In what order should I play the Metroid games?

[MTZehvor]

spemanig said:

Okay, so something might need to be addressed. A lot of people are suggesting that, for multiple reasons, you should skip Metroid: Other M.

I agree - analogs to Sonic 06 are not off the mark, though the game isn't broken like that one is. But something you need to know is that a lot of the issues people had with Other M started in other games in the series who tried to set those events up retroactively. Namely Zero Mission and especially Fusion.

Because of this, I can't impress enough how, if you can stomach it, you should play the games in release order instead. Zero Mission is objectively superior to Metroid 1, there's no debating that, but Zero Mission adds story elements retroactively that directly influenced the events of Other M.

Fusion is unavoidable and the worst offender of this, so play it last. For Samus Returns, it's another thing where I really don't trust the producer Sakamoto to just leave that game alone and try to preserve it, so you're likely better off playing the original. Your entire view of who Samus is as a character will be shaped by the order you play the games in, and if you play them in "remake" order, you WILL get the Other M view in your head by design, and that is both an inferior and less authentic Samus.

So while everyone else suggests Zero Mission, Samus Returns, Super Metroid, and Fusion, I suggest Metroid 1, Metroid 2, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2, Metroid Prime 3, Zero Mission, Samus Returns, and then Fusion.

Prime 1+2 are far more authentic to the original design philosophy around Samus than any game after Super Metroid was. 3 is where it starts to get influenced, at least aesthetically, by the changes in the main universe, while also being where Tanabe's obsession with turning Metroid into a Halo clone started. (The latter really started with Prime 2, but that was just because of the optional multiplayer and some intrusive story bits.)

...if you're going to suggest release order, you should play Fusion before Prime 2, and Zero Mission either before or just after Prime 2. Unless this is just release order with some alterations made in there.

OT: The problem with Metroid as a series is that there's no real great "jumping in" point that's particularly friendly towards newcomers both from a story and a gameplay perspective. The original Metroid and its sequel have both aged really poorly, and while Super Metroid is still one of (if not the) best games of all time, you'll kinda be jumping in after the majority of the significant events in the storyline. Zero Mission and AM2R (yes, including the fan game) are largely fantastic remakes, but they also don't take the time to explain some of the optional abilities that Samus has, which means that some of the fun of the game is lost on an initial playthrough. And while Metroid Prime is both extremely enjoyable largely detached from the main storyline with two excellent sequels (making it a good entry point for newcomers), it's also...well, not really related to the main story. Meaning that if you want to play the series in order to be caught up in time for Samus Returns, these games won't help you much, except to provide some background knowledge for the universe.

My advice would be that if you want to play the games in order to be familiar enough with the gameplay/storyline to be comfortable jumping in to Samus Returns, start with Zero Mission. It's not a perfect jumping in point, and I'd probably suggest looking up the terms "Shinespark" and "Wall Jump" before you start. I'd also wholly disagree that Zero Mission in any way promotes a "Other M-esque" picture of Samus; Other M's horrible depiction of Samus still struck me as awful despite the fact that I played ZM and Fusion as some of my first games in the series, so I don't think that's an issue. After that, I'd suggest jumping into the Prime series; it's totally different gameplay but it does a very good job of getting the player up to speed and they're just immensely enjoyable games.

If you aren't concerned about simply getting ready for Samus Returns, then I'd start with the Prime series. Maybe a bit unorthodox to have a 1st person game be your first title for a series that started in 2D, but Prime does the best job of being newcomer friendly imo. You'll get at least somewhat familiar with Samus and a number of the powerups that will consistently show up in the 2D games, the universe of Metroid, and, as a bonus, some background knowledge on why the Metroids were considered such a big threat when the events of Samus Returns roll around.