The Prime animations were really a work of Art. Everything hand animated, each anim had custom blend animations for each transition, that's why everything looks so smooth. No automated interpolations. We used the same process for DKCR, which is why DK and Diddy look so good in motion.
Samus holding her gun down in Other M is called "The Low Ready" as she worked with military personnel, having control of her weapon keeps her from accidentally shooting her allies on sight. This method lets you take a second to identify them as you ready your weapon before pulling the trigger, rather than just firing as soon as you see them. Plus the discipline shows a level of responsibility with your weapon overall, as any trained soldier will tell you, "You don't point your weapon at anything you don't intend to kill."
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy you're welcome, I'm happy you acknowledge it! I love these videos, so knowing you appreciate this comment makes me feel proud!
@@ZenoDLC Well, it’s also very likely because there’s nothing in the station that ISN’T trying to kill her (this applies for most of the other games as well). Meanwhile in Other M, we see her interact with friendlies a ton.
@@ZenoDLC I mean, she's at her weakest and literally has a heartless doppelganger of her full-power Super Metroid endgame self haunting her every step, with the only friendly in sight being the AI on her ship that she only interacts with at certain computer rooms, to say nothing of quite literally the most dangerous things in her universe infesting the place. Who wouldn't be tense enough to aim at literally everything? Plus, Other M is a _Rescue_ mission, unlike most of Samus' contracts, which usually, when summarized, amount to "blow up everything in sight".
One thing I like from Super Metroid, Fusion, Zero Mission and Smash Bros Melee is that Samus runs like a normal human being. She stands up right as opposed to being hunched over like in Smash 4/Ultimate/anime. Samus gets hunched over when she uses her Speed Booster in Zero Mission, but her back thrusters are used as acceleration so it makes sense. Something I like from the Prime series is that if something happens behind Samus she always turns to her left. From what I can tell, turning to her left is the quickest way to get her Arm Cannon pointed behind her. Samus turning to the left would allow her to point her Arm Cannon at her opponent halfway into the turn, while if she turned to her right her Arm Cannon would be facing the enemy, meaning her opponent could grab her gun arm for example. Seems like a strange thing to bring up and describe, but it makes it seem like everything Samus does while in the field has a purpose.
That's an amazing observation, I would not have noticed that but it makes incredible sense, as he right arm is the most powerful. Damn I wish I could include this in the video now!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy The only animation I can think of that was janky (other than the Smash 4/Ultimate running animation being a method of running I've never seen anyone use) was the Vorash Lethal Strike from Other M. It's not when Samus pulls the creature out of lava, but throws the Vorash around in the air and then launches it at a wall so hard it dies (that by itself shows how physically strong Samus is). If you haven't seen the Lethal Strike you can find it here: ua-cam.com/video/Nsn5jiN9F-k/v-deo.html. That's the only thing I can think of adding off the top of my head since not many people seem to know that there is a Lethal Strike for the Vorash at all. On a side note, if Samus ever does the "Naruto Run" for any reason I quit.
The Accursed Hunter01 As someone who grew up with (American) football, the way that samus runs (more hunched over) reminds me of a linebacker. Linebackers need to be able to generate speed from a track running position (hands and feet on ground) in a small space between themselves and the other team. On top of that, they often are in the 175+ lb range, so they have a lot of mass to move around. Because of that, linebackers usually stay low to the ground and keep their limbs close to their bodies when they run. And they’re surprisingly nimble, being that they have to change positions from offense to defense quickly. There’s a reason why wide receivers usually are smaller than linebackers: the only way to beat one is to stay out of their range and pray that you’re fast enough to get to the end line before they tackle you. Because I don’t know if anyone at Nintendo watches football, I think that the way Samus moves (body forward and low to the ground) serves two purposes in smash bros games: 1) providing the space needed to run and dodge in small spaces, and 2) making it easier to get into morph ball form.
That's a great observation! It'd be interesting to see this sort of movement attributed a little more in future games to see if it enhances it further.
I guess Nintendo is in two minds when it comes to animating Samus- very acrobatic and light (treating the Power Suit like a second skin) or more like a linebacker (momentum and weight being a factor because her suit is heavy, but still light on her feet). The problem is what the game physics are in each game. If Nintendo goes the more acrobatic route, then they need to design the game world better around it. More open vertical space and complete player control while in midair would allow for the acrobatics without smashing Samus on every ceiling and ledge. And if they go the linebacker route, then it needs to be animated so that the impact is much clearer when Samus is jumping or charging enemies. Giving players clear animations of how Samus moves would change how they play the game. It just needs to be consistent with the physics of the game itself.
I think the reason the SA-X is so faithful to Super Metroid is they wanted to make it feel familiar. Its not just a walking suit, its basically Samus at her strongest hunting down Samus at her weakest, and the animation being what we remember from Super really adds to that in a significant way.
"Here's you. Something that was you, a creature that literally barrels through many creatures and obstacle like it's air, the one that destroyed Mother Brain and Space Pirates, everything that you have lost, you know what it can do and now it's after you, hunting you."
Great video! Small detail: Samus holding her gun from below in Metroid Fusion and her hunched demeanor have a story motivation, in that they are made to show how much she has been weakened after being attacked by the X and to show how much stronger than her the SA-X is through most of the game.
I’d also like to think the original power suit gave her the strength to carry the gun arm for more accurate firing considering the weight and size of it.
It could also be because the X weakened her. I mean she almost died from that. If you look at the opening scenes and the SA-X, she is resting her second hand on top of the gun. She probably lost chunks of her muscular system since the power suit had to be removed surgically because it was so ingrained. Between that and having a lighter suit with less support made it so she had to support the gun with more than one arm.
7:55 actually a basketball. Retro Studios used motion capture on a basketball to design Samus’ morph ball. Prior to Prime, they were working on some sports game tech demos (hence the reason they had that technology in that time period).
We didn't actually use any Mo-Cap in the release game. We had an early capture session using our huge Mocap studio, but we ended up hand animating everything and the Mocap studio ended up just gathering dust.
Metroid's not niche, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise with how Nintendo treats it. It's the "after dark" of Nintendo's franchises, the late-night "viewer discretion is advised" block they don't talk about. It's also pretty hit and miss in the games department, like the two everyone loves are Super and Prime 1. People only talk about the 1986 original because it's a "classic". Everything else is either okay or bad. Compare that to Zelda or Mario which have fans of almost every game in their respective series, and the few games that are terrible are at least The Room levels of outrageously terrible.
@@swishfish8858 Metroid is hit-and-miss? Maybe the side games, but 1, 2, super, fusion and the prime series (the numbered entries, generally considered the "main" Metroid series) are all pretty well known as among the best Nintendo had for their respective systems. I'll give you Other M (even though I liked it a lot), but even their weird spinoffs were no worse than the worst of the Mario spinoffs or links crossbow training.
One of my favorite details in Fusion and Zero Mission is that in Fusion, like you said, she holds it from beneath, as she is physically weaker in Fusion, and can’t rely on one hand anymore. In Zero Mission, like Return and Super, she holds it from the top to control recoil, and unlike Fusion, can shoot while holding a ledge, because due to the powersuit’s strength, she can hang from a ledge with one hand, as opposed to needing both in Fusion. Just some wonderful animation and attention to detail.
@@The_Metroid I hate to be rude, especially to someone that's clearly a lot more dedicated to the franchise than me, based on that username, but she can't. She can shoot while on a ladder, but the mechanics actually operate differently between those two. Sorry, man.
I think they nailed Samus in Smash Ultimate. She feels nimble and has snappy, quick movements. But she also feels like she has weight, having strong, but laggy moves that feel impactful. All in all I love it and she feels and looks great.
Kyle Long yeah I love Samus! Also this video was very informative. She could use some love even if that love comes from the small circle of Metroid Fans. And I would like to see her talk in Prime 4 or a future game, just not the mess we got with Other M...
GrizbyK72 Yeah it would have! Also I wished they put in Samus’s Varia Suit from Samus Returns I love the thinner Visor. Speaking of her visor why is it so thick in Ultimate?
I love how you have found a perfect balance between informative, opinionated, and entertaining videos. Your personality shines through but never overshadows the purpose with which you are sharing the information with us. Keep it up
Thank you so much. I try not to be too opinionated when discussing, but I suppose you have to be sometimes, especially when a topic is particularly interesting like Metroid
I really hope a follow up video is made about Dread. The animations in that game were incredible. From little things like samus widening her stance when she shoots or looking through a gap in a wall when pressed against it, to the absolutely terrifying fluidity of the E.M.M.I maneuvering around the zones
I'm kinda surprised you didn't mention the saving and elevator/loading scenes in the Prime games, as well as what little we see of her idle animations. In Prime 1, I feel like she's overall super focused, yet has this swagger to her even when standing still (You can see this in the Pause menu as well as brief moments during saving and cutscenes like the entrace to Phendrana Drifts or Thardus' intro). The save sequence is super fast, as it begins with her switching from her idle animation to a fully standing pose, then it returns. Oh, and if you're loading the save, you can see Samus switch from the standing pose back to the idle animaiton in full swagger, and I feel it immediately sells that she's ready and pumping to get back into action. The elevator loading screens also show how she's very attentive in this installment. She stands in a combat ready pose, as if expecting anything that may jump at her. She carefully looks around as well. Also, to this day I'm not sure why, when or how this change happened, but the different versions of the Phazon Suit scene convey very different things. I find the one in which Samus appears standing, covered in the Phazon Suit then lightly flexing her fingers a bit of an undersell, kinda like "huh, that's neat I guess." before going back into business, while the other one in which she's kinda in a charging pose and twitching as if the Phazon covering is painful has undoubtedly a lot more energy and conveys that a great change is going on, and the end pose with Samus posing with her cannon aimed is hella cool. Also, I'm pretty sure this second version was what spawned most of Dark Samus' render art, which has her in similar poses, as well as Samus' own render mimicking the end pose. In Prime 2, I find she's a lot more subdued compared to Prime 1, and I think it fits greatly the overall more somber atmosphere of the game. The saving process has her first hunch down as the beams of the save station drop one by one, as if she's briefly letting herself take a small breath but not necessarily relax. Also she does this small breathing sequence when the healing laser things wash over her, as if she's being slowly invigorated, then gives this solemn and slightly defiant look up while the camera switches to reveal it, as if relaying to the player and Samus herself reaffirming that there is still work to do. And if I recall correctly, when loading a save file, the camera completely pans from her feet and up in one motion, which always gave me a feeling alongside of "time to rise up once more." The elevator loading screens are far more subdued too. Samus doesn't display the same readiness of Prime 1 in these, but doesn't feel any less attentive. If anything, she's more serious, but she's still calmly and quietly keeping an eye on her surroundings. Which makes it so when the elevators abruptly stop and she shows basically no reaction feel uncanny in a good way, as if saying that Samus has arrived, and it's lights out for the baddies in the area. Prime 3's save station sequence I find is a good middle ground between Prime 1 and 2. She stands still like in Prime 1, and lets herself be invigorated by whichever technology heals her like in Prime 2, then ends in a pose with her pumping her arms back and standing ready. I admit this last pose feels a bit goofy though. I don't remember if there's any difference in the sequence if loading a save station though lmao. We see a lot more of Samus' idle animation in this game though, what with cutscenes galore. It's especially apparent during the cutscenes with SkyTown's Aurora Unit. Samus stands at an angle with both hands diagonally down, but she always feels ready to rumble. There's also how she _very_ relaxedly stands at the entrance of her ship, which I find is her a bit of a disinterested flex, what with how casually she goes in and out of her ship.
This is practically your 6th video analysis & essays about the Metroid saga. I can say that the amount of focus about this game rubbing off on me. All love your context, posses a professional & informative, yet endearing ambient.
Watched a video on animations, got a retrospective about music in the bargain. The music does a huge amount of work setting the tone in the Metroid Prime series. Samus's whistley flute motif seems to explore the area themes the say Samus explores the areas themselves. That shot of Captain Exeter from the beginning still gets to me to the point I remember his name. Metroid environments are alien, devoid of humanity. Suddenly, here's a dead person. A dead person it was your job to save. And their last act was to record warning for whomever came looking for them, to arm the next team with the knowledge they needed to finish the mission. I guess it was the natural course of action. They were Marines, after all.
I like how even though the visual styles of Fusion and Zero are similar, Samus still moves more like she did in the first game. This shows consistency in her character. Like what if her always having her gun raised in the first game shows how she’s become more experienced and more casual in the future games because she is used to going on missions at that point. I also feel like you should have covered AM2R.
Thank you for going into her character and how it's portrayed in her animation. Samus is a very quiet (almost silent) protagonist, yes. But she has never been a blank slate. Confident but not unphased by death. Empathetic yet stoic. While Other M didn't do her justice in her monologues and interactions, you cannot deny how well Team Ninja nailed her being a mix of a badass soldier and a nimble acrobat in her movement. For the next Prime game I don't know what I want. It's such a delicate balance of funtion and flair. While I'd prefer a run that's not feeling like she's gliding, and a little bit more oomph when she fires, I'd prefer even more not to get motion sickness. Awesome video as usual! I learned a lot about Samus's posture. Never thought about how she holds her arm cannon to be completely honest. But now I will definitely keep it in mind.
Thanks for the thoughts! Yeah I quite enjoy how Other M looks. Nailing MP4's animation should be easy if Retro are behind it, I do hope they'll keep all that awesome mechanical animation.
one thing that I feel is worth mentioning, in Samus Returns, in Samus' direction changing animation she goes in cannon first, instead of changing her whole body before putting her cannon out, and I feel that really exemplifies how serious and focused she is in general
I actually really love the animations they did for dark samus in ultimate. Really shows how alien she is. You can almost tell that she wasn't born in that body with the way she lets limbs go flailing or lets them dangle when not in use. Dark samus looks much less like a disciplined soldier and more like a superhuman who isn't entirely used to their new strength and speed.
I've always been interested in the little niche things about Samus' Power Suit that often lie unnoticed by the player, such as her shoulder pads actually holding respirators that are more effective at combating heat in the Varia Suit than the standard Power Suit. I was always hoping that smaller details of the suit's inner workings like this would someday be explored more in depth.
Very interesting observation about Fusion's Varia Suit animations. Of further note is that they aren't copied from Super Metroid (in the way Symphony of the Night reuses Richter's actual Dracula X sprites), but are redrawn while still preserving Super Metroid's poses. It suggests that the changes for her Fusion Suit animations - the lower posture, the different way of steadying her gun - are intended to be diegetic; Samus the character is moving differently, she doesn't just have a new art direction or sprite size. It also suggests the designers intended for us to be able to detect that this is what they intended.
To keep things in the spirit of Metroid being quick and fast games, I'd love the idea of a stealth section that can be done with precision and speed solely due to the fact that she's in her Zero Suit not being clunky, metallic, and loud, using her stun gun to silence and sneak past people quickly. That would be cool. Disregarding Other M's story/cutscenes, there's a strength in Samus when it comes to battles, taking hits, and even her overall health when it comes to getting the mission done first, especially in Corruption, only really reacting to each boss with some phaazon vomit and a quick requip of the helmet. It would be cool to see that stoicism and strength in more of the (hopefully short) cutscenes surrounding bosses/major story interactions. Plus her "Action heroes don't look at explosions thing" is always awesome.
That all sounds really cool. Honestly, I thought the stealth in zero mission could've been its own game. Having a more fleshed out take on that in 3d as maybe a side area like the ship in am2r could be cool
@@vlc-cosplayer I'd argue with a franchise like Metroid where the skill (for speed runners, which I totally am not) comes more in timing and precision with aiming and movement. It could be neat to see them try to incorporate that into their stealth, where skilled shots and fast movement could make a stealth mission quick and not just waiting and slow movement.
Rolling morphball transform Certainly the Mock ball from Super metroid: allows you to keep the speed's momentum and use it in certain areas like getting the super missile early
A running Morph Ball would be a lot of fun. I feel like there's a lot Nintendo can do to make Samus' movements more fun in the 2D games. And that TuxedoPato demo makes me kinda hope the next Prime game isn't a strict FPS. That demo really sold me on third-person Samus. I love Prime to pieces, but the Halo era of modern FPS novelty is gone and I'm having a hard time visualizing Prime 4 impacting the market if it sticks to traditions.
This video really illustrates how gameplay and hardware limitations shape the art direction. In the 2D platformers, the most important thing is where you are and where you're aiming, so Samus has very rigid posture with little kickback or reaction when shooting. In the Prime games, the only visibility you have of Samus is her visor and gun, so they put a lot of work into selling that but don't bother trying to do acrobatics. Smash Bros needs attacks that have start-up and end lag so players can react, which means her attacks have powerful, exaggerated movements. Other M takes advantage of 3D to do more dynamic posing and combat. Samus Returns is 3D as well, but appears to have a more limited animation rig that prevents it from doing that quite as much. And so on.
Another thing we can see in the multiplayer mode of Echoes, is that the double jump is in fact not the high jump, but the space jump with a spin. That was an interesting touch that the first person view couldn't keep.
Just had a thought, she probably holds her gun from below in Fusion because it's heavy, whereas in other games her suit would likely help her hold it up. Never would have even thought of that if it weren't for this awesome video. Keep up the great work!
I dont know about anyone else but I really need you to make an update with metroid dread because that game has some ridiculous attention to detail in every single animation.
I realise it's not really a "Samus animation", but in Prime 3, seeing Samus' eyes reflected in the scan visor gradually glow more blue with Phazon, and noticing veins on her legs in the gunship, gives such a powerful boost to this narrative that you're being slowly corrupted.
Interestingly enough, Samus being right-handed/gunned was a concept as early as the FIRST Metroid game. The rotational sprites are technically still in the game's files, but went unused. Also, in the Famicom Disk System version of the game, the file select screen depicts the files as Samus crouching down before the player, almost as if she's quietly saying "ready when YOU are" .
Yeah, I think so too. Though I believe that it's not just a stylistic choice but the style literally changes between suits, especially if the representation in Fusion is anything to go by.
Amazing review, just imagine his opinions on Dread now; for example, the 2D animations he mentions can sometimes be found in Dread. Sadly the space jump is still just a somersault, but the screw attack looked amazing.
In "Metroid The Other M"... the reason why she holds a gun down at the ground like that like that is because it's a military combat tactical posture called "at the ready"....as in standing by...Sgt L'K//USMC.
My first video game ver was Metroid Prime 1 and then 2. Samus Aran is my first badass hero. Her nonchalant goodbye wave in echoes after casually saving an entire planet and ancient race always seemed extremely cool to me and honestly made a huge impact in my life.
The way her body moves and her legs when she hits the ground in super metroid gives me the feeling that she's really careful of her footing, she weighs a lot but it's a dainty landing that really sticks. If your falling from a lot of platforms and just barely touch them it's easier to see, she moves with them like she's taking the impact and her suit is like reorganizing and absorbing the energy of the shock and there's a sound effect that sounds like something small landed that makes it even cooler chozo tech makes no sense lol
0:25 I know most of the metroid fan base is rather patient. Some would say you kind of need to be to enjoy the games in their entirety. But we need more of this "oh well" energy around delay announcements, haha.
I think my favorite animation in the entirety of Samus Returns was her reaction to the Diggernaut attempting to get up after defeating it. After having to fight it, with each hit taking of HUNDREDS of health, and being chased by it earlier as an advancing wall of doom, she's done with this shit. Without even turning, she charges her canon, waits for the Diggernaut's "eye" to be in direct line of fire, then shoots it, recoiling because she didn't brace herself. No dialogue exchanged, but you can clearly tell she's thinking, "Nope. Not doing that again. Die."
Very interesting breakdown. I'll be interested to see how the Samus Returns animations evolve in Dread, given the same engine is used for both. Looks faster already in gameplay, though that might be the dash biasing me.
half and hour Dan Root video? dope. I very much appreciate the degree of detail you put into the analysis of a specific facet of video games, keep it up!
I feel the electric screw attack is the best. Like the arcing flashes of electricity fit perfectly for the chaotic spinning wheel of death that literally reduces enemies to spinning chunks
Very surprised you didn't mention the boss counter moves in Samus Returns at all, as well as the cutscenses with the Baby Metroid, since imo it has more character than the ones from prime.
This was such an entertaining and very fascinating video to watch and I love and appreciate how in depth you go with everything. I hope you continue making similar videos like this with a lot more characters!
This is a fantastic video! Though, I'm a little disappointed that while covering Echoes' multiplayer, you didn't mention how the space jump is interpreted as a somersault by other players. I always found that interesting.
8:31 "this is less a 1st person shooter and more a 1st person adventure... with shooting" THANK YOU! You would not believe how much it gets on my nerves when people don't get that distinction. That line alone earns this video a thumbs-up.
Hey thanks a lot! Yeah, I think I realised from the beginning it wasn't a shooter as such, there were never tons of enemies to take out at once, nor ammo as such.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy yes, 1st person shooters are all about getting weapons and killing things, whereas 1st person adventures are more about exploration and rarely require you to kill anything.
while corruption is far from my favorite of the prime trilogy, i actually think quite a lot is different about her character compared to prime 1+2. there is a pretty distinct difference between the early game/tutorial section on the ship+norion, compared to after she gets the PED suit. although it's weaker gameplay-wise, corruption goes for darker story elements and it's reflected in her animation as the game progresses. rather than her typical sort of gentle, delicate movement, her gait is heavier and more determined, as if she is singularly focused on her mission, given the personal significance of dark samus. my favorite instance of this is the scene on elysia when the bridge falls--it collapses just as she steps onto solid ground, and the camera pans down to show it falling to oblivion, but when it pans back up to her, she is already moving forward unflinchingly. i wish corruption was a little more of a metroid game than a shooter, but narrative-wise i think it adds a lot to samus's characterization, and the animation and choreography is a big part of that.
My main takeaway is the degree to which you can describe the character through their basic movement, poses and idle animations. It would be interesting to see a character's posture change throughout a game as they become more or less confident, strong, etc. I think of how people's posture can change based on how fit, strong, flexible, active they are.
i would love a marriage of other m's mechanics with the next prime game. the prime series is my favorite of all time, but she always felt a bit clunky compared to her other representations. i see no reason that 4 couldn't play exactly like the other primes but provide us opportunities/prompts where it zooms out to do some of those sick finishing or overblast moves. i also think that other titles, especially her future portable sidescrollers, could really benefit from a bit more of other m's movement and influence - the majority of movement felt super good and totally lends itself to that genre. other m was a bad game for a lot of obvious reasons, but i think that you don't have to dig super hard to see the good bits of other m gameplay wise, and any good designer should recognize the good bits and just rip them out for future games and toss the rest.
FatNinjaWalrus go check out the channel The Orpheon-they did a video not too long ago where they talk about similar concepts for the upcoming games. Their main problem (and mine) with other m’s gameplay was the fact that the wii mote was used as a dpad style controller instead of a pointing device. I’ve only played the very beginning of other m because my hands were cramping so badly I kept dropping the wii mote. And I always think it’s a shame that the new 2.5 D perspective and awesome melee attacks were overshadowed by the limitations of the wii mote.
great job with the video, man. though you forgot to mention am2r. i know it's a fan game, but in my opinion it has the best 2d animation in the series.
Thanks! Yeah, I guess I wanted to go with official stuff, but I also haven't played it personally and couldn't get the footage, so I'll have to come back to it in future.
I love how in Prime 1 if you fire the power beam rapidly for a while there is a brief steam-like overheat animation afterwards, again showing the power and mechanics of the suit.
Great video! It's amazing how in 30 years, we went from 2 frames of shooting to more than I could count! I can tell you put an effort in this video! Great job, Dan! =D
Fusion seems to imply that her gun is the heaviest part of her suit, and not quite as supported by the suit anymore. SA-X still steadies from the top of the gun, Samus seems to support from beneath, while hunched forward.
Geno Breaker that’s due to the fact that she’s weakened. Not necessarily that the gun is heavier or the heaviest part of the suit. The beginning of the game explicitly tells you that Samus has been weakened and that her physical appearance changed dramatically due to the infection of the X parasite and the surgical removal of her suit. That explains her different posture
@@lordmango6060 yeah, I bought Fusion on release day lol. Played it through a couple times, but never liked it as much as others in the series. My point was that the implication is that her gun is heavy, not necessarily heavier than before, but with so much of her suit removed, she lacks much of the strength and endurance the power suit USED to provide and simply doesn't have anymore. It can't help her hold the gun up anymore, or not as well, leaving her to shoulder the weight alone. Additionally, she is definitely weakened, more vulnerable. This is evidenced by her hunched posture qnd the way she carries the gun, making sure it doesn't dip or waver.
Another thing to note is that in the opening to Fusion, Samus still rests her hand on top of her arm cannon. This is probably because official artwork shows the Power Suit to contain prosthetic muscles that increase Samus’ strength, which would be why she can so easily lift it one-handed with the full suit on. However, when she is missing so much of the power suit, she’s forced to support the weight herself with her other arm.
Very good point, yeah! And I think this further backs up the idea that each variation we see on her skills and powers aren't interpretive but indeed factual differences between suits and powers.
Ever since they introduced the jet boots to Zero Suit Samus' design in the lead-up to Smash 4 I've been hoping they carry a few Smash abilities back to the Metroid games. I really want to see a hard mode where you don't get your power suit upgrades and have to take an alternate route through the map using only things like the grapple/whip, jet kicks and paralyzer. It would probably be really hard to implement though
I have never been so excited when I saw a video in my notifications that I gasped and said "Oh my god!" before. You're the first Dan, and I've been watching UA-cam since 2010!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy I certainly did! One thing I wish was incorporated into more of Samus' animations is her jet pack booster thing on her back. It's rarely shown used for anything. It could potentially be used for the space jump. Like, when you initiate it, Samus uses it to launch herself upwards and dives into the faster, smeared somersault from games previous.
The Prime animations were really a work of Art. Everything hand animated, each anim had custom blend animations for each transition, that's why everything looks so smooth. No automated interpolations. We used the same process for DKCR, which is why DK and Diddy look so good in motion.
Thanks for the input!
Samus holding her gun down in Other M is called "The Low Ready" as she worked with military personnel, having control of her weapon keeps her from accidentally shooting her allies on sight. This method lets you take a second to identify them as you ready your weapon before pulling the trigger, rather than just firing as soon as you see them. Plus the discipline shows a level of responsibility with your weapon overall, as any trained soldier will tell you, "You don't point your weapon at anything you don't intend to kill."
That's really fascinating, thank you!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy you're welcome, I'm happy you acknowledge it! I love these videos, so knowing you appreciate this comment makes me feel proud!
So in Fusion, she's so tense, she's trying to just kill everything?
@@ZenoDLC Well, it’s also very likely because there’s nothing in the station that ISN’T trying to kill her (this applies for most of the other games as well). Meanwhile in Other M, we see her interact with friendlies a ton.
@@ZenoDLC I mean, she's at her weakest and literally has a heartless doppelganger of her full-power Super Metroid endgame self haunting her every step, with the only friendly in sight being the AI on her ship that she only interacts with at certain computer rooms, to say nothing of quite literally the most dangerous things in her universe infesting the place. Who wouldn't be tense enough to aim at literally everything? Plus, Other M is a _Rescue_ mission, unlike most of Samus' contracts, which usually, when summarized, amount to "blow up everything in sight".
One thing I like from Super Metroid, Fusion, Zero Mission and Smash Bros Melee is that Samus runs like a normal human being. She stands up right as opposed to being hunched over like in Smash 4/Ultimate/anime. Samus gets hunched over when she uses her Speed Booster in Zero Mission, but her back thrusters are used as acceleration so it makes sense.
Something I like from the Prime series is that if something happens behind Samus she always turns to her left. From what I can tell, turning to her left is the quickest way to get her Arm Cannon pointed behind her. Samus turning to the left would allow her to point her Arm Cannon at her opponent halfway into the turn, while if she turned to her right her Arm Cannon would be facing the enemy, meaning her opponent could grab her gun arm for example. Seems like a strange thing to bring up and describe, but it makes it seem like everything Samus does while in the field has a purpose.
That's an amazing observation, I would not have noticed that but it makes incredible sense, as he right arm is the most powerful. Damn I wish I could include this in the video now!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy The only animation I can think of that was janky (other than the Smash 4/Ultimate running animation being a method of running I've never seen anyone use) was the Vorash Lethal Strike from Other M. It's not when Samus pulls the creature out of lava, but throws the Vorash around in the air and then launches it at a wall so hard it dies (that by itself shows how physically strong Samus is). If you haven't seen the Lethal Strike you can find it here: ua-cam.com/video/Nsn5jiN9F-k/v-deo.html.
That's the only thing I can think of adding off the top of my head since not many people seem to know that there is a Lethal Strike for the Vorash at all.
On a side note, if Samus ever does the "Naruto Run" for any reason I quit.
The Accursed Hunter01
As someone who grew up with (American) football, the way that samus runs (more hunched over) reminds me of a linebacker.
Linebackers need to be able to generate speed from a track running position (hands and feet on ground) in a small space between themselves and the other team. On top of that, they often are in the 175+ lb range, so they have a lot of mass to move around.
Because of that, linebackers usually stay low to the ground and keep their limbs close to their bodies when they run. And they’re surprisingly nimble, being that they have to change positions from offense to defense quickly.
There’s a reason why wide receivers usually are smaller than linebackers: the only way to beat one is to stay out of their range and pray that you’re fast enough to get to the end line before they tackle you.
Because I don’t know if anyone at Nintendo watches football, I think that the way Samus moves (body forward and low to the ground) serves two purposes in smash bros games:
1) providing the space needed to run and dodge in small spaces, and 2) making it easier to get into morph ball form.
That's a great observation! It'd be interesting to see this sort of movement attributed a little more in future games to see if it enhances it further.
I guess Nintendo is in two minds when it comes to animating Samus- very acrobatic and light (treating the Power Suit like a second skin) or more like a linebacker (momentum and weight being a factor because her suit is heavy, but still light on her feet).
The problem is what the game physics are in each game. If Nintendo goes the more acrobatic route, then they need to design the game world better around it.
More open vertical space and complete player control while in midair would allow for the acrobatics without smashing Samus on every ceiling and ledge.
And if they go the linebacker route, then it needs to be animated so that the impact is much clearer when Samus is jumping or charging enemies. Giving players clear animations of how Samus moves would change how they play the game. It just needs to be consistent with the physics of the game itself.
I think the reason the SA-X is so faithful to Super Metroid is they wanted to make it feel familiar. Its not just a walking suit, its basically Samus at her strongest hunting down Samus at her weakest, and the animation being what we remember from Super really adds to that in a significant way.
"Here's you. Something that was you, a creature that literally barrels through many creatures and obstacle like it's air, the one that destroyed Mother Brain and Space Pirates, everything that you have lost, you know what it can do and now it's after you, hunting you."
Great video!
Small detail: Samus holding her gun from below in Metroid Fusion and her hunched demeanor have a story motivation, in that they are made to show how much she has been weakened after being attacked by the X and to show how much stronger than her the SA-X is through most of the game.
Besides the zero suit sections fusion Samus is the frailest she's ever been
I’d also like to think the original power suit gave her the strength to carry the gun arm for more accurate firing considering the weight and size of it.
Was just about to come down in the comments and add that in lol
It could also be because the X weakened her. I mean she almost died from that. If you look at the opening scenes and the SA-X, she is resting her second hand on top of the gun. She probably lost chunks of her muscular system since the power suit had to be removed surgically because it was so ingrained. Between that and having a lighter suit with less support made it so she had to support the gun with more than one arm.
Yeah I think that's what the person said at the beginning 😅
7:55 actually a basketball. Retro Studios used motion capture on a basketball to design Samus’ morph ball. Prior to Prime, they were working on some sports game tech demos (hence the reason they had that technology in that time period).
Oooooh that's interesting, I didn't know that. Cool!
We didn't actually use any Mo-Cap in the release game. We had an early capture session using our huge Mocap studio, but we ended up hand animating everything and the Mocap studio ended up just gathering dust.
Wow, thanks for the insight! Thanks for watching!
Time to update this video with Metroid Dread.
:o
Yes please :)))
Ohh, that explains why i got this recommended
I wonder, did smash ultimate refine her movement any either?
That's literally why I went down to the comments. Yes please :)
God knows there’s a lot to say.
Someone who focuses on the finer details of games like animations, frame counts and etc. I respect fully.
ok N
I like the electric screw attack ⚡️ I mean it’s in the symbol for the item
I love seeing UA-camrs tackle the more niche side of Nintendo, most UA-camrs only tackle the bigger franchises. Keep doing what you're doing man.
Thanks! Is Metroid niche? I suppose it is nowadays.
Metroid's not niche, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise with how Nintendo treats it. It's the "after dark" of Nintendo's franchises, the late-night "viewer discretion is advised" block they don't talk about. It's also pretty hit and miss in the games department, like the two everyone loves are Super and Prime 1. People only talk about the 1986 original because it's a "classic". Everything else is either okay or bad. Compare that to Zelda or Mario which have fans of almost every game in their respective series, and the few games that are terrible are at least The Room levels of outrageously terrible.
@@swishfish8858 yea I guess I should've worded it like swish fish did, thank you for correcting me, Nintendo needs to fix how they market Metroid.
@@swishfish8858
It's not a quality issue, it's a genre issue.
@@swishfish8858 Metroid is hit-and-miss?
Maybe the side games, but 1, 2, super, fusion and the prime series (the numbered entries, generally considered the "main" Metroid series) are all pretty well known as among the best Nintendo had for their respective systems.
I'll give you Other M (even though I liked it a lot), but even their weird spinoffs were no worse than the worst of the Mario spinoffs or links crossbow training.
One of my favorite details in Fusion and Zero Mission is that in Fusion, like you said, she holds it from beneath, as she is physically weaker in Fusion, and can’t rely on one hand anymore. In Zero Mission, like Return and Super, she holds it from the top to control recoil, and unlike Fusion, can shoot while holding a ledge, because due to the powersuit’s strength, she can hang from a ledge with one hand, as opposed to needing both in Fusion. Just some wonderful animation and attention to detail.
But... she _can_ shoot from a ledge in Fusion.
@@The_Metroid I hate to be rude, especially to someone that's clearly a lot more dedicated to the franchise than me, based on that username, but she can't.
She can shoot while on a ladder, but the mechanics actually operate differently between those two. Sorry, man.
@@ryanluther5785 oh, I guess I'm wrong then. I haven't played fusion in a while. You weren't being rude.
@@The_Metroid Eh, it's fine. Most people don't play Fusion more than once.
@@ryanluther5785 I plan to speedrun it one day. 0% is my ultimate goal.
I think they nailed Samus in Smash Ultimate. She feels nimble and has snappy, quick movements. But she also feels like she has weight, having strong, but laggy moves that feel impactful. All in all I love it and she feels and looks great.
Took a while to get here, but I'm super happy people can finally appreciate Samus :)
Kyle Long yeah I love Samus! Also this video was very informative. She could use some love even if that love comes from the small circle of Metroid Fans. And I would like to see her talk in Prime 4 or a future game, just not the mess we got with Other M...
She's pretty great now, although her melee attack in Returns could've made an awesome updated smash attack.
GrizbyK72 Yeah it would have! Also I wished they put in Samus’s Varia Suit from Samus Returns I love the thinner Visor. Speaking of her visor why is it so thick in Ultimate?
Love using samus in ultimate!!
0:52
Lmao, I was hoping you'd say Zelda twice.
Where will MP4 go?
Hopefully in my switches’ cartridge slot sometime in the next millennia
And the award for Best Supporting Actor goes to the adorable Left Hand!
Who's here after Metroid Dread annoucement? I hope Dan will make the video "How Metroid Dread creates dread".
I'll almost certainly do a video looking at the game's animation, perhaps comparing it to Samus Returns, seeing if there's any differences.
I love how you have found a perfect balance between informative, opinionated, and entertaining videos. Your personality shines through but never overshadows the purpose with which you are sharing the information with us. Keep it up
Thank you so much. I try not to be too opinionated when discussing, but I suppose you have to be sometimes, especially when a topic is particularly interesting like Metroid
Fusion and Zero Mission are some of the most visually beautiful games I know and the animation only adds to that.
I really hope a follow up video is made about Dread. The animations in that game were incredible.
From little things like samus widening her stance when she shoots or looking through a gap in a wall when pressed against it, to the absolutely terrifying fluidity of the E.M.M.I maneuvering around the zones
I'm kinda surprised you didn't mention the saving and elevator/loading scenes in the Prime games, as well as what little we see of her idle animations.
In Prime 1, I feel like she's overall super focused, yet has this swagger to her even when standing still (You can see this in the Pause menu as well as brief moments during saving and cutscenes like the entrace to Phendrana Drifts or Thardus' intro). The save sequence is super fast, as it begins with her switching from her idle animation to a fully standing pose, then it returns. Oh, and if you're loading the save, you can see Samus switch from the standing pose back to the idle animaiton in full swagger, and I feel it immediately sells that she's ready and pumping to get back into action.
The elevator loading screens also show how she's very attentive in this installment. She stands in a combat ready pose, as if expecting anything that may jump at her. She carefully looks around as well.
Also, to this day I'm not sure why, when or how this change happened, but the different versions of the Phazon Suit scene convey very different things. I find the one in which Samus appears standing, covered in the Phazon Suit then lightly flexing her fingers a bit of an undersell, kinda like "huh, that's neat I guess." before going back into business, while the other one in which she's kinda in a charging pose and twitching as if the Phazon covering is painful has undoubtedly a lot more energy and conveys that a great change is going on, and the end pose with Samus posing with her cannon aimed is hella cool. Also, I'm pretty sure this second version was what spawned most of Dark Samus' render art, which has her in similar poses, as well as Samus' own render mimicking the end pose.
In Prime 2, I find she's a lot more subdued compared to Prime 1, and I think it fits greatly the overall more somber atmosphere of the game. The saving process has her first hunch down as the beams of the save station drop one by one, as if she's briefly letting herself take a small breath but not necessarily relax. Also she does this small breathing sequence when the healing laser things wash over her, as if she's being slowly invigorated, then gives this solemn and slightly defiant look up while the camera switches to reveal it, as if relaying to the player and Samus herself reaffirming that there is still work to do. And if I recall correctly, when loading a save file, the camera completely pans from her feet and up in one motion, which always gave me a feeling alongside of "time to rise up once more."
The elevator loading screens are far more subdued too. Samus doesn't display the same readiness of Prime 1 in these, but doesn't feel any less attentive. If anything, she's more serious, but she's still calmly and quietly keeping an eye on her surroundings. Which makes it so when the elevators abruptly stop and she shows basically no reaction feel uncanny in a good way, as if saying that Samus has arrived, and it's lights out for the baddies in the area.
Prime 3's save station sequence I find is a good middle ground between Prime 1 and 2. She stands still like in Prime 1, and lets herself be invigorated by whichever technology heals her like in Prime 2, then ends in a pose with her pumping her arms back and standing ready. I admit this last pose feels a bit goofy though. I don't remember if there's any difference in the sequence if loading a save station though lmao.
We see a lot more of Samus' idle animation in this game though, what with cutscenes galore. It's especially apparent during the cutscenes with SkyTown's Aurora Unit. Samus stands at an angle with both hands diagonally down, but she always feels ready to rumble. There's also how she _very_ relaxedly stands at the entrance of her ship, which I find is her a bit of a disinterested flex, what with how casually she goes in and out of her ship.
This is practically your 6th video analysis & essays about the Metroid saga. I can say that the amount of focus about this game rubbing off on me. All love your context, posses a professional & informative, yet endearing ambient.
Thanks very much! Yeah ha 😅 I do love me some Metroid!
My favorite animation explaining channel!
Nahw shucks!
Watched a video on animations, got a retrospective about music in the bargain. The music does a huge amount of work setting the tone in the Metroid Prime series. Samus's whistley flute motif seems to explore the area themes the say Samus explores the areas themselves.
That shot of Captain Exeter from the beginning still gets to me to the point I remember his name. Metroid environments are alien, devoid of humanity. Suddenly, here's a dead person. A dead person it was your job to save. And their last act was to record warning for whomever came looking for them, to arm the next team with the knowledge they needed to finish the mission. I guess it was the natural course of action. They were Marines, after all.
His name is an Easter egg to the movie "This Island Earth," which is why I always remember his name.
I like how even though the visual styles of Fusion and Zero are similar, Samus still moves more like she did in the first game. This shows consistency in her character. Like what if her always having her gun raised in the first game shows how she’s become more experienced and more casual in the future games because she is used to going on missions at that point. I also feel like you should have covered AM2R.
Thank you for going into her character and how it's portrayed in her animation.
Samus is a very quiet (almost silent) protagonist, yes. But she has never been a blank slate.
Confident but not unphased by death. Empathetic yet stoic.
While Other M didn't do her justice in her monologues and interactions, you cannot deny how well Team Ninja nailed her being a mix of a badass soldier and a nimble acrobat in her movement.
For the next Prime game I don't know what I want. It's such a delicate balance of funtion and flair. While I'd prefer a run that's not feeling like she's gliding, and a little bit more oomph when she fires, I'd prefer even more not to get motion sickness.
Awesome video as usual! I learned a lot about Samus's posture. Never thought about how she holds her arm cannon to be completely honest. But now I will definitely keep it in mind.
Thanks for the thoughts! Yeah I quite enjoy how Other M looks.
Nailing MP4's animation should be easy if Retro are behind it, I do hope they'll keep all that awesome mechanical animation.
one thing that I feel is worth mentioning, in Samus Returns, in Samus' direction changing animation she goes in cannon first, instead of changing her whole body before putting her cannon out, and I feel that really exemplifies how serious and focused she is in general
Really great attention to detail! You really focus on the minutia of her animation throughout the Metroid games!!
Ever since Fusion, samus scares me when she looks at the screen... it doesn't matter if it's dark samus, or SA-X, it scares me...
Samus: get the job done, analyzing, fire blast, grab, bomb
Dark samus: *double jumps* IM SPIDER MAAAAAAAN
I actually really love the animations they did for dark samus in ultimate. Really shows how alien she is. You can almost tell that she wasn't born in that body with the way she lets limbs go flailing or lets them dangle when not in use. Dark samus looks much less like a disciplined soldier and more like a superhuman who isn't entirely used to their new strength and speed.
@@witchydragon106 or, maybe, like a *Metroid*
Super Metroid is still a masterclass in game art. It still looks so good.
Got this in my recommended and then went and closely looked at the Metroi Dread trailer and gameplay.
I've always been interested in the little niche things about Samus' Power Suit that often lie unnoticed by the player, such as her shoulder pads actually holding respirators that are more effective at combating heat in the Varia Suit than the standard Power Suit. I was always hoping that smaller details of the suit's inner workings like this would someday be explored more in depth.
That's really interesting, I too adore the attention to detail in a 'functioning universe' way.
Closest we got was the '94 Nintendo Power manga, issue 2 showing a 'xray' look to her suit.
Pity Samus did not look that good in that manga.
Very interesting observation about Fusion's Varia Suit animations. Of further note is that they aren't copied from Super Metroid (in the way Symphony of the Night reuses Richter's actual Dracula X sprites), but are redrawn while still preserving Super Metroid's poses. It suggests that the changes for her Fusion Suit animations - the lower posture, the different way of steadying her gun - are intended to be diegetic; Samus the character is moving differently, she doesn't just have a new art direction or sprite size. It also suggests the designers intended for us to be able to detect that this is what they intended.
Ah yes very good point. It's just makes Fusion even more awesome!
Can we study the art of how you make these videos so amazing?
You most certainly can!
To keep things in the spirit of Metroid being quick and fast games, I'd love the idea of a stealth section that can be done with precision and speed solely due to the fact that she's in her Zero Suit not being clunky, metallic, and loud, using her stun gun to silence and sneak past people quickly. That would be cool.
Disregarding Other M's story/cutscenes, there's a strength in Samus when it comes to battles, taking hits, and even her overall health when it comes to getting the mission done first, especially in Corruption, only really reacting to each boss with some phaazon vomit and a quick requip of the helmet. It would be cool to see that stoicism and strength in more of the (hopefully short) cutscenes surrounding bosses/major story interactions. Plus her "Action heroes don't look at explosions thing" is always awesome.
There is an extensive stealth section at the end of zero mission that's almost exactly what you just described.
@@blixbySE Oh yeah, ,I didn't make it clear, I'd like that in Metroid Prime 4!
To see a 3D rendition of it would be really neat. And even the choice to go in and out of the Power Suit.
That all sounds really cool. Honestly, I thought the stealth in zero mission could've been its own game. Having a more fleshed out take on that in 3d as maybe a side area like the ship in am2r could be cool
@@vlc-cosplayer I'd argue with a franchise like Metroid where the skill (for speed runners, which I totally am not) comes more in timing and precision with aiming and movement. It could be neat to see them try to incorporate that into their stealth, where skilled shots and fast movement could make a stealth mission quick and not just waiting and slow movement.
"ugh, foot's goin' to sleep..." that's a whole ass mood my guy.
Yay, another Metroid-related topic from one of my favorite UA-camrs!!!
One thing this video taught me: Super Metroid looks amazing! Great job on this significant work.
Thanks!
She’s quick and nimble when she needs to be. She can cling to walls and climb debris.
Rolling morphball transform
Certainly the Mock ball from Super metroid: allows you to keep the speed's momentum and use it in certain areas like getting the super missile early
I think this'd be great. Almost boostball-like, having to clear tunnels of debris.
A running Morph Ball would be a lot of fun. I feel like there's a lot Nintendo can do to make Samus' movements more fun in the 2D games. And that TuxedoPato demo makes me kinda hope the next Prime game isn't a strict FPS. That demo really sold me on third-person Samus. I love Prime to pieces, but the Halo era of modern FPS novelty is gone and I'm having a hard time visualizing Prime 4 impacting the market if it sticks to traditions.
@@Graphomite Prime 4 will definitely need to give Samus some mobility options, that's for sure.
Funnily enough, there's leftover sprites for Metroid 1 involving properly keeping Samus's arm-cannon on her right when she turns, but they're unused
Oh! Don't think I knew that! Thanks!
Excited to see y’all talk about Metroid Dread!
Nice video, I really like Samus, I think of her as one of the best designed protagonists ever.
Now with Metroid Dread and that bunch of animations and cutscenes, oh my god
This video really illustrates how gameplay and hardware limitations shape the art direction. In the 2D platformers, the most important thing is where you are and where you're aiming, so Samus has very rigid posture with little kickback or reaction when shooting. In the Prime games, the only visibility you have of Samus is her visor and gun, so they put a lot of work into selling that but don't bother trying to do acrobatics. Smash Bros needs attacks that have start-up and end lag so players can react, which means her attacks have powerful, exaggerated movements. Other M takes advantage of 3D to do more dynamic posing and combat. Samus Returns is 3D as well, but appears to have a more limited animation rig that prevents it from doing that quite as much. And so on.
Great observations! It's fascinating how it shapes these things, I reckon it's a very similar story for lots of other characters.
Another thing we can see in the multiplayer mode of Echoes, is that the double jump is in fact not the high jump, but the space jump with a spin. That was an interesting touch that the first person view couldn't keep.
Yeah, I didn't actually manage to capture that when studying so I'm glad is been pointed out!
Man, Samus has to be one of my favourite characters.
Just had a thought, she probably holds her gun from below in Fusion because it's heavy, whereas in other games her suit would likely help her hold it up. Never would have even thought of that if it weren't for this awesome video. Keep up the great work!
Yeah someone else raised this point too!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Oh nice! It's just crazy how much detail they put into these games that most people will never even notice!
For a moment there I thought you were going to sign off with "See you again soon!" You nearly had me. Great vid dude!
Ha! One day I'll cut it too close 😂
Thanks bro!
Well I can honestly say I never thought I'd be interested in how hunched or straight Samus' back is when she runs.
I dont know about anyone else but I really need you to make an update with metroid dread because that game has some ridiculous attention to detail in every single animation.
Yep, in the works!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy LETS GOOOO
Great analysis. I love how you included that fan made rig of Samus. First time I saw that, I knew I wanted a Metroid game like that
I realise it's not really a "Samus animation", but in Prime 3, seeing Samus' eyes reflected in the scan visor gradually glow more blue with Phazon, and noticing veins on her legs in the gunship, gives such a powerful boost to this narrative that you're being slowly corrupted.
Ahhhh yeah I'd forgotten about that!! Good shout.
Interestingly enough, Samus being right-handed/gunned was a concept as early as the FIRST Metroid game.
The rotational sprites are technically still in the game's files, but went unused.
Also, in the Famicom Disk System version of the game, the file select screen depicts the files as Samus crouching down before the player, almost as if she's quietly saying "ready when YOU are" .
Hey man really like the re-branding, this was a great video! Worth the wait!
Thank you Simply Dad!
I love how Samus is becoming more popular with the announcement of Metroid Dread!
I think the screw attack for super metroid is easily my favourite.
Yeah, I think so too. Though I believe that it's not just a stylistic choice but the style literally changes between suits, especially if the representation in Fusion is anything to go by.
Amazing review, just imagine his opinions on Dread now; for example, the 2D animations he mentions can sometimes be found in Dread. Sadly the space jump is still just a somersault, but the screw attack looked amazing.
In "Metroid The Other M"... the reason why she holds a gun down at the ground like that like that is because it's a military combat tactical posture called "at the ready"....as in standing by...Sgt L'K//USMC.
Thanks, yeah someone else suggested that too, great detail!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy I know, because I carried mine through Fellujah, Iraq... the same way while in combat...
My first video game ver was Metroid Prime 1 and then 2. Samus Aran is my first badass hero. Her nonchalant goodbye wave in echoes after casually saving an entire planet and ancient race always seemed extremely cool to me and honestly made a huge impact in my life.
This is great! It would have been neat for you to cover am2r it has fantastic animations
Yeah, I hadn't played yet and obtaining footage was difficult for it, so I figure I'd cover just official stuff for now.
The way her body moves and her legs when she hits the ground in super metroid gives me the feeling that she's really careful of her footing, she weighs a lot but it's a dainty landing that really sticks. If your falling from a lot of platforms and just barely touch them it's easier to see, she moves with them like she's taking the impact and her suit is like reorganizing and absorbing the energy of the shock and there's a sound effect that sounds like something small landed that makes it even cooler chozo tech makes no sense lol
0:25 I know most of the metroid fan base is rather patient. Some would say you kind of need to be to enjoy the games in their entirety. But we need more of this "oh well" energy around delay announcements, haha.
I think my favorite animation in the entirety of Samus Returns was her reaction to the Diggernaut attempting to get up after defeating it.
After having to fight it, with each hit taking of HUNDREDS of health, and being chased by it earlier as an advancing wall of doom, she's done with this shit. Without even turning, she charges her canon, waits for the Diggernaut's "eye" to be in direct line of fire, then shoots it, recoiling because she didn't brace herself. No dialogue exchanged, but you can clearly tell she's thinking, "Nope. Not doing that again. Die."
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Other M, but it was probably the best-looking game on the entire Wii console.
I think Prime 3 looked better, but Other M did look great for the Wii.
3D, maybe, but if you go whole library, I prefer Muramasa
Prime 3 has her best visual animation and personality in my opinion. She just reacts so naturally to everything.
Very interesting breakdown. I'll be interested to see how the Samus Returns animations evolve in Dread, given the same engine is used for both. Looks faster already in gameplay, though that might be the dash biasing me.
half and hour Dan Root video? dope. I very much appreciate the degree of detail you put into the analysis of a specific facet of video games, keep it up!
Thank you! I didn't actually intend for it to be that long, it's just how is turned out. Glad you enjoyed it either way.
I love the new logo
Thanks! Makes it feel a bit more modern, ey?
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy yeah, and it has a good selection of colors because those are the ones you use in your fonts and thumbnails
I've brightened them a tad from before, but I like 'em
I feel the electric screw attack is the best. Like the arcing flashes of electricity fit perfectly for the chaotic spinning wheel of death that literally reduces enemies to spinning chunks
A detail no one seems to notice: In Super Metroid, whenever Samus is in a dark area, her visor will flash like it goes on "night vision mode".
Oh yeah I've noticed that. Just forgot to mention it.
I am always amased at how little quantity of sprite frames can be needed to create the illusion of a full fledged animation.
Very surprised you didn't mention the boss counter moves in Samus Returns at all, as well as the cutscenses with the Baby Metroid, since imo it has more character than the ones from prime.
I say they should bring back the counter moves in Prime 4. I think it'd be a great and interesting addition to the Phazon saga.
@@gokaury Omg that'd be terrible. At least if executed like in Samus Returns, Prime has a extremely slow pacing as is.
Excellent video. Thank you for your brilliant in-depth analysis.
i would actually be SUPER down for a megaman legends-style metroid game
That'd be pretty cool, right?
This was such an entertaining and very fascinating video to watch and I love and appreciate how in depth you go with everything.
I hope you continue making similar videos like this with a lot more characters!
Thank you!
This is a fantastic video! Though, I'm a little disappointed that while covering Echoes' multiplayer, you didn't mention how the space jump is interpreted as a somersault by other players. I always found that interesting.
Oh darn, I forgot to cover that! Thanks for pointing that out to me!
8:31 "this is less a 1st person shooter and more a 1st person adventure... with shooting"
THANK YOU! You would not believe how much it gets on my nerves when people don't get that distinction. That line alone earns this video a thumbs-up.
Hey thanks a lot! Yeah, I think I realised from the beginning it wasn't a shooter as such, there were never tons of enemies to take out at once, nor ammo as such.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy yes, 1st person shooters are all about getting weapons and killing things, whereas 1st person adventures are more about exploration and rarely require you to kill anything.
while corruption is far from my favorite of the prime trilogy, i actually think quite a lot is different about her character compared to prime 1+2. there is a pretty distinct difference between the early game/tutorial section on the ship+norion, compared to after she gets the PED suit. although it's weaker gameplay-wise, corruption goes for darker story elements and it's reflected in her animation as the game progresses. rather than her typical sort of gentle, delicate movement, her gait is heavier and more determined, as if she is singularly focused on her mission, given the personal significance of dark samus. my favorite instance of this is the scene on elysia when the bridge falls--it collapses just as she steps onto solid ground, and the camera pans down to show it falling to oblivion, but when it pans back up to her, she is already moving forward unflinchingly.
i wish corruption was a little more of a metroid game than a shooter, but narrative-wise i think it adds a lot to samus's characterization, and the animation and choreography is a big part of that.
My main takeaway is the degree to which you can describe the character through their basic movement, poses and idle animations. It would be interesting to see a character's posture change throughout a game as they become more or less confident, strong, etc. I think of how people's posture can change based on how fit, strong, flexible, active they are.
One of my favorite video game characters. Samus is the perfect mixture of badass and femininity.
I'd never noticed the differences between Samus' stance in Zero Mission and Fusion before. Really shows how much thought the artists put in.
"More cartoony series like Kirby-"
Good thing you didn't say light-hearted, because you'd be lying.
Oh yeah no, all about how it looks, not feels.
@Tayebz Tayebz :3 *flashbacks to the N64 game*
I really like that Other M's Samus Varia Suit is basically Metroid Prime 3's Dark Samus design but recolored. I really like it.
i would love a marriage of other m's mechanics with the next prime game. the prime series is my favorite of all time, but she always felt a bit clunky compared to her other representations. i see no reason that 4 couldn't play exactly like the other primes but provide us opportunities/prompts where it zooms out to do some of those sick finishing or overblast moves.
i also think that other titles, especially her future portable sidescrollers, could really benefit from a bit more of other m's movement and influence - the majority of movement felt super good and totally lends itself to that genre. other m was a bad game for a lot of obvious reasons, but i think that you don't have to dig super hard to see the good bits of other m gameplay wise, and any good designer should recognize the good bits and just rip them out for future games and toss the rest.
FatNinjaWalrus go check out the channel The Orpheon-they did a video not too long ago where they talk about similar concepts for the upcoming games.
Their main problem (and mine) with other m’s gameplay was the fact that the wii mote was used as a dpad style controller instead of a pointing device. I’ve only played the very beginning of other m because my hands were cramping so badly I kept dropping the wii mote.
And I always think it’s a shame that the new 2.5 D perspective and awesome melee attacks were overshadowed by the limitations of the wii mote.
Definitely a marriage of styles would work really well!
I dunno how often people tell you this but I really appreciate the amount of effort and work that you put into your videos, very nice
great job with the video, man. though you forgot to mention am2r. i know it's a fan game, but in my opinion it has the best 2d animation in the series.
Thanks! Yeah, I guess I wanted to go with official stuff, but I also haven't played it personally and couldn't get the footage, so I'll have to come back to it in future.
I love how in Prime 1 if you fire the power beam rapidly for a while there is a brief steam-like overheat animation afterwards, again showing the power and mechanics of the suit.
Argh yes! I forgot about that! _So many_ nice things in that game.
Metroid dread video coming soon? The animation in that game is super good
Yep it's in the works.
Great video! It's amazing how in 30 years, we went from 2 frames of shooting to more than I could count! I can tell you put an effort in this video! Great job, Dan! =D
Thanks for watching this one, it's a biggie for sure, but I appreciate it!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy No problem! =)
BRING BACK THE BUBBLE DOORS
Subscribed for this video; I feel like you really get her
Thanks!
Fusion seems to imply that her gun is the heaviest part of her suit, and not quite as supported by the suit anymore. SA-X still steadies from the top of the gun, Samus seems to support from beneath, while hunched forward.
Geno Breaker that’s due to the fact that she’s weakened. Not necessarily that the gun is heavier or the heaviest part of the suit. The beginning of the game explicitly tells you that Samus has been weakened and that her physical appearance changed dramatically due to the infection of the X parasite and the surgical removal of her suit. That explains her different posture
@@lordmango6060 yeah, I bought Fusion on release day lol. Played it through a couple times, but never liked it as much as others in the series.
My point was that the implication is that her gun is heavy, not necessarily heavier than before, but with so much of her suit removed, she lacks much of the strength and endurance the power suit USED to provide and simply doesn't have anymore. It can't help her hold the gun up anymore, or not as well, leaving her to shoulder the weight alone.
Additionally, she is definitely weakened, more vulnerable. This is evidenced by her hunched posture qnd the way she carries the gun, making sure it doesn't dip or waver.
Another thing to note is that in the opening to Fusion, Samus still rests her hand on top of her arm cannon. This is probably because official artwork shows the Power Suit to contain prosthetic muscles that increase Samus’ strength, which would be why she can so easily lift it one-handed with the full suit on. However, when she is missing so much of the power suit, she’s forced to support the weight herself with her other arm.
Very good point, yeah! And I think this further backs up the idea that each variation we see on her skills and powers aren't interpretive but indeed factual differences between suits and powers.
I'm on it boi
Yaaasssss
Love the new design of the video. Looking a lot more smooth
The red and black Phazon Suit in the first Metroid Prime has a great "mess with me and you're getting a whoopin'" look about it.
It does! Proper menacing for the first time
Ever since they introduced the jet boots to Zero Suit Samus' design in the lead-up to Smash 4 I've been hoping they carry a few Smash abilities back to the Metroid games. I really want to see a hard mode where you don't get your power suit upgrades and have to take an alternate route through the map using only things like the grapple/whip, jet kicks and paralyzer. It would probably be really hard to implement though
I'm just here to state the obvious that we need a new version of this now with dread.
In the works
Damn that fan demo looks incredible, I would get behind a Metroid with that movement style in an instant
Agreed, Other m almost did, but was hampered by the control choices.
I have never been so excited when I saw a video in my notifications that I gasped and said "Oh my god!" before. You're the first Dan, and I've been watching UA-cam since 2010!
Wow! That's certainly an honour! I hope you enjoyed it!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy I certainly did! One thing I wish was incorporated into more of Samus' animations is her jet pack booster thing on her back. It's rarely shown used for anything.
It could potentially be used for the space jump. Like, when you initiate it, Samus uses it to launch herself upwards and dives into the faster, smeared somersault from games previous.
I agree. They use it a lot in Smash Bros, like when she jumps and dashes, but it'd look cool in her main games, too.