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| A long-awaited return. |
Nintendo's known for making amazing games over the decades and one of those were 2002's Metroid Prime, released for the GameCube. It was special in many regards with it being the first Metroid in 3D and to change genres from 2D platformer to first-person shooter. Metroid Prime was also developed by American developer Retro Studios with Nintendo taking a supervisory role. Galactic bounty hunter Samus Aran is back on a mission to stop the Space Pirates again, this time on a completely new planet. I've played Prime years ago and even made a retrospective here, but I'm excited to revisit the game in HD for the Nintendo Switch!
After bounty hunter Samus Aran destroyed the Space Pirate home-world Zebes, she receives word that they're planning on their expansion on Tallon IV, a planet plagued by a mysterious poison known as "Phazon". Alone in her mission (as usual), Samus must put a stop to their plans once again-- while also uncovering much of the planet's secrets and the ancient race that inhabited it. The story was nice as you'll learn much of it by interacting with your environment by scanning enemies and relics, which give you insight into life on Tallon IV. The Space Pirate and Chozo lore logs specifically chronicle the dying planet's past prior to Samus' arrival, which were nice to read. Oh, and Samus is her usual stoic, butt-kicking self and I couldn't have any other way.
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| Samus is on another planet-exploring adventure. |
Metroid Prime is a first-person shooter with heavy emphasis on exploration. You control Samus as you navigate the areas of Tallon IV, fighting its creatures, unlocking new paths, scanning for lifeforms, and obtaining suit upgrades. It may look like your standard FPS initially, but Prime takes a focus on the exploration aspect with you aiming to find upgrades like the space jump and grapple hook that will allow you to advance through certain portions of a level that were previously blocked. There's also platforming segments where you're jumping around platforms, using the grapple hook to swing across a room, and morphing into a ball to access small openings.
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| The gameplay is nice with exploration being the best aspect. |
The combat doesn't reach the heights of then-contemporaries Halo: Combat Evolved and Half-Life 2 with the shooting feeling simplistic and enemies rarely putting up much of a fight. That said, the gameplay was solid and fun, with you occasionally unlocking new weapons for Samus like the ice beam and super missile that will destroy most enemies and obstacles-- and open colored doors. Additionally, Samus can find various visors like a Thermal or X-ray one that can view platforms and enemies that hide in plain view. The boss fights offered a nice bump in challenge and the titular Metroids make an appearance and they're as creepy and annoying to beat as usual. Levels will take you through the lava-filled Magmoor Cavrens, the frozen lands of Phendrana Drifts, and hazardous underground of the Phazaon Mines, all of which offer a nice change in scenery.
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| The boss fights and bigger enemies pack a punch. |
Some rooms in levels offer secrets to find like hidden missile expansions and health tanks as well as save and missile rooms where you can catch a break. That being said, backtracking was a bore, especially towards the end where you're searching for artifacts to open the final area. Going from one point to another can be a long trek that gets tedious if you missed a power-up or two. Enemies such as the Chozo ghosts made it a pain to revisit certain rooms with how annoying they are to defeat. It took around 13 hours to beat with me getting around 78% completion. Hard difficulty is unlocked after beating the game once, which should offer a decent incentive to replay the adventure if it was easy the first time around.
It's been 20 years since the original's release and it takes a spot in the GameCube's library of good-looking games. Retro Studios nailed the moody atmosphere, sense of wonder, and level variety that the series is known for with Tallon IV's environments. Samus' visor even shows a lot of detail like getting fogged up when you pass through steam, dripping when getting out of water, and showing her reflection when firing missiles, all of which were cool. The HD remaster updates the UI, already-impressive character models, and adds Pro Controller (dual analog) support to modernise things up.
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| The remaster gives the game a huge makeover. |
Prime plays nicely in handheld mode, however, the resolution takes a noticeable dip with menus being blurry and controls being awkward to use with a Joycon-- so it's best played docked. The soundtrack was phenomenal, fitting the lonely feel of exploring alone. Tracks such as the overworld theme, Phendrana Drifts and the underwater theme were also very relaxing and oddly calm tracks that I enjoyed. Granted, I hated like the Space Pirate and Chozo Ghost themes as they were pretty loud and grating (ironically, they were the most memorable for me).
Metroid Prime was a super enjoyable game that held up well two decades later. The story was engaging, gameplay was solid, and presentation is impressive to this day. Shortcomings aside, the adventure remained fun. The HD remaster does a fine job of adding quality of life additions and polishing the visuals up. Fans will have lots of fun revisiting Metroid Prime and it's even a great entry for newcomers to jump in. Here's hoping the sequels also receive the remaster treatment.
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