Metroid Zero Mission (Review): "Brilliance Reborn" | Tome of Silver

The full story of Samus Aran's first mission finally unfolds...Hello everyone, and welcome to Chapter 42 of the Tome of Silver. The show where I randomly select a game from my collection, review it, and add it to an ever-growing ranking list.
The original Metroid is one of the most important games ever released, being among the trendsetters of the Metroidvania genre. It’s literally in the name. I’ve spoken on it before here on this channel, but for those unfamiliar, a Metroidvania, rather than the game being separated into individual levels, takes place in a large, singular location. However, much of this location is locked off, with only select areas initially being available. By exploring, players will find new power-ups, which will not only make their character more powerful but also allow them to gain access to more of the world slowly. Metroid helped pioneer the genre, giving players a never-before-seen experience when it first debuted back on the Nintendo Entertainment System. This allowed Metroid to stand apart from anything else the system could offer and would inspire generations of future titles to come, making its significance to video games as a whole indisputable.
That said, I’ve personally found that Metroid has not aged especially well. The level design has a lot of copy-and-pasted elements, leading to the hallways that make up the overall map appear rather samey. When you’re constantly going back and forth through a large, labyrinthian maze of a level, having each section of the world looking identical can make it easy to get lost and frustrated. Plus, the enemy placement and odd bugs here and there just make it very hard to recommend these days, especially when we have today’s title, Metroid Zero Mission.
Zero Mission is a remake of Metroid created exclusively for the Gameboy Advance in 2004, updating the original’s visuals and controls, while incorporating new elements from later titles and a few unique additions of its own. Has Zero Mission aged better than the original, and did made itself more enjoyable for what were modern-day audiences? Don your power suit, trigger the self-destruct sequence, and let's turn the page to Metroid: Zero Mission for the Gameboy Advance.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:30 Story & Gameplay
11:31 Zero Mission Exclusive Content
15:56 Conclusion & Ranking