Saturday 1 November 2014

Video Game Character of the Month - November 2014 - Samus Aran - Metroid

Video Game Character of the Month
November 2014
Samus Aran
Metroid
Overview:
I've been meaning to give this character the award for quite a while (as I have with quite a few characters really, not to detract from this character's greatness though) and thanks to the release of Super Smash Bros. I was reminded to do so again. And, anyway, she deserves it really, (and if it helps to prompt Nintendo to carry on the series, all the better!) 
Anyways, a bit of information on Samus Aran:

She is an intergalactic bounty hunter
She is an ex-Galactic Federation soldier
She wears an upgrade-able Power Suit
She can curl up into a ball at a moment's notice without being crushed
She fights the Space Pirates and their leader, Ridley as well as the Metroids
Her mother and father are both dead
She was raised by a bird like people, called the Chozo
She was infused with Chozo DNA
She is 6ft 2in tall and weighs 198 pounds (without her Suit)
Her nickname is Sammy
Her suit may or may not be only physically there due to her immense willpower which controls it


Origin of Samus Aran:
Shock-Horror! Samus is a woman! Yes I know this is old news now, but it was a big thing when the original Metroid game came out. But, it wasn't always going to be this way. And I'm not only talking about the fact that her sex is unknown until you complete the game in a quick enough time or the fact that the original instruction booklet labelled her as a man. I am, in fact, talking about her original sex until partway through the development process of the original game. At this fateful stage, one of the staff members said 'Hey, wouldn't that be kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman?'. The rest of the staff voted and so Samus became a woman. One of the first playable, women of gaming in fact, although Toby Masuyo (or 'Kissy') from Alien Sector predates her by about a year. Her surname (Aran) comes from Edson Arantes do Nascimento which is the birth name of the famous football player Pelé. The style for the original game was designed to be a mash up of the platforming of Mario and the puzzle solving and exploration of The Legend of Zelda but in a much darker, sci-fi setting. Also, her famous Morph Ball was, like so many Nintendo greats, the results of technical limitations. This is because the team did not know how to code and design Samus crawling on all fours and so made her curl into a ball instead. Finally, she was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake.

Evolution of Samus Aran:
Over the years and many adventures, Samus has had to cope with many environments and disasters and so has had to don many suits. They include the Varia Suit (a defensive suit), the Fusion Suit (which is a side effect of the vaccine she got in Metroid Fusion) and the Zero Suit (which is, in fact, a form-fitting suit that she wears underneath her Power Suit). Also, one of the main points of the Metroid series is the ability to modify her suit with abilities such as the Screw Attack and Ice Beam. She has made the transition to 3D well and had her character explored in-depth along with befriending a Metroid and even battling herself, all the while being a great character of gaming. Now if only Nintendo would release Metroid Dread...


Games: 
Metroid: released (Japan) on August 6, 1986 on the Famicom/(North America) in August 1987/Europe on January 15, 1988/(Australia) in 1988 on the NES/(Japan) on August 10, 2004/(North America) on October 25, 2004/(Europe) on January 7, 2005 on Game Boy Advance/(Europe) on July 20, 2007/(North America) on August 13, 2007/(Japan) on March 4, 2008 on Wii Virtual Console/(World Wide) September 1, 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program/(Japan) on February 29, 2012/(North America) on March 1, 2012/(Europe/Australia) on March 15, 2012 on Nintendo 3DS/(North America/Europe) on July 11, 2013/(Japan) on August 14, 2013 on Wii U.
Metroid II: Return of Samus: (North America) on November 1991/(Japan) on January 21, 1992/(Europe) on May 21, 1992 on Game Boy/(Japan) on September 28, 2011/(Everywhere Else) on November 24, 2011
Super Metroid: released (Japan) on March 19, 1994/(North America) on April 18, 1994/(PAL) on July 28, 1994 on the SNES/(North America) on August 20, 2007/(Japan) on September 20, 2007/(PAL) on October 12, 2007/(Korea) on April 26, 2008 on Wii Virtual Console/(World Wide) on May 15, 2013 on Wii U Virtual Console
Metroid Fusion: released (North America) on November 17, 2002/(Europe) on November 22, 2002/(Australia) on November 29, 2002/(Japan) on February 14, 2003 on Game Boy Advance/(Australia) on December 15, 2011/(World Wide) on December 16, 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program/(Japan) on April 30, 2014/(World Wide) on April 3, 2014 on Wii U Virtual Console
Metroid Prime: released (North America) on November 17, 2002/(Japan) on February 28, 2003/(Europe) on March 21, 2003/(Australia) on April 3, 2003 on Nintendo GameCube/(Japan) on February 19, 2009/(North America) on August 24, 2009/(Europe) on September 4, 2009/(Australia) on October 15, 2009
Metroid: Zero Mission: released (North America) on February 9, 2004/(Australia) on March 19, 2004/(Europe) on April 8, 2004/(Japan) on May, 27 2004 on Game Boy Advance/(Japan) on June 19, 2014 on Wii U Virtual Console
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes: released (North America) on November 15, 2004/(Europe) on November 26, 2004/(Australia) on December 2, 2004/(Japan) on May 26, 2005 on Nintendo Game Cube/(Japan) on June 11, 2009/(North America) on August 24, 2009/(Europe) on September 4, 2009/(Australia) on October 15, 2009 on Wii
Metroid Prime Pinball: released (North America) on October 24, 2005/(Australia) on December 1, 2005/(Japan) on January 19, 2006/(Europe) on June 22, 2007 on Nintendo DS
Metroid Prime Hunters: released (North America) on March 20/21, 2006/(Europe) on May 5, 2006/(Australia) on May 25, 2006/(Japan) on June 1, 2006 on Nintendo DS
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: released (North America) on August 27, 2007/(Europe) on October 26, 2007/(Australia) on November 8, 2007/(Japan) on March 6, 2008 on Wii
Metroid Prime: Trilogy: released (North America) on August 24, 2009/(Europe) on September 4, 2009/(Australia) on October 15, 2009 on Wii
Metroid: Other M: released (North America) on August 31, 2010/(Japan/Australia) on September 2, 2010/(Europe) on September 3, 2010
Super Smash Bros.: released (Japan) on January 21, 1999/ (North America) on April 26,  1999/ (Europe) on November 19, 1999 on Nintendo 64/ (Japan) on January 20, 2009/ (PAL) on June 12, 2009/ (North America) on December 21, 2009 on Virtual Console
Super Smash Bros. Melee: released (Japan) on November 21, 2001/ (North America) on December 3, 2001/ (Europe) on May 24, 2002/ (Australia) on May 31, 2002 on Nintendo GameCube
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: released (Japan) on January 31, 2008/ (North America) on March 9, 2008/ (Australia) on June 26, 2008/ (Europe) on June 27, 2008 on Wii
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS:  released (Japan) on September 13, 2014/ (North America/Europe) on October 3, 2014/ (Australia) on October 4, 2014 
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: released (North America) on November 21, 2014/(Europe) on November 28, 2014/(Australia) on November 29, 2014/(Japan) on December 6, 2014

That's all on Samus but, as always, if I have made a mistake or you can think of anything to add, then please don't hesitate to comment. Or if you can think of a next character who should win the award next, then please comment as well.

Goodbye for now, Harry

Sources: wikipedia
www.metroidwiki.org
metroid.wikia.com
And
My own knowledge 

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