Games - Metroid series

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	Games - Metroid series

The Metroid ( Japanese : メトロイド) games are a series of video games produced by Nintendo. One of the company's most successful franchises, the series spans through several Nintendo systems, starting with Metroid (1986) on the NES, and sequels on the Game Boy, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Revolution.

The Metroid games chronicle the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran in a science fiction setting which has been compared to that of the Alien movies. Central plot elements are the terrifying Metroid organisms, and the Space Pirates which try to exploit the Metroids' powers. The gameplay combines adventure based on exploration and item-gathering with platformer and shooter dynamics. The Metroid games are particularly associated with nonlinear gameplay, which was pioneered by the first installment in the series.

Themes

The Metroid games are set in the same fictional universe. They share most main characters and fundamental gameplay elements, with a few notable exceptions.

Setting and characters

The heroine, Samus Aran, is a bounty hunter. She wears an extremely powerful and adaptable armor suit made by the ancient Chozo race.

The eponymous in-game Metroids are large, jellyfish-like creatures with quadripartite nuclei. They are capable of siphoning an undetectable life energy from any living organism; generally causing the death of the victim in the process. Metroid II established a five-stage life-cycle in which the Metroids go through two stages of ecdysis followed by two stages of mutation. Thus maturing through four previously unknown forms: Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and Omega. Metroid Prime introduced two new, Phazon-mutated forms: Hunter Metroids, which sport tentacles enabling long-range energy siphoning; and fission Metroids, which divide into two new Fission Metroids (with different elemental weaknesses) after absorbing a discrete amount of energy. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes has a Phazon-mutated subspecies of Metroid, the Tallon Metroid. Instead of siphoning all of their power from victims, they can feed directly off Phazon. They are born as Infant Metroids from cocoons and mature into adulthood when exposed to Phazon.

The main villains of many of the Metroid games are the Space Pirates. Mother Brain led the Space Pirates on Zebes. Kraid appears as an important boss in Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission, and Super Metroid. Ridley, leader of the Space Pirate security forces, is the most important Metroid staple: he appears in Metroid, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime, and twice in Metroid: Zero Mission. The organization also includes a winged, mantis-like species, the KiHunters. The Space Pirates are very interested in Metroid research, especially in using Metroids for energy generation or as soldiers. Their Phazon experiments produced all the Metroid variants seen in the Prime games.

Gameplay

The gameplay of all Metroid games revolves around Samus collecting items, or power-ups, that give her the ability to overcome obstacles. Many of the items recur throughout the series, with some modifications, such as the Morph Ball, which allows her to curl into a small ball to access tight spaces and drop bombs.

The main enemies of the games in the Metroid series are divided into two groups: bosses and final bosses. Each game contains multiple bosses that are often encountered by entering a large sealed room and engaging in combat with a large creature. When successful, the room opens and allows further progress, usually resulting in the acquisition of an item. Final bosses are at the end of each Metroid game, and usually consist of a fight similar to a normal boss, and then a timed dash back to Samus' gunship to complete the game.

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