Not to be all consumer-pilled buy-maxing, but I knew that I was going to buy this literally the second I realized what the reveal trailer was. I think it shadow dropped too? Hard to say. That was a long time ago. Regardless, I knew I’d be picking it up because I LOVE Metroid Prime. It was really my first introduction to the series outside of Smash Bros since my earliest gaming experiences took place on the N64. I already loved my Gamecube when the game came out, but this really put me over the “never doing anything that isn’t playing Gamecube ever again” edge.
All that is to say that I have a ton of experience with this game, and I can say that this remaster is exactly what I would’ve wanted from such a thing. It looks beautiful, runs flawlessly, and was just as engrossing as when I first played it like 20 years ago or whenever the hell that was. I couldn’t put it down (until I took a long break because I got distracted playing something else, but that’s just how it goes for me for better or worse.)
I don’t feel the need to make this too long-winded or in-depth since I’m mostly just trying to evaluate the remaster as it compares to my memories of the original game, and since it more or less feels like the original game almost exactly, I almost feel like I’m sitting down to write this for the sake of completeness rather than feeling like I need to! I feel like this is analogous to the Oblivion remaster from earlier this year in that the devs succeeded in taking one of my favorite games and just making it look even more beautiful. It was no slouch on the Gamecube either, so I think that’s impressive.
My one tiny, almost-insignificant complaint, is that the controls on Switch were a little funny. Metroid Prime looks like an FPS at first glance, but as we all know, it really is just a first-person adventure game and the weapon controls reflect that. I butted heads with the default controls in this game a few times. I found that switching beams was onerous at times since the right stick was repurposed for look controls, turning weapon switching into a strange button-and-d-pad combo affair. It made the final Metroid Prime fight feel harder than it should’ve in particular. Not a game-breaking issue, though, and I’m realizing now that I probably could’ve just changed them to something that fit my tastes a little better! I never even thought to check. Goes to show just how not-a-big-deal that was for me, huh?
I found that the difficulty of the game really held up as well. When I played it the first time around all of those years ago, I struggled HARD with the Omega Pirate fight and the Phazon Mines area in general. The music still gives me fits. I was traumatized further by the fact that my younger brother saved over my file once I’d finally beaten the Omega Pirate too, but I digress. I thought that as an adult I might feel differently about this area, but I really didn’t. The Omega Pirate still killed me a few times, as did Meta Ridley near the end of the game. I wasn’t losing my mind in frustration like I did as a kid, but I was certainly doing some clenching in all the expected places when I finally beat those fights this time around.
Speaking of the soundtrack, it’s impeccable. As close to a perfect OST as a game can get, I think. I’ve been spinning it non-stop recently. It serves the atmosphere of the game so well and elevates that aspect of the game to one of the most memorable I can recall. I’m still in awe of how well Retro captured the spirit of exploration and adventure that Metroid is known for in 3D. Being more well-versed in the franchise at this point, I recognized a lot more in this game that stands out as “Classic Metroid” than I had in the past.
I could gush forever, but my fingers are getting tired and I have work to do since it’s the first day back after a holiday weekend. I’m obviously looking forward to Metroid Prime 4 coming out very soon, but I’m also looking back at 2 and 3. I never actually got around to beating both of them. The Torvus Bog held me up in 2, and I just wasn’t enamored enough with the Wii to stick with 3 (I regret this). I still own both of them, but my brother has claimed the Wii so I don’t have a way to play 3. This is the same brother that nuked my aforementioned Omega Pirate-smashing save file, to add insult to injury. But it’s fine. No grudges here. I guess there’s a project that lets you play the MP Trilogy with mouse and keyboard through Dolphin, so maybe I’ll give that a shot.
In conclusion: Metroid Prime remains one of my favorite games of all time. I love Samus. I love Tallon IV. I just love it all so much. And I got the cool ending where Samus removes her helmet looking at the ruined Impact Crater! I didn’t even really try!