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Since its debut in 1986, the series has drawn loose inspiration from the “Alien” films, chronicling the adventures of space bounty hunter Samus Aran as she battles the extraterrestrial Metroids.
Across more than 15 titles, the franchise has transformed from 2D platforming and exploration to a first-person action-adventure format, a shift first introduced in 2002 with “Metroid Prime” on the GameCube.
The new title, “Metroid Prime 4: Beyond,” takes players on Switch 1 or 2 to a distant planet, navigable on foot or by motorbike, with Samus donning her signature armoured suit.
Armed with her arm-mounted cannon and enhanced by a range of psychic abilities, players must navigate jungles, deserts, and hostile environments while battling enemies.
A new feature allows players to use the Switch 2’s detachable controller like a computer mouse for environmental viewing, offering a more comfortable experience for PC-style gamers.
Critics have responded positively, with the game earning a score of 81/100 from 71 reviews aggregated by Metacritic.
The warm reception comes as welcome news for Nintendo following its rare and difficult 2019 decision to restart development entirely—18 months after the original reveal.
At the time, Nintendo’s development chief Shinya Takahashi admitted the project “had not reached the standards we seek,” in an announcement shared on YouTube.
The project was subsequently handed to Retro Studios in the United States, the team responsible for creating the first three “Metroid Prime” titles.
Years of radio silence around “Prime 4” placed it alongside highly anticipated, long-delayed titles such as Valve’s “Half-Life 3” and Ubisoft’s “Beyond Good and Evil 2”—elusive releases often described by fans as gaming’s “white whales.”
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