etroid is a 1986 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo. The first installment in the Metroid series, it was originally released in Japan for the Family Computer Disk System in August 1986. North America received a release in August 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with the European release following in January 1988. Set on the planet Zebes, the story follows Samus Aran as she attempts to retrieve the predatory Metroid organisms that were stolen by Space Pirates, who plan to replicate the Metroids by exposing them to beta rays and then use them as biological weapons to destroy Samus and all who oppose them.
Metroid sits at the post-Black-Box transition: the hangtab era begins here. First-print 1987 hangtab variants (Y-tab and J-tab) distinguish the earliest production from the 1988+ reprints. Sealed WATA 9.4 A+ trades in the $5,000–15,000 band; the series-anchor status makes Metroid one of the most consistently appreciating NES titles since 2020.
