Monday, December 25, 2023

Switch Game Review: Metroid Prime Remastered

 Metroid Prime is a game for the GameCube that came out to mass acclaim in late 2002. A game that won a ton of awards (Yeah this was before the Game Awards kicked everyone off after 9 seconds of an acceptance speech) Metroid Prime won nine awards across multiple formats and media and garnered high scores across all formats of media. The game was remastered and was met as well to that same high acclaim as the original game.  I never played the original Metroid Prime, so I am basing my thoughts off of the Remastered game that came out in February 2023.  What are my positives and what I thought could be improved on? All that and more below.

Positives: 

1. Graphics- This was always going to be a major plus. The remastered graphics are absolutely terrific and splendid. The team at Nintendo did a superb job with remastering GameCube graphics to make it amazing for the Nintendo Switch.

2. Music- Right away you get the feel that this is Metroid. Any song that came on is reminiscent of current or past Metroid games. You have the absolute bangers of current and past that even intersect to make terrific tunes overall.  I thoroughly enjoyed the entire soundtrack of the game. 

3. Controls- This is something I criticized Nintendo on when they put The Mario 3-D games on the Switch with the Super Mario 3-D All Stars game. Their controls were super slippery and not well refined.  For Metroid Prime they are well done here. Nothing feels slippery, everything seems smooth and good with input of the controls. Overall, a very well done remaster on this behalf.

4. The World Map- I think this is done well but what is cool is with the visor view, you see a lot of the artwork done to make the world top notch. Every detail is fantastic and well done. I think the folks at Nintendo made this a major plus overall.

5. Linearity Again- I've said in the past that for some games, being very linear works. Yes you can explore in Metroid Prime Remastered but the end goal is the same overall. You have to beat Ridley and Mother Brain. That may be a spoiler (Though if you have played many Metroid games in the past, it probably isn't) but how you get there is the cool part.

6. Challenging- This game is difficult. But, unlike some games who just make it unbearable to deal with, this game is beatable and is rewarding.  You beat a major boss, you get rewarded for this difficult fight. You get through a major challenge unscathed, you get rewarded. That's what I like out of a game like this, where you can be challenged almost to the brink but then it pulls you back in and makes you like it and rewards you for your patience and perseverance. 

Negatives:

1. Visor Cam- This is honestly the only negative. I feel that the first person viewpoint just isn't necessary. It's not a big detractor by any stretch but this just feels like they were trying to provide the cherry on top but instead they put a cherry-flavored raisin on there instead. It's difficult to get a full perspective of the map and leads to a lot of enemies hitting you or just not knowing where an enemy is unfortunately due to this limited view.  It's probably the only detractor to the game overall.

Overall Rating: 

Metroid Prime Remastered gets a 9.5 out of 10 for me.  It's easy to see how this game on the GameCube won so many awards. I know Nintendo just wanted to remaster this gem of a game, therefore it is very well done overall.  Just a couple of tinkerings would make it a 10 out of 10 but nonetheless it is a terrific rendition of the GameCube game and I thoroughly enjoyed this game. 

No comments:

Post a Comment