Since today I seem to have gone on a Metroid kick I thought I would go ahead and educate. While reading through more RSS goodness (I am sure you noticed I do this a lot) an interesting (but long) read caught my attention. Lucas DeWoody of Advanced Media Network’s Wii section, has put together a four page article concerning the history of Metroid from its plotting at Nintendo to all five of the currently available games.
The Metroid franchise is obviously one of the most cherished franchises in gaming, both from the perspective of hardcore Nintendo fans and the media alike, with Super Metroid even topping “greatest of all time” charts in both online and print media. Though even with all its many accolades, the Metroid franchises is also one of the biggest tough luck cases in gaming both past and present, proving the old adage of almost always being in the right place and the wrong time. Though acclaimed by many, the franchise has rarely managed to achieve mass-market success, even when it goes above and beyond anything the competition can muster. Part of this can be blamed on circumstance, and part can be blamed on the franchise’s publisher Nintendo, but either way, Metroid has suffered through everything from overshadowed launches and near extinction all while bringing us some of the most cherished moments in all of gaming. Let’s take a detailed look back in time at the birth and evolution of this amazing series that has done everything from rewrite the book on open-ended platformer design, to establish a new identity for strong female stars in a leading role.
This is definitely a good read for new and old Metroid fans.
