Super Metroid - "The Pretender"

*---EXPLANATION OF LYRICS---*

Obviously, this video will not interpret the lyrics in their traditional sense, but rather in a "Metroidic" sense.

"Keep you in the dark"
When you first enter the room, the place is completely black, and all you can see are blocks for the walls and single a platform.

"You know they all pretend"
Just keep with 'pretend' being a word with a very negative connotation, and you'll get the idea.

"And so it all began"
The fight begins at this point. Pretty simple.

"Send in your skeletons
Sing as their bones come marching in, again"
Samus speaks of how Ridley's easily killed thousands before (including everyone in Samus' home colony and her parents), and he's very boastful of this fact in every encounter he has with soon to be victims.

"They need you buried deep"
Retribution for those that died at his hand is well in order.

"The secrets that you keep
Are ever ready"
There's been mass genocides no one knows about, but Samus and the Galactic Federation are well aware of this fact.

"Are you ready?"
Samus is about to take it to him.

"I'm finished making sense
Done pleading ignorance
That whole defense"
She's done figuring out just why Ridley is what he is inside.

"Spinning infinity, boy
The wheel it's spinning me
It's never ending, never ending
Same old story"
The ghosts of Samus' past and her horrible memories stay with her, and she constantly relives them.

"What if I say
I'm not like the others?
What if I say
I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?"
Samus isn't a normal victim. She can't be killed nearly as easily as a normal human. With her experiences, she won't rest until Ridley does, permanently.

"In time or so I'm told
I'm just another soul for sale
Oh, well"
Samus is just another person, just with heightened abilities.

"The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We're temporary, temporary
Same old story"
They're not a big deal in the vast timeline of humanity and alien existence, but their importance is immense here and now, as there will never be others exactly like them, though similar cycles will occur.

"I'm the voice inside your head
You refuse to hear
I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrorin' your stare"
Ridley avoids Samus when necessary. She is a threat to him and his life, and they both know it.

"I'm what's left
I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that'll take you down,
Bring you to your knees"
Samus is always, always there to foil whatever plans for taking over the galaxy Ridley may have, and she succeeds every time. Getting rid of him for good is the next and final step.

"So who are you?
Yeah who are you?
Yeah who are you?"
Basically, it's like she's asking Ridley who he is besides a pest and menace to civilization. If he never wins, then his ultimate goals are never met, and his efforts are all in vain from his own point of view.
The second time this part is sung, it's the same thing, but his death confirms her accusations and statement.



*---PRODUCTION DETAILS (real description)---*

This video's taken me about a week to make. I thought of the concept when I heard the song for the first time, then felt like playing the game while listening to it. It was extremely catchy, so I stuck it on loop, and I was already thinking of making a video anyway. When Ridley popped up on the screen in Ceres and I related the "keep you in the dark" line to how he's hidden in the black background at first, I knew what I wanted to do (just later on when I had more power-ups).

I knew I wanted to do something with a bit of timing, and I knew the X-Ray scope could reveal Ridley's silhouette at that point, so I decided to use it for the subtle intro. The pause in scoping for the eye's appearance was just way to convenient to not take advantage of. :D From that point in the fight on, I just went with what felt right with the lyrics as well as up the anti periodically. I will say I restarted at least 15 times for the "keep you in the dark" line toward the end because I'm not too good at manipulating Ridley's AI script to get where I need him to be. I eventually decided that even his body being partially onscreen would be good enough for me, but I got the whole enchilada with this take, and his damage to me right afterward played perfectly on beat with the music. WIN.

A really big problem with this was that Ridley kept on dying too quickly, and there's not too much to do in the room to take up the rest of the song. Going with a flashy fight both slowed the progress of his death and made it more entertaining overall (I hope, leave a comment telling me).

That's about it. I do believe this has been the longest video description ever, but oh well. I hope you enjoyed the final product!

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• super
• metroid
• ridley
• battle
• music
• amv
• foo
• fighters
• pretender
• nintendo
• video game

[jduncanm116]

Nice vid! Not many appreciate metroid as much as it should be.