I actually got this from my wife for Christmas last year, but because of the birth of my son (and the backlog I had) it took me until now to finish it. It had been almost 20 years since we had a 2D Metroid game and probably over a decade since we’ve had a 3D Metroid game.

The Metroid timeline is pretty confusing but I’m pretty sure this is the latest one in the timeline as it clearly follows Metroid Fusion. Samus Aran arrives on a new planet, gets badly beaten by this robot bird guy, and wakes up with most of her abilities gone.

Obviously you have to get them back and progress further and further in the game as you collect more items.

It’s pretty true to the 2D Metroids of the past. And while I do like the game, I was deeply critical of the overall map. Areas you have missed before often get closed up when you get new powers. Metroid is supposed to be a non-linear game, but I always felt boxed in and unable to go back and try to collect stuff to make me stronger.

What makes this Metroid stand alone are the EMMI robots. I can’t remember exactly how many there are, but they’re ruthless killing machines. Sometimes it’s almost as scary as playing a Resident Evil game trying to dodge these guys.

Without spoilers, there are plenty of boss battles in the game along with mini bosses too. The first handful are actually kind of fun but about halfway in the game they become very stressful. It’s not uncommon to die often and there’s no middle ground on winning or losing these fights. You’re either going to defeat the boss like a champion or be annihilated like a scrub.

I heard this is actually the best selling Metroid in the series, and I’m glad it did well because Nintendo neglects Samus Aran too often. But I definitely prefer Super Metroid and to a lesser extent Metroid II: Return of Samus to Metroid Dread . The game definitely did get me excited about the upcoming Metroid Prime 4, whenever that comes out, which has seems like an eternity.