I think a lot of people on this site have a very incorrect perception of the popularity of Metroid. It is talked about like it is as big as Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Zelda, etc... But if you look at the series:
Super Mario - 34 - 301m - 8.9 million per game
Pokemon - 43 - 218.5m - 5.1 million per game
Zelda - 22 - 71m - 3.2 million per game
Donkey Kong - 28 - 62.5m - 2.2 million per game
Kirby - 21 - 33.5m - 1.6 million per game
Animal Crossing - 4 - 22.8m - 5.7 million per game
Metroid - 14 games - 17.55m - 1.25 million per game
Lylatt Wars /Star Fox - 6 - 11m - 1.8 million per game
F-Zero - 5 - 5.8 - 1.16 million per game
Kid Icarus - 2 - 2.8 - 1.4 million per game
So on average, it is one of Nintendo's lower selling franchises. On several gaming forums, its popularity is hugely exaggerated. I mean, I've probably had thousands of conversations about games in my life, but I don't think at any point Metroid has ever come up. Come to the Internet, and you see people talking about it like it is a much bigger franchise than it actually is.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
