Metroid Dread’s big boss rush update is here

Nintendo released the second of two announced updates for Metroid Dread on Friday, delivering the Boss Rush mode promised during a Nintendo Direct in February. The free update includes more than just your standard Boss Rush mode, however; two much more difficult Boss Rush-style modes are also included, as well as a practice mode.

Metroid Dread’s new Boss Rush mode follows a familiar format: face all of the game’s bosses in a row while trying to do so in the shortest time possible. Here are the other rules, from Nintendo’s website: “At the end of each battle, your missiles will be restored, but any damage you’ve taken will be carried over to the next boss fight. Each battle can add to the players max missiles, Energy Tank, and Power Bombs, depending on where the boss is in the main game.”

If Boss Rush is simply too easy for you, there’s also Survival Rush mode, which challenges players to beat as many bosses as possible before the timer runs out. Plus, “Each boss you defeat will add a bit more time to your clock. And if you’re able to defeat a boss without taking damage, you’ll get even more time added to your clock. In this mode, missiles and health do not recover between bosses.”

Dread Rush ratchets the difficulty up to the extreme. Just like the ultra-challenging Dread Mode released in February, Dread Rush is basically Boss Rush with one-hit kills. Twelve bosses await Samus in Dread Rush, and a single hit from one of them means “game over.”

Finally, there’s Practice Mode, which sounds ideal for perfecting your tactics against boss No. 11 in that 12-boss gauntlet in Dread Rush.

Metroid Dread was released for Nintendo Switch in October. Polygon named it one of the best games of 2021, calling Samus Aran’s long overdue new adventure “thrilling.”

“Dread reimagines the Metroid format with confidence and care, and it trusts the player to make leaps along the way,” we said in our review. “While following its interwoven path of epic boss fights, satisfying upgrades, and otherworldly environments, all I could think was that this is the Metroid game I’ve been waiting for.”