There have been rumours circling of a Metroid Prime Remake for a while now, and eventually, Metroid Prime Remastered broke out of containment. Now that we’ve had time to analyse this GameCube traditional, let’s see what’s been finished to deliver it to the Swap.
In 2002, not solely had it been eight years since Tremendous Metroid, however Metroid Prime additionally efficiently moved the sequence from 2D to 3D. Set between the unique Metroid and Metroid 2: The return of Samus, the place all however one of many Metroids hasn’t been worn out (due to Samus). 2002 was a wonderful yr for Metroid followers, with the sequel to Tremendous Metroid; Metroid Fusion, additionally releasing concurrently.
For Prime, you’re not deprived in case you’re new to the sequence. The sport will inform you what’s wanted to know, and it’s additionally the primary Metroid sport to be stuffed with readable lore. The story begins aboard a House Pirate ship. After receiving a misery name and coping with some lethal experiments that destroy the ship, Samus provides chase to a well-known foe which leads her to the planet Tallon IV. The planet comprises a number of environments, all interconnected by tunnels or elevators with doorways and areas inaccessible till you’ve the appropriate capability or weapon to progress. Very similar to with the opposite Metroid video games, there’s that exploration the place you make your manner and work out the place you may go and the place to return to later. Consequently, Tallon IV isn’t truly that expansive, however they get plenty of worth from how the areas interconnect and all the completely different paths that slowly turn out to be usable within the bigger open areas.
For on a regular basis that has handed, Metroid Prime was and continues to be a wonderful sport. Retro Studio captured the essence of the unique video games and translated it into 3D. As an alternative of turning Metroid right into a first-person shooter, it manages to play as an action-adventure sport. Fight can nonetheless be powerful, though I discovered it rather more manageable with an additional 20 years of expertise since final time and the brand new management scheme. The lock-on helps too. Platforming in first-person video games generally is a bit dicey, however with Metroid Prime, I by no means felt like a missed leap was because of the sport. When you get the House Leap, transferring across the large vertical areas is even simpler. One factor that also will get irritating is transferring morph ball Samus onto the extra finicky platforms. A number of the missile expansions are irritating workout routines in delicate actions and endurance.
Visually, Metroid Prime Remastered is rather more than cleansing up textures for HD. When it was re-released below the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii, it already had some enhancements. Remastered brings the sport into Excessive Definition, and it appears to be like higher than it has any proper being. It helps that the sport already seemed nice on the time, with cool results like how the setting and lighting would impression Samus’ visor. Even in spite of everything these years, it’s nonetheless cool to get a glimpse of Samus’ face within the visor reflection or briefly see the visor fog up when strolling via a jet of steam. General the unique sport design holds up by making the bigger areas extra distinctive, together with the 3D variations of traditional Metroid creatures.
The music additionally takes the acquainted Metroid music gamers know and love and makes it even higher. Even after a few years away from the sport, the tunes immediately took me again. Phendrana Drifts is a stand-out for me, however replaying the sport makes me want it was simpler to hearken to the soundtrack.
For many who have performed the sport earlier than, the very first thing you’ll discover on the up to date controls, which default to twin-stick controls. This does make the sport really feel fairly completely different to the traditional controls, that are additionally included right here in case you want. It nonetheless feels very important to have the lock on within the new management scheme, because the fast-moving critters of Tallon IV might be laborious to hit and not using a lock. The management scheme can also be added with the Wii re-release, permitting you to bust out the movement controls. When you’ve got the GameCube controller adaptor sitting round, you may play it because it was initially supposed. I’m proud of the brand new controls, however it’s nice there are a number of choices for individuals who need them.
Metroid Prime Remastered emphasises the significance of exploring and remembering the place to backtrack to make use of new abilities. There may be the naked minimal of steering the place you’ll get an optionally available immediate to level you the place you must go subsequent, however not the trail there. In the event you do discover you’re having a troublesome time or wish to concentrate on exploration, there’s a informal setting to assist with fight.
If you wish to 100% the sport and get all the scans, you’ll be spending plenty of time in Samus’ scan mode. It’s virtually the precursor to Batman’s detective imaginative and prescient, which I additionally would use manner an excessive amount of as a substitute of the traditional view. There are various lore and creature scans to gather and browse, I admittedly spend an excessive amount of time making an attempt to gather all the things. Be sure you scan one thing earlier than you kill it – there’s no going again at factors.
Metroid Prime Remastered provides a traditional sport a brand new lease on life while concurrently constructing anticipation for the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4. For now, all of us have to preserve our fingers crossed that Nintendo is giving Prime 2 and three, and extra GameCube video games, this stage of remaster therapy. In the event you’ve solely gotten into Metroid in more moderen years or performed Prime again within the day, this sport is price testing.
Ranking: 4.5/5
