Certain parallels can be seen in immersive first-person simulations such as Prey and Dishonored. With interconnected 3D level controls, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Batman Arkham games have world designs somewhat reminiscent of Metroid Prime. And BioShock’s underwater world, Rapture, offers a unique storytelling about the environment in a dangerous world. But none of these games fit the Metroid mold.
Instead, Metroid Prime Remastered is just as fresh and imaginative today as it was when it was released. Despite being released on the GameCube over 20 years ago, Metroid Prime still has an aura of novelty. Indeed, every touchstone in the game is subject to imitation, iterative improvement, or spiritual succession. But to this day, I would argue that no game has meaningfully rebuilt the foundation laid by the Metroid Prime series.
It’s very strange to think about, considering that side-scrolling Metroid games were so influential that they helped spawn entire genres based on their core gameplay loops. Full Super Metroid DNA can be found in so many games. Still, the Metroid Prime series is the only mainstream example of this loop translated into his 3D. First, you’ll want to associate Metroid Prime Remastered’s size with improved quality of life and HD graphics.
There’s no denying that the implementation of dual analog stick controls makes Metroid Prime’s controls feel like a modern first-person shooter. When we launched the GameCube for comparison, we weren’t surprised to find the original version to be even more unwieldy than the Switch’s “classic” control scheme due to the GameCube controller’s quirky layout, What does not change is the beauty of the world.
The remaster helps present the world with sharper textures, more vibrant colors, improved lighting and shadows, and sharper animations. Visual improvements and an improved control scheme will undoubtedly make Metroid Prime a better place in 2023, but the aspects that made the game great were already present in the original.
Metroid Prime draws inspiration from decidedly unexpected places, backtracking to the defining hallmark of its predecessor’s side-scrolling: new gadgets to reach previously inaccessible areas. We have inherited the emphasis on In so many games, especially 3D games, having to move through the same area over and over again gets boring (without fast travel!). Metroid Prime doesn’t suffer from this kind of fatigue because it has a very clever world-building philosophy.