5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Metroid Dread

Metroid Dread was officially announced for the Switch during the Nintendo Direct at E3 2021, surprising many people. It received a trailer as well as a gameplay showcase during the Treehouse Live segment of the show, but there is a lot of history behind this game that many people might not know about. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about Metroid Dread.

It Was Originally a Canceled DS Game

If the title Metroid Dread sounded familiar to you when it appeared on the screen during the trailer, there’s a reason why. It was a game that was originally in development for the Nintendo DS, and set to release in 2006.

The title first appeared in an issue of Game Informer magazine in June 2005. There were early E3 press release documents mentioning it that year, but when the game didn’t show up at E3 in 2005, or even 2006, it slowly became forgotten and assumed to be canceled.

Now, 15 years later, Metroid’s producer Sakamoto Yoshio has shared that the title was in fact in development way back then, and said “we gave up on the idea at the time because we felt the technology back then just couldn’t properly bring the concept to life.”

It Was Referenced in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

The next time fans would see the word “Dread” in reference to the title would be in 2007’s Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

In the Metroid Processing room on the Space Pirate Homeworld, a panel can be scanned that says “Experiment status report update. Metroid project ‘Dread’ is nearing the final stages of completion.”

Fans debated whether or not this was truly a hint at Metroid Dread’s development status, but later on, one of Corruption’s designers admitted the line was included as a joke. Very funny.

It’s the First Original 2D Metroid Game in Almost 19 Years

Metroid Dread will be the first truly original 2D Metroid game in almost 19 years. That sounds like a fake fact, but it’s true.

The Samus Returns release in 2017 was a remake of Return of Samus. The Zero Mission release in 2004 was a remake of the original Metroid.

The last original 2D game was Metroid Fusion in 2002, and Metroid Dread will be its direct sequel as the next game in the story. This is the first original game since the days of the Game Boy Advance, meaning the 2D series skipped two entire handheld generations before receiving a brand-new title.

It’s the First Metroid Game in HD

Somehow, it’s 2021 and we still don’t have an HD Metroid game. Metroid Dread will change that by being the first in the franchise to be played in high-definition.

Even though Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Wii was playable on the Wii U, it never received an HD version of the game on Wii U or Switch. And although Samus Returns looked really cool in 3D on the 3DS, that wasn’t HD either.

Metroid Dread will be our first time seeing Samus in beautiful HD, and it may be the only time we do until Metroid Prime 4 eventually releases.

It’s the First Metroid Game With Stealth as an Actual Mechanic

In Metroid Dread’s trailer and gameplay, we got a glimpse of what appears to be a new mechanic. You can see in the screenshot that Samus is using a special ability to hide from the enemies that are tracking her down. Although it has a spotlight on her, she remains undetected.

There have been small stealth sections in Zero Mission and Fusion, but it looks like stealth is going to play a much bigger role as Samus is being chased by the E.M.M.I. — a big enough role that there is an entire ability dedicated to it.

We wonder how big of a role stealth will play in the game now that it has its own mechanic, and how often this ability will need to be used.

Metroid Dread will release on the Nintendo Switch on Oct. 8, 2021.