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 basic, let’s see what’s been finished to convey it to the Change.
In 2002, not solely had it been eight years since Tremendous Metroid, however Metroid Prime additionally efficiently moved the collection 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 (because of Samus). 2002 was a superb yr for Metroid followers, with the sequel to Tremendous Metroid; Metroid Fusion, additionally releasing concurrently.
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For Prime, you’re not deprived when you’re new to the collection. 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 Area Pirate ship. After receiving a misery name and coping with some lethal experiments that destroy the ship, Samus offers 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 means or weapon to progress. Very similar to with the opposite Metroid video games, there’s that exploration the place you make your means and work out the place you possibly can go and the place to return to later. In consequence, Tallon IV isn’t truly that expansive, however they get plenty of worth from how the areas interconnect and all the totally different paths that slowly turn into usable within the bigger open areas.
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For on a regular basis that has handed, Metroid Prime was and continues to be a superb sport. Retro Studio captured the essence of the unique video games and translated it into 3D. As a substitute of turning Metroid right into a first-person shooter, it manages to play as an action-adventure sport. Fight can nonetheless be robust, though I discovered it way 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 is usually a bit dicey, however with Metroid Prime, I by no means felt like a missed leap was as a result of sport. When you get the Area Soar, 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 persistence.
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Visually, Metroid Prime Remastered is way 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 seems higher than it has any proper being. It helps that the sport already appeared nice on the time, with cool results like how the setting and lighting would affect Samus’ visor. Even in any case 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 by a jet of steam. General the unique sport design holds up by making the bigger areas extra distinctive, together with the 3D variations of basic 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.
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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 totally different to the basic controls, that are additionally included right here when you desire. It nonetheless feels important to have the lock on within the new management scheme, because the fast-moving critters of Tallon IV could be exhausting to hit and not using a lock. The management scheme can 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 possibly can 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.
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Metroid Prime Remastered emphasises the significance of exploring and remembering the place to backtrack to make use of new expertise. There’s the naked minimal of steering the place you’ll get an non-obligatory immediate to level you the place you need to go subsequent, however not the trail there. In case you do discover you’re having a tricky 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 nearly the precursor to Batman’s detective imaginative and prescient, which I additionally would use means an excessive amount of as a substitute of the traditional view. There are a lot of lore and creature scans to gather and skim, I admittedly spend an excessive amount of time attempting to gather every part. Remember to scan one thing earlier than you kill it – there’s no going again at factors.
Metroid Prime Remastered offers a basic 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 maintain our fingers crossed that Nintendo is giving Prime 2 and three, and extra GameCube video games, this degree of remaster remedy. In case you’ve solely gotten into Metroid in more moderen years or performed Prime again within the day, this sport is price testing.
Score: 4.5/5