Metroid: Other M

METROID: OTHER M

Psst . . . do you get it? The initials say MOM. Also putting M in front of Other makes Mother. Honestly, if I had a nickel . . . 

Anyway, Metroid: Other M is a bit of a black sheep of the Metroid franchise, with most seeming to hate it. I honestly think the badness was oversold to me a little, as I had been led to believe that Samus had been portrayed as this sniveling weak coward in the Ridley scene and that Adam had been a massive abusive jerk, and then I ended up watching it and was like . . . that's it? She's a little stunned for a second? And he's a bit on the more "hard mentor" side, but not even egregiously? Did everyone overreact? I think everyone overreacted. Anyhoo, the story follows Samus as she responds to a distress call on a scientific vessel, only to find the crew dead and encountering a Federation unit led by Adam Malkovitch.

Samus returns, as always. She brings with her her power suit and her charge beam, also gaining a morph ball, bombs, missiles, power bombs, the ice beam, her speed booster, the wave beam, the grapple beam, super missiles, the space jump, the screw attack, the gravity suit, and the power bombs. She also appears as Zero Suit Samus, though only briefly and she quickly suits up.

We get to see Adam Malkovitch alive, with the game showing the events leading up to his death. He leads a team of Federation soldiers made up of Samus's friend Anthony Higgs, Lyle Smithsonian, Maurice Favreau, James Pierce, and K.G. Misawa. All six are shown using lasers, bombs, freeze guns, regular guns, and plasma cannons throughout. One of them is also a traitor (though that ends up being unresolved in-game, it was revealed to be Pierce by the game's directors). Another important ally is Madeline Bergman, the last remaining scientist on the Bottle Ship.

Our villain turns out to be MB, a recreation of Mother Brain intended to control the Metroids but put into a cloned human body dubbed Melissa Bergman, that Madeline had gotten attached to. MB went rogue, using her mental powers to control the monsters held in the facility and kill all the scientists. MB is shown to have superhuman strength and uses a gun, but her real notable ability comes in her ability to control monsters, something we will come back to in a moment.

The base is full of a number of other returning bosses, all cloned from those Samus had fought in the past. These included the Metroid Queen, Ridley, Phantoon, and Nightmare. The Metroid Queen could bite and breathe fire, and was surrounded by her eggs. Ridley started out in a small fuzzy form that proved surprisingly violent, grew into a middle stage, and finally took on his true form once again. He could fly, bite, breath fire, crawl on the wall, slam Samus into the wall, swipe with his tail, and drop a fire bomb. Nightmare had tentacles and lasers, crawled around on its belly, and made its arm glow. Phantoon had tentacles and could throw energy orbs.

There's also a set of mini-bosses (I guess) that Samus would have to face regularly while on special lifts. These include the reptilian Ghalmanians, who can headbutt, spit acid, strike with a clawlike tongue, grab with their tail, and turn invisible; the digging Griptians, who can roll, slash with claws, punch, burrow into the ground, shoot spikes, and fly with wings; the electrical Kyratians, who could fire electric blasts from rods on their back, spin, kick, create a shield around themselves, and let off an overblast; the butterfly-like Desbrachians, who can fly, slash, slam, give off an energy wave, and shield themselves in a cocoon; and the big Rhedogians, who could fly, fire a big laser, fire remote lasers, slash with its tentacles, and slam hard on the ground. I bring these all up because they all have solid movesets, and could possibly fall under MB's control.

Other bosses include the Brug Mass, a big mass of the Brug enemies; the King Kihunter, who just kind of hangs out in its next; the plant-like Groganch; the big-armored Asborean; the draconic Goyagma; the fish-like Vorash; and the RB176 Ferrocrusher, piloted by the traitor, that throws crates and shoots missiles.

Returning enemies include Geemers, Wavers, Reos, Skrees, Dessgeegas, Sidehoppers, Namihes, Funes, Zeroes, Skulteras, Bulls, Mellas, Magdollites, with Kihunters, and Zebesians. The Kihunters could fly, drain energy, grab, and shoot energy orbs. The Zebesians could crawl on walls and shoot lasers and wave beams. New enemies include Cyclaws, Dragotixes, Gigafraugs, FG-II Grahams, Whipvines, Himellas, Volfons, Fumbleyes, Sandfangs, and Baristutes.

Most of the game takes place in the Bottle Ship, a scientific vessel where a bunch of cloning was going on, recreating most of the monsters Samus had destroyed. The ship had a main sector and sector zero, then had three biome spheres containing specific types of life, including the jungle-like Biosphere, the cold Cryosphere, and the superhot Pyrosphere. There is also a Federation vessel that Samus starts out on.

And that should be just about it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Samus Aran: power suit, power beam, morph ball, missile, long beam, bomb, ice beam, high jump boots, Varia Suit, Screw Attack, wave beam, spider ball, spring ball, space jump, spazer beam, plasma beam, Speed Booster, Grappling Beam, X-Ray Scope, Gravity Suit, Hyper Beam, Fusion Suit, wide beam, power bombs, omega suit, Omega Cannon, spider magnet, phantom cloak, flash shift, pulse radar, cross bomb, storm missiles, drain, giant beam, glowing hand.

Zero-Suit Samus: All listed above (except suits of course)

Adam Malkovitch/Anthony Higgs/Lyle Smithsonian/Maurice Favreau/James Pierce/K.G. Misawa: lasers, bombs, freeze guns, guns, plasma cannons, traitor

Quiet Robe

EMMI: grab, wall climb, crawl, scan, rampage, energy spike

Mother Brain: laser, glass casing, Rinkas, energy barriers, T-Rex body, eye beam, explosive rocks, energy disks

MB: mental powers, superhuman strength, gun, control monsters

Ridley: hop, fireballs, flying, swinging tail, screen attack, tail bounce, fire breath, grab and lift, fuzzy form, middle stage, fly, bite, breath fire, crawl on wall, slam into wall, swipe with tail, fire bomb

Kraid: blades, spikes, bombs, claw, plasma breath, bite, neck harness

Raven Beak: laser blast, leap, absorb energy, dash, scan, orb of darkness, energy beam, wings, stomp, supernova

X-Parasite: attach, orbs, shapeshift, more parasites, ice, get big, cross bomb

SA-X: missiles, super bombs, ice beam, screw attack, monster, stomp

Neo-Ridley

Phantoon: ghost, drop fire, ring of fire, tentacles, energy orbs

Nightmare: tentacles, lasers, crawl on belly, arm glow

Crocomire: charge, slash, skeleton

Metroid: float, drain energy, rise from shell, fly, claws, electricity, fire, fireballs

Metroid Queen: stretch neck, spike balls, swallow, spit up Samus, breathe fire, bite

Baby Metroid

Space Pirate: claw, energy beam, cling to wall, hop from walls, kick, throw claws, lasers, swim, wave beams

Torizo: walk, spit bombs, rubble, energy waves, jump, drop eggs

Chozo Soldier: spear, wall jump, stab down, dash, sludge wave, goop spray, shield

Robot Chozo Soldier: laser, arm scythe, dash, laser beam, jump spin

Kihunters: fly, spit acid, drain energy, grab, energy orbs, King Kihunter

Ghalmanians: headbutt, spit acid, clawlike tongue, grab with tail, invisible

Griptians: roll, slash, punch, burrow, spikes, fly

Kyratians: electric blasts, spin, kick, shield, overblast

Desbrachians: fly, slash, slam, energy wave, cocoon

Rhedogians: fly, big laser, remote lasers, tentacles, slam

Hornoad

Autom: look into

Bosses:

Arachnus

Phantoon

Draygon

Crocomire

Botwoon

Spore Spawn

Zazabi

Serris

Yakuza

Nettori

Nightmare

Neo-Ridley

Corpius

Drogyga

Golzuna

Escue

Experiment No. Z-57

Stages:

Planet Zebes

Brinstar

Norfair

Tourian

SR388

Ceres Space Colony

Crateria

Maridia

Wrecked Ship

Biologic Space Laboratories

ZDR

Artaria

Cataris

Dairon

Burenia

Ghavoran

Ferenia

Elun

Hanubia

Itorash

Bottle Ship

Biosphere

Cryosphere

Pyrosphere

Thanks for reading! And now, let's take a break and do a batch of character sheets, starting with our leading lady herself.