Metroid Dread | Review

Metroid Dread, the fifth canonical chapter of the famous saga that began in 1986, took a long time to wait. The first time it was talked about was back in 2005, when it leaked from a private Nintendo list concerning the first party productions that were supposed to support the life cycle of the Nintendo DS. From that moment, apart from some smoky corridor rumors, nothing more was heard. The only information about Metroid 5 was released by its creator, Yoshio Sakamoto, who very succinctly stated that the technology of the Nintendo DS did not allow to carry out the project he had in mind.

In the following sixteen years many things have changed: the Prime series, from a simple spin-off of the franchise, has become the reference point for modern players; the famous "Metroidvania" are experiencing a new, and very long, spring and the Spaniards Mercury Steam have proposed their vision of Metroid through a remake of Samus Return, which angered longtime fans but managed to show how much still had to say the original series in 2D, with the right precautions.

The reinterpretation of Mercury Steam, combined with the advent of the new technologies introduced by Nintendo Switch, spurred Sakamoto to take up the project which, alongside the team of Spanish development, the development of Metroid Dread started from scratch.

Four years later, that expected fifth chapter is finally ready and, contrary to those who strongly believe that it is the swan song of the 2D series, as a point of arrival and departure for the series. A production designed to test the hunger of Metroid of longtime fans and to make the "new generation" understand why an entire genre takes part of its name from the Metroid series.