- This article is about the video game called Metroid, the first game in the Metroid series. For the titular fictional species from the Metroid games, see Metroid (video game species).
Metroid is the first game in the Metroid series, and was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. The game was designed by Gunpei Yokoi, one of Nintendo's most famous game and hardware designers. The game is also very notable for its music, which was composed by Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka.
The first Metroid takes place on planet Zebes, and Samus travels through the planet collecting weapons and upgrades to advance new areas and defeat Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain.
This game provided one of the first highly nonlinear game experiences on a home console, and the series continues to provide nonlinear gameplay with the ability to sequence break. This game, along with the rest of the series, is also notable for its blending of various genres superimposed onto a persistent world model of play.
In addition, it has been noted as one of the first games to use a password system - the original game was released for Famicom Disk System which allowed saving state on disk, but the American release was in NES cartridge form, and battery back-up didn't exist yet. When Samus Aran ran out of energy, the player was presented with a 24-character password. At the title screen, two options were available: Start and Continue. "Start" began a new game, while "Continue" led to a screen where players could enter the password they received at the end of the last game. After doing so, they could continue playing starting from the location from which they ended the game with the same powerups and progress they had obtained.
The game is present as an unlockable bonus in Metroid Prime. In 2004, Nintendo released an enhanced remake titled Metroid: Zero Mission for the Game Boy Advance. That game also includes the original Metroid as an unlockable bonus. In addition, in the same year Nintendo re-released the original Metroid for Game Boy Advance, as part of the Classic NES Series.
JUSTIN BAILEY
JUSTIN BAILEY ------ ------ is a famous Metroid password that gives the player all the power-ups needed to win the game in a short amount of time. Metroid has four different endings that vary depending on how much time the player took to finish. They show Samus Aran in various stages of undress. The "best ending" features Samus in a bikini.
A great deal of speculation surrounded the password. For instance, "Justin Bailey" was originally thought to be one of the creators of the game, but no such name appears in the game credits. It is also often said that the Justin Bailey code was a reference to an English or Australian term for a bathing suit. Allegedly, bathing suits are referred to as "bailey," so "Justin Bailey" literally means "Just In Bailey" or "Just In Casual Swimwear," which is what Samus wears when the code is used.
It was also rumored that the password violated Metroid's normal checksum verification, which would suggest that JUSTIN BAILEY was deliberately coded into the game. A website called The Metroid Database debunked this myth using password generators.
"If you play around with Metroid's password system, ...you can come up with other names and words that work as passwords. The 'Justin Bailey' code is one which was found early on and happened to work pretty well, so it became widely reported." (The Metroid Database - General Metroid FAQ. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2005.)
The password is now regarded as a total fluke, with no special meaning.
Furthermore, the JUSTIN BAILEY code starts the game with some power-ups. To play the game with armorless Samus, no power-ups, and starting from Brinstar, use the code "000000 000020 000000 000020"
However, at least one code that was recently uncovered is known that is built-in to the game and will not check with password generators - namely, NARPAS SWORD0 000000 000000. This code gives Samus infinite health and missiles, making the task of clearing the game much easier; since one code is defined in the game as such, it is possible (though not probable) that more exist that are not known about to this day.
See also
Last updated: 08-17-2005 17:41:48
