Metroid: Zero Mission introduced me to sidescrolling Metroid games, and while that form of Samus Aran's adventures has remained as frozen as a Chozo statue ever since, I've long wanted to see the franchise's older iteration be given the same treatment. Zero Mission remains one of my favorite platforming experiences more than a decade later, having made something old feel fresh and as vital as when it first debuted.
Thankfully, playing through the demo of Metroid: Samus Returns, which IGN first went hands-on with at E3, has me hopeful it could be the Zero Mission sequel I've wanted all this time. Though I'm wary some changes could rob the full experience of the franchise's magic, many of the additions felt like smart ways of modernizing the original game without completely altering the adventure players remember.
But before I even dove into the main mission of the demo, Samus Returns struck me from the start with its beautiful use of 3D. While I'm not nearly as in love with the polygonal design of Samus Returns as I was the art style of Zero Mission, the depth of the metroids’ home planet, SR388, comes to life with surprising, affecting depth in 3D. Stepping out onto SR388 and seeing the greenish-yellow hue of the sky stretch out into the horizon delivered the same foreboding sense of isolation I loved in Zero Mission.
The subterranean areas of the demo were less visually striking, but allowed me to launch into, and fall in love with, some of the gameplay alterations. The addition of wall jumping, free aim, and ledge hanging makes all of that exploration more dynamic and faster-paced, but it's the inclusion of the new melee counter that really excited me.
Allowing me to vary up combat with some truly satisfying attacks, the counter ability leads to some truly satisfying encounters, so much so that I consistently stopped attacking enemies just so I could wait for them to fight back. No matter how many times I did it in the demo, I couldn't help but keep countering just so time could slow down and I could hit an enemy with a barrage of energy from Samus’ arm cannon again and again.
Of course Samus' standard attacks return, as do powerups to collect like the charge beam and morph ball. And a few ease of use changes like optional markers that can be placed on the lower screen's map for those wanting to remember the key locked doors they may have missed are nice to have. But her new Aeon abilities flesh out Samus' arsenal with my one core gameplay worry from the demo.
During my time descending into the caverns of SR388, I gained the Scan Pulse skill, which, for a bit of energy, fills out some of the area's map to help Samus locate hidden pathways and items. It's completely optional to use, but so much of the joy in a Metroid game is making those discoveries for yourself. Having an ability do that for you seems counter to the philosophy of making these games so fun to explore.
That concern only stems from Samus Returns, even in its early stages, continues to capture how exciting it can be to find new regions, secret tunnels, and weapons, and then figuring out how to use those discoveries to further explore the world. As someone who missed these adventures the first time around, Zero Mission allowed me to first experience how rewarding a Metroid game can be, and I'm hopeful Samus Returns will be the worthy follow-up to do just that for yet another generation of players.
Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN who received Metroid: Zero Mission as a birthday gift for his 12th birthday. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.
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