Okay so I reviewed this only a bit in because it kind of made me realize I didn't really enjoy my first playthrough of this game as much as I thought I did. But I think it was unfair to leave it off at Phendrana Drifts. I liked the start of the game a lot so like Phendrana Drifts had to have just been a fluke and I was misremembering because of how much I despise that level. But no the entire game is just that afterwards.

This game fails fundamentally as a Metroid game, it doesn't look like one, it doesn't feel like one, and it doesn't play like one. Metroid Primes big powerups, the ones that really open up the world aren't even movement powerups, they are just beams that all need to be switched too it's really annoying, and when they are they are really boring and slow like the spider ball.
A metroidvania is meant to be a platformer action exploration game. Platforming is a huge part of it, so movement upgrades are the ones that stick out to you, not bloated weapon systems. Primes weapon systems are honestly more annoying than any of the 2D games because you switch in it so much more often. Every single door in this game wants you to use a different beam, go through an ice door, now there's a plasma door. Facing off against a wave Space Pirate, gotta switch to ice beam to open the door. This beam system also goes against one of the most fun things about the 2D Metroids, once you unlock all those beams they all become one extremely powerful beam that usually one shot everything and go througg walls. And when they don't the screw attack does it for you!

I genuinely think that Metroid Primes biggest issue is the fact it wanted to be a first person shooter. It forces combat on you, and it makes the weapons the big upgrades with all of them having side upgrades to them. I find FPS combat, incredibly boring, and the enemies in this game go from very quick to kill to complete damage sponges as soon as space pirates are introduced, and they keep adding to them, metroids also start showing up a lot and some of them are very tanky and split into 2 more of the same metroid to fight but you need to switch beams for both of them. It gets annoying the fun really just ends at Phedrana Drifts.

It sucks Prime would be an amazing exploration game if it didn't do this annoying stuff. It has such a great atmosphere, and if it was just like a peaceful, sometimes you have to shoot a couple of enemies around you kind of exploration game like the 2D ones it would have been really good.
But instead it has to stop you every 5 rooms to fight all the Space Pirates and unlock the doors, god its so annoying.

Im kind of sad that replaying this game only annoyed me, I want to like this game, I adore Metroid, it's my favorite series by Nitnedo. Super Metroid is still one of my top 5 games no question. So it sucks that this game, thats is considered one of the absolute greatest in the franchise, in the genre in general, is just a boring FPS disguised as an exploration game.

Wow this one sucks,
In advance 2 unlocking characters made some sense because they all nave their own campaigns like a classic sonic game, it was still annoying but it at least worked in someway.
Sonic advance 3 doesn't work like that though so you only unlock cream on zone 6 and only have her for the last zone of the game which sucks because I wanted to play as cream and Amy through the whole game. Of course I could have gone back but I had no reason to especially because this games level design is horrid.
This is absolutely the worst sonic advance game and it sucks because I think the team up gimmick is cute.