What makes Metroid Dread one of the best Nintendo Switch games ever
Posted on October 24, 2026 by Ethan in Features, Switch
When Metroid Dread first released in late 2021, it was a big thing for Nintendo. 2D Metroid had been completely dormant since Metroid Fusion all the way back in 2002, meaning we experienced almost twenty years of silence. It was really a Metroid renaissance. Looking back, to receive an all-new entry was amazing in and of itself, but to receive an all-new game that actually continued from where its predecessor left off rather than being a series reboot was nothing short of a miracle.
At the time, I wasn’t particularly interested in Metroid and hadn’t even played a single game in the series. For whatever reason, I decided to give it a shot – and even though I’m not a huge fan of Metroidvanias (which is absolutely a skill issue on my part, by the way), I wound up loving the game, 100 percent completing it multiple times, and even working my way through the no-hit super-tough Dread Mode. Now with Metroid Ravenous coming up, it’s never been a better time to give Metroid Dread a try if you haven’t done so already.
As mentioned earlier, I’m not a huge fan of Metroidvanias. I get lost pretty easily, though that’s at least true for me in real life, too. On the surface, it didn’t seem like Metroid Dread would really be my kind of game, but the trailers made it look super cool. Go figure: when I finally tried it out, it really was that cool. The game does an absolutely fantastic job of getting you accustomed to how Metroidvanias work. It’s fairly short, for one. While collecting all the items might take ten hours on your first run, rushing through the game or attempting a speedrun will take closer to four hours. Even though that seems like a negative, I’ve found that as Metroid Dread has aged, it’s actually a positive, believe it or not. This title is designed to be infinitely replayable – there are tons of intended sequence breaks you can perform to discover new hidden routes and skip major chunks of the game, and since the campaign doesn’t last long, it doesn’t feel like a huge time commitment to revisit the game years down the line.
The reason Metroid Dread is so good at getting you used to Metroidvanias is that everything just works. That’s the easy explanation, anyway. ZDR, the game’s setting, is a pretty large, interconnected world with tons of secrets. Looking at it on the map, you might even find it overwhelming if you’ve never tried the genre before. Even so, the main campaign is smartly designed in that you are always subtly pointed in the right direction. Once you obtain an upgrade, you can easily open up your map and highlight obstacles that you’ve now become capable of destroying and getting past. Likewise, you’ll occasionally have to return to previous areas to gain further upgrades. On paper, you would wonder how you’re supposed to know which previous area to visit – but there are Teleportals spread throughout ZDR, and when it’s time to backtrack, you’ll always find that one of them is conveniently nearby. That’s your hint that your next upgrade is in another area, which means Metroid Dread is actually fairly straightforward to clear without a guide or walkthrough. It also means the game is incredibly fast-paced – you’re always being led to your next upgrade or boss, but in a way that doesn’t feel glaringly obvious either. It’s certainly not like Metroid Prime 4, where you’re word-for-word told where to go after each objective.
Speaking of upgrades, Metroid Dread has a fantastic set of them, and since the pace of the game is quick, you constantly feel like you’re getting more and more powerful. Power is a central theme of this game – Samus becomes incredibly strong in Metroid Dread, and eventually, you start to feel that strength as you control her. You’ve got classic upgrades here, like the Screw Attack, that let you rip enemies to shreds, as well as new ones like Flash Shift that expand your movement options.
All of these upgrades come together during Metroid Dread’s boss fights, which are incredible across the board. There’s a certain mini-boss that’s arguably used a little bit too often near the end of the game, but generally speaking, the major boss fights are a home run. Corpius and Kraid are two of the more basic bosses you’ll fight – but they’re still not only incredibly fun, but also really cool. Each major boss includes cutscenes at the beginning and end that showcase Samus’s personality. As Metroid Dread takes place near the end of the current series timeline, she’s unsurprisingly at her very best here – she isn’t a strictly silent protagonist like in Metroid Prime 4, and she’s not only incredibly powerful, but rebellious and downright disrespectful to many of her opponents. It really makes you root for her – her character arc expands in this game, giving us even more context about her.
Despite Metroid Dread’s short length, the story is on point here as well. As mentioned earlier, it picks up where Metroid Fusion left off. Samus is called to planet ZDR to investigate the return of the X Parasites, which can copy any life form. From there, she meets Raven Beak, the main antagonist, who defeats her in battle. Samus is then tasked with running from and eventually destroying seven E.M.M.I. robots, which were originally on her side but were hacked for an unknown reason. I won’t go into any specific spoilers, but the conclusion to this story is incredibly satisfying. Even five years later, the final boss and ending are just as spectacular as they were when the game first released.
We haven’t talked much about the E.M.M.I. yet, but they’re what puts the Dread in Metroid Dread. At first, these killer robots are completely immune to all of Samus’s weapons. It’s only by exploring E.M.M.I. Zones and finding Central Units that Samus can temporarily upgrade her arm cannon to melt their face plates and then destroy them entirely. But until that happens, you’re completely helpless if an E.M.M.I. spots you, and you’ve got no choice but to run. If you’re caught, they’ll almost always kill Samus in a single hit unless you nail an extremely specific counter window that allows you to escape. You can’t count on that, though, so you’re forced to do your best to avoid the E.M.M.I. at all costs so you can get to where you need to go. That’s another point in Metroid Dread’s favor – you’ll die a lot on your first run, but at no point does it feel cheap. Every time you get a game over, it feels like you’ve made a very specific mistake, and it’s easy to learn from it and try again for a better attempt. The game is generous with its checkpoints, too – it always drops you off right outside a boss room if you lose to it, for instance.
Unless you consider the short length a flaw, there’s only one real weakness that Metroid Dread has: its music. The title screen and some cutscenes have neat remixes from previous Metroid games, and those are pretty good. But the new music isn’t really anything special, and actually winds up quite forgettable. It’s more for atmosphere than anything, so it’s not bad, but even after 40 hours on the game, I couldn’t tell you any specific song by memory other than remixes (which, again, are only used in certain cutscenes anyhow). That’s one area Metroid Ravenous can definitely improve on.
If you haven’t given the Metroid series a try yet, Dread is the perfect way in. It’s even got a Rookie Mode that makes the whole experience much easier if you think normal difficulty would be too tough. There’s no shame in using easy mode! Metroid Dread fights a tough battle against Metroid Prime Remastered for the best Metroid game on Nintendo Switch, but they’re very different. It’s also important to note that Metroid Ravenous takes place after Metroid Dread, and almost certainly will reference events that took place within. Metroid Dread takes place after Metroid Fusion, but the opening does recap what happened in that game for anyone who missed it. After you’re done with Dread, you can play Super Metroid, Metroid Zero Mission, and Metroid Fusion – I played them all afterward, and they’re all great!
Either way, things are looking bright for the Metroid series – Metroid Prime 4 was a little bit of a misstep, but 2D Metroid has never been better.
Do note, the physical game has been out of print for quite a while, at the time of writing – as a result, physical copies are likely to be much more expensive than a digital one.
What do you think about Metroid Dread, if you’ve played it? Let us know in the comments down below.
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