All of the Prime games were genius in their own separate ways.
The first Prime was something the likes of which we had never seen before its release. It gave us a beautiful, fully 3D, open world environment while somehow still staying true to what Metroid is all about. It pushed the Gamecube to its technical limits and really showed us what the system was capable of, as well as how well the Metroid franchise could evolve into something totally different while still remaining very similar to its predecessors.
Then Echoes released. Reviving the Metroid franchise in a brand new way yet again. Now that the first Prime game had become such a success, the studio knew we were ready for a challenge. We had become familiar with what Prime was all about, and now it was less about discovering the game itself, but rather facing a brand new daunting challenge with all of the knowledge you had learned before. The inclusion of parrellel universes, both light and dark…just blew my fucking mind when I first played that game. The puzzles were genius. The bosses were incredible (except for that fucking Boost Ball boss, which they even patched to make easier in the Prime collection) and the enviorments just stole the show. The Sky Temple still to this day remains as one of my favorite areas in any Metroid game. And I will never forget the awesome showdown between light and dark Samus at the very end of the game, nor the secret ending in which she sheds her armor atop her ship.
And last but certainly not least, we have the masterpiece that is Corruption. It’s as if the Wii was literally made to accommodate this game. The controls just felt…absolutely amazing. Perfect. And the ability to travel between planets was just awesometastic. I didn’t really like how the bosses were all pretty much in the same environment, but they were still great and it’s probably the only problem I had with the game. It’s hard to complain about that aspect when there were so many incredible things about the game, like fighting the other Hunters, or the fact that the game had dialogue (and GOOD dialogue), or moments like defending the military base alongside the other hunters and fighting off Ridley as you plunge to your death. And don’t even get me started on how awesome it was to go back to a destroyed space ship that had been riddled with Phazon-enhanced Metroids. Shit was actually pretty dark for a Nintendo game.
…and then we have Other M, which I refuse to even discuss.
Prime of course had the biggest impact. Echoes was a worthy successor, being harder and the whole having 2 worlds thing made the puzzles better plus it reminded me of snes link. Then Corruption which I liked the most. It was because of the motion control.
That game single-handedly made me a believer in motion control. If I can ever find an affordable copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy I’m going to get it just so I can play MP1 and MP2 with motion control.
But beyond the prime games, Metroid as as series as very very few blemishes. You can pretty much pick up any game in the series at random (maybe not pinball if it’s not your thing lol) and enjoy an excellent;y crafted and fun adventure.
I am literally waiting with baited breath for a Metroid Wii U announcement.
You’re my boy but how are those two games close to anything like abominations. only thing i didn’t really like was Dark Samus, just kind of struck me as stupid and was a bit to similiar to the doppleganger in Fusion. Really tired of the doppleganger shit in nintendo games.
And I sitll wanna know who that was following Samus at the end of corruption.
Doppleganger makes sense in Metroid because at the end of Prime one, the Super Metroid or whatever rips the phazon suit off of Samus to survive, thus giving it a physical embodiment almost exactly like Samus.
I feel like none of them need it, but for Metroid to do it now is cliche as hell when even Mario already has an evil clone.
Just not a plot development i thought was a good idea. It doesn’t help that Metroid Prime Samus is just like every other Nintendo evil clone in that it’s a dark version with no personality at all. Just a dark avatar that looks like you.
I don’t really play the games for the story, just the excellent game play. As long as Metroid continues to deliver solid action/adventure and platforming (if it returns to 2D) then I’m happy.
Maybe the doppelganger concept is a sort of tradition Nintendo likes to string out throughout their games. I mean, it would make sense; there’s no possible way they don’t realize how many times they’ve made use of the concept. And their existence never really “ruins” these games nor does it make the narrative any less valid in their individual cases. Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, F-Zero, Mario, Starfox and games like them are all still great despite the fact that they all contain doppelganger concepts. And it’s not like they’re even in every iteration of said games.
…or it could just be Nintendo being a bunch of lazy asses.
