The Metroid (メトロイド) games are a series of video games produced by Nintendo. One of the company's most successful franchises, the series spans through several Nintendo systems, with the first game, Metroid, released in 1986 for the Famicon and in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The Metroid games chronicle the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran in a science fiction setting which contains many similarities to the Alien film franchise. Central plot elements are the Metroid organisms and the Space Pirates which try to exploit the Metroids' powers. The gameplay combines adventure based on exploration and item-gathering with platformer and shooter dynamics. The Metroid games are famous for their nonlinear gameplay, where one can complete a game with a fraction of the items available in the game.
