Metroid NES Unity Remaster

Controls

Movement: Arrow Keys
Jump: X Key
Shoot: Z Key
Change Weapon: Shift Key
Switch to Custom Map: 4 Key
Switch Back to Original Map: 5 Key

About:

This is a remaster of the first area in the original Metroid game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It also includes a custom level which features five new rooms and multiple mechanics centered around using a trampoline power-up

My Contributions:

Work was done in collaboration with Caleb Gifford.

I implemented every enemy in the game and handled most bugfixes for them. This was the majority of my work. I also implemented doors and room transitions, and created the logic behind our custom trampoline object

Beyond what was required in the project. I also headed up researching how enemy spawn mechanics and health and missile drop mechanics worked in the original game, even going as far as to read some of the original 6502 assembly code. Using the information I gathered, we were able to faithfully create a system where enemies are spawned and placed in one of six RAM slots specified by their spawn location. Each RAM slot can only hold a single enemy, so this creates an especially authentic experience where certain enemies will not spawn if others already have.

Technology/Tools Used:

This project created in Unity and coded in C#. This was our first major Unity project experience. We used Atlassian's Jira software for project management, and specifically made use of their burndown charts to guage how well we were avoiding burnout. We also used various other tools, such as GitHub for version control, Photoshop and Paint3D for spritesheet editing. I also delved into the world of online speedrunning and ROM hacking in order to research some of the original game's mechanics. Finally, the web build embedded in this site is hosted on Itch.io.

Research:

In completing this Metroid recreation, we an online NES emulator, a real NES at the Shapiro Library CVGA, and youtube videos of NES to get all features as authentic as possible. We also researched other NES games and compared them to Metroid to better understand the mechanics of Metroid and how to make compelling mechanics or our own.