After 19 years, Metroid fans have finally been rewarded with the final installment of Samus Aran's 2D adventures. Metroid Dread is a milestone for a series almost two decades in the making and helps to show how far the franchise has come, and how influential it has been. Of course, it also does not diminish the games that came before it.
The Metroid series has always been known for its difficulty and sense of exploration it provides through its many different areas. With such a long history, the Metroid series has its fair share of brutally difficult areas throughout the series.
10 Metroid Prime's Phendrana Drifts
The Phendrana Drifts are a rarity within Metroid areas, combining aspects of both water and ice levels. This area combines a number of elements to make it particularly difficult, from puzzles that use the morph ball's momentum, to forcing players to contend with Samus' sluggishness in water without certain upgrades, to difficult enemies like the corrupted Hunter Metroids, and more.
While this area is often focused more on platforming than combat, it can still prove difficult for player's new to the Prime trilogy's differences from other games.
9 Super Metroid's Norfair
Super Metroid is considered to be one of the most influential games in the Metroid franchise. As such, Norfair is perhaps the most famous of a staple trope in the series: fire zones. Filled with lava, dangerous enemies, and heat that requires certain upgrades to prevent being damaged, these fiery locations are constantly dangerous.
Super Metroid's Norfair is no exception. Norfair includes difficult enemies and platforming, notably including a devious room where the newly acquired speed booster must be used to flee rising lava.
8 Metroid: Samus Return's Area 4
The fourth area in Samus Returns encompasses what were the fifth and sixth 'phases' in the original Metroid II: Return of Samus. However, Samus Returns added a single encounter that helped to transform this area from nearly a small middle area to one of the most difficult in the series. After fighting through a number of Metroids in Samus' quest to rid Planet SR388 of them, players will come across a broken Chozo statue, normally where Samus receives upgrades.
However, players will be ambushed by Diggernaut, a mining automaton that will chase Samus through the level, only leaving when it believes it has killed her. As such, Samus must hastily navigate through a tight platforming section to escape. This section is an oddity for Metroid games. as Diggernaut can instantly kill Samus, regardless of the amount of energy she has remaining. This creates an encounter with little room for error and helps elevate this area to its level of difficulty.
7 Metroid Prime 2's Sanctuary Fortress
The Sanctuary Fortress is unlike any other area in the Metroid franchise, composing a massive fortress suspended above a futuristic city. This area also has a bevy of unique and dangerous enemies that stalk its rooms, such as the Rezbit, which can hack Samus' power armor.
While the area includes another showdown with this game's main antagonist, Dark Samus, it also includes a fight against the Spider Guardian, which takes place entirely using Samus' morph ball. While its deadly enemies help this area stand out, forcing the player to fight in a way not suited to combat can make this area frustrating and difficult for many.
6 Metroid Dread's Artaria
While Metroid Dread has only been out for a short time, it has already garnered a reputation for its difficulty, and this can be seen as early as the first area, Artaria. After Samus is defeated by a mysterious Chozo on the planet ZDR, she must find a way to reach her gunship on the surface of the planet. Artaria is where players are first introduced to the mechanics of this game, including the terrifying EMMI's, corrupted survelliance robots who will relentlessly hunt Samus through the areas they patrol.
While there are ways to destroy EMMI's, avoiding them is often her only option, and at this early point in Metroid Dread, Samus has no method to sneak by the fearsome robots, until she defeats the area's boss, a stealthy predator, and one of the game's more difficult adversaries, Corpius. While Samus will return to Artaria multiple times through her journeys through Planet ZDR, the tense moments in the early portions of the game, where Samus is underpowered and outmatched, vault it to its place as one of the most difficult in the series.
5 Super Metroid's Ridley's Lair
The deepest levels of planet Zebes are home to the sub-area Ridley's Lair. As signified by its name, this sub-area of Norfair is home to the iconic space pirate, Ridley. While the fight is difficult, it pales in comparison to the path leading to him. The lower part of Norfair includes lava that causes damage through all variants of Samus' power armor and silver variants of the basic space pirates.
These elite enemies attack players soon before their fight with Ridley and are some of the most difficult enemies that will be faced in the game. With all of these aspects combined, the version of Norfair seen in Super Metroid is definitely a contender for one of the most difficult areas in the series.
4 Metroid Prime 3's Phaaze
The final location of the prime trilogy, Phaaze uses a mechanic unique to Metroid Prime 3 to ratchet up its difficulty. Throughout the game, Samus can use energy tanks to briefly enter a powerful form called hyper mode.
However, Samus is permanently stuck in hypermode on Phaaze, and a bar shows how long she can stay in the mode before a game over. While this mechanic makes this area difficult enough, its brutal ending fight against Dark Samus elevates it to one of the most difficult in the series.
3 Metroid: Zero Mission's Chozo Ruins
The Chozo Ruins are an area unique to Metroid: Zero Mission, a remake of the original Metroid. It is one of the latest areas of the game and is another example of the Metroid franchises' principles being experimented with. In it, Samus loses her power suit and is left with only a small pistol that can briefly stun enemies. Thus, this section quickly turns into a stealth experience, which sees Samus using cover, dodging enemies, and avoiding searchlights
Eventually, Samus will encounter a boss called the Ruins Test, which will evaluate her to see if she is truly worthy as a Chozo warrior. Upon its defeat, Samus will be awarded with a new power suit and several upgrades, allowing her to demolish what had just shortly ago stood in her way. The high stress and unique experience of the Chozo Ruins cement it as one of the franchise's most difficult levels.
2 Metroid's Brinstar
While shorter compared to many of its successors, the first Metroid game is incredibly difficult, including everything from inescapable pits to hard-hitting enemies and more. This can easily be seen in Brinstar, the game's starting area.
Samus is weak at the start of the game, and enemies deal high damage. While this game only had two bosses, Brinstar shows how journeying through even the bulk of the five areas can be a struggle for players.
1 Metroid Fusion's Sub-Zero Containment
As one of the most linear games in this franchise, Metroid Fusion compensates with more difficult encounterst. In Fusion, Samus was hybridized with Metroid DNA to protect her from the insidious X parasite, giving her a new weakness to cold temperatures and much less defense. This comes to a head in the Sub-Zero containment area of the BSL Station, a facility plagued with the X parasite. Samus confronts this area multiple times in a playthrough of Metroid Fusion.
In early encounters, Samus must fight through obstacles including the invincible SA-X, a doppelganger of Samus formed by the X parasite. Furthermore, Samus will take constant damage in this area if she does not have the Varia suit, which will insulate her. However, this area is still dangerous when it is returned to later on. After two passes through the area to locate various items, Samus will eventually fight the boss, Nightmare. This combination of harsh conditions, dangerous enemies, and a particularly vicious boss allow this area to be considered the most difficult in the Metroid franchise.
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