Nintendo's E3 2021 presentation wrapped up the biggest gaming conference of the year, and the Japanese company had plenty of new exciting announcements to share with fans. A new Mario Party game was announced, a new WarioWare title, and, surprisingly, a brand-new 2D Metroid game, which fans haven't seen in almost 20 years. Metroid 5, otherwise known as Metroid Dread, will be releasing for the Nintendo Switch later this year and continues the narrative from Metroid Fusion.
Metroid Dread stars Samus Aran once again as she heads by herself to a mysterious planet. And just like other Metroid titles, Samus will slowly gain abilities as she progresses through the game that will allow her to retrace her steps to uncover hidden items and other paths. And for the diehard Metroid fans out there, Nintendo has revealed that a special edition version will launch alongside Metroid Dread.
The special edition for Metroid Dread currently has no price attached to it, but Nintendo will release pre-order information soon, as the game launches in just a few short months. As for the edition's contents, it'll come with a copy of the game, a steelbook game case, a 190-page artbook that spans all five entries of the 2D Metroid games, and five high-quality art cards with images from several Metroid titles.
As with most special editions for video games, fans can expect the collection to be available from most major retailers like Amazon, GameStop, and Walmart. Nintendo has also announced that Metroid Dread will launch alongside a two-pack amiibo set that will feature Samus wearing her suit from Dread and the main enemy in the game known as E.M.M.I.
Although Metroid Prime 4 is still in development, this announcement of a new 2D Metroid is sure to keep fans satisfied while the next game is being worked on for the Switch. Metroid Prime 4 was originally announced back during Nintendo's E3 2017 presser. Since then, Nintendo has kept quiet on the title, except for when it announced in 2019 that development had started over from scratch with Retro Studios back to lead development.
Now that Metroid fans are getting the modern 2D game that has been asked for, the question remains whether or not Nintendo will release the original Metroid Prime trilogy for the Switch. It was released on the Wii U back in the day, and bringing that over to the Switch will introduce many Switch owners to the games that brought Samus into the 3D space.
Metroid Dread will launch for the Nintendo Switch on October 8th, 2021.
