METROID RAVENOUS JUST UNLEASHED A FASTER, HUNGRIER SAMUS ON SWITCH 2!

Nintendo’s first new 2D Metroid adventure since Dread launches January 28 with predatory powers, new amiibo figures and a collector’s edition.

Samus Aran spent Metroid Dread running from nearly indestructible machines that could end her mission in seconds. Nintendo’s next 2D Metroid is changing the rules by turning its legendary bounty hunter into the most dangerous creature on the map.

Nintendo revealed Metroid Ravenous during its September 9 Direct presentation. The Switch 2 exclusive launches January 28, 2027, giving the console a major first-party release immediately after the holiday season.

According to the footage shown during Nintendo’s official presentation, Samus is attacked by unknown assailants and left seriously injured on a mysterious moon. Reaching the surface will be difficult, and escaping alive may require her to embrace powers that look considerably more frightening than another missile upgrade.

The trailer’s warning is simple: “It’s eat or be eaten.” Samus appears capable of consuming energy from defeated enemies and converting it into new abilities, while the footage showcases faster combat, hard counters, acrobatic attacks and an energy blade built for slicing through enemies at close range.

That premise pushes the transformation introduced at the end of Metroid Dread into dangerous territory. Samus is no longer merely wearing alien technology, because her increasingly organic armor and predatory abilities suggest the Metroid power inside her may be changing how she fights, survives and thinks.

Nintendo has not explained every mechanic or confirmed exactly how consuming enemies affects progression. The trailer still makes the direction unmistakable: Samus is stranded, wounded and willing to feed on hostile creatures if that is what returning home requires.

This is exactly the kind of follow-up the series needs. Dread successfully returned the main 2D storyline after a long absence, but copying its E.M.M.I. encounters would have made the next game feel painfully safe. Ravenous appears faster, more physical and considerably more FUEGO.

Collectors will have additional ways to feed Nintendo’s bank account. A special edition and steelbook are planned alongside new amiibo figures featuring Samus and a Chozo Statue, although pricing and complete North American availability were not confirmed during the initial presentation.

The reveal also establishes that Nintendo intends to keep both branches of Metroid alive. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond carried Samus into a first-person Switch 2 adventure, while Ravenous continues the exploration-driven 2D series that helped define an entire genre.

Samus has survived hostile planets, Space Pirates, parasitic organisms and killer robots. On January 28, she enters a world where survival may require becoming something even its monsters fear.

Sources: Nintendo, Vice, Pocket Tactics