A great revival of the classic as well as suits new comers to the series.
Story: Samus Aran, an infant who survived a huge massacre on her home planet Brinstar, was raised by the chozo and became a capable bounty hunter. Years later, she received her first mission ever, she is to travel to Brinstar in order to exterminate the Metroids.
Game Design: The level layouts look very identical to the original, only that the graphics have drastically improved and the game uses better sprites and animations. There are even new locations added that weren’t in the original, the world of the original Metroid has never looked any better. The art is more comic style and you will also see some cut scenes during the game.
For those who don’t know a thing about Metroid, Metroid Zero Mission is a 2D shooter, unlike traditional shooters this game isn’t exactly straight forward, you will have to explore a lot around the world in order to proceed through the game, which means lots of back tracking.
Game play: You will play as Samus Aran the bounty hunter, Brinstar is full of dangerous environments, which is why Samus needs her Power Suit for protection, but the suit isn’t invincible.
You can basically jump and shoot at 8 different directions. The first ability you will obtain will be the Morph Ball, which will allow Samus to turn into a ball and can roll through small edges, through out the game you will obtain new abilities for both Power suit and Morph Ball. Unlike the original you can use maps and can download maps once you find map stations, there are also save stations, which can be found almost every where you go. You will be looking for Chozo statues which will give you new abilities and can also provide you with hints on the map, this way you won’t get lost.
Sound: The game contains remix versions of the original game’s soundtrack so expect to hear lots of old classic tunes, sound effects have also greatly improved since the original.
Metroid Zero Mission is a great remake of the original classic and is worth every penny, with this game you won’t get bored along the way.
One complaint that you could have would perhaps be the back tracking procedure, because you will need to think a lot this game might not be for everyone, while you can shoot and blast as much as you want but unlike regular shooters you will have to explore the world in order to proceed. While back in those days backtracking was quite fresh, backtracking in 2D game these days can turn off most people, even though the concept of backtracking works really well in the Prime series the old 2D games may appeal to fans a lot but new comers may have some criticisms (and I wouldn’t really blame them).
Another complaint would probably be the boss battles, some can be insanely diffecult, but then again that would give you a reason to explore a lot more to serach for power-ups.
Over all you could say Metroid Zero Mission is a game that would appeal to any hardcore gamer but otherwise nothing else, never the less, you should enjoy blasting many types of aliens and will also learn about Samus’s past, Metroid fans shouldn't miss out on this game.