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the upper echelons of gaming greatness

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

i hope i spelled echelons right.

anyhow, it's three o clock in the morning of tuesday, november 16th, today i get to pick up metroid prime 2: echoes. and for the last couple of days i've been reliving all the fun i had with the first Prime. going back, i still can't believe how real the world of Tallon IV feels. water streaks down your visor and mist and steam fog it up. everything is very detailed, which only adds to this titles superiority over a lot of other high end action games.

but this title isn't all action. there is a little bit of everything here. puzzles, strategy. adventure. some rpg elements. and there are even multiple endings to keep you going back through it a few times. you unlock new stuff in the gallery (and get different end game cinemas) depending on how much important stuff you scanned on your way through the game. so if it's your first time, scan everything.

the game wasn't extremely easy, and it wasn't extremely hard. it was that happy little place in the middle that brought back fond memories of the old NES days. even though i never played the original Metroid games (the first one, which can be unlocked in Prime), i could still feel the old school gameplay elements perfectly tied into the 3D world. the different beam weapons you get are all cool and unique, although one could say they are nothing special. sure, they are just fire, ice, the purple one...what is that? energy?, and the regular beam cannon. but all can be upgraded to be used with your missiles to do cool "combos". all except the ice cannon, i wonder what happened to that one... all of Samus' (the main character, a woman bounty hunter preotected by a life-time garaunteed suit of armor) moves are cool. from the morph ball (damn she's limber) and it's offspring, like the spider ball and morph ball bombs and the fun, yet difficult to master bomb jumping. her grappling hook/beam is in full effect, too. swinging around in the different environments is just plain fun. from the steamy underbelly known as The Magmoor Cavers, filled with lava and gaseous floating things; to the freezing wasteland known as Phendrana Drifts, with its raging snow beasts and beautiful landscapes.

in the beginning of the game, you start out with all your basic stuff: grapple beam, powerbeam shot, varia suit (which protects you from heat), morph ball and morph ball bombs, and missiles. but upon finishing off the first boss, you lose all of these precious things and end up chasing the alien creature known as Meta Ripley to the mysterious planet of Tallon IV. there, you arrive in the lush, amazon like habitat of the Chozo Ruins. now, only equipped with the regular beam cannon and scan visor, and the ability to jump, you set out on a quest to gather info on the new planet and find new stuff. sure, there's really no story, but who cares? platforming is done very easily somehow from the first person perspective of this game and the action is fast and fun. you get different visors to help you out on your quest to do...stuff, and the entire adventure is well worth your time. and the unlockable stuff is another good reason to keep going through it. there is also a hard mode, that is as it says, hard. but fear not, the game never really gets insanely hard. i had a little trouble with the end boss. i kept getting killed when i thought i almost had him beat, and then when i finally survived and realized he had a whole different form that i had to defeat, i felt a lump in my throat. but it soon went away, as the final version of the end boss is well designed and one of the coolest bosses around.

whether you're a fan of the series or a newcomer looking for a good change of pace, pick this up. you can get it pretty cheap nowadays and i would highly recommend getting this if you're going to pick up it's sequel. overall, fantastic game and well worth your time, money and effort.

A Masterpiece

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Metroid Prime begins with bounty hunter Samus Aran arriving at an enemy spaceship. What follows is the best game I have ever seen.

Metroid Prime is the first 3-d game in Nintendo's popular Metroid series. When first announced as being a first-person game, it was expected to be little more than a cheap Halo clone. It surpassed expectations to no end and is widely considered one of the best games for the Gamecube. It looks quite like any normal FPS but is far different. The game place an incredible time exploring and solving puzzles than would normally expected. This doesn't mean that it is lacking in action. The boss fights are nothing short of amazing, and the enemies; from the gigantic sheegoths to the war wasps are works of art.

The importance the game puts on scanning and solving puzzles will likely put off most gamers looking for a shooter. Likewise, I would not advise anyone under the age of 8-9 to play or even watch this(Metroid games tend to get a bit Survival Horror). Nonetheless, this game is simply amazing and is far better than anything else I have ever played.

Let's Set The Record Straight

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 27
Date: December 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First of all, anyone who does not think Metroid Prime is a great game, has no concept of what a great game is supposed to be. MP has everything that a Metroid fan would want. I think the move from 2D to 3D was very well done. The graphics, sound, and storyline are fantastic. GET THIS GAME.

OK, I have read some other reviews complain about the gameplay. I do agree that it would have been better if the C button could move Samus's head, but it doesn't. So get over it. That is no reason to dog a great game in every other aspect. What is this junk about multiplayer. When has Metriod ever been a multiplayer game? If you want a great multiplayer, wait for Perfect Dark 2,(the real James Bond).

That's right Xboxer's, Perfect Dark will blow Halo away. I am so sick of hearing XBOXER's talk Xbox up. As far as I am concerned Xbox is nothing more than a newer Dreamcast. If XBox is supposed to target a more mature audience, then they would know that Microsoft lost money in every sector (last quarter) except for windows. Yes, that means XBOX lost money and is not doing very well. So see ya later Dreamcast, I mean Xbox.

OK. PS2, you guys are only around because in the mid to late 90's Nintendo decided not to produce quality sports games. That was a big mistake and Nintendo is paying the price. They lost huge market share to PS. But now, EA sports make the same games for all three systems. Granted PS2 has GTA. That's a cool game, I admit that. But that is all. Gamecube has or will have METROID, ZELDA, MARIO PARTY, MARIO KART, PERFECT DARK, and all of the RESIDENT EVILS, not to mention all of the EA SPORTS GAMES. What else could you want? If you own a Gamecube, buy Metroid Prime. If you do not own a Gamecube, buy both. If I offended any of you Xboxers or PS2 guys, I'm sorry but the truth hurts.

A good return to Samus.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: October 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

We never got a Metroid game on the N64 so it seemed that after Super Metroid was released the series was about over. Now that Metroid Prime and Fusion are here they have to live up to the expectation of what Super Metroid was. How exactly does Metroid Prime compare to the SNES Classic? It certainly isn't what we all expected.

Graphics: 5/5

Without a doubt the number one reason you'd take notice to Metroid Prime are it's amazing graphics. Nice and smooth to the point where at times they seem realistic. I haven't seen any flaw in the graphics at all really. There isn't really any slow down and they stay consistently clear.

Gameplay: 3/5

Probably where Metroid Prime falls short at times. This scores a three because when it comes to the gameplay of Metroid, there are high expectations. Metroid is all about exploring and Metroid Prime does this EXTREMELY well. At times perhaps TOO well. There are several moments in this game where you'll run around aimlessly lost OR you may not encounter ANY enemies at all.

Uncovering some secrets requires you to scan things and should you go for these secrets you'll find yourself doing more scanning than shooting things at times. The game moves kind of slow as well.

The other part about the gameplay is that it is EXTREMELY hard! Metroid Prime is said to have some of the hardest bosses in Metroid history! This is no joke with bosses that have attacks that don't just take down you energy but several energy tanks as well.

The FPS type thing in this game better defines Metroid in it's exploration. That is what Metroid should be about, exploring.

Sound: 5/5

BGM isn't nearly as good as Super Metroid or Metroid Fusion but the sound effects and the sort of natural feel the music gives off is INCREDIBLE! You'll love it. It also brings back Metroid nostalgia at times.

Story: 2.5/5

This scores low for a good reason. For the first chunk of the game the story is non-existant. The game begins with Samus landing on a space pirate vessel. But why is she there? We don't learn of any business she has in being there until very late in the game after reading several logs. There isn't even a background to this story which at times I was wondering what the main objective was. What was I exploring around for? Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion had backgrounds where as this one draws to a blank in the beginning.

Replay: 2/5

I'm not trying to be mean, but Metroid Prime is a game that unless you aren't so easily frustrated there is no REAL reason to play it again and again. You'll probably play through the game two or three times but the fact that you'll be running around with not much action gets to you. The game is also very hard and if you're frustrated easily then you probably wouldn't play it again.

OVERALL: 4/5

Metroid Prime is by NO MEANS a bad game. I graded it a little strict. Of course it's the replay that brings this game down mostly. It's a little frustrating but it's worth a rent if anything.

Doesn't hold my interest

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 23
Date: February 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I wanted to give a little bit of a alternate viewpoint on this game - I was anxious to get this game due to all the glowing reviews of it. I have not played any of the prior Metroid games so I came at this one with a clean slate. But I'm just not finding this game fun. Maybe I'm just not the kind of guy that enjoys walking around in a robot suit, I don't know.

The controls are not natural to me. As you play, you switch visors which changes what the controls do. With the scanning visor, the center of your view will allow you to lock on to an item and it will tell you what it is. But sometimes you have to hold R, then look around, then press L (while holding R and moving the stick) to find out what something is. The combat visor is similar, you can lock on to shoot with L, but sometimes it won't work so you have to hold R and use the stick to look around, then hit L, then fire. Then sometimes you hold L to lock on, then move the stick while hitting B to dash around, and sometimes you hold L then move around in a circle while jumping, and.... I could go on here but I think you get the idea.

I find it difficult to figure out what I'm supposed to do. On the first boss, after you kill it you have some amount of time to get out before the deck explodes only it took me forever to figure out that you have to scramble up the rubble to exit. It was difficult to see that the environment had changed.

Sometimes you have to traverse levels many times running from point A to point B to get something you need to open the door at point A. Or you get to the end not collecting what you need and find yourself combing back through the level to figure out what you missed. Or you see something you want but can't get it because you don't have the right weapon or ball yet - you just know you have to come back for it. Instead of feeling adventurous it comes off as repetitive to me.

I am somewhat sensitive to motion sickness and find that this is one of those games that does it to me. It is funny how I can play Quake III without getting queasy but this game definitely does it to me. So beware if you are sensitive to stuff like that.

On the plus side the graphics are really spectacular, and once the game begins there are no noticeable pauses for load times which is great. The map is well done and helpful. And playing as the ball is great-the game moves fast and the perspective switches to the 3rd person. I wish there was more of this to be done.

Describe Metroid in 1,000 words? Words won't cut it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: September 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

As anyone who has played any of Nintendo's Metroid games knows that each consecutive release from the Metroid series provides gamers with some pretty cutting-edge gameplay. The concept of non-linear gameplay was relatively new when the series began, and it transfixed a generation of gamers who were only exposed to going from level 1 to level 2 and so on. As an aspect that makes the games such a success, non-linear gameplay encourages players not only to search for hidden pathways and items, but to return to areas of the game already completed, in search of new and exciting power-ups, weapons, and abilities.

The graphics and music of each Metroid game (espically the SNES release) have also been well-planned, providing an eerie mood necessary for a game involving a bounty hunter who has found HERself on a mysterious, uncharted world. Screenshots and video clips of the upcoming US release of Metroid Prime confim the belief that the developers have sought to push the GameCube to perform as it should, delivering mind-blowing graphics and effects unmatched by other games availble to date.

Nintendo decided to wise-up and has developed one heck of a marketing tactic: interface the GameCube home console with the GameBoy Advance portable console for additional interactivity. The GBA release (Metroid Fusion) allows owners of both systems and Metroid games to link the systmes to achieve additional benefits from the pair of games. As one of the first major titles to employ this technology, Metroid will take the market by storm.

Lastly, as many Metroid fans (or want-to-be fans) have discovered, each game in the series provides long-lasting enjoyment - even after completing Samus' mission. Try to find a Metroid game at your local used video game outlet, and you will find that instead of five to ten copies sitting on the shelf (like many other titles), you'll be lucky to find one at all! This serves as proof that owners of Metroid games likely experience at least one of these two symptoms: 1) They find themselves playing the game over and over to find new items or just to enjoy the game again, or 2) they have a strong emotional tie to the game, and even though they don't play it much, it stands as their favorite in their collection.

I think... no, I KNOW that Metroid Prime is going to deliver far more than gamers expect. In the same way The Matrix took audiences by storm with breakthroughs in cinematography and special effects (and a completely fresh and new story), Metroid Prime is destined to be a success. Sadly, I estimate that many children will not see this title under the Christmas tree this winter, as they will have done everything in their power to obtain it well before hand. So spread the word! Metroid Prime is coming, and November 18 can't come soon enough.
Game on!

Metroid behind the visor

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: December 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I must confess that I was among the many nay Sayers who doubted that Metroid could work as a first person "shooter." The problem with my assumption is that I assumed that the game would be a first person shooter to begin with, its not; its an adventure.
I don't know how Retro Studios did it, but now that I have this game in hand I can't stomach the idea of a 3D Metroid in any other perspective, granted that with a 3rd person view you could do some of Samus' cooler tricks like the screw attack, but in all honesty I don't miss it. I'm too consumed by this overwhelming game. From the moment I landed on Talon IV and saw the world around me I knew that this game would be huge, and it has owned my soul ever since. I still can't help but feel overwhelmed by this simply amazing game. Metroid Prime is the definitive Metroid game, and being a die-hard fan of Super Metroid that is saying quite a lot. I'm surprised to see how well this game works, from the bomb jumps to the hidden secrets, to the exploration, and feeling of claustrophobia. Everything that has made Metroid so cool in the past is present and accounted for in 3D.
Graphically the game is breath taking. I cannot think of a better-looking game out there, this exceeds even Resident Evil, and it runs at a smooth and constant 60 frames per second. I always thought that the one advantage the XBox had over GameCube was reflective and metallic surfaces, this is no longer the case, as Metroid Prime exceeds even the greatest XBox efforts in every aspect.
The sound effects are amazing, and the story (obtained through liberal application of the scan visor) is surprisingly deep and, yet again overwhelming. The music is MIDI, but unlike Star Fox its something I appreciate, as many of the tunes have a nostalgic relevance as the game uses the same MIDI, or slightly remixed Midis from previous games, as well as some new tunes that get stuck in your head just as easily. Very atmospheric, very cool.
All in all I can't give this game any less than a perfect score. It's been eight years since we've had a new Metroid game, and it's been eight years well worth the wait. Do not hesitate to buy this game, if you don't have a GameCube to play it on go buy one! Trust me, you do not want to miss this epic adventure!

Forget Vice City, this is the game of the year.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Metroid Prime is amazing in the way it completely captures the feel of the originals for NES and SNES and translates it into 3D. But even though the gameplay feels familiar, it's a totally new experience.

First, if you've played the in-store demo, don't let its ease fool you. For one thing, I think the enemies in the first level actually hit quite a bit harder in the final game than they do in the demo. For another, it gets harder shortly after that level.

Second, like others have said, this isn't a shooting game where your only goal is to wipe out anything that moves. It's mostly about exploration, figuring out what to do and how to get to the places that seem out of reach. Along the way there are plenty of enemies to get in your way, from hunched-over space pirates with decent AI (not as good as some dedicated FPS games, but they'll duck and cover, and hide behind things) to swarms of insects to enormous beasts.

Third, the little details in the game are really something special. When you look upwards in the rain, little water droplets land on your visor, and when you jump out of a pool, your visor even fogs up briefly!

I just got it and can't put it down. If you don't own a GameCube, you need to get one so you can play Metroid Prime. If you do own one, why are you reading this instead of playing?

metroid review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

this is probibly the best platform game i've ever played. i have beaten it 2 times in a month and i'm still not sick of it. the game is pretty hard at some points, but what fun would it be if it was not? i would advise to buy it or you will probibly have to rent it a couple of times

Best Game This Year, Second Best Of All Time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Prime is the best GCN game. The best game on any system this year. The second best game on any system ever. (The best was Ocarina Of Time on the N64) This is NOT an FPS. This is a first-person adventure. You don't fly into a room, gun firing an unimaginable amount of shots, killing everyone before they realize you exist. That's not Metroid. Buy this game. DON'T RENT IT!!! BUY IT!!! If you don't have a GCN, buy one, buy this game. Now.

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