Until recently, the famous "JUSTIN BAILEY" password (JUSTIN BAILEY followed by a line of dashes) was assumed to be a deliberate cheat code, designed by the programmers of the American version of Metroid (the Japanese version was a Disk System game and thus didn't need passwords). However, this has turned out not to be true. It's just a random code that happened to work. The Metroid Database verified this by examining the code in their Metroid Password Generator, and finding that the effects are a function of the individual symbols used-- that it works like any other Metroid password rather than as a cheat code. It just happens to have the cool effects it does.
NAR PASSWORD (NARPAS SWORD0 000000 000000), however, is the real deal. It doesn't work in the same way as the generated passwords, meaning that it is an intentionally-created code. It is also totally awesome. NAR PASSWORD, presumably created by the Nintendo of America employee responsible for the Metroid password system, starts you off with infinite energy and missiles, and all weapons, except the Wave Beam. It completely nerfs the game, which, in the case of a surprisingly difficult game like Metroid, is not necessarily awful. With all the weapons, you can go straight to the minibosses and kill them, then head to Tourian and Mother Brain.
After you've done that, you can give the Password Generator a shot. Or, should you feel like going the easy way, but doing that the hard way, you can compose your own password. Should you be playing with a turbo controller on a real NES, you can try completely random passwords!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-15-2007 @ 6:51PM
Mr Khan said...
Could i give this a shot with my Metroid Prime disc version of Metroid?
Although it doesn't REALLY need the passwords, since it auto-saves to the memory card
Reply
8-15-2007 @ 7:03PM
JC Fletcher said...
Yep, I just went and tried it. Totally works.
Reply
8-15-2007 @ 9:35PM
Kenneth said...
Nice copy-paste job, which in turn was basically paraphrased from Wikipedia by the password guys.
I'm trying to beat the game with no passwords right now. The original Metroid is one game that lots of people, including myself, find very difficult. My goal is to beat it before Super Metroid comes out on the VC, but I am playing the original on Metroid: Zero Mission rather than the VC.
Reply
8-15-2007 @ 10:37PM
hvnlysoldr said...
Freaking A! Back on NES had to use Game Genie for infinite energy and missiles. Never knew about NAR PASSWORD but my dad did find JUSTIN BAILEY for me. Still had to relearn the jumping. If only the Screw Attack could last all the way through my jumps. Forget squatting down or diagonal shooting. Freaking most powerful offense and defense of Screw Attack would have completely helped.
Reply
8-16-2007 @ 1:03AM
Alisha Karabinus said...
Kenneth, it seems clear to me that you may not fully understand the definitions of the words "copy" and "paste" or the purpose of this lighthearted weekly feature. Even flippant accusations of plagiarism are not something we take lightly, and in this case, it is completely baseless. The text is entirely different from both of those sources, and there's really only so much to say regarding the two most well-known passwords for this game. The purpose here is not to list every known password, but rather to evoke the sense of sharing cheats that we remember from years past, and if gamers are interested in finding more, inspiring them to search on their own, since it is now much easier to do so.
Reply
8-16-2007 @ 1:11AM
Matt said...
You're spelling it wrong... it's Narpa's S-Word. Get it right, TREBEK!
Reply
8-16-2007 @ 4:56PM
Aden_Nak said...
Actually, I'd always heard that JUSTIN BAILEY was the "key" for the password system. Literally the code via which everything else in the game was encrypted. Much in the same way ICARUS FIGHTS MEDUSA ANGELS was a key for Kid Icarus and another game (I think it was Metal Gear) had a password system based around girls' names that took you to the uber end of the game.
Reply