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Why is the Metroid Prime trilogy so critically acclaimed?

I picked up a Gamecube the day that Wind Waker released. I also picked up Metroid Prime on the same day.

Wind Waker took a back seat to Prime. To this day, it's one of the best games I've ever played. Great attention to detail, fantastic soundtrack, tight controls, stellar game play. If Prime 4 can replicate Prime, then I think it's safe to say that you'll be playing one of the games of the generation.
 

HKA6A7

Member
Because it was an inmersive, creative fps experience released at the right moment, giving new life to an ip that was almost dead at the time... Guess history is kinda repeating again with Prime 4 ^^

Me too. I would do terrible things for Resident Evil 4 on Switch.

Terrible things.

venture-bros-featured.png
 

Wamb0wneD

Member
The atmosphere, the OST, the genius leveldesign in combination with the upgrades, the artstyle, the storytelling and the bossbattles.
Prime 1 and 2 are some of the best games I ever palyed for sure. Like the atmosphere of 2 even more than 1.

I've never played more than an hour of the first game, but I have the Trilogy and I think I'm gonna give it another go.

Did you even land on the planet at that point? I would at least play it for that long. The spaceship is kind of a tutorial zone that is really linear.
 

Toxi

Banned
The soundtracks, which were composed by Kenji Yamamoto, deserve mention. Some of the most distinct and alien sounding tunes in video game history. The Metroid Prime intro theme used in the Prime 4 teaser can't be mistaken for any other game's music.
 

CorrisD

badchoiceboobies
1 was simply fantastic, completely nailed Metroid, it's identity, style, music, and brought it into 3D, it sits right behind Super Metroid for me. Metroid Prime 2 was also pretty great from memory bit didn't have the same impact as the first, but still carried on a lot of the typical Metroid narrative.

Metroid Prime 3 however I found to be rather meh, all these weird characters suddenly got brought in and it kinda stopped feeling like a Metroid game. I don't know what I expected from the Metroid universe, but it most definitely wasn't what they gave us in that game, and then Nintendo carried that on in Other M, and we all know how that turned out.
 
Level design is God tier, like Dark Souls but better. Controls are almost perfect and the immersion and atmosphere is 10/10. Sound, Graphics etc etc
 
Probably the only FPS series with actual fun boss battles.

But yeah the stuff others have mentioned also.

This is true.

There are very few FPS games that have the vast majority of their boss battles being actually fun. Destiny is probably the only one that comes to mind for me.
 

Kid Ying

Member
It is still a mystery to me. The controls felt really slow and clunky for me. Besides the last 5 hours of Metroid Prime were really bad to me
Yep. I found prime 1 to be such a boring game that i've never went to play the other ones, since almost everyone paint them as inferior to the first.

At least the trilogy disc was rare so i got some money for it. I like 2d Metroid in general though.
 

Timeaisis

Member
Think about it like this. No game has ever bettered the design of the original Metroid Prime. It was just that good.

We've reverted back to 2D Metroidvania because 3D is so crazy. But MP1 did it and it still holds up, somehow. That's part of it, I think.

Also, it's level design and movement mechanics are just great, against all odds, in a first person perspective. It gives you that sense of immersion like no other game. Agency of movement plus agency given from the perspective. It's quite the powerful combination.
 

diaspora

Member
I'd put the 3rd as high if not higher than 1 or 2 for the superior music, locations, and lore/worldbuilding on Bryyo, Elysium, and the Pirate Homeworld.
 

spekkeh

Banned
I don't really consider it a first person shooter, but a first person adventure game. There are still precious few games that straddle the line between walking simulator and shooter game. That's what makes it unique. It has the awe for the environments but also some more conflict than just unlocking the next bit. Most games drop you onto an alien planet and then you need to immediately exterminate the local population. MP has hostile wildlife and later on space pirates too, but it generally takes a backseat (compared with other games at least) as you explore the environment, lore and puzzles. Crucially the more shooter something becomes, the more you approach it in terms of reaction times and winstates. Metroid Prime has enough downtime (and otherwise the auto lock on makes it easy enough) to let the environments breathe (but not so much that it becomes dull). It's incredibly immersive because of it.

As subsequent entries in the series started progressively upping the enemy count, the games suffered for it imo.
 

jb1234

Member
I'm playing through 3 right now and having a great time, even though the WiiMote is trying very hard to make me hate the game. Great level design and atmosphere.
 

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
I'd put the 3rd as high if not higher than 1 or 2 for the superior music, locations, and lore/worldbuilding on Bryyo, Elysium, and the Pirate Homeworld.

I still haven't played 3, unfortunately, and because I haven't I've relegated myself to YouTube for years now watching walkthroughs and speedruns. Needless to say, while I understand that playing it for yourself is certainly different than watching someone else play, that doesn't change the fact that the videogame isolationist in me prefers 1 and 2 to 3 for the simple fact that in the former 2 games, you are on your own. Just knowing that there are other protagonists in 3 really shatters that feeling for me.
 

diaspora

Member
I still haven't played 3, unfortunately, and because I haven't I've relegated myself to YouTube for years now watching walkthroughs and speedruns. Needless to say, while I understand that playing it for yourself is certainly different than watching someone else play, that doesn't change the fact that the videogame isolationist in me prefers 1 and 2 to 3 for the simple fact that in the former 2 games, you are on your own. Just knowing that there are other protagonists in 3 really shatters that feeling for me.

There aren't.

They're bosses. The point was to give it to you then take it away.
 

K' Dash

Member
Yep. I found prime 1 to be such a boring game that i've never went to play the other ones, since almost everyone paint them as inferior to the first.

At least the trilogy disc was rare so i got some money for it. I like 2d Metroid in general though.

Echoes is much better than Prime, they perfected A Link to the Past Dark World mechanic and God Damn does the dark world feels like hell, oppressive, alien, inhospitable. Echoes is the git gud game of the trilogy, a lot of people hate it because of the puzzles between light and dark Aether, they are pretty clever and challenging, as is the combat.

Quadraxis.

I'd put Corruption on the same level of Prime, Excellent, but not as good as Echoes.
 

Aldric

Member
Top notch level design, art direction and OST. A faithful transposition of Metroid gameplay in 3D while also being different enough to feel bold and fresh, similar to what Mario 64 and OoT did before. One of the few games that nails 1st person platforming. Unparalleled atmosphere. Fantastic transition between first person and morph ball mode. To this day still one of the best use of optional, environmental story telling. Challenging but not frustratingly so.

l could go on. They're great games.
 

diaspora

Member
Echoes is much better than Prime, they perfected A Link to the Past Dark World mechanic and God Damn does the dark world feels like hell, oppressive, alien, inhospitable. Echoes is the git gud game of the trilogy, a lot of people hate it because of the puzzles between light and dark Aether, they are pretty clever and challenging, as is the combat.

Quadraxis.

I'd put Corruption on the same level of Prime, Excellent, but not as good as Echoes.

This is where I'm at. The hostility and bosses of Aether/Dark Aether make it my top game of the trilogy. 3 has better music, lore/worldbuilding, and locations than 1 but the latter is a more consistent overall package making them even for me.
 

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
There aren't.

They're bosses. The point was to give it to you then take it away.

It still breaks my immersion. I preferred the absolute desolation and despair of the first two. That feeling was almost shattered for me in Prime 2 when Samus first encounters the Ing or whatever they're called taking over those troopers because I thought other characters were going to appear in the game, but luckily it started and ended right there.
 

Ceadeus

Member
I've seen this question lurk around frequently since the reveal of Metroid Prime 4 at E3. And it made me super happy to see this actually happening. The reactions here were no different. Everyone was so happy. The various videos online perfectly demonstrate how so many felt. Pure excitement. Pure joy. All from a logo.

However there are a lot of people who don't understand why we feel this way and how this trilogy was held in such high regard on the GameCube and Wii.

So what is it that makes these games so precious to you? Was it the sense of isolation? Exploration? The various new and returning items? Bosses? Music? Or was it the poor reception of Other M or Federation Forces?

For me it was all of the above, plus more. No other game has been able to replicate the same experience the Prime Trilgy has made for me. You felt like Samus. You felt like you were in this world. Everything was beautifully made - from an aesthetics and music point of view.

And it's made me excited to see what they can do on the Nintendo Switch and it's extra horsepower. Nintendo know what's at stake here with announcing a sequel and it's made me eager to see their plans.

Do you agree with the above? Or is there more? Or do you feel the games are overrated? Discuss.

When the First came out on gamecube there was nothing else like it. There is still nothing like it.
 

diaspora

Member
It still breaks my immersion. I preferred the absolute desolation and despair of the first two. That feeling was almost shattered for me in Prime 2 when Samus first encounters the Ing or whatever they're called taking over those troopers because I thought other characters were going to appear in the game, but luckily it started and ended right there.

This is why the path they took in 3 was better- it's why the Pirate Homeworld specifically is the best location in the trilogy. You're more than on your own, you're on your own behind enemy lines against equals.
 

trixx

Member
I've never played more than an hour of the first game, but I have the Trilogy and I think I'm gonna give it another go.

It's kind of difficult to get into, but after a while it clicks. It's like when I first played Super Metroid during my first playthrough; I will probably say that the first 5 hours or so I was like ehh, but at some point it just clicked with me. Felt the same with Dark Souls and BotW. Though I kind of knew what was going on in BotW fairly quickly. Yes my first play-through of super was very slow.
 

Formless

Member
I didn't play a Metroid game before Prime so I guess its appeal was a bit lost on me. It's well made but I wasn't that into it for whatever reason. I think at that point I was a noob and couldn't figure out what to do tbh.

I couldn't finish 2, but later liked 3 a lot. Prime 1 was better once I got older.

Still prefer the 2D ones
 
I think a big part of it that's lost on people these days is that not only had it been ages since the last Metroid game, but everyone was also nervous as crap about Prime. Very few people thought it was going to turn out well. Those first few 3rd person screenshots got everyone super excited, but the shift to 1st person was met with a similar reaction to that of Wind Waker's art style.

And all of that made it that much better when it came out and was actually good. Way better than any of us thought it could be.
 
Echoes is much better than Prime, they perfected A Link to the Past Dark World mechanic and God Damn does the dark world feels like hell, oppressive, alien, inhospitable. Echoes is the git gud game of the trilogy, a lot of people hate it because of the puzzles between light and dark Aether, they are pretty clever and challenging, as is the combat.

Quadraxis.

I'd put Corruption on the same level of Prime, Excellent, but not as good as Echoes.

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Silvawuff

Member
Prime was a game way ahead of its time. Good progression, difficulty curve, controls, narrative, and fun gameplay ... it was all there. Definitely a shining example of solid game design.
 

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah 3 is a bit more like fusion, but without that instant satisfaction. Still a cool game, just not as good as 1&2.

Echoes is my favorite of the bunch.

Echoes is also my favorite of the first two. While I still love the first one, over the years I've grown to appreciate the second one even more. It has higher highs for me.
 
Metroid Prime not only perfectly replicated the pacing and exploration of "Super Metroid" (no easy feat going from 2D platformer to 3D FPS), it innovated in ways that often get ignored or lost in the conversation when talking about its greatness.

Its level design in a 3D world is among the best out there. Each room is handcrafted with insanely cohesive art that's layered in secrets you only come to understand the longer you spend in the game. Over time you see tracks that initially look like interesting design choices, only to learn later that they're something you can interact with. You see crumbling architecture that perfectly compliments the room you're in only to realize later that you're supposed to scan it and determine it's weak to a weapon in your possession. The rooms speak a language, and you're rewarded for learning that language with a greater arsenal of weapons, power-ups, health tanks, and secretly overpowered side-arms that perfectly augment your ability to conquer the world around you without ever leaving feeling too overpowered against the monsters you face.

The game's focus on saving through finding save-stations gives the exploration of the world a full-feeling of cost/benefit weight. Similar to that rush of relief a person feels upon discovering a bonfire in new territory in a Souls/Borne, the quest to explore a new space, and find a save station ASAP in a hostile 3D world (*cough* Phazon Mines *cough* Dark World *cough*) would go on to help me find what was truly great about Dark Souls later.

As a console shooter/adventure game, it pioneered techniques to help console players get the most out of its world. It helped popularize the left-trigger aiming, "detective mode" with scanning, and automatic camera panning to feet for FPS platforming. I wouldn't go as far as to say games like COD and Arkham Asylum owe their existence to Prime's innovations, but I think it's fair to say Prime helped place these ideas into the public consciousness.

None of this even touches on all the other aspects that make the Prime games incredible (the art design, the enemy composition per room, the morph ball mechanics, the seamless 2D platforming transitions, the lore, the atmosphere, the sound design, continuity, THE BOSSES), but you know, this is a forum post, not a novel.
 
Perfect transition from already amazing 2D games to 3D along with great atmosphere. The games are just good and thus critically acclaimed.
 

ReitStuff

Member
Why is the Trilogy critically acclaimed?

Well, based on a lot of what I've read over the past few years or so, it seems that the only game people consider to be 'critically acclaimed' nowadays is Prime 1. I often read comments that 2 & 3 are not that great (especially 3). My thoughts are that people are annoyed by the dark world mechanic in 2. Not 100% on why people don't like 3, although I've often wondered how much of that has to do with the fact that it was a Wii game. Seems like almost anything Wii is considered toxic today.

I love them all fwiw.
 
Echoes isn't as a consistent as Prime. The ammo system isn't the best idea as it feels limiting when encountering enemies and so the weapons never feel as powerful as they should be. Dark Aether also isn't quite as elegantly designed, lacking cohesion. There are also the ings which aren't very fun to fight. And finally it's the game with the worst key fetching system as there are more of them to find and are more rigid in how you find them compared to Prime and Corruption. Screw attack also feels like an afterthought.


It's still a fantastic game of course with the best bosses and suits in the entire series. But it's not Prime 1 level.
 

Puru

Member
Never played 3 but 1&2 were interesting to explore through and had a diverse bestiary, also pretty decent bosses.
Honestly i think it's the last single player fps i actually really enjoyed.
 

EVH

Member
I think its probably the only saga that got a "western dev" feel inside Nintendo games.

Tallon IV is still a fucking joy to explore.
 

night814

Member
Some people are complaining about enemy respawns. Something that's in literally every Metroid. When you retread an area your suppose to try your new stuff on old enemies, ice and plasma beams can change the way you tackle old foes and the super charge attacks are fun as hell. This game mastered the proton packs shot from Ghostbusters almost 10 years before that game came out. I

And you get a fucking flamethrower!!


Edit: people who haven't played DOOM and love MP1 have to play new DOOM, first game to ever remind me of Prime.
 

Wamb0wneD

Member
Echoes is much better than Prime, they perfected A Link to the Past Dark World mechanic and God Damn does the dark world feels like hell, oppressive, alien, inhospitable. Echoes is the git gud game of the trilogy, a lot of people hate it because of the puzzles between light and dark Aether, they are pretty clever and challenging, as is the combat.

Quadraxis.

I'd put Corruption on the same level of Prime, Excellent, but not as good as Echoes.
Fuck yeah man. Whenever I ask someone why he thinks Echoes was worse than Prime all they can say is: "The dark world sucked" and "Too much backtracking".
The dark world was genius and well executed and the backtracking wasn't worse than in Prime.
The atmopshere is also the best in the trilogy.

Sanctuary Fortress.
 
I think its probably the only saga that got a "western dev" feel inside Nintendo games.

Tallon IV is still a fucking joy to explore.
Yeah. The robust lore definitely adds to that feel along with the intricate aesthetic. It just also possesses that incredible level of polish you expect from a Nintendo game as well.
 

Pinky

Banned
Retro truly delivered. Everything that makes a Metroid game a Metroid game was perfectly executed in Prime 1. The atmosphere, isolation, world design, music/sound effects, controls, etc... The trilogy is fantastic as a whole, but the first game is the definition of masterpiece.
 

low-G

Member
Metroid Prime 1 has amazing level design (gameplay & atmosphere) by any measure.

Control-wise, the series lacks compared to superior controls (mouse+KB, VR (of course)).

Metroid Prime 2 & 3 suffered slightly in gameplay, but still good games. But had it not been for MP1 the series wouldn't be remembered as it is. MP1 is one of the top 30 games of all time by all accounts.
 

Raptomex

Member
I never really cared for Echoes compared to the other two but it's still a great game in its own right. I didn't care much for the Dark world stuff mainly because I found the navigation to be tedious until you obtain the Light Suit. Plus, beams in Metroid shouldn't really have ammo, the Ing didn't always do it for me, and if I remember correctly, no Ridley. It still offers that excellent feeling of exploration but it doesn't even come close to the first Prime in my opinion.

As for Corruption, when I think of that game, I think of Skytown. If memory serves, there was too much time spent in Skytown. But I did enjoy it more than Echoes.

I really should replay these games again.
 
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