Editing Metroid (section)

=== 1986–1991: Conception and first game ===
[[File:NES Metroid.png|thumb|left|In ''[[Metroid (video game)|Metroid]]'' (the first game in the series), released in 1986  for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]], the player controls [[Samus Aran]] who fights alien monsters on the fictional planet Zebes.|alt=A video game screenshot. A person in a powered exoskeleton travels through a cave, while winged monsters hang from the ceiling.]]

The central figures in the production and development of the ''Metroid'' series are [[Satoru Okada]], who directed ''[[Metroid (video game)|Metroid]]'' and created the series; [[Yoshio Sakamoto]], who was a character designer for the first game and has directed or supervised most of the sequels; [[Gunpei Yokoi]], who headed the R&D1 division and produced the first two games; [[Makoto Kano (video game designer)|Makoto Kano]], who wrote the scenario for ''Metroid'', co-designed the second game, and produced the third; and [[Hiroji Kiyotake]], who designed characters for the original.<ref name="history" />

The original ''Metroid'', an [[action game]] for the [[Family Computer Disk System]], was developed by Nintendo's [[Nintendo Research & Development 1|Research & Development 1]] (R&D1) and released in Japan on August 6, 1986.<ref name="trailers" /> It was published for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] in August 1987 in North America and on January 15, 1988, in Europe.<ref name="metroidnes" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/metroid/related/platform/nes/ |title=Metroid Related Games |work=[[GameSpot]] |publisher=[[CBS Interactive Inc]] |access-date=2011-07-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103083417/http://www.gamespot.com/metroid/related/platform/nes/ |archive-date=2012-11-03}}</ref> It was directed by [[Satoru Okada]].<ref name="history" />

''Metroid'' was designed to be a shooting game that combined the platform jumping of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' with the non-linear exploration of ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' and a darker aesthetic. The name of the game is a [[portmanteau]] of the words "metro" (as in [[rapid transit]]) and android, and was meant to allude to the mainly underground setting of the first game as well as its robot-like protagonist.<ref>{{cite web|title=Game Center CX (Fuji TV show)|url=http://www.selectbutton.net/archive/topic/5865|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518090556/http://www.selectbutton.net/archive/topic/5865|archive-date=2015-05-18|access-date=2011-10-08|publisher=Selectbutton.net}}</ref> Halfway through development of the original ''Metroid'', one of the staff said to his fellow developers "Hey, wouldn't that be kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman?", and the idea was accepted.<ref name="history" /><ref>{{cite web|date=2004-01-30|title=Metroid: Zero Mission director roundtable|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/01/30/metroid-zero-mission-director-roundtable?page=3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416000042/http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/01/30/metroid-zero-mission-director-roundtable?page=3|archive-date=2013-04-16|access-date=2008-02-20|website=IGN}}</ref> [[Ridley Scott]]'s 1979 science-fiction horror film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' was described by Sakamoto as a "huge influence" after the world of the first ''Metroid'' had been created. In recognition of this, an antagonist was given the name [[Ridley (Metroid)|Ridley]], after the director. The development staff were also influenced by the work of the film's creature designer [[H. R. Giger]], finding his style to be fitting for the ''Metroid'' universe.<ref>{{cite journal|date=July 2009|title=The Making of Super Metroid|journal=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=[[Imagine Publishing Ltd.]]|issue=65|page=60}}</ref>