For a company that is mainly focused on family-friendly franchises like Mario, Kirby, and Zelda, Metroid is notably dark for a Nintendo IP. The series began on the NES and has appeared on almost all of Nintendo’s consoles since in one form or another. The core series established a new template for games that would eventually inspire a whole new genre — the Metroidvania. Focused on exploration and acquiring new abilities and weapons to reach new areas of a sprawling map, Metroid has always been a cult hit with fans but never a premier series for Nintendo.
Another difference Metroid has from most Nintendo games is a stronger focus on the story. The first batch of games weren’t filled with dialogue or cutscenes, but there was a clear progression and narrative to follow. Once we got to the Prime games, however, story started to play an even greater role.
With games spanning back to the ’80s and across home consoles and handhelds, plus each entry not necessarily following the last in the timeline, Metroid can be a bit hard to follow. To help you understand the full tale of the legendary bounty hunter Samus, here is the entire Metroid series in release date and chronological order.
All Metroid games in release order
New Metroid games are generally spaced out by quite a few years, so there isn’t a ton to keep track of. There have also been plenty of remakes of older games sprinkled in that essentially replace the originals.
This is a list of all the Metroid games that have ever been released, by year.
- Metroid (1986)
- Metroid 2: Return of Samus (1991)
- Super Metroid (1994)
- Metroid Fusion (2002)
- Metroid Prime (2002)
- Metroid: Zero Mission (2004)
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)
- Metroid Prime Pinball (2005)
- Metroid Prime Hunters (2006)
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007)
- Metroid: Other M (2010)
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force (2016)
- Metroid: Samus Returns (2017)
- Metroid Dread (2021)
- Metroid Prime Remastered (2023)
All Metroid games in chronological order
It didn’t take long at all before Metroid started twisting its timeline around and introducing subseries that take place between other games. You can’t even safely play numbered games in order. Samus is the only constant, and outside of the Prime series, you don’t necessarily have to play the games in any order to have a good time. Of course, those who do put in the time and dive into the lore will be rewarded for their efforts.
This is the entire saga of Samus in chronological order, with any remake or remaster replacing the original since those are the more convenient and accessible ways to play those entries.
- Metroid Zero Mission
- Metroid Prime
- Metroid Prime: Hunters
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force
- Metroid: Samus Returns
- Super Metroid
- Metroid: Other M
- Metroid Fusion
- Metroid Dread