Menu Hack

Menu Hack
Release date: Dec 07, 2007	Author: Trunaur68	Download: Version 1.0 (1114 downloads)
Genre: Improvement [?] Game:	Difficulty: Unknown [?]	Average runtime: 16:32 Average collection: 41%
Read Me: Read Me	Forum Thread: [None]	Rating:

Description

A hack for MZM which enables the debug function that allows you to toggle equipment on and off. Additionally, it will also allow you to toggle suits on and off(something the debug function didn’t do) as well as a color fix for the fully powered suit for when you toggle the gravity suit off.

Screenshots

Ratings and Reviews

By MetroidNerd#9001 on Aug 17, 2019 (

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No completion stats.

This is how ZM's menu should have worked in the actual game. Not overly useful, but it's nice to have. At it's best when it's an addition to another hack.

By Sapphron on Nov 17, 2019 (

)

No completion stats.

This is a great idea and echoing what MetroidNerd said, how it really should've worked in original ZM.
Did not finish/start.
Recommend? If you're thinking of patches to put in your ZM hack this should be one of them.

By kkzero on Feb 27, 2020 (

)

No completion stats.

Literally in MAGE. But yeah it's really useful.

By alexman25 on Nov 06, 2024 (

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41% in 16:32

I am nearly at a loss for words.

Trunaur68's "Menu Hack" for Metroid: Zero Mission restores the unused item-toggling feature within the game, carried over from Super Metroid. This is a big deal. A huge deal, even. The hugest deal there ever was.

Item toggling is core to the Metroid experience. Within the cult masterpiece, Super Metroid, released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the ability to, get this, DEACTIVATE items which you have already collected has to be the single most important addition which that game has added to the Metroid formula, before or since. No longer was Samus restricted to have to shoot enemies an extra time thanks to the Ice Beam. No longer did the Screw Attack interfere with Ice Beam platforming. But, that's not why it's so good.

Everyone knows that Super Metroid made certain... Unsavory additions to the series. It added some of the worst upgrades. Speed Booster, a mechanic that sets the player avatar into such quick motion that they cannot possibly platform properly in a PLATFORMER. The Gravity Suit, which makes the entire water area in the game nearly pointless, as the water has no effect on Samus' movement. The Charge Beam, which serves to completely remove the utility of missiles in late-game combat. You heard me right: Your main collectable throughout the game is made entirely irrelevant by an item you pick up within the first half-hour.

But, Nintendo R&D1 knew what they were doing. These game-design geniuses remembered what made Metroid so great. The freedom to go where you want and do what you want. To break the rules and forge your own. Sequence-breaking is a commonly cited example; the developers trust the player's intelligence enough to allow them to make the decision to access areas before they are intended to. Thusly, these LEGENDS of the industry extended that same trust to the player's own arsenal. They provided the player with the ability to actively turn off these useless gimmick items, because they knew they were bad inclusions. Likely mandates from the higher-ups.

"Sonic is fast, so make Samus fast enough to compete!" "The Super Nintendo uses purple branding, so make Samus purple!" "Mega Man can charge his arm cannon, let Samus do it too!" It all reeks of corporate meddling. Yet, Nintendo R&D1 and Intelligence System are artists for the people. They stand up for the little guy. They knew that the influence of their brutally authoritarian company was compromising the integrity of their art, and they did not let it happen laying down. No; Just as Samus would learn to do later in the phenomenal sequel for the GameBoy Advance known as Metroid Fusion, the developers stood up to their commanding officers and did what they knew was right. Yoshio Sakamoto is a classical example of the true American hero. A myth, an idea, given human form. Yoshi Soccermario rises up to oppression and fights for justice like any self-respecting human should. He was cruelly taken from us in the year of the cosmos 2021. May his soul rest in peace.

Yet, Super Metroid made a fundamental flaw in its inclusion of the item deactivation mechanic. The HUD items cannot be deactivated. That's right, dear reader; your eyes aren't deceiving you. No matter what you do, they will never leave your HUD. Forever will each new item in your arsenal force you to mash select yet another time. Oh, how the torture never ends! The Y Cancel feature is a bandaid solution to this, but there is no good replacement for a simple missile toggle.

It gets worse still. If you happen to have power bombs selected, and for some god-unforsaken reason have Charge Beam and one other beam activated (what's the matter with you?) then Samus will perform Satanic magic to summon overpowered homosexual laser attacks. These bedeviled projectiles will wave around your screen in eccentric and seductive patterns, attempting to groom your children into joining their ranks, and providing Samus with yet more unnecessary, overpowered abilities. This, bizarrely, was not even censored in the North-American release.

It gets worse. If you navigate to select the Power Bombs in the HUD, proceed to activate Morph Ball, then press down on the d-pad whilst simultaneously holding L, R, and the shooting button, Samus will strip nude in front of the player and begin to restore her health. Nintendo does not even try to hide the sexual nature of this bizarre addition, as it is referred to as the Crystal Flash. That's right: Samus is, in fact, flashing the player. They said it themselves. My heart cannot take this. Samus, in a children's video game, is not only using gay satan magic, but stripping and being rewarded for doing so. I do not understand what sort of message Nintendo was trying to spread, but this is not a good look. They somehow managed to ruin what should have been the best feature in the game. Surely, Miyamoto was rolling in his grave. Women should not have bodies.

Trunaur68's Menu Hack patch for Metroid: Zero Mission is the best ROM hack to ever exist. It restores the greatest feature ever to be included in Metroid. Once more can Samus know the unrestrained freedom brought on by the ability to deactivate her items. The developers likely removed this feature from the final release due to some minor beam graphical errors that can occur by toggling them off while one is on screen. Yet, it is a small price to pay for salvation.

No longer is Samus forced to interact with disgusting mechanics, like the Speed Booster, or even the new Power Grip. Samus can once more enjoy the brilliant simplicity of her NEStroid days with this patch. But, it gets better. Not only can Samus now deactivate her Power Bombs, as well! Granted, regular Bomb must be deactivated as well, but we will take what we can get.

Not only this, but due to changes in the weapon-arming System, Super Missiles can be ignored entirely! Even if you cannot deactivate them, you can still simply never select them and still be able to arm missiles with one button. As well, there are no abhorrent secret devil techniques which Samus can perform this time around, meaning that this is a perfectly safe video game for your children to play. Truly, it is a devastating loss that we were so close to greatness, that this revolutionary game design addition was banished to be forgotten to history.

Nintendo learned from their mistake, however! They knew how much of an utterly stupid move this was to remove. Believe it or not, they actually went on to make an ENTIRE GAME about disabling items, known as Metroid: Other M for the Nintendo Wii. Metroid is already renowned for justifying its game mechanics within the lore, and this is yet another brilliant example. They wrote a whole story about one single game mechanic that they felt wasn't given the love which they deserve.

What could have been a tragedy has had a happy ending. Not only was the mechanic restored by the legendary Trunaur68, but Nintendo gave it the biggest honor they could by giving it its very own video game.

Toot toot, space warriors. Six orbs well earned.

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