Next month marks the glorious return of Samus Aran and the Metroid franchise with Metroid: Samus Returns, a full fledged remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus for the Nintendo 3DS. The game looks great, and there is a lot of excitement and hype for it- but it has been marred somewhat due to a controversy the game finds itself embroiled in.
You see, Nintendo has locked a hard mode in the game behind Amiibo- which means that to unlock it, you need to pay $15 for a figure (itself a crapshoot, given how rare Amiibo figures are on the market). For a series that has always been about empowering and rewarding player skill, this seems especially egregious.
However, USGamer reports that a Nintendo executive has clarified this functionality to them somewhat- apparently, a Hard Mode will be available in the game without the need for Amiibo, and it can be unlocked by completing the game once. A harder Fusion Mode, which also lets you play through the game with Samus in her Fusion Suit, is locked behind the Amiibo- and it will not be available in any other way.
While it’s good to see that a Hard Mode will be available for players without the need to spend any more money, locking another Harder Mode still behind a $15 paywall is just bad form for Nintendo here. They are supposed to be better than this. Metroid: Samus Returns launches exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS on September 15.
