The subject of this article is not named in-game.
The current title is from the game's internal data.
The Eye, closed.
Eye[1] is a security system featured only in Super Metroid. It appears in "old Brinstar", and is used to detect the presence of intruders, such as Samus Aran, and send an alert to the Space Pirates.
It appears in two of the first explored rooms in Brinstar, Corridor No. 1 and the "overhang corridor" with an Energy Tank as well as a new Missile Tank. The security cameras activate when Samus acquires the Morph Ball, which is right in front of the eye. This could suggest that the Morph Ball was stolen by Pirates from either Chozo ruins or Samus herself placed it back where it used to be, with the Pirates later having installed the eye to guard it. When it detects Samus, the eyeball opens and shines a harmless yellow beam on Samus, ringing and flashing until she leaves its sight.
In the "overhang corridor", it resides on the hanging structure that partly blocks Samus's progress. It will automatically shine its beam on Samus without her collecting a powerup first. Once the Space Pirates receive the alert that Samus has landed on Zebes, the two eyes will disappear for the rest of the game.
Trivia[]
- A similar device used by Mother Brain appears in the Metroid Manga, as a floating communications monitor.
- The Eye foreshadows the single eye and cone-like shape of Mother Brain's Laser Brain Attack during the final battle.
- A specific Chozo Statue, in the "Crateria Missile cache" will scan Samus in a similar way if she can manage to arrive in its room before setting off the alarm (such as by hacking or using the Spacetime Beam).[2]
- At the beginning of Shadow Complex, a security camera will shine a beam of red light onto the player when he or she first enters the compound, much like the Eye. As Shadow Complex is a Metroidvania-style game borrowing heavily from Super Metroid, it can be presumed that this was an homage.
- Similar technology was used in Chozodia in Metroid: Zero Mission: the floating-eye sensor.
- The presence of the Eye suggests that the Space Pirates at one point gained the Morph Ball. However, it is known that they abandoned all research involving the item at some point during the events in Metroid Prime, where they unsuccessfully attempted to replicate it and caused horrendous results in their test subjects. This would explain the Pirates having left the Morph Ball in Super Metroid.
- The sound of the Eye's beam is the same as the X-Ray Scope.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ As named in the debug code of Super Metroid
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jo3xGTKN-8