Summary

• Metroid isn't as high of a priority for Nintendo as Mario or Zelda, despite its influence on the Metroidvania genre.
• Most classic Metroid games are available on the Switch, making it a great time to get into the series.
• Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Metroid Prime Pinball, and Metroid: Other M are considered some of the weaker entries in the series.

It's sad to realize that Metroid isn't an important priority for Nintendo as much as Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon. It frankly should be, considering it played a huge part in birthing the Metroidvania genre commonly seen today. The original 1986 title was iconic, and the moment Samus♛ was revealed as a woman shocked dozens of Japanese players in a country where female equality was poor, to say the least.

Most of the games are incredible andꦦ still hold up all these years later. To boot, a lot of classic Metroid games are available on the Switch, and right now's a better time than▨ ever to get into the series. Which games are the best, though?

Updated on July 14, 2024, by Dominic Allen: Finally, Metroid Prime 4 has a release window of 2025, and most mainline Metroid games are available on Switch now, unlike three years ago. There are still some missing games like Prime 2 or 3, but marathoning Metroid before Prime 4 is a definite possibility on Switch, necessitating an update. Most games are phenomenal, but there are a few stinkers worth pointing out.

14 💝 Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Not What The People Wanted

It’s en꧑tirely possible that Metroid Prime: Federation Force could have been a well-received, fun m♛ultiplayer shooter if Nintendo had decided to make it its own IP but, as it stands, Federation Force is little more than an insult to Metroid’s legacy.

Fans had been clamoring for another🅷 Prime entry since 2007, so when that beautiful logo showed up at E3 2015, it seemed like Nintendo had been listening to fans the entire time. The trailer that followed, however, proved that while they were listening, they weren’t quite hearing what fansไ were saying.

No Samus, no dark atmosphere, and a cutesy art style that in no way matched the aesthetic the series had been building for 30 years. Metroid Prime: Federation Force barely managed to sell 4,000 copies in Japan and was met with critical disdain by most reviewers. It was a game that everyone wanted but desig🐻ned in a way that satisfied nobody.

13 Metroid Prime Pinball ❀

Not Even Close To The Gottlieb Super Mario Bros. Machine

Pinball is fun. Metroid is fun. This does not necessarily mean that a pinball game themed around Metroid will be fun. It’s not offensiv▨e like Federation Force or Other M, but Metroid Prime Pinball isn’t really a Metroid game. It tries to capture some of th🐽e atmosphere present in the series, but it feels a bit misguided considering it’s still, well, pinball.

The Nintendo DS also made it difficult to see where the pinball was going to land when it was shifting between the top and bottom screen, which definitely detracts from the pinball experience. Frustratingly, Metroid Prime Pinball is plagued 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:by far too many minigames, ꦡso if you’re actually enjoying the pinball at all, i♋t won’t last.

It’s 🍌not really a Metroid game, and it’s a pretty shallow pinball game, but it is harmless. In hindsight, it’s pretty obvious Nintendo just wanted to tide fans over during the wait for Metroid Prime Hunters.

12 Met꧒roid: Other 🐽M

Adam Didn't Authorize This To Be A Good Game

Metroid: Other M killed any goodwill the series had up until its launch. It was hyped up as a hybrid of the traditional Metroid gameplay mixed with Pri✤me’s first-person elements, but it was bogged down by one of the worst stories Nintendo has put out and a character assassination unlike any other.

The thing is, Other M actually can be fun, believe it or not. The side-scrolling sections aren’t terrible by any means, and there’s some clever design found there,🥃 but the story is so preꦛvalent that there’s just no forgiving its flaws, even if on a technical level everything works.

Samus' character is the point of contention here. She had been built up 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:as a strong protagonist th༺roughout the entire series, but Other M spits on all her development. In Other M she is a weak, timid person unable to make any of her own actions. The gameplay’s good when it’s there, but everything else is just too offensively bad to ignore.

11 ♓ Metroid 2: Return Of Samus

A Disappointing Sequel

Metroid 2: Return of Samus isn’t so much bad a♉s it is boring and short. Return of Samus, while tighter on a technical level than the original Metroid, suffers from hardware limitations. Link’s Awakening and Pokemon prove that a Game Boy game can have plenty of atmosphere and still be in black and white. At its launch, Nintendo hadn’t quite figured out how to bring the dreary mood of Metroid onto a handheld.

The result is a rath♈er blank and empty world that, funnily enough, doesn’t feel lifeless in the right ways. Return of Samus introduced some convenient elements that made it easier than the original, like save stations, but it’s debatable that it was made too easy. It’s far from a bad gameꦦ, but it’s really not worth playing either.

Metroid 2: Return of Samus is available as a playabl💃e Game Boy title on Switch Online and is defaulted to the color⛎ized version seen on Game Boy Color.

10 Metroid

A Rocky, But Important Start Like Many Other Series' First Entry

Metroid is a great game with great music and great level design, but it’s also an absolute nightmare to traverse when you’re accustomed to games that actually give you direction and help you out. Metroid is a hostile game, and it will stop at nothing to murder you at every turn. The design doesn’t hold up so well in the modern era of gaming, but it’s ꦺstill a great look at what video game priorities used to be.

It’s not like🌌 Metroid was just a hard game, though; there’s some ingenious level design that leads to more secrets than you can count, and the non-linearity is as fun today as it was back in 1986. Metroid’s biggest problem - that still persists to this day - is that it’s hard to tell where you are and where to go. But, hey, it’s all part of the experience.

Metroid is available as a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:playable NES title on Switch Online.

9 Metroid Prime Hunters ♏ 🌱

A Solid 3D Portable Metroid Game

Metroid Prime Hunters is Federation Force done right. It’s almost hilarious how well Nintendo did with an online Metroid Prime in 2🔯006 compared to its 2016 attempt. Every playable character has their own unique playstyle, each map is designed with the hunters in mind, and the story - while simple and linear - actually manages to replicate Metroid Prime’s atmosphere on the Nintendo DS.

The real meat of Metroid Prime Hunters, which kept people going back to it for years, was its online and local play. It’s baffling how Nintendo failed to𓆉 latch onto online play, considering how well they did it with Hunters. Servers ran well and 👍were relatively stable without much trouble. Plus, the sheer variety available was outstanding. Nintendo has since shut off all online capabilities, but Metroid Prime Hunters’ legacy will always live on.

8 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes ♍

The Hardest And Longest Metroid Prime, But Not The Best

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is easily🐠 the worst of the Metroid Prime Trilogy, but it’s still a great game. Echoes stands out in the trilo𓆉gy as being the longest and hardest one. Constant backtracking elongates the story a bit too much, and enemies can be bullet sponges at times. That said, Echoes also offers the darkest and most creative design of any Metroid game, period.

At times, Echoes can feel like a legitimate nightmare (not the Other M kind), forcing Samus to survive in a hostile environment. There’s more combat present than in the original Prime, but it works to Ec꧅hoes’ advantage, really hammering home t♋he danger Samus is in this time around.

It may not be the perfect sequel and it might not strike the same chords the original Primeꦆ does, but Echoes is a worthy successor that pushes the series further.

7 Metroid Prime 3: Cor🙈ruption 😼

A Phenomenal Early Wii Game

The grand finale of the original Metroid Prime trilogy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption stands as one of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:finest games on the Nintendo Wii and one of the best endings to a trilogy.

The motion controls are some of the best on the Wii and make shooting incredibly accurately, more so than the prior games. Corruption is a bit more story-heavy than its earlier entries but, unlike Other M, it’s actually a♊n interesting plot that ties up Samus’ arc neatly.

Its only real fault is that it’s on the linear end of things and not in a good way. It can be a bit discouraging going from the first two Prime games and then hitting Corruption and realizing you won💙’t be doing too much exploring, but everything else is so strong that it’s easy enough to overlook and forgive.

6 🍸 ♏ Metroid Fusion

Solid In All Elements

The Metroid series has always been known for its dark atmosphere, but Metroid Fusion takes it to an all-new level by ratcheting up the horror elements. Metroid Fusion is terrifying. As Samus makes her way through an abandoned space sta༺tion, she’s being hunted by a doppelganger of herself hellbent on murdering her at every encounter, and you must run.

There’s a real feeling of adrenaline in hearing SA-X’s theme start playing and knowing you have mere seconds to find an escape route before you’re torn to pieces. An isolated and dreary narrative also gives weight to Fusion, developi🐼ng Samus with careful grace and consideration.

Fusion is a bit on the linear side, but each area is designed with that in mind, so it never feels like you aren’t finding things on your own. Plus, the linearity lets it be even scarier than 🦂it would have been otherwise.

Metroid Fusion is available as a playable Game Boy Adv꧑ance title on Switch Online.

5 ♋ ෴ Metroid: Zero Mission

The Best Remake You Could Ask For

A remake of the original Metroid and the last 2D entry in the series developed by Nintendo. Metroid: Zero Mission is one of, if not, the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:best games on the Game Boy Advance. It takes everything ⭕wrong with the origina🥂l Metroid and fixes it without losing any of the integrity of the NES Classic.

There’s direction now, you havꦇe access to a map, and you can save. Sജtill, the game retains its difficulty: the world is still hostile, and nothing has been removed. It’s a gold standard for remakes, showing that you can take a game and properly update it for a modern audience. There are new additions, like a playable epilogue, that really make Zero Mission more than a simple remake.

More than anything, Zero Miꦑssion just feels great to play thanks to an incredibly comfortable control scheme. It al💜so introduced Zero Suit Samus so you’re welcome.

Metroid: Zಞero Missionไ is available as a playable Game Boy Advance title on Switch Online.