Retro Corner: Metroid (NES) Review · 12:44pm Aug 19th, 2021
There is an old edition of Retro Corner Reviews to show again, and it is when I reviewed the first Metroid in 2016. After many years of waiting for a new Metroid game Nintendo finally announced one at this year’s E3. The game is called Metroid: Dread and it's releasing in October 2021 which is what I call perfect timing. From what we saw, Dread is taking gameplay elements from Fusion but implementing them even further. There are even rumors that Nintendo might reveal a Game Boy family lineup service through their Switch Online soon. People are basing this fact on a Tweet by them which highlights Metroid II and Fusion in the report. It is hard to tell if this is the case, but the company also revealed the NES and Super NES online service every year around September. I can’t think of a better way to get people hyped for Dread than to put the Game Boy family library up featuring past Metroid games.
Now, the Original Metroid much like the NES library hasn’t aged that well. The 8-bit console always had this limited stigma about them as no matter what developers did almost none stood the test of time. I am not just talking visuals but also in the level design and gameplay department. It’s obvious the limited tech of the NES hindered the vision the developers had for achieving what Super Metroid did. However, the series much like Mario, Zelda and Kid Icarus has a legacy to it that shouldn’t be denied. For once Nintendo is giving the lone bounty hunter much needed attention after all these years. I guess Prime 4 and Dread is a good start but at the same time they shouldn’t forget what brought the series to the dance.
