Is Metroid the longest running* storyline in games right now?

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 27, 2020

Also, with the announcement of the new port of Mr. Driller for the Switch, that series now stretches all the way back to Dig Dug. Mr. Driller is the son of Dig Dug's main character, Taizo Hori. Taizo Hori shows up in the Mr Driller games as a reoccuring character.

That series stretches back to 1982.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 27, 2020

Flicky is a major reoccurring character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and he goes back to 1984 with his debut game, Flicky. To be fair, though, flickies are more of a side plot thing in Sonic games and aren't present in many of them.

Asbsand · Mar 27, 2020

It's not much of a "storyline". It doesn't have an arc at all.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 27, 2020

The Space Harrier series has a very long running, on-going story line that spans both the space harrier games and the fantasy zone games. The games actually feature quite a bit of story. It was just a few years ago that the west got the latest chapter in the story in the form of Fantasy Zone II W. The twist ending of the bad story was actually pretty shocking:

Opa Opa goes crazy, like his dad did, and Space Harrier has to kill him

Space Harrier pre-dates Metroid by a year.

Madao · Mar 27, 2020

L Thammy said:
I don't think it's the sort of story that's designed to have a resolution. Samus has already defeated her main rival several times, she's eradicated the namesake of the series, but it keeps going.

she still has to bring down the federation. they have been shown to be just as bad as space pirates and have cloned Metroids in secret twice. they could easily keep doing that and restarting Metroid chaos unless Samus stops them completely. that'd be the final game because once the feds are gone, it is truly the end. plus, resolving some of the Samus Returns additions.

(i just think Nintendo's longest running continuous canon story deserves an actual end and not left unfinished before the people in charge retire)

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 27, 2020

Wonder Boy pre-dates metroid by four months, and every single game in that series is part of a single story. The latest game from the middle of last year, Monster Boy, heavily advances the overall story. Even today, 34 years later, they still heavily reference story elements of the very first Wonder Boy game. It's all one long story.

Stay Up Be Easy · Mar 27, 2020

Asbsand said:
It's not much of a "storyline". It doesn't have an arc at all.

Samus is a fugitive now and the Federation looks pretty shady. It's not plot heavy but there is a story.

Krejlooc said:
Wonder Boy pre-dates metroid by four months, and every single game in that series is part of a single story. The latest game from the middle of last year, Monster Boy, heavily advances the overall story. Even today, 34 years later, they still heavily reference story elements of the very first Wonder Boy game. It's all one long story.

I picked Wonderboy, along with Monster Boy and Owlboy, at Best Buy last year. Another on the pile to work through when my new place comes online.

Bradbury said:
this is the second thread about Metroid 5, did I miss something?

Just recently watched some Super/Fusion blind plays*. Reminded that the games go out of their way to call themselves 3 and 4. Even though that's not what they are on the box.

I'm stuck in this house bored out of my mind.. My contractors for my renovation called off, can't get supplies. And I don't want to call my dad to help me do other stuff. He's over 70. I need this virus shit to be over.

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 27, 2020

Stay Up Be Easy said:
I picked Wonderboy, along with Monster Boy and Owlboy, at Best Buy last year. Another on the pile to work through when my new place comes online.

Summation of the entire series and the long running plot: https://www.resetera.com/threads/wonder-boy-what-is-the-secret-of-your-power.86011/

Every single game in the series is connected by plot. I guess if you don't count things like Pac-man because of spin offs that disconnect the plot, or Mr Driller and Space Harrier because some of their plot takes place in sister series, then Wonder Boy likely is the one with the longest, continuously running story for a single series.

skeezx · Mar 27, 2020

pending on if they ever make another game, ultima and (a direct sequel of) wizardry would probably take up the mantle

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 27, 2020

skeezx said:
pending on if they ever make another game, ultima and (a direct sequel of) wizardry would probably take up the mantle

I had considered ultima as well, but that series has been dormant for so long :(

Nuclear Muffin · Mar 28, 2020

Krejlooc said:
Summation of the entire series and the long running plot: https://www.resetera.com/threads/wonder-boy-what-is-the-secret-of-your-power.86011/

Every single game in the series is connected by plot. I guess if you don't count things like Pac-man because of spin offs that disconnect the plot, or Mr Driller and Space Harrier because some of their plot takes place in sister series, then Wonder Boy likely is the one with the longest, continuously running story for a single series.

Bit arguable over what counts as the mainline Wonder Boy series though; considering the multiple branches that spread out during its lifetime.

Metroid however, has one consistent plot timeline. It's the only example I can think of that does have a definitive, single timeline from start to finish (and is still ongoing), that is as old as it is.

SPRidley · Mar 28, 2020

Longest running for nintendo with an actual canon, it is undoutly.

I also dont want a reboot of it, is original in nintendos catalogue and even if its not a popular sentiment i actually give a damn about metroid's story.

Also a reboot is not gonna happen, are people missing the metroid samus returns secret ending or what?

Deleted member 12790 · Mar 28, 2020

Nuclear Muffin said:
Bit arguable over what counts as the mainline Wonder Boy series though; considering the multiple branches that spread out during its lifetime.

The wonder boy game is a single linear series of games, it doesn't branch. The western name of the series is confusing, but it's a really linear, easy to follow series in japan, and every game directly references the game that came before it.

Deleted member 5359 · Mar 28, 2020

Wait until Miyamoto pulls back the curtain on the dark and gritty story arc that's been hidden in every Mario game since the beginning, including Domkey Kong.

Rolodzeo · Mar 28, 2020

Galaxian

LinkStrikesBack · Mar 28, 2020

Stay Up Be Easy said:
Samus is a fugitive now and the Federation looks pretty shady. It's not plot heavy but there is a story.

They're not going to make a game where Samus goes around slaughtering other humans en masse, so a game that's Samus Vs the federation isn't going to happen. They wouldn't even let Samus kill a single one in other M when they were a murdering traitor, they had to die off screen to something else, the chance of them letting Samus actively kill otherwise innocent soliders is ... Small to say the least

If metroid 5 happens I fully expect it to handwaive away the fusion events as lead by a small rogue faction or some nonsense, or just not mentioned it at all, and the real bulk of plot being the evil chozo group that was hinted at in Samus returnd.

SweetVermouth · Mar 28, 2020

Maybe if Prime 4 finally comes out. Federation Force is a spin off and Samus Returns is a Remake. The latest title is still Other M so 24 years after the original.

Classic Mega Man has one continuity too and the difference between first and latest game is 31 years.

Aurc · Mar 28, 2020

Metroid is one of my favorite gaming series, and always will be, but I hate some of the broken lore that doesn't really make sense in the context of the game's universe. The most egregious is concerning the origins of Metroid Prime (the being). It's a Metroid that marinated in Phazon for long enough to become heavily mutated, right? Ok, but how is there a Metroid inside of Tallon IV's Leviathan to begin with?

CarlSagan94 · Mar 28, 2020

L Thammy said:
I don't think it's the sort of story that's designed to have a resolution. Samus has already defeated her main rival several times, she's eradicated the namesake of the series, but it keeps going.

By the end of Fusion, doesn't Samus technically become the last Metroid, since she has Metroid DNA in her?

Sanka · Mar 28, 2020

NabiscoFelt said:
Assassin's Creed is kinda cheating in that regard. The part of the narrative that is interconnected isn't really the main narrative of each game (except in certain instances, but that's usually only over two or three games)

Still the same unvierse and all games eventually built up to the same conclusion.

CarlSagan94 · Mar 28, 2020

Aurc said:
Metroid is one of my favorite gaming series, and always will be, but I hate some of the broken lore that doesn't really make sense in the context of the game's universe. The most egregious is concerning the origins of Metroid Prime (the being). It's a Metroid that marinated in Phazon for long enough to become heavily mutated, right? Ok, but how is there a Metroid inside of Tallon IV's Leviathan to begin with?

I mean Tallon IV was a Chozo planet so it could be that they brought Metroids with them. The Metroid that becomes Prime wasn't within the Leviathan itself when it crashed. The Leviathan, after crashing, chose a Metroid that had been heavily mutated by the Phazon to become its guardian like the other Leviathans in Prime 3 had their own guardians. Could be wrong on my lore though, its been a while.

Kain-Nosgoth · Mar 28, 2020

McBryBry said:
This has me curious, do the old games tie into all of it too? I have the first Trails in the Sky game but have always wondered if that's the beginning of the story.

it is in fact the beginning of the story!

Trails in the sky 1-3 take place in liberl
Trails of zero/ao take place in crossbell
Trails of cold steel take place in erebonia

All the games takes place in the span of like 4 years and all these countries are neighbour in the big zemurian continent

Everything is linked of course, even if each arc have their own little story that will have significance in the bigger story and characters will travel all around!

if you're talking about the legend of heroes serie in general, that came before it, then no they're not linked at all

Aurc · Mar 28, 2020

CarlSagan94 said:
I mean Tallon IV was a Chozo planet so it could be that they brought Metroids with them. The Metroid that becomes Prime wasn't within the Leviathan itself when it crashed. The Leviathan, after crashing, chose a Metroid that had been heavily mutated by the Phazon to become its guardian like the other Leviathans in Prime 3 had their own guardians. Could be wrong on my lore though, its been a while.

There's no mention of the Chozo having had Metroids with them on Tallon IV, so all we can do is speculate, on that front. Looks like the origins of MP were never conclusively hammered down, as per the "Origin Theory" part of the Wiki page:

Metroid Prime (creature)

This article is about the creature Metroid Prime. For the game in which it appears, see Metroid Prime (game). For other uses, see Metroid Prime (disambiguation). Metroid Prime is the titular antagonist and final boss of the game of the same name and is furthermore the central antagonist of the...

metroid.fandom.com

I do wish they explained this better in-game.

arcadepc · Mar 28, 2020

that would go to Wizardry.First released in 1981 (beta in 1980). Ultima and Might and Magic arrived few years later and before Metroid

Sub Boss · Mar 28, 2020

I don't think it feally matters

Lobster Roll · Mar 28, 2020

Zelda is one of my favorite franchises and one that I border on being a fanboy for, and let me just say that it isn't even allowed a seat at the table for "longest running storyline". There are moments of continuation (Zelda 1 -> Zelda 2, Ocarina -> Majora), but the entire franchise is all over the map and goes in 20 different directions. Even the "timeline" is a running joke amongst most Zelda fans. Part of what makes the franchise work so well is that they can just scrap everything and start anew in a different setting, in a different time, with different iterations of franchise elements, and with different challenges.

Tygre · Mar 28, 2020

Ultima started in 1981 and the most recent title was Ultima Forever 2013, so until Metroid 4 actually comes out it's got Metroid beat by a year.

If were not counting spin-offs then Metroid only gets 1986 to 2007, and Ultima has 1981 to 2009 (the last expansion for Ultima Online)

Elite started in 1984 and the most recent title was Elite: Dangerous released in 2014, but it's story is ongoing as we speak, so it has Metroid beat by 2 years.

Radogol · Mar 28, 2020

Starlatine said:
Nothing to the likes of Ultima for instance which managed to maintain a constant story and progression of world (despite some inonsistencies here and there) through eight games and even its spinoffs

Is this a low key Ultima IX burn? 😂

Radogol · Mar 28, 2020

mclem said:
I though the episodic title was more of a reboot?

I'd say a soft reboot, everything that happened in the old games is still canon.

EDIT: Oops, sorry for double posting.

Starlatine · Mar 28, 2020

Radogol said:
Is this a low key Ultima IX burn? 😂

Pagan too, since i'm counting Serpent Isle as the eight game 😉

Deleted member 23212 · Mar 28, 2020

Isn't Mario in the same continuity?

Mass Effect · Mar 28, 2020

Cranster said:
Halo would have Assasins Creed beat actually.

Nope, not even close. Assassin's Creed has 22 games and Halo has 15.

And yes, all of AC's are part of the same continuity.

Madao said:
at some point they should finish the story. they've been stalling on getting past Fusion for too long. the series has been stuck there for 18 years and there were only 16 years between NES Metroid and Fusion.

And what sucks about that is Prime 4 won't even move the story forward since the Prime subseries takes place before Super.

Deleted member 179 · Mar 28, 2020

Kain-Nosgoth said:
it is in fact the beginning of the story!

Trails in the sky 1-3 take place in liberl
Trails of zero/ao take place in crossbell
Trails of cold steel take place in erebonia

All the games takes place in the span of like 4 years and all these countries are neighbour in the big zemurian continent

Everything is linked of course, even if each arc have their own little story that will have significance in the bigger story and characters will travel all around!

if you're talking about the legend of heroes serie in general, that came before it, then no they're not linked at all

Thank you! I figured this was the case and it's nice to have it all laid out for me lol. Yes I meant the earlier Heroes games, good to know it isnt THAT deep because it might've pushed me away.

low-G · Mar 28, 2020

Tennis for Two is the longest running, the latest in the story is Eleven, so that's more than a 50 continuous story.

werezompire · Mar 28, 2020

If we're looking at the time between first game released & last game released, Ys has it beat since the most recent installment came out a few months ago in Japan. Metroid 1 came out the year before Ys though.

Like Metroid, Ys has one main character (Adol), although some of the games have multiple protagonists and Ys Origin doesn't have Adol. Unlike Metroid, Ys is an Action/RPG series and has a lot more focus on story than Metroid (although Ys is still more gameplay-focused than story-focused).

¡ B 0 0 P ! · Mar 28, 2020

Warcraft has a long running story too. 26 years and counting.

Deleted member 17210 · Mar 28, 2020

Do licensed games count? Atari's Superman from 1979 takes places in the same universe as later Superman games.

Lord Vatek · Mar 28, 2020

I do think Trails wins in terms of sheer script length but even outside of those terms, I still don't think it's Metroid.

Ys or Ultima sound about right.

Weegian · Mar 28, 2020

The story's been on hold since Fusion. The Prime Trilogy and Other M don't "count," in my opinion. Squeezing story in between installments doesn't advance anything.

Eppcetera · Mar 28, 2020

I'd put something like Ys ahead of Metroid, seeing as how Metroid has essentially four games to its narrative (Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion), released over a span of 16 years, whereas Ys has ten titles (nine numbered entries plus Ys: Origin) released over a span of 32 years. I don't really count the Metroid Prime games or especially Metroid: Other M as part of the same narrative as the 2D Metroids (the Prime series is like a loose spinoff), and if I made allowances for them, I'd make similar allowances for the Mario and Zelda series.

Arcana Wiz · Mar 28, 2020

TheMadTitan said:
Apparently, I'm never going to play these games.

To be fair, this comment was exaggerating a bit.

The first trilogy is Trails of the Sky - they are 50-70 hours long if you're 100% it and talking to every almost NPC after every story scene (trails series is famous for having more NPC dialogue than story itself)

Trails of Zero and Ao are a duology and I'm still playing them. But I heard they are like +-80 hours to 100% it.

Trails of Cold Steel 1-4 is the current series. To beat 1 and 2 I spent +-70 hours while 100% and talking to nearly every NPC.

3 and 4 are the famous ones that are very long and some people reportedly beat in 100 hours.

If you're not interested in talking to every NPC and 100% these games you can take 15 hours of the estimates above.

Nali · Mar 28, 2020

Mega Man isn't quite as old, dating to 1987, but its core continuity contains north of thirty entries with the longest gap between releases being just eight years.

RagnarokX · Mar 28, 2020

LinkStrikesBack said:
They're not going to make a game where Samus goes around slaughtering other humans en masse, so a game that's Samus Vs the federation isn't going to happen. They wouldn't even let Samus kill a single one in other M when they were a murdering traitor, they had to die off screen to something else, the chance of them letting Samus actively kill otherwise innocent soliders is ... Small to say the least

If metroid 5 happens I fully expect it to handwaive away the fusion events as lead by a small rogue faction or some nonsense, or just not mentioned it at all, and the real bulk of plot being the evil chozo group that was hinted at in Samus returnd.

Other M and Samus Returns were clearly setup for Metroid 5.

Other M clarifies that the shadowy group behind the Bottle Ship and BSL are a rogue faction. Adam's investigation was authorized by the head of the Federation. It also introduces a clone of Mother Brain that the rogue faction of the Federation takes into their custody.

Samus Returns reveals that there are evil Chozo.

A likely plot for Metroid 5 is that Samus is still considered a criminal and is trying to prove her innocence when the rogue Federation faction plays their hand and stages a coup with the help of the evil Chozo. MB is now a giant brain monster again and the evil Chozo are making new metroids and maybe even X parasites.

dodo · Mar 28, 2020

this is a funny point but also sort of a weird one because it's also not like there are that many metroid games. like if someone made Casablanca 2 rn i guess that would technically make it one of the longest running stories in film. now my head hurts

TheMadTitan · Mar 28, 2020

Arcana Wiz said:
To be fair, this comment was exaggerating a bit.

The first trilogy is Trails of the Sky - they are 50-70 hours long if you're 100% it and talking to every almost NPC after every story scene (trails series is famous for having more NPC dialogue than story itself)

Trails of Zero and Ao are a duology and I'm still playing them. But I heard they are like +-80 hours to 100% it.

Trails of Cold Steel 1-4 is the current series. To beat 1 and 2 I spent +-70 hours while 100% and talking to nearly every NPC.

3 and 4 are the famous ones that are very long and some people reportedly beat in 100 hours.

If you're not interested in talking to every NPC and 100% these games you can take 15 hours of the estimates above.

Still long as fuck, but less long. I rarely put in effort to 100% games, so that'll probably help.

Is Metroid the longest running* storyline in games right now?

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