#Metroid larva

[krazykatt111]

Metroid (larvae) are cute to me

I can remember looking at the Metroid trophy in Melee and being all "you're cute" as a young kid like 20+ years ago

My "rabid for bugs" brain sees them and registers them as BUG

[olavored]

Metroid Larva Pixel Art

I got over my art block.

This is just a bit of practice in pixel art, it seems very interesting, and useful

[bynumite]

This is my little baby girl. I just got her today. What should I name her?

[ketrinadrawsalot]

Octo-ber #17: Very little is known about the Short-Arm Flapjack Octopod, but it is distinct enough from other umbrella octopuses to establish a separate genus.

[smokingspoon]

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Ripper

Debut: Metroid

Imagine if there was a guy who loved beetles a lot, thought they were the pinnacle of anatomy, loved almost everything about them, especially the fact that they fly! But this guy hates the WAY they fly. They wish they didn't have to open their beautiful elytra to fly, ruining the impeccable smoothness of the carapace. This guy would be pretty weird. I would disagree. But I have to say they would love Ripper! That is a really long-winded way of saying "Ripper is like a beetle that hovers without using any wings"!

Ripper is like a beetle that hovers without using any wings. That's a cool sort of alien thing to do! But then you see its legs and that's just goofy. It really is just a bug that inexplicably hovers and is nearly invincible. And it's iconic! I admittedly have not played that much Metroid, but I have played the first game (bad) and its remake (awesome), and I could not imagine it without Ripper! It floats lazily and horizontally back and forth, usually in vertical areas, and feels as integral to a Metroid bestiary as a critter that walks around ever surface of a platform.

If you want more proof that Ripper is already perfect, look at Metroid Fusion. In this game, the X Parasite infects many species, mimicking them and giving the copies altered abilities, but the Ripper copies stay the same as the original! Nothing to improve upon here!

Ripper was so great that they made a sequel! This is Ripper II! They were very (rightfully) confident in Ripper being a hit, so confident, in fact, that they made Ripper II in the very same game, before the general public could even give feedback on the original. I'm sure that after the game came out, though, people were sending in fan mail about our favorite horizontal hoverer! Ripper II is faster. Not a Ripper for everyone! Don't adopt it without making sure you can handle it first!

Is this a Ripper? Not quite! This one is a Tripper! It is not called that because it is mean and tries to trip you. It is actually passive, and you can stand on it, and go for a Trip as it flies! What a nice creature.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Winged Ripper! They gave wings to a flying creature! So droll! Very similar principle to the Para-Biddybud, putting wings on top of what may very well be elytra, but in this case it was ALREADY able to fly! Para-Ripper over here is a lot like if you add wings to an entity in Super Mario Maker, because the wings make it fly around a distinct path and even allow it to explore the y-axis. It only appears in one room, where it must be frozen to act as a step for Samus to stand on, so she can reach a giant larva that is ensnared by vines. Awesome! Winged Ripper is truly a one scene wonder, enhanced even further by its similarity to Para-Beetle, everyone's darling!

I don't know why these things are called Rippers. Maybe they would use their chewing beetle mouthparts to really rip into a good leaf if offered one, and have a rip-roaring good time!

[postal-ech]

FELLAS

Holy FUCK THERE'S BEEN A NEW DISCOVERY

So get a look at this God damn mother fucking date for Prime 4

20X9

Why is that date so significant, you may be asking?

WELL YOU WONDERFUL LITTLE BASTARDS, BECAUSE THIS SHIT TAKES PLACE 2 WHOLE YEARS AFTER SUPER METROID (20X7)

THIS IS WHY YOU SEE SYLUX WITH MOCHTROIDS AND NOT REGULAR METROIDS

You can see there that these floating borbs have one fleshy core and not three. Metroid larvae ALWAYS have 3 cores, while mochtroids - especially in Super - have only one

WHICH MEANS, AND THIS IS WHERE MY AUTISTIC ASS COMES IN TO PREDICT SHIT:

>Sylux came in around 20X7 to steal a metroid, at the end of Fed Force

>He gives it to the Space Pirates, which in turn attempt to replicate it to make more

>In that time, 2 and Super have occurred, and likewise the knowledge that mochtroids can be made through the Gamma replication method is learned

>A few years later THESE MOTHER FUCKERS SHOW UP WITH SYLUX IN TOW TO BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA THE FEDS AGAIN

Now granted this may not be true, and has some inconsistencies between when the games actually take place but HOLY FUCK IF WE GET TO SEE SOME ADVANCED MOCHTROID FUCKERY

I WILL GOD DAMN DIE OF EXCITEMENT

HOLY FUCK

[kosmonauttihai]

So it occurs to me I should probably post my Metroid fanart to tumblr if I want the mortifying ordeal of people on tumblr knowing about my Metroid fanart. I'll try not to flood the tag with my several months' work all at once, so here's the first one to start with.

Little metroid larva, what will you grow up to be~

[sepublic]

Fun fact! When I first played Samus Returns, I wasn’t all too familiar with Metroid lore, particularly when it came to the Metroid life cycle. I’d played Fusion beforehand so I knew the Omega was the final stage, but hadn’t paid enough attention to the background when you find the Metroid breeding lab to internalize the amount of stages between; Plus Samus Returns redesigned them, so there was still something pretty new to look forward to. I wondered how the Omega would look in that game, and knew Ridley was the final boss. So after encountering the Omega Metroid, I thought that’s it! That’s all there is to see of the Metroid life cycle, what cool creatures!

Imagine me being surprised when the number goes up at the end of the game, leading to actual larvae being fought; Something I’d waited for the whole game since that form is so much more iconic. But after one increase, I don’t expect another and there’s just one more; I may or may not have suspected this to be the infant that is doomed in Super Metroid.

And then I dropped through a destructible block and was utterly blindsided by the shot of the ginormous Queen in the background. I wasn’t even entirely sure what I was looking at, at first; What the hell is that, and then I realized it had to have been some particularly powerful, actually final stage of Metroid. Way too big to be an Omega, but wasn’t the Omega supposed to be the final form?

And it was only after doing research upon completing the game that I understood what this thing was, and how it was neglected in Fusion because the Queen is an atypical stage (hence why a skimmed online source would call the Omega the final stage), plus Fusion didn’t want to reuse a final boss for what would be a shorter endgame segment. Because of that tasteful restraint, I got one of my favorite shocks ever and I love it.

[possessedscholar]

Actually, fuck it.

Metroid Prime 1 Edibility List.

With actual research and considerations*, going in the order the Metroid wiki lists them! One Caveat, if not mentioned to be toxic in any way then I am assuming non-toxicity, UNLESS a similar creature from Earth is poisonous.

Parasite: their size and large numbers would seem to imply they’d have decent meat on them, though their nature as pests may imply they could carry disease. Overall I’d put them in a similar area with rats: Edible with proper cooking and cleaning, but probably less pleasant than most edible creatures.

Auto Turret: Inedible, made of metal and wires. And unlike some Pirate contraptions I see no tortured animals used to make this one either.

Tallon IV Zoomer: The Zoomer itself is likely edible, but the species apparently carries a flesh eating bacteria that makes safely handling the species for consumption difficult. Indirectly inedible, but if raised without contracting the bacteria (or properly cleaned, IRL flesh eating bacteria can be killed with bleach) almost certainly similar to crab meat (with more legs than a crab as a bonus!)

Tallon IV Geemer: in terms of meat quantity, you’d think they’re similar to the Zoomer, but the fact that the spikes retract may imply a difference in muscle structure and/or carapace thickness that could mean less meat for consumption. As for actual edibility, implied to have a similar diet to the Zoomer (mentioned as disease carriers, and irl flesh eating bacteria is usually gotten from improper sewage handling), thus same rating as the Zoomer.

Sap Sac: Mentioned as being very sweet and delectable, and are visibly very large and fleshy, so edible… ON ONE CONDITION: Sap Sacs are explosive, but the logbook mention that only “Brave or ingenious creatures eat it” implies there are ways to consume Sap Sack flesh without being exploded. Based on the Remastered logbook image, it's likely you can eat a certain amount of the outer flesh before hitting the explosive core.

(Sap Sac Image for reference)

Bloodflower: Likely poisonous, at the very least has some manner of organ or gland that creates the projectile toxins that would need to be removed. Petals look unusually fleshy, and the three mouth-nodules could be similar to snakes, but overall edibility seems... unlikely, at best something that would require an intensive process to achieve.

Seedling: These seem to be surprisingly fleshy for plants, and no mention of toxicity or poison is made. Lower body seems similar to a slug or snail, but no slime trail is observes so likely not as similar as visuals may suggest. Combined with plant-based nature, Seedling is possibly edible and fruit or vegetable like, though it is unusually a plant one has to hunt before eating. Spines likely best if removed, but as the spines are not mentioned to be venomous, it's possible they could be a case of "safe to ingest but not desirable"

Tallon IV Scarab: Small-ish explosive bug, likely edible if you could somehow harvest and cook one without it exploding, but this seems so impossible I'm marking it down as inedible.

Beetle: Large arthropod similar to Zoomer/Geemer, but with added benefit of no mention of flesh eating bacteria. Best outcome, similar to crabs but absolutely massive. Worst outcome, tastes terrible like some insects but otherwise not toxic.

Plated Beetle: Like regular Beetle, but even more massive! Exposed abdomen is large, fleshy, and soft, which means it would likely be an excellent protein (assuming it doesn't taste terrible). Meanwhile, insides likely similar to that of non-plated cousins.

Tallon IV War Wasp: The Wasps themselves are likely edible! Bees and similar bugs on earth are actually a delicacy in some regions, especially the larvae, so War Wasps are possibly similar. Adult bees and wasps can be ground up to make a sort of flour, so there's a potential edibility point. Meanwhile, a logbook entry from Hunters indicates the Luminoth harvest War Wasp hives for the royal jelly, and it's possible that War Wasps have honey, like some terrestrial wasps (though as the vast majority of wasp species don't make honey, it is a slim chance.) Overall, War Wasps are likely incredibly edible.

Ram War Wasp: See the basic War Wasp, though notably in their boss fight, Ram War Wasps have an unusual tendency to dip their stingers into the toxic water seemingly as a means of poisoning them. Likely non-toxic themselves, but it could mean wild Ram War Wasps have contaminants in them.

Barbed War Wasps: Again, see the basic War Wasp. Seemingly a point in the favor of the Barbed War Wasp's favor is their absolutely massive abdomen, however the abdomen is likely larger to house the necessary biological mechanisms that allow for the firing and rapid regrowth of their stinger, as well as the production organs for the acidic compound contained in said stingers, which would almost certainly make Barbed War Wasps require more work to prepare for consumption. Still, likely edible if the proper preparations are taken for the abdomen.

Tallon IV War Wasp Hive: Hive itself likely inedible, but contains War Wasp larvae, royal jelly, and possibly honey (See War Wasp).

Eyon: A giant eye. In some Earth cultures, certain animals' eyes are considered a delicacy, and these are massive. Likely edible if they can be killed and have whatever produces the energy beam removed.

Plazmite: Likely similar to the Earthen Firefly, which is toxic due to all the chemicals needed for the bioluminescense. So, we can safely assume the Plazmite is equally inedible.

Shriekbat: Incredibly high internal temperature (121 Centigrade!) with no harm to self likely means even if they probably aren't poisonous, you'd have to wait forever for it to cool enough to safely eat. If we assume they are kept from cooking themselves while alive through either special organs or an incredibly efficient circulatory system, however, possible the meat of a dead Shriekbat cooks itself from leftover heat. Probably edible but impractical to work with. On the plus side, likely hot enough to kill potential parasites and microbes that try to infest them!

Tallon IV Tangle Weed: Simple plant with no mention of toxicity, likely all individual tendrils of a patch are attached to a singular bulb if their Venom Weed cousins are any indication. Probably edible, though if it is a single bulb one may need a shovel to dig it out.

Tallon IV Venom Weed: Similar to Tangle Weed, but contains a potent, seemingly corrosive venom delivered by barbs, presumably similar to how jellyfish deliver their venom. Further, the toxic water of the Chozo Ruins the Venom Weed is found in is implied to be have made the Venom Weed toxic. Likely inedible barring any changes in the future after the toxic water is gone.

Blastcap: Explicitly mentioned poisonous flesh, spores corrosive enough to eat through Samus's armor (seemingly), and also explodes. So goddamn inedible.

Reaper Vine: Appears to be a long, thick, bramble-like vine, but the ability to move itself implies some kind of muscle analogue. Main vine possibly edible but likely unpleasant, eye might be decently edible. Scythe head likely too tough to eat, sharp and hard enough to damage power armor.

Stone Toad: Large amphibian with rock hard skin and seemingly soft insides. Likely edible like some frogs are on Earth, and being a predator that eats smaller prey whole and with no mention of venoms or toxins likely needs no special preparation. Tough skin could help keep moisture in, keeping flesh nice and juicy for consumption throughout cooking. Only downside is figuring out how to kill and butcher one for consumption with rock hard skin in the way. Theoretically perfectly edible, hindered by lack of means to get through skin to prepare for consumption.

Plated Parasite: See standard Parasite entry at the top. Tougher, nigh unbreakable skin means this one is even more unappealing.

Oculus: Based on official art, somewhat turtle-like creature with a single eye on the top of their shell. Likely edible in the same ways turtles are, though legs are more like crab legs. This all said, the electricity generation means there are likely special organs that require special attention and removal to make the creature's meat edible.

Plated Puffer: Coated in metal and filled with toxic gas. Definitely inedible.

Hive Mecha: Robot, inedible. Contains Ram War Wasps however.

Incinerator Drone: Robot, inedible.

Chozo Ghost: Too intangible to eat, most likely.

Grizby: Large arthropod similar to Zoomer and Geemer, mentioned as carrion feeder, may carry bacteria. Otherwise, likely similar level and state of edibility. Tough carapace would help keep meat together while cooking, similar to cooking some shelled animals in their shell.

Burrower: Large arthropod with acidic spit. Likely too acidic to eat safely, though only the projectile spit is mentioned as acidic. At best need to remove saliva glands, maybe avoid the head all together.

Puffer: See Plated Puffer, just minus the metal coating.

Triclops: Large arthropod similar to Beetles. Likely similarly edible.

Magmoor: Large serpents that live in magma, can breathe fire. Definitely incredibly heat resistant, cooking flesh for consumption is likely difficult unless the skin is capable of surprising levels of temperature insulation, and if they can evolve to live in magma there's potential for parasites and diseases to do the same. Still, nothing suggests the meat is toxic, aside from potentially collecting minerals in their body from living in molten rock. Will put the Magmoor down as a solid "Maybe Edible in certain conditions/with certain prep work"

Puddle Spore: Lava Mollusk. Likely impossible to properly cook as even the insides are not hurt by the extreme heat of lava/magma, meat likely similarly builds up minerals from lava over time as suggested with Magmoor. Probably not edible.

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Crystallite: Large arthropod with ice shell. Ice shell unlikely to impart anything unique to Crystallite flavor wise, but likely as edible as any other large Tallon IV arthropod.

Ice Parasite: Likely similar to standard and Plated Parasites.

Ice Shriekbat: Similar to standard Shriekbat, but icy coating may help cool meat faster. Plus, high internal temperature combined with frigid environment could limit successes of diseases and parasites further than even basic Shriekbat (thermal shock.)

Pulse Bombu: Living ball of electricity, almost certainly inedible.

Scatter Bombu: See Pulse Bombu.

Ice Burrower: Similar to Burrower, but with icy outer shell.

Ice Beetle: Like standard Beetle, but with icy coating.

Flickerbat: Smallish flying hunters that eat small insects. Probably edible, though small, fast, and invisible enough that hunting some may be impractical.

Jelzap: Large aquatic apex predator. Likely edible, though if it's anything like sharks (One of Earth's aquatic apex predators), they may have high concentrations of mercury. Naturally composed of two halves connected by electrical impulses, butchering for meat likely somewhat simplified by this.

Baby Sheegoth: Young Sheegoth, still growing. Highly mobile predators, no mention of being poisonous and no venoms used in hunting implies lack of toxicity. Ice shell likely needs removal, small nubs in back that appear to be the beginning of the adult Sheegoth's crystal cluster likely also inedible. As Sheegoths move (and move fast), they likely have incredibly tough meat in their legs.

Adult Sheegoth: Baby Sheegoth but bigger and older. Crystal nubs in back have become absolutely gargantuan with age. Leg meat likely even tougher than that of Baby Sheegoth. Still likely edible though. Should find use for Sheegoth crystals, very pretty and can absorb energy as a defense mechanism.

Sentry Drone: Inedible, Machine. Unfortunate, as they're annoying enough that I wish I could eat one as a power move... Did I type that out loud?

Space Pirate, Tallon IV Deployment: Likely edible, but ethically I have Questions. Yes these guys are assholes but uh... you'd be eating a sapient creature.

Shadow Pirate: See Space Pirate. Cloaking device probably does not give invisibility when eaten.

Flying Pirate: See Space Pirate. Jetpack fuel likely toxic as well.

Aqua Sac: Like the Sap Sac, but instead of exploding this one just breaks into pieces that float away. Probably even more edible than the Sap Sac!

Tallon Crab: Formerly edible, but sadly Phazon mutation/contamination has made them no longer edible. Thanks Space Pirate High Command. >:(

Aqua Reaper: Looks like a giant squid or octopus tentacle. If they are like giant space octopus tentacles then I'd say edible, Space Calamari.

Aqua Drone: See Sentry Drone, but with added sogginess.

Aqua Pirate: See Space Pirate. Could see if special armor is salvageable and sell for credits, then just get a meal delivered by Space GrubHub.

Mega Turret: Bigger than Auto Turret, but likely just as inedible what with being made of metal and wires.

Glider: Large flying mollusk. Described as curiously magnetic, can be affected by Grapple Beam. Fleshy parts of body consist of eyes and a bunch of blue fleshy nodules going by official art. At best unpleasant to eat unless cooked in shell, at worst full of ferrous metals that could make it toxic.

Elemental Troopers: See Space Pirate, and no I'm not describing flavor profiles for each trooper.

Elite Pirate: See Space Pirate AND see Tallon Crab. It has both ethics questions and Phazon contamination! Inedible on like 50 levels! Ok maybe just two. Still.

Phazon Elite: See Elite Pirate. But also, has so much Phazon it likely gives radiation poisoning just by being within 10 inches of the thing without shielding.

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Metroid: Metroids are likely edible if they can be killed without shattering them. Outer membrane likely similar to jellyfish (which can be eaten), and rest of body also seems edible if cooked properly. Bioenergy absorption effects on edibility unknown, pirates describe the energy as not really taking a form they can scan or interact with.

Hunter Metroid: See Metroid, but larger and with tentacle that may serve as another edible part.

Fission Metroid: Inedible, result of heavy Phazon mutation/contamination.

Lumigek: Lives in the rotting remains of a Leviathan/Phazon Meteor. Likely radioactive enough to poison through proximity. Inedible.

Parasite Queen: Phazon contamination/mutation, likely inedible for that alone. Also, acidic saliva production is driven into overdrive by mutation, would require removal even if not rendered inedible by Phazon.

Flaahgra (and Tentacles): Source of poisons in Chozo Ruins waterways, likely full of the same toxins and would at best require intensive cleaning and cooking process to render even remotely consumable. Plus, likely a major Phazon mutant. Almost certainly inedible.

Thaardus: Sapient chunks of Phazon ore. Inedible and tooth shattering. Oh and radioactive also a consideration.

Omega Pirate: Arguably the second-least edible Pirate, behind only the Phazon Elite and likely tied with the Berserker Lord from 3.

Meta Ridley: As kickass as being known as the person to bring down and eat a Space Dragon would be, ethically I have Questions since Ridley is Sapient (Check the Manga that detail's canon!). Plus, likely so full of cybernetics that butchering is difficult. Yes I know the temptation to eat him in revenge for Samus's parents is there, but overall I must say edible chemically speaking, but ethically bad.

Metroid Prime: Metroid Prime is undoubtedly so full of Phazon that I'm pretty sure getting anywhere near it without the Phazon Suit should be fatal. Giant arthropod shape could imply similar meat to beetles, but in the NA GC Version it's full of assimilated technology and even without that it's probably just not feasible due to, again, massive Phazon levels. Core Essence even worse, basically the Bombu but made of Phazon energy. 100% Inedible.

[spinningbuster98]

I sometimes see people claiming that Dread indirectly ruined Samus' relationship with the Baby due to the reveal that she has Thoha DNA, which presumably means that the reason why it mistook her for its mother was not due to imprinting but genetic programming

First off: Dread never says this, anywhere

Secondly: while it can be easy to consider this as an unwanted implication, one born from Dread's admiteddly rushed finale that really liked to throw new twists and concepts at you without really elaborating on them or their consequences, I think that the people who believe in the former assertion do so while forgetting that, according to the game, Samus has both Thoha AND Mawkin DNA in her

While the former may incentivize Metroids (or at least their larvae) to follow orders the latter should have the opposite effect, pushing them to see her as an enemy

Considering the presence of both DNA strands in her it's unlikely that Metroids would behave exclusively one way or the other towards her: it's possible that they'd feel confused upon encountering Samus or, as I like to believe, that the opposing effects of both DNAs cancel each other out, thus making the Metroids act neutrally towards Samus...which for the creatures usually means with generic aggression as the Metroids are just naturally inclined to attack any life form they come across, just not due to viewing them as enemies specifically like they would the Mawkin but rather simply by viewing them as food

Of course from the Baby's POV it would see Samus as just another life form that it just happened to mistake for its mother

Of course I'm sorta doing the writers' job for them a bit here, but what I'm trying to say is: Dread itself never states or tries to imply that the only reason why the Baby bonded to Samus was due to her genetics, at worst it could be an unfortunate implication that can be dismissed through the use of other information the game gives us

[krazykatt111]

Ridley thing, forgot why I made it

[baking-potato-27]

I’ve now own just about every Pikmin game and I want to put my thoughts somewhere. So here it is.

Pikmin Adventure (NintendoLand): How I got into the series! Very different from the other games though, and honestly more similar to NintendoLand’s Zelda and Metroid games.

Pikmin 4: My first real Pikmin game. I went into this more or less completely blind and I was immediately hooked. Within a week of owning it I had 46 hours of play time. I’ve beaten it several times now and it’s becoming somewhat of a comfort game for me.

Pikmin 3: I have 41 fruits and have unlocked all areas. My brother already beat this game so I know some things I otherwise wouldn’t — namely that, unlike in 4, you can’t keep playing after beating the final boss, so I want to get as many fruits as I can before entering the final area.

Pikmin 1: Got this on the Switch (1+2 bundle). I went in mostly blind, only knowing things I’ve incidentally seen while looking at the wiki for things from the other games. So far I have 9 days left and 4 parts left, which feels like a good pace, but I haven’t found any bomb rocks in the Forest Navel so that’s going to make things difficult. (3/4 parts I have left are in that area.) Edit: I actually had 11 days left at that point, not 9. I got the remaining 3 parts over the next two days, so I actually have 9 days left and only the Final Trial.

Pikmin 2: Harder than I expected! I kinda took rock pikmin for granted when fighting cannon larvae in 3 and 4, for example. Based purely on pokos I’m 40% of the way through the game, but given that I’m only on day 7, that feels misleading at best.

Pikmin Bloom: Pokémon Go but for Pikmin. I’ve had this for a while and it was nice when I went to university and walked everywhere, but now I live in a fairly rural area where there’s no mushrooms or tall flowers for miles. Plus I hit the 300 pikmin limit and I don’t feel like paying $2 per 50 additional pikmin(!)

[beevean]

"Samus spared the Baby because she couldn't bring herself to shoot an infant!"

Tell that to all the Baby Sheegoths, Baby Bloggs and, y'know, all the Metroid larvae (which are still infants as demonstrated by the Metroids' life cycle) she's killed over the years

She spares the Baby because it had mistaken her for its mother. That's the reason why she couldn't bring herself to shoot it, because of its display of pure innocence. It's a slight difference but an important one

Samus Returns actually depicts it perfectly: she was going to kill it, but after seeing how innocently it chirped about, having already imprinted on her. Had it tried to attack her she wouldn't have hesitated to shoot, baby or not

Yeah, that's fair.

The Baby is not just a baby in the sense that it just hatched: it displayed a behavior similar to an innocent baby animal. You're right that the SR cutscene paints it very well, as it focuses on Samus keeping the gun pointed at it but clearly conflicted between "this is the last Metroid, this thing will be dangerous, I need to complete my mission" and "but... but it's just a child... it's not doing anything to me... look, it's chirping and it sounds happy to see me... could it be that Metroids can be innocuous?"

The Sheegoths attack Samus on sight and they're vicious so fuck them, they get their back shattered :P

(still, if Samus spared The Baby because it was completely docile, that doesn't explain why she fried Crocomire :<)

[orchidbreezefc]

i just finished super metroid today. i think bookends to a game are cool, but not when they highlight the fact that you are exactly where you started with nothing to show and in fact things would have been better if you never did anything at all and just stayed home.

the game starts with the player answering a distress call on ceres and facing ridley, who escapes with a metroid larva that samus saved in the previous game and was quite attached to her. then the first bookend: a self-destruct sequence on ceres activates for some reason and you have to escape.

samus follows ridley to planet zebes and the rest of the game happens. you explore and shoot aliens and find gear that lets you explore more places to shoot more aliens. it's a very fun game actually!

in the final bit, your old metroid larva pal (now grown up) is mortally wounded in the process of saving you after you awaken the final boss by shooting the jar it's in. defeating the final boss then starts THIS planet's self-destruct sequence for some reason. so there's your other bookend; you can spend it running to your ship and thinking "so... nothing i did in this game had any benefit, huh?"

when you answered the distress call you didnt save ceres, or even stop ridley. your metroid pal thrived on zebes, feasting like a king and growing huge, maybe even breeding. YOU activate a dormant monster, which causes the death of the metroid and then, minutes after, the planet and everything on it.

when i started playing the game i was feeling the standard colonialism video game discomfort, like. why am i killing these aliens. that seems ethically dubious. theyre just chilling in their native habitat. many of them are hostile, but im an intruder in their territory, of course they are! i didnt expect the game to validate this feeling so completely.

the framing doesn't register the bleakness though. as you fly away from the explosion the game exclaims "MISSION SUCCESS!" and i just sat there thinking, what mission? what success?

if my "mission" was to stop whatever ridley's plan with the metroid was (can ridley plan? he seems to be just a big space pterosaur) then you do succeed, by killing ridley (a while earlier), and the metroid, and everything else on zebes, and zebes. you got some suit upgrades and weapons, so that's cool i guess. don't think too much about the intelligent civilization on this planet that made them, or the artifically constructed environments they had built.

this is admittedly a very 2023 way of thinking about this game, but if you ask me, the bigger statement is that this wasn't the 1994 way of thinking about it. i guess it is a really fun game, after you manage to quiet the moral questions in your head, and before they all come rushing back up at you again.

[dumbfinntales]

Through the holidays and the start of this year I’ve been replaying the Metroid Prime games. It’s something I’ve been intending to for years and to my horror it has been 10 years since I played these games. That’s a lot of time. But it was a very fun experience to play these again and they definitely hold up.

What I found interesting was that I actually liked Prime 2 more than the first game. Prime 2 does have some frustrating boss design and weirdly placed backtracking. Like the game randomly sends you back to a previous area to find a power up so you can progress in the area you were in. But still, I enjoyed the vibe of Prime 2 a lot more.

The planet of Aether was more alien and sci-fi and the atmosphere was dark and superb. Like the beginning section with the undead federation soldiers was just perfect. Dark Samus was also a really cool and imposing villain. The bosses were also more fun and varied than in Prime 1. There was of course some jank like any boss involving the morph ball and Cykka Larva was a bastard to keep track of.

Another interesting bit was that I actually got lost a few times in both games. I don’t remember that happening back in the day, but here I genuinely got lost a couple times and had to look up where I needed to go. Most times it was me going to the right direction and then missing something obvious like a hole in the wall, turning back and getting lost. Dumb ol’ me.

But yeah, the Prime games are awesome! Glad I kept my WiiU so I could play them. I didn’t however replay Prime 3. I got nothing against that, but I had my Prime fill after playing through two games back to back.