The upcoming Metroid Dread has been in development for a very long time, and it is in fact the end result of a previously anticipated Nintendo DS title that never came to pass. Fans were pleasantly surprised to see a new 2D Metroid game with Samus Aran sporting a new look and running through classic (but visually upgraded) gameplay during the Nintendo E3 2021 showcase.
According to Tuesday's Nintendo Direct, Metroid Dread is a sequel to the 2002 Game Boy Advance hit Metroid Fusion and will pit Samus against a robotic enemy called E.M.M.I. Additionally, Metroid Dread will be a 2.5D side scroller in the style of Metroid: Samus Returns, and it's the first series title to be developed for the Nintendo Switch - although Nintendo shares that it's still hard at work on Metroid Prime 4. Metroid Dread’s announcement may have taken E3 viewers off guard prior to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2's gameplay reveal, but it turns out the title was brewing for a good decade or so before it was finally unveiled.
As reported by VGC, Metroid Dread began its life as a planned sequel on the Nintendo DS in 2005 and was even listed among possible E3 announcements in a June 2005 edition of Game Informer magazine. However, Nintendo opted to show off Metroid Prime Hunters instead, though journalist it was claimed that Dread would be revealed at the following E3. That didn’t happen either, and the only hint at Metroid Dread’s existence in the decade or two since then was a brief Easter egg in 2007’s Metroid Prime 3. Fast-forward to Nintendo's E3 2021 showcase, where Metroid series producer Yoshio Sakamoto finally confirmed the game’s existence and long history in a brief interview during Tuesday's post-E3 Nintendo Treehouse.
According to Sakamoto, the idea for Metroid Dread first came up 15 years ago, but his development team couldn’t properly implement it because they "felt the technology back then just couldn’t properly bring the concept to life." He had tried to revive the project a few times in the years since but ultimately had to wait until the advent of the Switch to get his vision off of the ground. In the meantime, the Metroid franchise has seen its share of peaks and valleys over the past couple of decades, with the last proper release being Metroid: Samus Returns, a 2017 remake of Metroid 2 for the 3DS.
It's been a nearly two-decade wait for a new Metroid game on a home console, and Yoshio Sakamoto and company have been waiting just as long for technology (and possibly Nintendo itself) to catch up enough in order to bring the dream sequel to life. All of this waiting will be coming to an end soon, though, as Metroid Dread is set to be released on the Nintendo Switch in just a few short months.
Metroid Dread will be available on Nintendo Switch on October 8, 2021.
Source: VGC, Nintendo/YouTube