Super Mario Land: Myths of Sarasaland

John Coulter 
Art & Games University 
Super Mario Land 1 
January 2026 

Super Mario Land: Myths of Sarasaland

   Video games are art. They feature a narrative, visual style, and settings echoing the aesthetic depth of traditional art forms like films or paintings. Every detail, from background foliage to main characters, is crafted by skilled creators. Art & Games University explores the art and cultural content found in video games and has collected data from a diverse pool of games, from AAA to indie, with many systems sampled and decades of content scoured. To do so, over three hundred games have been documented through one hundred percent exploration and completion, and then the data was carefully compiled for fifty of these: with the list of documented and dissected games growing regularly. The research found the data and evaluation of art objects in games are under-studied. This research is important to document. Many focused hours were invested in locating the artwork, researching the cultures that inspired the objects and settings, and calculating the vast numbers of artwork found in video games.  

   The art found in Princess Daisy’s homeland from Super Mario Land 1 (1989) for the Game Boy is the subject of this study. Mario’s first full-length portable 2D side-scrolling adventure on the Game Boy is far from the Mushroom Kingdom, set in Sarasaland, where Princess Daisy has been kidnapped by the alien Tatanga. Mario must search Sarasaland’s four Kingdoms, Birabuto, Muda, Easton and Chai to save the Princess. With Mario standing just twelve pixels tall, Super Mario Land 1 (1989) for the Game Boy is one of Mario’s tiniest adventures. However, this game is packed with unique ancient art and culture sites, many of which never again appear in the Mario franchise.

   Developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo, Super Mario Land 1 (1989) was released as a launch title for the insanely successful Game Boy in 1989. Mario Land was snubbed for inclusion as a bundle with the Game Boy hardware in favor of Tetris (1989). This report will review the art in the original Game Boy version;  however, there are several alternative versions of this game, including some excellent fan remakes for the Game Boy Color and Super Nintendo System, that shed new light and details on the game through the lens of passionate new artists reinterpreting the stages.

   Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo EAD division originally developed Super Mario for the NES (1985), however Gunpei Yokoi, the designer of the Game Boy, and Satoru Okada, of Metroid (1986) and Famicom Wars (2005) success, were entrusted to lead the direction of Super Mario Land 1 (1989) for Game Boy. Under Yokoi and Okada’s lead, programmers Takahiro Harada and Masao Yamamoto worked alongside designers Hirofumi Matsuoaka and Masahiko Mashimo to bring Super Mario Land 1 to life. Matsuoaka and Mashimo have each worked as background and character artists for multiple Mario, Wario, and Metroid titles. This team created many art and cultural objects throughout Mario Land 1.

   Sarasaland is filled with pyramids, sphinxes, hieroglyphics, Moai sculptures, and more, with each of the four kingdoms being inspired by a different ancient and mysterious real-world culture and theme. Birabuto is inspired by ancient Egypt, Muda is inspired by ancient Greek concepts of Atlantis or the Bermuda Triangle, Easton is based on Easter Island in the Pacific, and the Chai Kingdom is based on ancient Chinese mythology. 

   For the Art & Games University study, Super Mario Land 1 (1989) has a total of seventy art examples in game, with seventy-four percent being sculptural and fourteen percent being architectural, the remainder of the art being miscellaneous. Super Mario Land 1 came in thirty-second for total art, just ahead of Mega Man 3 (1990) for the NES and has well below the average amount of art per game in season one of 188.8 art objects. 

   The different kingdoms included in Mario Land 1 (1989) each offer different cultural art influences, and some of the enemy non-player characters were inspired by traditional cultures or myths. The Birabuto Kingdom is based on ancient Egyptian culture. The first two stages are set above ground, in a sunny sandy desert landscape dotted with pyramids, while the third stage is set deep inside a dark pyramid tomb. The pyramids in Birabuto most similarly resemble the iconic Great Pyramids of Giza, in Memphis. The first Egyptian Dynasties began just after the Neolithic Age or last Stone Age. The Necropolis was built around 2600 BC. Prince Hemiunu is believed to be the architect. Khufu is the King credited as being buried there. The Pyramid is built on a natural hill and bedrock base and was once covered in bright smooth limestone. The Great Pyramid is four hundred and fifty-five feet tall, where the tallest pyramid in Birabuto is seventy-two pixels tall.

 

   Sphinxes appear in Birabuto as both stone statues and living, fire-breathing enemy guards of the pyramids, as well as a dungeon boss. A sphinx is mythological creature with the face of a human and body of a lion, (or sometimes a ram or bird). In Egypt, they are often found guarding tombs and palaces. Though most often associated with Egypt, various forms of sphinxes are found throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. The most famous sphinx sculpture is also from Giza. The Great Sphinx was created around 2500 BC for the Pharaoh Khafre, shortly after the Great Pyramid and Second Pyramid at Giza and faces West to East near the Nile River. The Great Sphinx is carved from bedrock and plated with limestone blocks on the exterior. 

   Additionally, there are thirteen different symbols or glyphs found in Stage 3. Some of the designs include Horus, an hourglass, an eye, and an Ankh. Hieroglyphs were used from 3000 BC to 400 AD. In Latin, “heiro” means sacred and “glyph” means carving (alternatively God’s Words). They are an organized pictographic language and written script. With many hieroglyphics and sphinxes, the third stage of the Birabuto Kingdom has the most art in Super Mario Land 1 (1989). 

   There aren’t a lot of art examples to examine in stages four through six. The underwater ruins of the Muda Kingdom contain UFO type objects and underwater stone columns. The stone columns are made of crumbling square blocks and have bases and capitals. They have no other decorative details, and appear Doric, or even more ancient.  If they allude to Plato’s Atlantis, their Greek features make stylistic sense.

   There are several mythical sunken islands famous throughout history including Atlantis, Mu, Lemuria and others. The name of the Muda Kingdom is a play on the words Mu and Bermuda but has little to do with these fictional and real locations stylistically. Atlantis was originally mentioned by Plato as an allegorical island state that sunk into the sea. One hypothesis for the pseudo-archeological island includes islands destroyed by volcanos in the Mediterranean, such as the 1600 BC, Minoan eruption. Mario can savagely blast his way through these destructible ancient columns in the underwater stage. 

   Charging ahead, the cultural reference and inspiration are obvious in both name and design throughout the sculpture-filled Easton Kingdom. In analyzing the real work that inspired the sculptures in these levels, gamers will find that there are many Moai sculptures on the island as well as Moai inspired enemies stomping about. The Moai stone sculptures of Easter Island are well known, and their mysteries have fascinated many. Easter Island is situated off the coast of Chile and has a unique cultural history due to having an isolated location. Many islands that developed in isolation, formed unique cultures, including, Japan, and Hawaii. The island is known for many monolithic stone sculptures, or Moai. Smaller wooden figures of similar design, as well as an abundance of pictographic cave carvings also appear on the island. Over eight hundred Moai have been documented.

   The giant monolithic stone human figures with prominent heads were carved by the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island between the years 1250-1500 AD. They are meant to hold the spirits of ancestors, and a majority face inland to watch over their people. Many are made of a volcanic ash stone known as “Tuff” and have coral and obsidian eyes, as well as headwear known as “Pukao” made of red scoria stone. The Pukao are a topknot type headdress of important chieftains. Some Moai have tattoo like designs and text carved into their backs. With similar disproportions to Mario’s blocky body, Moai are frequently mistaken to be only faces or heads. The heads are unusually large, but they have bodies which have often been buried. Though restorations have occurred, almost all of the Moai statues were toppled, or destroyed at some point. 

   As famous and alluring icons, the Moai have appeared in many pop-culture references and video games including Castlevania 1 (1988), Horizon Chase 1 (2018), Gradius (1985) and Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (2006). To learn more about the Moai’s appearances in video games there is a great ongoing collection of data at moai.games website (2024) by Matt Sephton. 

   Moving into the final three stages of Super Mario Land 1 (1989), the levels are set in the Chai Kingdom inspired by ancient China. The first example is the spiral motif found at the top of the stage is known as a “Xiangyun” or “Yunleiwen” pattern. These mean auspicious clouds, or thunder clouds. In ancient Greek architecture the motif is known as meander, or Greek fret or Greek key design. The swirling cloud imagery dates back to prehistory and is found on clay pots prior to regular use in the Zhou and Shang dynasties. Auspicious clouds are frequently on ancient bronzeware, architecture and fashion. In agricultural societies, the rain and clouds are associated with good fortune.  

   Also included in game is the Jiangshi, or the Chinese Hopping Vampire, a myth from Chinese folklore. A Jiangshi is a reanimated corpse that travels by hopping to visit their living relatives. This tale dates back in written records to the Qing Dynasty. The myth has spawned a popular genre of literature and campy horror films in China and Hong Kong, similar to Western vampire films, such as Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) and the Mr. Vampire (1985) franchise. 

 

   The aforementioned individual subjects paint a larger cultural landscape of the broader logic behind the design of Daisy’s Kingdom. Sarasaland exudes exoticness. A Sarasa is a style of floral pattern found on Indian textiles imported to Japan since the 1600s. The name Sarasaland itself reflects this intent, signalling a world defined by distance, that is foriegn and far removed from both Japan and the familiar Mushroom Kingdom. Sarasaland is filled with far-off stone ruins in stark contrast to the fungi-filled Mushroom Kingdom’s castles, and Dinosaur Land’s hills, forests and fortresses. The unique settings may have been chosen to set the handheld games apart from Super Mario Bros. (1985), and the upcoming Super Mario World’s (1990) locations. Mario would later visit the actual lands of Egypt, China, and Greece in both educational style games Mario is Missing (1993) and Mario’s Time Machine (1993); however, these educational games were developed by Toolworks.

   Sarasaland is ruled by Princess Daisy. Player number one, Mario has courted many princesses. Pauline was introduced in Donkey Kong 1 (1994), Peach in Super Mario Bros. 1 (1985), Daisy in Super Mario Land 1 (1989), and Rosalina in Super Mario Galaxy (2007). Daisy and Luigi are now rumored to be in a relationship, with statues of them dancing together appearing in Mario Kart Wii (2008).

Local inhabitants and wildlife of Sarasaland include sphinxes, spiders, flies, snakes and chickens. Flora include the Piranha Plant and the endemic Pompon Flower. The region’s Goombos, and Bombshell Koopas could be convergent or divergent evolutions of the Goombas and Koopas. 

   Sarasaland has been largely reduced to flavor text in a few games and rarely seen again. Tatanga returns in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992), along with Bombshell Koopas (now the Noko Bombette), and Daisy regularly appears in Mario Kart (2001-2008) games and other sporting spin-offs. 

   36 years after Super Mario Land’s release, in 2025, elements of Sarasaland would directly reappear when incorporated into Mario Kart World’s (2025) large map. In Mario Kart World for the Switch 2, Daisy can don a Bedlah style Oasis outfit and ride the Carpet Flyer, a magic carpet themed kart. The Desert Hills and Shy Guy Bazaar tracks are retconned and reimagined to include designs from Sarasaland. The central palace of Shy Guy Bazaar is decorated with Daisy emblems and tiles and additionally has prominent Gao, or Sphinx, fountains.  In the area surrounding the Desert Hills track, Tokoto, or stone Moai, enemies and relief carvings of Moai can both be found.  There are also UFOs that possibly belong to Tatanga.  These references to Sarasaland are not present in past appearances of these Mario Kart courses.  

   Together, the four kingdoms of Sarasaland included in Mario Land 1 (1989) form a compact but surprisingly dense archive of ancient art and cultural imagery embedded within a 1989 handheld game. Mario Land 1 is full of direct real-world cultural references with fun and unique settings to explore within the Mario series.

Works Cited

Castlevania 1. Directed by Hitoshi Akamatsu, Nintendo, 1988. Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Donkey Kong 1. Directed by Tim Stamper and Chris Stamper, Rare and Nintendo, 1994. Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy games. 

Encounters of the Spooky Kind. Directed by Sammo Hung and Huang Ying. Golden Harvest. 1980. Film.

Famicom Wars: Dual Strike. Directed by Makoto Shimojo and Kentaro Nishimura, Intelligent Systems, Nintendo DS. 2005. Nintendo DS game.

Gradius. Directed by Hiroyasu Machiguchi, Konomi, 1985. Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Horizon Chase 1. Directed by Amilton Diesel, Aquiris Game Studio, 2015. iOS and Android game, and 2018, Nintendo Switch game.

Mario Is Missing. Directed by Donald W. Laabs, The Software Toolworks, 1993. MS-Dos and Nintendo game. 

Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Directed by Takeshi Ando and Yukio Morimoto, Nintendo, 2001. Game Boy Advance game. 

Mario Kart Wii. Directed by Yasuyuki Oyagi, Nintendo EAD, 2008. Nintendo Wii game. 

Mario Kart World. Directed by Kenta Sato, Masaaki Ishikawa and Shintaro Jikumaru, Nintendo EPD, 2025. Nintendo Switch 2 game. 

Mario Land 1. Directed by Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada, Nintendo R&D1, Nintendo, 1989. Game Boy game. 

Mario’s Time Machine. Directed by Don Lloyd. Toolworks, Radical Entertainment, 1993. Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES Console game.

Mega Man 3. Directed by Masayoshi Kunokawa, Capcom, Nintendo, 1990. Nintendo Entertainment System game.

Metroid. Directed by Satoru Okada. Nintendo R&D1, Intelligent Systems, 1986. Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Mister Vampire. Directed by Ricky Lua. Golden Harvest. 1985. Film.

Nintendo Mario Kart DS Official Game Manual, Nintendo. 2005.

Pokémon Diamond. Directed by Junichi Masuda, The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, 2006. Nintendo DS game.

Pokémon Pearl. Directed by Junichi Masuda, The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, 2006. Nintendo DS game.

Sephton, Matt. “Moai Found in Video Games.” Moai.games. August 14, 2019.  

    https://moai.games. 11 Nov. 2024. Website.

Super Mario 64. Directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo, 1996. Nintendo 64 Game Console game. 

Super Mario Bros. 1. Directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo, 1985. Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Super Mario Galaxy. Directed by Yoshiaki Koizumi, Nintendo, 2007. Nintendo Wii game.

Super Mario Land 1. Directed by Satoru Okada, Nintendo R&D1, Nintendo, 1989. Game Boy game.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Directed by Hiroji Kiyotake, Nintendo R&D1, Nintendo, 1992. Nintendo Switch, Game Boy and Nintendo 3DS game.

Super Mario World. Directed by Takashi Tezuka, Nintendo EAD and Nintendo, 1990. Super Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Tetris. Directed by Satoru Okada, Nintendo R&D1 and Nintendo, 1989. Game Boy game.

Metroid: Chozo Artifacts

John Coulter 
Art & Games University 
NES Metroid 1  
January 2026 

Metroid: Chozo Artifacts 

   Games are an artistic medium, filled with stories and richly designed worlds. Just as with literature and film, game elements are crafted with creativity and intent. Art and Games University explores these elements, cataloging the many references to art and culture in virtual landscapes. From AAA titles to indie projects, the university studies every detail, bringing attention to the under-recognized art forms within gaming. To do so, over three hundred games have been documented through one hundred percent exploration and completion, and then the data was carefully compiled for fifty of these: with the list of documented and dissected games growing regularly. The research found the data and evaluation of art objects in games are under-studied. This research is important to document. Many focused hours were invested in locating the artwork, researching the cultures that inspired the objects and settings, and calculating the vast numbers of artwork found in video games.  

   Metroid 1 for NES (1987) includes some stellar examples of art inspired by history and visual culture. Metroid is an iconic franchise beloved by fans. The science fiction, action-adventure, 2D platformer follows protagonist, Samus Aran, as they blast through the caverns on planet Zebes.  The Galactic Federation has sent the orange-armored space bounty hunter, Samus, to the Planet Zebes to stop the Space Pirates, including the abominations Kraid, Ridley and Mother Brain, from using Metroids as biological weapons. Along with the game Castlevania (1988) by Konami, the unique open world, non-linear, exploration-based maze crawling elements in Metroid spawned a genre known as Metroid-Vania, a style of gameplay that is still addictively popular today. 

   Released in 1986 in Japan and 1987 in North America, Nintendo’s Metroid 1 was developed by a small team from Nintendo R&D1 and Intelligent Systems. The development team was directed by Satoru Okada and Yoshio Sakamoto. Yoshio Sakamoto is the creator of the Samus character and has worked on almost every Metroid title. Gunpei Yokoi, designer of the Game Boy, acted as producer for Metroid 1 (1987). 

   Designers, Hiroji Kiyotake, Yoshio Sakamoto, and Hirofumi Matsuoka worked on the 8bit visuals found on planet Zebes, with Mastuoka primarily responsible for the background and environment design. The look and feel of the game, from Samus Aran’s armor to the Chozo ruined sculptures, are the hard work of these three artists. 

    In a breakdown of the statistical makeup of the art and cultural objects found in Metroid 1 (1987), there is a total of only thirty-eight art samples, coming in at forty-second out of fifty for total art in Art & Games University Season One. Averaging 7.6 per level, which is well below the average 188.8 total art per game. This is not to say the game is devoid of art and culture sites or finely crafted environments. The visual style of many video games is dictated by the medium and the limitations of the hardware at the time. Bright colors and blocky pixels force a certain aesthetic upon the developers regardless of the subjects depicted. The five areas in Planet Zebes’ are Brinstar, Norfair, Ridley’s Hideout, Kraid’s Hideout and Tourian and each have a distinct look and feel. Sculptures make up seventy-six percent of the art in the NES presentation of Zebes. There are zero paintings, textile works, ceramics, or musical instruments.

   Through a cultural analysis of the aesthetic and style of the works found on Zebes, common themes emerge. Egyptian stone ruins, the designs of H.R. Giger, and Ridley Scott’s space horror Alien (1979) provided major inspiration for the style, subjects and setting of the Metroid 1 (1987) game. Metroid.fandom.com (2024) has an excellent article on all the comparisons between the games and the films, including quotes from developer Yoshio Sakamoto and composer Hirokazu Tanaka on how the film inspired elements of the game. There are many additional comparisons, references and homages, including a female protagonist battling face-hugging aliens, the enemy named “Ridley,” and the H.R. Giger inspired designs of the biomechanical Chozo statues. 

 

   There are three primary cultures represented in the NES version of Metroid 1 (1987):  the Galactic Federation, the Space Pirates, and the ancient Chozo civilization. While artistic examples of each are rare in the original NES title, each culture is expanded upon in further entries in the series, such as Super Metroid (1994) and Metroid Prime (2002). 

   Metroid’s Chozo are an ancient, nearly extinct, humanoid-bird race, that was once powerful throughout the galaxy. The Chozo have inhabited Zebes, SR388, Tallon IV, Elysia, ZDR and other planets, but their home-world is unknown. They were an artistic, spiritual, technology, and warrior centered society. The Chozo perfected technology to a point of interplanetary colonization, they built sentient robots, and mastered genetic engineering.   Through a form of techno-shamanism, the Chozo of Tallon IV ascended beyond their physical bodies to a spiritual ghost form that can interact with the material world. The ancient Chozo race made many types of cultural objects. Their stone and metal works have lasted centuries past their society’s collapse, adding a layer of mystery to exploring the ruins of extant culture. 

   While technologically advanced, many Chozo preferred the simple natural elements of stonework, and used stone extensively in their architecture and sculpture. Their artistic subjects tell the history of their species, and are stylistically similar to Egyptian, Mesoamerican and Native American cultural designs. 

   In contrast, as war and defense-based societies, the Galactic Federation and the Space Pirates have few examples of traditional fine art such as paintings or sculptures across all their appearances in games. The Galactic Federation are a galactic military force with advanced space technology. They have a bureaucratic, military centric style, that is almost devoid of decoration and art, focusing entirely on budget-friendly functional designs. 

   Metroid’s (1987) Space Pirates are a criminal organization of monstrous aliens. They have advanced technology and weaponry, and little interest in the arts. In Metroid Prime 1 (2002), the Space Pirates research bioweapons and species mutations, keeping extensive encyclopedic digital libraries on these subjects.

   Still, most of the art found in Metroid 1 (1987) for NES is of Chozo design. Though limited by the 8-bit hardware restraints of 1980’s home-consoles, the stylistic art of the Chozo is seen in later games disclosing additional cultural features. Viewing details from other Metroid games adds context to the works found in Metroid 1. The GBA game, Metroid: Zero Mission (2004), revisits the locations and events on Zebes from Metroid 1, (1987) revealing additional higher resolution details of the Chozo’s work.  Zero Mission also offers a slightly expanded map with Crateria and Chozodia, an important and ornately decorated temple next to Brinstar. The stone sculptures and reliefs of the Chozo in Zero Mission are overtly ancient Egyptian in influence, with flattened 2D representations of figures shown in “Aspective” or “Frontality” style and stone relief hieroglyphics.

   The first subject examined is a seated Chozo figure. The stone Chozo sculptures resemble humanoid bird like figures, and are seated, holding an offering item. The offering grants suit and power upgrades. Eight seated Chozo sculptures are found in the 1987 NES version, with many more appearing in subsequent titles. Four can be found in Brinstar, and four more in Norfair. 

   These are similar to stone sculptures and reliefs from Mesoamerican and Egyptian cultures. In future games the Chozo artwork has much more in common with Egyptian, Mayan and Native American cultural designs;  however, due to the hardware limitations of the NES, Metroid 1’s (1987) pixel aesthetic is quite simple. The pixelized subjects add to the mystery of the caverns of Zebes. The seated, helmeted, possibly dead figure, is also similar to the fossilized Engineer found in the spaceship wreckage in Alien (1979). 

   Three of the offering items, held in the claws of the hidden Chozo sculptures, are small sculptures themselves, each taking the form of a red gryphon creature clutching various colored orbs. These item-sculptures are given detailed illustrations in the game’s official instruction manual (1987, 1989). 

    There are also several small stone works, that are again likely created by the Chozo. The subjects depicted are not sculpted forms of the Chozo themselves, but of demonic creatures. We know from in game file names for the SNES (1994) version, that these works are known as “Koma,”  which refers to a type of guardian statue. These are often found in pairs near elevators.

   At the entrance to Planet Zebes’ underground area of Brinstar, there are blue stone carved Koma demon faces. They are likely Chozo carvings. Their Super Metroid (1994) and Zero Mission (2004) presentations are almost identical;  yet, in the SNES (1994) adaptation they have glowing eyes. At the elevator entrance to Norfair, there are two short purple, red and gold pointed eared, biomechanical Koma sculptures flanking the elevator platform on either side. The elevator sculptures appearance in Super Metroid is very similar to their NES counterparts; however, their Zero Mission presentation further indicates them to be small Chozo stone statues, giving them a more spiral form. 

   Upon entering Kraid and Ridley’s territory unique distinctive carvings are visable. Kraid is an enormous reptilian creature and powerful Space Pirate. His lair is deep below Brinstar. The initial entrance to Kraid’s Hideout has a large hideous blue face carved into the cavern walls. The sculpture is stylistically different from the Chozo works shown in game previously. This monstrosity appears unchanged but more fully fleshed out in Super Metroid (1994).  The blue cave carving appears extremely stylized in Zero Mission (2004) and is more consistent with the Chozo’s Egyptian style. 

 

   In the depths of Kraid’s Hideout is the entrance to the Boss Lair. Both the entrance to his lair and the lair interior are, architecturally, shaped like a fanged reptile made of stone. The Mayan temple Chicanná II features an ornate-stone fanged serpent faced facade, designed in the Mayan Puuc style. Chicanná means “House of the Serpent” in Mayan. Kraid and the Space Pirates likely added these designs recently and they are unrelated to the Chozo Ruins.  But they could have been pre-existing Chozo ruins, repurposed by the Space Pirates. The details of Kraid’s dungeon entrance facade are expanded upon in their Super Metroid (1994) appearance, however this incredible monumental stonework is heartbreakingly not present in Zero Mission (2004). Kraid’s architecture is a highlight of the artwork included in this Metroid (1987) game. 

   Sliding over to Norfair and Ridley’s Lair there are similar works to those found in Kraid’s. Where Norfair links to Ridley’s Lair, next to the elevator, there are two large monster faces carved from crude ruddy and violet stone. They are sculpted directly into the cave and are similar in style to the blue carving at the entrance to Kraid’s Hideout. This massive red carving along with Kraid’s blue counterpart, are the largest sculptures shown in the NES version of Metroid (1987). Both cave carvings make an appearance in the Manga style Official Strategy Guide Victory Techniques for Metroid, by Wanpakku Comics (1986). 

   These red faces are drastically changed and re-interpreted in their Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1994) and Game Boy Advanced (2004) appearances. As shown in the Zero Mission (2004), they have a Chozo stylization and less grotesque form. The location and form in Super Metroid (1994) are extremely altered. The once singular site is divided into three locations and forms: the first, a large stone face, the second, carved claws near the elevator, and finally, a more detailed sculptural form of Ridley’s face, as the door and facade to his Dungeon Lair. 

   Moving past the demonic monuments of Norfair and Ridley’s Lair, more art is located on the path to Ridley’s Boss Chamber. The deepest section of planet Zebes, Ridley’s Lair, is the site of intensely hot volcanic ancient ruins. Their depiction in Metroid 1 (1987) is limited to fuchsia, green and teal square stone blocks with carved patterns, and similarly colored smooth cylindrical columns;  however, as before, the stylization and ornamentation of the Chozo ruins in Ridley’s Lair are greatly expanded upon in the later 16-bit games.

   The Super Nintendo (1994) columns display elaborate capitals. They have similarities in form to Ionic and Corinthian decorum, including elongated volutes, or spiral rolled scrolls. Additionally, they have the Egyptian-Chozo style engravings. Chozo bird form sculptures adorn many of the columns found in the SNES (1994) version of the lava-filled dungeon. The column shafts remain consistently smooth, simple and undecorated across all versions. 

   Contrastingly, columns throughout Brinstar are often Tuscan or Doric, with un-fluted shafts and simple rocky bases and capitals. Deep within Zebe’s there are also metal pipes that function similar to columns but may also be entirely mechanical pipes and non-decorative. These simplistic columns appear largely unaltered in their SNES (1994) and GBA (2004) debuts. 

The Hall of Pillars is a notable location, slightly above Ridley’s Lair. This hall contains both breakable stone block pillars, and unscalable tall metal pillars. 

   Ridley’s actual boss lair contains fuchsia stonework with fangs similar to Kraid’s Lair and the Chicanná II ruins. With slightly more detailed graphics, these motifs appear nearly identical in their SNES (1997) counterpart. The fang motif is not confined to Ridley’s Boss chamber in Super Metroid (1997), but extends beyond the facade, into the tunnels nearby. This giant stone design is also, sadly, not present at all in Zero Mission (2004) but is instead replaced with a mechanical chamber.

   Near the entrance to the final area, Tourian, there are two blue stone sculptures, one of Kraid and one of Ridley. This site is best to visit before defeating the Space Pirate bosses. After each boss is defeated the corresponding statue crumbles, and when both are defeated the path through is unlocked to Tourian.  Kraid and Ridley’s Tourian entrance sculptures make an appearance in Zero Mission (2004), they are larger, but similar in style and function, and turn to rubble upon completing specific missions and revealing a new path forward. Kraid and Ridley’s statues also appear in Super Metroid (1997), albeit altered in form. Super Metroid contains three main bosses before Mother Brain, and the three bosses appear as one singular, fused, sculpture in Super Metroid. 

   Identifying who sculpted the Ridley and Kraid sculptures found in the Tourian Entrance is difficult. There could be a space pirate in the game responsible. Zebesian Space Pirates, with crustacean morphology, aren’t in Metroid 1 (1987), leaving the only contenders to be Kraid, Ridley, or Mother Brain. Excluding the Kraid and Ridley architectural facades and the Tourian entrance sculpture, Space Pirates are not often shown creating or collecting art. Their home-world, revealed in Prime 3 (2007), is industrial and devoid of creative expression. 

   In addition to the settings of Zebes, Samus’s wardrobe warrants analysis. Samus sports three different outfits in NES’s Metroid 1 (1987). The Power Suit and The Varia Suit are Chozo armor created specifically for Samus, as an orphaned human raised by the Chozo.  Metroid Prime 3 (2007) reveals that the Chozo scientist, Dryn, is a key creator of the Power Suit technology. Many of the Chozo artifacts were left specifically for Samus, as prophesy predicted her heroic return to Zebes and other locations. The colorful metal suits resemble medieval knight’s armor to a slight degree but are unique space armor designs. In addition to the biomechanical metal armor suits, Samus also wears a bright-red one-piece bathing suit and red boots - a popular eighties California beach style. In the first Metroid (1987), Samus sports red, green, light green and blonde hair. Her signature blonde style would not become standard until later.

   The ruins on Zebes in the 1987 Metroid 1 for Nintendo Entertainment System are full of cultural artifacts from the Chozo, and examining and analyzing their work in additional games such as Super Metroid (1994) and Metroid Prime (2002) provides unique insights. This study found Metroid 1 (1987) for NES to include predominately art directly inspired by H.R. Giger, the Alien film franchise, and ancient stone ruins of Egypt and the Americas.

Works Cited

Aliens. Dir. Ridley Scott. 20^th Century Studios, 1979. Film.

Castlevania 1. Directed by Hitoshi Akamatsu, Nintendo, 1988. Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Metroid 1. Directed by Satoru Okada and Yoshio Sakamoto, Nintendo R&D1 and Intelligent Systems, Japan 1986 and North America, 1987. Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Metroid 1 Official Game Manual, Nintendo. 1987, 1989.

Metroid.fandom.com. Wikitroid contributors. List of Similarites Between Metroid and Alien. 

https://metroid.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_similarities_between_Metroid_and_Alien. Metroid.fandom.com. 2024. Web. 25 Sep. 2024.

Metroid Prime. Directed by Mark Pacini, Retro Studios, Nintendo, 2002. GameCube and Wii game. 

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Directed by Mark Pacini, Retro Studios, Nintendo, 2007. Wii game.

Metroid Fusion. Director Yoshio Sakamoto and Takehiko Hosokawa, Nintendo, Nintendo R&D1, 2002. Game Boy Advance game.

Metroid: Zero Mission. Director Yoshio Sakamoto, Nintendo R&D1, 2004. Game Boy Advance game. 

Super Metroid. Directed by Yoshio Sakamoto, Nintendo R&D1 and Intelligent Systems,  1994. Super Nintendo Entertainment System game. 

Yuu, Minazuki [Rinu Monota]. Victory Techniques for Metroid. Japan: Wanpakku Comics. 1986. Wikitroid Metoid.famdom.com Web. Sep. 2024.