Of all the games announced between the E3 2021 and the Summer Game Fest's events, few were met with as much excitement as Metroid Dread. It isn't just that its announcement was a major part of Nintendo's E3 games showcase, it's that Metroid Dread will be the first major release in the 2D game series since 2002's Metroid Fusion. It's no surprise then that in the wake of Metroid Dread's reveal, a surge of excitement has grown for all things Metroid, even leading to sales rising for classic Metroid games.
Fans tracking the Best Sellers list on the Nintendo Wii U's eShop noticed an exciting trend following Metroid Dread's announcement. Metroid games available through the Wii U digital storefront skyrocketed in popularity following Nintendo's E3 event. Twitter user pigs4ben snapped a couple of photos of the Wii U eShop showing that three of the top four games in the Recent Best Sellers list came from the Metroid franchise.
The three games that made the list started with, unsurprisingly, the two 2D Metroid games available for sale on the platform. The top rank went to Metroid: Zero Mission, the Game Boy Advance remake of the original Metroid. The second-rank position went to Metroid Fusion, which is technically the fourth game in the 2D Metroid series. It too was originally released on the Game Boy Advance and was released on Wii U as a straight digital port.
The third game that made the list on the Wii U's Recent Best Sellers list is the Metroid Prime: Trilogy collection. The Metroid Prime: Trilogy collects all three of the original Metroid Prime games in one package, which was originally released on the Wii and then was available digitally for the Wii U. It just goes to show that there's a lot of excitement for a potential Metroid Prime: Trilogy rerelease on the Nintendo Switch.
Speaking of the Nintendo Switch, there's no way to tell if a similar sales phenomenon happened on Nintendo's newest platform. That's not because the Switch doesn't have a Best Sellers list, though. It's because Nintendo hasn't made any Metroid games available via the Nintendo Switch's eShop. The only Metroid game available on Switch is Super Metroid, and only through a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
It remains to be seen whether Nintendo's lack of Metroid ports for Nintendo Switch will prove to be a mistake. Clearly, there's already evidence that Nintendo fans want more Metroid. The Wii U eShop game sales prove that. Metroid Dread's release later this year may be just what it takes to persuade Nintendo to start bringing some of those classic 2D games to Switch.
Metroid Dread releases October 8 on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Nintendo Everything