If you're a fan of 2D Metroid and are always on the lookout for something similar to add to your ever-growing wishlist of games, then you'll likely want to keep a close eye on Acrolyte, the debut title from the indie developer CyberKomodo.
Pitched on Twitter/X as "a spiritual successor to Super Metroid", it is a promising new action-adventure game that sees players assume control of one of the surviving members of the Tsumeta, a group who have been subjugated by humanity and driven from their home world.
Having fled into space to find a new planet to inhabit, their vessel is attacked by a human military ship while locked in the orbit of a mysterious and strange planet named Eyra-31B, eventually causing the station to make an emergency landing and forcing the player to explore the "vast... alien landscapes" in "pursuit of revenge".
According to CyberKomodo, Acrolyte builds on some ideas he originally developed for a massive romhack for Super Metroid that he was working on back in high school, called Opposition. This saw players take control of a space pirate and received a playable demo back in August 2020. However, it was later abandoned, with the developer recycling some of the same design concepts and worldbuilding into this entirely new project no longer associated with Nintendo's IP.
Similar to Super Metroid, it looks to be filled with plenty of atmospheric locations and bizarre lifeforms to encounter, and even contains a special logbook like the one players find in the Metroid Prime games to document all the equipment and wildlife you come across.
Some of the differences from the Metroid games, meanwhile, include some fresh movement options (some of which can only be executed by skilled players) and a 360 Degree free-aim, which calls to mind games like Crack dot Com's 1996 run 'n gunner Abuse.
You can wishlist the title here. A demo is expected to be released on January 16th, 2026.