Gaming Anniversaries August 6- Metroid

Metroid

Released August 6, 1986- Metroid

Metroid first hit the Japanese market on this day in 1986. For the Famicom Disk System!

MetroidOne of the most iconic games int he NES library, Metroid, is celebrating its anniversary date today. The game is now 32 years old.

Metroid takes place in the distant future. The Galactic Federation is at war with the pirates of planet Zebe, and they have a stolen a critical weapon. The lifeform Metroid that is in a state of suspended animation at this time, however, it is responsible for the destruction of entire planets and races, and as such has to be stopped.  It’s up to Samus, equipped with her cybernetic power suit to stop them and put an end to the reign of terror before the Metroid is unleashed!

The game is a simple run and gun type shooter. However, it takes plan on one huge map laid out like a puzzle. As such, it’s easy to get very lost very quickly. To that end, players have been known back in the day to create their own grid maps or rely on ones from magazines back in the day. Fortunately for us today, we have the internet, but back then Metroid must have been an absolute nightmare of a game to complete.

The game is additionally credited with a surprise ending. I suppose I’ll spoil it now. Samus is, in fact, a female. Causing waves in the video game world. In an age where most games of the time had male characters that would often save the female princesses or other such cutesy characters, Samus really stood out!

What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below!

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