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[Retrospective] Sci-Fi Horror Epic ‘Super Metroid’ Turns 25

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Surprising, some people gloss over the fact that the Metroid series has its roots in sci-fi horror. Yes, in spite of the series owing a lot of its influence to the Alien series, most people still see the series as more sci-fi adventure, which is fair (given that this is Nintendo, after all). Yet with Super Metroid, a landmark title that celebrates its 25th anniversary today, horror still has a very real presence with the game, despite its more action-oriented leanings.

It’s no secret that the Metroid series was heavily inspired by the Ridley Scott and James Cameron films. The lone female protagonist forced to battle against a creature that relies on its host to survive. The very Giger-esque creature designs. The cavernous surroundings reminiscent of the derelict alien ship, or the claustrophic colony decks that descend deeper into the planet. It’s all there, and continues in Super Metroid.

From the very start of the game, there’s a very real Aliens feel. The intro recaps the events of the first to Metroid games against a background of Samus looking on at her screen, as her journal entry is typed out. All the while, the fantastically-atmospheric music by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano gives the intro a very unsettling feel. All at once, the Ceres Space Colony’s distress call abruptly ends the music as the unsettling feeling gives way to tension. The colony where Samus delivered the last Metroid is under attack. That tension ratchets up quickly after Samus flies back to the Ceres Space Colony, only to find it darkened, scientist bodies littering the lab, and an eerie silence. The callback to James Cameron’s classic couldn’t be more obvious.

The callback doesn’t end there, as after discovering the leader of the Space Pirates, Ridley (which yes, is a reference Ridley Scott) is in possession of the baby Metroid. After a brief battle, there’s a self-destruct sequence initiated, forcing Samus to flee the Colony before it explodes. Tailing Ridley, Samus returns to the planet Zebes to begin her hunt to recover the baby Metroid that Ridley has taken. Upon landing on Zebes, the game again uses the inspirations from Aliens to paint the atmosphere: It’s raining, with little to no music, and it’s disturbingly quiet. Really, it’s not unlike when the dropship arrives at LV-426 in Aliens. Samus traverses the eerily-silent corridors and down elevators, the area is devoid of all enemies. Once again, as the marines make their way into the complex searching for the missing colonists, there’s an eerie silence. The complex gives way to the hive, which is where the real nightmare begins.

Once Samus arrives and acquires her trademark morph ball, a security camera(?) activates and tracks her. In the next room following that, Samus comes face to face with the Space Pirates, which have now swarmed the area. It’s not unlike the discovery of the missing colonists by the marines, the disturbing of the hive, and all hell breaking loose. This mirroring of Aliens typifies the type of sci-fi action/horror Sakamoto was going for with Super Metroid.

Later on, Samus comes across a crashed alien space craft that’s been left to rot for over what appears to be an extraordinary amount of time (a nod to the derelict craft in Alien, perhaps?). Inside, the ship is haunted by the spectres of the original crew that disappear and reappear. Eventually, you make your way further into the ship, where Samus encounters the spectral Phantoon, which at first glance might not seem to ape one of Giger’s creations. However, Alien buffs will recall the Luigi Cozzi-directed Contamination, which is a blatant Alien rip-off. Phantoon looks suspiciously similar to the alien in Contamination. Or perhaps, given Phantoon’s supernatural and multidimensional traits (not to mention his overall appearance), could it be a reference to a creature out of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos?

Another boss battle, the battle with Kraid, can be seen as another reference to Aliens. During the search for and rescuing of Newt, fighting off the Xenomorphs as she makes her way through the bowels of the complex, Ripley finds herself faced with the massive Queen Xenomorph, which towers over Ripley as it awakens and raises itself up. Similar to that is Samus’ approach to Kraid, where she fends off against Kraid’s spawn before coming to Kraid itself, which towers over Samus, requiring her to scale the beast to attack it.

All the references to the Alien franchise aside, Super Metroid does have more horror aspects than just tributes. Despite what you might expect from a first-party Nintendo game, Super Metroid does feature some bloody bits. Super Metroid was released shortly after the formation of the ESRB, the regulatory body that determines the age ratings for video games. There was concern that some of the more violent aspects of the game would cause a backlash for Super Metroid, which thankfully didn’t happen.

Still, the battle with the first Chozo Statue that unexpectedly comes to life after Samus takes the Bomb item is an intense and gory one (as far as a 16-bit Super Nintendo game goes). As Samus damages the now-living statue, its chest bursts open, with “blood” dripping out of the gaping hole. Eventually, Samus shoots off the statue’s head, but instead of dropping to the ground, the statue intensifies its attacks, flailing its arms around and running across the room.

Then there’s the battle with Crocomire, where Samus forces the creature backwards until it backs onto a platform that crumbles into the Norfair lava. Despite what you’d expect, Crocomire struggles in vain to climb back onto the platform, its flesh melting from the heat. Once it finally sinks down into the lava, you’d think you’re safe. Not so, as when Samus turns back to escape the room, the spiked wall gives way to the skeletonized remains of Crocomire, in a last gasp attempt to get Samus.

Finally, in the climactic battle with (sorry, spoiler alert!) Mother Brain, Samus once again forces her way into Mother Brain’s lair to take on the head of the Space Pirates. In a repeat of the first game, Samus destroys Mother Brain’s “jar” and apparently kills Mother Brain, only for her to reveal her true form: A one-eyed bipedal monster with drooling saliva and noxious breath. According to designer Toru Osawa, he modelled Mother Brain to look like an “old lady living in my apartment complex”. Upon defeating Mother Brain (with the help of the baby Metroid), Mother Brain’s head falls to the ground, withers and crumbles to dust. From there, it’s yet another callback to Aliens, mirroring the beginning of the game, where Samus must escape Zebes before it blows up.

But with all of that, even if you choose to believe Super Metroid was more action sci-fi, and you ignore the horror aspects, as horror fans, why celebrate the game? Well, three years after Super Metroid, Konami released a little game in their Castlevania series that adopted many of the mechanics found in the Metroid series in Symphony of The Night, which is widely regarded as one of the best Castlevania games ever. Sure, the perceived horror is different, but had the Metroid series not been as successful, or had successfully demonstrated even a little horror in its gameplay, would we have gotten SOTN?

Writer/Artist/Gamer from the Great White North. I try not to be boring.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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