History YMMV / MetroidZeroMission

* BestKnownForFanservice: Relatively downplayed. This game debuted Samus's Zero Suit, a blue full-body plugsuit. While it's tame in comparison to her other Power Suit-less attires in previous games, there are some [[MaleGaze certain shots]] of her wearing it. This proved to be quite popular for fans that it would go on to be one of her alternate outfits in future games and crossovers.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: This was the first game to debut [[SpyCatsuit the Zero Suit]] and [[spoiler:to feature Samus outside of her Power Suit during gameplay]]. While {{fanservice}} is nothing new in the ''Metroid'' series, it was the first time to have it outside of the bonus endings, which got much more controversial when ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' rolled around.

* HarsherInHindsight: [[http://media.tumblr.com/91f44318b45126781a6af76b0bf85a5d/tumblr_inline_mx95epDqug1r5618z.png This piece of concept art]] has the Zero Suit's designer specifically call for Samus to ''not'' get impractical high heels. [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM Later]] [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros designs]] have given her CombatStilettos anyway.

* MinimalistRun: Beating the game with no more than '''15%''' of items on both Normal and Hard rewards the player with bonus artwork of Samus. [[SelfImposedChallenge It's actually possible to beat the game]] with just '''''9%''''' (meaning you can only grab a single pack of missiles, the Ice Beam, Plasma Beam, Morph Ball and Bombs, Space Jump, Gravity Suit and Power Grip).

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Fans who didn't like ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' tend to look favorably at this game for bringing back a non-linear progression and leaving out the dialogues, as well as tweaking a few of the general mechanics from the prior game.

* EpilepticTrees: A recent theory going around is that when Samus destroyed the Space Pirate Mothership at the end of this game, she didn't create the Wrecked Ship[[note]]which itself used to be a popular theory, but WordOfGod jossed this as explained on the Trivia page[[/note]], but rather, she unearthed more of it, and instead created Maridia[[note]]Maridia is the only area in the ''Super Metroid'' not to appear in ''Zero Mission''; it's the only area in ''Super Metroid'' to feature a glass tube that can be broken with a Power Bomb, much like with a similar tube found in the area the Space Pirate Mothership is on, and when the player gets there, there's what looks exactly like a broken glass tube in one of the areas; additionally, a large amount of Maridia is purple, the color of the Space Pirate Mothership, the Space Pirates seem to be very familiar with the technology on the ship, and the presence of a large amount of sand and dirt, which a blast as shown in the ending would create for sure[[/note]].

** It's possible [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnfKCdKJz6I to escape Tourian the other way]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: [[http://media.tumblr.com/91f44318b45126781a6af76b0bf85a5d/tumblr_inline_mx95epDqug1r5618z.png This piece of concept art]] has the Zero Suit's designer specifically call for Samus to ''not'' get impractical high heels. [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM Later]] [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros designs]] have given her CombatStilettos anyway.

* GoddamnedBoss: The Charge Beam Beast will [[CowardlyBoss flee the scene if the fight goes on for too long]], meaning that if you didn't hit it in the eye three times, the boss could flee. Add in that the only reason to defeat it is to get the Charge Beam ([[AwesomeButImpractical which deals as much damage as one missile without wasting ammunition, but is also obtained after getting the first missiles and can't open missile doors]]) and some players will choose to skip it in order to save time.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Fans who didn't like ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' tend to look favorably this game for bringing back a non-linear progression and leaving out the dialogues, as well as tweaking a few of the general mechanics from the prior game.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Mecha Ridley is incredibly easy for a final boss, and can feel like an anti-climax for those unaware that getting 100% of all items triples his difficulty level.

** A few are mentioned in ArtificialStupidity on the main page.

** The Zero Suit segment. Samus is stuck in her Zero Suit [[spoiler: after being shot down by the Space Pirates]] and only has the [[EmergencyWeapon Emergency Pistol]] to use, which can only stun enemies when fully charged for an extremely short period of time. All of the enemies attacks deal one hundred damage, which means the amount of hits she can take is equal to the amount of E-Tanks she's collected. Sounds like a standard StealthBasedMission level... except for the fact that it's surprisingly easy to alert the Space Pirates to her presence even if you know what to do. On top of that, on your first playthrough, it's easy to accidentally box yourself in a corner while trying to figure out where to go, which can easily get you stun locked by a Space Pirate into oblivion. It's at least nullified a bit by the fact that the Save Points restore Samus' E-Tanks ([[AntiFrustrationFeature a fact that no other save points in the game does anywhere else]]) but still, you better prepare yourself for an annoying, easy to mess up level [[spoiler: until you get her Power Suit back]].

** The Zero Suit segment. Samus is stuck in her Zero Suit [[spoiler: after being shot down by the Space Pirates]] and only has the [[EmergencyWeapon Emergency Pistol]] to use, which can only stun enemies when fully charged for an extremely short period of time. All of the enemies attacks deal one hundred damage, which means the amount of hits she can take is directly proportional to the amount of E-Tanks she's collected. Sounds like a standard StealthBasedMission level... except for the fact that it's surprisingly easy to alert the Space Pirates to her presence even if you know what to do. On top of that, on your first playthrough, it's easy to accidentally box yourself in a corner while trying to figure out where to go, which can easily get you stun locked by a Space Pirate into oblivion. It's at least nullified a bit by the fact that the Save Points restore Samus' E-Tanks ([[AntiFrustrationFeature a fact that no other save points in the game does anywhere else]]) but still, you better prepare yourself for an annoying, easy to mess up level [[spoiler: until you get her Power Suit back]].