Super Metroid on 3DS: the native port hits 60 fps, even in 3D

The native Super Metroid port for 3DS reaches version 0.6.2: 60 fps on an original 3DS, even in 3D, new controls and a touch map.


A port, not emulation

sm-3ds, by tinaut1986, adapts to the 3DS snesrev’s PC port of Super Metroid, written from the Super Nintendo game’s code. The same author has already ported Metroid: Zero Mission to the console. The code is written by AI, under his direction. Four versions came out in four days, from 8 to 11 October 2026.


What’s new

• 0.5.0 (8 October): 59 to 60 fps on an Old 3DS or a 2DS, even with 3D enabled, compared with 45 to 57 fps in 0.3.0. The Ceres escape and the Ridley fight still drop to 40 or 50 fps in 3D. The bottom-screen tabs flash when energy is low.
• 0.6.0 (10 October): “modern” controls (Samus always runs, L to aim, R with X, Y or B for missiles, the grapple beam and the X-ray scope), an item counter per area (with an option that reveals everything), and a status screen redesigned for touch.
• 0.6.1: a long press to equip an item without pausing, and a new banner in the HOME Menu.
• 0.6.2 (11 October): walk or run with B, as in the original, and automatic bomb jumping in Morph Ball.

Previous versions had already brought widescreen, stereoscopic 3D, the map on the touch screen, save states and in-game updating.


Installing it

The game is installed as a CIA, for example by scanning the download page’s QR code with FBI, on a 3DS running Luma3DS. The ROM is not provided: you need the one from your own cartridge of Super Metroid, in the Japan/USA version, dumped with a cartridge dumper. Looking for other ideas for your console? See our selection of the best 3DS homebrew.


Sources: sm-3ds (GitHub) · r/3dshacks