Because of the foundation laid by the first installment, players have begun to accept games with female protagonists. Those who like it genuinely do, as seeing a powerful female figure in a game for the first time feels empowering, even if it's just in the game and not reality, it still satisfies some people's tastes.
Especially with the various forms of Samus that players can see depending on their completion time in the first game, and they can even see a bikini-clad version of Samus at the end.
To some extent, this also satisfies the sense of achievement for completionists, making them willing to attempt challenges multiple times, and in the process of repeating these challenges, they can delve deeper into the charm of the game.
It turns out that a game is not enough to play through once. Some games are really worth studying and exploring multiple times.
Furthermore, with the introduction of speedrun challenges later on, Metroid gained another wave of popularity.
Then came the timeline of the second generation.
The name of the second generation game simply omitted the number and was directly named "Metroid: Return of Samus".
Just from the name, it foreshadowed that our protagonist would continue to fight, and the phrase "return" gives a feeling of a hero returning for another battle, making people more eager to know what exactly happened in the game.
However, due to the limitations of the GB console itself, it was only equivalent to the performance of the FC console, so the gameplay itself was just improved in some aspects and not much content was added.
But because the GB console did not need to consider producing a color version, which saved some resources, the story itself was extended, allowing each character's arc to be more complete, even the antagonists had some backstory.
In the second generation of Samus, the scientific expedition team once again prepared to explore the planet SR388, the background planet of the first generation's story. They obviously wanted to investigate more about Metroid.
Obviously, the Galactic Federation also wanted to control the power of Metroid.
But as soon as the expedition team entered the SR388 planet, they lost contact.
Because of the experience of successfully defeating the space pirates last time, the Galactic Federation once again hired Samus Aran, the female bounty hunter, to investigate SR388.
Of course, there is another subplot here, which is that the avian race, as an ancient race, is also secretly pushing for Samus to be designated as the main operative for the mission.
This is not randomly added content, but preparation for the future and also the most curious aspect for players. They are curious why the ancient avian race is particularly concerned about Samus.
And this secret is revealed in the second installment.
It turns out that Samus was raised by the avian race, so to some extent, she can also be considered a spokesperson for the avian race, and she can also use some ancient powers passed down by the avian race.
So besides Samus, no one else can undertake missions related to Metroid.
In "Return of Samus", the protagonist arrives on the planet SR388 to rescue the scientific expedition team.
This time, players also learn for the first time that Metroid's form is not singular, but diverse. This better showcases the power of Metroid itself.
There are various forms of Mitsurode, from small insects and floating organisms to larger insect-like creatures, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. If players target the weaknesses and attack, they can solve Mitsurode more quickly, adding some additional fun to the game.
Throughout the adventure, Samus finally defeats the final boss, the Metroid Queen, and a small Metroid larva appears and approaches Samus.
At that time, Samus wanted to directly eliminate this last hidden danger.
But this Metroid is different. It appears very affectionate towards Samus, seeming to regard Samus as its mother.
There is probably a reason for this, as Samus was raised by the avian race, and Metroid was created by the avian race, so it's normal for the Metroid larva to feel attached to Samus.
At this point, Samus also feels compassion and ultimately decides to spare this last Mitsurode larva, intending to take it with her and leave.
But just then, the story takes another sudden turn.
It turns out that the space pirates were not completely eradicated. A mechanical creature resembling a pterosaur, named Ridley, suddenly appears and snatches the Metroid larva from Samus's side, and tries to kill Samus.
This sudden change shocks the players who initially experienced it, but it also pleasantly surprises them.
The ups and downs of the story make them unable to stop, so they once again throw themselves into the battle against Ridley.
Of course, Ridley was initially very powerful, but in the end, relying on the unique energy absorption ability of the Metroid larva, most of the energy in Ridley's body was absorbed, and then fed back to Samus, gradually closing the gap in strength between the two sides, until Samus can overpower Ridley and ultimately successfully defeat Ridley.
Samus finally completes the mission and leaves the planet SR388 with the remaining Metroid larva, preparing to report back to the Galactic Federation.
But just at the very end, another animation appears, in which something called the X virus infects the creatures on the planet SR388, plunging the planet SR388 into chaos once again. However, what will happen after this clearly has to wait for the next game to be revealed.
At the same time, when Samus returns to the Galactic Federation, the fate of the Metroid larva she brought back is also a suspense, making countless players who are already addicted to the Mitsurode world very eager to know.
However, more than a year has passed since the release of the GB version of "Metroid: Return of Samus", and they have still not waited for a new Metroid game.
In the past, series games like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy would release a new installment every six months to a year.
But Metroid made players wait for more than a year, and they have developed some grievances, so they began to desperately post on the forums asking for the game to be released.
They don't ask for anything groundbreaking in the game, just to tell the story well.
Actually, it's not just on the website. Nowadays, the headquarters of Gamestar Entertainment receives at least two or three letters from players asking for a Metroid sequel.
But previously, Takayuki was indeed a bit too busy and couldn't handle it all at once. It wasn't until now, seeing this post, that he remembered this matter.
Looking at the post, Takayuki muttered to himself, "I didn't expect Metroid to be so popular. It's a bit surprising. In my previous life, even though it was popular, it didn't have a significant breakthrough in sales. I thought there weren't many interested people in reality."