25 Days of Villains - #4: Ridley

Leader of the Space Pirates and one of Samus Aran's oldest foes, Ridley is as mean as they come. His appearance is still reptilian like the rest of the Space Pirates, but he is considerably larger, looking much like a dragon. He's faced Samus many times in battle, and each confrontation proves as lethal and unforgiving as the last.

During her Zero Mission, Samus encountered Ridley as one of two major obstacles to reaching Mother Brain. Though she was able to defeat Ridley, she discovered later on that the Space Pirates were attempting to save him by combining his organic body with mechanical elements. While Samus was able to destroy the prototype before she escaped Zebes, Meta-Ridley would be completed on board the Frigate Orpheon orbiting the planet of Tallon IV. After Samus killed the mutated Parasite Queen and started a chain reaction that led the ship to crash into the planet, Ridley began tracking her. He watched from a distance in the tundra of Phendrana Drifts, eventually facing her head-on at the Chozo Temple where the Phazon meteor crashed. Ridley went all-out, firing seeker missiles from a distance and lashing out with his tail at close range. Despite the intense fight, Samus emerged victorious, if only for a brief while.

On Norion, as the Space Pirates engaged Federation Forces, Ridley attempted to take the generators offline. At the same time, Samus was trying to keep them online to aid the Federation's defenses, and the two engaged in battle in the midst of a free-fall down the catacombs of the base. Some years after the eradication of Dark Samus and the Metroid populous of SR388, Ridley took it upon himself to steal the last living Metroid. His forces performed all manner of experimentation on the life forms of Tallon IV and Aether during Metroid Prime and Prime 2: Echoes, the Metroids included. Though Samus was able to defeat Ridley, his goal of mutating the last Metroid was already underway.

Ridley's remains were destroyed at the end of Super Metroid, confirming his final death. But in all the times Samus faced him, Ridley exhibited a balance of intellect and deadly force. On the one hand, he is well-versed in the aforementioned genetic experimentation as well as battle tactics, with the Space Pirate forces having proved themselves capable opponents to the Federation fleet. Facing Samus one-on-one, Ridley always has speed and brute force on his side, and his attacks are carefully planned.

Boss Theme:

Though Ridley's theme has been relatively consistent through the years, the version that plays in Metroid Prime is easily my favorite. The electronic sounds really help to embody both the sense of sci-fi exploration and the intensity of facing Ridley.

25 Days of Villains - #18: Dark Samus

In the last moments of the Metroid Prime's existence, it lashed out at Samus, managing to latch onto and subsequently absorb her Phazon Suit. With the Metroid Prime already overloaded on Phazon, it continued to expand outwards until it could no longer sustain itself, which led to its demise. However, not long after Samus left Tallon IV, her mission there complete, the Metroid Prime's consciousness began to reorganize itself. The combined DNA of the Metroid Prime and Samus Aran, along with the vast deposits of Phazon within the crater, gave birth to the main villain of the Prime trilogy - Dark Samus.

In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Dark Samus spends much of her time interfering with both the space pirates' research and Samus' progress. The pirates mistake her for the famed bounty hunter, and many of Samus' own encounters with her Phazon counterpart indicate that Dark Samus is still learning how to use this new body to its fullest potential. Dark Samus spends a large portion of the game tracking down sources of Phazon, but is ultimately defeated by Samus time and time again. Her last desperate frenzy as the Ing darkworld collapses implied the death of Dark Samus.

Unfortunately, this was not the case, as Dark Samus rematerialized months later through pirate-controlled Phazon supplies. Having learned from her previous defeats, Dark Samus displays her power to the space pirates, leading them to become subservient to her goal of spreading Phazon across the galaxy. While not originally a part of her plan, Dark Samus' encounter with bounty hunters Ghor, Rundas, Gandrayda, and Samus leaves them marked, and all but the series' posterchild become corrupted by the part of Dark Samus that dwells within them.

Dark Samus does mimic Samus to some degree. Both present themselves as calm and calculating, with Dark Samus leaning towards semi-spastic reactions only when backed against a wall. Both use arm cannons, though Dark Samus utilizes the raw dark energy of Phazon. She is also given the ability to hover and dark much more quickly than Samus Aran.

Boss theme:

I love how the alien techno sounds are offset by the electric guitar and choir voices.

25 Days of Christmas - #18: Metroid: Zero Mission

The original Metroid was released in Japan in 1986, and hit the United States one year later. The planet of Zebes was full of life, with creatures large and small sprawling over the planet’s interior. Each area was distinctly different, and housed a tough boss character. Heroine Samus Aran’s gender was kept a secret until the conclusion of the game, shocking many gamers. After the success of the first game, the original girl of gaming headed for the Metroid home planet in Metroid II: Return of Samus. It was the first game in the series to be released on a handheld, and proved to be quite popular. And in 1994, Super Metroid was released, boasting better graphics, a darker mood, and some of the most challenging boss battles in the entire series.

Twelve years passed. Samus made a brief appearance in Super Smash Bros., and there were rumors of a Metroid title for the N64, but no such game was released. Then in 2002 Nintendo released Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion, two Metroid titles that drastically changed the way the series was played. Using the same basic engine as Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission followed two years later. Zero Mission was both a remake and a re-imagining of the original Metroid game. The graphics were significantly updated and the soundtrack given a cleaner sound due to the capabilities of the Gameboy Advance.



Zero Mission brought back the three most famous villains in all of Metroid history: Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain. Their boss fights were changed slightly, as their attacks were now more varied. These villains even received their own cutscenes from time to time, which expanded on their story – something that confused some gamers in the original Metroid. An extended ending was also included, which showed Samus destroying the space pirate mothership after defeating Mother Brain. Players controlled Samus in her zero suit for the first time, and while the controls remained the same, Samus' defensive and offensive capabilities were altered greatly. Because of this, players were required to be more stealthy in the presence of space pirate patrols. The new ending focused heavily on the space pirates, helping to bridge the gap to their story in the Metroid Prime titles.

The game flowed more smoothly, even in the smallest of ways. No longer were load-ins for each individual area present. Granted, they were very short in the original game, but in Zero Mission they were nonexistent. Three separate save files were included, as well as two difficulty settings. Two image galleries could be unlocked, one upon completing the game multiple times with different criteria, and the other by linking Zero Mission to Metroid Fusion. As if Nintendo hadn’t managed to pack enough material into a single cartridge already, the original Metroid was included, completely unaltered from its initial NES release.

Some critics of the series complain about the cast being so small (with the exception of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption). But the story of Metroid is about Samus' growth. Her initial intent is to seek revenge upon the space pirates for destroying her home, killing her parents, and taking away any chance she may have had at a childhood. In Zero Mission, Samus is no-holds barred against the space pirates, as they have now defaced her adopted home planet of Zebes and turned everything the Chozo people worked for towards their own sinister purposes. Samus matures over the course of the game, and the desolation she experiences is both physically and metaphorically appropriate.



Zero Mission is one of few gaming remakes that is arguably better than the original. While it can never replace the first Metroid, Zero Mission took the mechanics of its predecessors and fine-tuned them. Its cutscenes were rendered beautifully and its graphics finely polished. It may not have been as difficult as the original, but then again it was nowhere near as frustrating either. Zero Mission provided some of the best handheld gaming in years, and showed just how well a series can age.

Space Pirates beware...

It's official - the Metroid Prime Trilogy is in stores. All three of Samus Aran's first-person adventure titles are now available in one metal box which includes an art booklet. The controls to the first two games have been updated to accomadate for the Wiimote, with slight graphical updates as well. Apparently Retro and Nintendo thought it was a good idea to tone down some of the more difficult boss battles in Prime 2: Echoes - for those who have played it, you know how irritating the boost and spider-ball guardian could be.

However, for those who are not as familiar with the games, I'll give you a quick overview. The games are set between the original Metroid and Metroid II and elaborate on the story of Samus' relationship with the space pirates and their leader Ridley (whom Samus defeated in the original Metroid). Fueled by vengeance and greed, the space pirates split their forces into three main teams. One begins mining phazon on Tallon IV (Metroid Prime), another engages galactic federation troopers in orbit above Aether (Prime 2: Echoes), and the third falls to will of Dark Samus (Prime 3: Corruption). Samus is sent on a mission which initially entails her deaing with said pirates, but quickly escelates to something greater. In Prime, your main enemies will be the space pirates, with the element phazon leading you through the other mysteries of the game. Prime 2 pits you against the Ing - creatures from an alternate dimension - as well as a dark phazon-infused version of Samus. Prime 3 begins with Samus aiding the federation in their battle against the pirates, but ultimately sends her out to recover missing tech and put an end to Dark Samus.

Stepping into the varia suit as you become Samus Aran is almost surreal for gamers. In the past Metroid was always seen as a side-scrolling platformer with a plethora of weapons and colorful alien baddies to shoot. The Prime series certainly uses a fair share of shooter elements to its control system, but with the different visors, third-person morph ball mode, and countless puzzles to be solved, the Prime series is better classified as an adventure series. The series sports a wide host of creatures both new and old, and explores the history of the Chozo - Samus' mentors - in subtle ways. The environments are breathtakingly detailed and well thought-out, from Phendrana to the G.F.S. Olympus - though some may be turned off by the Ing-infested dark world of Echoes.The soundtrack is moody and is a nice throwback to the soundtracks from past games, while creating an entirely new feel.


The Metroid Prime series carries about it an air of "everything old is new again" and gives gamers a truly unique experience. It's rare these days for a game to feel completely original, but the Prime trilogy pulls it off beautifully. If you already own the games seperately, I wouldn't really suggest you go out and buy this package - unless you are a die-hard Metroid fan or want the special metal box. But if you're new to the series or you just never got around to playing the Prime games when they first came out, I'd definitely say that the Metroid Prime Trilogy set is well worth your time and money.