Split-Screen :: The Game-Geek’s Daily Read

by Nike Okami

The first Halo Legends episode, titled “The Babysitter“, is a pretty decently animated set piece for the entire series. Interestingly, while it features a cameo by Dutch from Halo 3: ODST, it also contains a very clever homage to Samus Aran’s ultimate reveal in the first Metroid game for the NES.

As most of you are aware of, Samus Aran was revealed in the first Metroid game as an intergalactic bounty hunter who tasked herself with retrieving alien Metroid samples from evil Space Pirates who sought to use them as biological weapons against her (since bounty hunters and pirates haven’t had a decent relationship since One Piece). Samus finally defeats the Mother Brain and as the credits roll, our protagonist – long thought of as a male, and also finding mention in the manual as such – takes off “his” helmet to reveal a beautiful woman with long golden hair.

In “The Babysitter“, Cal-141 is a SPARTAN-II assigned to take over as sniper for the ODSTs as they seek to assassinate a Prophet of the Covenant. One thing leads to another (no spoilers, sorry), and this is the result:

Let’s do a checklist here:

- Thought of as a man initially (Cal-141 doesn’t speak until her helmet is off)? Check.
- Equipped in heavy duty cybernetic armour? Check.
- Fighting against aliens? Check.
- Soft delicate blond fibers that flow like golden waterfalls from their heads? (Er…Check. – Ravi) As a side note, the red streaks in Cal’s hair are blood stains.

Of course, the main difference lies in the fate of the two, but I won’t spoil that for you. You can’t deny that it indeed is a clever piece of homage, and though more muted and sombre as Cal-141’s reveal is, there’s no denying the qualities it shares with Metroid’s Samus Aran.