Metroid is one the most popular, original series in Nintendo gaming and has always produced quality content. Many people have commented on its simple yet engaging gameplay mechanics, the successful jump to the 3D realm, and the overall detail to be found in Samus Aran's adventures.
Much like other hardcore gamers, hardcore Metroid players find tricks, secrets and otherwise non-volatile glitches in the game that add to the experience of adventure. Ever tried making five bomb jumps in a row on the original Metroid? How about trying for hours (or days) to do so? Well, here are some who have lived to tell the tale. With us are two hardcore Metroid enthusiasts, Nate and Robert.
N-Philes: Hey guys. Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Say hello!
Nate: I'm probably best known as the webmaster of Metroid 2002, a site where we post videos of important stuff we've discovered, making it harder to forget what we've found and easier to recruit fresh meat. I run a forum there for discussing this stuff, as well. I also put in time capturing speed runs for Speed Demos Archive (where we show off the results of our discoveries, more or less).
Trebor: You can call me TreborSelbon (or just Trebor, either way.)
N-Philes: So, why Metroid? Is there something special about the series that continues to be worthwhile, or do variations from the original make new and different experiences?
Nate: I think that Metroid Prime in particular offered a rich experience in terms of rewarding people for working hard at the game, and that that caused a "Katamari Effect" whereby more people joined up than left every month. Eventually this ball of Prime love got so huge that the game magazines started publishing our clear times, and the idea of speed running games other than Quake infected Speed Demos Archive, starting out with Radix's famous 1:37 100% run of Metroid Prime and coming to fruition with Red Scarlet's unbelievable 1:00 100% run of Super Metroid (see below for more on that).
Some games in the series have proven richer than others in terms of discoveries. I'd include only Super Metroid and Metroid Prime in those games particularly rife with impressive tricks, while the rest of them lag behind. Possibly due to this fact, Super Metroid and Metroid Prime tend to make the people who run them superstars.
My involvement with the series was purely accidental. I was on Gamefaqs one day, looking at the Metroid Prime message board, when I first heard about sequence breaking and speed running, and the rest, as they say, is history. For a more detailed account of how I became involved with the series and how Metroid 2K2.com was organized, please see this page.
Trebor: I think one of the main reasons I've been attracted to Metroid since I was little is the exploration factor. You can basically just run around and do whatever you want in practically all of the Metroid games. While you still have to collect certain items and beat certain bosses to progress, the game doesn't FORCE you to go from Point A directly to Point B.
N-Philes: Although this is a bit off topic, I feel I must address my inner loin cloth. I'm a huge Castlevania fan. Since I believe that the Konami series was reborn from Metroid, I sometimes feel that Castlevania owes its mechanics to Metroid and can be seen as a "Medi-roid": a medieval Metroid. Do you feel that the two series are totally different? That they compliment or clash with each other?
Nate: I've never played a Castlevania game, but I have taken many a lustful gander at them when they come in to be captured for SDA (I capture all of the speed runs that are submitted on VHS to Speed Demo Archive). the two definitely do not clash in my opinion, as i have never heard anyone say, "Well, I would really love to be running Castlevania right now, but Metroid gets so much more attention from me." So yes, I like to call them "Castletroid" (as Red Scarlet says), referring to this glob of 'Troidy goodness as a whole rather than pitting the two series against each another in a fight to the death.
Trebor: While the two series do share a lot of similarities (item collection, exploration, boss fights, etc.), I feel that Castlevania is different enough not to feel like a clone. So, they compliment each other very well. You can go from playing a Metroid game to playing a Castlevania game, get the same sense of adventure, and not even think of the similarities.
