The One Thing That Makes Samus Returns Different From All Other Metroid Games
Samus Aran has killed space pirates in so many different ways over the 31 year history of Metroid. She blows them up with missiles, rolls herself into a ball so she can bomb them to bits, hurls her own body at them like a lightning-charged cannonball, and even sometimes just shoots them with her gun arm. One thing she’s never really been able to do, though, at least outside of the Smash Bros. games, is haul back and punch a dude right in the jaw. At least until this week, with Friday’s release of Metroid: Samus Returns for the 3DS.
For the first time Samus has a melee attack. She swipes up in an arc with one of her arms, normally dealing only minor damage to the deadly denizens of SR388. When timed right, though, and unleashed right when an enemy charges at her, Samus can leave a foe stunned and reeling, quickly finishing them off with a well-timed blast. With its bright arc of energy, it might look a little bit like Guile’s Flash Kick from Street Fighter II, but it’s less of an attack than a defensive position. It’s a parry, not a strike.
This might not sound like much for a series that has added numerous weapons and mechanics over the years, but it actually has a big impact on how you’ll play what is intended to be a nostalgic flashback. Metroid: Samus Returns is a “reimagining” of 1991’s Metroid II: Return of Samus, an early Game Boy title that was the first sign from Nintendo that Metroid wasn’t just going to be a one-and-done NES classic. Samus Returns, like the original Metroid games, is a side-scrolling platformer, the first time the series has returned to its original perspective since 2004. It’s specifically appealing to the original strength of these games and the audience’s memory of them, so it’s a little surprising that it also introduces something so quietly revolutionary.
