1. Metroid - August - 1987

We could do a "Top Ten Things Metroid Did First" feature if we wanted to and have a hard time paring that list down. Let's see, we have non linear game play with backtracking based on power-ups procured via exploration, we have a password system for saving your progress through the game, we have final boss battle that wasn't so final, we have multiple endings based on how quickly you completed the game, and finally we have a female protagonist. Yeah, that's right, while Princess Peach was content to wait in a castle for someone to rescue her, Samus Aran would have riddled Bowser with laser fire and then rolled over his smoldering corpse in her morphball form. Metroid spawned some of the greatest games released on their respective platforms, and garnered a legion of fans who still remember seeing that helmet come off and that long hair spill out. In the world of big reveals, this was the biggest and in a universe of badasses, Samus Aran remains one of the baddest.

So there you have it our list of the Top Ten Summertime releases. Have your own list? Did we miss anything? Let us know !