Summary
It’s an exciting time forMetroidfans. Nintendo has released the first look of the highly-anticipatedMetroid Prime 4: Beyond, which was announced over 7 years ago. The game will re-introduce new generations of gamers to Samus Aran, one of the most iconic characters in Nintendo history. Many players will be surprised to learn Samus' story isn’t a victorious one.
Throughout the franchise, Samus has had many ups and downs in her fights against Space Pirates and figures from her past. There are a lot of ways she has been defeated in theMetroidseries, especially for those who struggle to complete certain missions or defeat certain bosses. These six moments fromMetroidhistory are amongthe worst ways Samus has lost.
Ridley is widely known as Samus' greatest nemesisin theMetroidsaga, but the character takes on quite a different appearance inMetroid Prime 3: Corruption. He ambushes Samus on the planet of Norion in a power generator shaft, where the two end up falling together mid-battle. The battle occurs in three phases, though Samus' fate will be quick if players aren’t fast enough.
As Samus and Meta Ridley fall, players only have a limited amount of time to deal proper damage to trigger a cutscene in which Samus is saved by Rundas. If players fail to do this, Samus and Meta Ridley will die together by hitting the bottom of the generator shaft. Though it’s a tragic game over for Samus, it’s quite a poetic way to go for the character.
TheMetroid Primeseries is notable for beingdarker than most otherMetroidgames, or any Nintendo games, really.Metroid Prime 2: Echoesis especially morbid, as that game’s Game Over screen will feature a system alert as Samus' heart rate speeds up before flatlining. It’s somehow even more eerie thanMetroid Prime 3,which showcases a puddle of blood at its endscreen.
This Game Over screen can be triggered by most deaths throughout the game, meaning Samus is often at risk of cardiac arrest in the game. It’s not all that surprising when you consider the horrifying things Samus has to face inEchoes, including several fights against her doppelgänger, Dark Samus.
One of the most famous sequences in theMetroidfranchisemight not end well for some players. The first area in the game is Ceres Space Colony, where Samus finds its research station decimated by Space Pirates, encountering Ridley just before the dragon escapes with the Baby Metroid. The colony is set to self-destruct, and Samus must escape within one minute.
If players make it back to the Gunship in time, a cutscene depicts Ceres Space Colony exploding as Samus' ship flies off into space. If they don’t, however, the same cutscene plays without the appearance of Samus' Gunship, indicating that Samus dies in the explosion in that timeline. Thankfully, players get to re-try the countdown toprepare for the ending ofSuper Metroid.
Metroid Prime: Federation Forceis a rarity in theMetroidfranchise, as players control faceless Marines in the Galactic Federation’s titular unit of soldiers. However, Samus Aran still appears, though early in the game’s story, she is captured by Space Pirates aboard the shipDoomseye. There, the pirates take control of Samus' power suit,forcing her to fight the Federation Force.
In the end game’s boss fight, the Marines face Samus' Morph Ball form, scaled up to massive size, seemingly burying her in debris. After taking down theDoomseye, the Federation Force is thankfully saved by Samus in her Gunship, so it’s at least comforting forMetroidfans to know that this 3DS spin-off doesn’t do away with Samus entirely.
Samus takes quite a beating inMetroid Dreadfor the Nintendo Switch. By the end of the game, it’s revealed that Samus has latent Metroid powers, which the antagonist, Raven Beak, plans to harness for his own army of super-soldiers. After defeating Raven Beak, the Chozo despot becomes infected with an X parasite, morphing into the monstrous Raven Beak X.
This final boss can be quite tricky for some players, and the wrong move can spell a terrifying end for Samus. If players misfire or fail to charge up a Hyper Beam to destroy the Chozo monster, Samus will be brutally devoured and killed. It’s a devastating Game Over for Samus in this game, though maybe it’s a better fate than completely turning into a human-sized Metroid.
While someMetroidfans would prefer to forget about the Wii titleMetroid: Other M, the game has some of Samus' most brutal defeats in its Game Over sequences. One of which occurs during a boss fight against Vorash, a massive lava fish that resides in the Pyrosphere. As far asMetroidboss battles go, Vorash is one of the biggest in scale.
If players aren’t careful, Vorash can drag Samus into lava mid-battle or alternatively swallow Samus whole during one phase of the boss battle. Samus certainly has had a lot ofbrutal deaths featured in theMetroidfranchise, but few are as final as getting swallowed by a giant leviathan that swims through an environment of lava.
