I am as qualified as anyone to give a fair (if still subjective) assessment of Samus' greatest foes, as I have played every Metroid game. I've beaten all of them but Hunters (DS), and all of the bosses I've encountered in Hunters suck, so I'm okay with making this list before I complete that game. I'm not putting any limitations on myself by excluding minibosses or multiple bosses from the same game. These are just purely my favorites in terms of narrative, challenge, mechanics, and memorability. Also I did 11 for reasons you don't care to know about it. Expect full spoilers. Leggo.
11. Sheegoth (Prime)
While neither a powerful final boss nor the first boss encountered in Metroid Prime, I feel like Sheegoth is the first real test that the player is faced with in the game. A menacing ice dinosaur, this action style boss fight is one of the memorable moments early in Prime. That's really all I'm gonna say about it, so I can spend some more time on the more exciting entries.
10. Spider Guardian (Echoes)
Easily one of the most challenging and unique Metroid fights ever, this is the Metroid fight I love to hate.
9. Power Bomb Guardian (Echoes)
So after you beat the Spider Ball Guardian, you get....the SPIDER BALL TECHNIQUE! Which is super fun and lets you stick to the textured walls seen in the screenshot. This ability is featured in the Power Bomb Guardian fight and makes it super fun. Basically, you navigate the spider ball maze to hit four target areas (two of which can be seen above) to make a bridge fall on the creature. The catch is, he's shooting power bombs at you the whole time, which makes it hard. I personally love spider ball sequences, so this one is one of my personal favs. This boss, like many of the MP2 bosses, loses major points for having an unremarkable design.
Alright, those three were the scrubs. Time to start getting into the heavy-hitters.
8. Emperor Ing (Echoes)
The not-so-final boss of my favorite Metroid game, Emperor Ing has everything you could want in a big boss: multiple forms, intense challenge, and a logical reason to oppose Samus in the context of the game. Basically, Samus spends all of MP2 trying to steal energy from the dark dimension of Aether (a planet) and returning it to the light dimension. Once she collects all of the energy, Dark Aether will collapse. Emperor Ing is all that stands between Samus and accomplishing this goal, so he naturally goes all out. The battle occurs in three stages, all of which test many of Samus' abilites acquired throughout the game. The first stage is a larval form:
7. Crocomire (Super)
Part of the amazing-ness of Super Metroid are the consistently good bosses. None embody this truth more than Crocomire. Let's break this down.
Crocomire shoots stuff out of his mouth at you and walks towards you slowly, pushing you ever closer to a wall of spikes that will kill you. Fortunately, there's a big pool of lava behind him. Crocomire doesn't take damage, but rather is slightly knocked backwards when hit with a concussive blast or charge beam. This turns this fight into an inverse tug of war, where you have to hit him and knock him back faster than he can walk toward you. His hit box (open mouth) is small, but fair. This mechanic is completely unique compared to other Metroid boss fights and makes it one of the most memorable in the franchise. But it gets better. This game's artistic prowess is shown off in a gory display of 16-bit wonder once Samus finally succeeds in knocking Crocomire into the lava. Behold:
The first time I witnessed this, I was so happy with what my eyes had just recorded. I thought about how this fight was so good in every sense. I turned and walked back toward the spike wall, and used bombs to blow through it (which was now possible). As I started walking left, I watched in terror as this fell down from the top of the screen:
AHHHH IT'S BACK! But nah, it's just the skeleton falling down. But seriously, the Super Metroid creators were feeling very cinematic when they designed this boss, making it the highest-ranking non-final boss on this list.
6. Aurora Unit 313 (Corruption)
The significance of this fight is completely underplayed by this game. When you think about it in context of the story of the game, it's the biggest fight on this list. Let me explain. For reasons I can't remember (shut up, I know way more about Metroid lore than you probably), Dark Samus wants to corrupt all of the planets with the radioactive element Phazon, which can infect planets when a Phazon "Seed" (meteor) lands on a planet. Somehow, Dark Samus figured out that these Seeds are coming from a home planet called Phaaze (seen above). The Galactic Federation has these organic supercomputers called Aurora Units, which can interact with organic material and electronics. Dark Samus steals one, and plugs it into the planet, which turns out to be a giant living organism. Using the Aurora Unit, Dark Samus controls the planet's firing of the Seeds to strategically control which Planets become infected. Long story short: when Samus fights the stolen Aurora Unit, she's basically having a fight with an entire planet. How many games give us the opportunity to do that? As far as scale/epic-ness (which heavily influences this list), nothing gets better than this. However, the fight itself is rather unremarkable and relatively easy. It has two stages, the latter of which involves fighting the unattached Unit.
Again, the concept of this fight is amazing, but is lackluster in execution.
5. Dark Samus (Final Encounter) (Echoes)
A few things to address here. First, I did not intentionally include so many Metroid Prime 2 bosses. Yes, I've already mentioned on this blog that this is my favorite in the series, but I tried to make this list completely based on boss quality, and I stand by the fact that I did. Also, I've completed MP2 more than any other Metroid game, so my recollection of these bosses is probably higher. Another thing, my inner nerd loves two types of battles.
1) Battles where the combatants are similarly powered/evenly matched.
2) Battles in dangerous environments or environments that are falling apart/being destroyed.
A great example of this is the Anakin vs. Obi-Wan fight from Revenge of the Sith. Another great example is this one. So Samus beats Emperor Ing and steals the last Light of Aether. This causes the dark dimension to begin to collapse, initiating the famous Metroid escape sequence featured at the end of every game. Right as she's about to leave, here comes a Phazon-juiced Dark Samus. First, I love the design of DS in this fight. It really hearkens back to her look when she was Metroid Prime:
What makes this fight epic is that you've already encountered Dark Samus twice before, and each time both of you have gotten stronger. This final confrontation, with Dark Aether falling around both of you, is easily the best dual with the character in this game. The first half of the fight is similar to previous encounters, but halfway through, Dark Samus becomes invulnerable to Samus' weapons. Samus then has to absorb DS's phazon attacks and fire them back, which again is a nod to Metroid Prime's ending.
4. SA-X (Fusion)
Metroid games are known for having a gradual power-up system, where the player struggles to defeat minor enemies early on, but late in the game one can carve through most scrubs. Samus can be a one-woman army, and these games really make the player feel powerful by the late stages. Fusion takes this concept and turns it back on the player. In the opening cinematic, a fully-powered Samus gets infected by a sentient parasite. Long story short, this parasite, named SA-X, animates Samus' power suit and all of her endgame abilities (plasma ice beam, power bombs, screw attack). Samus then goes to explore the station the SA-X is on, but with a nerfed Metroid-inspired suit called the Fusion Suit. Veteran Metroid players will immediately notice how much more vulnerable Samus is in-game with this new suit. This problem is compounded by the fact that Samus frequently encounters the SA-X on the station.
One is always tempted to fight the doppelganger. What results is a quick massacre. The player, who in previous games tore through enemies with a fully-powered Samus, now having the same thing done to them. Obviously, a full-blown battle at the end is inevitable, after Fusion Samus has powered up a bit.
The great thing about this fight is that fully-powered Fusion-Suit Samus is still substantially weaker than the SA-X. Samus has only gotten enough upgrades to give her a chance to win, which is only possible through near flawless execution. Not only does this stay true to the tables-turning theme presented in the rest of the game, but it is also is a character moment for Samus. Even when outmatched on nearly every level, Samus proves it's not the weapons that make the woman. This fight loses a bit of momentum for me when, after taking so much damage, this happens to the SA-X:
This transformation is random, unexplained, and not that exciting. It also turns the fight from the fastest-paced, most difficult dual in the series to a generic and much easier monster fight. Even so, the buildup to the SA-X fight and the context of the game's narrative make this boss incredibly memorable.
3. Queen Metroid (Return of Samus)
I. Love. Metroid II. Easily the most under-rated game in the franchise, and one of the more under-rated video games in general, Return of Samus has one of the most straightforward and satisfying objectives: Go to the Metroid home planet and
Yep, that's right. Metroid Massacre. The twist is, the Metroids are evolving rapidly. Samus faces increasingly-powerful classes of Metroids, from Alpha, to Gamma, to Zeta, and finally a few Omega Metroids. Towards the end of the game, Samus uncovers an underground lab with a few unevolved (original) Metroids. When the Metroid-counter falls to 1, the player can hear unsettling 8-bit roaring that grows increasingly louder until Samus approaches a pit. The player knows the last Metroid is in there, and it's probably the biggest one. Sure enough, it's the queen of the brood. The fight is incredibly difficult, as the Queen's only weak spot is her open mouth, which is usually attacking Samus. However, if Samus lands a missile hit on the open maw, it will stun the Queen for a second. Samus can morph ball into the Metroid's mouth, and, while taking steady damage, can move down the gullet into the Queen's stomach. If you look really closely, you can see a morph ball in the transparent gut:
Once in the gut, start spamming bombs. Yes, Samus takes constant damage, but the damage being done greatly outweighs the damage being taken. After doing this 4-5 times, the Queen is defeated, and the most famous ending in any Metroid game (okay maybe not) takes place. The stakes in this battle are huge. Eradicate the last Metroid and rid the galaxy of the bioweapon, or the Queen will presumably spawn more of them. The secret method to beating her is one of my favorites in any game, because there is no in-game suggestion to do so, and it's fully possible (although way more difficult) to defeat the Metroid without using it. I realize this battle isn't as flashy or mechanically unique as others on this list, but for reasons I can't really explain, I just love this battle.
Obviously, this game has aged quite poorly, with the bare-bones color-free graphics, a lack of 8-directional shooting, and (most annoyingly) no map. This game is in desperate need of an overhaul a la Zero Mission. While it doesn't look like Nintendo is going to deliver on this in the next decade, I'm going to put in a plug for an amazing fan remake called AM2R. I've tried it out enough to know that it is incredibly well-made, but I don't want to play through the whole thing until it the game is complete. Check it out if you're so inclined.
2. Metroid Prime (Prime)
Throughout the Metroid Prime adventure, the "Impact Crater", where a Phazon Seed landed on the planet Talon IV, is constantly in the back of the player's mind. Those who scan liberally know that there is a Metroid that is trapped down in the radioactive chamber, feeding on Phazon and mutating into an abomination, just waiting to be unleashed on the galaxy. When it comes time to face this beast, dubbed Metroid Prime, it doesn't disappoint. The large insectoid creature is all but indestructible except it's face, and the only beam that will affect MP is reflected in the color that the Metroid shows.
After whittling down MP's immense health pool (maybe bigger than any other boss in the series), she stumbles into one final hole. Samus follows down to a dark chamber, where we see this break out of the black exoskeleton:
This final form looks way more Metroid-y. Capable of rendering itself invisible, Samus must cycle through her various visors just to see the creature. Metroid Prime spawns Fission Metroids in pools of Phazon, which Samus can harness to damage and eventually defeat the creature. Metroid Prime makes this spot on the list for several reasons. The fight is everything I want in a Metroid boss fight, including decent challenge and a great creature design. The encounter has been built up throughout the entire game. What really makes the difference for me, though, is that I consider Metroid Prime to be Samus' main adversary throughout the Metroid series (not just the prime). As the name would suggest, Metroids are the only common thread to all of the games (besides Samus). Very occasionally, they are friendly to Samus, bust most often they are antagonistic. Metroid Prime is the most powerful Metroid in the franchise (the only other that comes close is the Queen Metroid), and is even sentient. It steals Samus' armor after the fight, and changes forms to become Dark Samus. I think that Samus' first battle with Metroid Prime is symbolic of the greater struggle that the Metroids entice, and the fact that Samus can't seem to ever finish off Prime parallels the inability of the galaxy to finish off Metroids as a species.
1. Mother Brain (Super)
I promise that I really didn't want to make this the number 1, mostly because it's so cliche. But for good reason. I'm sure most of you are familiar with what I believe to be the most cinematic moment in 16-bit history (that isn't an actual cinematic or cut scene). Since not all of you are Metroid maniacs, I'll break it down for you.
The first part of the fight will be familiar to anyone who played the ending of the original Metroid. It is basically an exact replica of the final boss from the series' first entry.
Except this time, whenever the player finishes off Mother Brain, she doesn't die, but actually turns into this disgusting piece of awesome.
So you battle. And honestly, the fight isn't that memorable compared to some of the other bosses thus far in the game. After you hit her so many times, Mother Brain decides to kill you.
This happens over and over again until Samus has less than 100 HP. Also, it seems to exhaust the bounty hunter, as she can't move afterwards. There is literally nothing the player can do to avoid these blasts. The player feels like they are doing something wrong, like there is some crazy detailed way to avoid such powerful moves, but they are missing out. As Mother Brain gets ready to unleash the final blow, this happens:
The baby Metroid from Return of Samus/the beginning of Super Metroid comes in and saves the day, sucking the life out of the mutated monstrosity. It comes in so fast that it's impossible for the player not to jump off the couch and exclaim "NO WAY!" Or at least I did. Then the Metroid comes over to Samus and heals her (Metroids can do that?). As this is happening, we see Mother Brain slowly start to re-activate, and Samus is helpless to do anything about it. The player might be compelled to shout a "LOOK OUT, METROID!" at the screen while this is happening. Then MB starts blasting away at the Metroid, who is shielding Samus. Once Samus hits full health, the Metroid, clearly injured, makes one last rush at Mother Brain....and then dies. I'd like to take a moment to give some kudos to the developers for making you feel attached to the same species of creature that the player was destroying in a terror-fueled frenzy just minutes before. Anyway, the Metroid's energy falls on Samus, giving her the fabled Hyper Beam, and it's nothing but revenge city for the next 28 seconds of your life.
After handily dispatching Mother Brain for good, the typical end-game escape sequence starts. But gosh dang. I would highly recommend YouTube-ing this boss fight, as seeing it take place is way better than my crappy stills/gifs. When analyzing this boss fight, a lot of people mention how cinematic this felt at the time. But I think this "at the time" is straight bullcrap. Yeah, so many games now have so many cut scenes and cinematics that tell stories wiith varying degrees of success, but there are two features about this fight that modern games (especially modern Metroid games...*piece-of-creative-diarrhea-other-m*) could take note of. First, there is absolutely no dialogue, narration, or even text. This story is clearly told through visual means only. It doesn't spoon feed the player any type of emotion, unnecessary commentary, or inner monologue. The player sees what they see and can react the way they react. That's good art. Secondly, at no point does the game ever cut away from the normal gameplay engine. There's no awkward fade out to a cut scene, which fades back to in-game action. At no point does the player even consider setting their controller down, even during moments where they have no direct control over Samus. Every moment of this fight is taking place in game. To me and probably most of you, this creates a more immersive experience. The player is actively playing through the narrative. There's no disconnect between the action and the story, which is a cherry-on-top to the incredibly immersive game that you've probably just spent 15-20 hours playing. Even among so many good boss fights in this franchise, this one stands tall amongst the rest. I doubt we'll ever see a Metroid boss fight this good, but wouldn't I love to see upcoming (hypothetical) Metroid titles try.
Props if you made it this far listening to me ramble about this series that is so dear to my heart. I'm gonna go play Metroid games now.
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