Ever considered what it might be like if Metroid and one of your favourite video game franchises collided? We brought together members of the team to share their ideas on their dream crossovers.
Darren
Ever since I played Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U and saw franchises such as Animal Crossing, F-Zero and The Legend of Zelda make cameos, I dreamed of a Metroid themed course. Imagine the start themed as Brinstar from the original Metroid on NES and, as the countdown hits zero, you drive through caverns and avoid Skrees and Reos from hitting your car. Then you come out of a cave into the undergrowth of Upper Brinstar, navigating your way between Ki Hunters and Side-hoppers. Perhaps Kraid could even make an appearance, shooting spikes from his stomach?
From there it’s onwards to Maridia, a vast underwater area with Evirs and Skulteras floating in your path, desperate to knock you off course. Finally, the waters will clear and Lower Norfair will appear before you, with Torizo statues desperate to destroy you. The end of the track has you coming face to face with Samus’s arch nemesis Ridley, unleashing blasts of fire towards you as you enter the cave system back to Brinstar. You’ll also have the option of driving Samus’s gunship themed kart, and a choice of Samus or Zero Suit Samus as your character. Perhaps we could see some DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the future, Nintendo?
RoyboyX
What would happen if Samus met Bayonetta? I have a spinoff in mind. In it, Samus lands her ship on Bayonetta’s world to recuperate from her injuries at the end of Federation Force, but is attacked by angels from Paradiso, which she can’t see. Bayonetta saves her, and they join forces to take on the angels and Space Pirates, which seek to study the angels’ potential for use as bioweapons. Samus and Bayo would have an odd couple chemistry, with Bayo joking and flirting like she does, and Samus being serious.
In terms of gameplay, I would want a decent fusion of both series’ playstyles. Samus would play similarly to Bayonetta’s Samus costume (shooting and with Morph Ball “running”), whereas Bayonetta’s fighting style is the same. There would be puzzle sections, which Samus would take on while Bayo rolls her eyes and walks off, returning when it’s over. Rodin could make a suit and visor for Samus that enables her to see into, enter and exit Purgatorio. Samus could SenseMove, but in her case it wouldn’t enable Witch Time, and she could use her Lethal Strike, Melee Counter and Overblast moves instead of Torture Attacks. Samus would have her own form of Umbran Climax, where she enters first person and fires a Zero Laser at angelic enemies for 10 seconds.
If Samus’s health is depleted in the suit, she becomes Zero Suit Samus and uses her Jet Boots, but is weaker. Collecting enough dropped Energy Capsules (these appear from her kills instead of halos) from angels would restore her Power Suit, but if she dies in Zero Suit form, she has to be revived within a minute or it’s Game Over for her. This is a mechanic that I’ve wanted to see implemented in a Metroid game. Samus and Bayonetta would also be playable in a Tag Climax mode with other characters from both series like Ridley, Dark Samus, Sylux, Gandrayda, Jeanne, Balder, Rodin etc.
Glaedrax, one of our writers and a fellow Bayonetta fan, sketched designs for the Purgatorio Suit Samus would wear:
KomodoZero
My idea for a crossover is both ambitious yet completely plausible at the same time. It works on the precedent already set by two other games, as well as the partnership Nintendo already has with the company behind them. I’m talking about the Warriors series. Omega Force and Team Ninja at Tecmo have already created a Warriors game for The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem, so it’s not completely unbelievable to expect another one in the future. Metroid alone probably won’t cut it, as Warriors prides itself on a large playable cast, so I reckon another step needs to be taken to make this a dream crossover. Nintendo All-Stars, maybe even Super Smash Warriors.
It would be easy to bring back Link, Zelda, Marth, and so on, from the prior two Warriors games alongside iconic favourites such as Mario, Donkey Kong and, naturally, Samus. Her move set won’t be too far from the tree either, as Team Ninja’s work with Other M can be migrated over to allow Samus to have a unique melee and ranged attack set. Ridley could naturally be considered a boss character, but they could reverse the “too big” joke like Bandai Namco managed with Smash Bros. to make him playable once again for the villain side of the roster. Of course, Zero Suit Samus can easily be another playable slot, with a more agile set of abilities to her more powerful but bulkier suited variant. Maybe also Dark Samus, this time making full use of her Phazon powers from Prime 2 and 3, unlike with Smash.
It would also be nice if Sylux or another hunter joins the cast, but I reckon Metroid might be one of the franchises to get only a handful of character representation in a concept with literally hundreds of possibilities to choose from across Nintendo’s extensive library of classics. Let’s keep things modest for an already bold suggestion. Besides, let’s not forget that these games are well known for their expansion pass characters, so there could always be room for more down the line.
Renan
My thoughts about a potential crossover with the Metroid series went down two paths: it should either be very entertaining thematically or should drive interesting new gameplay possibilities. My first ideas were the most obvious ones: Star Fox, because of the outer-space setting; or Castlevania, to… put the vania in Metroidvania.
However, I think Metroid could be an interesting backdrop for a turn-based strategy game, so my pick is X-COM (or Metroid + Mario + Rabbids, if you’d prefer). The challenge in making a game of this genre is that Metroid doesn’t have many characters to form a party of heroes. We have Samus, and who else?
My pitch would be to have each of Samus’s abilities (for instance, missiles, ice beam and bombs) as actions and the player can choose several actions to make in a turn. This would open up strategic combos that could cause additional damage, stun enemies or change their positions.
Quadraxis
I’ve had different types of ideas for a crossover with Metroid and something else. I would choose something a bit more action-oriented but with the Metroid atmosphere to it. A Metroid X F-Zero crossover game which I know sounds weird but first of all, they are both bounty hunters, secondly, the technology between the two games are not that far apart so it would work.
It would take place in the F-Zero Underworld Grand Prix where Weavel is trying to reward the champion with Metroid DNA with the help of Black Shadow and Blood Falcon. Since every racer in that underworld is a villain, and they come from different parts of the galaxy, Metroid DNA spreading across would be especially dangerous for everybody. Receiving a distress call from Captain Falcon, Samus returns to Earth to assist him, traveling to this underworld realm, leading up to so that Captain Falcon can win the races and acquire these samples, while Samus has to investigate and stop Weavel from further doing damage.
The game would also switch between the two characters so that their parts get more entangled as the story progresses. Having Samus fight different types of bounty hunters during a fearful race while Captain Falcon is the secondary passive character in that chapter would be something truly unique. In other cases, Falcon would assist Samus in exploring the underworld since he has been there before during the events of F-Zero GX, adding a new layer to F-Zero while common for Metroid.
Amanda
I’m a big EarthBound fan, and I think the sci-fi elements would blend well with a Metroid game. It would be a JRPG styled game, set in the EarthBound universe. The game would start off with Ness in Onett, but shortly after the initial setup, Ness would travel to space where he meets Samus. She would join Ness’s party upon discovering that Giygas and Ridley are now working together.
With the RPG elements, Samus would have a variety of attacks, weapons, outfits, and accessories that would get upgraded as the game goes on. The items of Metroid Prime would be perfect since there are so many to choose from.
One of my favorite things about EarthBound is the witty writing. It delivers a touching story while maintaining a fun and whimsical tone. Incorporating Metroid would allow us to see another side of Samus, making her more relatable. Ultimately I love the heart of EarthBound, and it would be neat to see that applied to Metroid.