Absolutely Super.
Right now I’m playing through a new run of Super Metroid+A Link to the Past. The game is so perfectly made that it’s just as good with a randomizer.

If we’re allowing Trilogy as one game then I’m going to step out a bit and go with AM2R. It’s extremely good and not “for a fan remake”, just straight up good.

If we’re talking single games made/published by Nintendo I’d go with Dread for 2D. I played through that 3-4 times back to back when it came out which was a totally new behavior for me. For 3D it’s Prime 1, still the best 3D example of the genre.

I started with Fusion and I love it, but Super is a tiny tiny bit over it in my personal list.

Dread. The movement feels incredible and I feel like its map naturally leads players to the next relevant area the best without as much backtracking and getting lost. Brilliant game.

Super Metroid is my favorite game period, so definitely that one. Dread was really good too though, I played through that one a bunch.

My favorite Metroid is a knockoff. Environmental Station Alpha. I can’t help but recommend it in any thread that’s even remotely on topic. It’s not “better” than the official titles but I end up replaying ESA way more. The astmosphere and music just really hit me, and the gameplay is tight with lots of secrets.

My favorite official title is Fusion though. It was so awesome being able to play that on the train to school and lunch breaks.

Going to use this thread to recommend AM2R which is so high quality Nintendo could have made it themselves. It also has a great Prime-style OST in a 2d game which none of the other games have done

It’s really hard for me to name a single favorite Metroid; I love most of them. In terms of non-linear open exploration, Super Metroid is probably my favorite, followed by AM2R. But I also really enjoyed the boss fights in Metroid Dread; they were really challenging…for me at least.

I’ve seen some mentions of AM2R, which I love, but also wanna shout out the romhack Super Metroid Redesign.

Its hard for me to pick an absolute favorite, but Fusion probably gets it today from me.

Super

Mine is probably the oddball pick with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. I know it’s hardly the first game with a light and dark world mechanic, but I really appreciated the way you traversed in and out of them, and how each world replenished the opposite ammo type. The multiplayer in that game is also underrated, but probably not as good as in the DS game.

Fusion has always been my favorite. I “want” to not like how linear it is compared to the rest of the series, but when I get started playing it again that never seems to matter to me anymore. And because of that game structure, the game is very well broken up into chunks of 20-30 minutes of gameplay at a time which makes it excellent for playing on a portable console. I played it on a borrowed GBA-SP for the first time back in the day, a few more times after that emulated, and most recently I’ve been playing it again on my Steam Deck within the past week, I’m like 2/3 of the way back through it again, just took down Yakuza for the Space Jump last night before bed.

Fusion is also a huge story point for the series as a whole. It introduces the X and by doing so gives context to the existence of the metroids. And seeing that referenced again later in Dread was maybe one of the coolest moments I’ve experienced in the Metroid series.

Speaking of Dread, that one is a very close follow up though. I was super hype for Dread when it released and it is one of few games in recent memory that completely lived up to that hype. I was a big fan.

Agree with Zero Mission. Second would be Dread and then Super. Haven’t played Fusion tho, long overdue…

Super Metroid for 2D, Metroid Prime 1 for 3D.

Both games absolutely blasted it out of the water. Perfect masterpieces that no other game managed to live up to.

Metroid Prime Pinball is an untouchable god-tier masterpiece of a spin-off.

I think Zero Mission was a pretty good remake of NEStroid, and Samus Returns was an okay remake of Return of Samus. Prime Hunters, Prime 2, and Prime 3 were just okay, nothing bad but nothing special either. Hunters online was fun until the Action Replay users took over. IMO Fusion, Dread, and Other M were too linear. Federation Force was not great either, probably the weakest game to have Metroid in the title.

I appreciated Fusion’s story, it was interesting. I also appreciate the vision of Other M, it was certainly a game that, when it worked, the gameplay was pretty fun to look at. Finisher moves and quick dodging was cool to see, even if it made the game pretty easy. The first person switching was a really cool idea that I think should have borrowed a little from Metroid Prime’s Scan Visor, where the suit automatically highlights objects of importance, to lower frustration of “pixel hunts.” Its certainly got very good graphics for a Wii game, even if the environments are bland. But IMO Dread had some equally bland level design, and was too linear for my liking. I also did not really like the ending that much. Dread’s soundtrack is equally as forgettable as Other M’s soundtrack, except there are some songs I actually remember from Other M that were unique to the game and not a remix from an older Metroid title (for example, the piano theme from Other M, great song). I completed Metroid Dread in about 9 hours the week it launched and I haven’t played it since.

Super is so good. The sound design makes everything gel together into a smooth slurry.

But, like good.

Metroid Prime is a masterpiece. The artifact hunt is a bit padding-y, but you’ll be backtracking to get the power-ups anyway.