amiibo, Nintendo’s toys-to-life range of figures were hugely popular when they launched back in 2014, featuring a variety of characters from Nintendo’s beloved franchises. Inside the base of each figure contains an NFC chip, capable of storing data and allowing owners to utilise special content from different games when held against the NFC reader of a Wii U, 3DS family of systems or Switch family of systems. While the initial demand may have dropped since they launched, amiibo continue to be highly sought after, and some can be very difficult to find.
At the time of writing, Nintendo has released six amiibo themed on the Metroid franchise, four from the Super Smash Bros. collection, and two from the Metroid collection which released alongside Metroid: Samus Returns. This feature will detail each amiibo figure and how they interact with various software.
Samus
Released: 21st November 2014
Metroid was represented right from the initial launch of amiibo, with Samus herself! Naturally, this was the very first amiibo I purchased, and I was impressed with the level of detail the figure had. I loved the metallic paint job that she was given and how faithfully Nintendo had recreated her. Originally, I wasn’t a huge fan of her pose, and felt that it could have been positioned to be a bit more action orientated. I also had concerns that the figure could break from the base, as she was held there only by her boots. But overall I am satisfied with the figure, and was thankful that Metroid got early recognition in a hugely successful product range.
The release of the Samus amiibo marked the first time that Nintendo had mass produced a piece of Metroid merchandise that was affordable and easily accessible across many countries. By comparison, other licensed merchandise, such as the First 4 Figures range of statues, were incredibly costly. Posable figures such as the Figma range by Good Smile Company were expensive to import, and many other figures didn’t even make it out of Japan and are near impossible to find.
Like all amiibo in the Super Smash Bros. collection, the Samus amiibo is compatible with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, 3DS and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Nintendo Switch. When you scan an amiibo to any of these games, you can fight against an AI controlled version of the character, which will learn and adapt to your fighting style. On 3DS and Wii U, you can feed equipment found in game to raise the attack, defense and speed of the figure player. Alternatively in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you can feed them spirits to boost their abilities. Once you are done, simply scan the amiibo again to retain your progress.
On the 3DS, if you scan the amiibo to Metroid Prime: Federation Force, you can unlock the “Bounty Hunter” Paint Job, which lets you collect missiles in packs of ten, instead of five, and the Paint Job can be used in Blast Ball. In Metroid: Samus Returns, this amiibo will unlock a Missile Reserve Tank, containing fifty missiles or ten super missiles to help make your mission a bit easier. Upon completion of the game, you can access a concept art gallery. Other uses for the amiibo include a special costume in Bayonetta 2 (Switch), a Mii suit in Mario Kart 8 (Wii U/Switch), and in Super Mario Maker as a playable character (Wii U).
Zero Suit Samus
Released: 11th September 2015
Almost ten months later the Zero Suit Samus amiibo was released. For this amiibo, I was much more impressed with the pose this time, and was more reassured by a large clear plastic base holding Samus to the base more securely than the previous amiibo. Once again, this amiibo had a metallic paint job, and some smaller details in her boots and Chozo marks on her hands. The downside for me was the hair, which looked a bit cheap. But overall I felt this amiibo was a step up from the previous one.
The Zero Suit Samus amiibo shares the same functionality as the Samus amiibo for the Super Smash Bros. titles mentioned, and in Metroid Prime: Federation Force, it allows you to unlock the “Zero Suit” Paint Job, which increases the amount of AUX ammo you collect at a time to five, and lets you use the Paint Job in Blast Ball. In Samus Returns, tapping the amiibo to the 3DS NFC unlocks an Energy Reserve Tank that contains 299 units of energy, and unlocks a Sound Test, letting you enjoy a range of music from the game. It unlocks a similar range of rewards in other software titles, as mentioned above with the Samus amiibo.
Metroid
Released: 15th September 2017
It would be another two years before we saw Metroid represented again, but this time we received two amiibo on the same day, along with a brand new traditional side-scrolling Metroid game, Metroid: Samus Returns. The Metroid creature amiibo is one of the most impressive amiibo to date. Gripped tightly to its shattered tank with its claws, the Metroid itself is impressively detailed throughout, and its innards encased with a squidgy soft plastic. It was clear that the quality of Nintendo’s amiibo almost three years after its initial launch, was superior to its earlier figures. This amiibo in particular is one of my favourites, and I have to resist squeezing it every time I hold it.
In Samus Returns, tapping this amiibo to the 3DS system will mark the closest Metroid’s location on your map, which should help guide you through the game a little more easily if you’re struggling. When you have completed the game, the amiibo will unlock a special exclusive “Fusion mode” which is the game’s hardest difficulty, even more so than the game’s standard hard mode! In Metroid Prime: Federation Force, the Metroid amiibo unlocks the “Flying Life-Form” Paint Job, allowing for five Repair Capsules to be acquired at a time. The Paint Job will also be available in Blast Ball as a result. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Switch, you can unlock a “Metroid” support spirit.
Samus Aran
Released: 15th September 2017
Released alongside the Metroid creature amiibo, was Samus Aran, kneeling in her classic pose from the boxart of the original Metroid II: Return of Samus, reading her cannon to destroy anything that stands in her path. It’s a fantastic pose, and like the Metroid creature amiibo, a huge step up in quality compared to early amiibo releases. Compared to the original Samus amiibo, the Samus Aran figure is larger, shinier and more detailed. A quality amiibo and definitely a figure Metroid fans need to get their hands on.
The Samus Aran amiibo functions the same as the 2014 Samus amiibo in Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Blast Ball and all of the Super Smash Bros. games mentioned above. In fact, it seems to carry over the same functionality as the Samus amiibo, with the exception of Samus Returns. By tapping the Samus Aran amiibo to the game, you can replenish Samus’ Aeion energy by 500 units, which will allow you to use some of her special abilities. Upon completion of the game, you can unlock an art gallery from Metroid II: Return of Samus.
Ridley
Released: 12th July 2018
It would seem Ridley was no longer too big for Smash Bros, and with this groundbreaking announcement, came the release of the inevitable amiibo. Ridley is absolutely menacing, his wing span dominates, and his claws extended to tear into anything that dares to enter his domain. His long tail curls around and extends behind him, and he stands on a crystal-like base. While the quality of this amiibo is still much higher than early amiibo, it didn’t quite match the quality of the Samus Returns amiibo. The external wing patterns had little texture, and Ridley’s flesh could have benefitted from some extra detail. The release of this amiibo marked the first piece of official merchandise for the character, and it has been an awesome addition to my Metroid collection.
Ridley’s function in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate serves the same function as others in the Super Smash Bros. collection of amiibo, where you are able to fight an AI version of Ridley who will learn your fighting style. In Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Blast Ball, it unlocks an x-ray Paint Job for your mech.
Dark Samus
Released: 17th January 2020
Eighteen months later, and the latest Metroid amiibo is released, Dark Samus! It marks the end of the initial featured characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the first official Dark Samus merchandise. If you were to see a photograph of this amiibo, it would never be able to do it justice. The shiny black and blue colours is striking, especially when you hold it to the light. The amiibo is rough to the touch throughout, adding to its alien feel. Its attached securely to the base similar to the Zero Suit Samus amiibo, and overall, feels like a great quality amiibo.
Functionality with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate continues as standard with this amiibo, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Blast Ball, offers the same x-ray Paint Job as Ridley.
Overall, I feel that Nintendo did an adequate job with their Metroid amiibo. The majority of the praise is focused on them purely as figures, because I feel they’re a great piece of merchandise that many of us can proudly display on shelves and display cabinets, and when our family and friends ask who those characters are, we can introduce them to the world of Metroid.
But as for their functionality with software, I can’t help but feel that Nintendo missed the mark. Putting aside the fact that outside of Super Smash Bros and the Metroid specific games, the amiibo themselves have basic functionality, which is lacklustre and nothing to shout about. The complaint I have is specifically for the Metroid creature amiibo figure. I feel that locking the Fusion Mode behind the Metroid amiibo in Samus Returns was a mistake. While it didn’t prevent players from accessing the game’s hard mode, as was widely reported at the time, customers who weren’t able to find the figures would miss out entirely, or would have to consider purchasing them at an inflated cost by resellers.
I can understand Nintendo wanting to make their amiibo products a more attractive purchase, but in this case, some consumers have missed out. If I had been unlucky enough to obtain them, I probably could have lived without the art and sound galleries, but missing out on the Fusion game mode? It would have been hugely disappointing for me.
But what about the future of amiibo? At the time of writing, it has been almost five and a half years since the original launch of amiibo, and it certainly feels like we have reached an end. Nintendo doesn’t seem to be producing anywhere near as much as they used to, and once the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC is concluded, I predict that we will see this product range discontinued. But as I unbox and place my Dark Samus amiibo in my display cabinet, I live in hope that we may eventually see more Metroid amiibo. I would love to see a Kraid, Mother Brain, Chozo Statue and Rundas amiibo. Perhaps we will get a Dachora and Etecoons amiibo? That’d be something!
But I think more than anything, I would appreciate Nintendo producing more of their existing Metroid amiibo, especially the Samus Aran and the squidgy Metroid amiibo, so that Samus Returns owners have an opportunity to enjoy that additional unlockable content. Outside of online resellers, amiibo continue to be an affordable way of owning a physical example of a beloved character from a franchise we enjoy, and for that, I applaud them.
Written by: Darren
Header by: Mr. Mendelli
Update (published May 26, 2026):
Since this feature’s original publication in 2020, five new Metroid amiibo have been released: two for Metroid Dread; Samus and E.M.M.I., and three for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond; Samus, Samus & Vi-O-La, and Sylux. This addendum will cover those amiibo, with Roy writing about Sylux’s amiibo, and Irene writing about the rest.
Samus
Released: 8th October 2021
Not only would we get the game of our dreams – it also came with amiibo to boot! The Power Suit in Metroid Dread is sleek and cool-looking, and the amiibo absolutely does it justice. I particularly like the pose that it has, making her look tense and ready to defend herself. Using it in-game nets you an additional Energy Tank. As a little bonus, it also replenishes 200 energy once per day. Speedrunners have tried to use this functionality as a tool to skip the Varia Suit, but it has been fruitless thus far!
E.M.M.I.
Released: 8th October 2021
The second half of the Metroid Dread ‘duel pack’! This one contextualises Samus’s preparedness for danger, and they complement each other quite well. Being a toy, we may finally inspect the E.M.M.I. safely, and from what we can see there’s a lot of intricate details to it. Have you seen the way it moves around? It crawls so weirdly but yet it is so efficient with its movement. Although similar to the AMEE robot from Red Planet, its design is quite unique and wonderful. This amiibo lets you obtain an extra Missile+ Tank, which increases the Missile capacity by 10. It also replenishes 30 Missiles once per day (which is less than what an Autool may yield).
Samus
Released: 6th November 2025
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond continues the trend of a new Metroid game releasing with amiibo (sans Metroid Prime Remastered), and this time we got three amiibo!
The Samus amiibo features… Samus, and you see her in the familiar Varia Suit, except now with her Psychic Powers visibly showing! She stands on a solid piece of rock (could not determine exactly where, but would be fun if we could!), and is seen aiming with her arm cannon. Purely based on the angle of the arm cannon and visor, it seems like Samus isn’t actively aiming.
I think it is an amiibo of high quality. There are a lot of tiny details that remain pretty, and the metallic paint job is wonderful. The visor does look a bit cheap however, presumably being a decal this time around. Yet still, I think this amiibo looks great at the end of the day.
It grants the player an ‘Energy Shield’ that fully restores your health, and lets you absorb 100 units of damage. This feature can only be used once a day per save file, though if you exit the game without saving you’ll be able to use it again. The ‘Energy Shield’ does not seem to reduce the damage taken.
Samus & Vi-O-La
Released: 6th November 2025
This amiibo contains the ‘Vi-O-La’, specifically the 7th iteration of the Lamorn Neuro Bikes. It was created during the Machine Era to let the Lamorn travel efficiently across the desert of Sol Valley, and got redesigned later in the Psychic Era so that it could identify Psychic brain waves of the individual driver. Rather fittingly, the ground beneath the ‘Samus & Vi-O-La’ amiibo is composed of sand and small rocks, and you can even see tire tracks beneath the bike.
This bike contains pre-installed features that could be unlocked later. One of those features is the ‘IC mode’ that dramatically changes its physical configurations to hover above magma. Based on the paint job on the amiibo, I can determine that Samus has not yet unlocked this feature. Compared to Beyond’s Samus amiibo, it is ever so slightly matte, though I will say that the quality remains the same and it looks great!
This amiibo has the most amount of locked content in the game, and if you’d have to choose one of the amiibo to buy, it should be this one.
The amiibo is advertised to “Unlock new styles for Vi-O-La” which is certainly true!
It contains seven additional skins for the player to choose, unlocking them based on how far Samus has travelled on Vi-O-La.
For every 50 km, a skin is unlocked. This content is purely cosmetic. The ‘Vi-O-La Odometer’ follows, recording how far you have travelled. It caps at 999999 meters travelled.
Another feature it contains, is the ability to listen to music while on Vi-O-La. The mixtape contains:
- Vi-O-La
- Volt Forge
- Xelios
- Metroid Prime
- Metroid Prime 4
By ‘Metroid Prime’, it refers to the ending credits of that game (and not the menu theme).
Metroid Prime 4, however, does refer to the menu theme (the second one to be specific!)
Lastly, by using the ‘Samus & Vi-O-La’ amiibo, you can activate ‘Boost Recovery’, which recharges Vi-O-La’s boost much faster.
We’d like to point out that the succulent Kyuveria plants in Sol Valley already fills up the Vi-O-La boost mode, and a nice strategy is to start boosting right before hitting one of those.
Sylux
Released: 4th December 2025
Sylux gains his first ever piece of merchandise with an amiibo! His was released separately from the Samus and Samus & Vi-O-La amiibo, potentially because of the risk that what he unlocks could have leaked before release.
Here, Sylux poses as if he’s roaring, which he does during the final battle with him in Metroid Prime 4. Disturbingly, under his left foot, you can see the crushed helmet of a Galactic Federation Trooper, along with rubble he is standing on.
Sylux’s suit is intrinsically detailed, with a metallic, shiny appearance to the overall figure. His amiibo unlocks the hidden cutscene upon completing Metroid Prime 4. Without it, you would need to acquire 100% of both items and scans during your playthrough to see the cutscene, showing the Galactic Federation battle that cemented his hatred for the universal government, and for Samus.
Additionally, tapping the Sylux amiibo in the menu unlocks taunts voiced by Sylux’s actor Laith Wallschleger. You can hear the simmering rage in his voice as he threatens Samus. The lines are below:
- “I cannot be stopped.”
- “You will pay.”
- “I’ll make you suffer.”
- “I’ve got you right where I want you, Samus.”
- “There is nowhere to run.”
- “This will be your last mission.”
All other Metroid amiibo, when used in Metroid Prime 4, simply play a random sound.
Written by: Roy and Irene