50 Fun Facts About Metroid

Who is the bounty hunter the player controls across the Metroid series?

Samus has protected the galaxy from Space Pirates and Metroids across four decades of games.

The series title is a portmanteau of 'metro' and which other word?

'Metro' nods to the first game's mostly underground setting and the android half to its robot-like heroine.

On which console did the first Metroid reach North America in August 1987?

Japan had received it a year earlier on the Famicom Disk System.

Which Texas studio developed Metroid Prime for the GameCube?

Shigeru Miyamoto suggested the project after visiting Retro's Austin office in 2000.

Which Spanish studio developed Samus Returns and Metroid Dread?

Sakamoto was impressed by their Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate and asked them to remake Metroid II.

The villain Ridley was named in recognition of the director of which 1979 film?

Sakamoto called Ridley Scott's film a 'huge influence', and H. R. Giger's creature designs shaped the look too.

Samus's rolling ball ability was originally called what in the first game?

It means 'round ball' in Japanese and was renamed the Morph Ball in Super Metroid.

The surname 'Aran' was taken from the birth name of which footballer?

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, lent his name to gaming's most famous bounty hunter.

Samus's unsuited look was partly based on which actress as Ellen Ripley?

Kim Basinger's film roles were the other stated inspiration for her look.

Who headed Nintendo R&D1 and produced both Metroid and Metroid II?

Yokoi also created the Game Boy, the handheld that hosted Metroid II.

Who composed the eerie score of the original Metroid?

Tanaka wanted no distinction between music and sound effects, saving the main theme until Mother Brain fell.

Which composer hummed up Super Metroid themes while riding his motorcycle to work?

Yamamoto went on to score the Metroid Prime trilogy, reusing his Super Metroid motifs as a 'present' for fans.

Which studio handled Super Metroid's programming alongside Nintendo R&D1?

Intelligent Systems had also co-developed the original Metroid.

On which planet are the original Metroid and Super Metroid set?

Samus flees the planet before it explodes at the end of Super Metroid.

Which planet is the Metroids' homeworld, visited in Metroid II?

Samus exterminates the species there, sparing only one newly hatched infant.

The Metroid homeworld's name was inspired by which motorcycle?

Director Hiroji Kiyotake revealed the origin in a 2004 Nintendo Dream interview.

How many Metroids must Samus exterminate in Metroid II?

A counter tracks how many remain; killing them all lowers the lava so Samus can go deeper.

On which planet does Metroid Prime take place?

A meteor seeded the planet with a mutagen and wiped out its Chozo colony fifty years before Samus arrived.

What is the mutagen the Space Pirates exploit in Metroid Prime?

It arrived on a meteor and corrupts any organism it touches, Samus included by the third game.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is set on which planet split into light and dark worlds?

The dark half's caustic air forces Samus to hop between safe zones.

In Echoes, which peaceful race protects its planet's 'Light' energy from the Ing?

The Ing came from an alternate dimension created when a meteor strike split the planet's energy.

Under what title was Metroid Prime 2 released in Japan in 2005?

It reached Japan in May 2005, months after the rest of the world.

Hypermode in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption ends after how many seconds?

It trades an energy tank for temporary invincibility, and letting it overfill risks a non-standard game over.

In Corruption, Samus destroys which planet to render the mutagen inert everywhere?

Blowing it up also permanently finished off Dark Samus, who had corrupted Samus at the start of the game.

Metroid Prime was first planned in which perspective before Miyamoto intervened?

Camera trouble on Rare's Jet Force Gemini helped convince Miyamoto that first-person would work better.

Which English electronic duo was asked to score Metroid Prime before Nintendo halted it?

Nintendo's in-house composer ended up scoring the game, weaving in themes from the older entries.

Which studio first developed Metroid Prime 4 before Nintendo restarted the project?

Nintendo announced the restart under the original Prime developers in 2019, and Beyond finally arrived in December 2025.

Which rogue hunter with a grudge against Samus is the rival in Prime 4: Beyond?

Sylux accidentally damages an artifact that teleports everyone to the planet Viewros.

What is the name of Samus's motorcycle in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond?

It carries her across the hub region Sol Valley and can boost and fend off enemies.

In Metroid Fusion, Samus nicknames her ship's computer after whom?

The name honours her former commanding officer Adam Malkovich, whose consciousness the computer turns out to hold.

What is the name of the parasite copy of Samus at full power in Fusion?

It stalks her through the station and eventually clones itself, forcing a rushed escape.

Under what working title was Fusion first shown at E3 2001?

IGN called that early footage 'dark' and 'muddy'; a year later it won Best of Show under its final name.

Which feature introduced in Fusion tells the player where to go next?

They made Fusion more linear than earlier entries, a frequent point of criticism.

Zero Mission (2004) is a Game Boy Advance remake of which game?

It added items, areas, mini-bosses and a rewritten story exploring Samus's past.

Which entirely new area did Zero Mission add to the original's map?

It is also the first game with a sequence where Samus plays without her Power Suit.

In Zero Mission's suitless sequence, what is Samus's only weapon?

It only briefly stuns enemies, so Samus has to crawl through ducts and avoid fights.

Which studio co-developed Metroid: Other M for the Wii?

The Dead or Alive developers later built a Ridley-fight arena from Other M into Dead or Alive: Dimensions.

In Other M, Samus investigates a derelict station known as what?

Its sectors include a Biosphere, a Cryosphere and a Pyrosphere.

Which unlockable in Other M presents a two-hour film of its cutscenes?

Developers recorded bridging gameplay footage so the film plays as one continuous story.

Metroid Dread takes place on which planet?

Samus is sent there after the Federation loses contact with its robot investigators.

In Dread, Samus hides from which near-invincible hunter robots?

The acronym stands for Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier; seven were sent ahead of Samus.

Who is the rogue warrior and main antagonist of Metroid Dread?

He spent much of the game masquerading as Samus's ship computer.

Metroid Dread was originally conceived for which handheld in the mid-2000s?

Two attempts stalled on the hardware; the finished game arrived on Switch in 2021.

Which award did Metroid Dread win at The Game Awards 2021?

It was also nominated for Game of the Year and became the best-selling Metroid title.

Which boss from the first game turns up alive in Metroid Dread?

He somehow survived the destruction of his home planet; an X parasite later wears his corpse.

Samus Returns added which combat mechanic its developers suggested after their Castlevania work?

It stuns enemies and sets up a fully charged shot, and it carried over into Dread.

Which Aeion ability in Samus Returns reveals hidden pathways and items?

Aeion abilities draw on an energy gauge, a new idea for the 2D games.

Super Metroid's best ending requires finishing inside what time limit?

Completion time decides whether Samus poses with or without her suit.

Which Nintendo of America employee narrated Super Metroid's opening?

His 'The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace' line opens the game.

Which 2016 3DS spin-off drew an online petition demanding its cancellation?

It was developed by Next Level Games and debuted 15th on the 3DS sales chart.