Over the last 30 years, Samus Aran has become one of gaming’s most reliable heroines. The bounty hunter has starred in some of the most critically-acclaimed games of all time, including Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. In 2021, Nintendo proudly continued that tradition with Metroid Dread. Samus’ first adventure on Nintendo Switch proved to be a memorable one, taking the core gameplay of the series and adding elements that truly make it stand out from everything else the series has done. It had been 19 years since the last wholly new 2D series installment, but developer MercurySteam did not rely entirely on nostalgia. Instead, the team delivered an experience that stands alongside 2021’s very best games.
From the moment Metroid Dread was announced at E3, it quickly became one of the year’s most-anticipated titles. For longtime fans, the prospect of a new 2D Metroid was incredibly exciting, but it also seemed to catch the attention of Switch owners that had never played a previous Metroid game. Following the announcement, many Switch owners took the opportunity to play Super Metroid for the first time, sharing their exploits online. Social media quickly became inundated with requests for Nintendo to make games like Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission available, as well.
It makes sense, of course; Nintendo’s major franchises have never put a huge focus on a continuing narrative, but Metroid is an exception. Each of the four previous Metroid games directly connected and impacted one another, and Metroid Dread‘s storyline brings that narrative together in a satisfying way. It’s amusing that the Metroid series has continued 30 years after Samus wiped out the species in 1991’s Metroid II, but they remain a central part of the storyline. Players don’t have to have played those titles, however, as Metroid Dread does an excellent job filling in the blanks for newcomers.
Seeing the saga of Samus continue would be enough of a draw for most Metroid fans, but it’s a testament to the core gameplay of the series that a 2D game has managed to enter the Game of the Year conversation. When Metroid Dread was first announced, some skeptics questioned whether a 2D game should come with a $60 price point. However, the game proved that a great 2D experience can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anything else the video game industry has to offer.
Games like Metroid Dread often fall into a trap where they serve to simply fill a void, rather than pushing things in a new direction. A perfect example of this would be Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. series, which offers new 2D Mario adventures, but doesn’t do much to change a 35-year-old formula. MercurySteam instead opted to take what worked in games like Super Metroid while pushing things forward and adding new elements. Take, for example, the game’s EMMI robots. While Metroid has always taken inspiration from the horror genre (it was inspired by Alien, after all), the tension in Metroid Dread is on a completely different level. The EMMI encounters will stick with players long into the future, and could conceivably lead to more horror elements in future Metroid games.
The EMMI aren’t the only challenging element in Metroid Dread. The game’s boss fights challenge players to use everything they’ve learned to that point, while dodging and looking for the perfect moment to strike. These boss fights can take a significant number of attempts to conquer, but the game is never unfair, and the sense of accomplishment is wonderful, particularly the final encounter with Raven Beak.
Given Metroid Dread‘s success, it will be interesting to see how long fans have to wait for the next iteration in the series. It was a long 19 years between Metroid Fusion and Metroid Dread, and fans will be eager to see where Samus’ story goes from here. The series will probably never be the type of seller that Mario and Zelda are, but the Switch era has proven that any compelling game has a chance at finding major success.
20 years from now, Metroid Dread will almost certainly still be talked about in the same breath as the best games in the franchise. MercurySteam managed to deliver one of the best Metroid games ever, and one of the best games of 2021 as a whole. We might not know where Samus’ 2D adventures will go from here, but with Metroid Prime 4 currently in development, and rumors swirling about a Metroid Prime remake on Switch, it seems the future is a bright one for Samus Aran.