Dread the Metroid

I've heard from a lot of people that there's no meaningful distinction to made between sci-fi and fantasy.  Like a lot philosophizing it's true in an absolute sense, but not so when it comes to statistical averages.  To clarify that point, it's not hard to find films, novels or video games that straddles the line between those two genres.  On the other hand, I think there are a lot of fantasy stories that feature things like dragons and wizards.  There are also a lot of science fiction stories that have robots and spaceships in them.  It doesn't mean that's always the case, but the terms still do imply the presence or absence of certain mental images.  So, having said all that, which genre is the Metroid IP?  Neither...it's in a special subgenre of its own co-creation called "Metroidvania".

A combination of two NES titles, Metroid and Castlevania, this particular type of game typically includes a gameplay loop involving exploration and acquisition of new abilities.  There are countless examples; Ori, Axiom Verge and Hollow Knight are some of the more prominent titles to come out in recent years.  Now that the venerable Samus Aran (protagonist of the Metroid series) has made her debut on the Nintendo Switch, what does this new entry in the long running franchise have to offer?  In a word - Dread.

Not dread in that the game is full of bugs or poor design choices...rather the feeling of apprehension one gets when they know the next part of a game will be difficult.  I experienced this feeling a lot when playing Dark Souls or Resident Evil and Metroid: Dread has that same vibe sprinkled into it.  The feeling is especially prominent whenever one of those E.M.M.I. robots show up.  Some of the bosses also evoke the same feeling, though I found that it often gave way to frustration.  Much like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze the developers over at Nintendo Studios are perhaps a bit overzealous about limiting when the player can strike back against a boss monster's relentless onslaught.  Regardless, Metroid: Dread is true to its roots even though it never quite achieves the greatness of Super Metroid.  

That might sound a bit harsh, but Super Metroid really does stand head-and-shoulders above every other entry in the franchise.  The reason is simple, it lets the tension build in ways that no other Metroid game seems to have the patience for.  Not just the prologue and intro, but the ghost ship, the boss statue, and the lead-up to the final showdown are all times when the game lets feelings of mystery and apprehension pile on top of each other. The music score adds quite a bit to this, and is (hands down) is some of the best video game music composed by Nintendo.  Sadly, Metroid: Dread doesn't emphasize these design elements.  Even so, it's still nowhere nearly as bad as Other M in terms of quality.  Then again, I'm very bias toward 2-D Metroid games.  So, whatever Nintendo has planned next for Samus, I hope it's more like Dread and less like Prime.