Samus getting Zero Mission suits in Smash Bros.

The Metroid heroine dons a revealing outfit that pays homage to Zero Mission, but some fans cry foul over skimpy get-up.

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The Super Smash Bros. Miiverse page has provided its latest update, and it's quite an eye-opener if you're a fan of the legendary heroine Samus Aran, from the Metroid series. 

The character will be getting two new outfits for the game. Both are featured in the screenshots below, and, as you can see, they'll be available in both the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game. As revealing as the outfits might be, they're actually quite loyal to the series, as they made an appearance in the previous Metroid game Zero Mission.

The posting of the pics has drummed up a lot of attention over on the Miiverse page, as over 900 commenters and rising have talked about Samus' new suits. A lot of gamers approved, but there are a few who are less than thrilled about the additions.

"This might be to much for m dad letting me get the game!" said one poster. Notably, previous Smash Bros games have been rated E or T, based on the level of violence.

"...are you kidding?! just... augh! seriously?!" said a user named Clyde.

"What the heck, Nintendo. Stop turning Samus into a feminists' worst nightmare," said "Pappy", another user.

What do you think? Is Nintendo going too far, or simply paying fan service?

Super Smash Bros. will release on October 3rd for 3DS, and later this year for Wii U.

Robert Workman was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 19, 2014 8:00 PM

    Robert Workman posted a new article, Samus getting skimpy short suits in Smash Bros..

    Want to see a different side of the Metroid heroine? Here you go!

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:15 PM

      :(

      Look I'm okay with Samus in a bikini, but these skins are pretty dumb.

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:15 PM

      This is newsworthy?

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:17 PM

      This is stupid

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:18 PM

      Dammit Nintendo, first Other M and now this. You had a really good female video game character. Stop ruining it.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 10:23 AM

        A billion times this. Samus was unique for being attractive without resorting to skimpy clothes and deferring to her "clearly superior" male counterparts all the time. In two games Nintendo has destroyed all of that.

        Other M didn't happen. Zero Mission happened... in 2004 on the GBA, WITHOUT ANY BIKINIS INVOLVED.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 11:34 AM

          These are actually based off end scenes from fusion and zero mission. Also she has appeared in a small top and bottom since the first game. My only real issue is that, in the games, these were specifically considered leisure-wear and as such shouldn't be in smash as a fighting costume.

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            August 20, 2014 11:39 AM

            Yes, right, sorry should have mentioned that explicitly. I don't really count out-of-character stuff or ending "reward" shots, since that's technically been in since the very first game (her reveal as a woman did involve her in an 8-bit bikini). It's more that the bikini was now part of the main game

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:20 PM

      this doesnt even look like samus

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:20 PM

      Oh for gods sakes!

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:22 PM

      oh man that feminist gaming lady is going to lose her shit!

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:28 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      August 19, 2014 8:43 PM

      Camn down, you prudes. These are from the GBA game endings. http://www.gamexplain.com/ckfinder/userfiles/images/metroidread4.png

      • reply
        August 19, 2014 10:22 PM

        It's canon so it's OK!

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        August 20, 2014 10:31 AM

        It was done in the NES game originally, but the idea of using a picture of a sexy lady as a reward for beating the game is still a bit crass.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 11:24 AM

        It's still dumb.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 9:19 AM

      I see more risque outfits at the gym.

      this is harmless.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 9:26 AM

      It's sad when there is more skin in a nintendo game than on chatty.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 9:35 AM

      WTF?

      This isn't upsetting because there's a nearly naked chick in a video game.

      It's upsetting because Samus went from a a badass bitch in a metal suit who just happened to be a girl, to a sexy girl who sometimes puts on a metal suit to kill things. It just feels like Samus deserves to not be sexualized. Her character is the suit. Keep her in it.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 10:03 AM

        Yes, this exactly. It's not that there is anything particularly wrong with the suits, it's that Samus was probably the oldest non-sexualized female character in video games, so seeing her sexualized is kind of a big deal.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 10:20 AM

          [deleted]

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 11:41 AM

          Annoying? Yeah. A big deal? eyehhhrrrrr no comment :x

          If they would just release a proper fucking Metroid game, I will look past this crap.

          • reply
            August 20, 2014 11:57 AM

            A lot of people tend to think a negative trend RE: gender portrayal in the media isn't that big a deal.

            They tend to be straight white males.

            • reply
              August 20, 2014 12:27 PM

              I guess I don't see Nintendo's dumbass decisions on how they use their IP to be indicative of a larger trend in "gender portrayal in the media". If anything Nintendo usually does the opposite of what everyone else does.

              • reply
                August 20, 2014 12:39 PM

                Maybe you're just confused about what a trend in media is, then?

                • reply
                  August 20, 2014 12:46 PM

                  I think there are more strong/complex female characters in video games than at any time in the industry's short history.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 12:42 PM

          Yeah, the strength of Samus as a character isn't that she is *defined* by her femininity, but her bad-assedness.

          This is putting her into sexy cheesecake territory.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 10:05 AM

        Would you say she was a "Full Metal Bitch?"

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 11:31 AM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 11:36 AM

          That's some seriously low quality bait there.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 9:39 AM

      Japan!

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 9:48 AM

      Please anyone upset over this is a nerd. Lets keep it real.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 9:56 AM

      People act like they have never walked downtown on a hot summer day. OH MY GOD A GRIL WITH LOW CUT CLOTHES?!!!@!!!

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 10:05 AM

        It's not about the outfit. The outfits are fine. It's about the slow degradation of a strong female character. There are plenty of sexy girls in games, we don't need another one. There are very very few powerful non-sexual female characters in games and we don't want to loose one of the great ones.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 10:09 AM

          Or maybe, it was always about the outfit. The original one

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 10:31 AM

          have you never played the games? most the games would reward you with a shot of her wearing something like this.

          even the first game let you play the whole game suitless after beating it.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 10:33 AM

          You act like they never showed her in skimpy outfits before this. EVERY Metroid game had an out similar or worse to this. http://www.metroid-database.com/features/2d_endings.jpg (left to right, Metroid, Metroid 2, Super Metroid, Metroid Zero Mission (aka where this one came from)

          Only differences in the Smash Bros costume and the endings one is that you had to either work to see it or see them in the tips and tricks sections of magazines or guides back in the day (or today via the internet).

          • reply
            August 20, 2014 10:36 AM

            The blue one is actually in Fusion. The orange is zero mission, which isn't displayed in the picture you linked.

            • reply
              August 20, 2014 8:07 PM

              Ah my mistake. But still, the point is valid.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 10:37 AM

        Shacknews: Where a woman can't possibly be strong AND sexy. Mutually exclusive stuff.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 12:46 PM

          To be fair, the subject is video games and you know it's always been a problem. The female character is always in some sort of low cut, skimpy "armor", while the comparable male looks like a fucking tank. I'm not trying to go into this argument, just pointing out the very long history of the issue.

          It's very rare that it's about being practical instead of sex appeal. I could buy that Samus is wearing this outfit under her Varia suit. It gets hot, I'm sure. But to wear it while just fighting? Stupid. Hell, Samus in anything other than a Varia-like suit is stupid. It's not Samus. Do they do this for Link? Beyond maybe a different color tunic, he's always in the same-looking iconic tunic with the Hylian shield because he's Link (though they could do Link prior to getting the green tunic, but I don't think they've ever done that).

          • reply
            August 21, 2014 10:34 PM

            Man, I would totally support Nintendo putting Link in a sexy outfit. Let's get some equal opportunity hotness up in here.

            Honestly, I think making the guys more sexualized is just as good of a solution to gaming's gender problem as making the girls less sexualized. But that's just me. I know we can't actually do that because a bunch of straight male geeks would throw a fit. Just look at the backlash at BioWare.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 9:58 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 10:24 AM

      "paying fan service" lol as if the fans haven't done this a billion times already. Leave it to the creepy fan "artists", Nintendo.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 10:30 AM

      The bikini appearing once before in a remake of a remake (seriously) doesn't make it "loyal to the series". All it means is Nintendo is going through a concerted effort to slut up Samus.

      Look, I could give a crap about a stupid outfit by itself, but the direction Samus took starting in Other M has been freakin' awful. Stop trying to feminize Samus and bring back badass hulking destroyer Samus. She was raised by a race of wise bird-like warrior aliens; I doubt her upbringing involved much focus on girly clothes and looking hot.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 10:36 AM

      Eh at least it is paying homage to the old GBA stuff. But really it serves no purpose other than fan service and adds nothing of value to the game. I still think the real problem with the Zero Suit Samus in the new Smash are the industrialized stripper heels they gave her.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 11:03 AM

      For some reason I had always thought I heard that Samus' suit was fused to her somehow, like something about the nature of the suit just became part of her body (sort of like a cyborg)

      Was this ever the case and if so why did they abandon it? As far back as MP2 we've seen shots of her outside the suit.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 11:25 AM

        Originally, her Zero Suit was part of the whole interface, meant to aid in her controlling the Varia suit proper. The weird pink pattern on her back is actually where the Varia suit connects to her nervous system, or something like that. It wasn't fused with her though as far as I know.

        She did wind up fused with her suit in the appropriately named Fusion, though. Short version: she was attacked by a parasite whose only natural predator was Metroids, they had to inject her with a Metroid-based vaccine to save her, and in the process of all that almost dying the organic components of her suit wound up fused with her more or less. Oh, and she got the Metroid weakness to cold.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 11:38 AM

          ^This, also, by canon, Fusion is the furthest in the future of all Metroid games.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 1:30 PM

        Nintendo Power actually ran a Super Metroid comic way, way back for a number of issues. They show her in and out of the suit and go over her back story, not really sure how canon it is.

        http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11111/111119281/3106762-4053678321-npcom.jpg

        http://www.metroid-database.com/manga/listing.php?vid=1

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 11:04 AM

      SJWnews.com

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 11:30 AM

      So she's Cammy?

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 11:38 AM

      Well fuck. Samus is a Space Marine, not some Lara Croft boob babe. Stop ruining her Nintendo!

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 11:41 AM

        en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samus_Aran#mediaviewer/File:Samus_at_the_end_of_Metroid.png

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 11:39 AM

      Nintendo failed to establish context

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 11:40 AM

      It's actually existed through all the games:
      http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Justin_Bailey

      Never as a "primary" costume though, I would expect it more as an easter egg.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 12:15 PM

      Boob zoom type stuff, this.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 12:31 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 12:34 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 12:39 PM

        That was a single-frame ending you could get if you met some rather difficult requirements in beating the game. This is an outfit you can unlock for the ENTIRE game. One is an after-events "what the character does on their day off" shot. The other is tarting her up for the duration of gameplay.

        • reply
          August 20, 2014 1:17 PM

          you must never have been aware of the justin bailey code...

          you could play as 'leotard' samus all you wanted.

      • reply
        August 20, 2014 12:47 PM

        Yeah, and that stuff was a little silly. But it was a small thing that you saw AFTER you played the whole game. In Metroid Prime, the biggest clue of your gender was the reflection of your face in your own helmet when explosions happened.

        Releasing marketing screenshots where she's just another generic blonde bombshell is a different sort of thing entirely.

    • reply
      August 20, 2014 4:10 PM

      That looks like her outfit from Super Metroid when she dies:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6h8Nkx7cqg

      And I agree with everyone else...this just seems dumb to do with the character...unless they also include Mario in just his briefs and Luigi with only afoil dick wrapper and a death stare on, I'm against this (actually, I want THAT Smash Bros.)

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