Metroid Prime
GameCube
Growing up, I only played one Metroid game in my entire life: the original NES classic. I sort of liked the game, but I would always end up getting stuck after a few hours of playing it and then I would give up on it. It seems I liked the idea of Metroid, but the game itself never really stuck with me. I was probably too young for the game at the time.
Fast forward to 2002. I was 20 years old. At this point in my life, my only experience with Metroid was still with the original when I was a kid. And then I read about Metroid Prime in the video gaming magazines. It looked like a great game, and I was very interested in playing it. But I didn't have a GameCube. Let's fast forward again, this time to the year 2004. I was now a proud GameCube owner. Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil were the first GameCube games I would buy. But as time would pass, I would start looking for something new to play. And that's when I got my hands on Metroid Prime.
It's funny how the human memory works. I have so many thoughts and images that float through my mind when I think of my life back then. Walking an hour and a half to Best Buy in the sweltering heat to buy this game. Walking back home, which took me another hour and a half. I remember thumbing through the manual as I walked on the sidewalk. As I was walking past a gas station, a car that had been parked at the pump suddenly hit the gas, and nearly ran me over on the sidewalk. It was a cop car. No lights, no flashers, nothing. It was really strange. I just kind of looked at them like "what the hell?" and kept walking. Whenever I think back on Metroid Prime, this random memory always pops in my head.
This was during a time in my life that I haven't ever really talked about with anyone. I had just broken up with my first serious girlfriend Colleen, and I had moved back home with my mom. I technically never officially moved out, as I still had a bedroom and everything. I remember during this time, I had two jobs and I worked a lot of hours. My favorite hobby was meeting chicks on the Internet (this was 2004, back when this was a brand new and exciting thing). I also drank a lot and smoked a lot of pot. In fact, another thing I associate with this game is the taste of Goldschlager. Whenever it was that I was done having fun and trying to score for the night, I'd then pop this game in and stay up to the wee hours of the night playing it.
It was around this time that I would meet Jessica, who became my second serious girlfriend after Colleen. She was into gaming, which was a big plus. She would come over and we would play a lot of stuff on the GameCube together, like this game and Eternal Darkness. By the time I met her, I had essentially gotten stuck and lost interest in Metroid Prime, just like I did with the original NES game. I had come to the conclusion that Metroid just wasn't for me. But her interest in the game made me get re-interested in it. I started up a new game, and this time I was serious about beating it. So funny: I thought it would impress her or something. I remember going to the library and printing off online guides from Gamefaqs and bringing them home so I could beat the game. Ah, good times.
Over the years, I have only returned to complete Metroid Prime again one other time: back in, I wanna say 2012? It was only a few years before I started this blog. I bought Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Wii, and I played through the first game using the motion controls. I never got to move onto Prime 2 or 3, as the Wii stopped reading the disc for some reason. I even have 2 Wiis, and it would not work on either one.
Lately I've been wanting to revisit the Prime series since I've never actually reviewed one of them before. But there was one problem: I couldn't get the stinking Prime Trilogy collection disc to work. I had foolishly traded in my physical copies of Prime 1 and 2 because I thought I didn't need them since I had the Trilogy collection. But now that the Trilogy disc wouldn't work, I had no way to play any Metroid Prime games. I still lament the day I traded my copies of the original games in. I've been looking for ways to emulate them, but my technical knowledge is not very good, and I was never able to find a way to do it without the game crashing in the first three minutes. So, as someone who doesn't own a Switch, I kind of gave up on ever playing this game again.
... until I found a copy of it at a used CD store! It was 20 bucks and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to buy it immediately. The circle of physical gaming is funny, isn't it? I buy a game, I get another copy of it, I trade it in, my other copy stops working, and then I have to buy another copy again.
After finishing The Legend of Dragoon (the last game I reviewed), I immediately fired up Metroid Prime. And man oh man, let me tell you. I forgot how much I loved this game. I went from "oh okay I guess I'll play Metroid Prime" to "OMG this game is awesome and I can't wait to play more!" in about three minutes.
I suppose I've bored you enough with this incredibly long prologue. Let's jump into my full review.
Story:
Alright, so we're leading off with my least favorite part of this game: its story. If you want a truly detailed recap of the game's storyline, go read a Wikipedia summary or something. I'm not about that life.
What I can do, and what I do for all my game reviews, is tell you the story from my experience. I haven't re-read the manual, I haven't looked on Wikipedia, and I skipped over most of the Chozo Lore sections in the game. Plus, I was dicking around on my cell phone as I was playing. Like I said, if you're looking for a detailed plot summary, you've come to the wrong place. Some reviewer I am, right? Someone should make a blog where they review all their favorite blogs and put mine dead last because of this.
Anyway, you're Samus. You're going into this scientific base in outer space to root out the space pirates, who have taken it over. The base explodes, damaging Samus's power suit. Samus gets to her ship and chases a mechanical version of Ridley down to the surface of the planet Tallon IV. While on the surface of the planet, Samus learns of a powerful destructive force known as Phazon. Phazon wiped out the planet's inhabitants decades ago. That's why the Space Pirates are here, to try and harvest the Phazon. Of course, it hasn't gone well for the Space Pirates.
The goal of the game is to unlock the meteor crash site that brought the Phazon to Tallon IV. Once you've done this, you must battle the evil creature at the heart of the Phazon infestation, Metroid Prime. Then Samus leaves and is like okay byyyyye!
If you manage to 100% the game, there is a bonus cutscene at the end that shows an evil Samus clone being formed out of the Phazon. I've played Metroid Prime 2 (a long time ago) and I remember the Samus clone being a major antagonist. Can't wait to find a way to play that game again someday! Hopefully it's not another 10+ years before I can get my hands on a copy.
.jpg)
Gameplay:
When this game originally came out, a lot of people were concerned if Metroid could work from a first person perspective. I was one of them. But none of us had anything to worry about. It far exceeded even my humble expectations.
Coming into it in 2026, it is just as good as it was when it first came out. That's the sign of a truly great game. I was hooked three minutes into the game. Everything comes together perfectly. The looks, the atmosphere, the controls. I don't know how you could play this and not get sucked right into it immediately.
The controls are very good. Samus jumps and runs around very smoothly. Jumping could have been a challenge in a first person game like this, but it is perfect here. It is very forgiving. Everything is explained pretty well in the first segment of the game, which acts as the de facto tutorial. How to shoot, how to scan, how to lock on, how to use the morph ball, etc. By the time you actually land on the surface of Tallon IV, you should have a pretty strong understanding of how the game works.
You aren't given much direction. You get out of your ship. You have a few different doors you can go into. You just pick a direction and go. You'll either run into a dead end, and you'll have to backtrack - or you'll go the right way and open up more doors and alternate ways to go. The game is essentially a giant maze. You use the map to go to areas you haven't explored yet. You find hidden power-ups and suit upgrades. These suit upgrades (double jump, power bomb, etc) allow you to access areas you may have noticed earlier in the game, requiring you to backtrack. The game does a fairly decent job nudging you in the right direction, highlighting areas of the map where "unusual activity" is detected. Even if you get lost, you still have at least somewhat of an idea of where to go next. I was actually surprised as I played through the game this time around, because I didn't really get stuck much or have to turn to the internet for help. It's a lot less confusing than my memories made it out to be.
What makes this game good is that it is fun. There's something thrilling about making progress through this uncharted alien world, uncovering secrets and hidden paths along the way. The game often gives you that wonderful feeling of accomplishment whenever you figure something out. Partner this with great graphics, controls, and music, and this game is pretty much the complete package.
As I was playing through this, I was rolling along and having a great time. I was like "man, this is easily going to get an A+ when I review it!" But then I ran into what I consider to be the darkest point of the game. The game intentionally leads you on a path down into this sunken ship (from the beginning of the game). Navigating this area is tough, and somewhat cumbersome. Just when you think you're finally about to pass through it and get out of dodge, the game hits you with "you need a certain power up before you can proceed any further" and then it turns you around. You have to make your way allllll the way back and out of the sunken ship, and look for the underwater double jump power-up which is hidden basically on the other side of the fucking map. I was so irritated.
And then shortly after, there is an area where you descend into the mines. There is a particularly long stretch that's filled with difficult battles. And there are no save points. You get to this weird, floating cloud mist enemy, an enemy type you've NEVER encountered before and have no idea how to beat. I died when I fought this thing, and I had to again go alllll the way back in the game, this time to my last save point. I think I died one or two more times trying to get back to where I was before. I remember having to turn the game off out of frustration after the second death. It was several hours of wasted time.
But once you get through that part of the game, it goes back to being enjoyable again. It wasn't long before I was rolling along once again, thinking "hmm maybe the game has redeemed itself and it's an A+ again!" I guess we'll have to think about that. I make these reviews up as I go along. I still haven't decided if this is an A or an A+. I've got until I'm done writing about the game's graphics and sound to decide.
Graphics:
The GameCube is a fairly underrated system when it comes to graphics. Metroid Prime is a great example of this. It looks like it could have come out on the PS3 or PS4. That's pretty impressive for a 24 year old game.
What makes the game look so good is how atmospheric it is. It really sets the tone at the start of the game as you are going through that passage in space with the force field walls. And then you explore the space station and see all the consoles and lights. And then you turn into the morph ball and its shiny metallic shell and glowing insides. It's just super cool to look at. It's sleek. And the physics of the ball are impressive as well.
The planet of Tallon IV is filled with all kinds of unusual alien wildlife. The game creators essentially had to create this entire ecosystem for the game, and I love it. I also love when you pick up a power up and the camera zooms in and Samus lights up as the energy flows through her. I like when you reach a save point and Samus is scanned by the laser beams. It's just all so freaking cool. The science fiction aspect of the game is on point.
Sound:
The game not only looks the part, it sounds the part as well. The music is great. You'll recognize a lot of little callbacks to the original Metroid game, like the music that plays when you load your game or get a weapon upgrade. The game's original music is nice, as well. It's got an upbeat, jazzy/techno feel to it. Really fits the look and feel of the game. Reminds me a tad of the music from the game Alien Trilogy, which shouldn't be too surprising considering Alien was an inspiration for Metroid.
The sound effects fit right in, as well. Everything sounds great: the sound when you charge your weapon, the sound when you shoot, even the little sound it makes when you double jump. Enemies make noises that let you know when they are in your area. It always helps to keep your ears open as well as your eyes.
All in all, everything feels really subdued and chill most of the time. It fits the futuristic sci-fi feel of the game perfectly. Combined, it makes for one heck of an interactive experience.
.jpg)
Overall:
I really needed this. I haven't been enamored by the other games I've been playing lately (Legend of Dragoon, Ecco: Defender of the Future, etc). I was in a major lull when it comes to video games. And then I played this. It completely broke me out of that lull. I played it pretty much nonstop for several days straight, until I beat the game.
It's such a fun experience. I enjoyed exploring every inch of the world map, and looking for hidden secrets. I enjoyed upgrading my character and learning new moves. I enjoyed all the diverse locations of the game, ranging from a rainy tropical area to a lava filled cave to a snowy base. I never wanted to put the game down.
All that being said, this isn't a flawless experience. The backtracking can be a bit much sometimes. Save areas in certain points in the game are inconveniently placed. It can be frustrating going down one path or investing a bunch of time and energy into something only for it to turn out to be a dead end. The final boss was also quite annoying. I know a lot of people like the final boss, but I thought it was one of the worst things about the game. I died a whole bunch of times playing it. It is a super long fight broken up into several segments. When you die, you go back to the last save point and have to not only make it all the way back to the final boss, but do the whole thing over again. The other bosses, though, are pretty fun to play. But that last one sucks.
Alright, moment of truth. I can't hide any longer. A or A+? That is the question.
Hmm...
Well, I gave Metroid Fusion an A+. That is my highest scoring Metroid game so far. Did I like this more than Fusion? Oh yeah. A lot more. So that means it deserves an A+, right?
Yeah. Actually it does. Let's not overcomplicate things. This is an all-time great game. It is my personal favorite Metroid game of all time, and it may very well be my favorite GameCube game of all time. I love it. I know there is a recently remastered version of the game for the Switch that fixes a lot of things and adds some quality of life improvements. I don't have a Switch, so I won't be playing it anytime soon, but I'm going to guess that that version of the game is the definitive version, and the one that should be played if you have the means to do so.
But this game. This is the one that started it all. I can't say enough great things about it. I try to be discerning about handing out A+s. It's not often I give out a perfect score. But the fact that I feel zero regrets about doing so tells me I am making the right move here.
THE GRADE:
A+
For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click
>HERE<
No comments:
Post a Comment