Twinetroid

DidYouKnowGaming posted a video in 2021 with the provocative title “The Japan Only Metroid Game That Changed The Series,” (8½ minutes) and as is usually the case with clickbait titles like that, it’s leaving out important information: the game in question is a gamebook, not a video game at all. I don’t often like rewarding clickbait, although doing it to some extent is largely unavoidable now. Here is the video embedded, if you want to see it for yourself. The gamebook is called Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order, an example of gaming ephemera of the same stature as the Worlds of Power series of books. The video enthuses about how it foreshadowed elements that would appear in later games, although both the games and the book would have been inspired by the same pop cultural elements, the Alien movies, so it makes sense they would vibrate with a similar frequency. Illustration of our hero, Samus Aran, from Twinetroid, ultimately from the gamebook You can watch the video if you want to know…