Super Metroid: A Masterclass in Curated Open-World Design
Super Metroid is so enduringly good because of the masterful world design that empowers players to feel like they’re in control of their own journey through the game’s carefully curated levels and subtle environmental storytelling.
This blog post is part of an ongoing series where I analyze the top 100 best video games of all time as part of the David Perry Challenge. Super Metroid is ranked #5 out of 100.
Super Metroid is one of the most enduringly popular and critically acclaimed games of all time, and it’s not hard to see why. The game’s masterful world design is the driving force behind its success. The world of Super Metroid is the first-class citizen, and all other elements of the game support the exploration and discovery of the world’s hidden corners and stories.
The core mechanics of Super Metroid are simple, yet intuitive. Players take on the role of Samus Aran, a skilled bounty hunter with a versatile suit of armor that allows her to run, jump and shoot her way through the game’s levels. The running and jumping mechanics are familiar to anyone who has played a Mario game, but Super Metroid takes it to the next level by allowing players to interact with the world with Samus’ gun. All interactions with the world revolve around one of these three main mechanics. For example, doors in Super Metroid open when shot.
Moving on to the level design, it’s a masterclass in how to create a world that is both curated and open-ended. The game’s levels are broken up into chunks of exploration and discovery, and players are led through the world in a nearly linear fashion, but it’s presented in a way that feels like they’re exploring freely. This is achieved through a combination of environmental storytelling, subtle visual cues, and carefully placed power-ups and items that are strategically placed to encourage exploration. The result is that players feel like they’re in control of their own journey and are constantly discovering new things.
One of the key elements of Super Metroid’s level design is the sense of mastery and control that players feel over the world. Unlike other games in the genre, such as Metroid Prime and Mega Man X, the player is not stripped of her tools after experiencing the height of those powers. Instead, the player is given a competent level of tools at the beginning of the game to navigate the world in a basic way, and then slowly given the tools to unlock more and more of it. The places to use these tools are often telegraphed in a very clear sort of way, such as doors that are different colors that require the use of different weapons to open them. This gives players the sense of mastery over the world, and the satisfaction of unlocking new areas and abilities.
The atmosphere of the world is also an important aspect of Super Metroid’s level design. The game takes place on the planet Zebes, a vast and hostile alien world that feels like a living, breathing place. The game’s music and sound effects are also incredibly effective at creating a sense of tension and unease, which helps to make the world feel dangerous and mysterious. The game also uses environmental storytelling to give players a sense of the history and lore of the world, which makes it feel more alive and real.
In conclusion, Super Metroid endures as a classic game because of its masterful world design. The world is the first-class citizen and all other elements of the game support the exploration and discovery of the world’s hidden corners and stories. The game’s level design, progression system, and atmosphere all work together to make players feel powerful and in control of their own journey. Super Metroid is a masterclass in how to create a world that is both curated and open-ended, and it’s a game that every game designer should study and learn from.
