Metroid Database.com

Recommended Games

For Metroid Fans

by TJ Rappel

This is an archived article written by TJ Rappel, the site's former webmaster. Click here for the more recent Recommended Games page!

The Metroid series is but one title within an entire genre of action/adventure videogames. This genre dates back to Atari 2600 classics such as Adventure and Haunted House, and actually has its roots in text-based adventure games for early computers. There are many games in this genre, but only a handful are on the same level of quality, character, and appeal as Metroid. With that in mind, the MDb highly recommends the following titles and series for any Metroid fan's game library.

Kid Icarus is actually what I would call the "Companion Game" to the original Metroid. They both came out in the US as the first "Password Paks" from Nintendo; they are both adventure games with fantastic themes that offset each other nicely (sci-fi vs. Greek mythology); and to top it off, they share some of the same staff, most notably the awesome Hip Tanaka doing the music (whose Kid Icarus work is on par with, if not better than, Metroid) and supervisor Gumpei Yokoi. It's also similar in that Pit (the main character) gets powerups that change his color, the game has multiple endings in which you can watch Pit transform, and finally, once you finish the game, you can start a new one from the ending with all your powerups and just plow through it. If you own Metroid, you really SHOULD own Kid Icarus!

I barely even need to write anything about these games, as The Legend of Zelda series is now a legend of its own in videogame history. In the Zelda games, the elements of exploration and item-juggling that go along with adventure games are expertly blended with storylines that are simple yet involving. Few games present the entire package of playability, addictiveness, and pure charm the way Zelda does. And as in any good adventure game, there's always more than meets the eye, whether it's that hidden passage found by burning down a bush, or a network of subterranean dungeons whose front door is a crack in a mountain, or an entire parallel universe where Ganon is working towards the end of the world. Few games do it all as well as The Legend of Zelda.

A series which started on the MSX computer, moved on to the Famicom/NES, PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Metal Gear has since grown into one of the most popular titles in videogames today. Metal Gear is known for being a little different type of action/adventure -- rather than running into the next area with guns a-blazin', your character -- a lone special ops commando known only as Solid Snake -- needs to use stealth to infiltrate enemy territories. Snake is dropped practically empty-handed into hostile areas and has to obtain items and weapons in order to survive. With his only back-up in the form of radio communiques, Snake is truly one man against the world. The Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid games have brought action/adventure gaming to new heights of detail and realism and should definitely be right up any Metroid fan's alley.

A totally SPRAWLING game with supercool levels, death-defying action, lotsa stuff blowing up, and one of the coolest, most twisting plots in any videogame, not to mention the way above-average graphics and music. This NES title is very different from the arcade version upon which it's loosely based, but it's a rare specimen in that the changes made to the home version actually greatly improve and deepen the game rather than detract from it. Bionic Commando gives you the same you-against-the-world feeling that Metroid does, throwing you into a hostile environment with only your wits to save your hide. Bionic Commando games are also available for the original Game Boy and the Game Boy Color.

For years, people bugged me to add Blaster Master to this list, so finally, here it is. This NES classic allows the player to explore caverns deep beneath the earth's surface both on foot and in an all-terrain vehicle (with the ability to jump!) in both side-scrolling and overhead views. Lots of monstrous enemies and plenty of ground to cover make Blaster Master a must-play for Metroid lovers. There were a number of sequels to the original NES game, but only Blaster Master: Blasting Again for the PlayStation seems to really carry on the tradition of the original.

Although the Castlevania series has been around for as long as Metroid has, the games were not originally very similar. However, with the 1997 release of Symphony of the Night, Konami worked with a new format which turned out to be very Metroid-like. Rather than trudging through a series of linear levels, players were now able to go wherever they desired (or at least, wherever able) and collect items and powerups. A map screen fills itself in (just like Super Metroid) to help you keep track of where you are in the enormous citadel of Dracula. Multiple endings reward you and change depending on how well you played. Fabulously diabolical bosses try to stop your quest, secret passages hide the strangest of relics, and old friends (and fiends) meet you every step of the way. SotN was my favorite PlayStation game of 1997; I cannot recommend this title highly enough, especially to Metroid fans!

Many Mega Man fans complain about how different the style of the Mega Man Legends games is from the original Mega Man classics. However, as an open-minded gamer (and a Mega Man fan since the very first game), I not only see the MML games as an interesting twist on the Mega Man mythos, but also as games which appeal greatly to my sense of adventure. Metroid fans should find quite a bit to like in these titles: sprawling labyrinths to explore, plenty of weapons to upgrade, and a definite sense of spookiness in some of those deep caverns populated with all sorts of hostile bots. MML and MML2 are available for PlayStation, and the first game was ported to the N64 under the title (what else?) Mega Man 64.

Be afraid -- be very afraid. This is the game that launched the "survival horror" game genre into the stratosphere. The Resident Evil (aka Biohazard) series is a true heavy-hitter of emotionally-charged action/adventure gaming. Oh sure, you have lots of great weapons and items to help you make your way through the murky mansions, buildings, sewers, and passages that make up the world of Resident Evil. But can your weapons kill a virus? Everything that adventure gamers lust after is here -- huge areas to explore, gadgets and guns, and a twisting plotline. But Capcom has thrown in a little something extra for your money: FEAR. Add to that some of the nastiest, ickiest, most evil monsters ever put in a videogame, and man, it doesn't get much better than this. RE games are available on every major console released after the Playstation.

Remember what I said up there about Resident Evil? That goes double for Silent Hill. Not only are the Silent Hill titles brilliantly-designed games, with plenty of places to explore, items to use and puzzles to solve -- but Konami has made Silent Hill synonymous with pure creeping terror in videogames. Amidst an atmosphere with a definite Twin Peaks vibe, there are things in these games that people shouldn't even think of, much less put in a videogame -- and if you're up for that sort of thing, SH delivers. Some say SH is scarier than Resident Evil, and I tend to agree -- the monsters and situations in Silent Hill are much darker, much deeper, and much more disturbing. But most of all, it's extremely cool and extremely fun.

Shenmue is the ultimate combination of adventure gameplay, RPG, and fighting. Few other games deliver an escapist experience the way Shenmue does. But instead of exploring alien worlds or monster-filled haunted mansions, Yu Suzuki's masterpiece takes place in the real world -- on the streets of Japan and Hong Kong. The freedom allowed the player is nearly absolute -- one can take as long as he/she wishes to explore and complete the game. For a truly unique adventure gaming experience, I urge you to check out something very different and try the Shenmue series.