Robot design tends to fall into one of two camps. In the first, they look like us; in the second, they look like tools, their bodies molded toward a particular function. And like tools, this second camp of robots--the smartphones of the robot universe--have tended to look very similar and require some thought on the part of their designer to elevate their personalities above that of a can opener. Metroid Dread on the Nintendo Switch doesn't escape this trap: It's a fine and frightening game held back by its boring robot villains. This story originally appeared on WIRED UK.

Thanks to my parents, I was introduced to Monty Python pretty young. And the family that watches absurdist British comedy together… has a lot of in-jokes. For example, Any time we're, say, outside when it starts raining and we all scurry for shelter, someone in my family is bound to scream in a silly voice, "Run away! That person was me while playing Metroid Dread, not just because it's a fun thing to say: it's the only way to survive that game for the first hour or so. Metroid Dread is the fifth of the 2D adventures (not counting remakes) and the first new 2D installment in 19 years, since Metroid Fusion in 2002.

Mario may be Nintendo's standard-bearer, but Samus Aran of the "Metroid" games is getting her own chance to headline. And it's the first new story in the series in 19 years to play in 2D, picking up after "Metroid Fusion," released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance handheld. "Metroid Dread" pays homage to that game with its side-scrolling heritage that goes back to the first installment in the series, "Metroid," from 1986. Samus moves fast and fluidly runs, jumps, slides and climbs through lush landscapes with detailed 2.5D backgrounds. A new power, the Spider Magnet, allows the character to climb walls and stick to ceilings like Spider-Man.