How Did Metroid’s Samus Aran Become A Female Character?

Samus Aran is one of gaming’s iconic female characters. She wasn’t always a female, though. Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto explains:

“When we were almost done with the development of Metroid, one of our staffers casually suggested, ‘Why don’t we make Samus Aran a female character to surprise the player?’ Back then I thought it was a nice idea, but I couldn’t foresee what a huge impact this would have on the future of the franchise.”

And what an impact it has had! When I was eight or nine years old, I remember being totally floored by the game’s big reveal. In an age when games had players save princesses, Metroid stood out.

Sakamoto and co distilled the flick Alien into a groundbreaking video game.

The Origins of Metroid [IGN via Tiny Cartridge][Pic]