Metroid Games in Order

Why this order?

Metroid is one of gaming's defining sagas, and its biggest quirk is that the in-universe timeline looks almost nothing like the release order. The series jumps across decades of hardware and two distinct styles: the side-scrolling "2D" mainline games and the first-person Prime sub-series. Because of that, picking the right order genuinely changes how the story reads.

The default order here is chronological: the order events happen to bounty hunter Samus Aran. It opens with the original Metroid (best experienced through its 2004 Game Boy Advance remake, Zero Mission), then moves into the Prime trilogy: Metroid Prime, Echoes and Corruption. From there it returns to the 2D line with Metroid II (and its 2017 3DS remake, Samus Returns), followed by Super Metroid, Other M, Fusion, and finally Metroid Dread, which closes out the long-running Metroid-organism storyline. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, released in 2025, sits in the separate Prime continuity and continues that first-person branch.

The alternate order is release order, which is how most longtime fans actually experienced the games, starting on the NES in 1986 and ending with Prime 4: Beyond in 2025. It's worth toggling to because several games were built as direct responses to their predecessors, and release order shows that design conversation clearly.

The key gotcha is the re-releases, and it pays to keep remakes and remasters apart. Zero Mission and Samus Returns are full reimaginings, so you can comfortably substitute them for the older originals without losing the plot. Metroid Prime Remastered is a different animal: it is the same 2002 game rebuilt with new visuals and modern dual-stick controls, so nothing about the story or structure changes. Fusion is also notable for assuming you've played Super Metroid, and Dread follows on directly from Fusion, which makes those two the one spot in the 2D line where order genuinely matters. And fans of Castlevania's "Metroidvania" exploration owe much of that genre's DNA to this very series.

So which version should you actually buy? Play Metroid Prime as the 2023 Switch release, Metroid Prime Remastered, rather than tracking down the GameCube disc. The Prime run then stalls on modern hardware: Prime 2: Echoes and Prime 3: Corruption have never been remastered or brought to Switch or Switch 2, the 2009 Wii compilation Metroid Prime Trilogy is long out of print, and the Switch 2 GameCube Nintendo Classics library does not include a Metroid game, so those two still mean original GameCube or Wii hardware. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a Switch game with a separate paid Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack, which is a real decision if you own both machines. On the 2D side, Zero Mission and Fusion sit in the Game Boy Advance library of Nintendo Switch Online, which needs the Expansion Pack tier, while Dread and Samus Returns are ordinary eShop purchases. If you enjoy the Prime side, Prime 4: Beyond is the place to go next.