Metroid’s speedrun communities reveal how the games perform on Switch 2

Anticipating the release of Nintendo Switch 2, the Metroid Dread speedrun community has begun testing the game, showing both promising results and unfortunate news for some fans.

For players that have the physical copy of Metroid Dread, it seems like there won’t be a significant upgrade when it comes to the loading times of the game. It more or less matches the load times that Switch 1 had.

For players that have the digital copy of Metroid Dread, it appears that the loading speed has gotten a great boost. Early testing indicate that the first loading screen takes around 17 seconds, which is around 8 seconds faster than the average loading time on the original Switch console. Overall, it’s looking like a 40% reduction in loading times for digital copies!

Metroid Dread already has a loading time difference between physical and digital versions, where the game loads the quickest on digital with the game loaded from the system memory. To see this disparity be potentially greater is definitely unfortunate.

Aside from loading times, the game is still running on 60 frames per second, and the game is still rendered at 900p. While the game runs smooth already, some players experienced frame drops in certain rooms, particularly during the Red Chozo Soldier fight in Hanubia.

Tests from speedrunner なまたす (nama tasu) indicate that the frame drops are now gone!

As for Metroid Prime Remastered, the game was already highly optimized, so there are relatively little to report. Based on Draconif’s experience, the biggest thing to note is that the door leading to Artifact Temple now opens up immediately! Loading into files is also slightly faster, and any occasional frame drops, such as explosions from nearby Flying Pirates, are now gone. The game essentially runs perfectly!

Source: Dread Speedrunner Vangi, Dread Speedrunner なまたす, Metroid Prime Speedrunner Draconif

May 2025 News Roundup

Now that June 2025 is here, Shinesparkers has prepared a roundup of the Metroid news we had in May. See below:

May 1 – SGDQ 2025 Games List revealed – three Metroid games included

May 6 – Additional Metroid User Icons for Nintendo Switch 2

May 9 – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond introduction cutscene shared on Nintendo Today!

May 13 – Nintendo Today! releases clip of Mouse Controls in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

May 16 – Nintendo Today! releases clip of Morph Ball in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

May 17 – Your Theories About Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

May 19 – Nintendo renews Metroid Prime 3 and Hunters trademarks

May 20 – Good Smile Company is reprinting Metroid: Other M Figma

May 21 – Nintendo Today! app shares Aberax introduction cutscene

May 28 – Nintendo Today! app shares Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Sylux cutscene

Additionally, we shared a new feature, The Metroid story recap from Nintendo Today!, which archives all Metroid Stories shared on the Nintendo Today app.

We have a lot more content planned throughout May and the rest of the year, and we will continue to share any Metroid news that comes up. See you next mission!

Your Favorite Metroid Game 2025 (Poll Opens)

The poll to discover the community’s favorite Metroid game for 2025 is now live! People are now welcome to vote for their favorite Metroid title, with votes being collected between June 1st to July 31st 2025.

As in years past, the results will be revealed on August 6th 2025. Metroid Dread has won the last three years in a row, last year with 134 of your votes. We’ll compare last year’s scores in this year’s rankings, and we can’t wait to see what you decide!

Votes can be cast in our Google Forms document here.

Please spread the word and share it with your Metroid loving friends! The more votes cast by individual fans, we can get a clearer picture on what fans love.

Feature: The Metroid story recap from Nintendo Today!

Those of you who have the Nintendo Today! smartphone app may have come across Metroid Stories, a ten volume episodic summary of the plot of each game in the 2D Metroid saga: Metroid, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Dread. Each game story had two parts, with concept artwork and renders, and were released at random for people who logged in every day.

Well, if you don’t have Nintendo Today!, you haven’t come across any of the stories, or you want a place you can refer to them, we now have you covered! Our newest feature is an archive of all Metroid Stories to date. What’s more, content in Nintendo Today! can be rated, and we’ve collected the statistics on that for the Metroid Stories for preservation’s sake.

Hopefully in the future we can have a series of Metroid Prime Stories to recap that saga, ahead of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s release later in 2025.

Click here to check out the feature

Nintendo Today! app shares Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Sylux cutscene

Another day, another Metroid Prime 4: Beyond clip released on Nintendo Today! This time, it’s Sylux’s entrance at the start of the game, during the Space Pirate attack on the UTO Research Center on Planet Tanamaar. Sylux bursts through a wall with Space Pirates and two docile Metroids in tow, and a battle ensues, during which the mysterious artifact Samus is protecting is struck, engulfing the region in a strange purple energy.

We first saw this at the end of the Treehouse Live demo, and players who were fortunate enough to play Beyond at a Switch 2 Live Experience somewhere in the world would have seen it as well.

You can watch the cutscene on the Nintendo Today! app, or on Bluesky courtesy of @Stealth40k at the link below.

Source: Nintendo Today! (video available here)

Nintendo Today! app shares Aberax introduction cutscene

On the Nintendo Today! app, another clip from Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been shared. It’s the introduction cutscene for the first boss of the game, Aberax, a massive Space Pirate that a Metroid takes control of, creating spores all over its body. This was first shown in the Treehouse Live showcase back in April, but this time we can hear it without commentary. At least one iconic sound, the Metroid’s screech, has been reused from the original Metroid Prime series. There’s even a bit of the beginning of the Aberax fight at the end of the clip.

You can watch the clip on the Nintendo Today! app if you have it (which requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription), or on Bluesky courtesy of @Stealth40k, linked below.

Source: Nintendo Today! (video available here)

Good Smile Company is reprinting Metroid: Other M Figma

Years after their original release, Good Smile Company has announced they will reprint the Figma based on Samus’s Varia and Zero Suits in Metroid: Other M. Preorders have been opened today and will run through July 2, 2025, and ship in January-February 2026. To ensure there’s enough stock, Good Smile have placed a limit of three orders per person.

If you weren’t able to get one or both of these Figma the first go around, and you want to own them, now is your chance! Each Figma costs ¥9,800, about €50.61, $67.71 USD and $94.29 CAD. Preorder links below.

Samus Aran Figma

Samus Aran: Zero Suit ver. Figma

Source: Good Smile Company (Twitter)

Nintendo renews Metroid Prime 3 and Hunters trademarks

Today, Nintendo renewed their trademarks for Metroid Prime Hunters and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. This comes according to ChiZai Watch, a site that tracks Japanese trademark renewals.

Now, trademark renewals should be taken with a grain of salt. They don’t always signal an upcoming release (or re-release), and could easily be Nintendo protecting their IP, as we know they do. If a trademark lapses, another company can do something with it, which may not comport with Nintendo’s vision.

Source: ChiZai Watch

Your Theories About Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

In April, we asked a series of questions on social media to gauge our readers’ feelings and theories about various aspects of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It went over well, so we kept it going with further discussions and polls. Today, we’re recapping these prompts and sharing what you said!

First, we asked for your theories about what Samus will be able to do with her new Psychic Abilities. Thus far, we’ve seen applications of them in navigation, puzzles and combat. Some of you believed that the Lamorn would gift the Psychic Abilities to Samus, like the Luminoth in Metroid Prime 2. A few of you thought Samus would have the ability to levitate, or pick up objects to throw at enemies, or even pick up enemies and use them as shields or projectiles. Others believed Samus would gain the ability to read minds of NPCs or communicate with them telepathically, perhaps even unlocking additional lore in the process. One really cool idea came from @kef-meister.bsky.social, who theorized that Samus would take a hit from a creature possessed by a Metroid, and gain a new ability that she’d need to unlock before using, like the Unknown Items in Metroid: Zero Mission.

Second, we asked for your theories on who Sylux really is. This Bounty Hunter’s motives, identity and past remain a mystery. Some of you speculated that he was Samus’s brother, a theory that has occasionally persisted through the fandom. @JustJohn43 on YouTube speculated Sylux was connected to the Horus Rebellion, an event referred to in dialogue early in Metroid Prime 3 that went badly for the Federation. Others speculated that Sylux blames the Galactic Federation for killing his family, or that he trained with Samus in the Galactic Federation Army (unbeknownst to her), or he’s the result of a Federation experiment to recreate Samus’s Power Suit, but went rogue.

Next, we asked you what you think happened to the Lamorn, the race on planet Viewros who consider Samus the Chosen One. A few of you thought that the Lamorn became the feral creatures Samus is seen fighting in the March 2025 trailer. Some of you also pointed out its resemblance to the core essence of the Metroid Prime. On YouTube, some of you had concerns that Retro Studios is potentially repeating already-told stories of past civilizations in Prime like the Chozo, Luminoth and Reptilicus.

Then, we asked if you think other Bounty Hunters from Metroid Prime Hunters could return in Beyond, and if so, which. Most of you said Weavel, given that he’s a Space Pirate, has personal history with Samus, and Sylux is now working with the Pirates. Trace also had a few votes. As a contrast, some of you predicted we would not see any more Hunters or said you’d rather not, because too many or all of them returning would make this a sequel to Metroid Prime Hunters rather than the fourth mainline Prime title. Additionally, none of them have been teased as much as Sylux has, with his cameos in the endings of Metroid Prime 3 and Federation Force.

On Twitter and YouTube, we ran a poll asking if you think Samus will speak in Beyond or not. On Twitter, 59.1% of you said no, and 40.9% said yes, and on YouTube 72% of you said no, and 28% said yes. In the replies, people had varied opinions, with some preferring Samus to stay completely silent, or to speak during key moments like in Metroid Dread. So far, Samus has only spoken in two 3D not-Prime Metroid games, so we’ll see if she has something to say in Beyond.

We ran the same poll asking if you think Sylux will speak. On Twitter, 71.3% said yes, and 28.7% said no, and on YouTube, 65% said yes, 35% no. Those of you who answered seem to be more optimistic or hopeful at the possibility of Sylux speaking. Some of you even felt it was necessary to fully understand his motivations and backstory.

Finally, we asked for your theories about the mysterious red suit seen at the end of the March 2025 trailer. Some of you noted its similarities to the Light Suit, and suggested names for it included the Psychic Suit, Psionic Suit, Psion Suit, and even the “Ferraria Suit” (you might have to explain that one to me). You thought it might provide astral projection, enhancements to the Psychic Abilities, Speed Booster-like capabilities, or protection from some as-yet unknown threat.

It’ll be interesting to look back on these theories after the release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond to see how close or far off we were! As we get closer to its (still unknown) release date, more information will come, and we’ll bring it to you as soon as it does.

Metroid Prime 4 is scheduled to come out some time in 2025 on Nintendo Switch 1 and 2.

Nintendo Today! releases clip of Morph Ball in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Today, the Nintendo Today! mobile app has added a clip of the Morph Ball being used in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. This clip demonstrates its use in the game, although it’s nothing we haven’t seen before in either already-shared footage or the previous Prime trilogy. Still, it’s nice to have another snippet of gameplay without any commentary!

You can watch the clip on the Nintendo Today! app if you have it as part of a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Otherwise, you can see it on Bluesky at the link below, courtesy of @Stealth40k.

Source: Nintendo Today! (video available here)