Metroid

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Metroid
Developer: Nintendo R&D1 Publisher: Nintendo Platform: NES Released in JP: August 6, 1986 Released in US: August 15, 1987 Released in EU: January 15, 1988 This game has unused areas. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has a prerelease article

The story of one girl and her highly advanced power suit borrowed from a dead civilization of birdmen. Also, there's no saves or map. Have fun!

Debug Features

The NES version of Metroid contains a secret password, which enables several debugging features (the zeroes are optional):

NARPAS SWORD0
000000 000000

("NAR" refers to T. Narihiro, the programmer who converted the game from the FDS disk format to standard ROM)

This will send you to the start of the game with the following debugging features enabled:

• Infinite health (the tens digit of your health never changes; you can still get hit and take damage, it just won't have much of an effect)
• Infinite missiles (though you technically don't have any missile containers; this can lead to a crash in Tourian, as noted below)
• Ice Beam equipped (this uses the Wave Beam's graphic with the Ice Beam's palette, which never happens normally)
• All items obtained (sans missile containers and energy tanks)

PROTIP: If you intend to beat the game with this password, it would be wise to pick up at least one missile container first. If you kill a Metroid without obtaining a missile container, and it attempts to drop a missile pickup, the game will freeze. Alternatively, you can just avoid killing Metroids altogether. This glitch was not fixed in any of the later rereleases of the game (e.g. the one included with Metroid Prime), possibly because Nintendo is unaware of the code's existence.

Inaccessible Rooms

Two rooms cannot be accessed, both of them in Norfair. They're copies of rooms that exist elsewhere in the game.

The hall at the bottom of this screen isn't connected to anything and thus can't be entered.

The room to the left is, once again, not connected to anything.

Save Function

The pads on the top left indicate space for a CR2032 battery.

Interestingly, opening up the Metroid cart reveals that it uses an NES-SNROM-0x PCB (x indicates the board revision). Among the five games that Nintendo published using this board, three of them used the battery backup space. Releases of Metroid outside of Japan did not have a save feature and opted for a password system, instead, as the Famicom Disk System version(s) relied on disk backup. The other game that didn't use a battery was Kid Icarus, which shared a similar transition from Japan. Metroid was the first NES title to use the SNROM board, making it quite obvious that they intended to have battery backup but instead cut it and chose the more cost-effective path.

Version Differences

Title Screen

FDS	NES

Select Screen

FDS	NES

The Japanese version have a File Select Screen with three save slots like "The Legend of Zelda", you can also see how many hours you have spent on your mission, where 1 hour of gameplay represents 1 Day. The NES version got a Password System instead.

Mother Brain

FDS	NES

In the Japanese version, a much larger part of the tank is destroyed, in the NES version it was changed so that the glass only gets broken where the vulnerable area of Mother Brain is.

Game Over

FDS	NES

Game Over was moved higher in frame and was given a purple palette in the NES version.

FDS	NES

If you got Game Over or if you decided to quit, the FDS version provided you with an option to save your progress, in the NES version you were instead given a password that you had to re-enter if you wanted to continue at a later time.

Ending

FDS	NES

The color palette of the text in the ending message was changed from blue to yellow for the NES version, "IN THE SPACE" was also changed to "IN SPACE" but the Engrish is still hilariously bad.

End Credits

FDS	NES

The credits' blue palette was changed to cyan in the NES version, and MAIN PROGRAMMED BY was changed to MAIN PROGRAMMERS.

FDS	NES

TOHRYU MAKO and BENKEI were replaced with T.NARIHIRO who converted the game to NES cartridge.

FDS	NES

CHIEF DIRECTED BY was changed to CHIEF DIRECTOR.

FDS	NES

The End had a slightly darker palette than the rest of the credits in the FDS version with a PUSH START BUTTON message.

Other Differences:

• As the game is being stored on disk instead of cartridge, the Japanese version has short loading times when you go between the 5 areas in the game.
• Due to having extra memory provided by the FDS RAM adapter, the FDS version features enemies that behaves in a more random fashion. For example, the "Squeepts" in Norfair can change their height in between jumps, but the NES version would restrict the state of the enemy so that it could only jump at one set height that would be redetermined only when the enemy data leaves memory. This removed the unpredictability of certain enemies in the NES version.
• The FDS version also has far less slowdown than the NES version. This is most noticeable in boss battles, as well as much of "Tourian", the last area in the game.

Audio Differences

Music

• The Title Theme and Ending Theme are much richer in their compositions in the Japanese version due to utilizing the system's wavetable sound channel.
• The Item Collection Theme and The Appearance of Samus also take advantage of the wavetable sound channel, making them sound quite different to the NES version.
• The Escape Theme is a little shorter in the FDS version, an extended section was added to the track in the NES version, a section that sounds similar to what the composer wrote for Kid Icarus.

Sound Effects

The FDS version also utilizes the system's wavetable sound channel for several sound effects:

• The bosses Kraid, Ridley and Mother Brain all sound different when they take damage, that is also the case with Metroids and other larger enemies.
• The alarm that is heard when the time bomb is activated is different.
• The sound of doors opening and closing is different.
• The soundeffect for the Ice Beam and Wave Beam is different.
• The soundeffect for the Screw Attack is different.
• The soundeffect when Samus dies is different.
• The sound when Samus take damage is different.
• The warning signal when Samus energy is low is different.

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