Topic: Metroid Prime series in general 'love it, hate it'?

[X]

Since some of the forum members mentioned Metroid Prime in the LoS topic and it was suggested that it be moved for a more in-depth discussion, I'm doing just that. So don't hesitate to let it all out.  

Do I love the Prime series? Sure do, otherwise I wouldn't have bought the Wii Prime trilogy.

Does the game have it's short-comings? Yes IMO. But it's more story-based then game play. While the Wolfenstein/Doom aspect of the game doesn't really appeal to me, the Prime games are still interesting to play. Plus I have yet to unlock everything. But I did get really good at mashing up Metroid Prime's first and final forms. my complaint about the chronology of the story is simply that its borderline improbable. Improbable means it can be done but not without changing several things in the already established franchise that came before the Prime series. Prime's 1, 2 and 3 seem to take place between Metroid and Metroid 2: return of Samus. This is where I see one of the problems. According to several game manuals (Super Metroid to be specific), it states that after Samus completed her first mission on Zebes, a special corps was assigned to eliminated the Metroids on SR388, which ultimately failed. This assignment was then given to Samus to take care of. So now we gotta stick Prime's 1, 2 and 3 into that tiny span of time. Really tiny. aparently a lot of time goes by in the span of all three Prime games so it make little to no sense that they would all fit between the original game and it's gameboy sequel.
My other complaint is the data files. They are an interesting feature but due to some of the data files I've read, it makes me wonder what Samus was thinking about when she read them. One of the files states the Zebes was being rebuilt and another file states that the motherbrain was recuperating. While that's all fine for story purposes, it doesn't work for the game itself. If I were Samus and I saw those two files, I would've dropped what I was doing, go back to Zebes and complete my 'unfinished' mission. Or after finishing the trashing of the space pirates operations on Talos IV, I would then go back to Zebes and do just what I've mentioned above. Personally the people at Retrostudios should've taken this into account. It would've made a more solid story even if my concerns mentioned above are minimal at best.
Prime 1 was the best IMO. But I wasn't thrilled with the Metroid 3D designs...two small teeth in the front with two very large teeth in the back?? How's the larva supposed really hold on to you if it's teeth can't get a grip? I understand they also employ suction but I think the teeth could've been designed much better then what we were given. In Metroid: Other M the Metroid designs were waaaaay better and the teeth were properly designed too.
Prime 2 was iffy with me. Traversing from one world to another was tedious at times and without a walkthrough and you could get lost and disorientated real fast. I also had a serious problem with the beam ammo. Ammo? Seriously?? It's an energy weapon powered be Samus' suit! There's no need for ammo. The beams were also done kinda cheaply too. It appeared as though they didn't bother with redesigning them at all. They just slightly changed the graphics and gave them new colors. The Dark beams was clearly the Ice beam and the light beam was clearly the plasma beam. The annihilator beam was a serious mix of 'What???'. It was supposed to be a combination of light and dark, but came out as looking like something for generating a sonic boom. And in most cases it was useless. The light beam was the only one that I really loved using even though I had to use it sparingly   One the plus side I really loved the suit designs. Both the light, and dark suits were very interesting to look at and really showed off Samus' womanly features . I personally wasn't thrilled with the dark suit as it didn't cut out all the damage of Dark Aether as it should have. The light suit almost gave Samus the appearance of a God which was kind of epic in it's own way.But yeah it did get kind of boring traversing the same landscape over and over. The only real interesting place I liked was the fortress. It was like being in the TRON world or just digitized someplace where the Ing couldn't harm the last of the planet's inhabitants. Samus' original ship also made it into the game and I'm glad they got rid of her other one that just looked god-awful. The one piece of music that I loved out of all in Prime two was in the submerged depths of the Torvus bog. It was a composition from a tune in Super Metroid and I found it truly suited the atmosphere of the area just brilliantly.
Prime 3. I can't say too much of this game as I have yet to even finish it. Metroid: Other M fell into my lap during that time. I don't like how once more they changed Samus' hunter ship. it still should've been the on from Prime 2 as it doesn't get destroyed until Fusion.

Well that's enough outta me... *tired*

-X

[kadosho]

Honestly I loved Prime, until Nintendo decided to make it on the Wii. I enjoy being able to play a game with a controller.
Atmosphere, music, and overall design is what made me decide to join the NGC community.

Although I did try Prime 3 & Other M (@ a GS kiosk. Prime 3 felt quite different in regards to the control scheme, more active (yet focused). Other M felt a bit different, in a sense (the display was too dark, couldn't see). But from the get-go I understood that OM was going in another direction (storytelling with dialog). After being so used to atmosphere, and very little interaction, it adds a unique level to the Metroid mythos.

I look forward to the next M entry, if we will ever see another one sometime soon.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

I love Prime 1, Prime 3, and Prime 1 with Wii Controls.
It's tough to go back to the controller once you get used to the Wii version controls, in my opinion.

Not a fan of Prime 2 or Prime Hunters much, though I own both (Prime 2 I own in GCN and Wii-Trilogy format).

The best parts about the Prime games are the atmosphere and the sheer amount of lore (scannables) all throughout.  The games feel alive and rich with stuff to look at.

[cecil-kain]

Metrroid Prime was the most flawless transition from 2D to 3D --a stunning masterpiece in every possible way.  If you haven't played it --shame on you.

[VeteranVk]

Prime 1 & 3 were my favorites as well, though in Prime 3, I still have trouble obtaining all the scans but I feel like the controls and gameplay were more than enough to save it. Prime 2 wasn't totally terrible. The dimensional shifting was tedious but Rare gets kudos for trying a new concept which in the beginning of the game I thought was pretty cool. I didn't quite get the limited beam ammo either, In my mind I'm just chalking it up to "different alien race, different alien technology". Also in some of the Luminoth lore scans, I believe it was stated as being EXPERIMENTAL weaponry which may also be why it was limited. What saved MP2 for me was the music and having the screw attack, as lame as that may sound. I have to say that even on gamecube, Prime 1 & 2 were the only games that made me rock back and forth from the screen when using the grapple beam to swingi to a platform or ledge.

[PFG9000]

As a big fan of Metroid and Super Metroid, I was a bit put off the first time I tried to play Prime and Echoes.  I actually liked Echoes more than Prime, because it had more of a feeling of cramped, twisting passageways, which I likened to the earlier Metroids.  But I really didn't like how neither game made you feel like you were lost underground with miles of rock over your head, which is how Metroid, Metroid 2, and (to a lesser degree due to the automap) Super Metroid. 

One of my friends made me give Metroid Prime an honest go, and I played up to the Thardus fight and still didn't like it.  I hated the controls and I just thought it was too far from the original Metroid feeling.  But a year or two later I started to get a craving to play Prime again.  I picked up a Gamecube and a copy of Prime and I played through it the proper way: on my own, at my own pace, hints off, free to explore as I chose.  And I loved it.  I played through Echoes after Prime, and while I didn't like it nearly as much, I still had a good time.

I picked up Hunters the day it came out and I really enjoyed that.  It wasn't as good as the console versions, but I was surprised how much depth was put into the single player campaign since it was clearly designed around multiplayer.  I played through Hunters again recently and appreciated it even more.

I was disappointed with Corruption.  I think the Wii controls were more responsive than most other Wii games, but I still thought they were gimmicky.  Even now that I have the controls down to second nature, I still have times when my cursor gets lost off-screen or I move too quickly for the motion to register.  As far as the game itself, I thought it was okay, but it's just way too far away from what makes Metroid good.  There should not be any NPCs in Metroid unless they make only a brief appearance, like the Etecoons or whatever those critters in Super Metroid were.  The majority of the game needs to be one giant level...that's Metroid's trademark, and Corruption did away with it (to be fair, Hunters did too).  As I mentioned in the LoS topic, I was bothered by things like Bryyo bringing in a few Ice rooms and indicating that half the planet was Ice, but not letting you explore anything worth mentioning in that Ice world.

A big problem I see Metroid heading for is that it's becoming too wrapped up in its own story.  The story killed Other M.  Because story is apparently so important now, we have to have a reason that Samus loses her abilities at the start of each game, or we have to come up with all new abilities with each installment while keeping all the old ones.  I wish the series was more like Zelda, where there is no official over-arching storyline and each game is its own entity.  That really frees up the developer for more innovation within each individual game.

[Profbeanburrito]

I have a tendency to get a system fir a specific game and then find other great games fir the system. PSP- Dracula X Chronicles, DS - Dawn of Sorrow, PS3 - MGS4.
Metroid Prime was the whole reason I wanted a Gamecube as badly as I did, and it was definitely worth it. I love all the Metroid games but I think Prime is the one I've played the most. It did such a fantastic job of making you feel like you're truly alone, especially playing it at night in the dark. I enjoyed prime 2 and 3, as well but the first is still my favorite. It feels simple, with no gimmick like the light and dark Aether, or the motion controls, yet somehow so deep and just perfect. While I did love Other M I would love to get the feeling Prime gave me.
whether in first person or not, I can't wait to see what's next for Metroiid and I'm hoping we see something absolutely amazing on the next gen Nintendo

[knightmere]

Prime 1 & 3 were my favorites as well, though in Prime 3, I still have trouble obtaining all the scans but I feel like the controls and gameplay were more than enough to save it. Prime 2 wasn't totally terrible. The dimensional shifting was tedious but Rare gets kudos for trying a new concept which in the beginning of the game I thought was pretty cool. I didn't quite get the limited beam ammo either, In my mind I'm just chalking it up to "different alien race, different alien technology". Also in some of the Luminoth lore scans, I believe it was stated as being EXPERIMENTAL weaponry which may also be why it was limited. What saved MP2 for me was the music and having the screw attack, as lame as that may sound. I have to say that even on gamecube, Prime 1 & 2 were the only games that made me rock back and forth from the screen when using the grapple beam to swingi to a platform or ledge.

Rare didn't develop the Prime Series, Retro did.

[Flame]

Since when does Samus get new abilities each game..? Only new "abilities" she ever gets are the beam weapons, which were different for each prime game, but that was something that happened in the originals as well. She upgraded her beam cannon. All her suit abilities though, are all from 1-Super. It was actually kind of disappointing that the screw attack didnt come about until Prime 3. (though apparently it was planned for prime 1, but like many things, such as Meta-Kraid, never included)

[PFG9000]

Since when does Samus get new abilities each game..? Only new "abilities" she ever gets are the beam weapons, which were different for each prime game, but that was something that happened in the originals as well. She upgraded her beam cannon. All her suit abilities though, are all from 1-Super. It was actually kind of disappointing that the screw attack didnt come about until Prime 3. (though apparently it was planned for prime 1, but like many things, such as Meta-Kraid, never included)

If you're replying to my post, I was saying that in future installments, she'll need to either get new abilities, or lose the original ones and gain them back over the course of the game.  I was talking about the Metroid series overall though, and in the older games, she did get some new abilities in each installment.

And not to nitpick, but the screw attack was in Echoes and Corruption.

[Flame]

Was it in echoes? dont think iv'e gotten that far... im stuck at the fortress. I think i may have forgotten the objective. Game doesnt remind you nearly as often as it should. (and theres no way to see it otherwise, besides the target area)

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

It's right at the end of the dark section of Sanctuary Fortress, I believe.  You need to use it to cross giant pits.
It's awesome in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

[Flame]

Its even better in Other M, where you can infinite screw attack.

[knightmere]

Oh god please don't bring up Other M.

That game is an embarassment to the franchise.

[darkjak951]

Oh god please don't bring up Other M.

That game is an embarassment to the franchise.

Errr...well I moderately enjoyed it. I enjoyed PLAYING it, not so much listening to the poor excuse of a story. I enjoyed playing a 2D styled metroid in a 3D styled environment and the combat was fun and pretty flashy at times. The story was garbage and I just acted like it didn't exist, there were a few parts I enjoyed but most of it was pretty terrible and so was the flat voice acting.

Anyway as for Prime, I enjoyed the first one the most. Two felt derivative with the whole "light/dark" aspect and 3 was alright but felt too linear and short for my tastes.