Best order to play the Metroid games: release timeline and chronological story…

Best order to play the Metroid games: release timeline and chronological story

Explained: how to play the Metroid games in order, and which ones you can skip.

With the Metroid Dread release date arriving, players around the world will be jumping back into Samus Aran’s impressively packed back-catalogue of games, which dates all the way back to 1986’s Metroid on the NES. But what’s the best order in which to play the Metroid games?

There are two main orders in which you could play the Metroid games. you can either play them in the order they were originally released, or you could play them in the chronological story order in which they canonically slot together in the official timeline.

Metroid Dread, if you were wondering, is a sequel to Metroid Fusion from 2002. But Nintendo worked on Metroid Dread with the developers at MercurySteam, who previously made 2017’s Metroid: Samus Returns. Both of those would be strong choices if you’re looking for something to play before or after Metroid Dread.

But if you’re dedicated to playing through the Metroid games in some sort of sensible order, below we’ll break down your two main options. the release date order and the chronological story order.

Metroid games in order of release

If you want to play through the exact experience that Metroid fans have enjoyed over the last few decades, you might want to play the Metroid games in order of their original release dates. If that’s what you fancy doing, this is the order you’ll need to work to:

• Metroid (1986, NES)
• Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991, Game Boy)
• Super Metroid (1994, SNES)
• Metroid Fusion (2002, Game Boy Advance)
• Metroid Prime (2002, GameCube)
• Metroid: Zero Mission (2004, Game Boy Advance)
• Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2002, GameCube)
• Metroid Prime Pinball (2005, Nintendo DS)
• Metroid Prime Hunters (2006, Nintendo DS)
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007, Wii)
• Metroid Prime: Trilogy (2009, Wii. compiles Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3)
• Metroid: Other M (2010, Wii)
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force (2016, Nintendo 3DS)
• Metroid: Samus Returns (2017, Nintendo 3DS)
• Metroid Dread (2021, Nintendo Switch)
• Metroid Prime 4 (release date TBC, Nintendo Switch)

Metroid games in chronological story order

The list looks a bit different when you put the Metroid Games in story order, according to the overarching narrative of the games and how they all slot together. The first-person Metroid Prime subfranchise is actually quite early in Samus’ story, for example, despite those games being relatively recent releases.

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Plus, if you’re playing for the story alone, you don’t need to worry about spin-off titles like Metroid Prime Pinball. And you can also pick and choose between a couple of games at certain points, because some of the more recent games are remakes of the old ones. Starting at the beginning of Samus’ journey, this is the Metroid story order we’d recommend:

• Metroid (or its Game Boy Advance remake, Metroid: Zero Mission)
• Metroid Prime
• Metroid Prime Hunters
• Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force
• Metroid II: Return of Samus (or its 3DS remake, Metroid: Samus Returns)
• Super Metroid
• Metroid: Other M
• Metroid Fusion
• Metroid Dread

Note: we’d assume that the in-development Metroid Prime 4 will slot into the story between Corruption and Federation Force, but not much has actually been said about the game as of yet. We’ll add it to this order when we find out more.

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Where to buy all the Metroid games

Sadly, a lot of the classic Metroid games are not available on the Nintendo Switch, so you might struggle to find the game you want to play before or after Metroid Dread.

Nintendo’s various digital services provide some help, but you’ll need to dust off some older hardware if you really want to play through everything.

At the time of writing, these are the main options to think about when it comes to buying/playing all the Metroid games:

• Metroid. available on Nintendo Switch Online’s NES library (£13.99 for a year from CD Keys) or physical NES cartridge (£35 from CeX)
• Metroid II: Return of Samus. available on 3DS Virtual Console (£3.59 from Nintendo) or physical Game Boy cartridge (£10 from CeX)
• Super Metroid. available on Nintendo Switch Online’s SNES library (£13.99 for a year from CD Keys) or physical SNES cartridge (£45 from CeX)
• Metroid Fusion. available on Wii Virtual console (£6.29 from Nintendo) or physical Game Boy Advance cartridge
• Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3. available on Wii as the Metroid Prime Trilogy (£17.99 from Nintendo)
• Metroid: Zero Mission. available on Wii U Virtual console (£6.29 from Nintendo) or physical Game Boy Advance cartridge (£90 from CeX)
• Metroid Prime Pinball. available on physical DS cartridge (£28 from CeX)
• Metroid Prime Hunters. available on Wii U Virtual Console (£8.99 from Nintendo)
• Metroid: Other M. available on Wii U (£17.99 from Nintendo) or physical Wii disc (£3.50 from CeX)
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force. available as a digital download (£34.99 from Nintendo) or physical 3DS cartridge (£8 from CeX)
• Metroid: Samus Returns. available as a digital download (£39.99 from Nintendo) or physical 3DS cartridge (£59.99 from Amazon)
• Metroid Dread. available as a digital download (£49.99 from Nintendo) or physical Nintendo Switch cartridge (£48.75 from Amazon)
• Metroid Prime 4. pre-orders haven’t opened yet, but you can register interest on the Nintendo website

Best Metroid games ranked

Whichever order you choose to play the Metroid games in, you might find yourself wanting to skip to the best games in the franchise rather than wading through every single title on the list. With that in mind, we’ve gone looking for data on which Metroid games are the best.

According to data from Metacritic and GameRankings.com (two review aggregator sites that merged in 2019), this is how the critical scores for the Metroid games have averaged out over the years, starting with the best rated and working our way down the list:

• Metroid Prime on GameCube (97%)
• Super Metroid on SNES (96%)
• Metroid Prime 2 on GameCube (92%)
• Metroid Fusion on Game Boy Advance (92%)
• Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii (91%)
• Metroid Prime 3 on Wii (90%)
• Metroid: Zero Mission on Game Boy Advance (89%)
• Metroid Dread on Switch (88%)
• Metroid: Samus Returns on 3DS (85%)
• Metroid Prime Hunters on DS (85%)
• Metroid Prime Pinball on DS (79%)
• Metroid 2: Return of Samus on Game Boy (79%)
• Metroid: Other M on Wii (79%)
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force on 3DS (64%)
• Metroid (58%)

It’s worth noting that the 58% score just there was actually awarded to the Game Boy Advance re-release of the original Metroid. Metacritic’s data doesn’t date back far enough for the NES original.

With all of this knowledge at your disposal, you should now be able to play through whichever Metroid games take your fancy in the order of your choosing. Have fun!

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Metroid Dread: 8 Things You Should Know

Set to launch on October 8th, 2021 for Nintendo Switch, Metroid Dread is just around the bend, and it still doesn’t quite seem real. The game had a pretty troubled past, having been stuck in development hell for well over ten years.

Many players doubted it would ever see a release, so its surprise announcement and fixed 2021 release date this year blew everyone’s socks off. Metroid Dread will follow our favorite intergalactic bounty hunter, Samus, as she explores planet ZDR to look into a strange transmission sent to the Galactic Federation.

As you’d expect from a Metroid game, Metroid Dread will feature plenty of exploration, backtracking, secrets, and unlockable abilities, as well as some new features for an even more fast-paced, hectic experience.

Looking for another reason (or eight) to get excited about the new Samus adventure? Here are six things you should know about Metroid Dread.

It’s a Sequel to Metroid Fusion

Metroid Dread is a direct sequel to Metroid Fusion, taking place after the events of the last game’s finale.

After receiving mysterious footage that suggests the X Parasites are still alive despite initially being believed to be destroyed, the Galactic Federation dispatches a unit of E.M.M.I. robots to investigate the source of the transmission on planet ZDR.

After arriving on the planet, the robots strangely disappear. Due to her immunity against the X Parasites, Samus Aran is sent to ZDR to discover whether they really are still in existence.

It Will Conclude the Current 2D Metroid Saga Storyline

Metroid Dread will bring the 2D Metroid saga’s current story arc, which started with the original game in 1986, to an end. There are four games (soon to be five) in the 2D series so far, including Metroid, Metroid 2: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion.

The next entry is the final chapter of Samus’s involvement and relationship with the Metroids, so it will be a bittersweet experience, and hopefully one that will have a satisfying conclusion.

Don’t worry, Metroid Dread won’t be the last game in the 2D series, just the last one in the current five-part saga.

Although there are no specifics just yet, Yoshio Sakamoto, producer and director of the Metroid series, did reveal that a new episode in the series is currently in the planning stage, focusing on a new story and adventure.

It’s the First New 2D Metroid Game In Almost 20 Years

Metroid Dread is the first new 2D side-scrolling Metroid entry in nearly two decades, the last one being Metroid Fusion back in 2002. Despite only being announced this year, Metroid Dread had actually been in the works for well over ten years.

Rumors of a new 2D Metroid game started circulating in 2004, around the time Metroid: Zero Mission on the Game Boy Advance launched. Fan suspicions were then confirmed in 2005 when a new Metroid game, known as Metroid Dread, for the Nintendo DS was revealed.

Unfortunately, Metroid Dread slipped under the radar for two years after its 2005 announcement, and by 2007, the project was canceled.

That wasn’t the end of Metroid Dread’s rocky and messy development history, though. In 2008, a working prototype of the game had been made and was shown privately to Nintendo of America staff around the time of E3 in 2009.

However, the game yet again vanished into thin air, and most people considered it vaporware at this point.

The game’s troubled development process was apparently due to limitations of the DS hardware, which Yoshio Sakamoto felt were too restrictive for what he had planned for Metroid Dread.

Given the game’s history and on/off development, you can probably imagine everyone’s surprise when Metroid Dread was announced at a Nintendo Direct earlier this year, with a set release date to boot.

If only we could get the same good news for Metroid Prime 4, another game with a complicated past that seems forever trapped in development.

Dread Features a Recap of Metroid’s Plot

Normally, jumping into a game’s sequel having not played earlier entries isn’t the best idea, as you won’t have the faintest idea of the story or know what’s going on. Metroid Dread, on the other hand, can be played even if it’s your first time diving into the 2D Metroid series.

The game will feature a prologue scene (similar to the one included at the start of Super Metroid) that will recap the series’ story so far and detail basic plot points.

This will help catch up new players with the story, as well as veteran players who need to be brought up to speed – Metroid Fusion did release close to 20 years ago, after all.

Yoshio Sakomoto also specified himself that new players don’t need to have played through the previous games in the saga to enjoy Metroid Dread and understand the plot.

That being said, the entire saga is fantastic, with Super Metroid, as many fans and critics would agree, being the king of them all. If you like the look of the latest installment, you should definitely play through the previous entries to get a better feel for the gameplay and story.

Samus Will Have Old and Brand New Abilities

Samus will have a mixture of old and new abilities in Metroid Dread to help her clear out enemies, solve puzzles, and explore areas.

Her trademark Screw Attack, Space Jump, and Grapple Beam are among some of the old skills you’ll be able to use in Metroid Dread, so veteran players will feel right at home in Metroid Dread.

The new abilities Samus gets access to are by far the most exciting, though, and help mix up her playstyle. Phantom Cloak, Slide, and Spider Magnet are just a few of the new tricks Samus has up her sleeve.

Phantom Cloak allows Samus to turn invisible for a limited time, which is helpful for sneaking past enemies you don’t want to engage in combat with. It’s also the first time Samus has had a stealth-based upgrade for her suit.

The Slide ability is pretty self-explanatory – it lets Samus slide through small crevices and gaps without needing to stop and transform into a ball.

Finally, Spider Magnet allows you to grip onto and move along magnetic strips located on surfaces, while also being able to shoot and counter-attack.

You Can Aim and Move Independently

In previous 2D Metroid games, Samus was unable to aim up and down independently or shoot accurately without being locked into place, which could feel a little clunky at times.

While Samus Returns, a remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus, introduced free-aim so you could aim precisely in all angles, you couldn’t move while doing so.

This has been rectified in Metroid Dread, as due to the dual analog controls on the Switch, Samus can now move and aim from all directions in a 360-degree range. You’ll be able to shoot while running, jumping, or gripping onto specific ledges and walls.

The new mechanic will make for much smoother and satisfying gameplay, as well as make it feel more interactive and fast-paced.

Samus’ “New” Suit Isn’t Actually New

In trailers of Metroid Dread’s gameplay, Samus is seen wearing a white and blue version of her suit, a lot different from previous iterations. Her Metroid Dread suit was initially believed to be simply a new design, but it’s actually the organic suit from Metroid Fusion reverting back to its original state.

After Samus was attacked by the X Parasites and injected with the Metroid vaccine in Metroid Fusion, her suit took quite a beating and transformed significantly. In Metroid Dread, she is beginning to heal from the infection that almost took her life, so her suit is starting to return to its initial, mechanical Power Suit form.

An Old Villain Will Return

Metroid Dread will see the return of Kraid, now the biggest and meanest reptilian alien you’ll ever have the displeasure of meeting. Kraid first made his debut as one of the bosses in the original Metroid.

Back then, he was a spiky, small green lizard who wasn’t exactly intimidating. He received a few reworks in Super Metroid and Zero Mission but has been missing from the series since 2004.

In a recent trailer, Samus is shown meeting Kraid in a dark containment chamber. He lunges at her menacingly with some rather scary-looking teeth but is held back by chains.

Kraid has come a long way since his first appearance in Metroid – he’s been given a massive makeover (literally) and is, frankly, terrifying.

Life-long fans of Metroid and Kraid will no doubt get hit with a wave of nostalgia when they play Metroid Dread. New players, on the other hand, will probably get a pretty good scare with his new appearance.

Metroid Dread launches on October 8th, 2021 for Nintendo Switch.

Metroid Dread popularity creates sales spike for previous Metroid titles on Wii U 3DS

Now that Metroid Dread is finally in the hands of Nintendo Switch owners around the world, previous entries in the Metroid franchise are seeing a noticeable sales boost on other hardware.

Thanks to the Virtual Console offerings on Wii U, Metroid Fusion, the previous mainline series entry that released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance, is currently sitting at #1 on the eShop sales charts in the UK. Metroid: Zero Mission, the GBA remake of the original Metroid, follows closely behind at #2, with Metroid Prime Trilogy and Super Metroid placed at #7 and #9 respectively.

As for the 3DS eshop, Metroid: Samus Returns, the 2017 remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus, comes in at #3.

Metroid Dread is available now for Nintendo Switch, and has reportedly become the fastest selling Metroid game in the UK. It’s great to see Samus Aran back in the spotlight and getting the attention she much deserves.

thoughts on “Metroid Dread popularity creates sales spike for previous Metroid titles on Wii U 3DS”

Looks like everyone’s getting the Metroid bug. It’s a good bug to have. Well, when a new game makes previous titles start to sell, it’s gotta be good!

or less to pirate all old Metroid games because you can’t play them on Nintendo consoles. Also they casually mentioned that you can pirate Metroid Dread already.

So then Nintendo should start a sequel immediately and not wait another 19 years then. They know the sequel will sell.so why sit there and not work.on a sequel to keep the Metroid Franchise fresh? If they work on the sequel right away it could be on time for the next generation console.

You do know that Sakamoto tried to develop this game twice before, right? As far back as 2005. They kept hitting roadblocks that forced them to drop the project because the vision he had for the game couldn’t be attained. What exactly those roadblocks were I don’t believe have been explicitly stated (I’m guessing it was something about the E.M.M.I. AI) but he kept the game in his back until things were finally the way they needed to be for the game to work as he intended.

While its true the game was canceled multiple times, that explanation is an obvious lie and nonsense. There’s nothing the EMMI AI is doing that’s any more complicated than what the Metal Gear series was doing on the MSX. Sakamoto is lying to you because “We canceled it because it wasn’t very good.” or “We canceled it because it didn’t match our projected portfolio of games for teenagers that quarter” are not answers that gamers like to hear.

Even if it is true, it’s probably because Sakamoto’s own dev team couldn’t get it to work themselves and was too stubborn to hire a 3rd party dev team that COULD make the vision work. If Other M had been better received, I think we could have seen Dread years ago from Team Ninja. (Sakamoto probably didn’t want to admit Other M failed because of him so blamed the 3rd party.) Then Samus Returns from MercurySteam a few short years ago did better he gave the job of Dread to them. Least this is my theory, anyway.

“They know the sequel will sell.so why sit there and not work.” They don’t sit there and not work. Its because they’re working nonstop that specific games don’t get made. Why make a new Metroid, a series that even at its best has never been one of their best performers, when they can apply the same sources and make Mario Party #6743 that will sell better? It isn’t about whether or not the game will make money. Its about how much money the game will make compared to what else they could do in the same time at equal or lesser cost. I’m betting Super Mario 3D All Stars made more money than Dread will make, and that was an easy low budget port job. So they sit down and look at how all the Switch games performed, look at how much they cost to make, and go for the sequels that hand out the best ratio. Expect Super Mario Galaxy 2 remastered before Metroid 6.

I don’t think Mario 3D All-Stars makes a good example here. That sold the way it did because of Nintendo’s bullshit FOMO approach and artificially limiting its availability of online sale. Only making so many physical copies is one thing and makes a certain amount of sense for collection’s sake, but pulling the digital version as well was sketchy.

Metroid Dread – Game

Metroid Dread is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo and MercurySteam and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on October 8, 2021. Set after the events of Metroid Fusion (2002), players control bounty hunter Samus Aran as she investigates the source of a mysterious transmission on the planet ZDR. It retains the side-scrolling gameplay of previous 2D Metroid games and incorporates stealth elements. It was the first original 2D Metroid game in 19 years.

Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto conceived Dread for the Nintendo DS in the mid-2000s, but development ended due to technical limitations. Industry commentators expressed interest in a new 2D Metroid game, and listed Dread in their “most wanted” lists. After their work on Metroid: Samus Returns in 2017, Sakamoto appointed MercurySteam to develop Dread, the first original side-scrolling Metroid game since Metroid Fusion. Nintendo announced it at E3 2021.

Metroid Dread received critical acclaim and won the award for Best Action/Adventure Game at The Game Awards 2021. It became the fastest-selling Metroid game in Japan, the UK and the US, and has sold nearly 3 million copies, making it the best-selling Metroid game.

GAMEPLAY

Metroid Dread is an action-adventure game in which players control bounty hunter Samus Aran as she explores the planet ZDR. It retains the side-scrolling gameplay of previous Metroid games, alongside the free aim and melee attacks added in Samus Returns (2017). As the player explores, they discover new items and weapons, allowing them to access new areas.

Dread adds stealth elements, with Samus avoiding the EMMI robots in certain areas by hiding, reducing her noise, and using the Phantom Cloak, camouflage that makes her invisible but slows her movement. If an EMMI catches Samus, the player has two brief chances to perform melee counters and escape. If they fail, Samus is killed. EMMIs can only be destroyed when Samus obtains the temporary “Omega Blaster” upgrade, which is lost upon using it to destroy one; however, destroying an EMMI grants Samus a new permanent upgrade. Upgrades can also be found by finding Chozo statues or destroying a Core-X like in previous games. Players unlock images in an in-game gallery based on their completion time, difficulty level, and percentage of items collected.

STORY

The Galactic Federation receives video evidence that the X, a dangerous species of parasite that can mimic any creature it infects, survives on the remote planet ZDR. They dispatch seven EMMI (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers) robots to ZDR to investigate, but lose contact with them shortly after. The Federation sends Samus Aran to ZDR to investigate.

Samus encounters a Chozo warrior deep underground, who destroys the exit, defeats her in combat and strips her suit of most of its abilities. Samus is instructed by her ship’s computer, Adam, to find another path to the surface and return to her ship. Samus is attacked by the EMMI, which have been reprogrammed to consider her hostile. She escapes and absorbs a mysterious energy from one of the planet’s central units. The energy temporarily enables the Omega Blaster, with which she destroys the EMMI and regains some of her abilities.

In Ferenia, Samus is captured by another EMMI, but is saved by a Chozo named Quiet Robe, who deactivates them. Quiet Robe explains that, long ago, the scientific Thoha tribe create the Metroids as a mean to counter the X parasites on the planet SR388. But after the Metroids went out of control, the Thoha banded with the warrior Mawkin tribe to contain them. The Thoha intended to destroy the planet with the Metroids in it, but Raven Beak, the Mawkin leader, wanted to use the Metroids as bioweapons to conquer the Galaxy. He slaughtered the Thoha tribe and spared Quiet Robe so the Metroids could be controlled with his Thoha DNA. He planned to use ZDR to house Metroids, but had to contain an infestation of the X while Samus eradicated the Metroids from SR388. Raven Beak reprogrammed the EMMI robots and lured Samus to ZDR to extract the Metroid DNA implanted in her during the events of Fusion, which would allow him to revive the Metroids.

Quiet Robe opens a barrier to allow Samus to progress before he is assassinated by one of Raven Beak’s robotic soldiers. Adam encourages Samus to defeat Raven Beak and destroy ZDR. In Elun, Samus encounters the X parasites and inadvertently releases them into the rest of the planet; one of the X possesses Quiet Robe’s corpse and reactivates the remaining EMMI. Samus arrives on the surface, where she is attacked by the last of the EMMI; she destroys it by sapping its energy with her hand, a power gained from her Metroid DNA. As a side effect, Samus is slowly becoming a Metroid.

On the floating fortress of Itorash, Samus confronts Raven Beak, who has been masquerading as Adam. Raven Beak reveals that he spared her before so that she would awaken her Metroid powers, at which point he would clone her to create an army of the most powerful Metroid of all. Samus battles Raven Beak and is nearly killed, but the Metroid abilities within her grant her incredible power. Samus attacks Raven Beak, draining energy from Itorash and causing it to crash into ZDR. Raven Beak is infected by an X, and Samus uses her newfound powers to destroy him. Samus retreats to her ship as ZDR begins to self-destruct, but is unable to use it due to her energy-draining Metroid powers. The X possessing Quiet Robe appears and allows itself to be absorbed into Samus to neutralize her Metroid abilities, allowing her to escape the planet before it explodes.

Development

Early efforts

Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto conceived Metroid Dread as a Nintendo DS sequel to Metroid Fusion (2002). It came from the concept of having Samus followed by “dread” on an unfamiliar planet. Sakamoto’s inspiration was “the tension surrounding the SA-X from Metroid Fusion and how we wanted to take that style of gameplay and put it into what is considered to be the normal Metroid gameplay”. Sakamoto did not want Dread to be a horror game, but did want to explore “fear-based gameplay”.

Sakamoto attempted to have Dread developed for the DS at least twice, but the technology was too limited to create the game he envisioned. The first attempt was made around 2005, while a second attempt was made around 2008. A playable prototype was shown to Nintendo Software Technology and Nintendo of America staff at E3 2009. The project was reportedly not titled Metroid Dread at that point and had an art style similar to Metroid Fusion. The prototype did not meet Sakamoto’s expectations, so development was halted. A major reason for this was that Sakamoto’s desire for an intimidating, unsettling antagonist was difficult to achieve with the DS hardware.

The title Metroid Dread first appeared on a 2005 internal Nintendo software list of “key DS games set to be announced in the future”, triggering expectation that it would appear at the E3 convention in 2005 or 2006. By late 2005, rumors spread that Metroid Dread had been canceled or was in development hell. A release date of November 2006 was listed in the February issue of Official Nintendo Magazine. The March issue listed a release date for 2006, with a suggestion to look to E3 2006 for further details, but the game did not appear.

A message reading “Experiment status report update: Metroid project ‘Dread’ is nearing the final stages of completion” appears in the 2007 game Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Corruption director Mark Pacini denied any connection and said that it was coincidental. Wired writer Chris Kohler expressed skepticism over Retro’s denial; he felt it would be believable if Pacini said that it was a joke, but the claim that it was a coincidence was not. In the Japanese version, which launched later that year, the message instead refers to a “dread class turret”.

Later discussion

In 2010, Sakamoto said that Nintendo would “start from scratch” if they returned to the Dread project. He also said that they were “waiting and watching and reading the Комментарии и мнения владельцев to see what people are interested in before we make any comment on the project”. In other interviews, he denied that the Wii game Metroid: Other M (2010) and the Nintendo 3DS game Metroid: Samus Returns (2017) were connected to Dread. In May 2010, IGN ‘s Craig Harris said that the story for Metroid Dread was complete, and that Nintendo was able to “bring it back at any time”.

Following the game’s initial listing, critics expressed an interest in Metroid Dread or a similar 2D side-scrolling Metroid project being revived. In 2011, IGN cited it as a “game in danger”. K. Thor Jensen included it in his list of “video games you will never, ever play”. He felt that Metroid: Other M was a disappointment and it made him nostalgic for Dread. Thomas East included Dread and its apparent reference in Corruption in their list of “11 amazing Metroid facts and secrets”. East added that he was hopeful for a possible 3DS release.

Marc Zablotny, a writer for the Official Nintendo Magazine, included it in his 2013 wishlist, saying he was more interested in what Dread “stood for rather than the specific game itself”. Zablotny later included it in a list of the “15 more Nintendo Games you never got to play” and called it one of the most infamous cancelled Nintendo games. Nick Chester from Destructoid criticized Nintendo for its FOCUS on games such as the Brain Age series over Metroid.

Revival on Nintendo Switch

During Nintendo’s E3 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation on June 15, Nintendo announced that Metroid Dread was in development for the Nintendo Switch, with a release date of October 8, 2021. Dread was developed by the Spanish developer MercurySteam, the studio that developed Metroid: Samus Returns, and Nintendo EPD. Sakamoto said that Nintendo revived the project after seeing what MercurySteam could do with its technology on the Switch. Dread is the first fully original side-scrolling Metroid game since Fusion.