Pros:
This remaster masterfully improves upon practically every single visual aspect of the original, as well as adds some new, very welcome tweaks and fixes.
+ Easily the best looking game on Switch, as of July 2023 (yes, better than Pikmin 4 in my opinion)
+ Insane lighting, textures, environmental effects, water physics, enhanced HUD elements and so, so much more
+ Buttery smooth and consistent 60 fps
+ Includes new control options, ranging from a beginner-friendly dual-stick setup, to the Trilogy version's motion-controlled option (my favorite!) and even the original's classic tank controls
+ Dedicated Spring Ball button from Trilogy is also back
+ While often overlooked in other reviews, I absolutely loved the change to Metroid Prime Hunters' shooting style, meaning that you always shoot 3 shots (or 1/2 if the Beam weapon is slower) before charging a Charge Shot. This means that you A. don't have to mash as frequently, and B. in compensation, Charge Shots themselves are much quicker to charge
+ Ignoring those, Metroid Prime is still the good ol' masterpiece it was over two decades ago. That can be to its benefit and to its detriment.
Cons:
- Most of the game design flaws from the original version persist. To find my thoughts on those, check out my review for Metroid Prime (2002).
- To compensate for the fact that the game has to run at a consistent 60 frames per second, it is capped at 900p in docked mode and only 612p in handheld. The difference, though - as opposed to 1080p and 720p, respectively - is genuinely so negligible that I probably never would have noticed it if I hadn't looked into it
- It's kind of a missed opportunity to not include a more accessible way to find items that you're missing. The only way to detect them (outside of directly seeing them, or scanning your surroundings) is through a tiny hum they make when you're close to the item in a room. It could've been interesting to add some scannable object to all the Pirate bases in each area to reveal that region's items' rooms, or if that's too complicated, just make that be a reward for scanning Tallon IV's planet model in the Phendrana Labs' Observatory.
- Almost no one reading this review actually cares, but it is still important to note that since this remaster is based on the Trilogy version of the game, it's missing some of the bigger speedrun glitches and exploits. It does have many others of its own, however, as it is still built upon the same engine
This remaster masterfully improves upon practically every single visual aspect of the original, as well as adds some new, very welcome tweaks and fixes.
+ Easily the best looking game on Switch, as of July 2023 (yes, better than Pikmin 4 in my opinion)
+ Insane lighting, textures, environmental effects, water physics, enhanced HUD elements and so, so much more
+ Buttery smooth and consistent 60 fps
+ Includes new control options, ranging from a beginner-friendly dual-stick setup, to the Trilogy version's motion-controlled option (my favorite!) and even the original's classic tank controls
+ Dedicated Spring Ball button from Trilogy is also back
+ While often overlooked in other reviews, I absolutely loved the change to Metroid Prime Hunters' shooting style, meaning that you always shoot 3 shots (or 1/2 if the Beam weapon is slower) before charging a Charge Shot. This means that you A. don't have to mash as frequently, and B. in compensation, Charge Shots themselves are much quicker to charge
+ Ignoring those, Metroid Prime is still the good ol' masterpiece it was over two decades ago. That can be to its benefit and to its detriment.
Cons:
- Most of the game design flaws from the original version persist. To find my thoughts on those, check out my review for Metroid Prime (2002).
- To compensate for the fact that the game has to run at a consistent 60 frames per second, it is capped at 900p in docked mode and only 612p in handheld. The difference, though - as opposed to 1080p and 720p, respectively - is genuinely so negligible that I probably never would have noticed it if I hadn't looked into it
- It's kind of a missed opportunity to not include a more accessible way to find items that you're missing. The only way to detect them (outside of directly seeing them, or scanning your surroundings) is through a tiny hum they make when you're close to the item in a room. It could've been interesting to add some scannable object to all the Pirate bases in each area to reveal that region's items' rooms, or if that's too complicated, just make that be a reward for scanning Tallon IV's planet model in the Phendrana Labs' Observatory.
- Almost no one reading this review actually cares, but it is still important to note that since this remaster is based on the Trilogy version of the game, it's missing some of the bigger speedrun glitches and exploits. It does have many others of its own, however, as it is still built upon the same engine