10 Popular Video Game Series' That Completely Forgot Who They Were

8. Metroid

Time for one where the change was for the better. Life is tough for Samus Aran. Not only does she tend to forget all her abilities just before a big adventure, she also had to deal with the whole world believing she was a man for a period of her life. Yes, the first Metroid is most known for slyly revealing that Samus is female with a post-game scene only shown after beating the game in five hours. Still, it laid the groundwork for games like Super Metroid, helping lead that game to widespread critical acclaim. A neat combination of platforming and exploration has come to define the Metroid series; the idea of discovering certain items or areas and only being able to fully explore or use them once you've progressed further through the game. There's a neat sense of intrigue engrained in the series and it's one of Nintendo's more unique series as a result. It was the steps into first-person shooter territory that turned Metroid into a truly beautiful series though. Metroid Prime gave the player Samus' perspective for the first time while ensuring the series retained its iconic gameplay style. It worked amazingly well with both Metroid Prime and it's direct followup - Echoes - both receiving incredible reviews. The shift to 3D could have taken away the more puzzling elements of Metroid and took a bizarre turn into the action genre; in actuality, the first-person perspective added to the sense of adventure and made it an even better series.