Who doesn’t love a double dose of Metroid?
Nintendo, fresh off the heels of a Metroid Prime 4 reveal, have announced a new Metroid title for the Nintendo 3DS. While it’s not exactly a new title, Metroid: Samus Returns in a remake of Metroid 2 that features enhanced gameplay and really enhanced visuals.
This likely explains why the fan-made Metroid 2 remake was shut down so quick since this was in development. It’s a little disappointing to see this title come to 3DS only and not include the Switch but we’ll survive since the Switch is getting Metroid Prime 4. This is good news for 3DS owners and it will also help drive some sales of the New Nintendo 2DS XL.
The game itself takes advantage of both of the 3DS screens, showing a map on the bottom while showing the actual gameplay on top. The game does take advantage of the 3D features the 3DS has to offer. Although your battery will drain much quicker while the feature is on, the backgrounds will look more lively with the feature turned on.
Metroid 2: Return of Samus was originally a Game Boy game so you can see how far this remake is taking things. Rather that just creating a straight port of the title, Nintendo has pulled out all the stops and made it fully 3D, although the game still sports its 2D side-scrolling roots. New quality of life changes have been made such as the ability to aim in any directions. The gameplay shown during Nintendo’s E3 presentation show there are a slew of new moves and abilities being added to the game.
One new Aeion ability in the game is called Lightning Armor. This new ability gives Samus a green glow which overcharges her melee damage and allows her to run through enemies without taking a ton of damage. It takes away from your Aeon pool every time you are hit so use it wisely.
One big change is the addition of teleportation stations. Instead of having to backtrack through whole areas at a time, something Metroid gamers have become accustomed to, Metroid: Samus Returns will allow you to warp to different areas to cut down on the heavy back tracking. You can still end up getting lost in areas, quite easily actually, but the warp points should make it easier to get back on track.
Nintendo took 2017 and turned it into the year of Metroid. If we don’t count Federation Force, which you shouldn’t, we have received a proper Metroid title in quite some time and now Nintendo has announced two new titles on the same day. We even have two new amiibo coming to the game with the Samus Aran Amiibo and Metroid Amiibo. We don’t know how they will work in-game but we do know these Amiibo are compatible with Metroid: Samus Returns. Nintendo really went all in with these two games.
Although Metroid Prime 4 doesn’t come out until 2018 at the earliest, Metroid: Samus Returns hits the 3DS family of systems on September 15, 2017. You can check out the official trailer below.
