Though Nintendo’sMetroidfranchise has never been its most successful in terms of sales, the games' iconography has become some of the developer’s most recognizable. BothThe Legend of ZeldaandMetroidfranchises are celebrating their 35th anniversaries this year, andNintendo announcedMetroid Dreadat E3 2021to help celebrate the latter as Retro Studios’Metroid Prime 4continues production.
Dreadis considered “Metroid 5,” the next entry in the series' linear timeline of2D platformers following 2002’sMetroid Fusion. It’s being created by MecurySteam, the studio that worked on the 2017 3DS remake ofMetroid 2calledMetroid: Samus Returns. However, anyone jumping directly fromSamus ReturnstoDreadwill likely find the titular alien menace playing a far more subdued role in this upcoming Switch game. Samus Aran may be the series' protagonist, but it being titledMetroidis fitting given how much the overarching narrative revolves around the Metroid species' role in galactic affairs.
The Metroid species is not a naturally occurring part of any ecosystem in theMetroiduniverse; they were originally created by an ancient, technologically advanced race called the Chozo. These bird-like forerunners hoped to use the creation to kill off the dangerous X Parasites found on SR388, which can kill and assimilate any life form to gain whatever abilities they possess - including some degrees of sapience, as seen inMetroid Fusion. However, the Metroid were largely uncontrollable and began evolving, which contributes to the demise of the Chozo people.
A good many years later, Metroid are obtained by the Space Pirates and brought to their base of operations on Zebes. Their leaderMother Brain, who is also revealed to be a corrupted AI built by the Chozo inMetroid’s prequel manga, has designs to use the species as a bioweapon due to the way it feeds off of other creatures' energy. This is when Samus enters the picture, as the originalMetroidon NES depicts her journey to stop Mother Brain.
Chronologically, theMetroid Primetrilogy takes place afterMetroid(NES). These games follow Samus across the galaxy as she attempts to stop the Space Pirates' various ongoing operations. A number of unnatural Metroid species mutated by Phazon are found in thePrimegames, namely onMetroid Prime’s planet Tallon 4, andDark Samus is a reincarnation of the titular Metroid Prime.
Metroid 2, and its remakeSamus Returns, chronicles a Galactic Federation mission that sends Samus to SR388 after a research team goes missing. There she’s tasked with exterminating the Metroid threat, and essentially spends the rest of the game committing genocide. Here it is discovered that the iconic green, jellyfish looking creatures that many know a Metroid to be is only its larval state. As Samus delves into the depths of SR388, she encounters various stages in its lifecycle: Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and Omega. At the end of the game she finds the Metroid Queen, and destroys her too.
After finishing off the Metroid Queen, Samus comes across one last egg and the baby Metroid that hatches from it imprints upon the bounty hunter. Samus takes the baby to the Ceres Space Colony where it can be studied. This leads to probably the most iconic line in the franchise, “The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace.” That peace does not last long however, as soon Ceres is attacked by theSpace Pirate Ridleywhom Samus has battled a number of times (including in a cybernetically enhanced form throughout thePrimeseries and inSamus Returns).
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Thus begins theSNES classicSuper Metroid, where Samus returns to Zebes in order to find the baby Metroid, defeat Ridley, and ultimately stop a reconstructed form of Mother Brain. Toward the end of the game Samus discovers the baby Metroid has grown enormous, but it still recognizes the bounty hunter and lets her live. In fact, it goes on to help her defeat Mother Brain by absorbing its energy and transferring that to Samus.
The baby Metroid is killed by Mother Brain as it assists Samus, and part of the plot inMetroid: Other Mdeals with her feelings of loss. Though the game is controversial to say the least, particularly in the way it handles Samus' characterization, it bridges the gap intoMetroid Fusion.
The events ofMetroid Fusionbegin with Samus on SR388 alongside a new Galactic Federation research team, as they discover and are subsequently attacked by an X Parasite - now free to propagate due to the loss of its main predator. The infection threatens to kill Samus, but the Federation saves her life with a vaccine developed using cells from the baby Metroid. Although Samus lives, her DNA is inextricably linked with Metroid DNA, meaning she alsoinherits the species' intolerance of cold temperatures.
Despite the Federation developing a vaccine for Samus, the X Parasite takes over the research station orbiting SR388, leading the bounty hunter to take on monstrous versions of previous species she’s battled that have been assimilated. Thebiggest threat is SA-X, an X Parasite that used Samus' power suit to create its nigh-unstoppable form. Eventually she discovers a secret Metroid cloning facility on the station, and the Metroid clones are set free by SA-X in an attempt to destroy them. With the station overrun by X Parasites and Metroid, Samus sends it into a collision course with SR388, destroying both.
As of this writing it’s unclear whether the Metroid will play any role inMetroid Dread. The game has been in various stages of development for over a decade, and the story surrounding its titular alien menace seems to have ended. However, developer Yoshio Sakamoto confirmedDreadis the end of the story arc stemming fromMetroid(NES), and one connection appears likely. On the official Nintendo website listing forMetroid Dread, the E.M.M.I. robots found on planet ZDR are described as former “DNA-extracting research machines,” which could play into Samus' lingering baby Metroid DNA from the vaccine she received inFusion. However, fans will just have to wait and see what happens when the game releases later this year.
Metroid Dreadlaunches October 8, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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