Topic: IMPRESSIONS: Wii de Asobu Metroid Prime

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah I still have it, it is just a game I never got around to playing, just like Scarface, BK: Nuts and Bolts, Bug Island, Bomberman Wii, etc etc.

[Caliban]

I have NEVER played MP2 multiplayer, in fact I haven't played MP2 period even though I have it (It is still sealed).

Why do you still have it? Are you a sealed collector or just forgot about it?

I will tell you one common fact about the frequent forum users on this site, the tendency to have a backlog of games.

[Mop it up]

Hm, I've got a pretty sizable backlog of games too. I also have the tendency to go off topic.
Perhaps I do fit in here... 

[NovaQ]

I struggle with starting a backlog. I'd probably have a small one by now if my original Wii (from launch day!) and a few games hadn't been stolen back in October. Now I've only got Wario Land Shake waiting for me to finally play it.

I guess all we're really good at around here is being extremely (excessively?) enthusiastic about anything and everything video games.

(And of course, "enthusiastic" in this case does not mean always brimming with positivity...)

[TheYoungerPlumber]

It's weird--the MP2 multiplayer was an afterthought in the original release. But the new control scheme gives the multiplayer more viability. Still, I'd rather see Retro work on a new FPS with multiplayer battles than rework MP2's.

In general, I'm far less interested in replaying the second entry in the series--I just remember its light-dark structure being somewhat more tedious than the first or third.

[Stratos]

Hm, I've got a pretty sizable backlog of games too. I also have the tendency to go off topic.
Perhaps I do fit in here... 

Thats what the Backloggery is for!

It's weird--the MP2 multiplayer was an afterthought in the original release. But the new control scheme gives the multiplayer more viability. Still, I'd rather see Retro work on a new FPS with multiplayer battles than rework MP2's.

In general, I'm far less interested in replaying the second entry in the series--I just remember its light-dark structure being somewhat more tedious than the first or third.

I never played the 2nd one for more than a short bit because I never owned it. So I'm more interested in it. Though I will probably be picking up both since I sold my Gamecube copy of Prime 1.

[GoldenPhoenix]

It's weird--the MP2 multiplayer was an afterthought in the original release. But the new control scheme gives the multiplayer more viability. Still, I'd rather see Retro work on a new FPS with multiplayer battles than rework MP2's.

In general, I'm far less interested in replaying the second entry in the series--I just remember its light-dark structure being somewhat more tedious than the first or third.

I think Retro is a pretty good sized developer. My guess is that they had a very small time work on the MP1 and 2 ports, with the others working on something else.

[Stratos]

It's weird--the MP2 multiplayer was an afterthought in the original release. But the new control scheme gives the multiplayer more viability. Still, I'd rather see Retro work on a new FPS with multiplayer battles than rework MP2's.

In general, I'm far less interested in replaying the second entry in the series--I just remember its light-dark structure being somewhat more tedious than the first or third.

I think Retro is a pretty good sized developer. My guess is that they had a very small time work on the MP1 and 2 ports, with the others working on something else.

Raven Blade anyone? That needs to see a return.

[KDR_11k]

We played MP2's multiplayer once and decided not to try that again.

[Stogi]

It's weird--the MP2 multiplayer was an afterthought in the original release. But the new control scheme gives the multiplayer more viability. Still, I'd rather see Retro work on a new FPS with multiplayer battles than rework MP2's.

In general, I'm far less interested in replaying the second entry in the series--I just remember its light-dark structure being somewhat more tedious than the first or third.

I think Retro is a pretty good sized developer. My guess is that they had a very small time work on the MP1 and 2 ports, with the others working on something else.

Raven Blade anyone? That needs to see a return.

Oh God yes! I was so disappointed when I heard it was canceled.

[Mop it up]

Thats what the Backloggery is for!

I've heard of that site before. If I don't have the enthusiasm to actually play my games, there's no way I could muster up the energy to create a detailed list of everything I haven't touched or completed.

[NWR_pap64]

Thats what the Backloggery is for!

I've heard of that site before. If I don't have the enthusiasm to actually play my games, there's no way I could muster up the energy to create a detailed list of everything I haven't touched or completed.

*In a bad, Peter Griffin from South Park voice

YOU THINK THAT'S BAD??? YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT MY "TO BUY" LIST! o_O

[Stratos]

Thats what the Backloggery is for!

I've heard of that site before. If I don't have the enthusiasm to actually play my games, there's no way I could muster up the energy to create a detailed list of everything I haven't touched or completed.

*In a bad, Peter Griffin from South Park voice

YOU THINK THAT'S BAD??? YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT MY "TO BUY" LIST! o_O

Yeah, my too buy list is appraised by IGN as close to $3000.

[Rize]

EDIT: Rize, you talk as if the game were dead! It's still epic now on both the GameCube and Wii. Hopefully people who never played it on GameCube will experience the awesomeness of MP1 now that it's on Wii. The third entry is nice and all, but the original's world is far more cohesive.

Btw, I totally agree.  If I had to put the MP series in order from best to worst, it would be a downhill ride from the original for certain.  I may pick this up yet... but I'm still a little annoyed that Capcom can be intelligent enough to include classic controller support in their definitive version of Resident Evil 4, but Nintendo can't be bothered to do the same for Metroid Prime.

[Mop it up]

If I had to put the MP series in order from best to worst, it would be a downhill ride from the original for certain.

You know, a lot of people seem to share this opinion, and I think I know the reason for it. When Metroid Prime was released, it was everyone's first foray into 3D Metroid. It brought a lot of the classic Metroid weapons, items, enemies, and concepts along with it, as well as adding a few of its own. Metroid Prime 2, however, was more of a continuation of Metroid Prime, and reused a lot of the same concepts and slightly expanded upon the weapons, items and enemies. For example, although it had different visuals for the beams, they had essentially the same effect: the Dark Beam could freeze enemies (Ice Beam), the Light Beam could burn foes (Plasma Beam), and whatever the mixed beam was called had a small homing effect (Wave Beam).

By the time Metroid Prime 3 had rolled around, most of its concepts, items, and enemies had already been realized in one or both of the previous games. Chances are, people played through both games more than once, so MP3 was no doubt going to be very familiar to many people. This is probably why the game was given a bit of a different "feel" to it, with the interactions between friendly parties, planet hopping, and more mechanical environments, to try and make it more unique.

It would seem most of us here have played the original Metroid Prime game before the other two. Methinks that a person would be more inclined to favour whichever MP game they had played first; whichever they play first shall be their first exposure to the various concepts, items, and enemies used throughout the series. It would be the most... fresh.

*In a bad, Peter Griffin from South Park voice*
YOU THINK THAT'S BAD??? YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT MY "TO BUY" LIST! o_O

Um... Did I miss something, isn't Peter Griffin from Family Guy?

I have a "wish list" of games to buy as well that I've added to over the years. It's got hundreds upon hundreds of games on it across eight different systems, so I don't even want to think about it as a monetary value...

[GoldenPhoenix]

Mop_it_up I played MP1 first and I still prefer MP3 by a pretty big margin. MP1 was one of those games where I neared the end and found out I had to do some massive back tracking to find the artifacts so I just quit because I knew it was going to be super tedious and reminds me an awful lot of the triforce hunting in Wind Waker which was mainly implemented to artificially extend the length of the game. MP3 had some of that but it wasn't nearly as bad. Not to mention I found MP3's controls to be far more immersive and I actually enjoyed the story with the extra characters, it added a new layer to the Metroid Mythos.

[Mop it up]

That point was more to explain why people who prefer the first feel that way, it wasn't meant to imply that everyone prefers the first. There's still individual gaming tastes to factor into the equation.

I believe the artifact hunt exists because the game was a little rushed at the end of development. Sadly it was a reoccurring trend in many GameCube games.

[GoldenPhoenix]

That point was more to explain why people who prefer the first feel that way, it wasn't meant to imply that everyone prefers the first. There's still individual gaming tastes to factor into the equation.

I believe the artifact hunt exists because the game was a little rushed at the end of development. Sadly it was a reoccurring trend in many GameCube games.

I do want to be clear I still think MP is a great game but I do think MP3 improved on most aspects of it. Personally I didn't mind the world hopping rather then a hud that connected everything.

[Stratos]

All this talk about Prime 3 makes me want to go back and finish it since I still have it on extended leave from a friend. I also have his Galaxy. He's my go to for awesome Wii first party games so I can spend my monnies on 3rd party endeavors. I'm his go to on awesome 3rd party games like Beyond Good and Evil.

[NovaQ]

Metroid Prime 2, however, was more of a continuation of Metroid Prime, and reused a lot of the same concepts and slightly expanded upon the weapons, items and enemies. . . .
. . . By the time Metroid Prime 3 had rolled around, most of its concepts, items, and enemies had already been realized in one or both of the previous games. Chances are, people played through both games more than once, so MP3 was no doubt going to be very familiar to many people. This is probably why the game was given a bit of a different "feel" to it, with the interactions between friendly parties, planet hopping, and more mechanical environments, to try and make it more unique.

Now that you mention this, I agree. This makes me wonder if Retro should have taken longer breaks between the Metroid Prime titles to come up with some bigger gameplay changes between entries. (I really enjoyed all three games, by the way.)

*In a bad, Peter Griffin from South Park voice*
YOU THINK THAT'S BAD??? YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT MY "TO BUY" LIST! o_O

Um... Did I miss something, isn't Peter Griffin from Family Guy?

Manatees, man. Try looking it up on the ol' YouTube.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

I think you're onto something. I've been playing this game on "Normal" so far, and it really does feel like the bosses die too easily. I've gone back and started a new game in "Veteran" mode--the Parasite Queen seems to take longer to kill. The first bug that crawls out of the sand takes 5 hits to kill in Veteran Mode. I'll have to backtrack on my Normal game mode to check there....

The difference between Normal and Veteran in Corruption was 2.5X damage required in Veteran.  I predict your bug will take 2 hits in Normal.

Hmmm... It's possible I'm dealing with a different bug unwittingly, but I'm counting four hits in Normal mode. This is after I've picked up the Varia Suit--not sure if that makes my uncharged shots stronger. I suspect there is a sliding scale, with a more drastic reduction in health for heartier baddies. Those lava-dwelling worm-Nellie things (sorry, don't know the technical name) die far quicker than I recall....

It's possible I'm just remembering a Hard Mode that can be unlocked, but Nintendo likely tinkered with the Japanese difficulty levels...probably for the original GC release. The Japanese are far less used to first person perspective games like this than western gamers, after all.

[Rize]

That point was more to explain why people who prefer the first feel that way, it wasn't meant to imply that everyone prefers the first. There's still individual gaming tastes to factor into the equation.

I believe the artifact hunt exists because the game was a little rushed at the end of development. Sadly it was a reoccurring trend in many GameCube games.

Heh, I figured the artifact hunt was good because it also gave you a chance to hunt down extra energy tanks and missiles and take another tour of the game's fantastic locations.  I went on to replay the game on hard mode, scanning everything.  A year later I lost my memory card and did it all over again (both difficulty modes) and enjoyed every minute of it.

Let me be more explicit here:

Metroid Prime: 100 out of 100
Metroid Prime 2: 97 out of 100
Metroid Prime 3: 90 out of 100

I knock a few points off of 2 because I never was a huge fan of light world/dark world gameplay.  Metroid Prime was still excellent, but if you want to talk about tedium forget the fetch quest at the end of 1, every foray into the drab dark world was tedium compared to the original game.  2 also has that lazy circular layout to the game world.  The random looking layout of 1 was much more interesting.  Not to mention awesome touches like finding the crashed orbiting space station on the ground and reading about Metroid Prime several times before encountering him.  I'm sorry, but MP1 the superior game in almost every way imo.  It's not just because I played it first.

The main thing I don't like about Metroid Prime 3 is the character interaction and the lack of good scanning.  In Prime 1 and 2, you could find interesting details about the game world (that were totally pointless) by scanning things.  The amount of this information decreased dramatically in 3.  As for characters, I could have lived with most of them but the Admiral (or whatever he was) was highly annoying.  I also prefer the traditional control (I admit that may be because I tried it first).

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

There should be a mandatory ban on hints in "Veteran" modes.

The most annoying part about Corruption was a lot of hints were actually delivered through the story/narration, making too much information unavoidable, even with hints turned "off."

Echoes with no hints was BLISS.  Be that expert bounty hunting explorer.

[Rize]

I also didn't like the little awards in Prime 3.  It's bad enough I have to suffer through that crap on the PS3 and 360.  I think you could switch them off at least (I think).

[TheYoungerPlumber]

I think you can turn of the notifications of earned awards in both MP3 and MP.