When I was a kid, my dad and I would rent games from Blockbuster when I went to stay with him at weekends. Of all the ones we took out, Metroid Prime was THE game we committed to buying and keeping for good. Week after week we would chip away at it together and it quickly became one of the first games we bonded over. Now, a little over 20 years since the initial release (God, I feel old), Samus is once again embarking on this legendary adventure: and she has never looked so good. With Metroid Prime Remastered now available following a shadow drop in the most recent Nintendo Direct, and the physical release following shortly after, a genre-defining game is in the hands (literally) of a new generation.
A Power Suit Polished to Perfection
In recent years, I struggle to remember a time when a Metroid Prime remaster wasn’t on the bingo cards of most anticipated titles for every Nintendo direct. Alongside The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Metroid Prime 4 news, it was most definitely in demand. Now that it is here, the question is whether the remaster has done it justice. In a time where remasters and remakes come with a set of lofty expectations from players, remastering a legendary title such as Prime could not have been an easy feat… but it is one that Retro Studios and Iron Galaxy Studios have pulled off with great success.
The fundamental premise of Metroid Prime is the same. Samus answers a distress signal from a desolated Space Pirate frigate that orbits the planet, Talon IV. It isn’t long before the frigate is bound for self-destruction and Samus descends to the planet below in pursuit of her mechanically enhanced arch-nemesis: Ridley. While the story remains untouched, Metroid Prime Remastered excels in the visuals and quality-of-life elements. It also acts as a time capsule of sorts, with a series of bonuses material players can unlock based on their diligence in grabbing every collectable and filling the logbook. There is direct access from the extras menu to character and enemy models, concept art for the original and remastered versions of the game, and even the soundtrack is ready to play at a moment’s notice. It makes your first playthrough all the more rewarding, and subsequent playthroughs all the more appealing to collect all these extras.
A Prime Place for the Metroid Series
My playthrough was entirely handheld. I wanted to see how a game that became so synonymous with the home console would translate to a handheld. And, without any shadow of surprise, it did so beautifully. Not only did the Switch OLED’s screen enhance the beauty of the textures in the game, but it also ran like a dream. I never once encountered any graphical hitches or framerate dips. Having the choice to play it on the train, or just settle down for an evening was a fantastic experience.
Metroid Prime was always a gorgeous game, even back on the GameCube. It wasn’t until I saw the remastered graphics that I realised just how much it had aged. While I still love that blurriness and imperfection from a nostalgic perspective, Talon IV has never looked as good as in this remaster. It may even, dare I say it, be one of the most beautiful games on the Switch. Enemies and environments are completely revamped with a fresh coat of paint. Dynamic lighting emanates from flames, rain drizzles down Samus’ arm cannon, and you can practically count every scale on the Parasite Queen. It’s the same attention detail Prime was originally praised for, but with a makeover for the current generation.
By 2016, the Metroid series was in a state of limbo following the lacklustre response to Metroid: Other M. While the game certainly had some pretty glaring faults, perhaps its biggest crime was that it could not reach the dizzying heights that the Prime series had reached before it. This was soon followed by an incredibly vitriolic response to the spin-off title, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, which, felt like the nail in the coffin for Samus. In a last-ditch attempt to win players back, Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4 which, regrettably, is yet to see the light of day and even saw development restarted entirely in 2019. But, with titles like Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread bringing Samus back to the upper echelons where she belonged, one question remained: what was the future of Prime? In this instance, going backwards is a step forward. This feels like the first real indication of what Metroid Prime 4 could look like on the Switch, especially in the hands of the original developers.
The Verdict
As my time with Metroid Prime Remastered drew to a close, I was hit with a wave of emotion. The game that had become a significant marker in my bonding time with my dad was still as wonderful as it ever was. When we first touched down on Talon IV, we were blown away by how beautiful the rainy vista was, how fearsome the enemies were, and how ambient the soundtrack was. This fresh coat of paint has elevated it to new heights that I never thought imaginable. It became the Metroid Prime that I had always envisioned and offers a beautiful glimpse into what will hopefully be an even brighter future for the series.
And for those wondering, my dad also had a few turns… and he loves it too.
Our Score: 5/5
Metroid Prime Remastered is now available for Nintendo Switch
Words by Jack Roberts
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