Feature: Now Samus Is Doing It

The cultural psyche adores the ‘Akira Slide’; a fleeting instant in the 1988 animated film Akira, where Shōtarō Kaneda, after a motorcycle race, skids across the pavement to slow himself down, facing the audience, his bike positioned side-on, plumes of smoke rising from the asphalt. Naturally, he could apply his brakes, but it wouldn’t be as spectacular now, would it? Distributors Toho were aware of their actions when they featured Kaneda and the motorbike on the movie poster.

Even if you haven’t viewed the film, you’ve surely encountered the gravity-defying Akira Slide. 37 years later, television producers, animators, and directors can’t get enough of that effortless drift. It has appeared in productions ranging from Batman: The Animated Series to Adventure Time to Jordan Peele’s 2022 sci-fi horror Nope, and even charming series like Doraemon and the Pokémon anime.

Furthermore, Shadow the Hedgehog had a chance to partake in it during the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film last year.

It’s only natural that video games have correspondingly embraced this moment spanning mere seconds. The newest instance features intergalactic bounty hunter and total badass Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, riding Vi-O-La and braking in the exact same manner as Kaneda nearly four decades ago (actually more than that if you consider the 1982 manga, where it’s quite a bit more low-key).

Somehow, I had convinced myself that Samus had already performed the Akira Slide; Vi-O-La was introduced back in September, and she’s never owned a motorcycle before. What better way to showcase her shiny new equipment than by doing something eye-catching with it? Yet this week’s ‘Survive’ trailer (below) marks the first time she’s executed this move.

From what we understand about Prime 4, Samus finds herself on a planet named Viewros, attempting to flee. This trailer features her in combat against numerous unfamiliar creatures, aliens, and colossal adversaries, many of which are newcomers to the Metroid franchise. And she’s ‘surviving’.

Actually, she appears to be kicking butt. Her Akira Slide near the conclusion, just before Sylux makes an entrance, reinforces that. Samus is formidable. While she might be caught off guard by Sylux’s arrival (at least, her response seems to be a part of the same scene), she predominantly maintains control. The shot captures her as prepared to take action.

It’s undeniable that Samus is impressive; she’s an icon in Nintendo’s rich legacy and an essential female character and role model for girls, women, everyone. However, Metroid is a series that I don’t associate solely with its ‘coolness’. Yes, the power-ups and enhancements offer a power fantasy that evolves throughout the game. But Metroid is primarily about the atmosphere. Even the Prime installments.

They can also be quite frightening at times. Metroid Dread hosts some unsettling episodes even beyond the stressful E.M.M.I. segments. Super Metroid will always rank among my favorite games due to the eerie corridors of Brinstar and Norfair, witnessing Crocomire’s skin disintegrate in the lava, and then being startled by the skeleton as it makes one last attempt on your life. Or Mother Brain being more than just a brain, but a cybernetic alien dinosaur that nearly does eliminate you. And don’t even get me started on the Chozo Ghosts in Prime. Samus requires those moments of cool.

Akira frightened me as a child; it remains disturbing today.

Metroid’s Akira Slide serves as a perfect benchmark to the original. Because, similar to Metroid, Akira’s ‘coolness’ isn’t what lingers with me. The Akira Slide is merely one striking moment that unfolds within the first five minutes of the film, a movie filled with grotesque visuals, horrifying corruption, and child experiments, and (admittedly) a plethora of cool moments.

What sticks in my mind is the cyberpunk scenery and ambiance drenched in rust and neon, the biker gangs and violence, and the frankly terrifying body horror sequences towards the finale. Akira unsettled me as a kid; it’s still disturbing now.

The slide holds significance because Kaneda establishes himself in the film; he is the one to outshine, he is the ‘hero’, he is the character through whom we’ll perceive the world.

It also sets up tonal anticipations that are later subverted. Is this a thrilling action film? At times! Will there be body horror? At this stage, you have no clue. It aligns perfectly with Samus’ own battle against the unknown.

Most of the time, though, the slide isn’t employed in that manner. Suda51’s No More Heroes isn’t particularly known for subtlety, so when it incorporated an Akira Slide at the end of a trailer for a fictional TV show promoting No More Heroes III, I wasn’t astonished. The entire premise of these games is the ultraviolence, the absurdity, the self-referential and pop culture nods, the ‘coolness’ of them. Travis Touchdown also performs the Akira Slide at the conclusion of every Bike Mission.

Yet, the universe of No More Heroes is quite deranged; in the third installment, mega corporations construct entire islands, and murderous aliens devise fake, lethal competitions centered around becoming a superhero. We require that goofiness, that absurdity, and those moments of coolness.

Square Enix also couldn’t resist (beware of spoilers here) inserting the slide into Final Fantasy VII Remake, another game where light-hearted relief is always appreciated. I won’t elaborate here, but the motorcycle sequence from the original is a bit more developed here, with heightened stakes. Cloud also believes he’s cool, yet my favorite defining characteristic of his? He’s actually somewhat of a doofus, and that’s further highlighted in Rebirth. We’ll allow him his moment with the slide.

Cyberpunk 2077, of course, features the iconic slide too, and it’s one of the ones you can genuinely perform; V can halt their motorcycle by positioning it just right. Once more, who requires brakes? Cyberpunk is an enormous homage to the genre, so as one of the defining ‘elements’ of anime cyberpunk, this was indispensable.

It’s also the sole means by which any of us will manage to execute the Akira Slide without causing a traffic incident in real life.

Whether it’s character unveilings in fighting games (thanks, Street Fighter VI) or skidding on ink in Splatoon 3, the Akira Slide never fails to awe. Even when it’s not executed in the exact same fashion as the original film. It’s simply a very sleek, stylistic action that makes you appear quite fabulous.

But it extends beyond mere coolness. Amidst chaos, amidst despair, and amidst the terrors of space, the Akira Slide serves as a reminder that this character is serious; they’re a rebel with a purpose, asserting their power or dominance in a single instant, akin to the modern-day (or futuristic) equivalent of drawing your sword at the outset of a battle, or establishing eye-contact during a duel.

Nothing will deter anyone from ensuring you — and your foes — recognize who’s in command. Not even the laws of physics.

What’s your favorite Akira Slide in a video game? Does Samus now claim the title as the queen of the bikes? Share your thoughts in the comments.