There are two main orders in which you could play the Metroid games \u2013 you can either play them in the order they were originally released, or you could play them in the chronological story order in which they canonically slot together in the official timeline.<\/p>\n
Metroid Dread, if you were wondering, is a sequel to Metroid Fusion from 2002. But Nintendo worked on Metroid Dread with the developers at MercurySteam, who previously made 2017\u2019s Metroid: Samus Returns. Both of those would be strong choices if you\u2019re looking for something to play before or after Metroid Dread.<\/p>\n
- Read our Metroid Dread review<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
But if you\u2019re dedicated to playing through the Metroid games in some sort of sensible order, below we\u2019ll break down your two main options \u2013 the release date order and the chronological story order.<\/p>\n
Metroid games in order of release<\/strong><\/h2>\n
If you want to play through the exact experience that Metroid fans have enjoyed over the last few decades, you might want to play the Metroid games in order of their original release dates. If that\u2019s what you fancy doing, this is the order you\u2019ll need to work to:<\/p>\n
- Metroid (1986, NES)<\/li>\n
- Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991, Game Boy)<\/li>\n
- Super Metroid (1994, SNES)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Fusion (2002, Game Boy Advance)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime (2002, GameCube)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Zero Mission (2004, Game Boy Advance)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2002, GameCube)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime Pinball (2005, Nintendo DS)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime Hunters (2006, Nintendo DS)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007, Wii)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime: Trilogy (2009, Wii \u2013 compiles Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Other M (2010, Wii)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force (2016, Nintendo 3DS)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Samus Returns (2017, Nintendo 3DS)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Dread (2021, Nintendo Switch)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 4 (release date TBC, Nintendo Switch)<\/li>\n<\/ul>
![\""Metroid\"]( "\\"\"Metroid\\"")
<\/div>Metroid Dread continues Samus\u2019 story.<\/span><\/figcaption> Nintendo<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n Metroid games in chronological story order<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The list looks a bit different when you put the Metroid Games in story order, according to the overarching narrative of the games and how they all slot together. The first-person Metroid Prime subfranchise is actually quite early in Samus\u2019 story, for example, despite those games being relatively recent releases.<\/p>\n
Plus, if you\u2019re playing for the story alone, you don\u2019t need to worry about spin-off titles like Metroid Prime Pinball. And you can also pick and choose between a couple of games at certain points, because some of the more recent games are remakes of the old ones. Starting at the beginning of Samus\u2019 journey, this is the Metroid story order we\u2019d recommend:<\/p>\n
- Metroid (or its Game Boy Advance remake, Metroid: Zero Mission)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime Hunters<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force<\/li>\n
- Metroid II: Return of Samus (or its 3DS remake, Metroid: Samus Returns)<\/li>\n
- Super Metroid<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Other M<\/li>\n
- Metroid Fusion<\/li>\n
- Metroid Dread<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Note: we\u2019d assume that the in-development Metroid Prime 4 will slot into the story between Corruption and Federation Force, but not much has actually been said about the game as of yet. We\u2019ll add it to this order when we find out more.<\/p>
Where to buy all the Metroid games<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Sadly, a lot of the classic Metroid games are not available on the Nintendo Switch, so you might struggle to find the game you want to play before or after Metroid Dread.<\/p>\n
Nintendo\u2019s various digital services provide some help, but you\u2019ll need to dust off some older hardware if you really want to play through everything.<\/p>\n
At the time of writing, these are the main options to think about when it comes to buying\/playing all the Metroid games:<\/p>\n
- Metroid<\/strong> \u2013 available on Nintendo Switch Online\u2019s NES library (\u00a313.99 for a year from CD Keys<\/a>) or physical NES cartridge (\u00a335 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid II: Return of Samus<\/strong> \u2013 available on 3DS Virtual Console (\u00a33.59 from Nintendo<\/a>) or physical Game Boy cartridge (\u00a310 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Super Metroid <\/strong>\u2013 available on Nintendo Switch Online\u2019s SNES library (\u00a313.99 for a year from CD Keys<\/a>) or physical SNES cartridge (\u00a345 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Fusion<\/strong> \u2013 available on Wii Virtual console (\u00a36.29 from Nintendo<\/a>)\u00a0 or physical Game Boy Advance cartridge<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3<\/strong> \u2013 available on Wii as the Metroid Prime Trilogy (\u00a317.99 from Nintendo<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Zero Mission<\/strong> \u2013 available on Wii U Virtual console (\u00a36.29 from Nintendo<\/a>) or physical Game Boy Advance cartridge (\u00a390 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime Pinball<\/strong> \u2013 available on physical DS cartridge (\u00a328 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime Hunters<\/strong> \u2013 available on Wii U Virtual Console (\u00a38.99 from Nintendo<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Other M<\/strong> \u2013 available on Wii U (\u00a317.99 from Nintendo<\/a>) or physical Wii disc (\u00a33.50 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force<\/strong> \u2013 available as a digital download (\u00a334.99 from Nintendo<\/a>) or physical 3DS cartridge (\u00a38 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Samus Returns<\/strong> \u2013 available as a digital download (\u00a339.99 from Nintendo<\/a>) or physical 3DS cartridge (\u00a359.99 from Amazon<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Dread<\/strong> \u2013 available as a digital download (\u00a349.99 from Nintendo<\/a>) or physical Nintendo Switch cartridge (\u00a348.75 from Amazon<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 4<\/strong> \u2013 pre-orders haven\u2019t opened yet, but you can register interest on the Nintendo website<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
![\""Metroid\"]( "\\"\"Metroid\\"")
<\/div>Metroid has come a long way since 1986.<\/span><\/figcaption> Nintendo<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n Best Metroid games ranked<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Whichever order you choose to play the Metroid games in, you might find yourself wanting to skip to the best games in the franchise rather than wading through every single title on the list. With that in mind, we\u2019ve gone looking for data on which Metroid games are the best.<\/p>\n
According to data from Metacritic<\/a> and GameRankings.com (two review aggregator sites that merged in 2019), this is how the critical scores for the Metroid games have averaged out over the years, starting with the best rated and working our way down the list:<\/p>\n
- Metroid Prime on GameCube (97%)<\/li>\n
- Super Metroid on SNES (96%)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 2 on GameCube (92%)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Fusion on Game Boy Advance (92%)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii (91%)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Prime 3 on Wii (90%)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Zero Mission on Game Boy Advance (89%)<\/li>\n
- Metroid Dread on Switch (88%)<\/li>\n
- Metroid: Samus Returns on 3DS (85%)<\/li>\n
- \u00a0Metroid Prime Hunters on DS (85%)<\/li>\n
- \u00a0Metroid Prime Pinball on DS (79%)<\/li>\n
- \u00a0Metroid 2: Return of Samus on Game Boy (79%)<\/li>\n
- \u00a0Metroid: Other M on Wii (79%)<\/li>\n
- \u00a0Metroid Prime: Federation Force on 3DS (64%)<\/li>\n
- \u00a0Metroid (58%)<\/li>\n<\/ol>
It\u2019s worth noting that the 58% score just there was actually awarded to the Game Boy Advance re-release of the original Metroid \u2013 Metacritic\u2019s data doesn\u2019t date back far enough for the NES original.<\/p>\n
With all of this knowledge at your disposal, you should now be able to play through whichever Metroid games take your fancy in the order of your choosing. Have fun!<\/p>\n
Follow Radio Times Gaming on Twitter<\/a> for all the latest insights. Or if you\u2019re looking for something to watch, see our TV Guide<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
Visit our video game release schedule<\/a> for all upcoming games on consoles. Swing by our hubs for more Gaming<\/a> and Technology<\/a>\u00a0news.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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- Metroid II: Return of Samus<\/strong> \u2013 available on 3DS Virtual Console (\u00a33.59 from Nintendo<\/a>) or physical Game Boy cartridge (\u00a310 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
- Metroid<\/strong> \u2013 available on Nintendo Switch Online\u2019s NES library (\u00a313.99 for a year from CD Keys<\/a>) or physical NES cartridge (\u00a335 from CeX<\/a>)<\/li>\n
![\""Metroid\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Metroid-Dread-release-date-and-trailer-revealed-81d1a38.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C349"\" "\\"\"Metroid\\"")
<\/div>![\""Metroid\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/10\/Metroid-has-come-a-long-way-since-1986-2ec07e2.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Metroid\\"")
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