Metroid: Zero Mission is an updated version of the original Metroid for the Nintendo Entertainment System. If you haven't played the NES version of this game, I would recommend Zero Mission highly. I found it to be an immensely pleasing and even replayable game. The well-known story goes like this: Samus Aran, a powerful bounty hunter, is recruited to explore the planet Zebes, because the space pirates have began a diabolical experiment using strange creatures called Metroids from the extinct planet of SR388.

There’s no way around this first point: the game is short. On my first run, I beat it in around 5 ½ hours. However, I did not go back to try to collect all the energy, missile, power bomb, and super missile tanks. The other thing is that normal mode seems extremely easy. I don’t think I died once at a boss. Those are the main negative facts I can think of. Now here’s the rest of it...

The original graphics have been pumped up, and for a GBA game, the terrain is very detailed. Everything is fast and fluent, without any problems at all. The difference between red and yellow Geemers is easily told, and all of the enemies are nicely done. When the few cutscenes come on, there isn’t a whole lot of movement, but there is beautiful artwork. There could have been more, and it wouldn’t have ruined anything. There really isn’t much to say about the graphics except that they are good.

The sound is just slightly lacking. Usually, the overworld music is enjoyable, but repetitive. Also, using the beam so much, the sound of your current beam gets annoying. The sound is not all bad though; you can hear yourself running along silent corridors, and you hear little parasite bugs hiding in the ceiling waiting to latch on to you. Every weapon has its own distictive noise, as well as enemies and bosses. The sound fits most of the game rather well, but I still think there is much room for expansion.

The game is really fun, period. It has replay value (since after you beat it on normal or easy you unlock hard mode, which is actually a challenge), and it gives you the challenge of collecting all of the tanks for extra ammo. Controls are simple: A for jumping, B for beams, hold R and press B for missiles, hit Select to switch to Super missile, press the Down arrow twice for morph ball, and hit B to bomb in morph ball mode. Those basic controls were covered in one sentence, but there are trickier combinations of controls. Say you want to hit something at an angle with a super missile. You have to stand still, hit Select to switch to super missile, hold L for an angle, hold Down to aim at a down angle, hold R to ready the missile, and then press B to fire. This gets tricky when you have to be dodging enemy attacks. Another tough one is jumping around just right with the screw attack. Sometimes you have to stand on a frozen enemy, so you have to jump first, then move as to not destroy the creature.

In the end, the only real problem is the length, but that can be solved by playing through on a different difficulty, or by unlocking the Original Metroid after beating the game once. This is a good game to kill some time with, especially if you are playing it for the first time.