LogFAQs > #951206588

14. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA, 2004)

It's the game on this list I've beaten more than any other, the expansive remake and reimagining of the original Metroid. Zero Mission has to be one of the most breezy and enjoyable games to play through - basically every time I go through it, I just want to start over and go again. For a game that's only gonna be 5 to 10 hours tops on your first playthrough, that's almost a necessity, but like I said, I've gone through it a multitude of times (I want to say at least 40-50), so it's well worth its value.
Zero Mission really isn't reinventing the wheel as far as a Metroid game goes - it uses roughly the same controls as Fusion, which are a streamlined version of Super Metroid's - but instead of pivoting in a different direction like Fusion, it safely steers into standard conventions. Zero Mission's got the usual array of powerups, bosses, and moves - wall jumps, bomb jumps, and shinesparks are all included, and they're easier to pull off than ever. And sequence breaking is not only somewhat encouraged here, it's actively built into the design in a lot of places to skip big items or segments of the game on replays. As a remake of Metroid 1, you've got pretty standard boss fights - there's a couple of alien baddies added here and there, but mostly you've got souped up versions of Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain.
Of course, I'm burying the lede a bit - the game turns significantly after you reach the Metroid 1 ending (blow up Mother Brain and escape the planet). There's a lengthy stealth section where you infiltrate the Space Pirate base in the now-iconic blue zero suit, regaining your suit and all your powers, and take down the true final boss. It's certainly very distinct and a jarring departure from everything up until that point. I do enjoy it, and though it's probably my least favorite section of the game, I do appreciate the attempt to try something different with the remake and its structure. And hey, it's only a short segment before you're back to rolling in a ball and blasting away enemies with beams and missiles and collecting power-ups and such.
The game's difficulty is pretty friendly, but it has a built-in time attack mode which keeps your best records for both any% and 100%. (This was before most of us even knew what a speedrun was!) There's also unlockable "endings" with unique pictures for a bunch of conditions; you can beat the game with as low as 9% of items, and doing so with 15% of less on both normal and hard mode gets you a unique picture. The difficulty is definitely there if you're looking for it; on my last playthroughs a year ago, I went through all the different picture-unlocking categories, and 15% hard was absolutely brutal.
But that's really it - unlike Link's Awakening, which was so heavily about the intangibles and the power of its story and themes, Zero Mission is just an incredibly satisfying and pleasant game to run through. It's got a really solid soundtrack, of course, and nails the Metroid atmosphere totally well (I still adore the game's cute reference at the end credits), but it's up here this high because it's a game I never get sick of playing through. The aforementioned runs I did last year - I think I did 9 relatively casual completions of the game in all its different difficulties and completion states - happened in the span of just over a week. There was a point when I had broken this out after a while, where I would wake up and literally beat the game in a couple hours before going to work. I can't think of any game, even the ones ahead on the list, that has brought me that kind of addictive start-to-finish playability, and Zero Mission is always going to feel a certain kind of special just because of that.

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it's an underwater adventure ride