Reviewed by – Vic Rattles

Its 2025 and we live in a time where remakes are sweeping the market. The Resident Evil series, Dead Space, Diablo 2, all amazing remakes. It may seem so, but this is not a new trend.

21 years ago in the year 2004, Nintendo Released Metroid: Zero Mission for the Gameboy Advanced. A remake of the original Metroid for the NES. A faithful recreation of a nintendo classic that has much more to offer than you may think. Metroid: Zero Mission takes everything from prior titles such as the map from Super Metroid and the fear induced by Metroid Fusion to combine them into one solid gaming experience.

Dropped onto the desolate and alien world of planet Zebes, you are given one task, Exterminate all metroid organisms on Planet Zebes and defeat the mechanical life-form, Mother Brain. An added checkpoint system vaguely guides you to your next objective but other than that, you are alone with nothing but your gaming knowledge and a map to get you through, very reminiscent of the original Zelda or even Breath of the Wild in the way that you’re left to your own devices to explore and discover the secrets of Planet Zebes on your own.

This GBA title brings an amazing score of classic songs youll recognize immediately, beautiful 16-bit sprite work, possibly the best sprite work of any 2D metroid, and something most remakes miss out on, an entirely new ending. Spoilers aside if you enjoy metroidvania and can get ahold of this game, do it, by any means necessary. This is a remake that goes above and beyond to improve, and build upon everything that prior Metroid titles brought to the table and executes a flawless example of a proper remake.

I went into Metroid: Zero Mission with only the vicarious experience of watching my friends play it on stream. I wanted the full experience the first time around so I looked up a guide. The guide did nothing to help with the skill curve I just didn’t see coming. The skill in question? Shine strike. It’s the reason this game went from a forced play to an addiction. The game is fantastic at training you to its own unique style. Overall I score the experience a 9 out of 10 with the only complaint being how little bosses and how weak most of them are. The real bosses being the secret treasures you can only obtain through Metroids 2D version of ninja warrior. It was a blast. Will play again.

Review by –JushJoshin

I didn’t know this game was a remake of the original for NES, my chat informed me lol. When I started the game I was in a very familiar area. I’ve played super metroid for many years, so I know the layout. It felt like I was playing the original Metroid with Super Metroid mechanics. The music I noticed instantly sounding like the original, but updated.

All the music in this game I thought was incredible. I’m a musician and know what I like to hear and they did a great job. Controls took some time to get used to… I’ve never played Gameboy Advance growing up, so this was my first game for it. Really like the wall ledge grab mechanic in the game that was cool and unexpected.

Gameplay was smooth and felt like I was playing Super Metroid. After defeating Mother Brain I was stripped of my power suit and had to “earn” it back. I didn’t care for that part much doing stealth and trying to survive only armed with a pistol, but it felt really good to get my suit back with new upgrades! Overall I really enjoyed Zero Mission and I’m looking forward to playing Fusion next which I’ve never played either. I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it at first, but I’m really happy I gave it a shot and completed it in 8 hours in one sitting live on Twitch. I give Metroid: Zero Mission a solid 7/10

Review by ~DustyDawg239~