worlds in Metroid were and are uninviting, abandoned, isolated and dangerous. That would scare off many players, but in my case, it made the games all the more appealing. I am thankful for Samus, who crazy as it sounds is an inspiration to me. In her darkest moments, she never hesitates or second-guesses herself, she forges ahead and completes her mission, and she never takes crap from anyone. She is a character that immediately affected me when I was introduced to her, and without ever speaking a single word.

I’m thankful that the series gave me an outlet to focus on as I grew bored with school and lacked any idea of my purpose in life. Playing Metroid games was fun, but I also wanted to learn every secret about Samus’s story, the Metroid universe and the franchise’s history. My desire for knowledge led me to Wikitroid, where I have worked tirelessly as a major editor for nearly ten years. I’m thankful to Wikitroid and Metroid, which both had a hand in my professional development. My years of editing gave me the skills necessary to become a freelance researcher and investigator. I’m thankful to the friends I’ve made there, both past and present. In particular, I’m thankful to Darren, for trusting me with a critical role on Shinesparkers, the chance to further our knowledge of Metroid, and his friendship outside of this site.

KomodoZero

Eventually I’m going to sound like a broken record, as I always have the same thing to say about what Metroid means for me. The thanks I have to give everyone on every development team, from the designers to the musicians, for helping me forge what I see most in video games is immense. Without Metroid, I wouldn’t have that desire to go out of my way to explore those little nooks and crannies, I wouldn’t feel the urge to better myself with faster, more efficient times, or even try to get as much out of a game I love by aiming for 100%. The “Metroidvania” genre became one of my all-time favourites, with the timeless Super Metroid sitting atop the list without competition. It helped me discover so many other games under the genre too. The level of immersion from the soundtrack in each game has also left a lasting impression on me, I always make an effort to seek out soundtracks for many games as a result. So thank you Sakamoto, thank you Yamamoto, Tanaka, Tanabe and Pacini, and so many others who helped create each and every game. I hope that you see all of us in the community for all the thanks we have to give.

Quadraxis

This is actually my first time ever celebrating Thanksgiving in any way or form, basically because we don’t celebrate it in my country. I am thankful that Metroid has been a part of around two thirds of my life, if it wasn’t for the first Alien movie I watched when I was only six years old, then maybe I wouldn’t have become the fan I am today. The movie was very fascinating to me, I distinctly remember that the alien, although scary, did not really frighten me at all. I think it fundamentally changed the way I view things in general, and shaped me into the person I am today. Playing as Samus and investigating these foreign worlds was, and still is, pure entertainment and fascination for me. Once Metroid Prime came out, it gave Metroid a depth that it somehow needed despite already being a superb gaming series at that point with Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion at the helm. It also introduced me to the unique soundtrack not found in any other game, movie or music genre I’ve ever listened to before. That sound is basically my style completely, it sounds, mysterious, appealing and out of this world. Metroid also serves as a source of inspiration regarding my drawing, I specifically draw alien creatures myself, in many cases people often pointed out that they have a similar style to the Metroid Prime games. So, I’m thankful for being a fan of Metroid, thankful to Nintendo for giving us both Samus Returns and soon Metroid Prime 4, and I’m also thankful for Darren letting me be a part of this Metroid fan team.

Amanda VanHiel

Metroid is a series I will always be thankful for. On the surface level, it’s a fun adventure with a fantastic soundtrack. I also appreciate that when Metroid first came out, not only was Samus one of the few female protagonists of that era, she stayed the main character as the series went on. Even today, while there are more games than there once were offering the choice of male or female, there’s still only a handful of titles with a female lead and no male option. I greatly look up to Samus. Her strength and resilience is most admirable. For that reason, Zero Suit Samus has been on my list of future cosplays for quite some time. Metroid has inspired me to step-up my cosplay (and workout) game. The series has also served as an escape, getting me through some rough times. But most importantly, it’s because of Metroid that I’ve met so many wonderful people!

Here’s what the wider community had to say: