Happy 35th, Samus
It’s wild to see how Nintendo handles some of its golden franchises. I mean, they obviously have access to internal figures and market research. But seeing how they trot out some series every now and then as Easter eggs or cameos for other games is fascinating.F-Zerois pretty much the perfect example of something that is basically dead in the water, but Nintendo is proud of showing off. For a time,Metroidfit that bill too. Now we’re at the point where Nintendo is celebrating aMetroid35th anniversary, and we have a 2D and a 3D game in the works. Go figure!
Yep, on this day in Japan 35 years ago,Metroidwas released. It blew my mind after playing it (at least, when it was later released in the US), and it changed how I looked at platformers, which had mostly consisted of games likeMarioup until that point. Over the years I’d follow Samus to the ends of the Earth, through the thick and thin, into the great unknown ofOther MandFederation Force.
But one year later after theFederation Forcedebacle,Samus Returnscame out, and things looked hopeful yet again. Four years later Nintendo would announceMetroid Dreadand the rest is currently history in the making, as we enter theMetroid35th anniversary day and date, two months from the release ofDread. It was shaky for a while there, though! It took seven full years to go fromOther MtoSamus Returns, and it’s been 14 years since we saw a newMetroid Primegame.
Look,Nintendo even acknowledged theMetroid35th anniversary in a tweet! Perhaps a sign that things are back on track, so long asDreadandMetroid Prime 4deliver.
On this day 35 years ago, bounty hunter Samus Aran landed on planet Zebes when#Metroidlaunched in Japan.pic.twitter.com/UtwHbUl7DL
— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope)June 30, 2025
