One of the biggest announcements at E3 2021 took place during the Nintendo Direct presentation. It was at that show when Nintendo finally announcedMetroid Dread, the first new 2DMetroidgame in nearly two decades, serving as the fifth and final installment of the story arc that started with the NES original.Metroid Dread’s announcement was met with much fanfare, with fans clearly excited to play a new main seriesMetroidgame after so many years.
If social media is any indication, the excitement surroundingMetroid Dreadseemingly saw an increase inSuper Metroidplayers as some were inspired to check out Nintendo’s sci-fi action series, either to revisit the classic game or experience it for the first time. However, it’s safe to say that those who are new toMetroidmay find it confusing. After all,Metroid Dreadis billed as the fifth game in theMetroidseries, yet there’s multiple versions of previousMetroidgames not to mention theMetroid Primeseries and other spin-offs.
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For those who don’t know where to start, these are the four games with plots that tie directly to the events ofMetroid Dread. Anyone wanting to verify they’re call caught up forMetroid Dread’s story will want to make an effort to play these titles when they can.
Metroid: Zero Mission
TheoriginalMetroidgame on the NESis available to play through the Switch Online subscription service, and so if fans can’t track down a copy of the remake,Metroid: Zero Mission, it will certainly suffice. However,Metroid: Zero Missionis definitely the preferred way to experience the originalMetroid, as it features some new gameplay sections, improved graphics, and various quality of life changes to make it generally more accessible.
The only problem is thatMetroid: Zero Missionis not available to play on the Nintendo Switch. At the time of this writing, the only way to playMetroid: Zero Missionlegally is to purchase the Game Boy Advance cartridge of the game, which isn’t terribly expensive online, or buy the digital version through the Wii U Virtual Console. There have been rumblings thatGame Boy Advance games will come to the Switch Online serviceat some point, but nothing substantial has actually materialized from those rumors.
Metroid: Samus Returns
Many of Nintendo’s big games, especially in the 1980s, had basically self-contained storylines, butMetroidhas always been an exception to that rule.Metroid 2: Return of Samuson theoriginal Game Boypicks up right where the first game left off from a narrative standpoint. Those that still have a Nintendo 3DS can playMetroid 2: Return of Samusthrough the Virtual Console, but the best bet is to play the remake,Metroid: Samus Returns, instead.
Metroid: Samus Returnson the 3DSwas one of the system’s last major exclusive games. Unfortunately, no Switch version exists forMetroid: Samus Returns, so those interested will still need to make sure that they have a 3DS handy.Metroid: Samus Returns, likeMetroid: Zero Missionbefore it, is a complete remake, offering vastly improved graphics, gameplay, and all kinds of other bells and whistles for fans to enjoy.
Super Metroid
Super Metroidis one of the easiest games that fans can get their hands on in anticipation ofMetroid Dread, as it is readily available through the Switch Online subscription service as one of thefree SNES games.Super Metroidis widely considered to be one of the best games in the series, if notthebest. It helped innovate the “Metroidvania” genre, which remains hugely popular to this day. Picking up where the story left off inMetroid 2: Return of Samus,Super Metroidadvances the plot forward significantly and tells a more engaging story.
Metroid Fusion
About eight years after the launch ofSuper Metroid, Nintendo followed it up with the Game Boy Advance gameMetroid Fusion. The events ofMetroid Fusionwill lead directly into the story ofMetroid Dread, so if there’s oneMetroidgames that fans want to play to prepare themselves forDread, then this is it.Metroid Fusionsees Samus content with an alien creature called X, which hunts her throughout a Biologic Space Laboratories station.
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Samus Aran’s cat and mouse game with X has already been compared toMetroid Dread’s stealth elements, with Samus pursued by a relentless robots known as EMMI. Considering this, fans may want to make it a point to playMetroid Fusionbefore they playMetroid Dread, but the problem isMetroid Fusion’s availability.Metroid Fusionis only playable on the Nintendo 3DS as part of the Ambassador Program, though it is available for the Wii U Virtual Console. As of this writing, there is no way to playMetroid Fusionon the Switch.
Do You Need to Play the Other Metroid Games Before Dread
While the four aforementionedMetroidgames have stories that directly tie intoMetroid Dread, there are a few otherMetroidgames. It’s highly unlikely that any of them will be required playing for those who want to catch up toMetroid Dread’s story. However, sinceMetroid Dreadis chronologically the last game in the timeline, technically all of them precede it and some fans may feel the desire to play them.
Out of those, one can’t go wrong with any of theMetroid Primegames, though stuff likeMetroid Prime PinballorFederation Forcecan be safely skipped. ThedivisiveMetroid: Other Mis something fans may want to consider checking out, as it takes place between the events ofSuper MetroidandMetroid Fusion, but even then nothing in that story will likely have any bearing on the events of the upcomingMetroid Dread.
Metroid Game Chronology
Luckily, theMetroidgame release order more or less matches the story chronology when it comes to the main series of2DMetroidgames. Things become much messier when taking the various spin-off games and thePrimesub-series into account, not to mention the remakes. With that in mind, here is the chronological order of the currently availableMetroidgames for anyone that wants to play everything in order.
As it stands, many of theseMetroidgames are only available on the consoles they originally released on or through theWii U’s Virtual Console service. That means those with only a Nintendo Switch are limited to playing the originalMetroidandSuper Metroid. All the otherMetroidgames will require additional hardware. WithMetroid Dread’s release date just a few months away, it seems unlikely that Nintendo will be bringing any of the otherMetroidgames to the Switch between now and then, but there’s always a chance.
And even if one doesn’t have time to play theotherMetroidgamesbut they still want to check outMetroid Dreadwhen it releases, the game’s story is unlikely to be a huge focus. It will definitely have narrative ties to its predecessors, but it’s not the kind of game where players will be completely lost if they don’t go back and play the older titles in the series.
Fans can expect to learn Dreadas we near its launch this October.
Metroid Dreadlaunches October 8, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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