10 Video Game Spin-Offs That Insulted The Fans

Metroid: Other M is largely viewed as the game that could’ve killed Samus Aran’s space-faring adventure series. After releasing to critical and commercial vitriol, there were a lot of questions about the future of the franchise.

Six years passed before the Metroid name was seen again but it would be even longer before Samus returned. In 2016’s Metroid Prime: Federation Force, fans were delivered something that felt like it was designed as its own IP and then had a familiar name just slapped on it to sell more copies.

Whilst it’s perfectly fine to explore a franchise’s universe and attempt to grow it by adding a new perspective, doing so after such a huge flop and then total silence for many years meant that Federation Force was understandably derided from the offset. A combination of a co-op shooter and a gimmicky soccer minigame, not only did Federation Force put players in the shoes of clunky mechs but held very few of the core elements that drew folks to the franchise in the first place.

A brand new chibi-esque art style and a lack of single player in a series that often conjures feelings of isolation and survival, Federation Force was doomed. Thankfully, the 3DS remake Metroid: Samus Returns a year later set the franchise back on the right path.