Samus Aran was one of the breakout characters of the NES era. As a kick-ass protagonist who braved interplanetary threats, Samus had the strength, the tools, and the curiosity which makes adventurers great. Popular enough to become a series, the following Metroid titles were often widely loved, with special attention given to Super Metroid on the SNES and the Metroid Prime games on the GameCube.
Since that point, however, the future of the series has been in question. Now, with the announcement and trailer reveal of Metroid Dread, slated for an October 8 release on the Switch, hopes have been reignited. The only question is whether this game will stick the landing, or end up like the Metroid game that hurts to mention.
A Painful Decline
Though there are a lot of mistakes that could be pointed to as a reason for Metroid’s decline, all the biggest fingers point at one particular misstep: Metroid: Other M. Published for the Wii in 2010, Other M followed in the footsteps of the Prime trilogy, which were arguably the high-points of the series.
The problem was that Other M avoided what made Prime great, instead choosing to reduce Samus from terrifying force of bounty-hunting nature into a weak-willed and subservient parody. From what was a character that kicked butt and took names, Samus became an uncertain and almost reluctant heroine, constantly turning to her superiors for support.
This disparity didn’t just exist between the games either, also existing within the title as ludonarrative dissonance. Right after making ridiculous jumps over lava and tearing down enormous monsters, Other M’s Samus went right into crippling self-doubt, creating storytelling whiplash that insulted her achievements and established character strengths.
After this game, the series has still not seen a mainstream first-person follow-up. The fear from Nintendo is that they’ll make the same mistakes again, leading to the long delay of a new Prime game. What they did do, which was much better appreciated, was go back to their 2D roots in the meantime. This was the reason for the successful Samus Returns in 2017, and it seems to be why they’ve again gone for 2D in Dread.
Leaning into a Timeless Appeal
Looking back at the success of the 2D titles means reflecting on the aspects of the game that stood the test of time the best. After all, 2D action adventures with hub worlds have gained the portmanteau Metroidvania, so loved are the game’s roots.
For a better illustration of why players look forward to Dread, we could turn to any number of other physical games that have stood their tests of time. Bingo is perhaps the most pronounced example of this idea in action, having existed for hundreds of years. Today, online bingo sites have evolved the game to new forms, with bigger rooms, better prizes, and greater accessibility than has ever been possible before. From regular games like Value Bingo to licensed spin-offs such as Deal or No Deal, the core which made bingo popular still stands strong.
“super metroid: 11 hours 46 minutes strai” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by believekevin
The hope is that Metroid Dread, like bingo before it, will understand that core components are the most important. After all, games have been evolving the Metroidvania style for years, so it would only make sense that an originator would have the most to gain. Weapon unlocks, more traversal options and the ability to modify the map have all been big parts of Metroid history, and Dread could be poised to take advantage of this. Best of all, we won’t have to wait long to find out if Dread lives up to its potential, to satiate us until a new Prime game proper arrives.
