Metroid (Official) Games Ranked

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Since I first received Metroid II for my tenth birthday, the series has been as much a constant in my gaming life as Street Fighter. It's my favourite non-fighting game franchise of all time.

From its original Alien-inspired genesis via its Giger-inspired art design and female protagonist, to the way the music evokes the feel of the environments and the use of environmental storytelling years ahead of everything else in the 16-bit era, Metroid has always been a concept unlike any other.

In terms of order, there may be surprises, but I can assure that aside from the top 2, the above nine entrants changed around several times. Many of the greatest games in the series, and there are many great games indeed, are so close in terms of quality that even when editing the final draft I was switching them around.

PS: Metroid Prime Trilogy would be number one because it's all three games but that is cheating.

Anyway. Let's roll. Erm. Ahem.

14. Metroid (NES, 1986)

Firstly, the one that started it all. Combining 2D scrolling with Zelda exploration and progression must have been a great idea at the time. Play it now, however, and it falters. The simplistic art graphics make exploring Zebes a chore, especially with the lack of a map. Aesthetically, however, it has always had a mood of its own.

A curiosity for fans and nothing more sadly.

13. Metroid 2 - Return of Samus (Gameboy, 1991)

My first Metroid game and a victim of the remake treatment leaving the original Metroid II almost irrelevant. A small screen, large sprites and an un-Metroid-like progression system make this one hard to recommend, however, the atmosphere and music, by accident due to the hardware limitations, is still effective.

12. Metroid Prime Federation Force (3DS, 2016)

The first of several oddities on the list. Somewhat unfairly maligned because it just wasn’t what the game the fanbase wanted, when looked at in a vacuum, Federation Force is an acceptable Metroid Prime-like handheld first-person shooter. Featuring the less interesting Galactic Federation planet-hopping, this is primarily a multiplayer co-op experience with customisable mechs.

Due to the focus on multiplayer, playing solo means putting up with the one life per level setting which adds frustration to a game with little charisma already. It’s worth a go for the low price it fetches, especially if you have friends to play with.

11. Metroid Prime Pinball (NDS, 2005)

An odd, yet fun throwaway spinoff that expertly recreates the tone and feel of Metroid Prime, in a pinball game. One’s enjoyment of this really depends on how much you like pinball. I quite like it, as it goes.

It's a short game but there's plenty of high-score chasing to be done here.

10. Metroid Prime Hunters (NDS, 2006)

A first-person shooter hybrid with touchscreen controls never topped on the system, Prime Hunters featured a robust multiplayer suite and online play that was more fun than it needed to be, reminding of the n64 era of multiplayer shooters rather than Halo due to the system limitations. Elsewhere, the single-player, while not a patch on the mainline Prime games, was a fine addition when taking the limited scope available to the developers into consideration.

If anything, Prime Hunters is worth investigating for the addition of the hunter characters alone. In the single-player mode, they act as bosses. In multiplayer, they are playable complete with unique morphball transformations.

9. Metroid Other M (Wii, 2010)

Other M is one of several examples of poor writing in the franchise. With woes in characterization, plot and dialogue, Other M has poor charisma for a game that without its franchise baggage is a fine action title by Team Ninja. The dodge mechanic especially, was quite well implemented.

Furthermore, I think it's safe to say that the kinetic, athletic combat has had a long-term influence on Samus as until the modern era, she was far slower and floatier to control. For a Wii game, it looked exceptional even if the moody atmosphere that the series does so well was mostly absent.

8. Metroid - Samus Returns (3DS, 2017)

After the original, Metroid II needed a remake and Samus Returns is more than that. Bringing forth the original concept in what is a completely new game, it was also a proving ground for developer Mercury Steam and for my money, they succeeded with relatively few missteps. The wonky difficulty, repetitive bosses and weird progression aside, Samus Returns played on the title of the original and heralded the second comeback of gaming's first heroine with style.

7. Metroid Fusion (GBA, 2002)

The first attempt to evolve the base Metroid formula. Featuring more dialogue and cutscenes than any game in the series until Corruption, Fusion is also the most linear. The gameplay is a little tighter and responsive, yet the railroaded world stifles the experience. Then there is the plot, which was relatively awful and gave birth to what I find to be the worst Samus suit design. The SA-X, however, creates some great horror-tinged set pieces that would go on to influence Metroid Dread years later.

Very different to the open-world exploration of the games before, and perhaps maybe a little too much of an influence on Other M and Dread for my liking. If we ever get another 2D Metroid, I hope the series returns to its roots as Metroid is at its best when forcing Samus to explore hostile, alien environments rather than spaceships forcibly jammed with biomes.

6. Metroid Dread (Switch, 2021)

The fabled Dread finally released and it boasts the absolute best gameplay in the entire series, moving away from the slower pace of the games before and embracing the kinetic action of Other M in a traditional 2D Metroid game. Samus feels like a killing machine when completely tooled.

Like Fusion, Dread also incorporates horror elements and the threat the Emmis represent forces Samus into high-speed stealth sections that are thrilling the first few times.

Unfortunately, it greatly lacks atmosphere and the environments are some of the least interesting in the series. However, some great bosses with old-school design ethos live up to the high standards of the series and the finale' is utterly thrilling and the first time we got some decent narrative progress in the universe since Super Metroid. The presence of the Chozo, especially, was welcome.

5. Metroid Prime - Corruption (Wii, 2007, 2009)

Corruption never really found the audience it deserved, much like Echoes, due to the circumstances of its release. At a time when HD graphics were expected and Nintendo's flagship console was a casual mess of shovelware, Corruption was a rare hardcore gem for real gamers.

An interesting experiment that in my opinion has aged very well. Waggle controls were well implemented and the first-person shooting is excellent once mastered.

Even more different is the attempt to tell a story with cutscenes, a first for Metroid at the time with mixed results. However, where Corruption succeeds is in its environments, sky-city Elysium especially, is wonderous and the acid rain-tinged Pirate homeworld was a first for the series.

4. Metroid Prime/Metroid Prime Remastered (Gamecube, 2002. Wii, 2009. Switch, 2023)

The one that no one thought would be good. While it follows the Super Metroid formula closely and features the typical fire-ice area tropes, Retro Studios were leaping into the unknown and what they achieved cannot be understated. The concept of scanning to learn about the world was ingenious as the storytelling through diary entries taken from scanned environments fitted the series perfectly. Was first-person platforming done well even before this?

Playing the remastered edition, aside from the graphical improvements, the amount of control options is very welcome. Included are Gamecube, motion and a brand new twin stick style for modern gamers. For a game that is twenty years old, it holds up but the less interesting environments lower it slightly in the rankings for me.

3. Metroid Zero Mission (GBA, 2004)

Pretty much makes the original game completely irrelevant. At first, a seemingly note-for-note reimagining, remaking the NES sprites into a more SNES-influenced style and the reorchestrated music is a wonder. Then, of course, there is the shift of pace toward the climax of the game. You know the one. Everyone does. If anything, what Zero Mission proves is that the original got so much right the first time, it just needed to be on better hardware.

2. Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes (Gamecube, 2004. Wii, 2009)

A bit of an underdog due to being released at the same time as Halo 2, in retrospect Echoes has become a personal favourite of mine. While it has been said the difficulty of the Gamecube original may be a little high, the trilogy version on Wii features rebalanced gameplay that brings the general enjoyment levels right up.

Taking its cues from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past via its light and dark worlds, Echoes features some fiendish puzzles and a real sense of isolation and foreboding as you gradually explore the mirrored, darkened version of Aether. Furthermore, Echoes has you explore some of the most interesting environments in the franchise, from the lush, dank Torvus Bog and the technologically-focused Sanctuary Fortress. Best bosses in the Prime trilogy too.

1. Super Metroid (SNES, 1994)

It’s been my favourite game since the day I played it in 1995. A monumental achievement for video game environmental storytelling, mood and atmosphere. A game so different to every other on the system that the labyrinthian gameplay forced a special edition release in the UK that included an actual player's guide and full map booklet!

A stunning, moody ambient soundtrack filled with timelessness and a foreboding, fascinating alien world to unravel, organically designed with just the right amount of hand-holding in the first act to allow the player to become accustomed to Samus and her arsenal.

Super Metroid was also a rare example of a sequel building on the narrative of its previous iteration, as Samus Aran returns to the ruins of Zebes. The narrative weaves an excellent story with only a word of dialogue uttered during the intro sequence, inferring the emotion and isolation through action and atmosphere.

Super Metroid was the perfection of the Metroid formula and a game that continues to inspire. Did another game come close to achieving what it did in 1994? There's an argument to be made that few come close even today.

While the floaty, slower gameplay that was the hallmark of the series has been done away with today, I think that it's a testament to the design that Super Metroid plays as well as it does. The weight and feel of Samus add to the sense of immersion, highlighting the heavy set of armour that she is walking around and its requirement to explore such hostile terrain.

However, I do think that it may be time for a remake. If it means more players can experience Super Metroid's sublime, oddly emotional story...

For a series that has lived for so long, in terms of cultural context, there have been few terrible games. Flawed, average, but never truly bad. Let's hope that whenever Metroid Prime 4 finally releases, it will live up to the lineage of the games that have preceded it.

And considering the popularity and quality of Metroid Prime Remastered, I think Nintendo knows just how good Metroid Prime 4 needs to be.

There are not so many franchises in the Nintendo cannon that can be called 'adult' and as a series with fluctuating popularity, and higher popularity in the West than the East, Metroid at least, thanks to Dread, is in the best shape it has been since the release of the original Metroid Prime all those years ago.

That dark period of low sales and few releases between the releases of Metroid Prime 3 and Metroid Dread can only be blamed on quality. If you give the fans what they want, they will buy it.

Don't drop the ball again!

(Sorry)

Thanks for reading