Rumors started swirling over the last few days that Microsoft will release the free Halo Infinite multiplayer mode before the full game. During its Xbox 20th anniversary event, the company confirmed that's the case. The standalone mode is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

The Halo Infinite campaign release date is still set for December 8th, though a few features will be missing at launch. The campaign co-op and Forge modes will be released later, because 343 Industries wanted to focus on the quality of the single-player and multiplayer modes.

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20 years ago today, the original Xbox was released. It’s a pretty big milestone for the entire gaming industry, because it’s hard to imagine console gaming without Xbox today. But back then it was pretty risky — Microsoft was the first American firm to release a gaming system in eight years, and the company wasn’t really well-known for being a game developer or publisher outside of the Flight Simulator series and built-in Windows games like Solitaire and Minesweeper.

Admittedly, the Xbox brand didn’t really take off until the release of the 360 in 2005. But the OG Xbox made a pretty good showing for its first try, thanks to a solid lineup of games and no thanks to its enormous Duke controller. Today a few Engadget staffers would like to chime in with their cherished Xbox memories, ones that really highlight the strength of this Microsoft’s first outing in the console world.

Strength #1: System Link

Halo: Combat Evolved

A year before Xbox Live launched and redefined console gaming forever, there was the multiplayer of Halo: Combat Evolved. It sounds archaic today: there were no such things as online play, bots or centralized player accounts. But there was System Link, an Xbox feature that allowed multiple consoles to connect together for offline LAN parties. Together with Halo's four-player split-screen support, System Link allowed up to 16 players to battle it out.

In many ways, Halo's multiplayer was the logical evolution of Goldeneye, the first console shooter to enthrall a generation of gamers. And while System Link may sound like a pain to set up, it was perfectly suited to large networks, like the one at my college. That's how I found myself spending hours with my roommates, huddled in front of a basic 20-inch TV, learning the intricacies of Halo's combat. I never quite mastered the three-shot kill — two in the center, one in the head — but I got close.

I can recall one heated match as if it was a war story. My team and I were huddled in the middle of Blood Gulch, one of Halo's iconic maps featuring a long canyon with two bases at each end. The scores were neck-and-neck, never more than a few kills leading on either side. All seemed lost. We were sitting ducks in No Man's Land, with only the protection of a few hills in front of us. I had a sniper rifle, but very little ammo. In a moment of desperation, I poked my head up and, miraculously, took an enemy out in front of their base. When another person popped up, I was able to headshot them with the same clip. Game over.

I later learned that someone from the opposing team threw a chair against a wall when they lost. I can't imagine an online match with some randos provoking the same sort of visceral response. That's just Halo multiplayer, baby. No internet required. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor

Strength #2: PC ports

Morrowind

I have a confession to make: I’m not much of a console gamer. Coming from the former Yugoslavia, where Nintendo products were exorbitantly expensive, the one constant in my gaming life has always been the PC. While other kids in Canada, where my family eventually settled, grew up on Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, my favorite childhood games were Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, Dune II and The Secret of Monkey Island.

So when Microsoft released the Xbox in 2001, I wasn’t excited for it until the release of Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in 2002. I didn’t own an Xbox, but my best friend did. At the time, neither of us had a PC capable of running Morrowind at a playable framerate. So when he bought a copy of the game, one of the first things I did was come over to watch him create his first character. Mind you, we played countless hours of Halo: Combat Evolved together, but Morrowind was the game that consistently ignited our imaginations.

To this day, we talk about some of the ways he managed to break the game. For example, he eventually became the leader of both House Hlaalu and Telvanni. And at one point, he received a quest to assassinate a Hlaalu landholder. He travelled to the estate only to find out he was its owner, so there was no way for him to finish the quest. By modern standards, that’s janky design, but it’s those quirks that made me fall in love with Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls series at large. — Igor Bonifacic, Contributing Editor

Strength #3: Exclusives

Jet Set Radio Future

My time with the original Xbox was limited, and I remember looking at games like Halo and Fable with awe. And the fact that it got a lot of games that would normally only be on PC — like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — was also swoon-worthy. But then and now, there was really only one reason I wanted an Xbox, and that was to play Jet Set Radio Future.

The original game, Jet Grind Radio, was probably one of my favorite Dreamcast titles at the time. I loved the look of it, the gameplay and oh, the soundtrack. Especially the soundtrack. But when the Dreamcast was discontinued, it left some great franchises stranded. Games that Microsoft was perfectly happy to pick up for its foray into the console market, like Shenmue and my beloved Jet Grind Radio, which was switched back to its Japanese monkier for the sequel here in the US.

The gameplay remained mostly the same, with your skaters tasked with spray painting walls with their tags, battling against other gangs and avoiding the police. But Future also dispensed with time limits and enclosed stages, allowing you to skate between one section and the next. And the soundtrack, of course, was a banger. Guitar Vader, Cibo Matto and Bis. (Okay, maybe I’m the only person who cares about Bis. They wrote The Powerpuff Girls end theme! 'Social Dancing' is a great album!) — Kris Naudus, Buyer's Guide Editor

Take-Two Interactive, the owner of Rockstar Games and 2K, has added another studio to its roster. Roll7, the small team behind the OlliOlli skateboarding series, is joining the company's Private Division publishing label.

Private Division will release Roll7's next game, OlliOlli World, which was supposed to arrive by the end of the year but has now been delayed until the first quarter of 2022. It seems both sides found they worked well enough together to make their partnership a permanent one, with Roll7 becoming one of Private Division's in-house studios. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Roll7 is known for its flow state approach to games, the idea bring that players will become completely immersed in a game and focus entirely on it. The original OlliOlli was released in 2014 on PlayStation Vita, and Roll7 earned a BAFTA best sports game award for it the following year.

In OlliOlli World, you'll rack up points for nailing tricks while navigating each level. Roll7 opted for a hand-drawn art style this time around, following the pixel art design of the first two games in the series. The result is a gorgeous-looking title that I'm looking forward to checking out. OlliOlli World is coming to PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Between 2016 and 2019, retro gaming had a moment. I mean anothermoment. A very specific one where gaming’s greatest all released “mini” versions of their most iconic consoles. NES? Yep. SNES? Sure. Genesis? You bet and, of course, Sony, SNK, Konami and even Commodore (sorta) got in on the trend too.

Then there was Evercade in 2020 — a refreshingly different take on the new-but-old console idea. Instead of a “mini” version of vintage hardware, it was a new handheld that took cartridges. Each cartridge contained a collection of classic games from different developers. I enjoyed it when I reviewed it.

The idea of potentially unlimited games through actual cartridges was both clever and brave (retro gamers aren’t so known for paying for titles, especially the lesser-known “gems” that Evercade was able to license). Either way, the idea must have caught on as the company soon revealed plans for a more traditional home console version. It’s finally here and it brings a few interesting perks over its handheld sibling.

The Evercade VS (as the $99 system is called) shares the same cartridge format as the handheld, so you won’t need to re-buy anything. In fact, you can play on one, save your game and pick it up on the other (just like you’d hope, to be fair). It’s worth mentioning that two titles (both Namco collections) are only compatible with the handheld due to licensing issues.

James Trew / Engadget

There are other perks to the home-based console, too. Most notably support for multiplayer (up to four players where games support it), WiFi for over-the-air updates and a jazzy new interface. Oh, and the VS can hold two cartridges at a time, meaning you can be working on one game and leave it there while you play another, or simply just have more games to choose from on your home screen at any one time — handy given that every single cartridge Evercade offers is a multicart. The carts are even hot-swappable so you don’t need to restart the system, just slot a new one right in and away you go.

As is tradition with this new wave of retro home consoles, the VS is small and light. So light, you’ll definitely want to make sure your HDMI cable has some slack in it, else it’ll lift the VS off the ground or pull it back behind your TV. The good news is that almost any USB port will power it. My not-very-good seven year-old LG TV can easily power the VS through its USB ports meaning I don’t have to occupy another outlet.

The VS looks like a direct relative of the original Evercade with the same vintage white and red decals with a dash of gray here and there for buttons. One nice little touch is the NES-style “flap” that covers the cartridge slots. This does mean you don’t get the old-school vibes of having a cartridge poking out the top, but at least your games are safely hidden from the elements. But homages to old consoles like that seem to matter to fans of the classics. It weirdly matters a lot. Even if that’s the laborious ritual of having to get off the couch to change the games or power it down. Nostalgia isn’t always about the good things.

Fire the VS up and you’ll be presented with a Netflix-like menu of all the titles on whatever cartridges are inserted. The handheld, with its limited screen size, had you flip through each title one by one. Here, they’re laid out in rows with full cover art. Click through and you’ll be presented a little more info about the game and its controls along with the option to play it (naturally) or pick up where you left off with your most recent save.

Blaze

Evercade has tried to strike a balance between modern features and retro authenticity. Save states are one modern concession but most other things — such as cheat codes or in-game recording — are absent. The same goes for the visual look and feel. Under the settings menu, you have three display options: Original Ratio, Pixel Perfect and Full Screen. It’s always nice to have options as modern TVs are very different to what you might have plugged the original hardware into.

You can, of course, add scanlines (if you must). There are also some options for different themes and backgrounds etc. But all-told the menu is simple and clear and all the better for it.

When the handheld launched, the library of cartridges and games was decent but modest. There were collections from mainstays like Atari, Namco and Interplay. These held some classics like Pac-Man, Earthworm Jim and Crystal Castles. Then there were bundles from newer developers that have scooped up various IPs over the years. These tend to hold more “hidden gems” like Piko’s Dragon View (a solid RPG first published by Kemco). In fact the VS comes bundled with two of these collections to get you going (one from Data East and one from Technos).

Along with these well-known and lesser-known golden oldies are some collections of new 8- and 16-bit games. The net result is that the Evercade had the foundations to become something of an all-inclusive retro experience with new and old titles side-by-side. Now, with the Evercade VS, the company has added a new line of arcade-first collections denoted by their purple (rather than red) packaging. Here you’ll find button-mashers like Double Dragon 2 and Bad Dudes vs DragonNinja to further round out the library.

James Trew / Engadget

One intriguing option in the menu is “Secret.” Here you’ll be asked to enter a code. What the code/s is/are is, well, a secret, but one can presume it unlocks some extra games or content. Along the same theme, there are hidden games on the console itself a-la Snail Maze on the Sega Master System.

And… there are more things to unlock, too. Evercade has hinted that certain cartridge combinations, when inserted together, will unlock hidden titles. I was able to find two such secret games with the cartridges I have here, and there are definitely more. I won’t spoil things by saying exactly how you find them, but the UI will let you know. It’s subtle though.

Each cartridge says how many games are in the collection on the front, so if both have 10, the UI might say 21. Then you might have to check the back of the box to find which game that’s now in your list isn’t officially mentioned on either cartridge’s box. Thanks to the VS’s WiFi connection, this is theoretically something that can be expanded over time, too. A nice, fun touch nonetheless — especially for collectors.

James Trew / Engadget

One minor nitpick might be the controller: Your mileage may vary due to different physiology, but it isn’t my favorite. The general design is fine and comfortable, but it doesn’t feel quite as ergonomic as the handheld or other controllers to me. Also the in-game menu button doubles as the pause button, which can be a little confusing if, like me, you find yourself reaching for Start.

On the plus side, there are now four shoulder buttons instead of the handheld’s two and the cables are plenty long enough to reach across most living rooms. You can, of course, use the handheld as an extra controller, but it needs a specific cable — I tried the USB cable that came in the box and, no dice. That cable is about $10, while an additional controller is about $20, so it’s worth weighing up the benefit before deciding which way to go. The VS also supports basically any standard USB controller, so if you have one laying around that you like, you can use that at the expense of retro authenticity.

All in all, the Evercade VS is a pleasant surprise. The cartridge-based model will always be appealing to some and a deterrent to others. But for those that love rarities and a good dollop of nostalgia, the Evercade ecosystem is shaping up to be more than just a gimmick. With the recent wave of new indie games also making it to the platform it could find itself being a vibrant platform for new games, too. One where indie developers can not only enjoy seeing their games have a physical release, but find new audiences, and that’s never a bad thing.

Much like Steam and the Epic Games Store, the Xbox PC app will soon let folks install games in any folder of their choosing. Xbox insiders (i.e. people who've signed up to test new features) will be able to pick a default drive and folder for game installs. 

The Microsoft Store hosts both games users can buy individually and Xbox Game Pass titles. Until now, all apps and games have shared a single install location. It's not uncommon for PC gamers to have more than one storage drive. They might use one as a boot drive and for day-to-day apps, and a solid state drive for games. So, after this update rolls out more broadly, installing games on a secondary drive should be a cinch.

Insiders "will also find that downloads of those games have improved over time, so it's even easier and faster to get to your next game," Jason Beaumont, Xbox's partner director of experiences, said in a video discussing the updates. What's more, players of many Xbox Game Pass titles will soon have access to local files, so they'll be able to install mods and move files. The Xbox app will show whether a game is moddable.

A Steam update released in September made it straightforward for players to move an installed game and all of its files to another drive. The process is a little more convoluted for games installed from Epic's store, but it's still possible. These are welcome moves, as they give players more choice over how to manage their games, and it's good to see Microsoft offering folks more flexibility too.

Elsewhere, the Xbox PC app now has a cloud gaming tab, giving Game Pass Ultimate subscribers a quick way to find cloud-enabled console games. Beaumont added that Microsoft is continuing to improve the app's performance, including "making it more reliable to download and play your games." The team's also trying to make it easier for developers to add features like cross-saves and achievements. 

Microsoft's game development teams are having a banner year. The company's gaming head Phil Spencer has revealed that Forza Horizon 5 had the best launch day of any Xbox Game Studios title. There have been over 4.5 million people playing the arcade racer across all platforms (Xbox, Windows and cloud) to date, and its peak concurrent players were three times those of its predecessor.

Horizon 5 is enjoyable, as you might have gathered from our hands-on, but it also helps that the game had one of Microsoft's widest releases yet. The new Forza launched simultaneously on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, the Microsoft Store on Windows and through Steam. It's much easier to pick up the game this time around, and it's a major showcase for both Microsoft's latest consoles as well as PCs with high-end video cards.

All the same, it's a significant moment for Microsoft after years of buying and fostering developers to make Xbox Game Studios a well-known brand. There's a real chance the company will eclipse itself, too, with Halo Infinite poised to launch in less than a month. It's just a question of whether or not these standout launches will translate to better Xbox sales.

We regularly write about the games we love at Engadget, and even have "best games" lists for each console. But buying a game for someone else is a different matter entirely to choosing one for yourself. Unless you know exactly what they want, where do you even begin?

Well, we'd begin by thinking about what your loved one’s into, outside of gaming. Could they do with something to help them chill out every night? Do they love a good story, something that moves them? Are they a board game freak? Maybe they're passionate about romancing Greek gods? OK, that last one's pretty unlikely, but we hope there's a little something for everyone here.

Hades

Super Giant Games

Why am I recommending a game that won a bunch of awards back in 2020? Because you can finally play it on everything. Over the summer, the game launched across both generations of Xbox and Playstation consoles, joining the PC and Switch versions.

Buy Hades on PS5 or Xbox Series X, and you’ll get a version that can reach 60 fps in 4K. Whichever platform you play on, expect a game filled with varied enemies, playthroughs that are never the same twice, and an ingenious Boon system that augments a strong selection of weapons with extra powers, effects and new moves.

You’ll soon decide your favorite godly ally (and weapon of the underworld), but making it to the end of Hades demands you build some affinity for most skills and techniques, as Boons are randomly granted each run. The game centers around dying, learning and doing it all over again. And again. And again. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief

Hollow Knight

Team Cherry

If Silksong, the sequel to Hollow Knight, had arrived by now, I’d probably be recommending that. As it is, it’s still a great time to acquaint yourself with the original which came out — first on PC — back in 2017. Thanks to its Metroidvania playstyle (explore, earn new abilities, use abilities to explore even further) and its cute bug cartoon looks, it remains a classic. To explore the world of Hollow Knight, you’ll need half-decent reflexes to both explore dangerous environments and survive encounters with much bigger bugs. The story is lightly woven into your exploration, and while things can feel a little bleak — it’s a moody looking game — there’s plenty of funny little moments and characters to meet.

Depending on your console of choice, it’s also often discounted. Now might be the time to discover your new (but old) favorite game, and hone those skills in time for Silksong. — M.S.

Stardew Valley

Concerned Ape

No game has brought me quite as much joy and calm over the past year or so than Stardew Valley and, judging by the plethora of streams on Twitch for the title, I don’t think I’m alone. Farming sims were some of my favorite games to play as a kid (Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life holds a special place in my heart) and Stardew Valley filled that void for me as an adult and gave me a pleasant, playful thing I could focus while the world was spinning out of control. Planning for fall days in advance so I can get as many gold-star pumpkins as possible brings me way more happiness than you’d think, as does collecting the ridiculous amount of cheese and eggs my happy cows and chickens produce. And the Sims lover in me also finds a ton of joy in actually building up my farm — sure, it’s not as elaborate as farms I’ve seen on Twitch or in Reddit threads, but it’s my own little slice of virtual heaven. — Valentina Palladino, Commerce Editor

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Insomniac Games/PlayStation Studios

If your special someone is fortunate enough to own a PlayStation 5, they’re likely craving a game that makes the most of their new console — and few games do that better than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The action-adventure from Insomniac not only looks beautiful, with exceptional detail and sharp 4K HDR visuals, but uses the PS5’s ultra-fast storage to offer gameplay that just wasn’t possible on previous-gen consoles. You can warp between worlds in an instant, with loading times almost a thing of the past.

And did I mention that it’s a very enjoyable game even without that instant-travel party trick? You’ll enjoy expanded mechanics that include plenty of blast-em-up action, a diverse set of environments and movement systems like wall-running. The story is compelling, too. The PS5 has few classics at this stage, but Rift Apart is definitely one of them. — Jon Fingas, Weekend Editor

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut

ZA/UMZA/UM

Disco Elysium is a video game for board game lovers, RPG diehards and fans of gritty detective stories alike, and since its release in October 2019, it’s solidified its place among the indie greats. The Final Cut is the definitive version of Disco Elysium, with full voice acting (that’s a lot of characters, trust), fresh art and animations, and expanded storylines. It came out in October for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Switch, and it recently hit PC, PlayStation 4, PS5 and Stadia, so this is a fresh yet proven release for the holiday season. The Final Cut marks the first time the game has hit Switch, PlayStation or Xbox, so it’s especially exciting for players on these platforms. — Jessica Conditt, Senior Editor

Control Ultimate Edition

Remedy / 505

Control is another title with a solid reputation, and the Ultimate Edition finally unlocks the game on current-generation consoles, the Xbox Series X/S and the PS5. Control: Ultimate Edition is a third-person supernatural thriller set in a mysterious government building that’s been overrun by a horrific, murderous presence. It comes from Alan Wake studio Remedy Entertainment, and it features rapid-fire gunbattles, telekinetic abilities, and creepy creatures galore. Plus, Control: Ultimate Edition includes the base game and both of its expansions, The Foundation and AWE. — J.C.

The Artful Escape

Annapurna Interactive

Here’s one for the quirky artist, the hopeless dreamer or the serious musician in the family — The Artful Escape by Australian indie studio Beethoven & Dinosaur. It’s a gorgeous, psychedelic, interactive musical with astounding visuals, a fantastic original soundtrack, and a star-studded voice cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, Lena Heady and Mark Strong. The Artful Escape blends the sensibilities of Ziggy Stardust with the dialogue of Douglas Adams and turns it all into a rich, pleasant platformer overflowing with heart. Truly, anyone can love this game — as long as they’re playing on Steam or Xbox platforms. — J.C.

Deathloop

Deathloop

PlayStation 5 and PC players only for this one — everyone else is just going to be sad they can’t play it. Deathloop is the brand new, breakout hit from Dishonored house Arkane Studios, and it’s an innovative, retro-futuristic first-person shooter with killer time-bending mechanics. This is the game that’ll be on everyone’s lips during awards season, and it’s one that serious players won’t want to miss. — J.C.

Now that Netflix is offering mobile games on Android, there's a lingering question: how will iOS players join in when Apple's policies bar all-in-one gaming services? The hard way, apparently. In his "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (with help from developer Steve Moser) claimed to have seen code indicating Netflix would release all its games "individually" on iOS, through the App Store. They won't all be downloadable and playable within the app, Gurman added.

The main Netflix app would still offer access to the game catalog, but you'd merely be launching a separate app when you tap a game. That's currently how it works with Android, but Netflix has the option of folding games into its Android app. On iOS, it would have no choice but to make games available separately. Apple requires that every game on the App Store receive an individual screening, even if it's only available through the cloud.

You could see this coming in light of Apple's approach, but it still indicates that Netflix will have to make some compromises if it's going to bring mobile games to iOS. This also underscores a growing rivalry between Apple and Netflix, as Gurman explained. The two are competing on an increasing number of fronts, ranging from gaming to streaming video services, but neither can afford to estrange the other. The potential exists for a significant conflict, especially if Apple has to make further concessions on App Store rules. 

Riot Games is taking its PC titles into new territory as League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra are all now available on the Epic Games Store. The move could get the four free-to-play titles in front of a wider audience.

You'll need to install the new Riot Client (which debuted earlier this month), but you can fire up the games from Epic's app or a desktop shortcut. If you already play any of those games, you'll still be able to sign in with your account and access your existing friends list.

The partnership between Riot and Epic extends to the latter's titles too. League of Legends champion Jinx is dropping into Fortnite, marking the first appearance of a LoL character in a non-Riot game.

The collaboration forms part of Riot's month-long campaign to promote Arcane, the League of Legends animated series that premieres at 10PM ET on November 6th on Netflix. Elsewhere, Riot has also teamed up with Amazon to offer Prime Gaming members some in-game goodies over the next year.

Nintendo occasionally milks some of its big franchises, but Metroid is generally not one of them. In fact, Metroid Dread is the first all-new game in the series since the divisive Metroid:Other M arrived in 2010. As the fifth mainline, side-scrolling game in the series, Dread has a lot to live up to. And while it’s not a total reinvention of the franchise, like Metroid Prime was 19 years ago, it also does a great job of avoiding the pitfall of feeling like a retread, an issue that occasionally plagues Nintendo’s other flagship franchises.

If you’ve played any of the previous side-scrolling Metroid games, Dread will be familiar. As usual, Samus Aran loses all her powers and needs to escape an underworld maze, fighting baddies and retrieving power-ups that let you explore new sections (or old parts of the map you couldn’t get through before).

That’s a well-trodden path, but Nintendo flipped things this time with the E.M.M.I. encounters, terrifying robotic enemies that stalk you through specific parts of the map. They can’t be killed until you explore their area to find a weapon power-up that puts you on equal footing. At first, I was worried that these encounters would be too frequent, or too hard to escape, but developer MercurySteam did an excellent job balancing out the E.M.M.I. areas. Escaping from the dreaded robots by leaving the zones they patrol isn’t too tough, and you don’t have to spend so long in their areas that the whole game devolves into stealth tension.

On the other hand, if you get caught by an E.M.M.I., that’s pretty much it. You have one chance to block their lethal attack, and I’ve only done it right once. I’ve probably gotten caught several dozen times and have never made it out alive. Fortunately, the game just resets you to the door entering the E.M.M.I. zone if you fail, so you won’t lose much progress.

Nintendo

Meanwhile, I’ve had a blast exploring the dank tunnels and caverns that make up the world of Dread. As with most Nintendo games, the atmosphere and art style are top-notch, even if Dread doesn’t hold a candle to the more technologically advanced titles on the Xbox Series X or PS5. When I play a game that is this well-designed and thoughtful about what it does with the technology available to it, I don’t worry about counting pixels. That said, it also looks extremely impressive docked to my 4K TV.

Most of the gameplay hallmarks of Metroid titles are here, including power-ups like charged shots, the morph ball, the missile cannon and plenty of other returning favorites. But there’s enough new here, like the grapple beam and screw attack, to keep the game feeling fresh.

Maybe for people who have obsessively played the Metroid series before, Dread will feel like more of a retread. But while I’m familiar with the core components of these games, the first-person Metroid Prime is the game I know the best — I never beat the original game, or the highly-regarded Super Metroid on the Super NES. If you’re like me, don’t let that stop you from trying Metroid Dread. There’s a reason so-called Metroidvania games are still popular. 

And if you haven’t tried one before, getting the newest installment in the series that helped define the genre is a great way to get your feet wet. Most importantly, it doesn’t feel like MercurySteam and Nintendo just checked the boxes for this game. Indeed, the skill that MercurySteam brought to Samus Returns (a remake of 1991’s Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy) is on display here; Nintendo definitely picked the right developer to make the first mainline Metroid game since 2002. It’s an inspired addition to a series that already has an impressive legacy. Just don’t get cocky — run like hell if an E.M.M.I. tracks you down.