Kara Dennison
October 14, 2021 
Samus Aran is back in action! Metroid Dread is out on the Nintendo Switch, and fans of the classic series can roll and shoot their way through new hordes of alien enemies. And it’s made us want even more sci-fi action — alien and otherwise.
Here are a few series to check out, or revisit, if you’re in the mood for bounty hunting, science fiction shoot-em-ups, and otherworldly characters.
Ghost in the Shell: Another Awesome Heroine
The first generation of gamers to complete Metroid were (probably) surprised to discover that there was a woman under all that battle armor. But more than 30 years later, Samus Aran is acknowledged as one of gaming’s coolest, toughest heroines. So it only seems right to recommend one of anime’s coolest, toughest heroines.
There’s so much Ghost in the Shell to take in — manga, anime, video games, and beyond — that it’s hard to know where to start. But if you’re meeting Motoko Kusanagi for the first time, Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 anime film is a great place to start. It takes you right into the high-tech world of the series.
Trigun: Gunners with Crazy Pasts
Once upon a time, you couldn’t make it five feet at an anime convention without running into a Vash cosplayer. The gun-slinging, donut-loving Humanoid Typhoon of Trigun isn’t a bounty hunter like the Metroid star. No, he’s the bounty himself. And a lot more.
Vash has a family history to beat Samus’s, and that’s saying something. If you’ve only seem the front half of Trigun, push through — and find out what this “love and peace” enjoyer is really hiding.
Space Dandy: Buckwild Aliens
Love crazy worldbuilding? How about new alien races for days? Space Dandy can feed that need. Dandy is a bounty hunter like Samus… actually, that’s not true. He’s a bounty hunter distinctly unlike Samus. But if you enjoy seeing new and varied worlds, that’s definitely something he can offer.
The off-the-wall series takes Dandy and the crew of the Aloha Oe to increasingly bizarre places. He’ll meet ancient alien fish, chameleon people, and a planet of pushy boyfriends. Oh, and hot girls. Lots of hot girls. It’s nowhere near as serious as Metroid, but it’s just as adventurous (and beyond) and will show you all sorts of unusual creatures. And these ones aren’t waiting down hallways to eat your entire face off.
Metroid Dread is playable now — how far have you gotten in Samus’s latest adventure?
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