Metroid. It’s probably the actual best franchise Nintendo has created. Solid gameplay based on exploration and item progression, a story timeline that actually makes sense and features a consistent protagonist and universe (lookin’ at you, Zelda), and some of the most memorable and atmospheric worlds ever navigated in games. In particular, Super Metroid put the series on the map in the industry as helping define an entire genre. Back in the day, Metroid was among the greats.
And Nintendo has no clue what to do with it right now.
Following a… mixed reception, at best, to 2009’s entry into the series, Other M, there hasn’t been much action for Metroid fans. So imagine the shock and excitement when rumors of a new title to be announced came to fruition at this year’s E3. And then imagine the shock and outrage when said title was confirmed to be a co-op multiplayer/sports spinoff featuring none of the aforementioned features that made the series special to start with: no exploration or open-world gameplay, generic space marine player characters and no main narrative, and a silly tone devoid of the series’ grand immersive tradition. Actually, you don’t have to imagine the outrage. The trailer for Metroid Prime: Federation Force on YouTube has a dislike rate of almost 90%. With that kind of announcement as the first Metroid game in over five years (the first good one in almost a decade), it’s not hard to come away with the opinion that Nintendo is a tad removed from the place where they were when they first created Samus and her world.
But I’m not here to rant about how much Federation Force is a slap in the face to the series. Right now I’m here to talk about how Super Metroid can still save it. Or rather, a remake of Super could.
I should note that usually I don’t go in for remakes as opposed to new, original ideas. I think they’re usually a little lazy as a way to put out an installment that doesn’t require the same conceptual, programming, or design efforts; or a stopgap measure to sate fans of a series between major releases. But that brings me to my first point. A remake of Super, at this point, would primarily be a return to form and a celebration of Metroid‘s roots. Since it’s clear that there’s not much desire to come up with a new concept for it right now, returning to the concept put forth by what many consider to be the greatest in the series would go a long way toward convincing them that Nintendo still respects the elements that earned Super its recognition. A gesture saying “now look guys, we remember this exists. We loved it too!”
This gesture would not be lost on an audience who grew up and is still playing and making games under Super Metroid‘s influence. Metroidvania is a fairly popular genre in the indie scene and it would be missing a massive opportunity not to capitalize on that, even from a business standpoint. The genre alone would sell copies, never mind the association with a classic Nintendo name.
Besides, simply being a remake wouldn’t necessarily mean that it’s a complete recycling. Given modern console capabilities, a successful capture of the aesthetic and tone of Super Metroid would be mind-blowing to witness. Imagine exploring Zebes in full HD, even 3D, environments and the kind of graphical quality that could be brought to bear in portraying them. Imagine Super’s amazing and varied soundtrack given a remaster across the board. Heck, even imagine an updated control scheme that streamlines some of the clunkier bits of Super in terms of movement and HUD navigation.
The progression of the game would also be an easy roadmap to follow. Super has one of the best such roadmaps that video gamers have ever been challenged to follow. For an in-depth analysis of this as its own topic, I recommend reading “The Invisible Hand of Super Metroid,” but for this post, suffice it to say that every area, every item acquisition, and even every dead end is placed in such a way as to guide players subtly while still affording them the sense of exploring the game world. Exploration is the defining trait of the Metroidvania genre, and one of the best examples of it could be lifted wholesale at a time when that genre is popular.
And of course, if Nintendo really wanted to go the extra mile, they could add new content: perhaps new game areas (think Chozodia from Zero Mission), unlockables (taking cues from Prime Trilogy’s bonuses), incentives to speedrun, extra game modes like a harder difficulty or item randomizer… all of these have solid precedents from both previous official entries and the fanbase.
A remake would be great, but I feel like an effective one would be done with a couple caveats in place.
First and most essential, the game mechanics themselves would have to be virtually untouched. The reason Super has endured in the fans’ memories for so long and still maintains an active playerbase today is because of how versatile the physics and even the glitches have become, catering to all styles and paces of play. The temptation to remove single-wall wall jumping or the Mockball to “balance” the game or tighten the programming would definitely force it to conform to a unified vision, but it would sacrifice all of the charm and longevity Super possesses – not to mention completely alienate the speedrunning portion of the fanbase, who would be among the first to buy it. The touchstone to point to here is Ocarina of Time 3D, which retained most of the sequence break-enabling glitches while still touching everything else up.
Second, even though the graphics and sound would be well-served if brought to modern standards, the design sensibilities would have to be grounded in the spirit of discovery and player-determined experience, something that isn’t always as appealing to developers today looking to railroad and handhold players according to their own ideas. That just doesn’t fly in Metroid like it might in a AAA cinematic release. For the sake of the experience, keep the noob bridge and don’t show a “run button” popup over it.
And, for the love of all that is not Other M, it would have to be free of any attempt at fleshing out the story beyond the opening monologue and a very few sparse cutscenes. The narrative of Super is simple, and that simplicity grants it power.
In short, the keys to success in a remake are updating the production values while not needing to update the gameplay, aesthetic, and narrative elements that have already proven timeless enough to warrant a revisit. Not that any of this is likely to occur, given the sparseness among Metroid titles that’s been a plague since even the N64 era, and the (sadly accurate) perception at Nintendo that it’s simply not one of the more popular franchises they can offer. Even so, just because the opportunity isn’t taken doesn’t mean it’s not there. I doubt many complaints would arise from Metroid fans.
