Metroid Database.com

Gamasutra recently posted an article by Victoria Earl on the hacking community for Super Metroid, highlighting the work of Metroid Construction. It's a lot of great coverage for a great group of people, and they highlight several top hacks, such as Metroid: Super Zero Mission, Super Metroid Phazon Hack, and Ice Metal: Uninstall. The article is geared primarily towards developers and gives tips for developing a game that fosters growth and interest within the fan community, so you may not learn much new about the game itself (it also completely avoids any discussions of the legalities behind ROM hacking, which we're not going to discuss here, either). From Earl's list at the end, we can get some idea of why Super Metroid is such a successful game that supports such a large mod community. The game has high replay value, meaning players desire to put hundreds of hours into the game and become fans of it, it provides plenty of opportunity for exploration, and there aren't sequels or additional content being released every year. The fact that Metroid Construction provides such excellent tools contributes to its success.

If you're new to Super Metroid mods, the Metroid Database has a nice collection in our Fanapps section, including Metroid: Super Zero Mission, Project Base, and the classic Super Justin Bailey, which replaces Samus's power suit with her leotard from the original. There are also plenty of NES Metroid hacks here as well, including our very own MDbtroid. Just bear in mind that many of these patches are for veteran players rather than casual fans. The difficulty has increased considerably, and you will need to master skills such as Wall Jumping and make good use of save states in order to complete them.

If you'd like to do a little bit of hacking on your own, check out SMILE by Jathys, the Super Metroid level editor, or Editroid (which just saw an update back in early June).

As usual, the Metroid Database only provides the patches, not the original game software or patched game ROMs - you'll have to take care of that yourself, and all requests for ROMs or information about what they are and how to get them will be promptly ignored.

Until next time...
Captain Commando