Franchise file / Nintendo R&D1, Yoshio Sakamoto
Metroid
Alone on a hostile planet
Nintendo's sci-fi exploration series began on the Famicom Disk System in 1986. Bounty hunter Samus Aran works through alien worlds, one upgrade and one locked door at a time.
- 1986
- First game
- 2
- Series
- Nintendo R&D1, Yoshio Sakamoto
- Creator
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One world. Many eras.
Choose your chapter
The 2D origins. Nintendo R&D1 set the formula on the Famicom Disk System in 1986, and Super Metroid refined it on the SNES into the template that later games would chase.
Start with Super MetroidYour next late night
The essentials
Chapters
Series (2)
MetroidNintendo's sci-fi action-adventure series, which began in 1986 in Japan. Bounty hunter Samus Aran explores alien worlds, gains new abilities and uses them to open up the map.Metroid PrimeMetroid in first-person, led by Retro Studios from 2002. The games blend scanning and exploration with shooting, and Prime 4 arrived in 2025 after a long wait.
A legacy worth revisiting
Half of a whole genre.
Metroid's mix of isolation, backtracking and earned upgrades gave the metroidvania its first name. Retro Studios carried that structure into first person with Metroid Prime in 2002, and MercurySteam brought the 2D line back with Samus Returns and Dread.
- 1986 to 1994
- The 2D origins
- 2002 to 2010
- Into first person
- 2017 to present
- MercurySteam
Scenes that stay with you
Inside the world
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