The video game Metroid is celebrating its 40th anniversary, having first launched in Japan in 1986. The game, which would later be released in North America and Europe, immersed players as a lone astronaut navigating a hostile alien planet filled with ancient structures.
Players explored a massive, interconnected maze, gaining new abilities to access different areas. The game concluded with the defeat of Mother Brain and a timed self-destruct sequence.
Upon escaping, the astronaut's suit disappeared, revealing the character, Samus Aran, to be a woman. This reveal, however, has been noted as presenting the character as a sex object, a trend that continued in gaming for decades.
Despite this, Samus Aran's character has been described as fearless, intelligent, and determined, working as a solitary bounty hunter. The instruction booklet for the game stated that Samus "is the greatest of all the space hunters and has successfully completed numerous missions that everybody thought were absolutely impossible."