As usual, Nintendo had a very strong showing at E3 2021. In fact, I’d argue that theirs was the best out of everyone who presented. Not only did they bring the games, they brought games that we’ll actually get to play relatively soon; no waiting for years and years to get our hands on these! Mario Party Superstars, Breath of the Wild 2 and a new Warioware are all coming out in the next few months, and my wallet will certainly be feeling the pain. Still, for me the very biggest announcement was Metroid Dread: a new 2D Metroid set after the events of Metroid Fusion. FINALLY!!!

I’ve been a Metroid fan ever since I first played Metroid Prime back in 2002. The feel of the world, the exploration, the isolation, the music…I loved all of it, and I immediately set to work running through all the Metroid games I could. This didn’t include the original NES Metroid, but I did play everything else including Metroid Fusion. Fusion was more linear than the previous 2D games, but it still had all that Metroid goodness and it had a riveting story to tie it together.

After I finished Metroid Fusion, I could hardly wait to see what would happen to Samus next. But, like all the other Metroid fans out there, waiting is all I’d wind up doing. Years passed. Entire console cycles came and went, and there was never so much as a whisper from Nintendo about even the possibility of a game to pick up where Metroid Fusion left off. Eventually, I admit that I gave up on seeing it. Nintendo has never seemed all that interested in Metroid as a franchise, so after the 10 year mark I figured that it if it hadn’t happened by then, it wasn’t going to happen at all. I’d just focus on looking forward to a new 3D Metroid since those at least sold well enough to hold the company’s attention (or so I thought).

Yet, here we are 19 years after the release of Metroid Fusion, and that impossible game is finally happening! Metroid Dread does indeed pick up after Metroid Fusion, with Samus now on the run and hunted by her enemies. We’ll not only get a fully-new 2D game after all this time, but we can finally, finally see what’s next for the galaxy’s most accomplished bounty hunter. She’s been weakened, forced to become a fugitive and fallen from the hunter to the hunted. It’s the kind of development we’ve all been waiting for, and now it’s only a few months away! I don’t know about you all, but I can hardly wait!

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Are you psyched for Metroid Dread? Have you been waiting this whole time too, or are you a more recent fan? What’s your take on this development?

Image from Metroid Dread Nintendo eShop page