Three words, Donkey Kong Country. They both released in the same year and DKC was pretty much the one that was given credit for pushing the sales of the SNES and helping the system remain relevant for a little longer. Plus, the launch of the PS and the Sega Saturn didn't really help either.

you're comparing Metroid to franchises that release on mutliple platforms. If Metroid had been doing that it would probably have 2x the amount of sales for each of the last few installments.

Selling 1 or 2 million (the Prime installments) on a Nintendo console is fairly solid. It is somewhat niche because no child is going to play a Metroid game (well under the age of like 8-10), so I wouldn't consider them having done that poor

especially when you consider that half of those titles (look at thines like Fusion or Zero Mission) were extremely easy to develop and in terms of development costs

something like Metroid on a Nintendo console selling a million or two is pretty good when you consider that a large amount of the fanbase are more into party/ releaxed platforming games

exactly, it doesn't attract the children fanbase or the extremely casual party fanbase of Nintendo.

But 1-2 million only on a Nintendo console just is not that bad. and comparing it something like Bioshock is a compliment, Bioshock is hugely popular. Regardless, if Metroid was a multi-plat game then obviously the sales would be doubled. Its a dark sci-fi adventure game and the reality is that that's not the predominant fanbase of Nintendo

at any rate I'm sure if the NX is a hit and Nintendo releases a good Metroid game it will sell well. The reality is that the Primes sold fairly well (especially considering the Gamecube install base) but that since Metroid Prime 1 + 2 there really hasn't been a particularly great Metroid game. So that's partially why you haven't seen a great selling game from the series in a bit

Dont worry Nintendo is on it! they know just how to fix those sales!

People dont like dark gritty single player metroidvania style games?

NO PROBLEM... we will just make it... a....

co-op cute chibi style first person shooter instead!
That ll work and fix this whole issue! just watch.

Metroid : federation force releases and sells 4,200 units first week in japan.

*face palm*

Metroid sales aren'the bad because of what's in it, for that people would have to be enticed to actually play it. And there lies the core problem.

Metroid Prime 3 was very well-received, even proving the notion that motion controls can work for a first person shooter/adventure. Unfortunately, despite being on the Wii, especially when it was in its prime, Prime 3 only sold just more than a million copies.

Despite the praises the series has gotten, its sales have kinda stagnated, but not at an impressive rate (yes, 1-2 millions is cool and all, but is it really enough to for a big developer like Nintendo to stay interested?). So critically, it's can be considered part of the Big Three along with Mario and Zelda, but sales wise, it's only beating FE, F-Zero, Star Fox, etc. I mean, the more likely reason why Other M and FF were being made (other than the producers wanting to show what their vision is), is because they can help the series be exposed to a greater audience, even if they didn't (or won't in FF's case, probably) work out that way. 18-19 million across 12-13 games...

And people still question on how Nintendo is treating the franchise......

The problem is that, in order to play something like Metroid Prime, takes A LOT out of the player, A LOT. This is not as simple as games like Mario, Pokemon Call of Duty, or even Zelda, in which you can pick it up, play it for half an hour- 1 hour - maybe even 2 hours if you really feel invested, then put down to go about your day and be able to pick up again any time. It is taking me FOREVER to finish Prime 2, and it's not because I think it's a bad game, Prime 2 is a great game, but it requires SO MUCh patience, fortitude, commitment, and investment on my part as the player. And as someone who was not a fan of the series to start and is looking at it through the eyes of a newbie, it is an extremely tiring process, ESPECIALLY with sooooooo..... muuuch... fucking... BACKTRACKING! It's draining as hell! When I accomplish something in the game, it feels AWESOME, no doubt. But those moments are so few and far between, that to a lot of people, it's just not worth it!

So what do I think Nintendo should do in order to address this problem. It's quite simple really. Make another 2D Metroid game.
And make it a little bit more streamlined and straight forward as to make it more friendly for the mainstream gaming audience.
2D Metroid is around half, close to half as long as the Prime games, if I'm not mistaken.
So it's easier to get into those than into Prime.
I know Fusion didn't sell as well as Prime 1 did, but as they both launched at around the same time, and around that time was when every franchise had made the jump to 3D with the exception of Metroid, and since their was no 3D Metroid title on the Nintendo 64, all eyes and ears were on Prime, whereas Fusion was something nice to go along with it.
Fast forward to today, now that was see a resurgence/revival of sorts of retro styled gaming that harkens back to the 2D/16-bit era with the indie developers, etc. Or just more 2D games in general, a new 2D Metroid could be just the thing to revitalize the series and bring sales back up. Make a brand new, more streamlined, easier to get into 2D Metroid game with up to date graphics. This way, it will attract the attention of mainstream gamers/non-Metroid fans who see this & think, "Ok, this looks really fun! It looks smple to get into. Nice and easy. And it's an iconic IP with a great legacy behind it! Why not, let's give it a shot!" Along with the guaranteed purchases of Metroid fans who will be eager (I assume), to get, not just a new mainline Metroid title, but a 2D one. The first one since Zero Mission in 2004!
And if all goes well, that game should be the one that tops 3 million, making it the best selling Metroid game of all time.
And from there, the floodgates would open. Nintendo could follow up with a direct sequel that improves upon what it's predecessor did right and fix what it did wrong, It'll hopefully bring in around the same level of sales, hopefully better, though historically speaking for Nintendo games on their systems, the earlier the game releases, the better it sells.
But anyways, they'll both sell really great, and then afterwards they can come out with Prime 4. And they could have them run side by side like they do with Mario and Zelda.
One 2D game for the mainstream audience and entire Metroid fanbase, and one Prime game for the dedicated core of the Metroid fanbase. With the occassional spinoff here and there.

Metroid is niche and that's what it comes down to, niche means that something only appeals to a small select focused group within the market, Metroid is its own genre and concept that requires a person to have a certain taste for it to appeal to them much like a game like Monster Hunter.

People often cite Metroid as one of those big first party core series but in reality Metroid will never push hardware sales because it only sells to a certain subset of gamers. Prime for example only sold as well as it did because many people didn't know what type of game it was and gaming at the time was going through the whole Sci-fi shooter phase with Halo and all so quite a number of people bought it expecting something like the latter. This is why Echoes had such a large drop in sales in comparison.

The first Prime shows that there's potential for the franchise to sell better than just 1 million copies, but Nintendo simply isn't interested sadly.