Metroid Database.com

Begrimed is one of the founders of MetroidConstruction.com and has been working on a Super Metroid hack called Project Base since 2009. Project Base is unlike most other hacks out there, as it does very little in terms of direct changes to the level design of Super Metroid - it's mostly focused on specific gameplay changes to make the experience of Super Metroid more enjoyable to modern audiences, or even those who might have grown tired of SM's nuances over the years. Here's a short list of some of the changes that have been made:

• No more 7-second "Got Item" jingle when you acquire a new item.
• All graphics/sprites have been given new colors/palettes.
• All rooms have ben given new custom backgrounds.
• Modified animation speeds for most things, including enemies and Samus.
• Charge Beam has "vacuum effect" on pickups ala Metroid Prime.
• Morph Ball only rolls while moving, and Bombs detonate quicker.
• Sounds have been edited and changed.
• Elevators, doors and room transitions move quicker.
• Backflip move! While crouching, hold the run button, then press jump and hold left or right, depending which direction Samus is facing.
• Instant Morph move! Hold the item cancel button and press down. Samus will morph into a ball instantly without needing to crouch or aim down first. Works on the ground or in the air. Quick morphing in the air can also be done by holding L and pressing down, for players who might find item cancel annoying to use.
• Shinesparking can be done much quicker and easier.
• Boost Ball can be achieved by holding run while in Morph Ball (after acquiring Speed Booster & Spring Ball)
• Other edits to physics and beam shooting speeds.
• Much much more!

You can read the full list over on Begrimed's website. Here are some screenshots below for some graphical changes Begrimed has done:

Project Base is the newest addition to our fanapps page. Go there for more screenshots. Download this great hack today! Questions and concerns, feedback, etc, should be taken to the official thread on Metroid Construction Forums.

--Infinity's End

For all Wii U owners, Super Metroid is available today for the Wii U virtual console! Between now and June 14, the game can be purchased for the very low price of $0.30 as part of Nintendo's 30th Anniversary for the Famicom. Super Metroid is also available on the Japanese and PAL Virtual Console for the equivalent local price.

The Miiverse channel for Super Metroid should also be opened now, so even if you don't have the game, share your thoughts on the series and see what other people are talking (and drawing) about.

UPDATE: It should be also noted that affiliate site Shinesparkers is holding a month-long campaign starting today. The goal is to go into the Miiverse community for Super Metroid and show that a demand is there for getting a new Metroid game on the WiiU or 3DS. For all WiiU owners we urge you to participate and show Nintendo that Metroid fans do still exist!

--James Pierce

I don't read too many blogs, so I didn't know about this until today. Starting at the end of last month, Jeremy Parish, former EIC of 1-up.com (and also owner of Metroidvania.com) has dedicated some recent posts on his blog into deciphering the nuances and subtleties of the first Metroid on the NES. His posts go into great detail on subjects like level design choices, item placement and importance, and enemy designs, proving that Metroid is clearly a game that doesn't get nearly as much credit as it deserves, and is seemingly overshadowed by its SNES sister, considered by many to be a masterpiece of game design.

As this is a series called "Anatomy of a Game," Jeremy has written 4 posts so far and plans on writing many more. They're truly great reads; and I recommend to anyone interested in critically studying game design.

• Anatomy of Metroid I: Welcome to Zebes
• Anatomy of Metroid II: Shafted
• Anatomy of Metroid III: Set up us the Bomb
• Anatomy of Metroid IV: Ugh, wrong way, slick

Looking forward to reading more, Mr. Parish.

--Infinity's End

Although the last new Metroid game was almost three years ago, there has been a slew of Metroidvanias recently on Kickstarter to whet your appetite.

A.N.N.E. is a cross between Gradius and Super Metroid - fly around in an upgradeable ship to explore new areas, then jump out of your ship to travel on foot. The developer's main inspiration was, "Why doesn't Samus get back on her ship in Super Metroid?" Although he cites Guardian Legend, the mechanic of exiting an upgradeable vehicle and walking around sounds more like Blaster Master. With jets. You can fund it and get the game for as little as $10. This one is in need of support - it is $20k short of its goal.

Rex Rocket looks like a mash-up between Mega Man and Cave Story. There are plenty of weapon and item upgrades that unlock new areas of the ship, lots of NPCs to talk to, and some catchy chiptunes. This one can be funded for as low as $10 with soundtracks available at $15. It has already reached its funding goal.

Oh yeah, they're also making a fantastic Zelda-inspired game called Blossom Tales. They talk about it in another interview.

Chasm has almost closed, but there's still time to fund it (5 days left). It's Castlevania-inspired, with a whole lot of medieval spelunking, swords, and fantasy monsters. Funding here starts at $15. The game will also be available on Steam. Indie Gamer Chick interviewed the developer a few months back. Funding starts at $15. It has already reached its goal.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

If you need a little more help to get into that Cinco de Mayo spirit, let me just stop you there to recommend the totally awesome Guacamelee! This fantastic action-adventure is probably the greatest thing to happen to Metroidvania since Outland. You play as a luchador (masked Mexican wrestler) who must save the world from evil skeletons. Along the way, you grab a ton of abilities such as wall-jumping and wall-dashing, all with fantastic goat-themed names (seriously!). Your new powers will allow you to break down walls or perform new moves, giving you access to new areas of the game. It will take a considerable amount of exploration to track down all the nooks and crannies. And that's not all! The game is chock-full of cameos to other classic games, including Mario, Zelda, Mega Man, Castle Crashers, and Metroid!

That's right, there are statues of Metroids, along with 'Choozo Statues' that contain all your great power-ups! Oh, and did I mention it's two-player co-op???

Guacamelee! is a beat 'em up, and you'll spend most of your time beating up skeleton hombres with a wide array of kicks, punches, and head-butts. The environments are fantastic - lush forest, burning desert, and mountain passes are just three, and they're all painted with elegant Latin watercolor, all accompanied to epic Mexican ballads. It really makes you realize how awesome the culture is. This variety is also deeply refreshing for a genre that has largely been limited to the same old renditions of lava area, jungle area, rock area, and ice area (or more stuffy old castles, as with Castlevania). Since one of the great things about Metroidvania is exploration, it's pure joy to travel through a land completely new.

Since the game is based around the Dio de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, an important holiday in Mexican culture), there is also a great mechanic where you can go back and forth between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Unlike A Link to the Past, however, there is no puzzle-solving involving changing things in one world to affect the other. Rather, it is a tool for exploration - switching between the worlds will open up new paths forward. In later areas, there are some tricky wall-jump action that will make Super Metroid fans proud.

The only real downside is the game's length (five dungeons that can be cleared in about 5-6 hours, depending on how much exploring you do). However, the game boasts a lot of replay value through hard mode and speedruns - and it even ranks you against all other players. That's a feature we'd like to see in the next Metroid, too! Still, it's a good price at $15, and any Metroid fan would be doing themselves a favor by picking it up. And who knows - if they sell enough copies, we can probably expect a bigger, better Guacamelee 2! You can play the game on PS3 or Xbox 360.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

So yeah, back on the 15th, there was this huge event called METROID METAL TURNING 10 YEARS OLD!!! that we kind of forgot to cover (sorry Stemage!!!). I'll just put the blame here on getting sick and our staff's new work schedules... (Or maybe we just want to be like Capcom, who's Mega Man anniversaries last for like three friggin' years! *ahem!*)

Anyway, Metroid Metal's been one of the greatest things that's ever happened to the series, and I've spent countless hours listening to their stuff. If you somehow missed some of the songs over the past 10 years, here's a convenient zip chock full of every single MM track released so far (well, except Varia Suite - but you get that for like $8 over at Bandcamp). That's like thirty gajillion songs. Seriously, until a couple months ago, I even forgot they did Tallon IV Overworld, and it's pretty badass. Their latest track is Sector 4 from Metroid Fusion. It's also awesome.

As if that wasn't enough, there's a neat three-track arrange album of Metroid Metal music called appropriately enough Metroid Metal: 10 Years of Inspiration. It includes the Theme, Lower Norfair, and Ending. They're pretty fun, and you can pick the EP up for however much you want to pay. That means anywhere from $0 to the friggin national debt.

BTW, if you haven't checked out Metroid Metal live yet, you better keep posted to their upcoming shows page, since it's an experience like no other. If you thought listening to the CD was awesome, just wait until you see them live. I saw them at MAGFest back in January, and it was something incredible. It's like watching prehistoric tribal warriors do voodoo magic, and the music is played over speakers the size of a friggin' Volkswagen. They've also got some fantastic new animated videos by Nate Horsfall. (Protip: Stand on the left side of the stage; that's where all the action is!) This grainy YouTube stuff doesn't do it justice.

Metroid Metal will be playing at Bit Gen Gamerfest in Baltimore on June 30 and again at Nerdapalooza on August 3-5 in Orlando (which is awesome, since I live down there now!).

Until next time...
Captain Commando

According to retailer Big Bad Toy Store, a licensing issue over the Nintendo Figma's released beginning with Samus Aran has finally been hammered out. What this means is that both the Samus Figma and the Zero Suit Samus Figure will be available for purchase without having to pay import fees. Of course, Link has also become available alongside Samus.

Check out IE's review of the Zero Suit figure by clicking on the image below.

--James Pierce

It has been some time since Metroid Database has released an original feature. However I am proud to announce the latest addition to our growing collection. Was There a Heroine Before Samus? takes a look at an often forgotten old school Nintendo game in hopes of finding an answer. Click the image below to find out more!

--James Pierce

In a recent interview with ONM about Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Nintendo producer Hiro Yamada briefly mentioned Retro Studios' new game. While he naturally did not reveal what they are working on, he did mention that he hopes to show it off "in the not too distant future". Incoming E3 Nintendo Direct? Hopefully, we'll find out what Retro is working on by E3 this June.

In the same interview Retro Studios gave their seal of approval to Monster's port of Donkey Kong Country Returns. If you haven't played it already, now is a great time to jump in without fear of Retro's vision being lost. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D will be available on May 24 and 25 in North America and PAL territories respectively.

--James Pierce

A year ago, we told you about NeoGAF member Mama Robotnik who unearthed some awesome assets from the Metroid Prime series. A year later, and Mama Robotnik has uncovered some more goodies. This time, we get a glimpse at an early title screen, some very early screenshots, and a series of logos Nintendo of America tested for the game.

Keep at it Mama Robotnik! I think I speak for all of us at Metroid Database when I say that you seriously rock!

--James Pierce

In case you haven't already heard elsewhere, this past Friday, Nintendo announced that they would be shutting down their legacy servers that deal specifically with Wii channels and the transfer of Wii data online. This includes WiiConnect 24, which is what you use to send messages to your friends, as well as trading Friend Vouchers with each other.

The full announcement can be read here. Nintendo will also be doing the same throughout the rest of the world.

The Metroid Database has always been a central hub for trading Friend Vouchers amongst the Metroid community since the games were released. We hope we have been successful in making up for Nintendo's complete lack of support for these services. If you still want to trade with each other legitimately, you will have until June 28th of this year.

• Metroid Prime Trilogy Friend Vouchers Trading Thread
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Friend Vouchers Trading Thread

--Infinity's End

Via in-depth game news site Polygon, we now know what Armature Studio, the studio formed by former Retro Studios' leads Mark Pacini (direction & design), Todd Keller (art), and Jack Matthews (engineering) had been working on these past few years after their departure from Retro back in 2008. The first may come as a surprise: a first-person Megaman game called Maverick Hunter. Judging from the early prototype videos, the game seems to focus heavily on shooting and action, with flawless transitions between first person and third to witness the beauty kills. The main character (let's just call him "X"), while very sleek and futuristic looking, is also extremely dehumanized, with only a holographic projection of a face flickering in and out to show grim technology behind it. The faux visage is then further covered up by a retracting mask when going into battle. Also of note is the fact that X no longer has his signature arm cannon, and has been replaced with a retractable gun. Metroid Prime likenesses aside, it seems like Capcom wasn't willing to take the risk as it was cancelled back in 2010. Check out the entire article here.

Armature is currently working on another game called Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate, which, according to this article, is a "completely separate experience" taking place after the events of Origins. It is described to be a "2.5D Metroid-style exploration game." Blackgate will be released on Vita and 3DS as a companion title to the main console version.

--Infinity's End

For North American gamers, Club Nintendo has updated their digital rewards for April, and Super Metroid is available for 150 coins on Wii! Super Metroid is considered one of the greatest games of all time, so if you haven't had a chance to play it, now is a great time to dive in.

If you're looking for something else to spend your coins on, 3D Classics: Urban Champion, and Kirby's Pinball Land are available for 150 coins each, plus Super Mario 64 is available for 200 coins.

--James Pierce

GameTrailers.com recently put out their latest episode of Pop Facts (an offshoot off gaming urban legend series Pop Fiction). This episode explains the origins of the word Varia. You could have read about this very fact 5 years ago in my 2008 article, The Woman Behind the Visor, but of course I'm sure it didn't get nearly as much traffic as a site like GameTrailers.

You might recognize a familiar website watermark at around 0:25. Don't worry though; Mr. Bloodworth did ask us permission.

--Infinity's End

Happy Friday! All's been reasonably quiet on the Metroid front as of late. Beyond various awesome fan art and the like, we here at the Metroid Database have had very little to report on. Today we bring you three new entries to our frequently updated Bestiary today, the Crystallite, Plazmite, and Puddle Spore.

Stay tuned, as CapCom has been busy translating something awesome for you guys. That should probably be unveiled fairly soon.

Update:
One more thing. A silly little popularity contest is being hosted via Half Price Books. Tournament of Heroes pits the men and women of sci-fi vs. the men and women of fantasy. We are currently at the final round, and it is Samus Aran versus Xena: Warrior Princess. As of this writing, Samus is currently in the lead and has over 1500 more votes than Xena. Do you part and vote, no sign-up required!

--Infinity's End

It's something that doesn't happen too often. On March 16th of this year, Chris "cak" Knight defeated the previous world record, which he himself had currently held since 2005 on Twin Galaxies. How's that for some self-inspiration? Chris's video can be seen below. The game is finished in 0:15:43 and is currently being verified at Speed Demos Archive. It's considered to be a "minimalist" run, and Chris defeats Kraid to get 75 missiles, skipping Ridley entirely. He then uses a trick where you lure a Reo into the statue room, and freeze it to get into Tourian (starts around 12:30). Congratulations to Chris for his awesome accomplishment!

--Infinity's End

Blake Robinson's latest project, Super Metroid Symphony has been released today, on the 19th anniversary of the game's Japanese debut! The album is a fantastic orchestral arrangement of the Metroid series's groundbreaking soundtrack, with extremely high-quality synths, and is sure to please fans of the original. The album is available for $10 from either iTunes (MP3s) or Loudr (as DRM-free MP3 or FLAC). Go download it now, and be sure to check our review!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Fangamer has recently made available Chris Furniss' stylized book and related merch of 31 Days of Zero Suit, which you may remember getting its start through Kickstarter last year.

The new merch being offered is as follows:

The 56 page, fully illustrated, hardback book

Pinset featuring two 1.5" squre pins and two 1" square pins (four total)

The T-shirt, which comes in 4 different colors: gray, orange, aqua, and navy

and finally a 6" x 18" Glicee Print of "The Party."

If you're interested in making any purchases, please make sure you are clicking through the links or use the Fan Gamer Swag Section on the right-hand column. All purchases made through our site directly helps the Metroid Database.

--Infinity's End

The developer of Editroid, Snarfblam has released yet another hack for the seminal NES title. The hack is called "Metroid Plus," which takes the original game and adds to it a few small but extremely awesome features, the most exciting of those being SAVING! Not only does it save your game, but it also depicts the status of your current progress by showing your inventory and all the items you have discovered throughout the game. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

Pushing Start will now make a map appear. The map can be scrolled all around with the Dpad. It will show you your current location, and where bosses and elevators can be found - it's up to you to discover the item locations. It's not quite a self-updating automap, but it's pretty much the next best thing.

The last two things are a "Wavy-Ice" beam, which means that the game promotes beam-stacking. This makes it so when you collect the Ice Beam, it will not remove your Wave Beam power, and vice versa, but stack them together. There is also a new Game Over Screen which gives you the option to save your game.

Download

Screenshots:

Video:

A few last things to note:

• Find a Metroid ROM, and use a patcher utility like LunarIPS to apply the patch. The MDb will never host or provide ROMs to the public.
• If you want to save your game without dying, just push Start (pause) and then UP+Start on Controller 2 (ala Zelda 1).
• Due to there not being any more passwords, if you want to access Suitless Samus, you must do it the "proper" way by beating the game in under 3 hours. NARPASSWORD is also unaccessible due to this (but that's for cheaters!).
• Using this hack will also unfortunately remove the story screen, but who's gonna miss that anyway?

Fantastic work, Snarfblam, we can't wait to see what your next hack will bring us!

--Infinity's End

It's been a rather complex process to get this out, but we finally have available for download the Metroid Blast soundtrack from Nintendo Land. It was a bit difficult to get clean recordings of some of these tracks since there is usually a lot of background noise, and the jukebox just plays the music in the background of the main hub, coupled with the usual technical difficulties of cleaning the audio (with lots of help from Mad Mega!). Anyway, it's available now for download and as far as we know is the cleanest rip of the soundtrack anywhere.

For details on the score, the music was composed by Ryo Nagamatsu, who earlier spoke with Destructoid about his work on Nintendo Land. Here's what he had to say about Metroid Blast:

Metroid Blast is the most complex attraction in Nintendo Land, one that gives you a really full-on action experience. I gave the music an orchestral arrangement for an epic, flamboyant sound, something that made you feel you were playing inside an enormous space.

The chorus you hear in the arrangement of Super Metroid's 'Lower Norfair' music is composed entirely with my own voice, without any processing.

There's a lot of original music here, too, songs that retain that grand sort of Metroid impact. I hope it'll help players really lose themselves as they're thrown into battle inside this massive space!

Read the three-part article for a full tour of Nintendo Land's playful score!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

There's a couple new albums coming out that are focused entirely on Super Metroid music, along with a couple containing arranged music. The first of these, Super Metroid Memories just came out on February 14. I've finally gotten to sit down and write up a review, but you can also preview almost the whole album at Bandcamp for free. Super Metroid Memories is pretty experimental, with lyrics and narration (you heard that right - a Metroid lyrical soundtrack!). The album was arranged by Hyde209 (aka Sebastian Martensson, who won second prize in our most recent contest), and includes about a dozen other collaborators. It's basically a love letter to one of the most treasured games in the series, and the nostalgia trip is definitely worth your listen. You can pick up the album for $5 (comes with an exclusive bonus track and liner notes that has images from Hyde209's DeviantArt page) or preview it for free.

Next up is Super Metroid Symphony, scheduled to be released on March 3. The album is by The Blake Anderson Synthetic Orchestra, a remixer based in London. A few previews have been released, showcasing his fantastic symphonic library. Unlike Super Metroid Memories, this is a straight up orchestral arrange of the original tracks. It looks like the album will be sold through iTunes...which I happen to hate (it's also through the UK store :-/). Andersen does have a Bandcamp page, but it only contains his original music.

Third on the list is The Greatest Video Game Music 2, which came out back in November, and contains a slew of excellent arranges of iconic game soundtracks done by the London Symphonic Orchestra. The Super Metroid piece is arranged by Andrew Skeet and contains the Main Theme, Green Brinstar, and Maridia. Other arranges on the album include Final Fantasy VII's "One Winged Angel", "Dragon Roost Island" from The Wind Waker, and the main theme from Luigi's Mansion(!).You can grab the whole thing as MP3 for $5 off Amazon or the CD for $10. It's well worth the investment.

The fourth is not strictly a Metroid album, but an EP called Worlds by Vicious (aka Trev Wignall, who sent me this e-mail a few days ago... Sorry everybody - I've gotten super busy with my new job lately!). The EP is an electronica album that takes musical cues and atmosphere from the soundtracks to the Metroid series, but is an original work that should particularly appeal to Metroid Prime fans. The final track in the album, "Remorse Code", uses some direct samples from "Crateria - The Space Pirates Appear" from Super Metroid. The whole thing is free to preview and download.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Nintendo showed us a little love today, as they released their latest edition of Nintendo Direct. The show focuses on Luigi, with Iwata calling 2013 the "Year of Luigi." They are releasing 2 Luigi-centric games: Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, Mario & Luigi Dream Team, and also announced Mario Golf for 3DS (which contains Luigi). Other games that are mentioned are Fire Emblem: Awakening DLC, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Style Savvy, Lego City Undercover, Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge DLC, HarmoKnight, Kersploosh!, Mario & Donkey Kong Minis on the Move, and much much more! Also of note is they are porting Retro's platforming masterpiece, Donkey Kong Country Returns to the 3DS. You will be able to download a 3D video of it today for free via the eShop. Watch it all here:

We also have a bunch of Metroid-themed Valentine's Day cards for you to share with your family and friends. We at the Metroid Database hope you all can share some Metroid love with your loved ones. Or if you don't have anyone else to love, send one to yourself! These have been compiled from all over the internet and are all (c) of their respective owners.

--Infinity's End

Metroid Headquarters has started off the new year with a new series of podcasts, entitled "Podcast Prime." Episode 2 features an interview with me, Infinity's End! The staff then have a discussion about Samus's arsenal afterwards. Go here to listen to it. Congrats on Ep #2, guys!

In other news, we bring you seven brand-spankin'-new Bestiary entries for your viewing pleasure. Also of note, I'm proud to announce one of the newest artists to the Bestiary team: Dave Melvin. His creature artwork is truly a joy to behold, so his contributions should always be of the highest quality! The remaining artwork was by our other extremely talented artists, Doc Roe, Insanity-Engine, Methuselah 3000, and Rundash. This brings our total up to 216 entries from 31 different artists! Please enjoy all this splendid new artwork!

--Infinity's End

Hot off the presses: at this morning's Nintendo Direct, Iwata gave us a little taste of what's to come in the future for WiiU. New games announced including a yarn-based Yoshi platformer, a new action-RPG title by MonolithSoft, new 3D Mario, new Mario Kart, and The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD Remake. You can watch the whole recording right here.

A small bit of Metroid news however, is that Super Metroid will be sold on the WiiU Virtual Console in the month of May due to the celebration of the Famicom's 30th anniversary. Each month we will see a different Virtual Console game sold for $0.30, and you have 30 days to pick it up at that price. (No idea why they chose Super Metroid over the original, since they're celebrating the Famicom and not the Super Famicom, but we won't look a gift Epona in the mouth.) We will remind you again come this May for those who forget!

--Infinity's End

We've wrapped up the Stylized Metroid Series Contest. We got a range of unique styles that I think would make an I Am 8-Bit show proud. The top three results also have commentary by Ukiyo-e Heroes artist Jed Henry, who designed the Ukiyo-e Giclee prints we are giving away for this contest. Thanks, Jed!

Be sure to check out all of the entries on the contest page!

We will be coordinating with the winners to send out the prizes over the next few days. Congratulations to the winners, and a big thank you to all who participated!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

THIS JUST IN! Hackers interdpth and PJBoy have recently created a hack that unlocks Fusion's embedded debug mode! The hack allows you turn on/off any of Samus's weapons at any time, as well as other things like giving access to doors and other events. This debug mode was left in the game's code, and all the hackers did was turn access to it back on. Check out the video below. Download it here. You can find more information for its use via our FanApps page. Happy debugging!

NOTE: Use at your own risk. The Metroid Database will never provide ROM files to the public.

UPDATE: We now have a rough translation of the event text so you can figure out what events you can unlock.

--Infinity's End

A very belated Happy New Year to everyone! Today I bring you two new entries to our Bestiary, the strange and creepy Evir-X from Fusion and the ever elusive Flickerbat from Prime. Check them out below:

This is also a reminder that there is less than 1 week left to get all your entries in for our Stylized Metroid Series Contest. We will not be extending the contest past this date. Expect the results next Monday, 1/21/2013. I hope you are as excited as we are to show you the results!

--Infinity's End