Harmony of a Hunter: Celebrating 25 Years of Metroid

[Andy Chalk]

Harmony of a Hunter: Celebrating 25 Years of Metroid

​

Metroid [http://www.shinesparkers.net/harmonyofahunter/index.html], is just a couple of days away from release.

Mario may be the standard-bearer but there's no denying that Metroid, which debuted on the NES all the way back in 1986, is one of Nintendo's most popular and enduring franchises. To mark 25 years of Samus Aran's bounty-hunting adventures, the community at Shinesparkers [http://www.shinesparkers.net/] has put together Harmony of a Hunter, a compilation album featuring music from every game in the series, interpreted by more than 20 different musicians.

Harmony of a Hunter will include 36 separate tracks covering a wide range of genres, and for hardcore fans who want something to show off to friends, a hi-res cover, jewelcase insert and two separate disc surfaces are all available for download. An original poster by Nate Horsfall of Lightning Arts [http://www.lightningarts.com/] is also included with the package.

This is obviously a must-have for any Metroid fan and based on the very impressive music in the preview videos, even non-fan game music aficionados might want to check it out. Harmony of a Hunter launches on August 7.


Permalink

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Hey. Other M didn't kill the series for me, so I might get it.

But this atmospheric music, even with spruced up covers, isn't really good for recreational listening.

 

[ManupBatman]

And here I was hoping for the 25th anniversary they would announce a new game that is actually made in house, but silly me. Why would they ever do that?

 

[Mrsoupcup]

I stopped listening when the dubstep kicked in. Well, so much for that.

Could we please just have a Metroid Prime re-make for the 3Ds instead?

 

[RTR]

Yes please

 

[LostNumber]

I'm at work, so I can't listen to the video, but even without hearing it I know it's a must buy. Metroid has some of my favorite classic game music, and I've enjoyed every version of those songs that I've come across.

 

[Innegativeion]

Just one of those things that makes ya go "ooo aaaahhh"

 

[Drummie666]

My brother just asked me a couple days ago for the soundtrack of metroid prime for his birthday. Fuck that, I'll just get him this.

Now if only it didn't contain the soundtrack of Other M. Y'know, that game that ruined the series for me and my brother.
Actually, Other M is the only game in the series that I can't remember any music from. It just wasn't very memorable.

No, wait. I missed the "interpreted" part. Never mind everything I just said then.

 

[MetroidNut]

Meanwhile, Nintendo gears up to celebrate Metroid's 25th anniversary with: nothing!

yaaaaaaaay

 

[Atmos Duality]

And here I was hoping for the 25th anniversary they would announce a new game that is actually made in house, but silly me. Why would they ever do that?

This is still better than the treatment Mario got.

25th Anniversary: Nintendo repackaged an old SNES title and charged the public 40 bucks for it.

 

[Post Tenebrae Morte]

I will not touch it on the basis that Other M music is on it. Call it childish, but it like saying I won't get a birthday gift for a five-year old because he pushed my mother down the stairs and killed her.

Yeah, totally like that. Other M gave Samus a slightly annoying, but in no way surprising since it was written by a man born into a culture that is xenophobic and highly into servitude, personality. I don't know about everyone else, but Super Metroid is, to me, the best and The prime series, while fun, wasn't like Metroid. It felt too slow and constrained. Not to mention, I liked Echoes better than Prime 1 or 3. Other M, while it had its faults, kept intact with the fast-nature of the exploration and combat.

Other M was a first-time venture into a game-style that is unknown to the developers, it was going to have its faults. What is lacked in originality with its story (which still had some good points), it made up with in gameplay which was fluid, worked, and even fun. The music was quite good, with a nice piano piece at the intro.

I swear, nostalgia and unrealistic expectations are bad people. Samus was the equivalent of a terminator powered by a hamster before Other M, she barely had any personality.

 

[Javarino]

I don't give a damn about a lack of personality, what I hate is when a personality is given to a character we know is definitely badass that makes her seem like a whiny 13 year old with daddy problems. Lack of character wasn't the problem, being given a character NOBODY LIKES, OR APPRECIATES unless you are Miyamoto and have a creepy delusion about Samus as your adoring, desperate child, is.

OT: Metroid Prime series is probably the best trilogy I've ever played, even if I only completed the last one. Did not touch Other M, watched a preview of the cutscenes and said screw it.(also didn't play any of the gameboy/Snes games, my childhood is incomplete but I feel it only made me immune to nostalgia when I played the Prime games.)

 

[Post Tenebrae Morte]

She was only perceived as badass due to the fact that she was in a suit, blew up planets, and never talked, only looked solemn and stoic like a creepy portrait from the early 1800's. Her home was destroyed, her parents killed and likely eaten in front of her by Ridley (She was a child, so it likely is engraved onto her mind), then when everything seems to be going good (Intergalatic space birds adopt her, train her, etc; Also, remember that the Chozo is an alien species which likely does not abide by Human culture, so she likely adopted a equally alien-like personality.), her adoptees dissapear.

With no one to help her and likely in her early 20's or late teens, she joins the Galactic Federation. Offput by human behavior due to being raised by the Chozo, she chose to put off a loner attitude, but showing Adam respect in her own way once she got to know him. Then his little brother dies, Samus thinks she could've saved him, and they go their separate paths.

In which, her game appearances occur. Cool beans, she kills Ridley at last and destroys the dastardly Mother Brain. She then goes to kill an entire species due to how dangerous they are, but in a spark of humanity and motherly affection, she decides to take and keep safe the Metroid Hatchling (Baby). Hoping it'd be safe and unable to take care of it due to her life-style, she gives it to some researches. They get killed, Ridley comes back and takes it. So, ensues Super Metroid. Kills Ridley, making sure to turn him into paste with her missles, and after the Baby's sacrifice, blows up Zebes (Zebeth).

Now confident that her boogeyman (Ridley) and his cohorts (Space Pirates) are all dead, she goes and tries to relax. Now Other M starts: She meets an old friend and her father figure (Whom she likely has an electra-complex with). Showing respect for her old commander, she agrees to disable her upgrades in order to gain his trust. Stuff happens, Ridley reappears in the midst, perpetrating the possibility to Samus' mind that he will never die, that as long as she breathes, he'll just keep coming back.

The murderer of her parents, whom she had thought she had made sure as to reduce to reptile vapor, is back. Crawling out her nightmares and causing a Post-traumatic Stress Disorder attack, it attacks her. Her friend sacrifices himself to save her, snapping her out of her attack. She resumes being the "Badass" people love, goes on to Sector Zero, discovers who the traitor is, etc. When she tries to get into the place in order to blow it up, Adam stops her. Hoping that the hatch-ling she had just encountered, had yet to gain its ice resistance, he shoots it after stopping her. Managing to kill it (Remember, if that failed, he had an automatic rifle-like gun, which had an attachment large enough to hold and fire Grenades. So, he could've went Old-school on it), he explains the entire situation to Samus. Regretting his hostility and knowing that a sacrifice is needed in order to get rid of the Resistant Metroids, he does it himself.

He shot her in order to stop her from doing something reckless, which, even in her experience, would've likely gotten her killed. He knew the odds due to being an experienced commander, far more than her. I know everyone would love to see her as "The Planet Killer" on a scale like Sephiroth's Super Nova, but she is still just a human, though with dna modifications, she is still just a human. Those metroids would've overrunned her and sucked her drier than a slurpy.

With her father figure, and possibly, her friend, dead, she goes on to complete the mission in their honor. Finally overcoming her weaknesses to strive on ahead, stronger than before. Becoming the woman we see in Fusion.

Her speaking in monotone works due to how she had been raised, her having a ptsd moment works due to witnessing, first hand, the murders of her parents and the destruction of her home, etc.

Also, Yoshio Sakamoto wrote the plot. He is the creator of Samus and Metroid. Gunpei, who made the Gameboys, only published Metroid. He didn't make Samus, Yoshio did. Miyamoto had no involvement.

~Efrit

 

[Javarino]

Apologize for the mixup (in my head I was thinking Sakamoto), and I have to admit, your version of the story really makes me want to experience it for myself, problem is, I tried, and it didn't work. No amount of incredibly rich, detailed, and impressive plot can make you overlook the way in which it is presented. I watched the opening cutscene; what was meant to seem like a deeply moving and powerful look at Samus as she deals with her past, and what it means to her, comes across as wooden and overworded. Honestly, give all the reasons you want for her to have a monotone voice, but you'd think a bounty hunter employed by the HUMAN galactic federation, who has travelled the galaxy, probably encountered numerous alien species and lifestyles, and was just shown to have a deep and moving connection to the wellbeings of considerable others, would have a little more character, or maybe some emotion for christ's sake.
Because as I said I have NOT played the game, I'll continue on to the next point of interest, the ptsd attack. Now, your logic makes sense in this case, but with a few flaws. Samus, as I have said, has travelled the galaxy and faced numerous near-death experiences up to this point. Hear is were your logic makes sense, in that she probably still retains memories of her parent's and their planet's death, at the hands of Ridley. A little surprise and perhaps fear is to be expected when he comes back from the dead. However, you have to remember that at this point she has "killed" Ridley almost 5 TIMES. As a bounty hunter, a professional badass one as we already know, there is no reason for her to have a full on mental break-down at the sight of an old foe. I know she thought she had killed him, but that should have produced a moments' hesitation, no more. Any professional soldier would do a double-take and move on, maybe showing fear or maybe resignation after the battle that they may have to face their enemy again. You DO NOT see a soldier breaking down after he thinks he's killed an enemy, only to have them jump up with a knife, you see the soldier fighting for his life AND THEN experiencing doubt.

That's all I have to rant about for now, as I said I haven't played the game so I can't comment on areas I don't already know about. From a purely mechanical standpoint, I'm guessing the game worked well so I have no complaints about that. And once again, the plot is only bad because of the presentation. I could definitely do without lifeless, dull, monotone monologue bread on top of my spicy, interesting, sci-fi plot sandwich.

~Javarino

 

[Post Tenebrae Morte]

Actually, there have been documented cases of PTSD erupting suddenly in such cases, especially in experienced individuals whom usually take down the enemy with precise shots. PTSD is quite random at times, occurring in either the oddest of times or in the right time. Many people whom have had undiagnosed PTSD have went "The path of the warrior" in order to escape those memories. Samus, while seemingly invincible having spat in death's face multiple times, was running away from the memories by submerging herself in adrenaline pumping situations which could've gotten her killed. Her recklessness is shown when she tried to go and save Adam's Brother, and when she thought she could've destroyed Sector Zero even after being told that the Metroids in there were frost resistant.

If it wasn't for Adam, she likely would've gotten herself killed. Have you tried to kill the Metroids in 1 and 3 (Super) without Freezing them? It is a pain in the ass because even with Super Missles, they swarm fast like Cockroaches onto a carcass. I'd be willing to bet that she is in her mid 20's or late 20's by Other M. She doesn't seem to have the experience to really tell when going Rambo would be a bad idea. In Other M, she is forced to confront these short-comings, including her "running away" from her PTSD. By the end, she is shown to have overcome then. Which, in Fusion, we see when she exercises caution against the SA-X, argues with the Adam AI, etc; She learned from her experience in the Bottle Ship.

Lastly, for the PTSD issue, since the Prime games are not considered canon by Sakamoto, who wrote the game's script, she has only fought Ridley twice before. Both times she was in her own "Shell" to keep the memories from arising. In Super, she made sure to vaporize his scaly hide. With his appearance in Other M, he provokes the thought of him being her ever-lasting boogeyman, which, considering the past recent events (Losing the Baby, the whole traitor mess which has induced paranoia in her, etc), was what broke past her shell. Under the shock of this, she was momentarily left defenseless. By her friend sacrificing himself, she accepted that the memories wouldn't leave her till she confronted her demons. In which, she goes and kicks Ridley's ass, finally overcoming that demon.

Now, on the monotone issue: Armies, states, etc; all hire Mercs and bounty hunters for one main reason: They won't be hindered by the emotional issues that their regular soldiers would face. The Galactic Federation hired Samus due to her seemingly stoic attitude, alongside her previous years of service. They didn't care if she had issues, she was a weapon to them. And while she has seen various Alien cultures, they likely didn't seem alien to her or she didn't have time to explore them due to being tasked with some form of destruction job. The monotone voice (Which did show signs of emotion, especially once the Ridley battle had past) was a result of her "Tough guy" shell she put on in order to escape the memories and issues that she had deep down.

Lastly, go watch the Adam scene and the scenes past it, you'll likely see the Samus you've known previously, along with the emotion in her voice.

~Efrit

 

[Javarino]

All right, I'm impressed, you do make a pretty good argument. However, that is still not enough to convince me that the games story was any good. As I have said I don't like speculating on games I haven't played or seen first-hand, so I won't try to rebuff you. I will however point you to the extra credits video on the episode, which both confirmed my fears on the games'less-than-stellar storyline, and they put into words my misgivings about the game in general. From what I have gathered from your posts the plot sounds incredibly interesting, and that you have studied it quite deeply. But every time I think "maybe I should get this game" my thoughts immediately turn to the terrible voice acting and bad character/enemy design and I go, "you know what, I'll take everyone's word for it and get the next Metroid, or a game I know I won't feel disappointed in buying." As you seem to like the game I'll take your word for it as well, it just doesn't work for me. Thanks for the debate.

~Javarino

 

[Post Tenebrae Morte]

I do hope I didn't seem overly-aggressive. I am in no way trying to force my opinion or view down your throat. But, I do recommend if you can get Gamefly or have a friend who has it, that you try it for yourself. I've come across many games that others have blasted, that I thought were excellent (Silent Hill 4, Onimusha, Sengoku Basara, etc). Most of the complaints are aimed at Samus' personality. Many of the complaints are from the people whom saw Samus like they see Link from Zelda: A culmination of "Badass" traits without any real humanity. They'll point at scenes in Prime that "Show she has humanity" but in truth, those scenes barely show anything, only serving as glances or such.

Most of the complaints are from those who look at the story like the cover of a book. They judge without really looking into it. While the story isn't as good as Legacy of Kain, Deus Ex, or Silent Hill, it is the best in terms of development, pace, and overall arching atmosphere. The Prime games put out the illusion of story though the logs you could collect, pandering to the "Collect'em all!" mentality of gamers. While the games did have great backstory, they had no real story for themselves, Corruption tried to remedy this but only served to show that, while Retro is quite talented in backstory and gameplay, they lack in present story-telling.

Other M didn't have that problem, for it had its backstory presented in both the previous games and the game itself. While the "thumbs-down" that Samus does is immature, she was young when she was under Adam's command. By establishing her naivety, they show that she had respect and adoration for Adam, but was wary to open herself up to him due to losing two families (Original and adoptees). But I digress.

I respect your decision to wait for the next, it is a respectable decision for those whom are wary of Other M due to the slandering it gets from those who aren't willing to think with an open mind. But even then, they aren't to blame due to how experience can affect one's input of new media. A lot of people simply can't ignore previous influences and judge something on its merits. Again, I digress. Other M was a new venture for Sakamoto. I am sure that the next Metroid, will be more refined and polished.

~Efrit

 

[Korak the Mad]

I've known about this for weeks and have been waiting until I could get it.

I have just downloaded some of the music soundtracks and they are AMAZING. I highly recommend downloading it.

 

[FoxxDragon]

Hi guys, This is Nate Horsfall (LightningArts), the guy who did that album artwork. I jsut wanted to clear up a few things before people get the wrong idea.

1. It's not all dubstep, in fact I'd say it's maybe 6 tracks out of 36 that are dubstep.
You'll find everything from rock, metal, jazz, dubstep, chiptunes, acoustic, electronica, choirs, orchestra.. it's incredibly diverse.

2. There are only TWO songs on the entire album that have anything to do with Other M. And neither of them are atmospheric non-music like the game had. They are themes. Trust me, I couldn't stand Other M either, but this album does absolutely nothing negative involving it.

It seemed like people were making some snap judgements based on those two points, and I just want to tell you thats not at all the case. If you think 6 tracks is too much dubstep, well.. we have about 6 rock tracks too. And piano tracks, and etc. So it balances out, eh?

Anyway, we hope you enjoy the album and give it a chance. It's designed to be a love letter to the franchise and fans

Thanks for posting about it here as well. We are actually going ahead with a limited edition real release for people who want it- see the main link for details.
http://www.shinesparkers.net/harmonyofahunter/

And I'm selling a special poster both WITH the album (2Cds+poster for $12), and separately if you just want the art.
http://www.lightningarts.com/store.html

Enjoy!