Super Metroid, sometimes called Metroid 3, is the third installment of the Metroid series. Released on the SNES in 1994, it quickly was voted Best Action Game by Electronic Gaming Monthly, and, in 2003, it was named the Best Game of All Time by the same magazine.

The series follows Samus Aran, a bounty hunter working for the Galactic Federation. Her missions have included eliminating the leader of the nefarious Space Pirates, Mother Brain, and destroying an entire population of a dangerous and parasitic creatures called Metroids. At the end of her second mission, Samus discovers a baby Metroid when she believed the population to be extinct. Confused, it thinks that she is its mother and calmly follows her back to her ship.

Super Metroid directly follows the events of Metroid I and II.

Samus takes the baby Metroid to a research facility on the asteroid Ceres, where scientists discover Metroid DNA has miraculous potential for cures and vaccines. Satisfied, the bounty hunter leaves. But before she can leave the asteroid belt, Samus receives alarming news.

Ceres is under attack.

Samus returns to Ceres to find that a high-ranking member of the Space Pirates, Ridley, has returned to steal the Metroid hatchling. Ridley makes off with the hatchling to the planet where Samus originally thought she destroyed the Space Pirates: Zebes.

Samus begins on Zebes with only a basic weapon and armor to protect herself.

The player must navigate the various tunnels and passageways of Zebes in order to find various powerups for Samus that were left by the ancient and now extinct Chozo race.

These powerups may increase her firepower (Like the freezing Ice Beam or beam-splitting Spazer), extend the life of her suit (Or allow her to walk underwater!) , or make her able to reach new areas of the planet (Like boots that extend her jump range or allow her to morph into a tiny ball). There are six unique sectors of Zebes to explore, as well as countless secret passages to find. These include:

- Crateria, the outer crust of Zebes, which is always being doused in acid rain.

- Brinstar, an overgrown and plant-choked area just beneath the surface.

- Norfair, a fiery and inhospitable area near the core of the planet.

- Wrecked Ship, a crashed spaceship from long ago.

- Maridia, an underground ocean reaching to the darkest depths of the planet.

- Tourian, the heart of the planet and the center of the Space Pirates' hideout.

Of course, Samus' mission wouldn't be complete without the various malevolent creatures of Zebes attacking her on sight, and without the Space Pirates expending every resource to hunt her down and stop her. Each of the sectors of Zebes (with the exception of Crateria) features a powerful Space Pirate boss that Samus must destroy in order to gain access to Tourian, where she must confront a rebuilt Mother Brain.