Metroid Dread has revitalized the Metroid franchise in a way that few people would have expected a couple of weeks ago. The game is a smash hit. It has set sales records around the world, critics love it, gamers love it. It is a resounding success. Now, Metroid is a victim of its own success.
Metroid Dread is the first game in the series to appear on the Nintendo Switch console. It’s not the first new game in the franchise. It’s the first game period. There have been no remakes, no collections, nothing for Metroid fans to sink their teeth into on Switch. Even Metroid Prime 4 still hasn’t been released, despite being announced for the Nintendo Switch a full four years before Metroid Dread.
This has caused an unlikely phenomenon. Metroid games have been topping the charts on Nintendo’s other consoles. Metroid games are taking up four of the top ten spots on the Wii U charts while Metroid: Samus Returns has taken the number 3 spot on the 3DS charts. Metroid is dominating everywhere except on the Nintendo Switch. Obviously, Metroid Dread is topping the Switch charts but there’s no way for gamers to play almost any of the rest of the series on the Nintendo Switch.
Switch owners can play the original Metroid and Super Metroid games but only via the Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Players can’t even buy those games independently from the subscription service. That leaves owners of Nintendo’s latest console unable to legally purchase any of the Metroid games besides Dread.
Hopefully, the stellar sales and popularity of Metroid Dread will convince Nintendo to put together some remakes or collections of previous games. Heck, even straight ports would probably be welcomed by most people at this point. Though, I would be partial to a Metroid Prime trilogy collection with all the bells and whistles. Maybe we will see something next year as Nintendo scrambles to try and capitalize on the newfound popularity of the Metroid franchise.
