Spudd 64’s Top Ten Favorite Video Games of All Time: 5

Talented artist and incredible friend, Matt Kish (formerly known as Spudd 64) is counting down his top ten favorite video games. Enjoy!

- Kyle

Metroid, the original NES game, has the distinction of being the very first videogame I ever purchased with my own money. In 1986, I saved paper route money for weeks to buy it, and was absolutely thrilled with the game once I got that ridiculously large cartridge out of the box and into my brother’s NES. I’m sure most of you remember this…



At the time, Metroid was dazzling. The plot, the graphics, the diversity of weapons, the game mechanics including the morph ball and the ice beam, the length, the challenge…all of these were just so far ahead of their time in the mid-80s. Things we take for granted in videogames today, such as secret or hidden areas accessible only through unexpected or even counter-intuitive uses of weapons and in-game tools, were introduced in Metroid, I think for the first time. Indeed, Metroid was the game that introduced gamers world-wide to the concept of the miniboss with Kraid and Ridley.

And the graphics? Well, in 1986, this looked pretty damn stunning…



Nearly 16 years later, I was still a Nintendo fanatic and enjoying the heck out of my GameCube. Metroid was a distant although still pleasant memory, so I was extremely doubtful when I read that Nintendo would be creating an entirely new, fully 3-D, first person shooter for the GameCube called…Metroid Prime. Honestly, I just didn’t see how it would be possible to make a compelling game in 3-D from a first person point of view that was true to the original feel and spirit of Metroid. Seriously, how were they going to handle the morph ball? I mean, Metroid was a 2-D side scrolling classic, and many of the attempts to update these side scrollers with snazzy new game mechanics and graphics had failed miserably. Anyone remember Castlevania 64? Right, I thought so.

So I waited. I didn’t buy Metroid Prime when it came out and I waited for reviews. Lots of reviews. Lots and lots of reviews. And when those reviews starting coming out, they were universally glowingly positive. Apparently, even the morph ball mechanic worked like a charm. So, since I had a real job and not a paper route this time, I went out and bought the game.

And, damn. Just…damn. Metroid Prime ruled.

Where to even start? I guess the music is as good a place as any since it is one of the very first things I noticed. The soundtrack to the game is simply incredible. Gorgeous washes of ambient electronic sound, occasional hints of melody, and tons of atmosphere. With very few exceptions, there was no attempt with the soundtrack to create songs, or even themes. Instead, all of the “music” was pure aural sculpture, as essential to the feel of the game as the graphics and the game mechanics. I have the entire soundtrack, so if you’d like it drop a comment in and I’ll find a way to get it to you.

The graphics, as expected, were nothing short of perfect. After a brief introductory sequence aboard an orbiting space station and a battle with a gigantic alien creature, the player is treated to a thrilling scene of Samus narrowly escaping both the exploding station and a monstrous mechanical Ridley in her familiar orange ship. The action resumes with Samus touching down for the first time on the surface of Tallon, and the whole scene is as good as, if not better than, any cinematic blockbuster movie.



There is the thrill of seeing Samus’ ship rendered so realistically we believe it really flies. And of course, along with the music (the “Tallon Overworld” theme is one of my favorites in the entire soundtrack) there is that feeling, so powerful in the “Metroid” games, of being in a place that is utterly alien and totally unknown. The flora and fauna of Tallon are so well-designed, so realistically depicted, that the experience is less like a game and more like watching a Discover Channel special on the life forms of extrasolar planets.

All of this, however, would be meaningless without rock-solid game play. And Metroid Prime offers that in spades. Samus arises from her ship…



…and the exploration begins. The aspect of the game that I, and many other gamers, was most worried about was the change in point of view from a 2-D side scroller to a 3-D first person shooter. In addition to that, I was extremely concerned that the control scheme would be so complex that it would interfere with my enjoyment of the game. Nothing could have been farther off the mark. Nintendo, a company with a long history of simple yet incredibly powerful and intuitive innovations, designed a control scheme that utilized every button on the GameCube controller in ways that were simple to grasp, easy to implement, and a breeze to internalize. Within seconds I had the feel of the game and found it incredibly easy to run, jump, turn, aim, shoot, and more.



Even the first person point of view turned out to be a tremendous addition. By putting the player quite literally inside the armored suit, the player in essence becomes Samus. This is hardly a new concept since it has been used so often in so many other first person shooters, but this point of view combined with the almost overpowering sense of solitude and presence of the unknown in Metroid Prime make for an incredible gaming experience. The player truly feels as if they are thousands of light years from home, completely alone on an utterly alien and deeply hostile planet with no one and nothing to rely on other than their own wits and reflexes.

The addition of the visor system was, in typical Nintendo fashion, a cunning way of simplifying what could have been a baffling control interface. A series of displays on the left and right of the “screen” mirror was Samus, or the player, sees from inside the suit. Simple toggles of the control stick or other buttons easily and quickly cycle the player through different weapons and eventually different visors which adds another fascinating dimension to the game and to the universe of “Metroid.” For example, since Samus is running around Tallon in an incredibly advanced computerized suit of armor, it is natural that when the armor takes a certain kind of hit from electrical enemies or high energy enemies, the digital display inside the visor degrades…

A subtle detail to be sure, but one which greatly enhances the feeling of danger so inherent to the adventure. Later, Samus gets several upgrades to the suit which allow the player to see in different ways, including infrared. Certain enemies can only be detected and dispatched this way…



Finally, in the crowning touch, Nintendo handled the inclusion of all those old and familiar Samus gadgets like the morph ball and the grapple beam amazingly well. After gaining the morph ball upgrade, switching into morph ball mode is handled by an incredibly smooth camera transition from the first person point of view to an over-the-shoulder, or over-the-ball, third person point of view so the player can actually see and control where Samus is rolling. This explanation may read a little jarringly, but the in-game execution is flawless. The grapple beam is equally simple and visually unique enough to make it quite different from Samus’ weapons and a hell of a lot of fun to use.

I won’t go into much detail about the plot, but the Space Pirates and the Chozo are included in ways that really do a lot to flesh out the story of the “Metroid” universe in fascinating ways. There are, of course, lots of bosses, many of whom are colossally huge and, in true “Metroid” fashion, almost nightmarishly difficult to defeat. And of course the threads are laid for the inclusion of Phazon and the events that lead into the equally fantastic sequels Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

In short, Metroid Prime took every worry I had about the game, the design, the game play, the mechanics, the graphics, the sound, and the plot and blew them away. Nintendo has done a lot of really wonderful things over the years, but to me, Metroid Prime will always stand as a highlight in a history full of stellar achievements. Samus has never looked better.

- Matt Kish (formerly known as Spudd 64)