Samus Aran made her grand return to video games last week following a seven-year absence, and if you're wondering why that's such a big deal, Kotaku Splitscreen is here to help.

There was a time, so many years ago now, when it felt like we had too much Metroid. The simultaneous launch of Prime and Fusion in 2002, followed up with another one-two volley of Metroids two years later. "Slow down!" we cried. "We can't keep up with all this Metroid!"

Ah Samus, how we've missed you.

I got the new Metroid on Tuesday but waited two days to start it. I'd waited a long time for this, and I wanted the moment to be perfect.

As someone who struggled through the entirety of Metroid 2 many years past its prime, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on Metroid: Samus Returns, a 2.5D remake of what has historically been the weakest link in the Metroid series. I played the first 90 minutes of Samus Returns this week and compared it to what I remember of the old Gameboy classic, and the other Metroid titles that have come since.

To mark the release of Metroid: Samus Returns, Nintendo is releasing a special "Samus Edition" New Nintendo 3DS XL.

Last week, Nintendo surprised everyone with the announcement of Metroid: Samus Returns, a remake of Metroid II. Here's another surprise: It's basically finished. And a fact that's probably not so surprising: It looks and feels fantastic.

OK, so it's not a look at Metroid Prime 4. But Samus Returns looks neat nonetheless, and it's taking inspiration from all the right sources.