Today marks the 25-year anniversary of the very first Metroid game’s release in Japan. It was on August 6, 1986 that it became available for the Famicom Disk System; it wouldn’t be until a year later, during August of 1987, that it would come out for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America.
Metroid is significant for a number of reasons, from its multiple endings to its female protagonist to its nonlinear gameplay. The latter really set it apart from the competition with the ability to backtrack through areas you had already visited. It’s a mechanic that’s taken for granted nowadays and is very often used as an artificial way to extend a game’s length. In 1986, it was a novel concept, as were the power-ups you collected throughout the game that allowed for new areas to be reached.
