8. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN)
Often considered to be the weakest entry in the Prime trilogy, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes nevertheless boasts the same brand of explorative first-person action that made the first game such a success, although with an increased difficulty and lacklustre multiplayer mode which took the shine off it for some.
We'd recommend playing it on Wii with the added bonus of pointer controls if difficulty is an issue, but however you play, this sequel is still an incredibly good game. Epic title screen, too.
7. Metroid Fusion (GBA)
Metroid Fusion — or "Metroid 4" as per its intro — bears more than a passing resemblance to its SNES brethren, and that's perhaps its biggest fault.
While an excellent game in its own right, it didn't do a huge amount to distinguish itself from other Metroids and felt much more linear than its expansive predecessor. It also launched at the same time as Metroid Prime on the GameCube, which pushed the franchise forward at a staggering pace.
Still, this remains an excellent 2D entry and that linearity arguably suited an early-2000s handheld Metroid. If you adored Metroid Dread, this GBA precursor is well worth a look.
6. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
Metroid: Zero Mission is an excellent 2004 remake of the original Metroid, and a game that's in the conversation for 'best remake evs' (if that conversation is being held with a teenager during the 2010s).
Zero Mission tells the story of the first entry, but with far snazzier visuals and Super Metroid-inspired gameplay. With save rooms and a bunch of new items, areas, and mini-bosses, this is the way to experience Samus' first mission. Sorry, zero-st mission.
If it came down to a duel, there are Nintendo Life staffers who would actually take this over the SNES game. It's that good.
5. Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch)
With Metroid Prime Remastered, the seemingly impossible was achieved: a masterpiece was made even better.
The minor issues we had with the motion controls and the occasional visual hiccup pale in comparison to the enhancements that were made in this 2023 overhaul. The visual improvements are extensive, right through to the tiny details, and it all comes together to create one of the best-looking games on Switch, remaster or not.
The new twin-stick control setup works flawlessly for both veterans and newcomers, too, but if you're itching to go back to the original GameCube controls, that option is there. With an expanded gallery feature to round things out, Metroid Prime Remastered felt like a new benchmark in how older games can be thoughtfully revitalised for the modern age.
4. Metroid Dread (Switch)
Metroid Dread was a triumphant return for both Samus Aran and developer MercurySteam. This is a hugely entertaining and exquisitely designed entry that was slicker than anything we've seen from the series so far.
With a bunch of fantastic new abilities, super tense and enjoyable stealth sections, plenty of great big boss fights, and a story that long-time fans will definitely enjoy, we can't really see how this one could have been improved. Pixel nostalgia and genre impact aside, there's a very strong argument that 2D Metroid has never been better.
3. Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii)
Collecting the original Prime trilogy in one handy package with new Wii controls for the first two, difficulty options, and other enhancements for the earlier GameCube entries, Metroid Prime Trilogy is arguably one of the best compilation offerings in video games, ever.
The enhanced versions of the first two games were released separately in Japan as part of the New Play Control! line, but in the West we got this thrilling uberdisc.
Purists may point to a handful of missing visual effects compared to the originals, and they're not wrong, but whichever way you look at it, this is a spectacular package - a great way to play these games, and a hardcore crown jewel on the most casual of consoles.
2. Metroid Prime (GCN)
Metroid Prime is the kind of game that shouldn't have worked. Despite Nintendo finding the 2D heart of both the Mario and Zelda franchises and transplanting them successfully into 3D, somehow there was extreme scepticism that it could also be done with the Metroid series as well.
Perhaps it was because second-party studio Retro Studios was at the helm rather than Shigeru Miyamoto and his band of wizards at Nintendo HQ, or maybe the shift from a third-person perspective caught players off guard, but Retro managed to produce one of the finest games on the system, or indeed any system.
The design, extraordinary atmosphere, and sense of exploration and progression of the 2D games all transfer incredibly well into first-person, and while the Wii version might have added the IR pointer control scheme of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, there's still something to be said for experiencing the original using the controller it was designed for.
With Metroid Prime 4 finally here, now is a great time to rediscover the original and what made it so great. And with the sublime Remastered version, it's never been easier.
1. Super Metroid (SNES)
We don't like deploying the word 'masterpiece' too often, but in this case — and in the case of several top-tier SNES games — it's absolutely, 100% accurate.
Super Metroid is the standard by which all Metroid games are judged, and an impossibly high one, at that. The 16-bit tech enabled Nintendo R&D1 to give the wondrous, ominous atmosphere of Zebes a texture and tension that could only be hinted at on the NES, and it's here where the exploration of interlocking regions tied to ability unlocks was codified as a genre.
Series fans will have played this to death. If, however, you've never dipped your toes into Nintendo's pool of sci-fi search-action, this is the one you need to play. It's a masterpiece. That's all there is to it.
Boom! Thoughts? With this many great games in the series, it's a struggle to find a 'bad' Metroid game, so when the competition is this strong, it's not unusual to find a personal favourite in the nosebleeds.
Best Metroid Games FAQ
Before we collect our bounty, let's answer a few common Metroid questions.
What was the first Metroid game?
Samus' first game was Metroid for the Famicom Disk System. It launched in 1986 in Japan before coming to the US a year later and landing in Europe in 1988.
In the West, the game was altered for release on a standard NES cartridge rather than the Japan-only disk-based add-on. Among other tweaks, this meant altering the audio to work on the fewer channels available compared to FDS, and introducing a 24-digit password feature for saves.
What's the latest Metroid game?
That would be Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which launched on 4th December 2025. Good game.
Hang on, where's [insert Metroid game here]?
While we've included most full games, we've excluded a handful.
Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt and Metroid Prime: Blast Ball are both essentially demo versions of games that feature above, so they've been omitted, as has the NES Classics GBA port of the original. We've also only included the highest-ranking version of MP4 (the Switch 2 Edition).
However, we have included Metroid Prime Trilogy which, as the title suggests, is a compilation of the three Prime games. Should this irritate you, simply imagine it's not there and — voilà! — you'll have your ranking of the individual games.
Metroid is the orange robot, right?
Erm, no. The figure (usually) clad in badass orange armour is Samus Aran, bounty hunter extraordinaire and scourge of the Space Pirates.
Metroids are the jellyfish-esque, floating-brains-with-little-tentacle things which she encounters throughout the series.
Y can't Metroid crawl?
Good question, but here's a better one: What's going on inside that Morph Ball?