Which games are best to play before Metroid Dread?

The release of Metroid Dread has made fans of the series incredibly hyped and piqued the interest of gamers who have never played Metroid before.

Compared to the large Nintendo franchises like Zelda and Pokemon, Metroid hasn’t received that much attention recently. Only two games have been released since 2010’s Metroid Other M, which was notorious for being controversial. As a result, not many gamers are likely well versed in the Metroid lore, but fortunately, it won’t take too many games to catch up.

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Best games to catch up on before playing Metroid Dread

It is important to note that any player whose first game played in the series is Metroid Dread will have a prologue at the beginning of the game that covers the history of Samus’ journey. It may not offer all of the contexts, but it will be enough to understand the game.

Fortunately, the Metroid timeline is relatively straightforward, especially when compared to other, more complicated timelines like Zelda’s. Essentially, the order of the games on the timeline is 1 through 5, with the Prime series happening before Metroid 2 and Other M happening before Fusion.

In terms of story, not much happens in the first two Metroid games. Samus goes to a planet, destroys some Metroids, then goes to another planet to destroy more Metroids.

The only thing of note that happens is that Samus encounters a baby Metroid in the second game who takes a liking to her, so she decides to spare its life. This is important later on.

Super Metroid is praised by Nintendo fans as well as the speedruning community (Image via Nintendo)

The best game to start with is Super Metroid, since not only is it in the discussion for the greatest game ever, but it also is a great place to jump into the story.

In Super Metroid, Samus returns to Zebes, the planet that she infiltrated in the first Metroid game. Classic characters like Ridley, Kraid, and Mother Brain show up, making this a great title to play for anyone who doesn’t play Metroid 1.

Technically, the next game that players should play for the timeline’s sake is Metroid: Other M. Most other fans, however, would likely advise staying away from this one. It is the most linear game in the series and features a rather convoluted plot. There are almost as many cutscenes as there is gameplay in Other M.

The one thing that Other M does for the timeline is give more context to Adam Malkovich, a prominent character in Metroid Fusion. As it turns out, Fusion is the other game fans should play before picking up Dread.

Many of the elements found in Dread are shared with Fusion. In the fourth game in the series, Samus travels to a planet where she is hunted by SA-X, a much more powerful clone. As she levels up and gets more abilities throughout the game, Samus reaches the point where she can battle her doppelganger on even ground.