One of the all time great video games is somehow made even better with this loving remaster. Metroid Prime in 2002 was often referred to as a game that felt plucked out of the future, and that hypothesis has been proven correct by this remaster. Over two decades later and the game still feels current. A slight update to the control scheme and an overall of the graphics to modernize them is all the game needed to immediately slot in as one of the best games of the 2020s so far. Retro's design work on the original game is legendary, and I think their artistic work on this remaster will wind up spoken of in similar regard.
Remasters almost feel like they've become more commonplace in this industry than actual new video games, but it's easy to see why. It's a lot easier, cheaper, and faster to put out an old game with some sprucing up than it is to design a game from start to finish, and everything that entails. But it's clear that this was no rush job. Retro spent years updating every single asset in the game, new effects added, adding several customizable control schemes to ensure every player was taken care of, and then throwing a bunch of fun extras in with the model viewer. When it comes to faithful remasters, this is probably the best that's ever been done.
The game itself, well, it's Metroid Prime, unruined. Still the best playing 3D Metroid-style series, Prime somehow holds up remarkably today. It's a first person game where platforming feels better than it often does in third party games not made by Nintendo. Before Prime I reviewed the quite-good action platformer Hi-Fi Rush, and despite being 20 years older and in first person, Prime's platforming manages to feel light years beyond that game's. Combat is a bit weaker in this entry than the following two Prime games, but it does the job. Bosses are fairly infrequent but quite fun, with the final battle against the titular monster being a particular standout. Prime's biomes are gorgeous now, and its music? Almost unparalleled. These 20 year old MIDI tunes are more memorable than basically any video game music released nowadays, and the visuals, music, and general design of these areas all lead to a game that is just so wonderful to spend time in. The atmosphere is perfect. It's perfect.
It's a perfect game. If you own a Switch, you need to play Metroid Prime. It's not even my favorite of the trilogy, but it's the one that does every single thing a video game can do to a very high degree of quality. The others do some things better and some things worse, but you'll be hard-pressed to find any video game even now that executes on every single possible level as highly and as effortlessly as Metroid Prime.
Remasters almost feel like they've become more commonplace in this industry than actual new video games, but it's easy to see why. It's a lot easier, cheaper, and faster to put out an old game with some sprucing up than it is to design a game from start to finish, and everything that entails. But it's clear that this was no rush job. Retro spent years updating every single asset in the game, new effects added, adding several customizable control schemes to ensure every player was taken care of, and then throwing a bunch of fun extras in with the model viewer. When it comes to faithful remasters, this is probably the best that's ever been done.
The game itself, well, it's Metroid Prime, unruined. Still the best playing 3D Metroid-style series, Prime somehow holds up remarkably today. It's a first person game where platforming feels better than it often does in third party games not made by Nintendo. Before Prime I reviewed the quite-good action platformer Hi-Fi Rush, and despite being 20 years older and in first person, Prime's platforming manages to feel light years beyond that game's. Combat is a bit weaker in this entry than the following two Prime games, but it does the job. Bosses are fairly infrequent but quite fun, with the final battle against the titular monster being a particular standout. Prime's biomes are gorgeous now, and its music? Almost unparalleled. These 20 year old MIDI tunes are more memorable than basically any video game music released nowadays, and the visuals, music, and general design of these areas all lead to a game that is just so wonderful to spend time in. The atmosphere is perfect. It's perfect.
It's a perfect game. If you own a Switch, you need to play Metroid Prime. It's not even my favorite of the trilogy, but it's the one that does every single thing a video game can do to a very high degree of quality. The others do some things better and some things worse, but you'll be hard-pressed to find any video game even now that executes on every single possible level as highly and as effortlessly as Metroid Prime.