Super Metroid Promotional Preview

The Super Metroid Promotional Preview is a advertisement reel that played in video game stores in Japan during the release of Super Metroid. It features gameplay clips in four segments - "Invasion", "Battle", "Alone" and "Mother" - over which Samus Aran (voiced by Keiko Toda) narrates. In-game audio and music, such as the Norfair Hot Lava Area theme, can be heard against Samus's voiceover.
The preview was never officially released in English. On March 19, 2014 (the 20th anniversary of Super Metroid), the Metroid Database uploaded a version of the reel with English subtitles to their YouTube channel.
==Summary==
As the preview begins, "NINTENDO PRESENTS" appears onscreen, followed by . As Samus begins speaking, her face appears onscreen (as it does in the game's introduction sequence), with a poorly translated English summary of the backstory:
Footage filmed for, but not included in the live-action Super Metroid commercial, ensues. It shows the baby under study at the Space Science Academy. Suddenly, "EMERGENCY" flashes onscreen with an alarm, along with more clips of the scientists - one of them falling to the floor - Ridley's silhouette, an overhead shot of his talon reaching for the baby's capsule, and an explosion. As Samus resumes speaking, she exits a chamber in her Varia Suit (as depicted in the commercial) before flying to Planet Zebes. The English and Japanese names of Zebes, and each segment heading, are displayed.
===Invasion===
Samus lands in Crateria, exiting her Gunship. She questions why the nearby environments are so quiet, which puts her on edge. Soon after, she enters the "Missile chamber" and is surprised to see a Chozo Statue in front of her. After collecting its Missile Tank, she resolves to leave. Upon returning to the ruined Zebesian Command Center, she is surprised by Zebesians, and warns them not to mess with her.
===Battle===
Samus is shown dropping down in the "Green Brinstar Fireflea Room", and shooting a Sidehopper and Geega in the "jungle slope". After this, she is seen in Kraid's room, reacting in shock as Kraid emerges from the floor. She notes that it appears to be the boss of the area, apparently not recognizing him from her previous mission on Zebes. She fires at his eyes.
===Alone===
Samus navigates a corridor in Norfair, before Bombing her way into a maze in "Bubble Mountain". As she does so, she curses the "infernal labyrinth" and the lack of obvious exits. She is then shown in the "Interior Lake" attempting to jump out of the water from the bottom of the lake, without success since she lacks the Gravity Suit. Next, she is stopped by a solid wall in the Dachora's room, which seems impenetrable until she lays a Power Bomb. Once the wall is destroyed, Samus runs past. This segment demonstrates use of the Morphing Ball and Power Bomb abilities, with their English and Japanese names displayed onscreen.
===Mother===
Samus descends the "Wrecked Ship Main Shaft", dispatching a Covern, and kills a Kihunter in the top corridor. Back in the Dachora's room, the baby is heard chirping, which Samus says she hears as a call for her, its imprinted "mother". Samus's face appears over her in-game sprite, which is crouching. Declaring that she must rescue it, she demonstrates the Speed Booster to escape the Dachora's shaft. She uses the Screw Attack in the "Fast Ripper Room", the X-Ray Scope in its room, and the Grappling Beam in the "spike death tunnel". Samus hangs too low and is captured by a Yapping Maw, which drags her into the lava. She manages to escape its grasp, and desperately attempts to run along the spike-lined floor, but loses much of her energy, with her Power Suit voice saying as much. The Yapping Maw grabs her again, and Samus declares that she will die if she cannot escape.
The gameplay ends after this, and the Ceres siren is displayed while a male narrator announces that Super Metroid is only on the Super Famicom, and wishes players good luck on their mission. The logo, with the Screw Attack symbol, is displayed along with the release date, March 19, 1994.
At the end of the preview, the live-action commercial for Super Metroid plays.
==Later influence==
Keiko Toda provided the first speaking voice of Samus in any form of media in this preview. It was not until a 2022 investigation by Shinesparkers identified her as the actress.Shinesparkers. "Top Facts You Didn't Know About Metroid". December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022. Alésia Glidewell would later become the first actress to provide a spoken voice for Samus in a game (Super Smash Bros. Brawl), and Samus would speak more extensively in Metroid: Other M (voiced by Jessica Martin in English and Ai Kobayashi in Japanese).
The commercials reveal that Super Metroid is set in Cosmic Calendar year 20X7, which would be two years after Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission (in 20X5). This may have been retconned by the Metroid Prime Trilogy art booklet, which depicts Metroid Prime (a prequel to Super Metroid) taking place three years after Zero Mission, or the SR388 Data File, which states that Metroid: Samus Returns (itself set right before Super Metroid) takes place less than a year after Zero Mission.
==External links==
*The full preview
*Metroid Database translation
==References==
Category:Ads
Category:SNES