#220: Metroid: Zero Mission (2004, GBA)

I can't think of another game remake I approve of more heartily than Metroid: Zero Mission. The reason for this lies in looking at the title it is remaking, the original Metroid. To put it simply, when compared with every other title in the Metroid series, the original Metroid kind of sucks. Like, really sucks. Whereas every other Metroid has displayed tight control, interesting and varied environments, and exploration based gameplay that veers closely towards being aimless and arbitrary without actually being so, the original eschews all of these. The environments are ludicrously repetitive, objectives are obscure and inscrutable enough to make Simon's Quest blush, the controls are loose, and the way enemies spawn endlessly must have been a big inspiration to Ninja Gaiden. Now, all is not all bad there, Metroid did more for establishing atmosphere as a tenet of game design than any other 8-bit title I can think of, it established the wonderful Metroid formula, and as far as NES titles go its problems aren't especially damaging. Still, in the grand scheme of Metroid, the original had been relegated to the not really worth going back and playing pile.

So along comes Metroid: Zero Mission, which does a brilliant job of merging the excellent gameplay of Super Metroid with the general world and plot of Metroid (well, plot-wise it merges in the story built around the original, seeing as the original did not really have a plot in-game). The result is a pretty much perfect blend of of nostalgia (such as when one recognizes moments from the original) and fresh new ideas (like the excellent stealth sequence near the end of the game).

It's not a 1:1 remake, the order one acquires items has been jumbled around, the player is provided general waypoints to help overcome some of the more arbitrarily hidden tasks of the original, the level layouts have been pretty totally overhauled - the general structure is kept, but now individual areas actually look unique as opposed to the originals ludicrous repetitiveness. Now, this makes things feel somewhat smaller, but this works to its benefit - what good is a large world when each hallway is identical to that before it?

Metroid's excellent sound design loses some of its charm in the move to the GBA - the tracks are mostly the same, but they just don't feel quite right being orchestrated over being 8-bit - some of the sense of atmosphere is left behind in the transition from sparse to lush. The graphics, while obviously being a hell of a lot more detailed likewise undermine that sense of atmosphere - again, there is something to be said for sparseness over lushness. Also not helping things on the graphical front is the GBA's seeming inability to produce graphics that don't feel washed out (actually, it can produce them, it's just the original's lack of a light source forced developers to use a washed out style). One could actually make a strong case that Zero Mission here has the weakest atmosphere in the series.



Luckily for it, atmosphere isn't what makes Metroid great, gameplay is, and Zero Mission - despite the inclusion of waypoint assistance - does about the best job of letting the player loose to explore and discover since Super Metroid (well, discounting the Prime series).

Metroid: Zero Mission
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Released: 2/9/2004
Obtained: February 2004

9.0/10

#178: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords (2002, GBA)

The idea behind Four Swords, turning the top-down Zelda titles we've always loved into a cooperative/competitive game, is so strongly compelling that it is a wonder that it didn't come sooner. The idea is that you, as Link, work with the other 3 Links to work through the dungeon while simultaneously competing for rupees. The answer to why this never took off as it should have may have something to do with the sort of technical restraints required to make it work. As presented/designed in this instance, the players cannot quite share the same screen - the competitive aspect requires that players be able to act in semi-secrecy at least occasionally. This also rules out split-screen, forcing us onto whatever platform most easily provides individual screens. Enter the Game Boy Advance, where this works perfectly. The problem with the GBA, however, is the barrier to entry - a system, cable, and game ~ some $160 in 2003 dollars.

Nintendo nearly fixed this with the GameCube's Four Swords Adventures, which put the action on a single screen... until a cave is entered, which then requires everyone playing to have a GBA and a GCN-GBA link cable, the same barrier to entry then presents itself (a barrier which sank the otherwise promising GCN-GBA venture entirely).



These barriers meant I was only able to play Four Swords enough to complete all 4 of the available dungeons once. What I could see, however, left me feeling pretty bad that this would, by its nature, never be able to become what it should have been. It isn't the only properly harmed in this way - the aforementioned Four Swords Adventures was, as was the excellent Pac-Man Vs. - all of them leave one wondering what would have happened had the GBA/GameCube had WiFi built in like the DS/Wii do (ironically, we still need to wonder, as the GBA/GCN debacle seems to have scared Nintendo off of ever utilizing the DS/Wii in the same way).

[The single-player portion of this title, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, is reviewed here - this score reflects both halves of this title]

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo R&D2 / Flagship
Released: 12/2/1992
Obtained: Christmas 2002 (Gift)

9.0/10

#27: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992, SNES)

Allow me to put on my hater hat here as I explain how Link to the Past is one of my least favorite entries in the entire Zelda series. There is simply something about it that leaves me feeling cold - probably the same something that leaves me ambivalent towards Finding Nemo and Princess Mononoke with regards to their places in the Pixar and Ghibli canons. It is a weird feeling - for all of these I can totally respect their quality and the technical proficiency on display, yet I am at a loss to see how they can manage to stir such passions amongst their many fans, or at least at a loss that others can see them as obviously superior to other entries in the same series.

Forced to pinpoint what, exactly, turns me off probably lies with issues I have with the control mechanics. There's just something about the way Link swings his sword - his reach and the notable lack of crunch - and something about the way Link moves - with a slight delay in acceleration, and a seeming lack of urgency - that just doesn't quite work for me - especially when compared with Link's Awakening, which was released around the same time and nailed these things better than any other 2D Zelda title out there. This is combined with a story that just lacks the sort of heart or inventiveness seen in titles like Majora's Mask, Link's Awakening, and Wind Waker - or even drier entries like Twilight Princess.

These may seem to be rather nit-picky type complaints in what is otherwise an excellent title, but the fact is that, even in an adventure game, control is king. Also I expect the absolute best from Miyamoto and his team, and they are really really good at delivering on this in spades 90% of the time - that they are a bit off here makes it worthwhile to take them somewhat to task.

Setting aside complaints, there's still just a ton of good stuff going on here. Most notable is probably the sheer enormity of the quest here - there's a good what, 12 dungeons? Compare to Wind Waker and its maybe 5 (being generous in what constitutes a full Zelda dungeon) - or Majora's Mask and its 4. In fact I can't recall any other entries that went over 9. And these aren't Zelda 1 style palette swaps either, but expansive and unique locales each with a well utilized item to find (barring the lame tunic upgrades). Link to the Past was also responsible for developing some of the concepts that would become mainstays of the series going forward. Let's not forget that this is only the third title in the series - it invented things like the use of parallel worlds, dramatically expanded on what story telling is seen in the Zelda series, brought us the Master Sword, hookshot and more.



It's pretty surprising, though, how uninteresting it is to talk about what makes the Zelda series work. They pretty much just sort of do. There's a satisfaction to derived from the exploration and the solving of puzzles. What's incredible is that as banal as it would seem to be to put one of these together, no one else seems able to really come close to matching Nintendo on the adventure game front. Sure, others are able to easily surpass them on the artistic fronts - witness Shadow of the Colossus and Okami for example, who pretty much blow every Zelda title out of the water in both artistic style and storytelling - but neither can quite match the gameplay or design quality on display here, even if it isn't up to the standards of the series.

Special note: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past occupies numbers 27 (SNES), 178 (GBA), and 410 (Virtual Console) in my collection. The Four Swords mode of the GBA version will be reviewed separately.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Released: 4/13/1992
Obtained: Christmas 1993 (Gift)

9.0/10