Topic: "Official" Metroid Prime Trilogy discussion thread ;)

[broodwars]

I know a certain forum member here who's going to get a bit pissy over the double-post, but I already edited my last post once and I'm not doing it again.  In any case, I'm done with my 100% Metroid Prime 1 run, which was both fun and incredibly frustrating.  It was fun because it was Metroid Prime 1 with Wiimote pointer control, and frustrating because they just had to use the damn PAL version for this so collecting all the scans was a bit maddening.  I also had to restart the entire game once because I missed a valuable limited time scan (the stalactites)...when I was just about ready to beat the game.     Following a guide, I managed to get myself back where I was with all the scans in about 6 hours on Normal, but what a waste of time over something like that.  What's odd, though, is that after beating the game I had more than enough tokens to purchase everything Metroid Prime 1-related, which makes me think the game just awards you the tokens every time you play through the game and not just your first time defeating the various bosses and whatnot. 

Overall, I think at least with Metroid Prime 1 (and presumably Echoes) this makes the achievement system a little pointless.  You already unlocked a bunch of bonus galleries in the original Prime by collecting all the items and scanning everything.  Since you still need to scan everything to unlock all the galleries so you can purchase them, there's just no point to the Achievement-esque tokens except to give Nintendo an excuse to stand up and say "Hey, look at us!  We're finally bothering to try the whole achievement system all the other consoles adopted by last year!"  I have no problem with the achievement system in Corruption since it required playing through the game on various difficulties and performing various bonus deeds as well, but with Prime 1 at least it feels pretty tacked-on.  Still, a great game on a great compilation.  Now I suppose I'll have to give a little thought to whether or not to bother with Echoes.  I really want to jump into Corruption (which I actually think I like better than Prime 1 now that I've replayed Prime 1 after beating Corruption), but it feels kind of wrong to go out of order.  I suppose there's always the chance I might actually like Echoes now...maybe. 

[Halbred]

I heartily recommend Echoes. Nick's on the fence about it, but I like it for what it is. Echoes is more about exploration than Prime, which is more goal-driven. It's got a slower pace and it's a tougher game, but it's different, which I ultimately like, and the suit designs are cool.

Lessee...last night I nabbed the Ice Beam and started through the Frigate before realizing I needed the Gravity Suit. Oh, getting back UP the flooded room is SO FRUSTRATING. But I got a TON of pickups, and my logbook is already 64% complete. I was sure to nab the one scan I always forgot to grab on the GC (Ice Shriekbats). I haven't noticed any NA/PAL differences yet, but now I'm looking for them.

I'm going out of my way to nab as many pickups as possible whenever I get new equipment. I cuts down on total gameplay time and makes fights easier overall. After playing through Zero Mission, Fusion, and Super Metroid (all recently), I'm finding myself using Missiles a lot more than I used to. Once you're locked onto something, a missile is often more accurate than your own aiming, though I still use the one-two punch of charged Ice Beam + missile.

God, I love this game.

[broodwars]

Lessee...last night I nabbed the Ice Beam and started through the Frigate before realizing I needed the Gravity Suit. Oh, getting back UP the flooded room is SO FRUSTRATING. But I got a TON of pickups, and my logbook is already 64% complete. I was sure to nab the one scan I always forgot to grab on the GC (Ice Shriekbats). I haven't noticed any NA/PAL differences yet, but now I'm looking for them.

Yeah, I did the same thing my first time through, and it took an eternity to get back up that main shaft, especially since I kept getting knocked all the way back down by those damn vacuum fish things.

I'm actually playing through Echoes right now and...I haven't gotten up to the part of the game that really starts to bore me.  I'm about to take my second trip back into Dark Aether through the Pirate base.  And yes, the suit designs are cool.  I'm particularly fond of the one that looks like an evil Cyclone.  Pity while they were taking Tatsunoko inspirations when they designed that suit that they didn't go all the way and allow her to fully convert to a Rider mode.

*EDIT* Wow, man I'd forgotten just how much fun it is to spend a couple minutes just standing under a light beacon to regain your health because you dared to try to explore Dark Aether.

[Halbred]

Yeah, okay, that part really does suck.

[GoldenPhoenix]

At least I don't have any memories good or bad of Echoes since I never played it!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Yeah, okay, that part really does suck.

Well there's always the option of saving your exploration for the time you've acquired more health tanks to waste.  And there's the option of just playing better; Morph Ball rolling to speed up travel and minimize exposure time, and killing little enemies and crates/pods whenever available to get quick health pickups instead of waiting for light beacons.

Then again, players should be just happy to explore early on at all, since we know they don't bother exploring/experimenting in other games, sticking with whatever lame hand-holding default story path was already presented, remarking "why do all that unnecessary bonus stuff?"  I don't know, why explore?

[TheFleece]

I got my copy earlier today and my Wii won't play the disc- I have to send my system in for repairs :S I started playing through Super Metroid to take some of the edge off.

I tried, but it didn't work. I'm just going to send it back so it returns sooner. Thanks for trying to help!
I tried but it didn't work. I'm just going to send it off so it returns sooner
Try orienting the wii horizontally. My wii occasionally has trouble reading discs when it is vertical, one day i tried it the other way and it worked like a charm.

[broodwars]

Yeah, okay, that part really does suck.

Well there's always the option of saving your exploration for the time you've acquired more health tanks to waste.  And there's the option of just playing better; Morph Ball rolling to speed up travel and minimize exposure time, and killing little enemies and crates/pods whenever available to get quick health pickups instead of waiting for light beacons.

Then again, players should be just happy to explore early on at all, since we know they don't bother exploring/experimenting in other games, sticking with whatever lame hand-holding default story path was already presented, remarking "why do all that unnecessary bonus stuff?"  I don't know, why explore?

OK, perhaps I should have been more clear: when I said "explore" I meant just playing the game.  I've already beaten this game once on the GCN, and the only reason I'm playing it now is to get all the extras stuff knocked out and to not have the game staring at me when I pass it over to jump into Corruption.  So this time through, I'm just following a scan guide to make damn sure this is the last time I'll ever need to play this game.  In the early stages of the game, being outside the aura of a light crystal means you're probably losing about 1/2 - 1 health tank every 5-10 seconds, and that's not even taking into account any damage from Ing you need to kill.  I'm fine because I've played this game already and know roughly where to go and what to do, but for a new person playing this game you have the game bitch-slapping them every time they deviate from a linear path they quite possibly can't even see because everything in Dark Aether looks like a block of purple goo.  So they try to poke around and find the right path, and every few steps they have to stand under a light crystal and let their health regenerate for a lengthy period of time (at least before you get the Dark Suit).  Let me repeat that for emphasis: Retro designed an entire mechanic in this game around not playing the game.  They could have at least let your health regenerate faster to help stave off boredom, but as it is it's just tedious.  Unfortunately, "tedium" is something I've come to associate with Echoes over the years.

Gotten the Dark Suit and the Boost Ball (yeah, the Guardian is easier now.  He seems to take more damage and do less to you.), and I'm on my way to collect the 3 Keys for the Dark Aether Swamp area.

EDIT: Alright, that's 2 down.  I've completed Metroid Prime 2 Echoes 100%, and that game's never seeing another playthrough on my Wii ever again.  It was a tedious, frustrating, and boring game back on the GCN and all these years and Wiimote controls haven't made it any more tolerable in my opinion.  With only Corruption left to replay, I'm going to go through that one at my own pace rather than try to race through it like I did the GCN Primes.  It is, after all, the one I was looking forward to replaying the most since it's been a few years since I played it.

[broodwars]

So...anyone else playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption via the Trilogy set right now?  I'm collecting Friend Vouchers that, naturally, I can't use and I'll be in need of Green Tokens.

By the way, in case anyone cares someone on another forum pointed out something I hadn't really noticed about the Trilogy version of Prime 1: Samus' Arm Cannon is missing some of the special effects from the GCN version.  For instance, the Arm cannon no longer ripples with electricity when using the Wave Beam, overheats when using the Plasma Beam, and crusts over with Ice when using the Ice Beam.  I also noticed that if you look at the arm cannon when using the X-Ray visor you can't see the bones in Samus' hand.  Apparently water no longer ripples when you shoot it as well, something I never noticed about the original Prime to begin with.  It's wierd, but these changes only seem to apply to the original Prime, since Prime 2 still has such effects.  These are all incredibly minor things, but I wonder why these effects were removed in the first place and why only the original Prime?

[GoldenPhoenix]

Apparently water no longer ripples when you shoot it as well, something I never noticed about the original Prime to begin with.  It's wierd, but these changes only seem to apply to the original Prime, since Prime 2 still has such effects.  These are all incredibly minor things, but I wonder why these effects were removed in the first place and why only the original Prime?

I read that too on GoNintendo. And someone gave this explanation.

It's true that they removed some of the effects, but that's because they were hard coded into the original game. If Retro had left the effects in, they would appear to float in one spot in mid-air when you moved the arm cannon around.

Is it true? I have no idea, but at least it is some explanation!

[broodwars]

Yeah, I heard that the effects could have been hard-coded as well, and if that is true it's regrettable but understandable.  Of all the changes made to this version from the original NTSC version, these don't rank high on the list of those that bother me.  What I don't understand, though, is why the effects are still apparently in Echoes.  As the effects are much less elaborate in Echoes, maybe they decided when they originally rebuilt the Prime 1 engine for it that they could do those effects with the actual models and textures instead of using a graphical overlay?

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah, I heard that the effects could have been hard-coded as well, and that the Wii ports of Primes 1 and 2 might basically use a modified version of the Prime 3 engine so they coudln't be ported over.  What I don't understand, though, is why the effects are still apparently in Echoes.  As the effects are much less elaborate in Echoes, maybe they decided when they originally rebuilt the Prime 1 engine for it that they could do those effects with the actual models and textures instead of using a graphical overlay?

Yeah I read that it could be the case. Regardless I think they are pretty minor complaints especially considering they obviously didn't slack off when it came to improving other things in the game such as the textures, along with a widescreen mode.

[broodwars]

Yeah, I heard that the effects could have been hard-coded as well, and that the Wii ports of Primes 1 and 2 might basically use a modified version of the Prime 3 engine so they coudln't be ported over.  What I don't understand, though, is why the effects are still apparently in Echoes.  As the effects are much less elaborate in Echoes, maybe they decided when they originally rebuilt the Prime 1 engine for it that they could do those effects with the actual models and textures instead of using a graphical overlay?

Yeah I read that it could be the case. Regardless I think they are pretty minor complaints especially considering they obviously didn't slack off when it came to improving other things in the game such as the textures, along with a widescreen mode.

Indeed.  I still think that every Wii developer (including Nintendo in some cases) should be ashamed that companies like Retro (and, tangentially, Factor 5) were making games on the GameCube that still look better than most modern Wii games, even ones that are supposed to be graphical showcases like the Conduit.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Prime 1's reactive water was one of the very first things I noticed in the game.  To have such an auxilliary effect in a 60fps action/adventure game that wasn't about water racing was simply incredible for the time.  My very first few minutes of landing on Tallon IV was all about jumping/rolling anywhere, looking up at the sky, taking a dip and seeing all the effects Retro packed into it.

Prime 2 I clearly remember didn't have reactive water, cuz I compared the two games directly a long time ago in a purple lunchbox far far away.  Probably a necessary sacrifice since Prime 2 raised the bar in size/scope/modeling/textures over Prime 1.

Retro pretty much perfected their reactive fluids system in Prime 3, and it shows in the phazon and fuel pools.

I also discovered another thing:  MPT is the first Wii Title from Nintendo whose manual doesn't include Spanish or French sections!  PHENOMENAL.

[Halbred]

Trying hard to outdo Nick's runthrough of Prime (not hard to do, I know). I'm at the Omega Pirate's front door at the 8 hour mark. That includes TONS of backtracking for pickups and keys. To my horror, I discovered that I don't have one of the Artifact Logs, so I'm tekking back there before I collect any more keys in fear that I'll get THAT key and then I won't have the logbook credit.

I forgot how irritating it is in the Phazon Mines how pirates respawn after you leave a room and go back in.

[broodwars]

Trying hard to outdo Nick's runthrough of Prime (not hard to do, I know). I'm at the Omega Pirate's front door at the 8 hour mark. That includes TONS of backtracking for pickups and keys. To my horror, I discovered that I don't have one of the Artifact Logs, so I'm tekking back there before I collect any more keys in fear that I'll get THAT key and then I won't have the logbook credit.

I forgot how irritating it is in the Phazon Mines how pirates respawn after you leave a room and go back in.

Don't worry about the Artifact Logs.  For some reason, they don't count towards Logbook Percentage, as evidenced by the fact that on my Metroid Prime 100% speedrun I got 100% logbook without scanning a single Artifact Log.

And if you think trekking through the Phazon mines is obnoxious now, just wait till you kill Omega Pirate...

[broodwars]

Well, I've just completed Corruption 100% Scans/Logs to fully complete my run through the Trilogy (though I still have Veteran to do in Corruption, if I ever bother), and it was a pretty enjoyable trip down memory lane with the 3 games.  My Wii System Code is 3018 7742 8328 8566. Assuming no one else snags them first, I have 19 Friend Tokens for the taking.  All I ask is the 15 Green Tokens I need to unlock everything on my end.

EDIT:  You may have noticed if you read this post earlier that I've dramatically altered its content.  I didn't know where Prime Trilogy kept its count of your Friend Tokens, so I mistook the Silver Token counter of Primes 1 and 2 for the Friend Token counter of Corruption since they look exactly the same.  I noticed my mistake and so I'm a much happier camper.  ^_^

[Mop it up]

I don't know if this was mentioned before and this topic is too large to sift through.
Is it possible to trade the friend vouchers between Metroid Prime Trilogy and Metroid Prime 3?

[Halbred]

No, Mop. The games are incompatible.

Brood, it'll be awhile until I get around to Corruption. I promised most of my friend vouchers to DiMola (and his to me), but what leftovers I have I'll gladly send your way. I'll add you tonight. Add me, sir! My Wii number is in my signature.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

What are the apparent "favorite" unlockables?

I'm probably going to save my time with the Trilogy for the upcoming December drought.  I won't bother collecting much, just beating them ASAP on the hard modes.

[broodwars]

What are the apparent "favorite" unlockables?

I'm probably going to save my time with the Trilogy for the upcoming December drought.  I won't bother collecting much, just beating them ASAP on the hard modes.

I'd say (of the ones that require green tokens) probably the bumper stickers and bobblehead.  None of the sound test unlockables require green tokens, and some people just don't care that much about concept art.

I added your WSC, Halbred.  I think I found someone who may be trading me the 15 I need, but I definitely appreciate the thought.

[AV]

My review.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZQ7LLeuZWQ


I just got to phazon mines. I saved and thought ' oh man this was a bitch before..."

i sort of wish you could scan the corpse of a fallen boss and re fight him and scan him again if you didn't before. SOme of the boss battles were tons of fun.

I'm getting annoyed with changing beams. I rather they just mapped it to the control pad and I use missles with the plus button. Speaking of them, I feel missiles in prime series are WAY to slow. In 2d metroid you can shoot missiles like regular fire, in prime you got like a 4 second delay between shoots.

[Stratos]

i sort of wish you could scan the corpse of a fallen boss and re fight him and scan him again if you didn't before. SOme of the boss battles were tons of fun.

A boss challenge/rush mode would have been a cool addition.

[broodwars]

i sort of wish you could scan the corpse of a fallen boss and re fight him and scan him again if you didn't before. SOme of the boss battles were tons of fun.

A boss challenge/rush mode would have been a cool addition.

Given that Team Ninja's developing Other M, I wouldn't be surprised to see something like that in that game.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I typically end up making multiple save files just to revisit bosses in the Prime games.