It looks like Samus will be able to feed on her enemies and steal their powers.
Somehow it’s already been five years since Nintendo came out Metroid Terror, a classic, terrifying 2D platformer that reminded me exactly why Metroid is such an essential series for Nintendo. Without much fanfare, Nintendo has just announced the following Metroid 2D game, available on Switch 2: Ravenous Metroid. And Metroid fans won’t have long to wait as it will be available on January 28, 2027.
Based on the quick snippets of gameplay and story we saw, Ravenous Metroid seems to give the series even more of a horror vibe than in the past. The trailer begins with Samus recounting her predicament: she was ambushed by stylish but mysterious attackers and thrown deep underground and is trying to return to the surface. I guess she lost some powers in the process and will have to regain them to get through the various realms that await her – but this time around she has a new trick up her sleeve. Samus can apparently absorb some of her enemies’ powers and use them to turn the tide of battle.
It’s a nice twist that shows Samus “embracing her Metroid side,” as one YouTube commenter put it – usually Metroids are the ones who absorb their enemies’ powers, and now Samus can do something similar. Whether or not the game has a new form of the EMMI robots that followed you throughout Fear remains to be seen, but there are certainly elements in the trailer that remind me of these encounters. Maybe Samus’ voracious abilities will make them less “one mistake and you’re dead” like the EMMI robots were. At least we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Ravenous Metroid arrives a little over a year later Metroid Prime 4: Beyondwhich was one of the most controversial games in the series. Nintendo didn’t push this game too far from its original format despite the 18 years between entries in the series, and some story elements fell flat for many players. Overall, I enjoyed my time with this game, but I also found that it didn’t stick with me too much once I finished. But Metroid Terror was a quintessential 2D Metroid game, so I hope Voracious book also.
