Metroid Dread

It’d perhaps be a bit silly not to include a Metroid game in the list, right? But thankfully this isn’t out of obligation, but rather relieved delight that Nintendo can still deliver on the classic franchise. And, tying things neatly together, this time with a team—MercurySteam—who have previously worked extensively on Castlevania games.

The first truly new 2D Metroid game in over ten years, 2021’s Metroid Dread was therefore met with trepidation: Would there be too much ambition to alter the formula? Would it manage to recapture the previous magic? The answers were no, then yes, and weirdly, almost to the game’s detriment.

Metroid Dread proves a superb rendition of the very familiar format of Samus Aran visiting a planet that just happens to have been extraordinarily well designed for her, whether stood up or in morph ball mode, to wipe out an infectious species. This time she’s also trying to run away from some awful robots called EMMI that provide extra challenge, alongside all the locked doors and suit upgrades you’d expect.

It’s probably not the best Metroid game, but rather crucially it’s the only one available on modern devices (if you don’t count Nintendo Online’s retro offerings). But damn, it’s still good to be playing more Metroid in the 2020s.