What is your history with Metroid as a franchise, if any at all?

[twilitfalchion]

Now that Dread is out, I figured it'd be worth asking what your history with the Metroid franchise is, if you have one at all.

For years, I had known about Metroid, but it wasn't until 2019 or so when I first got into the series. My first Metroid game, oddly enough, was AM2R. It's a banger of a game, and the superior remake of Metroid II, if you ask me. From there I went on to play Samus Returns and the first Prime game. Dread looks to be excellent, and I'd still like to explore the series more after I'm done with it. I think what appealed to me most were the various atmospheres each game established, whether it was one of dark isolation (like in AM2R) or more mysterious adventure (like in Prime).

So, how has it been for you? Do you have a history with Metroid, or will Dread be your entry point? What pulled you into the series, and what do you enjoy most about it?

 

[MapelSerup]

Played Super on the SNES Classic and loved it. Never was able to play any other game besides the first, but I'm really looking forward to Dread once I can get my hands on it.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I played Super Metroid last year on SNES Online, and I loved it. I have Samus Returns but need to get back to it eventually. Dread is a definite purchase from me, maybe not now, but in a month or two. I also want to play the Prime games for sure.

 

[Link&Midna]

I had 2 of the GBA ones for a short while, they were really fun but my dumb ass ended up trading them in to gamexchange for the GBC pokemon tcg game. i still kick myslef over that decision cause pokemon is like $10 and these games together were 40, plus i enjoyed them a lot more lol. id like to get one of those games again sometime

 

[Ten Thousand Needles]

My first exposure to Metroid was Samus in the original Super Smash Bros. N64 is the first console I remember, so I didn't know who she was. I probably didn't even know she was a "she." My first Metroid game was Prime followed shortly by Fusion. I have vague memories playing Prime with my neighbor, but I think I was too young and my attention span too short to properly appreciate them. The first Metroid game I really played a lot was Prime 3, although funnily enough I never actually finished that one but have beat 1 and 2.

Dread looks pretty cool, but in an age where Metroidvania's are so common on the indie scene and with a few already on my backlog, it's hard for me to feel like spending $60 on it right away. Prime 4 will almost definitely be a day one buy for me, though.

Also if anyone doesn't already know: Dread has been being teased since at least the Wii days. One of the Primes (pretty sure 3) even has a scan entry hinting at it. I remember people talking about it on forums when I was in middle/high school. It's pretty crazy that it actually came out at all, even more so considering it came out after Prime 4's announcement and before we've seen as much as a screenshot of it.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

oh boy do I have the blog for this https://zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/first-completed-metroid-game.69150/

I'll just summarize though, not including that 1 minute demo that's in Brawl, my first real dive was in 2012 when my friend let me borrow his Zero Mission, then later that christmas I think, my brother got me Prime 3 on the wii. I finished neither and that was that for a long time, until my friend just let me have his Zero Mission and I'd play that on and off during the whole 2010s. Then I finally beat it last year now. The past year I played Prime and Super on NSO, but have yet to beat those too.

honestly I just don't think this series is for me, I don't like the genre in general, but the games are still great though, I guess Zero Mission is my favorite w/ Prime directly behind it

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I grew up with the NES and a massive collection of games, among which was the original Metroid. Given that Metroid was one of the games with a level of polish it was for sure one of our preferred games, along with contra, arkanoid, and Mario 3.

One year, my birthday happened to align with Easter and I remember my grandparents giving me a copy of Metroid fusion for the GBA. I don't know why since I never really expressed interest in the series beyond playing the original sometimes

Once I turned 13 I could start playing T rated games. We had gotten a GameCube when I was pretty young and we had a handful of t rated games that I was excited to check out, like crazy taxi and Metroid prime. Crazy taxi was gimmicky and novel, but didn't hold my interest. Prime, meanwhile, was exciting and adventurous and I spent hours just staring at the screenshots in the manual waiting for my next chance to play. At the same time, brawl had been out for a couple years and I quickly became a Samus main, especially in subspace emissary.

Then I bought Samus returns and had fun with the 15 or so hours that I played

So yeah Metroid has always been a series in the forefront for me. Definitely one of the harder series so I tend to lose engagement after a certain number of hours stumbling around blindly, but I've always had fun with the segments where I know what to do

 

[VikzeLink]

I only knew of it from Smash initially. But back in 2015, I got a request to play Metroid: Fusion for my youtube-channel, which I did. I really liked it, so I then also got suggestions to play Zero Mission and the Prime trilogy. I've played Zero Mission since, and the first Metroid Prime, but I'll get to the others eventually.
I've yet to replay the ones I've played, so I've never played any of them just by myself (always as an LP), so it might be a lot different to play them that way, I'll have to see. But since it's a completely blind series to me, I do want to keep that for recording, so I won't be playing Dread until I've played all the other ones first, so it's gonna be a while until I get to it

 

[Turo602]

My first exposure to Metroid was the original Metroid Prime. My older brother had a Gamecube and the game just grabbed him without having any prior knowledge of the series. Through his anticipation of Metroid Prime, I discovered Metroid: Fusion, which was my personal foray into the series. I had just enough money to get it on day of release and had no idea what I was in for as I was just piggybacking off of his hype.

But Metroid: Fusion actually ended up becoming a very important game to me. Being the youngest of 4 siblings, I never really got to experience gaming beyond wrestling games and GoldenEye multiplayer. Needless to say, I wasn't very good at either considering how stiff the competition was. Whenever I did get to play games by myself, I had to ask permission from my older siblings as I couldn't always guarantee I'd have a TV to myself and the consoles and games belonged to them.

Then one day, my mom comes home with a Gameboy Advance and 2 games, Madden 2003 and Tekken. I never got priority when it came to electronics so I was shocked they were for me as I'd assume one of my older siblings would get first dibs. Not being into Football, I had no use for Madden and because I had nothing else, I'd just play Tekken. That was until Metroid: Fusion came along and I discovered a game unlike anything I've ever played.

Right off the bat, the music, atmosphere, and colorful visuals sucked me into the game. I was platforming, shooting, and exploring while also getting a fulfilling sense of progression with each upgrade that would trigger a light bulb moment as I'd remember places I couldn't access before and trek my way back with my newfound abilities. It was a satisfying gameplay loop and til this very day it's still one of, if not, my favorite genre in gaming.

The game was so good that my brother even borrowed my game to play it before he even finished Metroid Prime and it was mine. Metroid: Fusion made me love gaming and was the first game that made me understand that video game design was a thing. I just very recently replayed it again before Dread and was overwhelmed with so much nostalgia and appreciation for just how fantastic the game still is. Before that, I had finally delved into Other M, which I enjoyed from a gameplay perspective but still very overall mixed on.

At some point, I did trade in Metroid: Fusion because the save function would no longer work and I didn't get it back until 2009 and I completely blasted through the game as a much more seasoned gamer and still loved it just as much as the first time. Luckily for me, Metroid: Zero Mission was on the horizon and on one random day at a Toys R Us, my mom had told me and my siblings that she'd get us each a game and I walked out with yet another amazing Metroid game that would stick with me for life.

My time with the Prime games however have been rather limited. I played some of the first game on my brother's Gamecube but never owned it. Dabbled in multiplayer in Echoes. Played the hell out of the Hunters demo on DS and that's about it. I own the Metroid Prime Trilogy and Hunters but never played them. Time just slipped me by and it's been long rumored that the games were coming to Switch, which I've been kinda holding out for. I'll definitely play them the closer we get to Prime 4 though.

For a long time, Metroid: Fusion and Zero Mission were my only real 2 anchors to the series. But in 2014, I downloaded Super Metroid on the Wii U and it blew me away. It was everything I loved about Zero Mission but on steroids. It's since become a game I find myself replaying on occasion, longing for the day I could be playing a new entry... Then Samus Returns happened and not only filled me in on a part of the series I had avoided, but completely modernized the series, offering a glimpse of what a brand new entry could bring to the table.

Ever since I saw those words at the end of Metroid: Fusion, I've been patiently waiting for Samus' next mission, and now here we are. Metroid: Fusion is no longer the last game in the timeline and Target still hasn't f*cking delivered my Metroid: Dread Special Edition! F*ck me.

 

[MW7]

My first experience with Metroid was in about 2012 on the 3ds with the original game. I thought it was decent, but it wasn't enjoyable enough for me to finish. I also had Metroid Fusion for free as well and have started and quit it a few times over the year after not very long playing it.

Then I played Super Metroid on the SNES Classic in 2017 and thought it was one of the greatest games of all time. I've beaten it at least 10 times now.

 

[Moblinking5000]

So, the NES was my first console(despite being born after the NES era), and I had ton of games for it. Super Mario Bros 1-3, Kirby's Adventure, Mega Man 2, etc. One of those games happened to be Metroid. It was a really interesting game. I didn't have the manual, so I had no clue what the story was. I also thought that Samus was a robot named ''Metroid'', lol. I thought it was an interesting game, I liked the music and atmosphere, but had no idea where to ****ing go.

I got a SNES(AND a Genesis; I think that I'm the only kid I knew back in the day to have both), and had alot of the classics like SMW, ALttP, the DKC trilogy, etc. but not Super Metroid, for whatever reason. My parents and I didn't even have a clue it existed, or that Metroid was even a series. I just thought of it as some oddball yet intriguing game on the NES that was a one off.

I later got Super Smash Bros and Super Smash Bros. Melee, where I learned about the person that I once called ''Metroid''. Turned out that Metroid wasn't a robot or a male; she was a woman in a suit, and her name wasn't Metroid, but Samus Aran. I heard around that time about a new Metroid game called ''Metroid Prime'' that was coming out, and my parents rented it for me. I liked it, and got the game for Christmas. I also got Metroid Fusion, and I enjoyed it a fair amount. Zero Mission came out too, and that game was the tits.

After playing the Prime Trilogy, I learned that Super Metroid came out on the Wii VC. Now, I found out about SM's existence sometime during the GC era, and wanted to play it, so I downloaded it. I didn't get far though, as I got distracted by personal stuff. Years later though, I tried it again on NSO, and fell in love with the game. It's now in my top ten of all time. I also played Samus Returns, and thought it was okay, albeit nothing special.

I also played Prime Hunters during my middle school years, and I have some nostalgia for that game, but I don't think that's a game that I would willingly go back to now.

I'm now working my way through Dread and loving it so far.

I'm not as big of a Metroid fan as I am a Zelda fan, but it's still a damn good series.

Other M can go **** itself with a capital F, though.

Also,

Played Super on the SNES Classic and loved it. Never was able to play any other game besides the first, but I'm really looking forward to Dread once I can get my hands on it.

I played Super Metroid last year on SNES Online, and I loved it.

Then I played Super Metroid on the SNES Classic in 2017 and thought it was one of the greatest games of all time. I've beaten it at least 10 times now.

Is it just me, or has no one in this topic(myself included) played SM on the original console? Did it slip under everyone else here's radar here as well?

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Is it just me, or has no one in this topic(myself included) played SM on the original console? Did it slip under everyone else here's radar here as well?

I had an SNES as a kid, but I didn't have Super Metroid on it. The timeframe was the early 2000s, so I was more focused on getting N64 games, and eventually when the Gamecube came out I wanted one.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

I didn't play it on the NES as a kid because it didn't interest me, as I've always been more of a fantasy fan.

I first played 3 of them as an adult, the ..."you know" way. I nabbed the Wii games and later got rid of them. Then I bought Super on the eshop, and got Metroid on the Classic.

Metroid wowed me. Finished it for the first time this year.
Fusion is nice, but I never finished it.
Super is amazing. Still working on it, almost done though.
Prime 3 wasn't my thing.
Other M sucks.
Samus Returns remake is fun, I'm still working on it.


Looking forward to Dread.

 

[Krazy4Krash]

I was first exposed to Metroid back in Smash 64. At the time, I didn't own any Nintendo systems whatsoever, so I only played it at my friend's and cousin's houses. The only characters in the game I was familiar with were the Mario and Pokemon characters. Despite this, Samus was actually my main, because I loved to spam her Charge Shot.

The first Nintendo systems I got wouldn't be until the Nintendo DS Lite in 2007 and Wii in 2008. It's around this time that I became obsessed with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I started to familiarise myself with the series I had missed out on playing for myself. A bit later, my brother got Metroid Prime 3 as a gift, I played it for a couple of hours, then put it down for about three years.

In 2012, I decided to give the Metroid series a good crack. I downloaded Super Metroid, Fusion and Zero Mission on my computer, and got physical versions of the Prime Trilogy and Other M for the Wii. I beat all seven of these games that year and liked them all, especially Super Metroid and Prime 1. I've been a huge fan ever since, and I consider Metroid to be one of my favourite franchises.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

I think I've mentioned this before on other threads, but may as well recap here.
My dad has always been a big gamer, and really liked the Metroid series. When I was little, he was playing through the Metroid Prime games. Since he was no good with maps or puzzles, I would figure those out while he did the action. And, when neither of us knew what to do, I was in charge of finding our spot in the guidebook. We played it for hours each day, and that's what really sparked my passion for video games (as well as by talent for figuring out maps and puzzles).
Personally, I have never played any Metroid games. At some point my dad traded the Prime trilogy, and now they go for a ton of money online. I really want to play those ones, but I'll have to wait until I have an actual source of income. Until then, I'm just helping my dad get through Metroid Dread. Ahh, just like old times.