Metroid

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Metroid.

To do: There's a lot more out there.

Concepts#

Gameplay#

At the beginning of development, Hiroji Kiyotake was pondering why Super Mario Bros. necessitated avoiding enemies, and wanted to make actions Mario didn't have. He conceived the Screw Attack as a method of spin-jumping to defeat enemies.¹

Game Title#

The game was originally titled Space Hunter, but Hiroji Kiyotake and possibly Hirokazu Tanaka collectively combined the words "metro", as in "metro subway", and "android" to get the final title, Metroid.² The "space hunter" term continued to be used to describe Samus for the manuals of Metroid³ and Metroid II: Return of Samus⁴.

Samus Aran#

Hiroji Kiyotake did the design of Samus for the original game.⁵ He intended the name of "Samus Aran" to reference Edison Arantes Nascimento, the real name of Brazilian soccer legend Pelé. Apparently he'd originally thought the name was more like Samus Arantes Nascimentos.

According to Yoshio Sakamoto, the game was "partway" through development when one staff member suggested the person inside the suit turning out to be a woman, and everyone went with it.⁶

Intro Sequence#

At first, Gunpei Yokoi called for a more elaborate intro sequence, where Samus appears with bombs and her Morph Ball, running around while the game scrolls. At Yoshio Sakamoto's objection, this got changed to the final game's simpler cut to the title logo appearing.

Music#

Composer Hirokazu Tanaka wasn't very approving of the game industry's trend at the time of upbeat music no matter what. As such, he intended his soundtrack for Metroid to directly counter that. He composed the soundtrack "as music the players feel as if they were encountering a living creature", and intended for the audio to be "without any distinctions between music and sound effects". His personal image he had in mind for the soundscape was, "Anything that comes out from the game is the sound that game makes." He reserved melody only for after defeating Mother Brain because he "wanted only a winner to have a catharsis at the maximum level." Furthermore, he "didn't discuss [the music] with anybody".⁷

Map Names#

In addition to doing the game's audio, Tanaka was also the one in charge of naming each of the maps on Planet Zebes.

Manual Screenshots#

Menu Screens#

Prerelease	Final

This shot of the title screen shows that the start game prompt originally wasn't centered properly.

Prerelease	Final

This shot of the continue screen shows a different, slightly sloppier sprite of Samus crouching. Also seen here, in the name selection screen, is an earlier iteration of the game's font. Namely, the kana Ha (ハ) is more noticeably different, whereas the equal, period, interrogation/exclamation mark, and slash symbols are all missing.

Prerelease	Final

This shot of the Mission Objective text featured in Famimaga Issue 18 shows that Samus was originally present there. Meanwhile, in the final game, she only appears in the ending.

Samus Sprites#

Scan	Mock-Up	Final

This early front facing sprite is pretty much identical to final, aside from the plastron and some of the detailing on the ankles and feet.

Scan	Mock-Up	Final (Unused)

The sideways Samus sprite shows her less hunched over, and features extra plastron details as well as straps for her ankle pads. This sprite is worth noting due to it being a unique left facing one, whereas the final game simply mirrors the right-facing one to save on memory. However, unique right-facing Samus sprites still exist in the final game, though go unused. This sprite can also be seen in early promotional material, showing that the devs did originally consider using those. Moreover, this particular sprite also seems to have served as the basis for the "enhanced" Samus sprite seen in the game's US boxart.

Scan	Mock-Up	Final

The frame of Samus curling up into her Morph Ball form was redrawn, namely making her taller and shifting the helmet's sheen the other way around.

Enemy Sprites#

The game's manual is kind enough to not only include a bestiary, but one which also features early sprites for a handful of enemies. Worth noting is the Multiviola, which takes on the form of a fireball instead of an orb, making it look closer to its larval counterpart, the Viola. This is actually reflected in its promotional art, which was made prior to the game's release. Moreover, this early sprite actually remains in the final game's data, though there it goes completely unused.

Another mention goes to the yellow Zoomer enemy, whose early sprite also seems to have been used as the basis for its "enhanced" depiction in the game's US boxart. This can most notably be seen by its goofier eyes, as well as the extra shading present on its spikes.

Name	Scan	Mock-Up	Final
Zeb
Zoomer
Rio
Side-Hopper
Dessgeega
Waver
Nova
Multiviola
Rinka

Scan	Mock-Up	Final

The sprite for the energy orbs dropped by enemies is also slightly different. Namely, its inner portion is white instead of black.

Early Room Layouts#

A few earlier layouts of rooms can be seen in magazine coverage, commercials, and even the back of the international NES box. These vary from changes to the actual layouts, to the way enemies are arranged in said rooms.

Brinstar#

Prerelease	Final

Seen on the back of the NES box. The room is mostly the same layout-wise, but features two yellow Rippers instead of a singular red one.

Prerelease	Final

This room can be seen in Famitsu Issue 5. The floor was made thinner in the final game.

Prerelease	Final

Seen in the Japanese commercial. The room lacks a row of breakable blocks, and features changes to the enemy variety, namely having a Skree on the ceiling.

Prerelease	Final

Another room seen in the Japanese commercial. A minor layout difference can be seen on the right, with the gray platform being made taller in the final game.

Prerelease	Final

Also seen in the Japanese commercial. It features a couple of changes, including the metal bars being closer to each other, requiring the Morph Ball to navigate through.

Prerelease	Final

There's a part in the Japanese commercial where Samus is falling down through this repeating room type. This build features both differences to the placement of the platforms as well as differences in the enemy variety. Most notable is the presence of the Skree, an enemy only ever seen on ceilings in the final game.

Prerelease	Final

The same layout as the previous room shows up once again in a screenshot from a late 1988 Nintendo Buyer's Guide. However, this is a lot closer to the final layout, the biggest difference being the color variant of the Zoomers.

Prerelease	Final

This room can be seen in Famimaga Issue 19. Most notably, it features a completely different palette, suggesting that this room layout was either featured in the west part of Brinstar at one point in development, or that the palette change seen in zones such as Brinstar (West and East) and Norfair (North and South) hadn't yet been fully implemented.

Unused	Used

Another notable difference is that the Waver featured in the screenshot is using its unused sprite from the Kraid's Hideout enemy sprite set.

Prerelease	Final

This room can be seen in a screenshot featured in a 1986 Famimaga Metroid map poster. The tile layout matches the final game, but notably there's a red Rio instead of a yellow one as well as a Skree not found there in the final game.

Norfair#

Prerelease	Final

Seen on the back of the NES box, as well as in Famitsu Issue 9 and Famimaga Issue 18. Mostly the same as final, aside from enemy variety.

Prerelease	Final

A room layout that can be seen on the back of the NES box, and shows that the enemies were shuffled around slightly.

Prerelease	Final

This room, featured in Famimaga Issue 18 as well as the manual, had its Ripper II replaced by three Novas, and the leftmost platform went from one block tall to three.

Prerelease	Final

This room is featured in Famimaga Issue 18, and features some notable differences to both platform and enemy placement. Most notably, it lacks the pipes which spawn red Gamets.

Prerelease	Final

This room can be seen in the Japanese commercial, and features a red Geruda not present there in the final game, as well as a red Dragon instead of a purple one. The palette used here is also that of purple Norfair (North Area), instead of green Norfair (South Area).

Tourian#

Prerelease	Final

Found in the manual is a small screenshot of Tourian, which shows the rightmost lower platform with a red palette instead of a grey one.

References#