This special feature marks the thirty-second anniversary of Metroid’s release on the Famicom Disk System. On August 6th, 1986 the world was first introduced to the galactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, thwarting the plans of the Space Pirates on Planet Zebes and the deadly threat posed by the Metroids. Since that historic date, fourteen titles in the series have been released, which include main-line series and spin-offs, the latest title being a re-imagining of the second Metroid game, Metroid: Samus Returns.
Below are a few words from our team, and thirty-two messages from our the wider Metroid community!
RoyboyX
Falling in love with Metroid is the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my youth. It’s taught me to look below the surface and to search for the truth in everything. Since 2008, I’ve fought Metroids and Space Pirates, Dark Samus and Phazon, and numerous other galactic threats alongside Samus, and enjoyed every minute of it. I love the atmosphere, the music, the action, and its rich history both in and out of universe, with many secrets waiting to be discovered. After Other M, I wasn’t sure if my beloved hunter would ever return, but I was elated to be proven wrong over a year ago. Our Metroid dreams are finally coming true: Metroid: Samus Returns gave us the Metroid II remake we always wanted, Ridley is finally a playable character in Smash, and Metroid Prime 4, which I’ve wanted for years, is finally on the horizon. With the series back and better than ever, it is my hope that it will continue going strong, and that one day we’ll finally learn what happened to Samus after Metroid Fusion.
KomodoZero
Metroid has always been dear to me and has influenced my taste in games an awful lot. I’m always tinkering and trying to do thing differently, simply because Metroid taught me that sometimes there’s reward in taking the less travelled path. Not only that, but I also keep finding myself trying to take the faster route in any game I play simply out of habit. I’ve been playing the series consistently since 2002, starting with Fusion, and hope to continue doing so for as long as Samus is around to join us. I owe an awful lot to Metroid and I wish the developers and the greater fan community the best in the years to come. Now, can we have Metroid 5?
Darren
Metroid has had a significant impact on my life. It was a franchise that inspired me to create a fan community, bring together musicians to create fan-arrangement Metroid albums, and explore the creative talents of the wider Metroid community. Metroid Prime was the start of my journey, and my Metroid adventure continues as the series enters its 32nd year. With the recent release of Metroid: Samus Returns for 3DS and the upcoming Metroid Prime 4 on the horizon, it feels like we are entering a brand new chapter of the franchise where new Metroid fans will be born, and that excites me greatly. The future looks to be very interesting, and I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds!
Amanda
I learned about Metroid from playing the first Super Smash Brothers on the N64. I was around 12 years old at the time, and the idea of a girl who fights space pirates sounded pretty awesome, especially since there weren’t many female leads in video games back then. I fell in love with the music, art style, and overall setting. My middle school self was all about aliens and sci-fi, so this was totally my aesthetic. What I love most though are all the wonderful people I’ve met because of this series — it’s how I met one of my very best friends. I’ve also come across some incredible fanworks in the way of music covers and cosplays, showing just how dedicated the community is. With the recent release of Samus Returns along with Prime 4 on its way, I look forward to those of us who grew up on the series introducing it to younger generations and seeing their excitement of playing a Metroid game for the first time.
Glaedrax
I never loved a video game series as much as I love Metroid. I’ve been introduced to it with Metroid Prime 3 around 2009, then played all the other games. I think the bright colors mixed with the eerie, creepy atmosphere is what makes Metroid such an amazing and unique experience. Add our beloved bounty hunter to this and you get one of the most cult video game series! Metroid’s 31st anniversary was already a blessing thanks to the release of Metroid: Samus Returns for the Nintendo 3DS, and of course the unexpected announcement of Metroid Prime 4, ten years after the last entry of the Prime series! We still have a couple more years to wait before it gets to our consoles, but in the meantime, Masahiro Sakurai got us an amazing 32nd anniversary present by adding Ridley as a playable character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! I think it’s clear that Nintendo wants us to understand that they heard us, and that Samus has finally returned, stronger than ever. To another great year of Metroid!
Here’s what the wider community had to say:
Saxy (@SMS_SAXY)
The game took me by surprise in such a Nintendo way. Forever knowing Samus from Smash Bros. 64 to current day Sm4sh. I didnt pick up the series until an adult and I have fallen in love. Metroid to me, means classic action adventure. The game is it’s own feeling. SAXY #Metroid32nd
Ryan (@Yan_tastic)
Metroid 2 on the Gameboy was both the first metroid game and first Nintendo game I played. To this day it is my favourite Nintendo I.P and Samus is my Smash main. Metroid deserves more love and recognition than it gets. It almost feels forgotten about by the big N. #Metroid32nd
Deadweight (@corobonii)
Gave Super Metroid a chance in 2014, and since then I’ve fallen in love. It’s now my all time favourite video game series, for not only immersing the player in its believable world, but also for not sacrificing its impeccably refined gameplay to achieve that world.
Jorge Andrés Beltran (@CosmicTotem)
#Metroid32nd I got to know about metroid when I purchased super metroid for the Wii U on club Nintendo
Mrej (@SybexLIVE)
Super Metroid holds a very special place to me, it has a huge nostalgia value for me. Ever since the first time I played my first Metroid game, I fell in love with the Metroid franchise and have played virtually every Metroid games ever since. #Metroid32nd
Dragonite13 (@Dragonite131)
Ah, Metroid. As a female gamer, it’s great to have characters like Samus to look up to. I’ve always felt more independent than isolated in these games. Combine this with lore, fantastic music and unique locations, and you get a game that I will never cease to enjoy. #Metroid32nd
Varia the Hunter (@Varia31)
Metroid is a work of art to me. I love it! We have an amazing space epic that truly pulls you into its world, where we get to explore and experience the unknown alongside Samus, who I admire for her strength and perseverance despite all the odds against her. #Metroid32nd
Garçon des Fées (@CantiKick)
Those game blew my mind by the massive work put into level design, abilities, and drawing Samus helped me level up artistically when it comes to dynamic poses #Metroid32nd
Metal Snake (@MetalSnakeXIII)
My first interaction with any metroid material was Super Smash Bros and Samus became one of my mains throughout the series. the first Metroid game I’ve beaten was Zero Mission followed by Prime 1 and ever since then it has been one of my top 3 Nintendo franchises #Metroid32nd
Conrad (@CynicalBoost)
#Metroid32nd Metroid is a series that will always be important to me because of the fascinating worlds and creatures you discover, being unafraid to try new and daring things, stories that immerse you in an vast universe, and great characters, upgrades, and abilities.
Team Rocket Agent (@TeamRocketRUGA)
I’ll never forget the day my father bought me Super Metroid at Toys R Us in the mid 90’s! He never had to do that but he did. Forever grateful for that. He is the reason why I own a nes, snes and others. The reason why I have Samus Returns as well! #Metroid32nd
Felix Vitela
Having bought Metroid Fusion & not Sonic Advance 1 back in 2004 *with me being 4yo at the time*, i was kinda surprised at how easy it was to explore/maneuver for quite awhile, then once i got to the sector station elevator & saw Samus X burst out, i got immediately hooked. Playing Fusion later on showed me the incredible capabilities of Nintendo’s programming, & how they were able to create a fun exploration-based adventure while cramming so many effects into it, almost like Super Metroid (which i hadn’t played until 2014, via the Superboy). The Metroid series overall shined bright in the last 32 years, &, while a few were released, their replay value & nostalgia makes up for all that. Finding your way past a vast maze, shooting the baddies, & gaining powerups in unexpected ways is where its at. Happy #Metroid32nd!
C●Marie (@CelesteMarie0)
#Metroid32nd I didn’t lived that time, I was born in N64 age, but I played Metroid 2 Return Of Samus and loved it, and in GameCube I played Metroid Prime 2 Echoes (actually a Prime Saga Fan) and now I am finally able to play the first Metroid with my Nes mini
Corey Cooper (@MetroidFREAK21)
The series means everything to me. The games are consistently enjoyable (for the most part) and I buy Nintendo devices just for the chance to get a game on it. Metroid will always be my favorite franchise in gaming! #Metroid32nd
MetroidMan (@SdSmith001)
#Metroid32nd Make some time for it. It is hard and the map is daunting. But once you start to acquire the items you will find your way. Have faith and persevere. In the end it is worth it.
Captain ~Ridley~ America (@Archomax)
Hey c’est bientôt #Metroid32nd Va falloir faire chauffer les crayons pour l’anniversaire de la meilleure licence du monde
TRANSLATED: “Hey it’s #Metroid32nd soon, we gotta heat the pens for the anniversary of the world’s best license ever
James Healey (@JamesCHealey)
#Metroid32nd is my favorite series. It’s meant a lot to me in terms of exploring and collecting as many things as possible.
ChozoCraig
Happy #Metroid32nd ! While I find the original unplayable today (no map! Too hard!), it fascinated me as a kid.
This was the first game where I could explore and go anywhere. Super Mario Bros. didn’t even let me go left. In Metroid, that’s the first thing you’re taught!”
Chris Septicor (@Septicor)
I was given a copy of Super Metroid from a friend of my Dads, a week before its release. To this day I consider it my all time favourite game, and made me fell in love with Metroidvania games.
Also, the original Metroid was released on the same day as my birthday. #Metroid32nd
MetroidMaster (@MetroidMasterX6)
The Metroid series has contributed to my namesake, and has opened me up to whole new ways and genres of gaming. I still love playing the games, and will never get tired of Fusion and Zero Mission #Metroid32nd
David Sterling
I grew up with Super as my third game when I was five; my single mother and I played it together for months, and it’s definitely had an impact on how I percieve the world around me. It helped me develop a strength in unorthodox thinking, using my imagination to assess multiple solutions to the same problem.
Metroid showed me that there are always new ways you can grow to improve, and that often starts with the ever-present need to examine your own biases. That includes the ones I formed toward women in other media; Samus showed that the identity of womanhood doesn’t require expectations, behaviors, or signifiers, that a woman can be essentially anything.
Samus is a suit of armor, a person, a nomad, compassionate, fierce, reflective, and so much more. My favorite game character, and my favorite series.
Andrew Hanratty-Mullan
From the moment I booted up Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, I was in love. The atmosphere just absorbs you into the games, and I’ve yet to find another series that could fill such a specific itch.
Jeffery Francis (@JasonBall34)
#Metroid32nd The series isn’t holding some special place in my heart or anything, but I’ve played most of the games and they’re all fun in their own way, something unusual in game series. Fun lore and environments add to the pure fun factor.
SMASHley (@metroidhunter94)
#Metroid32nd This series means the world to me. The first Prime stole my heart with its gorgeous world and stark sense of isolation, and it remains my favorite game to this day. Its second sequel, however, is the game that forever changed my life.
When I first played Prime 3 I had recently been diagnosed with a condition that would affect me for the rest of my life. It was all too easy for me to draw parallels between Corruption’s story and my own. Samus was just like me; she was fighting with something within herself that she had no control over. What amazed me, though, was how she never let the fear consume her or stop her from fighting with all her strength. Even in the game’s final moments, when she had only a few short minutes before she inevitably died, she. kept. fighting.
Finishing Corruption was more than just a gaming achievement; it was a triumph over the fear and hopelessness that had consumed my life. To this day Samus remains a symbol of undying strength and inspiration for me.
TrueNeutralMatt @ Cape Cod
#Metroid32nd Ever since I played Prime 3 back in 2007/8, the series had a special place in my heart. Collecting items, cool armors, awesome weapons & gadgets, the planets, boss fights, atmosphere, being explorative. It’s got things I never find in Mario or Zelda. I love it!
GoForBroke (@g_broke)
When I think of Metroid, I think of Kenji Yamamoto’s wonderful music. No matter the atmosphere, he always nails it. Metroid defined my pre teen years for me. #Metroid32nd
ChozoWolf (@ChozoGirl)
#Metroid32nd The english language does not have suitable words to describe how much I love Metroid, its characters, lore, universe, everything is so wonderfully designed it almost feels real.
Soul (6_Soul_9)
#Metroid32nd Metroid to me is the first experience of a wonderful game and something i’ll use my resources to create the proper device to play my very first and still kicking and saving Metroid fusion
PJBgamer
Here’s my message for the #Metroid32nd and for you. A Nintendo franchise that caters to the tastes of expert and mature players more so that most others. I started with Fusion and Prime, and it’s shaped the way I enjoy games ever since.
Genuine Realist (@Kondem60)
I became a Metroid fan only very recently. There aren’t a lot of games I’ve fallen in love with in such a small period of time. As a young gamer I can safely say that despite the age of these games, most of them have held up amazingly today.
#Metroid32nd
oh mman (@schultechowder)
#Metroid32nd Metroid in general has always been inspiring from mechanics, story and character development. It inspired me to try more detailed art, tell stories in unique and different ways, it also inspired me to make games of my own. Its also the first game I played ever.. Also to add on, samus is one of the coolest most developed characters ive seen, i keep finding out more little details they sneak in to every game, like how her fusion suit has metroid details like the 3 dots on the back, the three prongs on the arms looking like chozo/tallons
Matteo (@TyrantLizard45)
#Metroid32nd Still my favourite Nintendo franchise and with good reason. Recently 100% completed Prime 1 and now working on Prime 2, can’t and won’t stop. Prime 4 will be worth the wait, but for now happy birthday to our favourite bounty hunter.
A HUGE thank you to the Metroid community and our team for sharing their messages via the #Metroid32nd hashtag. The Metroid community is a brighter place with you in it. See you next mission!
Published on 6th August 2018