There are very few games that I would consider “must play” titles, and Metroid Prime is included in that group. The game was massively influential to the industry and it still remains one of my favorite games to play to this day. There are not many games that can build an awe inspiring world that is simultaneously so massive that it takes hours to explore and find all of the nooks and crannies which hide secrets, but at the same it is so compact that every room has something interesting in it and it only takes a few minutes to traverse from one corner of the world to the opposite corner. That is probably my favorite aspect of Metroid Prime, the world and its alien atmosphere.

The world of Metroid Prime consists of five major areas that intertwine and entangle to create a cohesive world. Whether I am exploring the destroyed civilization of the Chozo Ruins, the frozen cavities of Phendrana Drifts, the blistering heat of the Magmoor Caverns, the dark and mysterious caves of Phazon Mines, or the rainy and calm surface of the Tallon Overworld, I really feel like I am on the planet of Tallon IV. While the world seems rather large at first glance, it is actually very compact and flows together very well, especially towards the end of the game when all of the items are obtained it is very easy to travel across the planet. The Scanning Visor was a very clever tool that allows the player to “research” all of the different species on Tallon IV to learn about them and also how to defeat them. The Scanning Visor also doubles as a tool to scan the Pirate Logs to learn about the devious plans of the space pirates, or it can scan the walls to read about the Chozo Lore to learn about the species of the Chozo and what happened to them. Also, if I was ever stuck in a room and I did not know how to progress I could scan the room to look for clues on how to proceed forward.

Moving forward always felt natural and quick as I would never spend too long in a single area and I was always acquiring new items. The game is actually deceptively short, but not in a bad way. When I finished the game and saw that I had gotten 100% completion in under fifteen hours of play, I thought to myself “that cannot be right”. There is so much to do in Metroid Prime, whether it is collecting power ups, fighting bosses, battling through hoards of enemies, upgrading Samus’ suit, getting more weapons, solving puzzles, or just exploring the world, it was hard to believe that that was all squeezed into a fifteen hour experience. I felt like I could start up the game and get so much done in only thirty minutes, it was just fantastic. Also, completing the game 100% did not feel like a chore. With some diligent searching in every room as I was progressing through the world I was able to find about 95% of the items. They also are hidden in a variety of ways, some require you to complete a task like double bomb jumping, some need to you to solve a puzzle, and others are just hidden in holes across the world.  Almost every room has an item hidden in it somewhere and it is the player’s duty to sniff it out.  Of course these items are also valuable but not so much so that if you miss out on a couple missile expansions you are severely under-prepared.

The enemy design was also stellar in Metroid Prime. Every enemy was unique and served a purpose. Using the Scanning Visor to learn about how to defeat each enemy also felt satisfying as I would never get stuck on wondering how to beat a certain enemy. All of the minor and major bosses also were very fun to fight and had me on the edge of my seat as I was battling them. All of the different beam weapons also had a distinct purpose and were not just tools to progress in the world. Of course the beams were used to open doors, but they also had very interesting applications during combat. The Power Beam was standard and had no special effects, the Wave Beam tracked enemies and would stun enemies briefly, the Ice Beam shot slowly but it would freeze enemies, and the Plasma Beam was extremely powerful and did a lot of damage. I really enjoyed this aspect as it allowed for some creativity and let the player come up with their own strategy in every room.

I have one exception to the rule that all of the enemies were fun to fight, the Chozo Ghosts. They turn the room pitch black, the game plays extremely loud music, the ghosts teleport around the room very quickly, and they blur the screen if they hit you. They were just really annoying and most of the time I just skipped fighting them and ran through the rooms that they were in. They do not really even do much damage or pose a threat to the player, they are just annoying. I would not mind fighting them occasionally, but in the Chozo Ruins they are very common enemies and often show up in groups of three to bump into me as I was trying to jump from platform to platform. It really says a lot about Metroid Prime that my biggest issue with it was such a minor enemy.

The thing that really shocked me the most about this game were the controls. I originally played this game many years ago on the Gamecube and the controls were great, but this time around I got the full Metroid Prime Trilogy which required me to use the Wii Remote. I have a burning hatred for the Wii Remote and motion controls in general as I feel like they are inaccurate, inconsistent, uncomfortable, and do not add anything to the experience. So I was pretty distraught when I saw that I had to play the Metroid Prime Trilogy using the Wii Remote. To my surprise the Wii Remote and its controls actually worked really well.. Aiming felt natural, and accessing the different beams and visors was easy. Metroid Prime is possibly the only game where I felt like motion controls actually added something interesting that a classic controller could not do.

Overall, Metroid Prime was a fantastic experience in all regards. Tallon IV is one of my favorite worlds in any video game for its atmosphere and alien feel. It may seem daunting and long at first, but the game is actually quite compact has secrets to discover in every room. Metroid Prime is one of my favorite games and I would definitely recommend it to anybody and everybody. I believe that Metroid Prime has cemented itself as one of the greatest games of all time.