Metroid Prime

Eight years. That is how long we have waited for a new Metroid game. Eight freaking years. The only game we had to remind us that there was a Samus Aran was Super Smash Bros. But still, eight years. Would the magic that made the original games an instant hit still be there. As I immediately popped the disc into my Gamecube, I hoped that this would be the title everyone was waiting for.

I was not displeased.

The game is one of Nintendo's best games in the past decade, like Zelda: OOT, Mario 64, or the original super nintendo hits. Yes there isn't too much of a story compared to Metroid Fusion, but it has everything that made the first three games classics. The exploration. The power-ups. And of course, the huge, terrifying bosses. The 3D graphics help put these in a new dimension. Oh, and the 3D graphics are also about the best for any game in existence. Yes, better than ANY other game. Oh, and the music? Don't get me started. I'll spend an hour discussing how perfect it is. The best thing about Prime, though? The seemless transition of the 2D side-scrolling elements to a 3D first-person view. It is absolutely flawless. At times, you'll actually feel like you're playing a side-scrolling Metroid. I could talk about Prime more, but let's just close the topic with: the best game in existence.

BOTTOM LINE: You need to own a Gamecube just for this title. No, not Mario, not Zelda, this one. You will thankful for doing so.

I never thought I would actually get Metroid Prime back in 2002. I thought I would get Super Mario Sunshine or Wind Waker (which was released the next year). I gave it a rent and it really sucked. I never played any of the Metroid games before Prime, nor did I ever hear of Metroid in the first place. One day, I went to the EB store in the Falls in Florida. I played Metroid Prime, which was on a Gamecube demo disc, wondering "what the hell is 'Metroid'?" before playing it, and BEHOLD! I played what may be the BEST GAME EVER! I was awestruck by how beautiful the graphics were, how innovative the gameplay was, how beautiful the soundtrack, the sound, everything. I HAD to get that game. Luckily, I got it as a holiday gift in around November-December, and it was good.

You play Samus Aran, a female bounty hunter who must investigate the "Great Poison" released throughout Chozo Ruins, which is among four different planets connected to Tallon Overworld through elevators. You defeat Flaagra (a giant plant creature that grew from the Great Poison) and you get rid of the Great Poison but you stumble across information of Space Pirates mining for Phazon and a creature known as "Metroid Prime". Then you must backtrack and find the twelve Artifacts scattered everywhere to get to Impact Crater and kill Metroid Prime.

Your travels take you to a Space Station (which crashes after you defeat the Parasite Queen), Tallon Overworld (which is a hub connecting four different planets through elevators; it is also the site of the Artifact Temple and the crashed Space Pirate Frigate), Chozo Ruins (where the Great Poison was released; home to the Chozo Ghosts, who were ghosts of the warriors of Chozo [they slowly get annoying as you backtrack through Chozo {at least you don't do it a lot}]), Magmoor Caverns (which is a giant group of caves with lava and flames; it is the home of the Magmoor, which is a series of fire-breathing dragons living in the lava), Phendrana Drifts (a snowing, freezing area which is home to the Sheegoths and its children, which were one of the greatest monsters in any game), The Crashed Space Pirate Frigate (a crashed spaceship crashed to water, which serves as a quick route from Tallon to Phazon Mines; it is accompanied with the best music of the soundtrack), Phazon Mines (a bleak, industrial area where Space Pirates are mining Phazon; is home to the Metroids [the jellyfish-like creatures that suck energy and play a major part to the story]), and the Impact Crater (home of the great Metroid Prime).

I liked the gameplay, which was a rare case of innovation in a new era. It fused the action of a first-person-shooter game with the depth and exploration of point-and-click adventure games such as Myst. You shoot a bunch of aliens ambushing you and then you put on your Scan Visor and you walk around all the rooms and you scan certain areas of importance. There are other visors, such as the Thermal Visor (you see things through heat) and the X-Ray Visor (where you see in the dark). That is how you learn the story in the game. There are no cutscenes (except when you approach an area or access an elevator), and you learn a story through whatever you scan (especially from the Space Pirate Data [which details what the Space Pirates are doing] and the Chozo Lore [which details what happened to the Chozo ruins]). You use the Morph Ball ability to go through small areas and solve puzzles. There are many suits and beams. There is the regular Power Suit (which you start off with in the game), the Varia Suit (which protects you from heat), the Gravity Suit (which lets you walk in water), and the Phazon Suit (which protects you from Phazon). There is the Power Beam (the normal beam you start off with in the beginning), the Charge Beam (a charged shot from any beam, the Wave Beam (which attracts and kills Bombus), the Ice Beam (which freezes enemies. You must use an Ice Beam and a Missile to kill a Metroid), the Plasma Beam (which melts frozen ice and is the most powerful regular beam), and the Phazon Beam (where you stand in a pool of Phazon in a Phazon Suit and you use your Plasma Beam to suck in Phazon and shoot powerful spurts of energy). There is also the self-explanatory Missile. You then get missile combos for each regular beam (the Super Missile for the Power Beam, the Wave Buster for the Wave Beam, the Ice Missile for the Ice Beam, and the Flame Thrower for the Plasma Beam). You can change beams and visors on the fly by pressing in the D-Pad or in the C-Joystick. This may pose as a problem to those used to the controls in Halo where you change camera with the C-Joystick in the Xbox, as you turn around completely. There is also a lock-on system with the L and R buttons.

The soundtrack and sound was good. I liked the screams and groans of the aliens you kill in the game. The music is very good. It is the best in Phendrana Drifts and in the Space Pirate Frigate. The only part where it may pose a problem is in the fight with Mecha-Ridley. It is cheesy 80's-ish rock in the fight with Mecha-Ridley. It does pose a problem to few people while I consider it as a tribute to the cheesy soundtracks of older Nintendo games (I played some old Nintendo games after Prime). There is no spoken-word dialogue (except for the "EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY" voice heard in the Space Station level and Samus's scream if she dies), but alien speak and soundtrack.

Value-wise, the game had to end somewhere. There is no avoiding it. There is no multiplayer (whether it is split-screen or online, it is good without multiplayer), there is no downloadable content. It must end, which is why the game is absolutely long and vast. You can take multiple paths through. It is still very good if there is no multiplayer or downloadable content, and it won't kill in ratings. To top that off, there is no slowdown at all. Sheer beauty and detail is crammed into one disc, and there is no slowdown. Usually, games that high of caliber are crammed into two or three disks with bits of slowdown. It does the impossible. Ironically, Gamecube does not have as much graphics as the others, yet they can cram that big a game into one disc. If you beat the game, if you link it with Metroid Fusion, you will play the original NES Metroid game (I played it. It was alright but you must get used to the password system). You play Prime with the Fusion suit if you do vice-versa.

When the game was released, it existed in the shadow of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. As a result, the game did not sell very well until in 2003, when GTA began to cool down. It went from sleeper to cult-favorite to smash hit in a long course of months. I am very happy it sold enough copies to be a Player's Choice title, which sealed the deal as a smash hit.

I can't wait to get Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It will have a different story. It will have multiplayer (I'm split on the bizarre choice of adding multiplayer to #2). I hope it will duplicate the smash hit Metroid Prime was. However, it will exist in the shadow of Halo 2, which is a sequel to a game that has been a chart best-seller for three years. Hopefully, MP2 will have a good chance at the spotlight.

MP is the best game on Gamecube and one of the greatest games of all-time. I even played the older games (I played all of 'em except Super Metroid. I liked Prime better than the 2D games, although they still are great [I sort of consider M2 for Game Boy the black sheep although it is decent]).

My Score: 10/10

I'm absolutely in love. This game has knocked me off my feet. Having read all the early reviews and seeing it being touted as one of the greatest games of all time, I honestly did not know just how good it would be, were they overhyping it? Not at all -- this is perfection. Getting out of the water and seeing it stream down your helmet's faceguard is just such an amazing little touch that adds so much. Metroid Prime has things such as this in spades.

The controls were easy for me to pick up and after you've mastered them are a dream. The music, the graphics, the atmosphere -- it's all here, it screams Metroid goodness and the transition from 2D to 3D is absolutely flawless. Coming into the research facility, seeing the Metroids in the test tubes just sends shockwaves up and down your spine. Soon after that the lights of the whole place going out and you have no ice beam to freeze them... hearing the glass breaking all around you -- it's just pure and utter gaming bliss.

It is easily the finest effort on any system since The Ocarina of Time, which is without a doubt one of the 10 greatest ever. Panzer Dragoon Saga, Ocarina of Time and Skies of Arcadia are the only 16+ bit titles in my all-time top 10, but by the time I'm done with it, I'm guessing Prime will be assured a spot.

Metroid Prime was a big gamble that Nintendo took when it gave the responsibility of this franchise to a small known "TEXAS" based developer. The end result is nothing short of spectacular. People who "bash" this game for having no story or "cut scenes" are just the few (or many?) that are accustomed to having their stories played out for them "FINAL FANTASY" like and who are too lazy to read. The story isn't something that is playing out as you progress, but rather a history of the inhabitants of the planet and how it may tie to your character. The game layout is magnificent and the sound of the surrounding ambiance is a treat for the ears. The developers even threw in little details into the graphics that make you get a sense that the programmers really do care and they put a lot of effort into this game. I bought the game and had it sitting in my closet for over a year without ever playing it (I bought it because it was giving to me REALLY cheap). Once I picked it up, I smacked myself silly and asked myself over and over why I had waited so long to take a dive into this future classic. 9.5 out of 10.

OK I'll start off with the graphics; Flawless and beautiful! Man, the way the morph ball leaves streams of light as it rolls around is awesome. Oh and if you are quick enough to notice that when your close to a bright blast, you can see Samus' eyes on the inside of the visor.(What a beauty touch, eh) The gameplay is sick! 2 thumbs way up for whoever decided that Prime would be a FPS!! I love the way the music and the lighting add a sense of fear to playing. When I first battled the Chozo Ghosts, man, it was like "AAAHH, where are you bitches!" Another good touch was the HUGE bosses, and Metroid Prime itself is such an incredible final boss. And how could I forget the return of Ridely. Great battle against him. The best part of this game is the story! How such an advanced, peaceful race was nearly wiped out by the destruction a meteor caused when it slammed into their planet Tallon IV. How the space pirates are manipulating the radioactive material known as Phazon to build stronger and more effective soldiers and weapons. The levels are beautiful and very massive and of course they had to stick to the usual Metroid levels of a lava level, water level, surface area level, frozen ice level, and temple ruins level. Plus the whole Impact Crater is sooo sick. Great controls and abilities this time too. All around this game rules. If you have a Gamecube and dont have this game, you NEED to go get it!! and if you dont have a GC, go get one and buy Metroid Prime as your first game! MIBALZ have spoken!!