40 years ago, a Nintendo classic kickstarted a genre that's more popular than ever today

Key Points:

• Metroid, which debuted on the Famicom Disk System in Japan 40 years ago, introduced players to Samus Aran, a space bounty hunter on a mission to recover dangerous Metroids stolen by Space Pirates, with gameplay focused on exploration and upgrades in a non-linear world.
• The game was groundbreaking for its time, featuring a sprawling, interconnected environment without traditional levels, encouraging players to find new paths and abilities to access previously unreachable areas, laying the foundation for the Metroidvania genre.
• Metroid's gameplay innovations, such as acquiring new weapons and abilities like missiles, the ice beam, and the morph ball, combined with its immersive world design, captivated players and inspired speedrunning and collaborative play through a password save system.
• The reveal that Samus Aran was a woman was a significant twist in 1986, challenging gaming norms, and the game's success helped establish Nintendo's reputation for adventure titles, influencing many future games including Super Metroid and modern favorites like Hollow Knight.
• Metroid remains available today through the NES library on Nintendo Switch Online, allowing new generations to experience the influential game that helped shape the action-adventure genre over the past four decades.