Tourian

The original Tourian was destroyed by a Time Bomb in the final moments of Metroid. The rebuilt Tourian is a short and linear area, filled with Metroids and strange alien machinery, very much like the original Tourian. Here, Samus has a terrifying reunion with the Metroid hatchling, which has become startlingly gargantuan since she last saw it in Ridley’s clutches during the research station assault.

Featured Boss: Mother Brain

Mother Brain was an organic AI created by the Chozo. Together, Mother Brain and the Chozo created the Metroids to combat a parasite that threatened the galaxy—a revelation brought to light long after the release of Super Metroid. When the Space Pirates, led by Ridley, attacked the fortified Chozo colony on Zebes, Mother Brain betrayed her makers. In the 2002 Metroid manga, after annihilating countless Chozo, Mother Brain’s true intentions are shown to be manipulating the Space Pirates, whom she now commands, and the Galactic Federation into crippling each other. Once they’re sufficiently weakened, Mother Brain intends to “help” what remains of the universe reach an intellectual level that she deems worthy of deserving life, while maintaining her rule through the use of evolved Metroids. Like many science-fiction AIs, she thinks very little of those around her, including the Space Pirates and her right hand, Ridley.

The manga also reveals that Samus encountered Mother Brain at a very young age, at which point the AI quickly and coldly assessed the frightened orphan to be too weak to survive more than a couple of weeks on Zebes. This led the Chozo to imbue Samus with their DNA and train her under the ever-watchful eye of Mother Brain.

Super Metroid’s showdown with Mother Brain starts off as a mirror image of the original Metroid’s final battle. As the game’s final subversion of players’ expectations, unlike in the original Metroid, the battle with Mother Brain does not end once she has taken enough damage inside her Control Capsule. After a brief moment of inactivity leaving the player to wonder, “Is that it?” the game replies with Super Metroid’s version of One-Winged Angel—a blaring musical theme and the reveal of Mother Brain’s towering bipedal mechanical body. Her eye opens and for the first time she fights Samus directly, without relying on Tourian’s security systems.

Super Metroid’s entire final act is one of the most memorably crafted experiences in gaming history. Everything from the music to the semi-interactive storytelling is in a class of its own. The conclusion of the baby Metroid’s story arc is surprising, intense, somber, and ultimately empowering, as its sacrifice allows Samus to eradicate Mother Brain. The game perfectly plays up the nostalgic angle, further enhancing every emotion coursing through the player as the curtain closes on the Zebes saga.

This was especially true in 1994, and remains to be the case decades later—the most genuine testament to Super Metroid’s many accolades.