Metroid Prime

Moby ID: 7783
GameCube Specs
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Description official descriptions

Long ago, a bird-like race of creatures (called the Chozo) became extremely advanced technologically, but due to increasing violence in the universe, they began to hide and live more simple lives. The planet Tallon IV was the site of one of their colonies. Years later, a meteor crashed on Tallon IV releasing the strange element Phazon into the planet. Phazon poisoned anything it came in contact with, causing the plant and animal life to either die or mutate into a hideous form.

The Chozo tried to control the power of Phazon but failed. Before abandoning the planet, they were able to cover the impact crater with a temple and seal Phazon into the planet's core. Now space pirates have discovered Tallon IV, moving in to study Phazon and harnessing its power. They have also begun rebuilding their fortress on planet Zebes and reviving the Mother Brain, Ridley, and Kraid, all of whom were destroyed by Samus Aran. However, Samus has tracked the space pirates to Tallon IV and must now enter the planet to destroy them once and for all before they have a chance to rebuild their destructive forces...

Metroid Prime is a change from the platform-adventuring series, entering the first-person shooter genre for the first time. Players are now behind Samus Aran's visor and must use all their resources to investigate the pirate infestation of Tallon IV. Players can use Samus's beam, with missile and charge capabilities. Along the way, they must recover the bounty hunter's lost abilities like the morph ball and grapple beam, which allow them to reach unexplored areas of Tallon IV. Players must piece together the story of the fallen Chozo to figure out what has happened to the poisoned planet and prevent the pirates from using the Phazon to wreak havoc throughout the planets.

Spellings

  • γƒ‘γƒˆγƒ­γ‚€γƒ‰γƒ—γƒ©γ‚€γƒ  - Japanese spelling
  • ι“Άζ²³ζˆ˜ε£« - Chinese spelling (simplified)
  • λ©”νŠΈλ‘œμ΄λ“œ ν”„λΌμž„ - Korean spelling

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Credits (GameCube version)

123 People (101 developers, 22 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 96% (based on 94 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 227 ratings with 16 reviews)

I really wanted to like this game....

The Good
The graphics..... AMAZING!!!!!!! Nothing compares except maybe Rouge Leader. If you walk under a waterfall, your visor will get water on it and drip. If you are in a hot enviornment, the visor will steam up. The weapons and visors look cool and it's fun scanning all the diffrent stuff. The first level also is terrific and fun to play.

The Bad
The gameplay. The controls are frustrating (like alot of other things in this game...) You'll destroy your controler the 50th time you fall down a cliff while trying to jump in FIRST PERSON!!! The power-ups make the game harder instead of easier as you go along. Instead of going through diffrent levels, you are dropped in an ENORMOUS enviornment. It's not so bad the first few hours, but after you get finished with the treasure hunt for diffrent power-downs, the enviornment will become very large. There are at least six enormous sections in the game. Each new power-down let's you get through a new door in a completely diffrent sections. So, you go through the same place over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over etc. This wouldn't be so terrible if enemies didn't respawn. After fighting to get to a new area, you just fight the same guys again when you come back after you get x to use with y to do z etc. This creates alot of frustration when for instance you get x. "Gee", you say, now I can get through door y. Getting through door y(after fighting the same guys you fought 50 times before) You unlock the door. You continue for an hour until you reach a seeming dead end. "You need z" a text message on the screen tells you. Now you get to go back, find z, and come back through the same enemies and obstacles you beat before and do the same jumping puzzles etc. After it took me 30 min just to get to the door you just spent an hour getting the needed power-down to open it, I quit the game and have never played it since. The prize for repeating the same levels and enemies 1000 times should be a refund for the money you just wasted. In the end, despite it's incredible graphics and music, repetition is what makes this game a frustrating and overall unenjoyable game experience.

The Bottom Line
Playing this is like reading a book where you have to read the all the other pages you've read before 50 times before you get to the new page.

GameCube · by James Kirk (150) · 2003

An epic adventure that helped me understand the genre

The Good
Metroid Prime sure is a Metroid game, just a different kind of one. It definitely helped me to understand the series as a whole. I'd definitely recommend this game as everyone's first Metroid game to try - it isn't as hard as the previous games and is interesting all the way.

The controls are great. Even if, in FPSes, I can't really hit anything without a mouse and keyboard, the controls were never a problem for me. The controls emphasize strategy rather than reflexes - the point is to know how to blast the creatures away, to try to hit things.

The graphics are some of the best I've ever seen. Everything looks great. Lots of attention to details. I especially liked the various weather effects and visor effects (the face reflection spooked the heck out of me the first time I saw it).

The music is also pretty good. I didn't like it at first, but after you get to the planet and do some major moves, the music in general changes to something indescribably great.

There's some great pacing. As I say below, only the bosses were demotivating, every other challenge in the game seems just right.

I also found the game pretty good plot/narration-wise - the approach of collecting scraps of information on what really happened is a good idea.

The Bad
There was just one thing that I really didn't like about: The boss fights were, shall we say, demotivating. They weren't impossible, but they were just, at first, humiliatingly difficult. And by "humiliating", I mean "embarrassing enough not to make me touch the thing for weeks". Of course, once I did beat, say, Flaahgra and Thardus, and even the last boss without getting completely clobbered in the first phase... well, let's just say that the joy of victory was even higher then.

A smaller point I didn't like was that 100% scan completion requires some extremely sharp wits - If you miss some enemies at certain point of game, you can say goodbye to the 100% scan rate. Okay, it isn't really relevant, since it only gives you certain off-game bonuses, but still...

And this is probably the first game ever where I've had moral or ethical problems (as in "I can't kill that, it's too cute!")...

The Bottom Line
I don't really like first-person shooters, but I do love it when people grab their first-person shooter engines and do something completely different with them. I loved mysteriously creative Quake mods. I loved Deus Ex.

So, it wasn't really unexpected that I liked Metroid Prime. The one big thing about FPSes that I dislike is that you've always got to be either running or sneaking or dying. Metroid Prime, then, is sometimes about running and sneaking. It isn't that often about dying, though that tends to happen too.

Metroid Prime is about exploration. I hate to throw cliches around, but I think the appropriate one here is "the journey is more important than the destination".

It's about gathering items. It's also about gathering information. It's about seeing great places. It's about finding out what happened. It's about getting things done. It's about, I think, being a hero.

It is an adventure. It works beautifully as an adventure.

I used to think Metroid series was too complex for me, but now, I think I have learned to understand it. And that wasn't easy at first. Now, I think, I do know what this all is about.

Of all games I've bought for GameCube, I thought this was the one I'd least likely to beat - but somehow, I did, and I'm definitely one great experience richer now that I have beaten it. And excuse me, now, I'll get back playing Metroid Prime 2...

GameCube · by WWWWolf (444) · 2004

Double Jumping Shooter

The Good
The Wii version got rid of the cumbersome GameCube controls. Now you can aim and move normally with the Wii-mote + Nunchuk combination. You point at your TV to aim and look around. Your movement is very natural, like you are in Samus's suit yourself. There is no reason to go back to the GameCube version. The Wii controls are superior in every way.

The C button for the Morph Ball is particularly genius. The button itself looks just like that -- a small ball.

Metroid Prime is a First-Person Shooter but the more accurate description is "Double Jumping Shooter". Why? Because, in Metroid Prime you will get this item called "Space Jump", and Super Metroid fans will be disappointed. It's not a Space Jump. It's actually a Double Jump. Once you receive this ability, you will realize two things. You will realize why some platforms were just out of reach -- you need to jump twice to reach it! And you realize that from this moment on, double jumping will be what this game is ALL about.

You will be double-jumping in Metroid Prime all the time. It's addictive. Unlike most FPS games, Metroid Prime doesn't care about your weapons. You have four types of beams, with only cosmetic differences. You will not get any Uber-weapons as you would in Halo games. No. Metroid Prime is all about jumping. And why? Because Metroid Prime is the sequel to a side-scrolling platform game. Jumping around and reaching a previously unreachable area is the gameplay we're talking about here.

This is fairly common in 2D shooters, but very rare in 3D first-person shooters. There are a very small number of FPS games that say to you, "Don't bother to kill the enemies; ignore them. All you need to do is jump to this door/ledge/cave/whatever". You are often in a huge room and need to go from point A and get to point B in this same room. This formula is rehashed in the X360 hit Portal 2. There are many ridiculous, epic and exhilarating jumps in Portal 2, but if you've played Metroid Prime, you know that feeling already.

Other than the jumping, the most prominent distinction of Metroid Prime (as opposed to other FPS's) is that your character is VERY strong. You can kill most enemies without even trying. It's very easy to stay alive. The Halo formula of "die, respawn at checkpoint, survive until the next checkpoint" is unheard of here. You will only die a few times throughout the game. Metroid Prime's challenge isn't survival. It is "be careful not to fall". It is still challenging, and it still offers a great deal of satisfaction after you complete something.

One thing about the level design: It is now possible to die in a Save Room. I almost died in a Save Room once, and almost died in a room directly next to a Save Room once too. It's one of those moments in gaming you never forget. Words cannot describe the joy when you're almost dead and discover a Save Room, and actually save in it.

The Bad
** The X-Ray Visor. Oh, the X-Ray Visor. Super Metroid fans will be disappointed. Metroid Prime's designers decided that the X-Ray Visor cannot be used to find hidden items. If there's an item right in front of you, and you switch to the X-Ray Visor, chances are that you will NOT see it.

What does the X-Ray Visor do then, you ask?

  1. The X-Ray graphics are kinda cool. Metroid Prime is a very atmospheric adventure and cool graphics like this are always appreciated.

  2. The X-Ray Visor is required to see invisible platforms. This is quite lame.

** The Wii version removed the original Metroid game.

** Music isn't memorable. The only tune I can remember is the Lower Norfair theme from Super Metroid.

** No real desire to achieve 100%. I finished the game at 94%(item) and 94%(logbook) and felt content. The problem is that there is no way to know which item you DON'T have. I have read the Metroid Recon guide a few times and still haven't figured out which items I'm missing.

** The #1 annoying element of Metroid Prime: Boost Ball / Half-pipes. It seems to be inspired by the Speed Booster in Super Metroid, but while Speed Booster was the highlight of that game, Boost Ball/Half-pipes are a giant failure here. They are a chore to go through every time.

The Bottom Line
Expect the need to use a walkthrough from time to time. Metroid Prime is Super Metroid + Halo, and it's often the best of the both worlds.

Wii · by Pagen HD (146) · 2014

[ View all 16 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The GameCube version of Metroid Prime appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

Nintendo gave the development of Metroid Prime to the U.S. based Retro Studios in part due to the fact that the Metroid series, while being incredibly popular in the United States, has never sold as well in Japan.

Retro Studios also worked on a role-playing game for GameCube called Raven Blade of which a video was shown during E3 2001. However, in late 2001, it was announced that the game was canceled by Nintendo so that focus would be more on Metroid Prime. As a result, an unspecified amount of workers were laid off.

Manual

The manual has an amusing problem. Like in many of the Nintendo manuals, there is a lined page for the player's own notes, but the page has light lines on a very dark background. This makes most pen marks practically invisible, so the page is almost useless for its intended purpose (this applies to the Finnish/Swedish original release manual, at least).

Metroid Fusion

After finishing Metroid Fusion on the GBA, and linking up to a GameCube: * A new suit will be available * It will be possible to play the original Metroid on the GameCube

References

Kraid, from Metroid, was originally intended to make an appearance in Metroid Prime as a boss and was modeled and skinned by Gene Kohler for that purpose. However, time constraints prevented it from being included in the final version of the game. Though the beta version displays him inside Phazon Mines, according to Kohler, he was in fact replaced by the Omega Pirate. Kraid is referenced, however, in Metroid Prime. One of the tanks in the Space Pirate's base suggests that one of the Pirate's experiments is to recreate the creature. Body parts in the vat appear to be Kraid's. Of note is the head, since it appears to be covered by a metal dome in the picture.

Screw Attack

While many of Samus' signature moves are present in Metroid Prime, the infamous screw attack is strangely missing. Fans speculate that this is due to difficulties meshing it with the first-person perspective of the game. The screw attack does appear in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2003 – Best Console Action Game of the Year (GameCube)
  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • February 2006 (Issue #200) - #52 in the "Greatest Games of Their Time" list
  • GameSpy
    • 2002 – Game of the Year
    • 2002 – GameCube Game of the Year
    • 2002 – GameCube Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
    • 2002 – Best Music of the Year (GameCube)
  • Golden Joystick Awards

Information also contributed by ~~, Mark Ennis, Steve Thompson, Tiago Jacques, and WWWWolf .

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Servo.

Wii added by gamewarrior.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Guy Chapman, gamewarrior, Big John WV, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, piltdown_man, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.

Game added November 20, 2002. Last modified January 22, 2024.