Super Metroid was developed by Nintendo R&D1, with programming by Intelligent Systems, and directed by Yoshio Sakamoto. Nintendo released it for the Super Famicom in Japan on March 19, 1994, then in North America on April 18 and in Europe on July 28 of the same year. It arrived almost a decade after the original Metroid: Nintendo took half a year to approve the project, and development took two more years.
The game shipped on a 24-megabit cartridge, a Super NES record at the time, although the original plan was 12 megabits. It was the first Metroid in which Samus can fire in all directions while moving. Its open structure allows sequence breaking, and the ending changes with completion time, which made it a popular speedrun game.
Sakamoto had his wife play near-final builds at home to spot sections that were too hard, and composer Kenji Yamamoto came up with the main theme while humming on his motorcycle.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Super Metroid | SNES | Apr 18, 1994 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | Super MetroidVirtual Console | Wii | Aug 20, 2007 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スーパーメトロイドSūpā Metoroido24-megabit cartridge | SNES | Mar 19, 1994 | Nintendo | 1 |
| EU | Super Metroid | SNES | Jul 28, 1994 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スーパーメトロイドNintendo Power flash-cartridge service | Other | Sep 30, 1997 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スーパーメトロイドVirtual Console; year inferred from context on Wikipedia | Wii | Sep 20, 2007 | Nintendo | 1 |
| EU | Super MetroidVirtual Console | Wii | Oct 12, 2007 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Super MetroidVirtual Console; region not specified | Wii U | May 2013 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Super MetroidNew Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console; region not specified | Nintendo 3DS | April 2016 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Super MetroidBuilt into Super NES Classic Edition | SNES | September 2017 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Super MetroidNintendo Switch Online (SNES library) | Switch | Sep 5, 2019 | Nintendo | 3 |
Also known as: スーパーメトロイド JP2Sūpā Metoroido JP1Metroid 3 WW1Super Metroid SP WW3
Box art by region
NA Super Metroid 
EU Super Metroid 
JP スーパーメトロイド
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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TextSNES (JP)SNES (NA)SNES (EU)
Japanese and North American cartridges can show the opening cutscene text in English or Japanese. The European cartridge swaps those options for German and French, and the rest of the game stays in English.4
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ContentSNES (all)
The ending depends on how fast the game is finished: the best one requires a time under three hours.1
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ContentSNES (prototype)
During development, the game-over image of Samus was first drawn nude and then changed to a swimsuit-like outfit. A version that flashed the nude image for a single frame was dropped as too risky for the American release.2
Translations
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English Official
Nintendo1994SNES · originalReleased · complete
Every region got English text; Japanese and North American cartridges also offer Japanese for the opening.4
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German Official
Nintendo1994SNES · English versionReleased · partial
The European cartridge offers German, but only for the opening cutscene text.4
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French Official
Nintendo1994SNES · English versionReleased · partial
The European cartridge offers French, again only for the opening cutscene text.4
Where to play legally today
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Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
Reception
Super Metroid sold 531,000 copies in Japan in 1994 and 1.42 million worldwide by late 2003. It holds a 97% average on GameRankings, and Electronic Gaming Monthly named it the best game of all time in 2003.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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