Throughout the Metroid series, gamers have experienced events through the eyes (or, should I say, visor) of Samus Aran, an intergalactic bounty hunter blessed with the mighty Power Suit. Orphaned as a girl after her mining colony home was raided by the Space Pirates, Samus was taken to Planet Zebes after being adopted by the wise, birdlike race called the Chozo. They infused Samus with their own blood to help her survive on Zebes, and taught her the ways of the warrior. At some point though, the Chozo began dying off, possibly after Samus reached adulthood and departed the planet. She joined the Galactic Federation military and was under the command of one Adam Malkovich until he sacrificed himself for his squad, including Samus. Beyond that, our knowledge of Ms. Aran is sketchy. She became a bounty hunter, and she kept a friendly relationship with the Galactic Federation, contracting with them for various dangerous missions. But so many questions remain.

The Metroid e-manga (available here in English and here in the original Japanese) is largely canonical, as most of the Zero Mission bonus gallery pictures are derived straight from that source. It answers many questions about Samus’ early life with the Chozo, but there’s a distinct 11-year gap between Samus being transfused with Chozo DNA and first obtaining the Power Suit. There is game material here, folks. Samus’ backstory is as painfully scant, as is her future is uncertain, and Nintendo would do well to take the series in a new direction now that Metroids have become extinct,* and perhaps start answering a few questions about the main character.

I see three distinct periods in Samus’ life, all of which could become very different gaming experiences. First, there is Samus’ early life with the Chozo. Acrobatics, exploration, and light combat would probably mark this period. Samus trained with a young Chozo male, who would fit in perfectly for training levels. Such a These games would necessarily take place on Zebes, but it wouldn’t have to be the Zebes we’ve explored three times before. In those gamesinstances, Samus only ventured below the planet’s surface, aside from exploring the Chodozia ruins. But in her early life, she lived atop the catacombs of Zebes’ interior.

A perfect fit for DS, thesesuch games would continue the tradition of the 2D Metroids, featuring exploration and a largely open-ended world. Samus' Chozo instructors could teach her new acrobatic maneuvers, or she could also gain new technology (but not the Power Suit itself), in order to access hiddennew areas. One of the Zero Mission gallery pictures shows a teenage Samus equipped with a sort of proto arm cannon. As the game goes on, she could transition from melee attacks to a Paralyzer pistol/whip tobefore acquiring such thea proto arm cannonweapon. Nintendo could even implement a Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin type gameplay style where players can switch between Samus and her Chozo companion.

The gameplay involved would be fundamentally similar to other 2D Metroid games, but the methods of moving through the world would be different, and a whole new storyline would emerge. During a series of games, players could see the gradual downfall of the Chozo, Samus’ emergence as a Chozo warrior complete with Power Suit, and how she decided to join the Galactic Federation military. Was revenge against Ridley and the Space Pirates her primary motivation? Also, the manga suggests that the Chozo “built” Mother Brain, who later became corrupted by the Pirates. Is Mother Brain the basis for the Federation’s Aurora Units? What, exactly, was Mother Brain’s relationship with the Chozo?

The second period of Samus' life details her separation from the Chozo, and decision to join the Galactic Federation military. The gameplay style could go in several directions, depending on whether Samus is wearing her Power Suit in battle or not. I would prefer to see her without it, honestly. Zero Mission and Super Smash Bros. Brawl showed us a Samus Aran who was agile and stealthy, yet fully capable of handling herself in a fight. I would also expect that, in the military, she would be expected to wear a Galactic Federation military uniform. At any rate, I can see many different gameplay styles working effectively.

There could be a stealth aspect a la Metal Gear Solid. There is actually evidence for this sort of scenario! In one of the Fusion gallery scenes, Samus is walking away from a building with her fingers to her ear, just as Snake puts his hand to his ear while communicating with Col. Campbell. Heck, maybe she got her Paralyzer gun from the military! In fact, given her advanced physical prowess resulting from her training and Chozo-infused blood, Samus would be an ideal candidate for stealth missions. Besides, Samus has already been shown, in Zero Mission, to be quite adept at sneaking through Pirate strongholds.

Theseis kind of games would be suitable for home consoles, as itthey would operate in a 3D world. The storylines could focus on Samus’ relationship with the Galactic Federation, and we could get to know Adam Malkovich, the commanding officer who reemerged as a digital mind in Fusion. If the Federation is keeping an eye on the Space Pirates, we could learn more about them also. Specifically, I would like to know how the Pirates corrupted Mother Brain , what their relationship with the Chozo is, and how the Pirate “caste” system works. The Pirates in Zero Mission, Super Metroid, and Fusion look nothing like their Prime counterparts, so perhapsand these “military” games could shed some much-needed light on Pirate society.

If Samus remains in her Power Suit (although I hope she doesn’t), the military games could continue the Prime tradition of first-person immersion and platforming. Given the focus on Samus’ military years, however, the overall plotline and game flow may resemble Halo more than Metroid Prime. In this environment, Samus would be a part of a squad or team, with specific objectives, and thus experience a more linear progression. It’s not like Samus would completely overpower her squadmates, either. Remember that she’s only equipped with the basic Power Suit, and Galactic Federation troopers wear surprisingly similar armor suits. In a squad-based game, Nintendo could implement robust online play, including multiplayer deathmatch games and, dare I suggest it, co-op. In a more mission-oriented Prime-type game, we could still see the beautiful environments that the Prime games were known for, but the exploration aspect would take a backseat to the military action.

And then there’s the third period, which takes place after Fusion. Nintendo pulled a fast one on us in that game—even though Samus became part Metroid (Alien: Resurrection, anyone?), that parasitic DNA did nothing more than give her lots of free health and missiles, and a weakness to cold temperatures. But now that there are no more X Parasites, all Samus is left with is a weakness to ice? Shenanigans!

The end of the Prime trilogy left one nice little cliffhanger which further integrated Metroid Prime: Hunters into the Metroid universe: Samus rides off into the sunset, only to be pursued by Sylux, one of the rival bounty hunters from thate DS gameshooter. The instruction booklet for Hunters claims that Sylux hates Samus with a passion, and that all of his technology, including his ship, has been stolen from the Galactic Federation. While this is nothing but baseless speculation, Sylux could be human. What’s more, Sylux could have also been trained by the Chozo. Maybe Samus wasn’t the only one to survive the Pirate raid that left her orphaned!

At any rate, the next game in the Metroid series as we know it could focus on Samus vs. Sylux, Samus grappling with her Metroid physiology, or both. A weakness to cold couldmay be just be the beginning—what if Samus begins to hunger for “life energy?” She could become more feral and unstable as the mindless parasite within begins to emerge. I also like the idea of multiple planets for Samus to explore, as presented in Hunters and Corruption. If Samus is trying to cure herself of her Metroid infestation, why not do some planet-hopping to look for the right ingredients?

In light of these changes in focus, I humbly submit that a change of title is needed. The “Metroid” moniker was proper when Metroids were at the center of the experience, but their importance began to wane as early as Super Metroid. Retro Studios struggled to wedge the space blobs into each Prime game, and their presence was most out-of-place in Echoes. They were completely absent from Hunters, and the Metroid threat in Fusion was relegated to the final twenty minutes of gameplay. This is actually a waste of a great plot device. Of all the Metroid games, only Return of Samus has fully explored the Metroid lifecycle. Remember how awesome the Omega Metroid at the end of Fusion looked? Why hasn’t more been done with the Metroid mutations? Boy, Nintendo, it’s too bad they’re all extinct now!

At any rate, I believe that the Metroid name cannot be suitably applied to the proposed games taking place during the first and second periods outlined above. While Metroids themselves probably existed during these times, they would not show up in the plotline (Samus only learned of the existence of Metroids when she returned to Zebes during the events of the original NES Metroid/Zero Mission). I would call the series “The Chronicles of Samus Aran.” Not to bring a Riddick vibe to the franchise, but I think the title conveys a sense of depth and epoch that is fitting for one of gaming’s most kick-ass characters.

However, Nintendo has never been good about “moving on”. When Phantom Hourglass was announced, I was excited to see what direction the Zelda series would take with the Triforce threat well and truly dispatched. Well, after seeing the ending of Phantom, we discovered that Nintendo skirted the issue entirely. Will they be willing to take a new direction with the Metroid series? Along any route they choose, Nintendo will have to face up to a series without a namesake, and those are dangerous waters. They could go the easy route and create a game which takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, or perhaps remake Return of Samus in the spirit of Zero Mission, but I would hope that Samus’ character is explored and her past illuminated. It’s a brave new world for Samus Aran, and one I look forward to following.