# Metroid Ravenous > Metroid Ravenous, Samus's 2D return on Nintendo Switch 2 on Jan 28, 2027: the release, the Special Edition and amiibo, the Space Ninjas, every ability shown, and the whole Metroid series in order Metroid Ravenous is Nintendo's next 2D Metroid, out Jan 28, 2027 on Nintendo Switch 2 only. Samus Aran crashes on a moon, is ambushed by five Space Ninjas and fights her way up from an underground world, draining enemies with her Metroid powers. This viki covers its release, editions, amiibo, abilities and what the reveal trailer shows, then the series it continues: Metroid Dread, the Prime games, every earlier Metroid and Samus herself, and says plainly what is not yet known. Metroid Ravenous is a video wiki on Vi.ki: every key paragraph carries a timestamped YouTube clip that shows what it says, and every page lists its sources. Page text is CC BY-SA 4.0. Canonical page URLs are https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/{slug}; a category lists its pages at https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/{category}, and a photo has its own page at https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/photo/{title}-{id}; please link to them when you quote a page. Subject: Metroid Ravenous (schema.org VideoGame). ## Characters - [Metroid Ravenous Space Ninjas and Bosses](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-space-ninjas-and-bosses): The Space Ninjas are the five assassins who ambush Samus in Metroid Ravenous; Nintendo says she faces each in a one-on-one battle, and Japanese coverage of Nintendo's text says they believe devouring a beaten foe gives them its power. The trailer also shows at least seven other bosses and large creatures, none of them named yet. - [Samus Aran](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/samus-aran): Samus Aran is the bounty hunter of every Metroid game, a human orphan raised by the bird-like Chozo, who gave her their DNA and her Power Suit; a vaccine in Metroid Fusion and the end of Metroid Dread added Metroid DNA. She has been almost silent for most of the series, and Metroid Ravenous gives her a narrating English voice. ## Gameplay - [Metroid Ravenous Gameplay and Abilities](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-gameplay-and-abilities): Metroid Ravenous is a side-scrolling 2D Metroid in the style of Metroid Dread, built around a new choice after every counter: shoot the stunned enemy or drain its energy with Samus's Metroid powers. The trailer also shows a rapid-fire beam, a Flash Shift that now goes up and down and through some walls, running on water, high-gravity rooms and the Metroid Suit. - [Metroid Ravenous vs Metroid Dread](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-vs-metroid-dread): Metroid Ravenous keeps Metroid Dread's fast 2D style, counter and Flash Shift, but swaps the E.M.M.I. chases for one-on-one duels with five Space Ninjas, makes draining enemies a player's choice, and is built for Switch 2 at 20.2 GB against Dread's 4.3 GB. Nintendo does not call it a sequel, though the press reads it as set after Dread. ## Media - [Metroid Ravenous Trailers](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-trailers): Metroid Ravenous has one trailer as of Nov 8, 2026, the 1:59 reveal shown in the Sep 9, 2026 Nintendo Direct and posted by Nintendo of America, where it had about 4.47 million views two months later. This page lists every official upload, where it sits in the Direct, and what the trailer shows, shot by shot. ## Overview - [Metroid Ravenous](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/): Metroid Ravenous is Nintendo's next 2D Metroid game, out on Jan 28, 2027 on Nintendo Switch 2 only. Samus Aran, ambushed on an unknown moon by five Space Ninjas, climbs back to the surface by countering enemies and draining their energy with her Metroid powers. - [Predictions](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/predictions): We think the caped leader of the five Space Ninjas is Metroid Ravenous's final boss and that the winged Chozo in the trailer is a memory of the past, not Raven Beak alive again; we also expect Rookie Mode at launch and a critic score close to Metroid Dread's 87. ## Reception - [Metroid Ravenous Previews and Reactions](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-previews-and-reactions): As of Nov 8, 2026 nobody outside Nintendo has played Metroid Ravenous; the previews so far, from Game Informer, Gizmodo, CGMagazine and Engadget, are reactions to the Sep 9, 2026 reveal trailer, and they are strongly positive. The trailer passed 4.4 million views on Nintendo of America's channel, Metroid Dread climbed back to number one on the Switch eShop chart, and the Special Edition was reported sold out. ## Release - [Metroid Ravenous amiibo](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-amiibo): Nintendo is releasing three Metroid Ravenous Series amiibo on Jan 28, 2027: Samus ($24.99) and a larger-than-standard Chozo Statue ($44.99) sold separately, and Samus (Metroid Suit), which comes only in the Special Edition. What they unlock in the game has not been announced as of Nov 8, 2026. - [Metroid Ravenous Price and Special Edition](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-price-and-special-edition): Metroid Ravenous costs $59.99 on the eShop and $69.99 boxed in the US, and the $119.99 Special Edition adds a SteelBook case and the Samus (Metroid Suit) amiibo. The Special Edition sold out within days of the Sep 9, 2026 pre-orders, and Nintendo has announced no pre-order bonus. - [Metroid Ravenous Release Date and Time](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-release-date-and-time): Metroid Ravenous comes out on Jan 28, 2027 on Nintendo Switch 2, with the Special Edition and the amiibo on the same day. As of Nov 8, 2026 Nintendo has announced no launch hour and no pre-load date. - [Metroid Ravenous Switch 2 Features and File Size](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-switch-2-features-and-file-size): Metroid Ravenous is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive with no Switch 1 version. Nintendo estimates a 20.2 GB download, almost five times Metroid Dread's 4.3 GB, and lists HDR and 120 Hz output on compatible TVs, surround sound and TV, tabletop and handheld modes. ## Series - [Metroid Games in Order](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-games-in-order): In release order the Metroid series runs from Metroid (1986) to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (2025), with Metroid Ravenous next on Jan 28, 2027 for Nintendo Switch 2. In story order Zero Mission comes first and Dread last among the games out, with Prime 4 placed by Nintendo between Super Metroid and Fusion. - [Metroid Games on Switch and Switch 2](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-games-on-switch-and-switch-2): Eight Metroid games can be played on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 as of Nov 8, 2026: Metroid Dread, Metroid Prime Remastered and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond to buy, and Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission through Nintendo Switch Online. Metroid Ravenous joins them on Jan 28, 2027, on Switch 2 only. - [Metroid Sales: Best-Selling Metroid Games](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-sales-best-selling-metroid-games): Metroid Dread is the best-selling Metroid game, with 2.90 million copies by Mar 31, 2022 by Nintendo's count, ahead of Metroid Prime's 2.84 million. Metroid Prime Remastered passed 1 million in under two months and Metroid Prime 4 passed 1 million by Dec 31, 2025; Nintendo has never published a total for the whole series. - [Metroid Timeline Explained](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-timeline-explained): The Metroid story runs from Samus Aran's childhood with the Chozo through her missions against the Space Pirates, Mother Brain, Phazon, the Metroids and the X parasite, to Metroid Dread on planet ZDR, which closed that arc. Nintendo places Metroid Prime 4 between Super Metroid and Fusion, and Metroid Ravenous appears to begin after Dread. - [Metroidvania: How Metroid Shaped a Genre](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroidvania-how-metroid-shaped-a-genre): A Metroidvania is a 2D platform adventure in which you explore one large, connected world and open blocked paths with abilities you find, named after Metroid and Castlevania. The word began as a joke about Castlevania games that copied Super Metroid, around 2001, and grew into the name of a genre that includes Hollow Knight and Ori. ## Series games - [Metroid (1986)](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-1986): Metroid is the first game in the series, released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan on Aug 6, 1986 and on the NES in North America in 1987, in which bounty hunter Samus Aran enters planet Zebes to destroy Mother Brain and the Metroids. Its ending revealed that Samus is a woman. - [Metroid Dread](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-dread): Metroid Dread is the 2D Metroid that MercurySteam and Nintendo released on Nintendo Switch on Oct 8, 2021, in which Samus is hunted by the E.M.M.I. robots on planet ZDR. It holds an 87 on OpenCritic, won Best Action/Adventure Game at The Game Awards 2021 and is the best-selling Metroid game, with 2.90 million copies by Mar 31, 2022. - [Metroid Dread Bosses and E.M.M.I.](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-dread-bosses-and-e-m-m-i): Metroid Dread has seven named bosses (Corpius, Kraid, Drogyga, Escue, Experiment No. Z-57, Golzuna and Raven Beak, with Raven Beak X after him), several Chozo Soldier fights, and seven E.M.M.I. robots, each destroyed with a single-use Omega Cannon taken from its zone's Central Unit. This page lists them in the order BeardBear's recorded runs meet them. - [Metroid Dread Ending Explained](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-dread-ending-explained): At the end of Metroid Dread, Raven Beak, the Mawkin Chozo leader who lured Samus to ZDR, awakens her Metroid DNA to make her his weapon; she turns it on him, an X carrying Quiet Robe's form gives itself up to return her to human form, and she escapes as ZDR explodes. The Metroid powers she keeps are what Metroid Ravenous is built on. - [Metroid Fusion](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-fusion): Metroid Fusion is Nintendo's 2002 Game Boy Advance game, released in North America on Nov 17, 2002, in which Samus survives the X parasite thanks to a vaccine made from Metroid cells and is hunted by the SA-X aboard the B.S.L. research station. It has been on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack since March 2023, and no remake has been announced as of Nov 8, 2026. - [Metroid II and Samus Returns](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ii-and-samus-returns): Metroid II: Return of Samus (Game Boy, 1991) sends Samus to SR388, the Metroids' home planet, to wipe them out, and ends with the baby Metroid that leads into Super Metroid. MercurySteam remade it as Metroid: Samus Returns for Nintendo 3DS on Sep 15, 2017, adding the melee counter, Free Aim and Aeion abilities that Metroid Dread and Metroid Ravenous build on. - [Metroid Prime 2: Echoes](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-prime-2-echoes): Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is Retro Studios' GameCube sequel to Metroid Prime, released in North America on Nov 15, 2004, in which Samus crosses between Light and Dark Aether, fights Dark Samus for the first time and wins back stolen upgrades. It is playable today only on GameCube or in the 2009 Metroid Prime Trilogy. - [Metroid Prime 3: Corruption](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-prime-3-corruption): Metroid Prime 3 Corruption is Retro Studios' Wii game, released in North America on Aug 27, 2007, that ends the Prime trilogy with Samus corrupted by Phazon, fighting fellow bounty hunters and Dark Samus with Wii Remote aiming and Hypermode. Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii, Aug 24, 2009) bundles it with the first two Prime games. - [Metroid Prime 4: Beyond](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-prime-4-beyond): Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is Retro Studios' first-person Metroid for Switch and Switch 2, released on Dec 4, 2025 after being announced as a logo in 2017 and restarted in 2019. Samus is stranded on the planet Viewros with new Psychic Abilities, a bike called Vi-O-La and the rival hunter Sylux; it holds an OpenCritic average of 80 and sold over a million copies in its first month. - [Metroid Prime Remastered](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-prime-remastered): Metroid Prime Remastered is Retro Studios' Switch remake of Metroid Prime, the 2002 GameCube game, announced and released on the same day, Feb 8, 2023, with new graphics and modern dual-stick controls. It holds an OpenCritic average of 94, and it is the easiest way to play the first Prime today. - [Metroid Prime Spin-offs: Hunters, Pinball and Federation Force](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-prime-spin-offs-hunters-pinball-and-federation-force): The Metroid Prime series has three handheld spin-offs, Metroid Prime Pinball (DS, Oct 24, 2005), Metroid Prime Hunters (DS, Mar 20, 2006) and Metroid Prime Federation Force (3DS, Aug 19, 2016). Hunters introduced Sylux, the villain of Metroid Prime 4, and Federation Force's ending sets him up. - [Metroid: Other M](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-other-m): Metroid Other M is the 2010 Wii game Nintendo made with Team Ninja, released in North America on Aug 31, 2010, that tells Samus Aran's past in her own voice between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. It scored 79 on Metacritic and divided fans over its story, and it was the last game in which Samus spoke before the Metroid Ravenous trailer. - [Metroid: Zero Mission](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-zero-mission): Metroid: Zero Mission is Nintendo's 2004 Game Boy Advance remake of the first Metroid, released in North America on Feb 9, 2004, which retells Samus Aran's mission on Zebes and adds a new final act in the Zero Suit. It joined Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on Jun 18, 2024. - [Super Metroid](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/super-metroid): Super Metroid is the third Metroid game, released for the Super NES in North America on Apr 18, 1994, in which Samus Aran returns to planet Zebes to rescue the last Metroid from Ridley and Mother Brain. It is playable today on Nintendo Switch Online. ## Story - [Metroid Ravenous Metroid Powers Explained](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-metroid-powers-explained): Samus can drain enemies in Metroid Ravenous because she is part Metroid: a vaccine made from the baby Metroid's cells saved her life in Metroid Fusion, and that Metroid DNA fully awakened at the end of Metroid Dread, giving her the Metroid Suit. Ravenous calls it her "latent Metroid powers" and "newly awakened Metroid instincts." - [Metroid Ravenous Story and Setting](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-story-and-setting): Metroid Ravenous begins with Samus Aran shot down over an unnamed moon, ambushed by five Space Ninjas and thrown into an underground world she must climb out of by feeding on its creatures. Nintendo has not named the moon or said exactly where the game sits in the timeline, but the press reads it as set after Metroid Dread. ## Studio - [Metroid Ravenous Developer: MercurySteam](https://metroidravenous.vi.ki/metroid-ravenous-developer-mercurysteam): Nintendo publishes Metroid Ravenous and has not named its developer as of Nov 8, 2026. MercurySteam, the Madrid studio that made Metroid Dread and Samus Returns with Nintendo, all but confirmed it by sharing the reveal trailer, but neither company has said so.