Metroid is an action-adventure game series created by Nintendo. The player controls Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and their efforts to use the power of parasitic Metroid creatures. Metroid combines the jumping and running style of Super Mario Bros. with the exploration found in The Legend of Zelda, set in a science fiction world. Most Metroid games are side-scrolling, while some 3D versions use a first-person perspective. Players fight alien enemies and collect power-ups as they move through the game world, with few other characters present.
The first Metroid game was made by Nintendo R&D1 and released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. Metroid II: Return of Samus was released for the Game Boy in 1991. Super Metroid (1994), released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, added more power-ups and a more detailed story. After a break, the first 3D Metroid game, Metroid Prime, developed by Retro Studios, was released for the GameCube in 2002 along with the Game Boy Advance game Metroid Fusion. These were followed by 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, received mixed reviews. After another 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. After a long development period, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was released for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025.
As of 2012, the Metroid series had sold more than 17.44 million copies. It has been listed among the best game series by several publications, and several Metroid games are considered among the greatest games ever made. The series appears in other Nintendo media, such as the Super Smash Bros. series. Additional media includes music, comics, and manga. Along with the 1997 Konami game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, early Metroid games helped define the Metroidvania subgenre, which features games with large, continuously explorable side-scrolling levels. Samus Aran was one of the first well-known female characters in video games.
Gameplay
The Metroid series includes elements 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. Players earn items and power-ups for Samus's cybernetic suit mainly through exploration, and sometimes by defeating alien creatures in real-time combat with the suit's arm cannon. These upgrades often open new areas to explore. A common upgrade is the Morph Ball, which lets Samus curl into a ball, roll into tight spaces, and plant bombs. Another recurring ability is the Shinespark, which allows Samus to charge her Power Suit with energy and dash at high speeds. This ability helps break certain walls, though it is not required to finish the games. It is important for accessing secret areas and is widely used in Metroid speedrunning.
The classic Metroid games are 2D side-scrollers, 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, which inspired its platform jumping, and The Legend of Zelda, which inspired its non-linear exploration. Metroid differed by focusing on a sense of solitude and mystery. It was one of the first games to allow players to explore to the left, right, and back to previously visited areas to find secrets. Since the late 1990s, this style has been called "Metroidvania." According to Edge, Metroid is "the thinking man's shooter," where weapons help progress more than they are used for combat, and environments are bigger challenges than enemies.
The Metroid series is known for its unique 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," blending music and sound effects. The main Metroid theme was played only after defeating Mother Brain, meant 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 for Metroid Prime was mixed by a Dolby team member.
Developers at Retro Studios noted that the 6 MB memory limit for sound effects in Metroid Prime was important for creating a high-quality soundtrack, as each sound had to be clear and detailed. Yamamoto used heavy drums, piano, chants, pipe clangs, and electric guitar. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption used more RAM on the Wii for better audio quality. Kenji Yamamoto, who composed Super Metroid and the Prime trilogy, kept the music dark and scary until the end of Metroid Prime 3, when uplifting music played during the credits.
Plot
The Metroid franchise takes place in a science fiction world where humans are part of a space-traveling government called the Galactic Federation. Other alien species also belong to the Federation or are close allies, such as the Chozo, a bird-like race with advanced technology and skills in creating living things. The Federation's main enemies are the Space Pirates, a group of villains from many different alien species who refuse to follow the Federation's rules. They are led by Ridley, a dragon-like warlord, and plan to build powerful weapons using dangerous life forms to destroy the Federation and take control of the galaxy.
The Metroids are a type of jellyfish-like creature that feeds on a hidden energy found in all living things. The Chozo created the Metroids as a weapon to fight a dangerous virus called the "X" that threatened their people. Although the Metroids helped stop the X virus, they became a threat themselves when they evolved into more dangerous forms. Most of the games focus on the actions of groups like the Space Pirates, the Galactic Federation, and some Chozo who want to use the Metroids for their own purposes.
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 worked in the Galactic Federation's military before becoming a bounty hunter, facing enemies like Ridley and Mother Brain, a powerful cybernetic creature.
In the original Metroid and its remake, Zero Mission, Samus goes 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 the Metroid species by traveling to their home planet, SR388. She kills all the Metroids but saves one baby Metroid, which bonds with her and is taken to a research station. Later, in Super Metroid, Ridley steals the baby Metroid and takes it to Zebes, where the Space Pirates try to clone Metroids. 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 escapes as Zebes explodes. In Metroid: Other M, Samus investigates the Bottle Ship, a ruined research station, with a Galactic Federation team led by her former commander, Adam Malkovich. They fight bioweapons, including clones of enemies from Zebes, and stop a revived Mother Brain, who is later defeated by Samus after Adam dies. Samus also defeats an entity called Phantoon and destroys the Bottle Ship.
In Metroid Fusion, Samus joins scientists on SR388, where the X parasites return. The X take over a research station in orbit, copying creatures on board. Samus is infected but cured using a vaccine made from the baby Metroid's cells. She learns the Federation has been secretly cloning Metroids and destroys the station to eliminate the X. In Metroid Dread, the Federation sends advanced robots called E.M.M.I. to investigate the planet ZDR, where X parasites are found. Samus is sent to ZDR after contact is lost, where she fights 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 a side story that happens between Metroid and Metroid II. In Metroid Prime, Samus goes to Tallon IV to stop the Space Pirates from using a dangerous substance called Phazon, which has poisoned the planet. She defeats a robotic Ridley and removes Phazon from the planet by destroying a Phazon-infected Metroid.
In Metroid Prime Hunters, Samus answers a distress call to the Alimbic Cluster. Other bounty hunters, including Sylux, who has a grudge against the Federation and Samus, join her to fight an enemy named Gorea.
In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus explores Aether, a planet affected by Phazon, which has split the world into two dimensions. This caused the rise of the Ing, an evil race. Samus fights the Ing and encounters Dark Samus, a version of Metroid Prime that looks like her. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Samus and other bounty hunters are sent to stop Dark Samus from spreading Phazon across the galaxy. While fighting to avoid being infected herself, Samus defeats Dark Samus and stops the Phazon outbreak.
In Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Samus is controlled by the Space Pirates. A group of elite soldiers called the Federation Force fights to rescue her and destroy the Space Pirates.
In Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, set after Super Metroid, Samus helps defend a Galactic Federation facility on Tanamaar from a Space Pirate attack led by Sylux, a rival bounty hunter who uses Metroids to control pirates. A fight between Samus and Sylux activates an ancient artifact, teleporting them to the planet Viewors. The extinct Lamorn people of Viewors have a prophecy about a hero who must plant a seed called Memory Fruit on another planet to preserve their legacy. After reuniting with Federation soldiers and finding a way home, Samus faces Sylux, who is too strong to defeat. Her friends sacrifice themselves so Samus can leave the planet and complete the Lamorn's task.
Development and history
The main people involved in creating and developing 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 later games; Gunpei Yokoi, who led the Research and Development 1 (R&D1) division and produced the first two games; Makoto Kano, who wrote the story for Metroid, helped design the second game, and produced the third; and Hiroji Kiyotake, who designed characters for the original game.
The original Metroid was an action game for the Family Computer Disk System. It was developed by Nintendo's R&D1 division and released in Japan on August 6, 1986. It later came out 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 to be a shooting game that combined jumping over obstacles, like in Super Mario Bros., with exploring freely, like in The Legend of Zelda. The game’s name is a combination of the words "metro" (short for rapid transit) and "android," which refers to a robot. The game’s setting was mostly underground, and the main character looked like a robot. During development, one staff member suggested the idea of the character being a woman, and the team agreed. The game was also inspired by the 1979 movie Alien, and the antagonist was named Ridley after the movie’s director, Ridley Scott. The game’s design was also influenced by the creature designer H. R. Giger from Alien.
Metroid II: Return of Samus was released for the Game Boy in North America in 1991 and in Japan and Europe in 1992. It improved Samus Aran’s design, including a new suit called the Varia Suit and different weapons.
When R&D1 was working on another game, 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 added new abilities and a more detailed story. It was well-received and 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 new game for the Nintendo 64 console. Yoshio Sakamoto said he did not know how to use the Nintendo 64 controller to control Samus. Another company refused to develop a Metroid game for the Nintendo 64, fearing they could not match the quality of Super Metroid. Samus appeared in the Virtual Boy game Galactic Pinball (1995) and in the fighting game Super Smash Bros. (1999).
In 2000, Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto visited Retro Studios, a new company in Texas. He was not interested in their current projects but played a game called Action Adventure, which had a female protagonist. Miyamoto asked Retro to develop a Metroid game for the GameCube. The team stopped working on Action Adventure and started on Metroid.
Metroid Prime, the first 3D Metroid game, was released in 2002. It changed the non-linear structure of Super Metroid to a first-person perspective. Nintendo said it was not a first-person shooter but a "first-person adventure." The game was well-received 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 design. The next GBA game was Zero Mission (2004), a remake of the original Metroid. Both games were well-received. In 2003, R&D1 was merged with R&D2.
In 2004, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was released, allowing Samus to switch between light and dark worlds. It was harder than previous games. In 2005, Metroid Prime Pinball was released for the DS by Fuse Games. In 2006, Metroid Prime Hunters, a multiplayer game by Nintendo Software Technology, came out for the DS. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007) added motion controls and had Samus explore different planets. By the late 2000s, Nintendo focused on simpler games, and Metroid Prime 3 received little marketing.
The Prime games were later released as a collection called Metroid Prime: Trilogy for the Wii. Nintendo stopped producing the discs in January 2010 and encouraged people to buy used copies. In the late 2000s, Next Level Games made a Metroid prototype for the Nintendo 3DS but it was not chosen. Instead, they developed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.
As Nintendo focused on casual games 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 system and had a third-person perspective with more story and action. Other M received poor reviews for its portrayal of Samus and its reduced exploration. It was criticized for not fitting Nintendo’s casual focus. No major Metroid game was released for seven years.
A Metroid minigame called "Metroid Blast" appeared in the Wii U game Nintendo Land (2012). It had mixed reviews. In 2016, Metroid Prime: Federation Force was released by Next Level. It was criticized for its focus on multiplayer and a soccer minigame. After its announcement at E3 2015, fans protested online, and the game was not promoted at E3 2016. It sold poorly and was considered a failure.
In the mid-2010s, the Spanish studio MercurySteam proposed remaking Metroid Fusion. Sakamoto was impressed by their work on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate (2013) and asked them to remake *Met
Reception
In 1996, Metroid was ranked as the 70th best game overall by Next Generation. In 1999, it was ranked as the 6th best game by the same publication. By 2008, IGN named Metroid the eighth best game franchise. In 2001, Electronic Gaming Monthly listed Super Metroid as 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 also listed in Game Informer’s rankings, and Prime and Super Metroid were included in Edge’s list. The Metroid series 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 in a game one year before Samus. Ridley was the second-most requested Nintendo character by IGN and the most requested by fans to be added to the Super Smash Bros. series. Mother Brain is often named among the best video game bosses.
The original Metroid was praised for its "eerie" music, which created a "sense of mystery and exploration" and made the game "moody and atmospheric." IGN noted that the music added suspense at the right times. GameSpot said Super Metroid was better than the original "in literally every way." Metroid Fusion was praised for its "understated score," which matched the mood of the adventure, and for its excellent stereo sound effects, which made it a standout Game Boy Advance experience. Metroid Prime won multiple Game of the Year awards. IGN described the sound experience in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as "mesmerizing." Music from the Metroid series has been included in many "best of" video game music collections. Metroid Prime’s soundtrack was called the best sound design on the GameCube. The sound effects were also noted for their accuracy and how well they blended 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. Sales in Japan were typically lower than in the United States. In its first week in Japan, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption sold 32,388 copies, ranking 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-best-selling video game of 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 type of game 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 revisit 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 genres named after them, along with Dark Souls (Soulslike) and Rogue (Roguelike).
In 2016, AM2R, a fan-made remake of Metroid II, was released. Nintendo sent legal notices to stop its distribution, claiming it could harm its intellectual property. AM2R was nominated for the Game Awards 2016 but was 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 the blue outfit from Zero Mission and the Prime series. Ridley appears in Super Smash Bros. games as a background character, an unlockable trophy, and a boss. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ridley appears as a boss in two forms. A version of Ridley from Metroid: Other M is 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 character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Kraid appears as a stage hazard in Super Smash Bros. Melee 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 character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, sharing moves similar to Samus. Many locations from the Metroid series 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 similarity between Komayto and Metroids. In Dead or Alive: Dimensions, a stage is based on a scene from Metroid: Other M, where Samus fights Ridley. The game’s developers said Samus was not playable in Dimensions because they wanted her to focus on her role in Metroid rather than fighting in Dead or Alive. A Metroid Blast minigame 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 character in Fortnite. Details about the plan were revealed in 2021 during a legal case involving Epic Games and Apple. Other characters like Kratos and Master Chief were added to Fortnite in 2020, but Samus was not. In 2024, a former Epic Games creative director said Nintendo requested Fortnite to be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, which conflicted with Epic’s policy of keeping Fortnite the same on all platforms. This led to Samus never being added to the game.
A Metroid animated series was considered for a canceled TV show called Super Mario Bros. Power Hour in the 1980s. Concept art for the series was created, including a version of Samus as a male character. The show was never made in its original form and was replaced by The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! in 1989. Mother Brain, a villain from Metroid, was the main antagonist in the TV show Captain N: The Game Master.
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 Metroid characters also appeared in Captain N: The Game Master comic books by Valiant Comics. In Japan, a Metroid manga series was published in Monthly Magazine Z starting in 2003. It ran for 16 chapters and influenced later Metroid games. 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 film would have explored Samus’ origin story and was written by David Greenwalt, who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Nintendo was hesitant to share details about Samus’ personal life, relationships, or other characteristics. In 2013, a Nintendo executive said the company might support a Metroid film directed by Ryuji Kitaura, the director of Metroid: Other M. In 2025, filmmaker Chris Stuckmann said he hoped to direct a Metroid movie. An industry insider also reported that a Metroid movie is currently being developed.