zero mission feels neither here nor there to me, trapped in the dead center of two schools of design that are constantly capitulating to the other. it structurally reminds of fusion in its suggestive design but lacks the exploratory atmosphere of super. everything in zero mission feels sterile; it is not a culmination of but rather a reminder of what came before it. the spritework of fusion, perfectly attuned to that titles cold and impersonal circuitry running rampant alongside a biomechanical nightmare, cannot hope to replicate the uncanny loneliness of the original metroids subterranean freedive. and the decision to backpedal on the comic book art style, remnants of which still remain in the game, does away with the opportunity to mythologize samus' original fearless adventure, which could have lended a differing yet nonetheless genuine weight to the proceedings. instead it's a story retold, a greatest hits remix of a game with awkward and needless additions to the affair. neither a game about regaining control nor a dread inducing descent, all that's left is for zero mission to succeed on the merits of its systems. it can, but that's largely besides the point

I became a fan of Metroid / Metroidvania games pretty late in my gaming career. As such, I have been going back to really investigate and play with the genesis games to titles I love. Zero Mission was universally recommended to me (even more so than Super Metroid).

While I found myself loving some GBA Vanias, the GBA Metroids really suffered a bit for me. It just feels like a prototype of games that have evolved way past this mark. Zero mission in particular, while looking and feeling great, just does too much hand holding. It also still suffers from some metroid logic which could be a bit obtuse. Feels hard to recommend this over other games in the genera, or even over Aria of Sorrow on the GBA.

I tried playing Metroid on the NES at least 55 times growing up, I bought it digitally at least 4 times and never got too far. So I never touched another Metroid game, I missed out. I understand people think that this is an incredibly casualized remake of the original but it's 2020 I'm not busting out graph paper to beat a video game. I feel that all the changes make this a much more enjoyable game overall.

As someone who never actually beat Metroid, the most underwhelming part is the boss fights but exploring the world and unlocking new abilities made the experience. The biggest problem is the pixel hunting when it comes to certain areas where there are no broken bricks so having to spend a few minutes laying bombs hoping to find where to go breaks the flow of gameplay.

But HOLY SHIT that Zero suit mission is incredible. Never did I think that a GBA game would make me that anxious, it really made this game something special. A stealth mission out of nowhere, where there is a really tense situation made it a really amazing 30 minutes In an overall great experience. But in terms of a prequel, this made me so excited to play one of the many versions of Metroid 2 and hopefully Super Metroid. This remake made me a fan of the series already.

This is how you do a remake. Zero Mission is an enhanced update of the original Metroid and it manages to far outshine its blueprint. Most obvious upgrade is the presentation, visuals and sound both get the most out of the GBA and manage to update the original game's style pretty perfectly, though it's not quite as atmospheric due to the brighter colour pallette. Controls are sharp and responsive and the level design is just as intricate as you'd expect. It's a lot more linear than the original Metroid, but it does still leave room for you to explore, usually just pointing out where an objective is and letting you decide how to get there yourself. Boss fights are the only real letdown, most of them being surprisingly easy and acting as little more than roadblocks. Like Fusion this would be a great place for a new player to start and though it doesn't quite reach the heights of Super, Prime or Fusion, this is still one hell of a Metroid game.

Zero mission is a successful remake of original Metroid. On paper it seems really amazing, Super Metroid's QoL upgrades on original Metroid is a great idea. Its flawed tho, it suffers from boring exploration, lack of boss fights, annoying decision to put healing centers and save stations in separate places and last level was so boring. I never complain about soundtracks but wow, one of the most monotone and uninspired soundtracks ive ever heard in a AAA game. I know some of the issues come from original game and mostly they can do nothing about it but it's still there, gotta mention

Still this is the best way to experience the original Metroid, it plays, looks and feels nice. Fusion is on the same console and miles ahead of this BTW