Support NeoGAF

[ElectricBlanketFire]

I was 4. Metroid was literally the first game I ever played (around 1987 or so). So I was obviously too young to understand the significance of it all.

What about you? Were you surprised? Did you think it was cool? Did you not care?

Go!

 

[Nickle]

Neat

 

[MCN]

"Huh. Cool".

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Pretty sure it was through Smash Bros since I played that before Metroid. I basically just went, "huh, cool" and that was it.

 

[Kalopsia]

I got into Metroid around Prime 2/Zero Mission so it was public knowledge at that point. Completely baffled that it was ever a shocking reveal at all.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

"Oh, ok."

First encounter with the character was in Super Smash Bros.

 

[dcx4610]

I grew up with women acting tough in movies like Aliens and Terminator so I had no problem with it. I just thought it was neat.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

"Woah! Women can be badass?"

Spoiler

I didn't care

 

[Neiteio]

I immediately wrote an angry letter to GAF Magazine, complaining about Nintendo caving to the demands of those goshdarn SoCal Jujitsu Warios.

 

[Radogol]

Sheer unadulterated terror!

Spoiler

/s

 

[10k]

"No way! That's cool. She's bad ass."

 

[Vanillalite]

Idk just was a thing.

I think I was too young to really understand or give a shit?

 

[wild wild rice]

My 6 year old self saw right through Nintendo's transparent attempt to shoehorn a woman into my video game.

 

[Plum]

Wait? Metroid is a girl?

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

No reaction.

 

[KingBroly]

I don't think I cared that much.

First time I learned about it was the Super Metroid comics in Nintendo Power, which made me want to play the game.

 

[Menitta]

"Wait, why is samus in this Melee event?"

"She's a girl"

"Ooooh"

 

[JediLink]

You're pretty much only addressing people over 30 years old here. It was only a twist in the very first game and they've made no effort to hide her gender ever since.

 

[Regiruler]

I didn't have a reaction. It was really just a fact. I was born in 96, by the point I was playing games the fact that she was a woman was well established.

 

[paperspace]

¯\_(&#12484_/¯

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I played Super Metroid first I think, so I probably knew already.

 

[Pinko Marx]

Idk just was a thing.

I think I was too young to really understand or give a shit?

Same. I don't think I had a reaction.

 

[n0razi]

I think I was like 11 or something so "OMG BOOBS!"

 

[E_Darkness]

"I'm not a robot?"

 

[Fermbiz]

I threw the game away in disappointment.

All jokes aside, I never beat it when I was a kid so I guess I found out later on through a magazine. I didn't have any reactions.

But that being said, I beat Metroid recently for the first time with no guides or cheats. Amazing game!

 

[Savitar]

When I was a young little boy and played the game but never beaten it I had found out the truth and you know what? There was nothing. Man, woman. What difference did it make to me? The character I controlled was able to explore and destroy creatures, that's what made me happy. Gender played no importance to me.

 

[PsihoPerihelion]

"Holy shit. Awesome!"

I love female heroines done right. Can't complain about Samus.

 

[kunonabi]

I honestly don't know what my reaction was. It was one of those things you just knew.

I always liked female protagonists, characters, writers, etc. growing up so I don't imagine I really would have had a reaction one way or the other.

 

[kiuo]

Didn't even know until brawl came out. But my reaction "Dats hot!"

 

[Phediuk]

I don't remember having any kind of reaction to it at all.

Must everything be embellished into an "OMG MIND BLOOOOOWN" moment?

 

[Jobbs]

I heard it as a rumor -- literally on the playground. I was probably 6 or 7. I remember someone saying that the character is a girl, and if you beat the game (beating games wasn't a foregone conclusion in those days) you could see her take the helmet off.

I was like "nuh-uh!"

The game had already been out a while at that point, but the internet was very primitive and saturation of information about every secret and every game ending just wasn't a thing. Rumors about things you could do or find in games were a thing. Gaming magazines actually had useful information. It was a different time.

 

[Netherscourge]

I thought it was just different endings.

Never occurred to me Samus was female the entire time.

 

[Übermatik]

I don't know why but I kinda assumed so anyway. I think the first time I found out was when Samus' face is reflected on the inside of her visor with flashes of light.
It didn't surprise or shock me in any way at all, really. I grew up in a fairly progressive household and had a variety of female idols whilst growing up.

 

[KZXcellent]

oh

 

[Mattakuevan]

I only started paying attention to metroid around the time of Prime's release, so it was already well known.

 

[ModBot]

I wondered why Metroid let his girlfriend borrow his robot.

 

[gogojira]

I seriously thought it was a dude in a bikini with long hair. It really tripped my very young mind out.