Samus Aran is heading back to 2D in Metroid Ravenous, a new side-scrolling entry that Nintendo revealed during today’s Nintendo Direct for Switch 2 with a January 28, 2027 release date. The reveal trailer opens with Samus narrating that a mysterious group attacked her and left her gravely injured, and the same group shows up on screen wielding what look like umbrellas. She’s stranded underground on an alien moon with, in her own words, a slim chance of getting off it, and the footage runs through side-scrolling exploration and combat before landing on the tagline “It’s eat or be eaten.”
That tagline ties to the one new mechanic the trailer shows off: Samus draining energy from enemies. Nintendo hasn’t explained how the ability works beyond a few action clips, and there’s no developer, price, or further gameplay detail attached to the announcement yet. The Metroid Suit from the end of Metroid Dread also makes an appearance, which suggests this picks up after that game.
The game comes with an amiibo lineup of its own, with preorders opening later today. Samus and a Chozo Statue release as individual figures alongside the game on January 28. The third figure, Samus in her Metroid Suit, is only available bundled with the Special Edition, which packages the game with a steel game case. Both the standard and Special Edition launch the same day.
This is the first mainline Metroid announcement since Metroid Prime 4: Beyond shipped last December, and in my review I called that game the most disappointing one I played all year, so a return to the series’ 2D side is welcome news, at least for me. Metroid Ravenous is also the first new 2D Metroid since Metroid Dread in 2021.
