Top-notch ‘Metro id Prime’ faithful to its predecessors
Game review
Aaron Shakra
Pulse Reporter
“Integrity” is not a word usually as
sociated with video games. The multi
billion dollar industry has seen genera
tions of consoles come and go, and
currently there are more franchises
and sequels than ever.
There are more incarnations of
“Street Fighter” than one could shake
a stick at. Mario and Luigi have popped
up everywhere (including the 1993
film “Super Mario Bros.”). But some
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how the “Metroid” series of games has
managed to avoid this bastardization.
The first “Metroid” video game was
released in 1986 for the Nintendo En
tertainment System, known today as
the NES, or the “original Nintendo. ” At
the end of the side-scrolling, explo
ration-based game —which takes
place on a planet called Zebes — the
character of Samus Aran (a bounty
hunter whom the player controls) is
revealed to be female. While this is not
uncommon for today’s games, back in
the 1980s it was a rarity.
The first game was followed by a
1991 Game Boy sequel, “Metroid II:
Return of Samus,” and by the 1994 Su
per NES installment “Super Metroid,”
which was considered the most recent
in the series until now. Samus, of
course, has made two other video
game appearances in the “Super
Smash Brothers” fighting games re
leased for the Nintendo 64 and Ninten
do GameCube.
The most prominent of the new
games in the series is “Metroid Prime,”
released last November. The game has
netted “game of the year” honors from
both the prolific GameSpy.com and
GameSpot. The latest installment is
the most radical departure from the
series yet — at first glance, it’s a first
person shooter. Yet describing the
game in this way is deceiving. This is
not merely a clone of a “Perfect Dark”
like game set in the Metroid universe.
While “Metroid Prime” could have eas
ily resulted in an unnecessary har
nessing of console power, creating one
more redundant 3-D game, Retro Stu
dios developers have successfully cre
ated a game still that feels like Metroid.
Most conventions from the series re
main intact— Samus uses weapon fire
to open circular doors, she can still
shrink into a morph ball, the creators
kept the time-tested grappling hook,
and there are familiar enemies (to
those who are familiar with past
games). And while there are some re
dundant aspects to this game—exces
sive use of Samus’ scanner is required
— they are only disappointing if there’s
an expectation of trigger-happiness.
The most immediately striking fea
ture of the game is the intuitive move
ment. Compared to other first-person
shooters I’ve experienced on the sys
tem (notably, the James Bond game
series), the controls are incredibly
well-designed, to the point that a new
player doesn’t have to learn to move
around the world of Tallon IV, he or she
just moves.
Metroid’s graphics are top notch.
For its genre, there is probably no bet
ter-looking console game today. Per
haps reflecting the spirit of the previ
ous installments too much, the music
can be quite grating. However, fans
more keen on the games will probably
get a kick out of this.
Those who prefer the more “classic”
style of Metroid games have the option
of playing the Game Boy Advance
game “Metroid Fusion,” which was re
leased concurrendy with “Prime.” The
two games can be used together, re
vealing secrets that will delight players
—especially fans of series—further.
For all this history of “Metroid,”
none of it is necessary to become im
mersed in the pretty, pretty colors and
shining lights of “Metroid Prime.” If this
is your first experience in the Metroid
universe, it’s a good place to start.
Contact the Pulse reporter
at aaronshakra@dailyemerald.com.
‘Emogame’ is a comic trip through pop-punk
Story tags
Helen Schumacher
Pulse Reporter
Sure, they say video games have
always been for nerds. But never
before has there been a video game
whose heroes so closely resemble
the geeks playing the games.
Instead of the usual machismo
of action stars with big guns, this
online computer game —
“Emogame” — stars seven musi
cians who must battle the evil
forces of Aerosmith’s Stephen
Tyler, who has kidnapped the emo
band The Get Up Kids.
Emo, short for emotional, is the
catch phrase used to describe the
music genre often characterized
by pop-punk guitars and superflu
ously sentimental lyrics, as well as
skinny teenagers in threadbare T
shirts, Converse tennis shoes,
black horn-rimmed glasses and
messenger bags adorned with pins
from all their favorite bands.
Created by art school graduate
Jason Oda, “Emogame” both idol
izes and makes fun of the recent
music explosion.
To save The Get Up Kids from
the clutches of the Aerosmith
frontman, players must first
choose their character from the
group of rag-tag bleeding hearts,
which includes, among others,
Chuck Ragan from Hot Water Mu
sic, Chris Carrabba from Dash
board Confessional, Conor Oberst
from Bright Eyes and Cedrick
Bixler from the now defunct At the
Drive-In.
To conquer Level 1, players
must guide their musician through
a yuppie town to The Salvation
Army. Inside the store, a dressing
room serves as a portal to the mag
ic dimension of Jeremy Enigk, who
fronted one of the original emo
bands, Sunny Day Real Estate.
Armed only with 7-inch records,
the player must fend off Dave
Matthews Band listeners, football
players, a group of girls in Weezer
T-shirts hanging out at the Hot
Topic store and even Creed.
Once gamers pass Level 1, they
must infiltrate the MTV headquar
ters to destroy the band Jimmy
Eat World, who is upsetting the
balance of emo’s semi-under
ground, semi-mainstream popular
ity by becoming too commercially
successful. But before Oberst,
Garrabba or any of the others can
reach Jimmy Eat World, they must
make it past hordes of Blink-182
fans, boy-band 98 Degrees, Court
ney Love, Fred Durst and corpo
rate music executives.
Level 3 continues in much the
same way, this time players find
themselves in a dungeon battling
zombies and Mama Fratelli and
her sons (remember “Goonies”?).
Eventually all that stands between
the heroes and victory is Stephen
Tyler — in all his skin-tight ani
mal-print spandex pants glory.
Unfortunately, the game has
some sexist and homophobic con
tent — apparently female musi
cians aren’t able to fight off bad
music. However, Oda’s name-drop
ping and attention to detail makes
playing humorous. For example,
there is a bonus round in the high
school cafeteria of Level 1, where
Armed only with 7
inch records,
the player must fend off
Dave Matthews Band
listeners, football
players, a group of girls
in Weezer T-shirts
hanging out at the
Hot Topic store
and even Creed.
the player, staying true to emo
fashion (vegetarianism), can gain
extra points collecting fruits and
vegetables while avoiding hot dogs
and hamburgers — the meat’s not
free-range. Although by no means
challenging, the game does offer
some novel fun.
“Emogame” can be found at the
Web site www.emogame.com.
Contact the Pulse reporter
athelenschumachen@dailyemerald.com.
LTD
continued from page 1
a decrease in bus route frequency,
Palmer said he and his fellow riders
are forced to “pack it in” on a daily ba
sis. And though he frowns upon the
bus pass price increase, Palmer said
he’ll grin and bear it.
“(LTD) has to make their ends
meet, too,” he said.
Students at the University pay
#8.25 per term to use LTD services,
whether or not they choose to use the
system. The charges are included in
incidental fees, which are collected
through University billing.
“Fees paid by students to support
(bus pass) programs range widely,”
Vobora said, “but the UO rate is at the
very low end of the spectrum.”
Vobora said the student fee cur
rently sits below the base group bus
pass fee — paid by other LTD group
pass organizations—of #11.13.
As an Oregon Medical Laborato
ries employee, Fran Lawson works
for an organization that receives a dis
counted rate. Lawson, who com
mutes once a day to the University
area, said she has noticed a consider
able increase in crowded buses along
Route 11, but is willing to pay the
price in the name of convenience.
“It’s not that much less to bus instead
of park,” said Lawson. “But the ability
to get dropped off right next to my job is
aperk, especially during the winter.”
Contact the reporter
at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com.
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