List of cameos and crossovers

This page lists a number of cameos and crossovers that the Metroid series has made in other video games, in television or in films.

In games

 * 1) Kid Icarus (1986, NES) (Metroid-like enemies called Komayto appear in the final vertical level.)
 * 2) Famicom Wars (1988, Famicom) (Unreleased outside Japan; The Red Star commander on Donut Island is called Samasuun, and her face on the result screen is Samus's helmet.)
 * 3) Tetris (1989, NES) (Samus appears playing the upright bass after the player wins a B-type game of level at least 9 and height at least 2.)
 * 4) F-1 Race (1990, Game Boy) (Samus appears cheering for the player with four other women before Course 7)
 * 5) Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991, Game Boy) (The Komaytos return, redesigned. This game also runs on the Metroid II: Return of Samus engine.)
 * 6) Galactic Pinball (1995, Virtual Boy) (Samus' ship appears in the game Cosmic where the player must shoot oncoming Metroid enemies, similar to Space Invaders)
 * 7) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, SNES) (after Mario's party defeats Yaridovich, he may find Samus sleeping in the Guest Room bed, until Mario travels to Land's End, and a Samus figurine appears in the toy box of Booster's Room.)
 * 8) Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES) (when Kirby uses his rock defense he can become a Samus statue. Also, the Screw Attack icon (called the Screwball) is a treasure in the Great Cave Offense segment of the game.)
 * 9) Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (1997, SNES) (appears after level 5-2, which also contains six Metroids. If Kirby defeats them all using an ice power, Samus will remove her helmet and grant Kirby a 1up.)
 * 10) Wario Land II (1998, Game Boy) (The reward for level 49 is a Metroid. There was also a Game Boy Color remake of the game that was made available in all territories, now including Japan.)
 * 11) Super Smash Bros. (1999, N64) (Samus appears as a playable character)
 * 12) Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, Nintendo GameCube]) (Samus returns as a playable character)
 * 13) Animal Crossing (2001, Nintendo GameCube) (An e-Reader card called "Samus's Suit" gives the player a Power Suit to wear in the game. This is coded on the card, and not the game, however.)
 * 14) The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (2002, Nintendo GameCube) (Game contains a Metroid-like enemy called Bulbul.)
 * 15) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest (2003, Nintendo GameCube) (Includes a trailer for Metroid Prime.)
 * 16) WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Contains a microgame based on the Mother Brain battle in Metroid, with Samus firing missiles at the Mother Brain. Though she cannot move, the Morph Ball is functional.)
 * 17) Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Samus was intended to appear at Starbeans Cafe, among other Nintendo characters, during a scripted event. Dialog remains in the game's code-"Cashier: Whoa! A power outage? Yikes! Samus Aran! I see you're rocking and rolling as usual! ...Looks like your energy tanks are empty! Sorry, but can't you give your Hoolumbian to Samus? Oh! Feeling better?" She would then give the player an Energy Tank in exchange for the drink. Ultimately, most of the items were replaced with similar ones in the final game, though the Energy Tank became a Power Grip accessory.)
 * 18) 1080º Avalanche (2003, Nintendo GameCube) (Default high scores for one stage are "MET" "ROI" "D P".)
 * 19) WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! (2004, Nintendo GameCube) (Contains the same Metroid microgame from Mega Microgame$!)
 * 20) Custom Robo (2004, Nintendo GameCube) (A girl, when guessing what the "Z" in "Z Syndicate" stands for, suggests Zebes among other words which include various Nintendo references.)
 * 21) WarioWare: Twisted! (2005, Game Boy Advance) (Contains two microgames based on Metroid: Metroid-Morph Ball and Metroid-Samus, and another full game called Mewtroid starring a rolling cat with an Arm Cannon and Brinstar music.)
 * 22) WarioWare: Touched! (2005, Nintendo DS) (Contains a microgame where Metroids have to be pulled off of Samus with the stylus)
 * 23) Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005, Nintendo DS) (Gulliver, the seagull, references Samus saying "Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounty hunter that can turn into a ball?" Also, the player can get a 1x1 item that is the Baby in a case. When the player touches it, it glows and plays a small clip of the Super Metroid title theme.)
 * 24) Geist (2005, Nintendo GameCube) (Samus’s helmet and red clothing are seen in a locker within the women’s locker room at Volks Corporation. A Nintendo GameCube can also be seen in a different locker.)
 * 25) Tetris DS (2006, Nintendo DS) (Metroid-based course, Catch Mode; in the title screen, Samus shoots some tetrominoes; Level 12 on Marathon Mode is Metroid themed, with Samus to the right, and clips of the original Metroid playing on the top screen, but with a more realistic background.)
 * 26) WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2007, Wii) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, called Metroid Prime 2. Samus also appears in two other microgames called Super Nostalgic Entertainment System, and Opening Night.)
 * 27) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2007, Wii) (Samus returns as a playable character, and she is also playable in her Zero Suit. Mainly partnered with Pikachu, she plays a large role in the game's story, Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary.)
 * 28) Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Japan-only 2008, Wii) (Zero Suit is one of two unlockable Nintendo costumes, the other being one based on Luigi.)
 * 29) Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008, Nintendo DS) (Samus statue and Screw Attack, now correctly named, appear in this SNES remake.)
 * 30) Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008, Wii) (Samus Mask and Varia Suit available as items received through the Tom Nook Point Tracking System. Metroid item from Wild World also returns, but plays the entire Super Metroid theme.)
 * 31) Phantasy Star Ø (2009, Nintendo DS) (Samus's Arm Cannon is one of several available Nintendo weapons.)
 * 32) WarioWare D.I.Y. (2010, Nintendo DS) (Yoshio Sakamoto designed a microgame that was distributed online involving freezing and destroying Metroids, followed by Samus appearing in her Power Suit or Zero Suit depending on how much time it takes for the player to complete the microgame. In a 9-Volt game based on Metroid: Zero Mission, the player must tap Samus to turn into 8-bit Mario and sneak under a Skree, then tap again to collect the Missile Expansion. Metroid sprites and patterns are included in the microgame creator.)
 * 33) Jam with the Band (2010, Nintendo DS) (Metroid - "Brinstar" is one of the downloadable songs available from the initial day of release in the European version.)

Possible reference

 * 1) Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988, NES) (When Mario gets a Starman powerup, his jumping pattern turns into a spin animation, which resembles the Screw Attack.)
 * 2) Super Mario All-Stars (1993, SNES) (Remake of SMB3.)
 * 3) Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003, GBA) (Remake of SMB3.)
 * 4) Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002, GBA) (In the "Cave of Skeletons" area, there are skulls that bear a strong resemblance to Crocomire's.)
 * 5) Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time (2005, Nintendo DS) (The Snoozorb enemy bears resemblance to Nightmare, with both of their names pertaining to sleeping.)
 * 6) New Super Mario Bros, (2006, Nintendo DS) (The spinning Starman jump returns.)
 * 7) Super Mario Galaxy (2007, Wii) (Mario now spins when he acquires a Rainbow Star.)
 * 8) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009, Wii) (The spinning Starman jump is incorporated in this game.)

Cancelled cameos

 * 1) Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Samus was intended to appear at Starbeans Cafe, among other Nintendo characters, during a scripted event. Dialog remains in the game's code-"Cashier: Whoa! A power outage? Yikes! Samus Aran! I see you're rocking and rolling as usual! ...Looks like your energy tanks are empty! Sorry, but can't you give your Hoolumbian to Samus? Oh! Feeling better?" She would then give the player an Energy Tank in exchange for the drink. Ultimately, most of the items were replaced with similar ones in the final game, though the Energy Tank became a Power Grip accessory.)
 * 2) Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii) (Game was intended to include Samus and Link as playable characters, but Nintendo did not allow Activision to include them after they were placed into the PlayStation 3 version. A video shows her using many of her attacks from the series, which would have been motion-activated. She is also seen using a new ability called Chozo Blood Rights.)

In comics and manga

 * 1) Samus was also a semi-regular character in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books, published as part of the Nintendo Comics System. In these stories, Samus has romantic feelings for Kevin Keene, the main character, despite his own affections for another woman, Princess Lana. However, as she states in the story Breakout, Samus prefers to win Kevin’s affections fairly. Samus's gunship also makes an appearance, though in a very different form than in the games. Interestingly, the ship's class in the comic was "Hunter IV", suggesting that the ship's canonical designation ("Hunter Class") may have been derived from the comic.
 * 2) Samus also starred in her own Nintendo Comics System story, apparently set in the same continuity, titled Deceít Du Jour; it was the only ten-page story to have the Metroid umbrella title. In this story, Samus duels with another Bounty Hunter, 'Big Time' Brannigan, whom Mother Brain has hired to capture her, and who claims to be just as efficient as Samus. In the end, Samus proves her superiority by sabotaging her own gun (after he damages her Arm Cannon) before handing it over to Big Time. When Big Time attempts to kill her with it later on, it explodes, covering Samus's escape.
 * 3) A super deformed doll in Samus's likeness that Princess Peach desired drove the humorous plot for a Mario vs. Wario comic that was published prior to the Super Metroid comic.
 * 4) In the Mario series comic Duh Stoopid Bomb! published by the Nintendo Comics System, Mother Brain's name appears on a list of people who think King Toadstool is dumb.

In television

 * 1) Despite her appearances in the comics, Samus did not appear in the television series Captain N: The Game Master, even though Mother Brain was the show's primary villain. Jeffrey Scott claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he had "never heard of her".
 * 2) Samus once appeared in a Kool-Aid commercial that advertised a contest in which a copy of Metroid II: Return of Samus would be given away to the winner. An animated version of her is seen in the back of a school bus with two children.
 * 3) In episode #405 of Mystery Science Theater 3000, "Being From Another Planet," a troubled teen is alone in his room playing a little electronic game when two guys come in to bother him, at which point Crow says, "Could I go back to my game? I was up to the third level of Metroid."
 * 4) In the House M.D. first season's third episode, "Occam's Razor", House can be seen playing his GBA SP, with "the fourth level" of Metroid Zero Mission shown on screen, though the sound effects are not from the game and entering the Morph Ball in the hands of a Chozo Statue kills all of the players in the show.
 * 5) In the 15th episode of the first season, "Mob Rules," House produces his Nintendo DS and holds it up to a comatose's patient's ear. The footage on screen is Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, again with different sound effects.
 * 6) In the episode of the show "Code Monkeys" called "Valley of the Silicon Dolls", Larrity searches for bounty hunters to kill the robotic teddy bear that Dave, Jarry, and Black Steve reprogrammed. Towards the end of the episode, a warped version of Samus's ship rises up and Samus jumps out and kills the teddy bear. She then removes her helmet and reveals that she is actually Marry. She then morphs into a ball and rolls away. This version of Samus has the arm cannon on her left arm instead of her right, probably due to copyright issues with Nintendo.
 * 7) In a Toys R Us commercial that advertised NES games, a store in Tourian, entitled Kraid's Toy Shop, is shown to be sold out. A man and his son are seen there wearing Samus Aran's Power Suit.

In films

 * 1) In the 1989 movie The Wizard, Metroid can be seen briefly (in a full-screen shot) on a PlayChoice-10.
 * 2) In the 2003 movie Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, one scene depicts the main characters talking about lava always appearing in video games. One says "In Metroid, it's molten magma."
 * 3) In the 2005 movie Jarhead, when the marines are on their flight to their destination, Anthony questions another marine about rather being a worthless civilian, playing Metroid, "trying to get to that 9th level." Another marine mentions how at the end, nothing happens, it just starts over.

In literature

 * 1) The third issue of French magazine IG featured an advertisement for Cooking Mama, with Samus being featured along with Princess Zelda and Peach, and many other non-Nintendo video game characters.
 * 2) How to Draw Nintendo Greatest Heroes & Villains featured Samus on pages 26 to 27.

Other media

 * 1) Nintendo Monopoly featured the Metroid series, including Samus Aran, Meta-Ridley, and a Metroid on the orange properties. Metroid and Super Metroid can be seen in the background.

Metroid

 * Air Holes are obvious references to Warp Pipes, from the Super Mario Bros. series.

Metroid (1986 manga)

 * Samus can be seen losing at a game of The Legend of Zelda on her Famicom Disk System while flying to Zebes.
 * Samus mistakes an Air Hole for a Warp Pipe, and Mario can be seen.

Metroid II: Return of Samus

 * Certain aspects of the movie are similar to the film Aliens. Both involve the female protagonists of the series (Ellen Ripley/Samus Aran) traveling to the homeworld (LV-426/SR388) of a dangerous alien specimen (Xenomorphs/Metroids) to exterminate them. Both films also depict the female protagonist bonding with a last surviving child (a girl nicknamed Newt/the Baby), and a final battle with the queen of the alien species (Queen Alien/Queen Metroid). Both Alien 3 and Super Metroid also depict the deaths of both Newt and the Baby.

Super Metroid

 * The Shinespark is based on an attack of the same name from the mecha anime, Getter Robo G.
 * The Gadora enemy that first appears in this game has several similarities to the Medusa boss from Kid Icarus.
 * The Baby Tatori in Maridia resemble Buzzy Beetles from the Mario series.
 * Mini-Kraid attacks in a very similar manner to Bowser in Super Mario Bros.
 * The sound effect of the Crocomire dying, in addition to it becoming a pile of bones, is similar to Dry Bowser from New Super Mario Bros.

Metroid Fusion

 * A Nintendo GameCube can be seen on the Geron Air System.
 * The game bears several similarities to Alien Resurrection.
 * The Moto enemy bears resemblance to the Hiploop enemy from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Four Swords.

Metroid Prime

 * The Fusion Suit is an unlockable suit in this game, and Metroid is an unlockable bonus.
 * The Baby is on a (possibly unused) texture for a Space Pirate terminal.
 * In the Space Pirate Research Lab there is a Metroid named "Hunter Metroid ds", possibly a reference to Metroid Prime Hunters.

Metroid (2002 manga)

 * Mario, or a man that looks like him, can be seen on the left hand side of the panel where Samus learns that the Chozo have arrived. The character has a hat, gloves, overalls, round nose, boots, mustache, and wrench.
 * Kreatz's race resembles Hylians from The Legend of Zelda.

Metroid: Zero Mission

 * The Unknown Items were based on the Sacred Treasures from Kid Icarus, which used the Metroid engine. They were the Mirror Shield (Gravity Suit), Light Arrows (Plasma Beam), and Wings of Pegasus (Space Jump). All three were required to go to the last level of the game, and were not usable before that level.
 * Metroid is an unlockable bonus in the game.
 * Images from Metroid Fusion can be unlocked by connecting both games with a Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

 * The game's concept of light/dark duality, as well as the collection of Temple Keys is commonly compared to that of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In fact, Retro Studios was assisted by the creators of A Link to the Past.
 * Both the Shredder and the Dark Shredder resemble Peahats from The Legend of Zelda series.

Metroid Prime Hunters

 * Spire appears to be based off an enemy from Raven Blade, a cancelled Retro Studios game. He also resembles the Goron from The Legend of Zelda series.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

 * Metroid project 'Dread' is mentioned in a scan in the English versions of the game. The Japanese version instead mentions a Dread-Class Turret.
 * If the Ship Bumper Stickers are unlocked, then stickers will appear on Samus' Gunship depending on what save data the player has on their Wii.
 * Excite Truck - Orange X over monster truck.
 * Wii Sports - Wii Sports logo.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Triforce emblem on Link's shield and in various parts of Hyrule.
 * WarioWare: Smooth Moves - Wario's eyes, nose and moustache, the typical WarioWare logo.
 * Wii Play - Wii Play logo.
 * Super Paper Mario - Paper Mario head.
 * Mario Party 8 - Star emblem.
 * Super Mario Galaxy - Mario "M" symbol.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Smash Ball symbol.

Metroid Prime Trilogy

 * The Ship Bumper Stickers return in this game, as well as other cameos from Prime, Echoes and Corruption.