Metroid is another classic, old school NES game released sometime in 1986 or 87. It is an action/shooter type of game that is kind of like a combination of Mega Man and Legend of Zelda. It focuses a lot on exploration, but you also get to shoot at enemies and find weapon upgrades along the way. You control Samus Aran as she travels through a space station on the planet Zebes. This game has a totally different storyline/characters than any of the other Nintendo games from the late 80s and early 90s. I felt like they copied a lot of these concepts from the movie "Aliens" that was in theaters around this time. Metroid was often forgotten about, and I'll admit it feels like it does lack a lot compared to The Legend of Zelda. Although, it was only the first game in the series.

Graphics 6/10: Metroid is another one of those old NES games that isn't that great looking of a game. The sprites have seen a little bit of an improvement over games like Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda. However, the backgrounds are just plain boring and uninteresting. It's basically just the same black background in every area of the game! Even though the sprites are an improvement, they still don't look good either. The first Metroid game suffers from a lot of the same problems that many of these early games had. I'm sure the 8-bit NES couldn't produce games that were very attractive at the time. Just like with all of these games from the 80s, I still can't rate the graphics of Metroid that high.

Music 8/10: This first Metroid game has some songs in it that are very catchy and memorable. Although, many of them are pretty generic. The Brinstar theme is pretty bland, and the Norfair theme is even worse. Ridley's theme is okay, but the themes for Kraid's hideout and the opening/closing songs are the main tracks that really stand out to me. The soundtrack is a mixed bag, but Metriod does have some music that will stick with you. There were better sounding games on the system, but I guess the music of this game is still decent. Unlike in The Legend of Zelda where every song was catchy as hell, Metroid's soundtrack mostly consists of okay songs with only one or two that I remember being that great.  

Gameplay 10/10: The gameplay of Metroid is the strongest part of the game. Even though the music and graphics may not be as great as Zelda, the level design is almost as good. I did enjoy playing Zelda more because of the way you had to buy items where you needed Rupies in order to buy them. Metroid doesn't encourage players to collect money like that game did, but there is still a lot of exploration to the layout of this game. You'll need to find weapon upgrades in order to make progress with the game, but you don't need Rupies in order to get them. In Metroid, you just have to find them which doesn't encourage players to explore the levels as much, but you'll still need to hunt down a strategy guide or walkthrough to find them!   

There are still a lot of puzzles to solve in this game, there just aren't as many like in Zelda. At first, you'll have no clue as to where to go or what to do, and that's where a guide is needed. Even after watching walkthroughs of this game, I still have some trouble memorizing the right path and weapon order to go in. That's the whole appeal of this game, and it only gets easier the more you do it. Not only that, but just like with Zelda, Samus picks up health, missiles, and can do more cool moves after finding secret areas located throughout the game. My favorite move is the screw attack because it is a much easier way to kill some of the tougher enemies. 

Just like with Zelda, you get to keep everything you collect along the way even if you die. All your moves, weapon upgrades, and missiles are still there, but you will have to kill enemies in order to replenish your health. You don't even have to go back that far if you do get a Game Over. Metroid is a game where players still find themselves progressing and moving forward, and the game just keeps giving you more prizes with the more progress you make. However, in this first Metroid game there aren't as many rooms and areas to explore. You're mainly just re-playing the same parts of the game and backtracking in order to find things, but it's still pretty satisfying. 

Metroid puts most of its emphasis on figuring out where to go and in what order to do it in. The way in which it becomes less tedious and time consuming after several playthroughs also gives you an incentive to play this game again. It isn't as big as a game like Legend of Zelda, but there is still a lot to explore in Metroid and like with that game it only gets easier the more you play and memorize the proper order in which to grab everything. I hardly even need a guide to play this game anymore because of how the layout of the areas just seem to stick with me.

Story 9/10: I thought the storyline for Metroid was something different from any of the other games of that time. It was the first time the main character was a female bounty hunter dressed in a heavily armored spacesuit equipped with a gun used to kill aliens. The plot of the game is that a bunch of Space Pirates have taken control of a space station on the planet Zebes. The pirates plan on creating Metroids (jellyfish-like creatures that grab hold of living beings and kill them by sucking up all their energy) to destroy all the life on Zebes. The Galactic Federation sends a bounty hunter by the name of Samus Aran to break into the space station and destroy the pirate's Mother Brain.

In order to defeat Mother Brain, Samus has to explore the station in order to find upgrades for her weapon and spacesuit. She also has to defeat Ridley and Kraid who are two aliens that are protecting the Mother Brain. Like the title for this review says, the plot of Metroid is a different type of game, but it is similar to the movie "Aliens" which was released around this time. Nintendo does sort of copy the movie, but this is still a great idea for a video game. I did find it more creative and enjoyable than the plot of the first Super Mario Bros. game, but (like with everything else) not quite as original as Zelda because of the way they borrowed a lot elements from the "Aliens" movie.

Content 9/10: This Metroid game has a fairly decent amount of content to it, but it isn't that impressive compared to some of the later games. From what I've heard, Super Metroid had more going for it. With this game you only have about 5 different areas that you spend a good deal of time playing and backtracking through in order to find upgrades, missiles, and energy tanks. Metroid for the NES includes: Brinstar, Norfair, Ridley's Hideout, Kraid's Hideout, and The Final Area with Mother Brain. There is only about 2 hours worth of content and gameplay to this Metroid game. It's not that short of a game, but there still isn't that much to it either.

Difficulty 6/10: In some ways, this Metroid game is easy to play, and in other ways it is hard. It's an easy game if you have everything memorized and know what to do. If you don't know where to go, I feel like you can't play it. In 1987, they did have strategy guides and maps in Nintendo Power magazine. Nowadays, you'd go online and look it up or go to YouTube and find a good walkthrough video. This is another similarity to Zelda. The main objective is to figure out where to go, and that is impossible without some kind of map or walkthrough. Once you do that, this game is pretty easy with all the energy and weapons you can collect.

Samus can take a lot of damage before dying and getting a Game Over except for at the beginning when she doesn't have much energy collected up. Even if you die, you get to keep all your missiles, special attacks, and it is pretty easy to collect energy in order to build your stock back up. The hard areas take some practice, but I feel like as long as you keep playing you'll beat them too. If you know what to do, Metroid is an easy game, and after a few playthroughs you'll find yourself needing to rely on a walkthrough less and less. I think Metroid has about the right amount of difficulty without becoming too hard unlike with Mega Man. There is more attention put on problem solving instead of difficult platforming and enemies.

Overall 8.4/10: My final grade for Metroid on the Nintendo Entertainment System would be about a C+. I find this game and Legend of Zelda to be very similar, but Metriod doesn't have as much to it with the soundtrack, gameplay, creative plot, or amount of content/levels that that game had. I do like how it is easier to play than Mega Man after you learn the ropes. After finding a good walkthrough and memorizing it, I happen to really enjoy playing this game quite a lot, and that's the game's strongest area. The weakest part is still the game's graphics, soundtrack, and the way the idea for the game copies a lot from the movie "Aliens". It is a different type of Nintendo game, but it still has a lot of similarities to that movie!