With Metroid Dread arriving to much acclaim in October, and by Nintendo's own description bringing an end to the original saga of the series, plenty of eager fans have been poring over the lore and detail of the franchise. A recent video by "Critical Kate" Willært (above) gives a fascinating and detailed look at the potential influences and sources of inspiration for Metroid, in particular the earlier entries in the series.

Some are familiar references, such as the oft-repeated influence of Alien, but Willært dives far deeper and looks at media of varying kinds. There are fascinating potential ties between early work from the Stamper brothers (who founded Rareware) and design ideas in the original Metroid. We're shown potential visual ideas that influenced other games, that in turn may have provided a basis for Nintendo's ideas.

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Then there's the idea of Samus and her reveal as a woman, and the various designs of her character and outfits. Influences go far beyond video games of course, and the video shows a web of ideas crossing over between movies, comics and animations.

There are a lot of connections we'd never seen before, and it's fascinating how a breadth of ideas and influences can then merge together when the original Metroid was designed and conceived. Of course, it's common for projects to be inspired by others, it's very much a natural part of the process. Seeing those influences spelled out is utterly fascinating.

Definitely a video to watch in a cozy seat with a nice beverage.

[source youtube.com]