With the release of Metroid: Samus Returns, the nostalgia of the heyday of 2D games - and the first three Metroid Games - is hard to resist. While Metroid II is a fine game to remake, most gamers of that era cut their teeth on the first Metroid game, which for the time was a huge, nearly endless adventure, compared to most games of that time.

Released alongside The Legend of Zelda and Kid Icarus, Metroid balanced its large stages with a password system so that you could come back another time and continue where you left off. Over time, a number of passwords were made available through Nintendo Power that really helped you out. Most of the passwords were random number and letter combinations, nearly impossible to remember offhand. One password though was easy to remember, gave you pretty much everything and set you near the end of the game as well. That password was JUSTIN BAILEY.

I can’t tell you how much more enjoyable Metroid became after this code was discovered. The game starts off with many quick deaths, but with full power and having the game fully open, it was great! There was also the fun of just breaking the rules as well as learning that passwords could be manipulated to get different results.

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But who was Justin Bailey? Why was someone's name a password? Rumours were all over the place way back when and over the years, all kinds of people across the Internet have been able to solve many of the puzzles Justin Bailey gave us. How has Justin Bailey affected gaming since its discovery? Does a real life Justin Bailey exist? I have found at least two Justins! For the full story check out the video below.

When did you learn about Justin Bailey? Leave a comment and share your story.

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