If there is one thing Nintendo is known for it’s their legendary IP’s. The franchise that created Mario, Zelda, and yes even Metroid. However, many Metroid fans will be quick to tell others about how Nintendo has frequently left them feeling forgotten and underappreciated compared to some of Nintendo’s other franchises. Despite being loved, and creating an entire genre of games, Nintendo has historically been hesitant to release new Metroid games. That said, we know Metroid Prime 4 is in development and they did release Metroid: Samus Returns back in 2017. So everyone’s favorite space bounty hunter has been getting a little more appreciation as of late.
Even with the recent love for the Metroid franchise, nobody expected Nintendo’s announcement during their E3 Nintendo Direct. A new 2D Metroid game, Metroid Dread. While not many details were given, it seems pretty clear that this is a sequel to Metroid Fusion. You know, the Game Boy Advanced game that came out back in 2002. To say that this caught everyone off guard would be an understatement!
The gameplay we saw in the trailer was everything we’d want to see in a 2D Metroid game. Exploration, a large map to explore, and power-ups. However, it’s been almost 20 years since the last official 2D Metroid game and that means that everyone is expecting something a little more modern. The trailer gave us a few signs that we will be getting a modern experience with cutscenes and a couple of cool uses of 3D here and there.
While everyone was expecting Metroid Prime 4 news, this caught all of us off guard and it’s a welcome surprise. The Prime games are really fun first-person adventures, but there’s a whole army of Metroid fans who grew up playing the original 2D games and have been asking for a sequel to Fusion for years. Metroid Dread is the gift we always wanted but never expected to get and that’s awesome.