It’s a mechanical gameplay flow, almost cruel in how it reduces the species to a dwindling statistic. Samus finds and kills every Metroid on the planet as a number on a hit list ticks down at the bottom of the screen. Out of every game in the series, Metroid II is the one that most heavily leans into the bounty hunter premise. She accepts without hesitation and hubris ensues. After another series of failed missions (as we quickly realize, the Federation isn’t very good at its job), Samus is once again called to kill every single Metroid remaining on SR388. The situation escalates in Metroid II: Return of Samus, as the Galactic Federation determines that the only way to ensure the Metroids can’t be used as a biological weapon is to drive them to extinction. Samus’ decision to take that job sets off a complicated chain of events that puts both herself and the galaxy at risk. Samus Aran’s true archnemesis is Samus Aran. It’s a harrowing tale of a woman trapped in a nightmare of her own design, as her unwitting involvement in an ecological crisis becomes a persistent threat that chases her across the galaxy. Taking the core five games as a whole, the 2D Metroid saga tells the intricate story of a bounty hunter with a reckless attitude forced to battle the long-term consequences of her actions. That would be underselling one of gaming’s greatest narrative journeys, though. Most of the series’ 2D games seemingly function as standalone adventures that place their heroine in self-contained adventures every time. The original Metroid, for instance, tells a fairly bare-bones story of a bounty hunter heading to a planet to kill aliens. From an outside perspective, Metroid games are more known for their genre-defining exploration gameplay more than their narratives. That might not sound like a big deal depending on your familiarity with the series.
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