Zero Suit Samus has a great character model

[Someone Depressing]

Yeah, those little differences make the suit look a lot better, and the high heels aren't the problem; Samus has always been something of a fanservice-y character, but that wasn't important to her. So those multiple pannings of her ass seemed out of place and almost comedic.

What is really annoying people is that the boots are fucking ugly.

 

[EyeReaper]

I'm at a fairly neutral standpoint here. For example, I don't understand why we have her as a character at all. That's a lie, I know exactly why she's here, I think we all do. However, I find it a complete waste of a character slot, especially when better characters are still unconfirmed (where are you, Ice Climbers!?)

However, since she is here, I don't really have a problem with her. The heels are impractical, yes, but so is a lot of things in video games. She's sexualized, yes, but Zero Suit Samus always was nothing but Spankbait. We aren't really treading new grounds here. Hell, I'm a foot-fetishist and I don't find those heels all that sexy. Probably because they look like they're made out of NERF guns. Also, I would wear the hell out of jet-pack shoes, no matter what form they would come in.

Finally, And most importantly to me, the biggest reason I don't care is because I'll be too busy playing as the REAL Samus to notice Ms. Rule 34 anyways.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

I think samus should be like she used to. in the Metroid primes games.. not walking around in a skin tight suit, making sure the camera stays locked on to her ass. Nintendo is trying to get into the pockets of horny teen guys by having samus forget her armor.. and it's pretty disgraceful.. she's a great character, but their trying to turn her into Lara Croft, all about doing sexy poses in skin tight clothing and not much else. i'd post a pic of what she looks like, but i've never been able to figure out how to do that on this website.. copy and paste doesn't work for this site and either does dragging a picture over...(someone wanna tell me how to , please do)

 

[ihavetwo]

Jesus people, she looks fine, stop crying over nothing.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Honestly I don't really care that much. The Zero Suit design has always been stupid. The second we get even a small glimpse of the fact that she's a woman she suddenly is thrown into a skintight ass hugging spandex suit. It's fine for her to be armored up when you can't see her gender though. Way to be predictable video game industry! So they can do whatever they want to that suit and I could care less because I've never cared for it the least bit in the first place.

The boots do look really stupid though

 

[2HF]

For all those defending the heels as somehow useful or at the very least not there to sexualize the character, grow the hell up. That's exactly what they're for and they serve no practical purpose.

For all those bashing the heels for being impractical or for being out of character, explain to me how crushing every bone in your body to become basketball sized and fit into small holes is practical or how fighting green dinosaurs, pokemon, and princesses is in character for Samus.

It's a freaking game yo. If you want to discuss how the oversexualization of female characters in games is a bad thing this is the wrong place to pick that fight. They're freaking shoes. They clearly are intended to make her more feminine (which in this case means sexual) but frankly if this is your biggest complaint then your priorities are out of whack.

Get over it.

 

[Piorn]

I always loved the Power Suit. To me, it was the protagonist of the games, the central design theme, and the aesthetic appeal. Samus in herself isn't a character, she's a blank slate for the protagonist to insert himself.

I have no problem with the Zero Suit design, but isn't it sad that a character needs to be reduced to it's underwear to still be relevant?
Do they really need to put a woman in a Latex suit to sell kids games?
I didn't realize Nintendo was that desperate.

 

[Snotnarok]

No one cares about the Zero Suit itself, technically it's her most covering survival suit till now-
It's the heels, no, they do not look fine they just clash with the design in every way, color, style and more importantly high heels are stupid in combat- in every way. Nintendo has been the one to sexualize it in Other M and Brawl, the actual creators and devs, not so much- it's skin tight for a reason; it's an interface suit and has to fit in her already cramped power armor. She's not supposed to be fighting in it, when she did, it was very much her running away in fear of being cut in half.

Yes do tell how heels would be better than any other form of footwear? Worse grip, less balance, more likely to break your ankles, likely to get stuck in the ground. No, Zelda and Peach do not make excuses as one abides by cartoon logic and does not fight in her games in melee and Zelda is a mage/archer who when she fights in melee fights as Sheik who has no high heels. Also, they don't fit in her armor. "Oh but this is a game where everyone just fights for fun" No, they're all accurate as possible to their source material, shockingly so- except for Samus apparently because they know they can use her for the sex-sells mentality. She has no need in game for them because it's a survival/interface suit, has no need for them because it's not a combat suit.
Is all this not enough to sway you? How about the original design for the Zero Suit insisted, very much so that the suit has no heels, as low as possible and gave an example of what NOT to do which this does right away. Here you are:

Sorry to smack down any kind of argument here but there is none. They look stupid by art perspective, they are stupid by combat perspective, and I've heard some really shitty defense for them such as Raiden and Calvary, CALVARY using high heels so therefor it's okay. She's not a retarded campy cyborg and she's not riding a mount.

Here's a brilliant thought, why doesn't she use her power armor boots? Say she salvages them or whatever, now she has armored boots for better/harder kicking and that have built in functions such as higher & double jump. "But the armor is broken!" yes her armor has proven to be rather flaky with keeping upgrades, however never has it fully been destroyed unless you count the time she took off her armor after a mission...then the ship that was holding it was shot down taking the armor with it.

To toot my own horn a bit, I made up a pic representing this idea either way:

Too much info? Eh I'm a sci-fi nerd I like this kinda stuff, and seeing this crap is just me seeing that Nintendo indeed has learned nothing from their crappy attempt at a Metroid game after Other M, they still have no idea what to do with Samus and really need to rely on other companies to make games in the Metroid series for them, otherwise it's a waste of time.

It also bothers me as an artist to see such lazy slapdash bullshit to be defended for no reason other than it's Nintendo or it's a girl so it's okay. No it's stupid regardless of who made it and regardless of who is wearing heels to combat, it's dumb. I'm all for campy, Golden Ax and Dragons Crown because they at least accept what they are and know they're campy and engross themselves in it.

 

[Nieroshai]

Snip

First of all, while that is technically true, some context is needed. The last 2d Metroid game to come out was Zero Mission, and it came out in 2004. A decade ago, and even then it was a remake of the classic metroid, so people didn't consider it that different. I think the game that a lot of people have fond memories of and think of when they talk about Metroid is the Metroid Prime Trilogy, which had its last game released in 2007 and had a release in 2009. Not only is it the most recent Metroid, but it's one of the most well loved ones too, with it being called incredibly atmospheric, having interesting stories, and fun gameplay. And there was next to no sexualization of Samus in them. In the first Prime, beating 75% (forget the exact number) got you Samus with her helmet off. Second and third games got you in the Zero suit, but both were hardly sexualized as she was fully dressed, and the third was actually a tragic moment because she was remembering her fallen comrades. So most people probably think of those games for how they want Samus to be portrayed. It didn't help that Other M came out right after and made people very passionate about it. In other words, yes she used to be sexualized, but we moved past that. Now we're falling back into old habits.

I seem to recall the double jump managing to propel Samus through the air without having to resort to impractical heels. And that's the reason people hate the heels, they're stupid, impractical, and serve no purpose other than fan service. You may not find them sexy, but the intent with high heels is pretty obvious.

Because in Brawl you start off as regular Samus and only use her Zero Suit after you use her final Smash, a massively powerful beam that overloaded her armor. In fact, Zero Suit Samus' final smash is simply putting the suit back on, implying that that is a massive improvement. No, it is not more functional. Why? Because it asks the wearier to run around a battlefield in high heels. That is much easier said than done. I will hand it to you that aside from the heels I do like the overall look of the suit better though. It just looks cooler. The heels are kind of a deal breaker for me though.

Don't be like that.

That they were looking more closely than you. In fact, what is that even supposed to mean?

You know the species with the quickest, most agile movement? Those with digitigrade feet. High heels do that, or would if they weren't fragile deathtraps made of wood and leather. Fancy-dress high heels are fragile and awkward and stiff. These are sturdy yet functional, and have a ball-of-foot hinge. Those are just my thoughts, though, and my logic is not infallible.

 

[Savryc]

I'd say it's not the heels that are the problem in and of themselves, it's what they represent. The continued character assassination of Samus. From what I understand of it she went from a powerful, towering amazon like figure who was raised by aliens and saw humanity as separate and "other" from herself to a brain dead, simpering, delicate little flower with daddy issues in Metroid: Other M. It may not seem like much to have a pair of heels slapped on but it smacks of continuing the development of Samus down Other M's path, feminising a character that by all rights should find the concept of human femininity bizarre and alien.

For the sake of example. What if Half Life 3 was released tomorrow, only for players to discover that Gordon Freeman is now a one liner spouting roidrage machine that slaps Alyx across the ass between handfuls of Freedom Pie? Fans would be rightfully pissed off. Then once the rage dies down a screenshot gets released of Freeman in some Valve All Stars spinoff straddling a stars'n'stripes emblazoned Harley with a screaming eagle on the front and Chell on the back wearing two bits of string and some milk bottle tops.

The Valve fans would be frothing at the mouth, because the abomination their beloved character was reduced to looks like it's only about to get worse.

 

[SD-Fiend]

Here's a brilliant thought, why doesn't she use her power armor boots? Say she salvages them or whatever, now she has armored boots for better/harder kicking and that have built in functions such as higher & double jump.

It kinda ruins the point of her being zero suit Samus if she is able to use her suit. If she's able to salvage the boots then why not salvage the arm cannon or the torso? Also it's pretty obvious that the heels aren't actually part of the suit so I'd assume she'd put them on affter the suit comes off so I'm not sure why the design specs matter at this point.

 

[josemlopes]

I just think that everyone is overthinking what is just a simple design for a simple fun game. Do people really need to bring up if its canon or not in a Super Smash Brothers game? Is it canon too if Samus punches Luigi multiple times in the face?

I'd say it's not the heels that are the problem in and of themselves, it's what they represent. The continued character assassination of Samus. From what I understand of it she went from a powerful, towering amazon like figure who was raised by aliens and saw humanity as separate and "other" from herself to a brain dead, simpering, delicate little flower with daddy issues in Metroid: Other M. It may not seem like much to have a pair of heels slapped on but it smacks of continuing the development of Samus down Other M's path, feminising a character that by all rights should find the concept of human femininity bizarre and alien.

For the sake of example. What if Half Life 3 was released tomorrow, only for players to discover that Gordon Freeman is now a one liner spouting roidrage machine that slaps Alyx across the ass between handfuls of Freedom Pie? Fans would be rightfully pissed off. Then once the rage dies down a screenshot gets released of Freeman in some Valve All Stars spinoff straddling a stars'n'stripes emblazoned Harley with a screaming eagle on the front and Chell on the back wearing two bits of string and some milk bottle tops.

The Valve fans would be frothing at the mouth, because the abomination their beloved character was reduced to looks like it's only about to get worse.

First of all, its just heels, she isnt wearing a thong and isnt showing her tits while sucking on a lolipop, its just heels.

And anyway, her body with heels or no heels would move exactly the same way so even for the role of making her sexier it isnt all that important.

And another thing, this isnt a new Metroid game, so you cant compare it with Half Life 3, maybe if Team Fortress 2 had some Half Life 2 stuff in it for an update that wasnt all that accurate with the original game (like if the crowbar was a different kind of crowbar instead of the same one used in the other games)

 

[Eve Charm]

The character model is great, but high heels are stupid if your going to sit there and over analyze them. A few pixels on the screen isn't going to ruin my enjoyment of a game nor am I going to throw a hissy fit cause of their shoes of all things, Especially when they made her wear high heels in Other M.

And for your over analyze types what the heck do you think Samus does in her off time with her big bounty hunter money? I'm not one to know all the lore but I don't think she's sending the money to an orphanage or something. I'm sure she does something fun to unwind.

 

[Shuu]

I'm totally with you Matthew. I've always liked Samus, even though I'm not one for Nintendo games. And I think this new design is an improvement. I don't really get the high heels, but it is a bit silly to assume that high heels equate to sex automatically. They wanted to give her some fancy tech design that played off her femininity, just like when chunky space marines are given armour to make their masculine shoulder line look even wider! High heels are a feminine aesthetic thing exclusively, but that doesn't make them sexual.
Stupid, given the context, maybe. Probably. But I don't see it as a sexualisation.

As for the boobs, yeah, I don't think they've gotten any bigger, and if anything they've toned it down, because they went the Other M route of not given them individual cups, which was kinda silly when you think about it.

The best part though, is the colour. They've revamped the surface textures to look less plastic, while still leaving her with her slightly cartoony anatomy, and the new blues create a great but simple colour scheme, contrasting with her yellow blonde hair with the caucasian skin tone accenting it, just as the dark blue accents the light blue, all tipped with the slivers of green and pink highlights.
And even if all that weren't the case, I'm glad the design is more or less choosing to pretend Other M never happened;D

 

[Savryc]

I just think that everyone is overthinking what is just a simple design for a simple fun game. Do people really need to bring up if its canon or not in a Super Smash Brothers game? Is it canon too if Samus punches Luigi multiple times in the face?

I'd say it's not the heels that are the problem in and of themselves, it's what they represent. The continued character assassination of Samus. From what I understand of it she went from a powerful, towering amazon like figure who was raised by aliens and saw humanity as separate and "other" from herself to a brain dead, simpering, delicate little flower with daddy issues in Metroid: Other M. It may not seem like much to have a pair of heels slapped on but it smacks of continuing the development of Samus down Other M's path, feminising a character that by all rights should find the concept of human femininity bizarre and alien.

For the sake of example. What if Half Life 3 was released tomorrow, only for players to discover that Gordon Freeman is now a one liner spouting roidrage machine that slaps Alyx across the ass between handfuls of Freedom Pie? Fans would be rightfully pissed off. Then once the rage dies down a screenshot gets released of Freeman in some Valve All Stars spinoff straddling a stars'n'stripes emblazoned Harley with a screaming eagle on the front and Chell on the back wearing two bits of string and some milk bottle tops.

The Valve fans would be frothing at the mouth, because the abomination their beloved character was reduced to looks like it's only about to get worse.

First of all, its just heels, she isnt wearing a thong and isnt showing her tits while sucking on a lolipop, its just heels.

And anyway, her body with heels or no heels would move exactly the same way so even for the role of making her sexier it isnt all that important.

And another thing, this isnt a new Metroid game, so you cant compare it with Half Life 3, maybe if Team Fortress 2 had some Half Life 2 stuff in it for an update that wasnt all that accurate with the original game (like if the crowbar was a different kind of crowbar instead of the same one used in the other games)

As I said it isn't the heels themselves that are the problem, nor the mechanics that they offer, it's what they represent. I'd even go as far to say that, had Other M never existed, they wouldn't be a problem at all. Or only a small fraction of the complaints would be received. It's the possibility of a continued negative trend that has people annoyed.

Also I never compared this Samus to a new Half Life, that would be blatantly obvious if you fully read what I typed. I described a hypothetical situation where a new game ruins an established character and said character appearance in an offshoot (the imaginary "Valve All Stars" game I described, I used those exact words, did you skim read?)seems to reinforce those negative trends.

 

[Snotnarok]

Here's a brilliant thought, why doesn't she use her power armor boots? Say she salvages them or whatever, now she has armored boots for better/harder kicking and that have built in functions such as higher & double jump.

It kinda ruins the point of her being zero suit Samus if she is able to use her suit. If she's able to salvage the boots then why not salvage the arm cannon or the torso? Also it's pretty obvious that the heels aren't actually part of the suit so I'd assume she'd put them on affter the suit comes off so I'm not sure why the design specs matter at this point.

Ruins the point of her being in her zero suit? The point of her being in it is catastrophic malfunction of her suit and her priority was always to run to find a place to hide or replacement. Which was once.

Why not the arm cannon or torso? One would assume they would be much too heavy to effectively wield without the support of the suit to counteract weight and powering said devices. The boots are likely to have weight negating features as they allow her to jump high regardless of the weight of the suit, and then double jump and high jump.
That's the problem the heels don't fit, they don't fit the design and they don't fit in the suit in a way she could hide them, it's not like she has a glove box on the thing. They honestly could have just given her original Zero Suit some sort of boosters or some nonsense but instead they strap really stupidly designed high heels to her that don't fit design wise or in any other way- they're out of place in so many ways I'm surprised anyone is defending them- other than it's Nintendo and they always have defenders regardless of how stupid their decision is.

Why does it matter? it doesn't in the long run but as I stated this is simply frustrating that Nintendo has NO idea what to do with the series; as it's been made clear by the long stretches of time with no Metroid game before Retro Studios came along and resurrected the series and then Nintendo took control Other M and now this stupidity in Smash Brothers.

They are incapable of doing something with their female protagonist or the series who's widely regarded as one of the finest female heroes.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

IDK, speaking strictly for myself, my issue with the heels has nothing to do with sexualization and everything to do with the fact that they look stupid and would be really impractical for doing anything in, let alone fighting.

 

[Eve Charm]

Well Really what should they do with their "Finest Female Protagonist"?. Leave her in her suit and never talk to anyone and be silent have ZERO personally and basically be interchangeable with any gender or just a robot? Or full out go dude bro with her and have her drinking and slapping male characters on the ass? Cause ya I don't really know what Nintendo would do when people flip out for trying to make her female or giving any kind of emotion at all.

 

[JimB]

First of all, it's just heels. She isn't wearing a thong and isn't showing her tits while sucking on a lollipop. It's just heels.

No, she isn't wearing a thong; she's wearing a bodysock that's pretty much painted on her, which isn't that much more progressive than Red Sonja's scalemail bikini. And yeah, they're "just" heels, but since the only point of high heels is to change the shape of a woman's legs and ass to be more pleasing to a man, it's still disappointing to see them there.

And anyway, her body with heels or no heels would move exactly the same way.

Er, have you ever watched someone walking in flats and someone walking in heels?

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

Look, I have no idea if that's true or not, I just know that the army issues boots to soldiers who are going out onto the battlefield and not high heels for a reason.