Metroid is a series of action-adventure games created by Nintendo. In these games, players control Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates who try to use dangerous creatures called Metroids. The games mix the jumping and running style of Super Mario Bros. with the exploration of The Legend of Zelda, set in a science fiction world. Most Metroid games use side-scrolling views, while some 3D versions use a first-person perspective. Players fight alien enemies, collect power-ups, and explore the game world, which has few characters other than Samus.
The first Metroid game was made by Nintendo R&D1 and released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Metroid II: Return of Samus came out in 1991 for the Game Boy. Super Metroid (1994), released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, added more power-ups and a more detailed story. After a long break, the first 3D Metroid game, Metroid Prime, developed by Retro Studios, was released in 2002 for the GameCube, along with Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance. Later games included Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007) for the Wii.
Metroid: Other M (2010), made by Team Ninja for the Wii, was not well received by critics. After another long break, MercurySteam created a remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus, called Metroid: Samus Returns (2017), for the Nintendo 3DS. This was followed by Metroid Dread (2021) for the Nintendo Switch. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was released in 2025 for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 after a long development period.
By 2012, the Metroid series had sold more than 17.44 million copies. It has been called one of the best game franchises by many publications, and several Metroid games are listed among the greatest games ever made. The series appears in other Nintendo media, such as the Super Smash Bros. games. Other media include music, comics, and manga. Early Metroid games, along with the 1997 game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, helped create the Metroidvania subgenre, which features games with large, explorable side-scrolling levels. Samus Aran was one of the first well-known female characters in video games.
Gameplay
The Metroid series includes features from shooter, platformer, adventure, survival, and first-person games. The series is known for its non-linear progression and format where players explore alone, controlling only Samus Aran, with few or no other characters to interact with. Players earn items and power-ups for Samus’s cybernetic suit mainly through exploration, and sometimes by defeating alien creatures in real-time combat using the suit’s arm cannon. Many upgrades allow players to access new areas. A common upgrade is the Morph Ball, which lets Samus curl into a ball, roll into tight spaces, and plant bombs. Another well-known ability is the Shinespark, which lets Samus charge her Power Suit with energy and run and dash at high speeds. This powered suit can break through certain walls. While not required to finish the games, this ability helps players reach secret areas and complete tasks out of order, which is important for speedrunning.
The classic Metroid series uses 2D side-scrolling gameplay, while the Metroid Prime series uses a first-person perspective and first-person shooter mechanics. The 2010 game Other M uses a third-person shooter format.
The original Metroid was influenced by two Nintendo franchises: Mario, from which it borrowed platform-jumping mechanics, and The Legend of Zelda, from which it borrowed non-linear exploration. Metroid differed by creating a sense of solitude and foreboding. It was one of the first games to allow players to explore to the left, right, and back to previously visited areas to find hidden items and paths. Since the late 1990s, this style has been called "Metroidvania." According to Edge magazine, Metroid is described as "the thinking man's shooter," where weapons are used more for progression than combat, and environments present greater challenges than enemies.
The Metroid series is known for its unique video game music. Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka, who composed the original Metroid, aimed to create a score that made players feel like they were encountering a "living creature" with no clear distinction between music and sound effects. The main Metroid theme was only played after defeating Mother Brain, intended to give players a sense of relief. Kenji Yamamoto, who composed Super Metroid, created some themes by humming while riding his motorcycle. He was asked to compose Metroid Prime’s music to continue the series’ style. The Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound in Metroid Prime was mixed by a Dolby team member.
Developers from Retro Studios noted that the 6 MB memory limit for sound effects in Metroid Prime was essential for creating a high-quality soundtrack, as each sound had to be of high quality. Yamamoto used heavy drums, piano, chants, pipe clangs, and electric guitar. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption used the increased RAM of the Wii to include higher-quality audio. Kenji Yamamoto, who composed Super Metroid and the Prime trilogy, kept the music and themes dark and scary until the end of Metroid Prime 3, when uplifting music played during the credits.
Plot
The Metroid franchise is set in a futuristic universe where humans are part of a group called the Galactic Federation. Other species, like the Chozo, a bird-like race with advanced technology and skills in creating life, are also part of the Federation. The Federation’s main enemies are the Space Pirates, a group of villains from many different alien races who refuse to follow the Federation’s rules. They are led by Ridley, a dragon-like warlord, and plan to create powerful weapons using dangerous life forms to destroy the Federation and take control of space.
The Metroids are jellyfish-shaped creatures that feed on energy found in all living things. The Chozo created the Metroids to fight a dangerous virus called the “X” that threatened their civilization. Although the Metroids stopped the X, they became a danger to the Chozo when they changed into more deadly forms. Many games in the series focus on groups like the Space Pirates, the Galactic Federation, and some Chozo who try to use the Metroids as weapons, leading to conflicts.
The story follows Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who fights the Space Pirates and the Metroids. Samus was raised by the Chozo after her parents were killed in a Space Pirate attack led by Ridley. She served in the Galactic Federation’s military before becoming a bounty hunter, facing enemies like Ridley and Mother Brain, a powerful cybernetic being.
In the original Metroid and its remake, Zero Mission, Samus travels to the planet Zebes to stop the Space Pirates from using Metroids to make weapons. She defeats Mother Brain, Ridley, and another Space Pirate leader named Kraid.
In Metroid II and its remake, Samus Returns, the Galactic Federation orders Samus to eliminate all Metroids on their home planet, SR388. She kills the planet’s Metroid population but saves one young Metroid, which she takes to a research station. Later in Super Metroid, Ridley steals the young Metroid and takes it to Zebes, where the Space Pirates try to clone it. After defeating Ridley, Samus is nearly killed by Mother Brain but is saved by the grown Metroid, which sacrifices itself. Samus destroys Mother Brain, and Zebes explodes, ending her enemies.
In Metroid: Other M, Samus investigates the Bottle Ship, an abandoned research station, with a Galactic Federation team led by her former officer, Adam Malkovich. They fight bioweapons, including clones of enemies like Ridley and the Metroids. A revived Mother Brain, now in a human-like body, tries to control the Metroids, but Samus stops her, sacrificing Adam’s life. Samus later defeats a ghost-like creature named Phantoon and destroys the Bottle Ship.
In Metroid Fusion, Samus joins scientists on SR388, where she encounters the X parasites, which had disappeared after the Metroids were gone. The X take over a research station, and Samus is infected but cured with a vaccine made from the baby Metroid’s cells. She discovers the Federation secretly cloned Metroids and destroys the X by crashing the station into SR388.
In Metroid Dread, the Federation sends advanced machines called E.M.M.I. to investigate the planet ZDR, where X parasites have been found. Samus is sent to ZDR after contact is lost, facing the X and a Chozo criminal named Raven Beak, who wants to use Metroid DNA to create an army.
The Metroid Prime series, made by Retro Studios, is an official story that happens between Metroid and Metroid II. In Metroid Prime, Samus goes to Tallon IV to stop the Space Pirates from using a harmful substance called Phazon. She defeats a powerful version of Ridley and clears the planet of Phazon.
In Metroid Prime Hunters, Samus responds to a distress call in the Alimbic Cluster, where other bounty hunters, including Sylux, join her to fight a creature named Gorea.
In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus explores the planet Aether, which is split into two worlds by Phazon. One world is ruled by evil creatures called the Ing. She meets Dark Samus, a version of the Metroid Prime that looks like her. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Samus and other bounty hunters fight Dark Samus to stop her from spreading Phazon across the galaxy.
In Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Samus is mind-controlled by the Space Pirates. A group of soldiers called the Federation Force rescues her and destroys the Space Pirates.
In Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, set after Super Metroid, Samus helps stop a Space Pirate attack on a Galactic Federation facility on Tanamaar. The attack is led by Sylux, a rival bounty hunter who uses Metroids to control the pirates. A mysterious artifact activates, teleporting Samus and others to the planet Viewors. The planet’s extinct inhabitants, the Lamorn, predict a hero must plant a seed called Memory Fruit on another planet to preserve their legacy. After helping the Federation soldiers, Samus faces Sylux, who is too strong to defeat. Her friends sacrifice themselves so she can leave and complete the Lamorn’s task.
Development and history
The main people involved in creating the Metroid series include Satoru Okada, who directed the first Metroid game and started the series; Yoshio Sakamoto, who designed characters for the first game and directed or supervised most of the later games; Gunpei Yokoi, who led the R&D1 team and produced the first two games; Makoto Kano, who wrote the story for the first Metroid, helped design the second game, and produced the third; and Hiroji Kiyotake, who designed characters for the original game.
The original Metroid, an action game for the Family Computer Disk System, was developed by Nintendo's Research & Development 1 (R&D1) and released in Japan on August 6, 1986. It was later released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in August 1987 and in Europe on January 15, 1988. Satoru Okada directed the game.
Metroid was designed as a shooting game that combined jumping on platforms, like in Super Mario Bros., with exploring in different ways, like in The Legend of Zelda, and had a darker look. The game's name comes from combining "metro" (like a subway) and "android" (a robot), reflecting the game's underground setting and robot-like main character. During development, a staff member suggested that the main character could be a woman, and the idea was accepted. The game was influenced by the 1979 movie Alien, and the antagonist was named Ridley after the movie's director, Ridley Scott. The game's design was also inspired by the creature artist H. R. Giger, whose work matched the Metroid universe.
Metroid II: Return of Samus was released for the Game Boy in 1991 in North America and in 1992 in Japan and Europe. It helped define Samus Aran's appearance, including the bulky Varia Suit and different weapons.
As R&D1 focused on other projects, Nintendo asked Intelligent Systems to develop Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Development began in late 1991, and the game was released in 1994. It expanded the Metroid series with new abilities and a richer story. It was praised and is considered one of the best SNES games. Yoshio Sakamoto, who designed characters for the first Metroid, directed and produced most of the 2D Metroid games after this.
After Super Metroid, no new Metroid games were released for eight years. Nintendo struggled to create a Metroid game for the Nintendo 64, as the controller's design made it hard to control Samus. A company declined to develop a Metroid game for the Nintendo 64, unsure how to follow up on Super Metroid. Samus appeared in Galactic Pinball (1995) and Super Smash Bros. (1999).
In 2000, Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto visited Retro Studios, a new company, and was not impressed with their projects. However, he liked a game called Action Adventure, which had a female protagonist. Miyamoto asked Retro to develop a Metroid game for the GameCube instead. The team stopped working on Action Adventure and focused on Metroid.
Metroid Prime, the first 3D Metroid game, was released in 2002. It used a first-person perspective but was not a shooter—it was called a "first-person adventure." The game was praised and sold 2.84 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Metroid game until Metroid Dread (2021).
In 2000, Nintendo also released Metroid Fusion, a 2D game for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). It was developed by R&D1 and directed by Sakamoto. Its gameplay was similar to Super Metroid but had a more structured, mission-based format. The next GBA project was Zero Mission (2004), a remake of the original Metroid. Both games were praised. In 2003, R&D1 was merged with R&D2.
In 2004, Nintendo released Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which let Samus move between light and dark worlds and had more difficulty. In 2005, Metroid Prime Pinball was released for the DS, and in 2006, Metroid Prime Hunters came out for the DS. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007) added motion controls and let Samus explore different planets. By the late 2000s, Nintendo focused more on casual gamers, and Metroid Prime 3 received little marketing due to its complex gameplay.
The Prime games were later released in a compilation called Metroid Prime: Trilogy for the Wii. The discs were only available in limited quantities, and Nintendo encouraged buyers to seek second-hand copies. In the late 2000s, Next Level Games created a Metroid prototype for the Nintendo 3DS but did not get approval. Instead, they developed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.
As Nintendo focused on casual gamers during the Wii era, the next Metroid game, Metroid: Other M, moved away from the complex gameplay of the Prime series. It was developed by Team Ninja and directed by Sakamoto. It used a simpler control scheme and had a third-person perspective, focusing more on story and action. Other M received poor reviews, with critics saying Samus was portrayed as timid and the game lacked exploration. It was considered a major failure for the series. No major Metroid game was released for seven years.
A Metroid minigame, "Metroid Blast," appeared in Nintendo Land (2012) for the Wii U. It had mixed reviews. In 2016, Metroid Prime: Federation Force was released for the 3DS but was criticized for its focus on multiplayer and a lighthearted tone. A fan petition to cancel the game gained thousands of signatures, and it was not promoted at E3 2016. It sold poorly.
In the mid-2010s, MercurySteam, a Spanish studio, proposed remaking Metroid Fusion. Sakamoto was impressed by their work on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate and asked them to remake Metroid II. Metroid: Samus Returns (2017) kept the side-scrolling gameplay of the original but added 3D graphics and a new fighting move inspired by Castlevania.
Reception
Metroid was ranked as the 70th best game overall by Next Generation in 1996 and the 6th best in 1999. In 2008, IGN listed it as the 8th best game franchise. In 2001, Electronic Gaming Monthly named Super Metroid the best game ever. All Metroid games released by 2005 were included in a Nintendo Power list of the top 200 Nintendo games. Prime was listed in IGN’s top 100 games. Metroid, Super Metroid, Prime, and Echoes were included in a list by GameFAQs users. Metroid and Super Metroid were listed by Game Informer, and Prime and Super Metroid were listed by Edge. The Metroid series has influenced games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Samus Aran was recognized by Guinness World Records as "enduringly popular" and as the "first playable human female character in a mainstream video game." However, Toby Masuyo ("Kissy") from Namco’s Alien Sector appeared one year earlier. Ridley was the second-most requested Nintendo character by IGN and the most popular choice among fans to be added to the Super Smash Bros. series. Mother Brain is often named as one of the best video game bosses.
The original Metroid was praised for its "eerie" music, which created a "sense of mystery and exploration" by making the game feel "moody and atmospheric." IGN highlighted the music’s timing, which helped build suspense. GameSpot said Super Metroid was better than the original "in literally every way." Metroid Fusion was noted for its "understated score," which matched the game’s mood, and its high-quality stereo sound effects. Metroid Prime won multiple Game of the Year awards. IGN described the music in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as "mesmerizing." Music from the Metroid series has been re-released in "best of" video game music collections. The soundtrack of Metroid Prime was called the best sound design on the GameCube. The sound effects were also praised for being accurate and blending well with the music.
Each Metroid game, except for spin-offs and remakes, sold more than one million copies. By September 2012, the series had sold over 17.44 million copies worldwide. Metroid sales in Japan were usually lower than in the United States. In its first week in Japan, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption sold 32,388 copies, placing it behind Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wii Fit, and Gundam Musou Special. Metroid: Other M sold 45,398 copies in its first week in Japan, making it the third-bestselling game that week, behind Wii Party and Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village. It sold an additional 11,239 copies the following week.
Legacy
The 1997 Konami game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and the early Metroid games helped create a subgenre called "Metroidvania." Tom Happ, the creator of the 2015 game Axiom Verge, described Metroidvania games as side-scrolling adventures with large, connected maps instead of separate levels. Players must collect items and return to earlier areas to progress. Other well-known Metroidvania games include Cave Story (2004), Shadow Complex (2009), Ori and the Blind Forest (2014), Hollow Knight (2017), and Chasm (2018). The Metroid series is one of a few game series to have a genre named after it, along with Dark Souls (Soulslike) and Rogue (Roguelike).
In 2016, a fan-made remake of Metroid II called AM2R was released. Nintendo sent warnings to stop its distribution, claiming it might harm their intellectual property. AM2R was nominated for the Game Awards 2016 but was later removed because Nintendo had not approved its inclusion.
Samus Aran is a playable character in all five Super Smash Bros. games. Starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, players can also control Zero Suit Samus, who wears a blue, tight-fitting suit like the one seen in Zero Mission and the Prime series. Ridley appears in Super Smash Bros. as a character flying over Zebes and in Melee as an unlockable trophy and in the game’s opening scene, where he fights Samus at Ceres Space Station. In Brawl, Ridley is a boss in normal and Meta Ridley forms. A version of Ridley from Metroid: Other M appears as a boss in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and joins a player’s team if defeated. Due to fan demand, Ridley became a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Kraid appeared in Melee as a stage hazard and as an unlockable trophy. Other characters like Metroids, Mother Brain, and Dark Samus appear as trophies or stickers in the Super Smash Bros. series. Dark Samus later became a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, sharing moves similar to Samus. Many locations from the Metroid games also appear as battle stages in Super Smash Bros. games.
Samus has appeared in other Nintendo games, including Super Mario RPG, the NES version of Tetris, Tetris DS, Galactic Pinball, Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Dream Land 3, and WarioWare.
A character resembling a Metroid, called Komayto, appears in Kid Icarus for the NES. The game Kid Icarus: Uprising references the connection between Komayto and Metroids. In Dead or Alive: Dimensions, a stage replicates the arena from Metroid: Other M where Samus fights Ridley, and both characters appear as non-playable figures. Team Ninja’s Yosuke Hayashi explained that Samus was not playable in the game because it would be better for her to focus on her role in Metroid rather than fighting in Dead or Alive: Dimensions. A Metroid Blast minigame based on the series appears in Nintendo Land, a Wii U launch game. A Samus amiibo figure can unlock a Mii costume in Mario Kart 8 and a Samus costume in Super Mario Maker.
In 2020, Nintendo and Epic Games discussed adding Samus as a skin to Fortnite. Details emerged during the Epic Games v. Apple case in 2021. Other characters like Kratos and Master Chief were added to Fortnite in late 2020, but Samus was not. In 2024, former Fortnite creative director Donald Mustard explained that Nintendo requested the Samus skin be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, which conflicted with Fortnite’s policy of keeping features the same across all platforms.
A Metroid animated series was planned for Super Mario Bros. Power Hour, a canceled 1980s animation block. Concept art for the series was created, including a male version of Samus. The project was never completed and replaced by The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which aired in 1989. Mother Brain was the main villain in the Captain N: The Game Master TV show.
Magazines in the United States and Japan have published comics and manga based on Metroid, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid: Zero Mission. Samus Aran and other characters also appeared in Captain N: The Game Master comic books by Valiant Comics. In Japan, a Metroid manga series ran in Monthly Magazine Z from 2003 to 2005, covering Samus’ story up to the original game. Another Metroid manga, Samus and Joey, was published in Comic Bom Bom.
In 2003, two producers tried to make a live-action Metroid movie, but the rights expired. Later, director John Woo acquired the rights, and his studio planned to release the film by 2006. The writers included David Greenwalt, who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Grimm. Producer Brad Foxhoven said the film would explore Samus’ origin story, showing her as a talented but flawed character seeking redemption. Nintendo was hesitant because of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie’s poor reception and did not provide details about Samus’ personal life. In 2013, Sakamoto said he would support a Metroid film directed by Ryuji Kitaura, the director of Other M’s CG scenes, if the concept was strong. In 2025, filmmaker Chris Stuckmann said making a Metroid movie was his dream. Industry insider DanielRPK reported that a Metroid movie is reportedly being developed.