Game of the Month #98 (March 2023) - Metroid Prime

Everyone's favorite heroine, Samus Aran, is back! Packed to the gills with exploration, creative power-ups, and wicked enemies, Metroid Prime is a first-person adventure worthy of the Metroid stamp. An action-packed adventure set in the first-person perspective, Metroid Prime takes place just after the events in the original Metroid (NES). It has lead character Samus Aran, a bounty hunter by trade, chasing down the evil Space Pirates. Their intention is to use a genetic mutagen called Phazon to create a super army and take over the universe. While the installments in the series before have never been home to deeply involving storylines, Metroid Prime breaks the shell to offer up one of the most intriguing and read-worthy sagas yet. Developed by Texas-based Retro Studios. Metroid Prime brings all of the elements of the acclaimed franchise into a massive 3D arena.

When focusing on the main objectives, Metroid Prime is about 13½ Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 17 Hours to obtain 100% completion

I'll be starting to tackle this one at the end of the week when my copy should arrive. Aiming for 100% completion and I'll be adding both my thoughts on the game and the thoughts of my wife (she wants to watch me play through it, but has never played a Metroid game in her life and feels she'd struggle).

I am playing through this game at the moment. I bought it digitally on the Nintendo eShop when it was shadow dropped. It is my first time experiencing Metroid Prime. I have just finished the first level and so far I am enjoying it.

I don't have the Switch version (and it looks like I'll never get it if the physical keeps selling out at stores) but I do have the original for Gamecube. Never played it before and I'm looking forward to it.

I just hope college projects don't get in the way... who am I kidding, they will.

Metroid Prime has been in my backlog ever since I bought my GameCube about a year ago. I've played through some of it when I first bought it, but never got too invested. Seems like as good a time as any to jump back in!

I owned Metroid Prime along time ago but retired it. Don't own it anymore so won't be joining this month. I enjoyed it the last time I played but got lost in the end and was why I dropped it

Classic! I have very fond memories of the game playing it as a teen and being scared of the Metroids. Great game with lots to like and few things to dislike, and fantastic remaster on Switch as well. I started playing it in February, but didn't put too much time into it yet (tfw playing too many games at once).

My physical copy has arrived so I started playing the game. I'm only 20 minutes in. I'm learning the mechanics, but for now things feel good and the game looks beautiful! The only other Metroid games I've played are Super Metroid and Dread (I loved both of them) and I'm curious how Prime compares to these two in terms of exploration and battles.

Just finished up for this evening after having beaten Hive Totem. It's such a good looking game, and it was great slotting back into the world again.

Little bit annoyed I can't remap the controls completely, I've gone with the dual stick controls but there are some buttons I'd prefer to map to something else.

Did try Gyro as well as 'fine tuning' the aim but couldn't really get on with them, so stuck with the standard dual stick controls with the beam/missile controls swapped.

Playing this one through on GameCube definitely breaks my brain a bit having to get used to the 1 analog stick moving + aiming. I feel a lot more confident in the movement though after taking some time to cut my teeth (die a lot, in dumb ways lol). I finally defeated Flaahgra after a few fails and now I'm working on Magmoor Caverns.

Feels good to make some progress on an all-time classic, and feels even better since I didn't have a GameCube as a kid. I'll try to continue posting my progress as I make my way through. Glad the month I joined HLTB had a Game of the Month that I have always wanted to jump into but never had the right push.

Originally Posted by: whatthemoose

Playing this one through on GameCube definitely breaks my brain a bit having to get used to the 1 analog stick moving + aiming.

It was definitely an odd aiming scheme back in the day (same as Timesplitters 2), but it worked with what the GameCube had at the time. The Dual Stick aiming on the remaster works nicely, though.

Another hour today, managed to clear the Chozo Ruins (although I had more trouble with Flaahgra than I used to, he was a pain in the butt. Picked up some extra energy tanks and missile expansions then left it at the save point at the start of Mahmoor Caverns.

For those looking for 100% scan/log book completion, DON'T forget to scan both Flaahgra and it's tentacles - they're separate scans and if you don't get both you'll miss them on your playthrough. Likewise Ice Shriekbats - they're a one time creature, as are the Aqua Drones in the ruined Frigate Orpheon.

Playthrough update #2:
Made my way through Magmoor Caverns and found myself in Phendrana Drifts. I found the Sheegoths to be a nice challenge, and rewarding to finally conquer. I was able to get the Boost Ball which I'm sure will come in handy later in the game.

After that, I trekked back to Tallon Overworld and saved. The game menu notes I am 16% through the game -- it feels really nice to make progress, although I'm not sure if this percentage is just the main story or inclusive of everything (scans, unlocks, etc). I'm not focused on 100% for this one as I'll be happy to just make it through the entire story. Either way, I'm really enjoying the game and the visuals. Also, the Ridley fly-over at Phendrana Drifts was incredible, especially for a 21 year old game.

Playthrough update #2:
Made my way through Magmoor Caverns and found myself in Phendrana Drifts. I found the Sheegoths to be a nice challenge, and rewarding to finally conquer. I was able to get the Boost Ball which I'm sure will come in handy later in the game.

After that, I trekked back to Tallon Overworld and saved. The game menu notes I am 16% through the game -- it feels really nice to make progress, although I'm not sure if this percentage is just the main story or inclusive of everything (scans, unlocks, etc). I'm not focused on 100% for this one as I'll be happy to just make it through the entire story. Either way, I'm really enjoying the game and the visuals. Also, the Ridley fly-over at Phendrana Drifts was incredible, especially for a 21 year old game.

The percentage is inclusive of everything, so you're farther than that into the main story

The percentage is inclusive of everything, so you're farther than that into the main story

Oh sweet! Thanks for the insight. We’ll see how close I get to 100% without really trying to get 100%.

Haven’t posted in a few days, but I’ve been playing about an hour of Metroid per day the last week or so. Up to 27% complete now and just defeated Thardus. The boss fight was tougher than expected and took me a few tries to complete. I even had to step away after my 2nd fail because I was getting too frustrated… alas, on my 4th try I finally beat the boss! Honestly such a thrill to conquer the bosses as they are all brand new to me.

With the boss defeat, I unlocked the Spider Ball! I know there are various areas I came across earlier in the game that require it, so I’m excited to explore these once again for more upgrades.

Bit more progress on my end in the last couple of days, although less than I thought - playing it through while showing it off to my wife has slowed things down a bit as we try to find time to go through it together.

I cleared the Magmoor Caverns and entered Phendrana Drifts (the intro to which is as fantastic as I remember it being). While there I picked up the Boost Ball, then headed back to Tallon Overworld for the Space Jump Boosts and some expansions. Headed back through Magmoor with the new upgrades which allowed me to grab a few more expansions and the Artifact of Strength, then back to Phendrana Drifts. I picked up the Wave Beam, fought Mother Sheegoth and left off at the save station just outside the Pirate Base.

Not bad progress for an hour or so. I am having a bit of trouble with the dual stick controls, but it's mostly relearning them - I really wish I could remap them so the Map was - and not +, for a start off. Also, does anyone find the Morph Ball physics just a little janky? Trying to enter some spinners has been much harder than I remember it being.

I remember playing Metroid Prime back in the day, so I definitely think I'll go ahead and try to finish it up this month. I've always wanted to after all! Granted, I've got a LOT of gaming on my plate (Octopath II, Fire Emblem Engage, Live A Live, Pokemon) but I can always put some of that on hold. Means I'll be playing the old school Gamecube version as well, although I never had a problem with the control scheme and it still looks really good so I'm not too fussed.

Metroid Prime playthrough update! I’ve played a good 3-4 hours more since my last post and completed a good amount more. I am currently at 46% per the game menu. I got the ice beam most recently which is very helpful against some of the peskier enemies at this point.

One thing I’ve been more comfortable with lately is scanning everything new I see. When I first started the game last year I rarely scanned (not knowing the benefits). Now it’s second nature and I’ve even scanned “older” enemies / items that I’ve come across again on my travels.

Really enjoying the world and the little nuances of the gameplay. I’m very impressed with it given its a 20 year old game. I’m sure the Switch version is incredible and would consider buying it down the road.

Played for a good 1-2 hours this morning, working my way through the Phazon Mines. I’m up to 53% complete now!

This play session was a doozy though. I have about 6 energy tanks now I believe. I could certainly have more, but alas all I have is 6. The enemies in this section were tough! I had less than 2 energy tanks for much of the time I was playing, leading to a lot of tense moments.

Fighting the Elite Pirate was a really fun and intense moment since I had only about 85 energy when I encountered it.

At the end of my session, I got the Power Bomb! I’m sure it’ll be useful, but I was just happy to hit the save station right after getting it haha.

I placed the game back on my backlog for now. I really thought I would be able to finish it before the end of the month, but I didn't get further than the first twenty minutes. I'll update my thought on the discussion as soon as I pick it up again (probably around mid-April)

I finished the game tonight. I really enjoyed discovering the game and working out how to beat the bosses, all the way until the final 2 fights where the unskippable cutscenes and loooong fights made it unfun to dying repeatedly to trial and error trying to work out what you're supposed to do. The scan function was useful because it gave you clues on what you're meant to do, but later fights it doesn't really help.

Regardless, it's a good game and I overall enjoyed it. 8/10

Finished up the game. Thank goodness we have easily accessible guides these days, or the wild goose chase of finding all the artifacts would've taken me forever. Gave Facebook Ridley a slap on the wrist, which was more a test of patience than anything else, with him flying a lot in the first phase, and waiting for him to open his beak so you can feed him some molten lava in the second phase. Went on to the impact crater to introduce Metroid Prime to my mighty arm cannon of divine punishment. The fight wasn't as tough as I remembered, but was once again a test of patience. Weapon upgrades really helped again here, in particular the super missile and the ice beam missile. Huge damage. I found the flamethrower and the wave beam super to be too inefficient with a comparatively low dmg/missile ratio. I completely forgot about the second phase of the fight, which again took a good amount of time because you only get a very limited amount of time to dish out punishment in the phazon puddle before it evaporates. Ended the game with 78% I think, and 10:18h ingame time.

Overall I was very happy with it. It's still one of the best metroidvanias out there, if not the best. Certainly the best 3D one that I can think of. The remaster was a labour of love and it shows. Updated control scheme, very pretty visual overhaul, while keeping the mechanics and world of the original game untouched. I have no idea how they managed to get it to look as good and run as well as it does on the extremely weak Switch hardware, but they pulled it off! Minor nitpicks from a modern point of view would be the lack of a fast travel system making the last section of the game very heavy in backtracking, and the lack of autosave, which didn't personally affect me because I didn't die once in my playthrough and I saved frequently. I would've probably dropped the game if I had lost a lot of progress though, my modern gamer mindset just can't deal with losing a lot of progress and replaying large sections, and I imagine I wouldn't be alone in that.

The world was fun to explore once again, and it's good fun to figure out how to get to missile containers or energy tanks, and to figure out where to go next once you unlock a new upgrade. What surprised me the most upon replaying it was the pacing. The game felt a lot slower to me when I played it for the first time as a teen on my good old GameCube, but now upon replaying it, the upgrades you get are perfectly paced, keeping you engaged throughout and wanting more. I had a great time replaying this classic, and ended up giving it a 9/10.

I beat it. In-game time was 16:56 at 82%.

This was a great game. This is the fifth Metroid game I've played, and if I had to rank it, it would probably be third on the list, surpassing the original NES and Super Metroid, but I didn't consider it to be better than Fusion and Dread.

The game overall is a 9/10. I think the scanning made the game feel a little slow for me, because I have to go around and scan everything. It's still a good game though and the scanning wasn't a major breaking point for me or anything.

What a game, easily a 10/10 here.

I love how they translated the 2D elements of the previous games into a 3D FPS, it even feels weird to refer to it as a "FPS" since it's so different from the rest of the genre.

Platforming is surprisingly good, the 3D map is probably the best in gaming, the music is amazing, the pacing is spot on, the hints gives away just enough to keep going. Retro Studios is such a special company.

I played the Remastered one, and the motion controls are a godsend (well... when they work).

For the folks that have played Prime 2 and 3, is it on par with this one? Because even if it's not as good but close, I gotta play it.