Let’s rank the 10 best Metroid games of all time

destructoid.com:

Eons ago, otherwise known as the NES and SNES era of gaming, people at my school were obsessed with the idea of “Nintendo’s big three.” What are the big three franchises that Nintendo has? In the days before Mario Kart, Pokémon, and Animal Crossing, all the kids could usually say Super Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. That’s what I would say too, though sometimes you’d find the one kid who had to be a contrarian by saying Donkey Kong.

While Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda are both still two of the top-tier franchises for Nintendo, it’s become clear to me that Metroid was never really as big as it might have seemed. It sold well, but not well enough to have skipped entire console generations without a new entry. And with the modern gaming landscape and Nintendo’s focus on those best-sellers like Splatoon and Smash Bros., fans are almost lucky that Nintendo chooses to keep throwing this franchise a bone. But I’m glad it does because Metroid might be the best IP in Nintendo’s pocket. Sure, the series has seen some bad games, but when it’s good, it’s really good.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 10 best games in the Metroid series.

Consider Metroid Prime Hunters an honorable mention for this list, but if we’re going to include one of the series’ Nintendo DS outings on this list, it’s going to be Metroid Prime Pinball. This wonderful adaptation of Metroid Prime shrunk the planet of Tallon IV down into a couple of pinball tables with genuinely fun gameplay and some of the best graphics at the time on the Nintendo DS. Sure, it was a bit slight in terms of content, but just like any good pinball machine, it was the experience that kept players coming back long after they defeated Metroid Prime.

There are so many great