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This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:chuappgame, author: NemoTheCaptain

The key work that connects the preceding and the following.

On November 17, 20 years ago, Nintendo launched the action adventure game Galactic Warrior: Metroid Fusion on GBA. For veteran players who have lived through the SFC era, this is a comeback that they are looking forward to; for new players who have not played SFC, it is the first series of "Galactic Warriors" (that is, Mitrod) they have come into contact with. After that, it bears the brand of this work, whether it is the copy game of the same engine, Galactic Warriors: zero Mission, or the latest series of Switch sequels, Galactic Warriors: fear of Survival. Director Hideki Sakamoto laid the foundation for the series' journey in the new century through the connecting link between Galactic Warriors and Fusion.

The first three works in the long gap Galactic Warrior series were Galactic Warrior on the 1986 FC host, Galactic Warrior 2: the return of Sam on the GB handset in 1991, and Super Galactic Warrior on the SFC host in 1994. Since then, the series has been absent from the N64 mainframe and GBC handset, falling into a gap of up to 8 years with no new work. Mr. Sakamoto, the creator of the series, said that neither N64 nor GBC is his ideal platform.

Nintendo's first development department, to which Mr Sakamoto belongs, was mainly responsible for handheld rather than console game development in the 1990s, and they lacked the manpower and experience needed for N64 development. Nintendo considered outsourcing the N64 version of the Galactic Warrior, but actually found a company, but the other party said that they did not have the confidence to develop a work comparable to the "Super Galactic Warrior" on the N64 and declined the invitation.

In terms of hardware, Sakamoto Heyong himself can not adapt to the N64 weird Trident handle, he can not come up with a suitable operation plan. "Galaxy Warrior" series of more realistic style, higher requirements for function, N64 pictures can not create a real and credible alien environment.

As for the handset, the performance of GBC is far inferior to that of SFC. If a sequel is developed on GBC, the effect will be far worse than that of Super Galactic Warrior. The first development department of Nintendo mainly developed the series of "Valleo Continent" in the GBC era. The original "Wali Euro Continent" is only a black-and-white GB game, "Walio Continental 2" is compatible with both GB and GBC platforms, and the follow-up "Walio Continental 3" is dedicated to GBC.

During this eight-year gap, only the original Nintendo all-Star fight on the N64 console comforted veteran players, and the protagonist of the Galactic Warrior series appeared as an optional character in the game. Recalling the gap in hindsight, Sakamoto thanked Sakurai Sakurai, the director of Nintendo all-Star Battle, that the popularity of the Galaxy Warriors series might have hit rock bottom if the game did not include Sams.

Shams in the original "Nintendo all-Star fight" entered the 21st century, and Nintendo's new handset GBA achieved performance comparable to that of the SFC. In E3 in 2001, Nintendo finally unveiled a new work codenamed "Galactic Warrior 4." At that time, the first development department was still busy producing the GBA game "Valleo 4", which led to the low completion of the new work, and the picture was as simple as GBC, which did not show the standard that GBA should have. In E3 in 2002, Nintendo announced that the new film was entitled "Galactic Warrior: fusion", and the picture reached the first-class level of GBA. The game was finally first released in the United States on November 17, 2002, putting an end to the eight-year blank in the series.

In the demonstration of E3 in 2001, codenamed "Galactic Warrior 4" in the development of "Galactic Warrior: fusion", Sakamoto faced the problem of dating the team. Some of the developers in this work are veterans of the "Galactic Warrior" series. The other part only participated in the "Valleo Continental" series. Although Valleo also focuses on solving puzzles and collecting props, it does not take map exploration as the core, nor has it tried to connect maps into one. Therefore, this work adopts a map design similar to "Valleo 4", in which different areas are separated from each other. In order to speed up the development, the image engine of "Valleo 4" is also used.

"Valleo Continental 4" even joined the countdown and sprint of the "Bank Warrior" series because the gap is too long, "Galactic Warrior: fusion" will become the first "Galactic Warrior" work that many players come into contact with. The newcomers in the team also think that "Super Galactic Warrior" is too difficult, and the new work needs to lower the threshold. As a result, this work adds a large number of illustrations and dialogues to guide the process, and the protagonist Summers will also talk about his inner feelings in the monologue, which is very different from the previous ideas in the series.

Sams inner monologue Sakamoto Khayong said that "Super Galactic Warrior" did not add a large number of illustrations and dialogue, not limited by the capacity of the cassette, but deliberately. At that time, he wanted to try to make full use of the game level for narrative and guidance, and the final product was original, but also raised the threshold of the game. The development goal of Galactic Warrior: fusion is to lower the threshold, so it abandons the tradition of the series.

Considering that GBA has fewer buttons than SFC, the operation of Galactic Warrior: fusion has been simplified at the suggestion of new developers, and players can simply press the R key to switch to missiles without having to switch weapons through the Select key. This work also cancels the sprint button, which automatically enters the sprint state when Shams's speed continues to increase. Climbing walls and ceilings is a new ability for players to explore maps.

Climbing the ceiling, if the change of "Galactic Warrior: fusion" is limited to this, it can only become a simplified and shrunk version of "Super Galactic Warrior", which can satisfy new players, but sorry for the long wait of old players. This work not only reduces the threshold of customs clearance, but also ensures the difficulty of full collection. 100% collection rate clearance is still quite challenging for players. On the other hand, the innovative elements of this work are also eye-catching.

In order to give veteran players a new feeling, the team changed the traditional gold color of Shams's enhanced obedience to blue. Hideyong Sakamoto approved the change, but he thought Galactic Warrior: fusion needed to make a reason for a change of color in terms of plot and system. He revised the details of the script.

In the opening episode of the film, Sams' fortified suit is still the traditional golden color, and then it is assimilated by the new parasite X, and Sams escaped after being injected into the cells of the cosmic creature Mitrod. as a result, the fortified suit turned blue, but also lost most of its previous abilities. In the previous series, Summers lost his previous ability at the beginning of the game and was forced to re-collect props, which was not explained in the previous plot, while Galactic Warrior: fusion gives a reasonable setting.

On the other hand, X parasitic on the fortified suit can replicate the host's ability to become a golden mimicry SA-X, this imitator has the powerful ability of the previous Summers, and the strength of the fake temporarily surpasses the original. Until he regained most of his abilities later in the game, Shams could not beat SA-X head-on and had to avoid its edge.

The moment when Summers dodged the SA-X patrol SA-X suddenly burst into the screen, it was also the most nervous moment for players, and as SA-X approached, the sound of its footsteps could be heard clearly. Players only need to hide in the early stage to get through the danger, in the later stage, SA-X will destroy the bunker in the scene, forcing the player to run for the road. This kind of experience is not available in "Super Galactic Warrior", and it also makes "Galactic Warrior: fusion" have enough innovative charm.

The European version of Galactic Warrior: fusion was released on November 22, 2002, only a few days later than the American version. Japanese players will have to wait until February 14, 2003, which is also the launch time of the Japanese version of GBA SP (the upgraded handheld version of GBA). Nintendo has prepared a limited version of GBA SP with special colors for the Japanese version. The Japanese version of the game adds difficulty choices and new ending illustrations written by Japanese cartoonist Kenji Ishikawa based on the comic book version of the Galactic Warrior serialized in Japanese magazines during the same period.

In fact, the Japanese version of the new ending illustration Sakamoto originally only wanted to serve as a consultant for "Galactic Warrior: integration", only responsible for the plan and plot outline, and left all the rest of the work to his subordinates. however, a large number of newcomers on the development team made Sakamoto uneasy. He was forced to act as a director himself, and the development process of this work has become a process of training new people.

On the mainframe side, Nintendo's new platform NGC far outperforms the N64 and can achieve ideal 3D graphics, but all this is still a distant goal for Nintendo's first development department, which has limited manpower and focuses on handheld development. The American version of "Galactic Warrior: Prime" and the American version of "Galactic Warrior: fusion" on the NGC mainframe are released on the same day, and the perspective becomes the first person. The development of Galactic Warrior: Prime was outsourced to the American company Retro Studios, and Sakamoto admitted that he was "dizzy 3D" and that his physique did not adapt to the 3D first person. He was not involved in the development of "Galactic Warrior: Prime" and only served as a consultant to ensure that the plot and system generally did not violate the series worldview.

First-person perspective of the "Galactic Warrior: Prime" Sakamoto Heyong is still the focus of development at this time, "Galactic Warrior: fusion" after the release, someone within the team proposed to transplant "Super Galactic Warrior" to the GBA platform, Sakamoto thought that the simple transplant was lack of new ideas, he chose to use the function of GBA to reproduce the original generation of FC "Galactic Warrior", so there was the 2004 release of "Galactic Warrior: zero Task".

Galactic Warriors: fusion has become a series of outliers in terms of plot and map structure, all of which are designed to lower the bar for new players, while Galaxy Warriors: zero Mission, the second series on GBA, is actually more traditional. This work still uses illustrations to describe the plot, but the text description is greatly reduced, allowing players to experience the plot with their own imagination.

Map return to the traditional "Galaxy Warrior: zero Mission" level, "Galaxy Warrior: zero Mission" also returns to tradition, the map structure is more natural, the number of gates is reduced, leaving more room for players to explore. The process prompt system of this work is relatively simple, and players can only get a rough coordinate, rather than a hint like "Galactic Warrior: fusion". This work's "breaking order clearance" (refers to players bypassing the guided process to explore the route by themselves) is more skillful than "Galactic Warrior: fusion", and the 100% collection rate clearance is also more demanding for operation. However, the process of this work is also short, and the difficulty of Boss is relatively weak, which can be regarded as a flaw.

The innovative element of "Galactic Warrior: zero Mission" goes a step further, with Sams losing his enhanced clothing ability at the end of the game, leaving only a blue "zero tights" and a small taser. This new process forces players to avoid enemies by sneaking in, which has become the biggest feature of this work. "Zero Shams" style was later included in the "Nintendo all-Star Battle" series and became an optional character.

The two GBA works have their own characteristics, which is better or worse, has become a topic of debate among players so far.

The plot Exploration of "Zero Saams" the future of Sakamoto ended his journey on the GBA platform with two masterpieces as the Galactic Warrior series. After seeing the success of Galactic Warrior: Prime, he realized that the trend of 3D was unstoppable. He was also inspired by the Xbox version of the Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword. although it is a high-speed 3D action game, Hideki Sakamoto does not feel dizzy and is far more receptive to the third-person perspective than the first-person. Sakamoto contacted Team Ninja, the developer of the Ninja Dragon Sword, to outsource the 2010 Wii game Galaxy Warrior: another M.

Although the work is outsourced, Sakamoto still retains three major positions as producer, director and screenwriter, with a much higher level of participation than Galactic Warrior: Prime. In terms of perspective, this work explores a variety of options, including the traditional 2D horizontal view, the back view similar to "biochemical Evil 4" and the oblique 45-degree bird's-eye view. Players can switch to the first-person perspective to launch missiles, but cannot move in the first-person perspective, which is also designed to avoid "halo 3D".

Galactic Warrior: another M with a changeable perspective if Galactic Warrior: another M changes its title to "Ninja Dragon Sword" or "Locke", then this excellent and solid game can be praised. Awkwardly, from the perspective of the Galactic Warrior series, the characters are verbose, the plot is boring, and there are few elements of exploration. These designs go against the tradition of the series and are regarded by players as freaks.

In Sakamoto's mind, however, the exploration of perspective is valuable. Halo 3D Sakamoto hopes to find a way to integrate 2D play with 3D perspective, and the perspective exploration of Galactic Warrior: another M provides experience for the future of the series.

In 2015, the Spanish studio "Mercury Vapor" (MercurySteam) submitted a new "Galactic Warrior" series to Nintendo from a first-person perspective on the platforms 3DS and Wii U, after which the Wii U scheme was cancelled, and the 3DS scheme was changed from a new work to a reproduction with the participation of Hakayong Sakamoto, from a first-person perspective to a third-person perspective.

Mercury Vapor suggested that the reproduction options were "Super Galactic Warrior" or "Galactic Warrior: fusion," and Sakamoto recommended them to reproduce the old GB version of "Galactic Warrior 2: Sam returns," because the second generation was the only special case in the series that Khayong Sakamoto was not involved in, and he hoped to make up for this regret.

Mercury Vapor previously released "Alcatraz: mirror of Destiny" for the 3DS platform. The game failed to achieve sales and word-of-mouth success because the process was too short, but the Spaniard's technical skills on 3DS attracted Sakamoto's attention, which is one of the reasons why he chose to work with Mercury Vapor.

The levels and scenes of the 3DS version of "Galactic Warrior 2: return of Sam" are still slightly monotonous. The 3DS version of "Galactic Warrior 2: return of Sam" released in 2017 has received mixed reviews. "Galactic Warrior: another M" 's exploration of perspective and combat system has been partially inherited on 3DS, but the controversy lies in the rough feel, level design and scene art of the game. The details are not even polished as "AM2R" ("Another Metroid 2 Remake"), a free human copy, let alone "Galactic Warrior: action Zero". For Mr Sakamoto, the 3DS version is essentially a running-in process, and this reproduction is only the cornerstone of an orthodox sequel.

As early as 2005, Sakamoto Khayong was already working on the orthodox work "Galactic Warriors: fear of Survival" in 3D pictures and 2D games. The original platform of the game was NDS, which ran aground due to lack of function. After that, the 3DS handset provided enough performance, but Sakamoto could not find a suitable outsourcing company for a while, until the release of the 3DS version of "Galactic Warrior: the return of Sam." Sakamoto knew about the mercury vapor studio, when Nintendo had entered the Switch era.

Galactic Warriors: fear of Survival, released in 2021, is a significant improvement over the 3DS version of Galactic Warriors: the return of Sam. This film continues the timeline of "Galactic Warrior: fusion" in the plot, and the pressure of the iconic enemy EMMI exceeds that of SA-X. Given that the EMMI has a larger patrol range and more complex movements, the functions required naturally surpass those of the GBA and NDS, which is why the work didn't arrive until 2021.

"Galactic Warriors: fear of Survival" in the patrolling state of EMMI entered 2022, "Galactic Warriors: fear of Survival" in the free update of a number of difficulty and challenge modes, the cumulative global sales have exceeded 2.9 million, becoming the "Galactic Warrior" series of the highest-selling works, Sakamoto Heyong is optimistic about the future of the series, the battle of Sams is not over.

Looking back on the track of the past 20 years, "Galactic Warrior: fusion" is the cornerstone of the series in the new century. Whether it is "Galactic Warrior: action Zero," which uses the same engine, or "Galactic Warrior: fear of Survival," which continues the plot and enemy design, these games bear the obvious brand of "Galactic Warrior: fusion".

Although the level design of "Galactic Warrior: fusion" has left a lot of regrets, as the first "Galactic Warrior" work of young players, the game has excellently achieved its development goals and opened a breakthrough for the revival of the series. so that Sams's adventure continues. Because of this, "Galactic Warrior: fusion", as a key work of the connecting link, has been missed by players to this day.

Galactic Warriors: fear of Survival some references for the plot Review of Galactic Warriors: fusion

Games: Sakamoto discusses Galactic Warrior 64, Galactic Warrior: fear of Survival and 3DS

CVG: an exclusive interview with Hiroshi Sakamoto, designer of the Galactic Warrior

Gamespy: the creator of Galactic Warriors on Galactic Warriors: zero Mission

NintendoOnlineMagazine: an exclusive interview with Sakamoto Heyong

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