Samus Aran made her grand return to video games last week following a seven-year absence, and if you’re wondering why that’s such a big deal, Kotaku Splitscreen is here to help.

There was a time, so many years ago now, when it felt like we had too much Metroid. The simultaneous launch of Prime and Fusion in 2002, followed up with another one-two volley of Metroids two years later. “Slow down!” we cried. “We can’t keep up with all this Metroid!”

I got the new Metroid on Tuesday but waited two days to start it. I’d waited a long time for this, and I wanted the moment to be perfect.

To mark the release of Metroid: Samus Returns, Nintendo is releasing a special “Samus Edition” New Nintendo 3DS XL.

Last week, Nintendo surprised everyone with the announcement of Metroid: Samus Returns, a remake of Metroid II. Here’s another surprise: It’s basically finished. And a fact that’s probably not so surprising: It looks and feels fantastic.