Metroid Prime Trilogy Retrospective | Going Above and Beyond

[@phazonphlakes]

Based critique on prime 2. It’s my favorite game of all time and I’m glad you were able to recognize everything it does so well despite 1 being your favorite. I still pray we get a prime 2 remaster in the same style as 1. The world prime 2 created deserves the hd remaster treatment so much.

[@tyleracuna2567]

Yeah Echoes is my favorite game in the trilogy

[@dalayzie1360]

You not the only one chief😎

[@jesus2109]

@@dalayzie1360Me three. Best Metroid imo

[@WeeG-bwc77]

Torvus Bog, Sanctuary Fortress, and Skytown are my favorite locations in the trilogy so I hope (but doubt) we will get uber remasters of Prime 2/3 as well.

[@chozochiefxiii3298]

It takes awhile to get going (finishing agon wastes) but starting with torvus bog prime 2 kicks prime 1 out of the water for me. I'm still trying to learn the item locations where I won't need a guide to find all the items.

[@shmallowlol]

"She has demonstrated that she values life and will do anything to protect it." I love how you've put together those bits, that's genuinely super funny.

[@MasterJunior93]

Also Samus: *proceeds to trigger every self destruct system and have two planets destroyed in her resume*

[@justinnyugen7015]

@@MasterJunior93 she has a funny way of expressing herself is all

[@torkelsvenson6411]

​@@MasterJunior93 Four by my count. Phaze, Zebes, SR388, ZDR. Five if you count Dark Aether.

[@MasterJunior93]

@@torkelsvenson6411 Samus did intentionally destroy Phaze and SR388 to end the Phazon crisis and the X-Parasites, but i don't think Samus intentionally planned to destroy Zebes and ZDR, those were self destruct mechanisms triggered by Mother Brain and Raven Beak. Dark Aether however... she did steal the final energy knowing that it would collapse Dark Aether, so I'll give you that.

[@Kanny64]

​@@MasterJunior93no No I think she destroyed ZDR for the same reason as SR388 It kinda had to go She knew that

[@rp-lopez]

I absolutely love your interpretation of Samus's feelings at the end of prime 1. She stares at the burning temple, sorrowful that she couldn't save the chozo on T4. It flows so nicely into Prime 2, where she gets her redemption with the luminoth

[@garoozies914]

There is no bad game in the prime trilogy. One of the best trilogies to exist in gaming.

[@commmander64]

I don't know about that. First two were master pieces. The third? Yeah not good.

[@susiehaltmann3342]

Idk prime 3 is pretty controversial. I love it, but that’s a hot take

[@garoozies914]

@@commmander64Idk what to tell you if you think the differences between Prime 3 and the others is enough to bridge the gap between what you consider masterpieces and a bad game. You act like 3’s unrecognizable as a Metroid game

[@RookePlays]

@@garoozies914 i would argue that prime 3 is the best game to play in hypermode specifically. i had a lot more fun with prime 3 on hypermode, more than on the other games.

[@lucasarnold6783]

And soon to be quadrilogy 🥰

[@Nyxael5845]

The Energy Transfer Module binding to Samus' Power Suit was the most important event in Echoes and a catalyst to the balance of power in Aether as a whole. The Ing were moments away from reaching the final light of Aether and Samus just so happens to be passing by.

[@PGReviews_]

She really showed up just before it was too late.

[@MasterJunior93]

And Samus's arrival on Aether was pure chance on the Luminoth, considering that she was originally responding to a Galactic Federation distress signal. She didn't even know about the Luminoth and the Ing.

[@ryankoroll5421]

It took me a long time to make it through Prime when I was younger. The exploration, the story of conquest and progress and yet, the all pervasive feeling of sadness and loneliness of being alone in the ruins of a once great civilization. I took plenty of time to take it all in and loved every second.

[@SwitchBladeX0]

Samus screaming is absolute peak samus

[@ScorchtheHawk]

Dread moment

[@twincherries6698]

Eh no

[@FRAYZOIN]

That shit got me when I was 5

[@cameronwallace8265]

If I can make ONE counterpoint about Hyper Mode in Prime 3, it's that it's so much more fun if you're playing on Veteran, the ACTUAL equivalent to Prime 1 & 2's normal modes. In Prime Trilogy, "Normal" in 1 & 2 were renamed "Veteran", and an easier "Normal" was added under that, so you can assume that Veteran in Prime 3 is the same. In Veteran, you really do have to balance using hyper mode and conserving your health, and I felt like it was very well balanced. In fact, there were certain sections that I found really challenging, and everything just clicked and I was really engaged with the gameplay. When Prime 3 gets remastered, I hope they follow suit with what they did for Prime 1 and rename Veteran to Normal, and Normal to Easy. Because Veteran is what everyone should play Prime 3 on when they first try it.

[@PGReviews_]

I agree Veteran difficulty is the way to go. That’s how I played all 3 games.

[@cameronwallace8265]

@PGReviews_ Oh, and it still felt overpowered for you? ...maybe I'm just bad at the game, then. Haha.

[@Dzzy123]

When playing on Hyper Mode difficulty, properly using Hyper Mode becomes way more important. It takes up a lot of health if you use it on that difficulty, but it can also be used as defence. Retro had an interesting idea, but I think Hyper Mode could have had harsher penalties for use, or at least have some cool down.

[@blau6832]

Wait, so when I played Prime Remastered on Normal, was that the actual Normal or not?

[@cameronwallace8265]

@@blau6832 That was actually normal! They fixed it in Remastered.

[@TTMjolnir]

The parallel you draw between Prime 1-2 and Ocarina of Time-Majoras Mask perfectly describes how I feel about these games, I never thought of it but you nailed it!

[@Kohana64]

The transition lines between each game go absolutely fucking crazy ✍️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@jesus2109]

Fantastic review, I agree on almost literally everything you talked about. Prime 2 is certainly the best and my favorite Metroid game of all time!

[@zolod.uchiha5102]

I found it ironic considering most other channels all place Metroid Prime 3 as the 2nd best with Echoes last place. This is literally the first time I’ve seen any hold Echoes to such I high regard its even the worst out of the Trilogy for me but I guess it each their own

[@Alorso_]

@@zolod.uchiha5102 Opinions change overtime, these days more people realize how good Prime 2 actually is, some even say it's better than Prime 1 which I also agree

[@jesus2109]

@@zolod.uchiha5102 I've seen the opposite really, it's either Prime 2 or 1 at the top. I actually see tons of reviewers say Prime 2 is the best and 1 follows. I actually think Prime 1 is easily the worst and a slog and 3 is 2nd, but yeah to each their own!

[@jesus2109]

@@Alorso_ Agreed. It's almost exactly like Fusion reception. People didn't like it a lot compared to the other 2Ds but now it's a fan favorite. Prime 2 I see as the best and actually far superior to 1&3. It's the only one I really actively replay a lot

[@tetermc]

​@@Alorso_ Finished it for the first time a few days ago and honestly don't understand the sentiment. Honestly really disliked it.

[@jonathanwest8415]

One small defense about Metroid Prime 3's combat: In my opinion, Corruption's combat isn't a total loss, and that's specifically because of the corruption mechanic. If you purposely keep hypermode on long enough to go into corruption mode, your Phazon meter will start to automatically fill up, allowing you to spend more time in Hypermode than you would by just spamming, and jointly getting more shots out of the same amount of energy, all at the risk of running into enemies that can hit you with phazon-based attacks and fill that meter up faster than you can get rid of it. you're essentially trading more time with ultimate power for the risk of instant death. Towing this line was the heart of Prime 3's combat in my opinion, and using these tools judiciously can be really fun if you know what you're doing. Especially during boss fights. Also, it seems like from what you said about Samus's ship, you didn't use the Ship missiles for anything except breaking the 2 or 3 walls it wants you to break with them. So incase you didn't know; in open, outdoors areas with enemies, you can turn on the Command visor and tell your ship to drop some ship missiles on them, instantly killing every enemy on one hit with very few exceptions. The only examples being enemies currently experiencing Hypermode, or enemies with shields. (also, if the room allows for it, enemies can also manually take cover to hide from the volley.) That's why there are Ship Missile expansions despite their seeming underutilization; they replace Power Bombs. And I would argue they're better too, considering Power Bombs were quite cumbersome to use in combat unless you already had to switch to Morph Ball for a particular enemy. (Fission Metroids come to mind.) Also, one of my favorite pieces of trivia about Corruption: If you sequence break and load both the "Rundas Fight Scenario" and the "Space Pirate Fight Scenario" in the Temple of Bryyo room at the same time, you can use Ship Missiles on Rundas, and he still gets instakilled by them, despite being a boss. Ship Missiles are a seriously fun and satisfying addition to Prime 3's combat exclusively, (not to mention it also means the Command Visor isn't _just_ for puzzles and opening doors.) and I've yet to meet a single other person who even knew they were a weapon at your disposal outside of Randomizer Junkies and Speedrunners. Okay, so two defenses to Prime 3's combat.

[@KeifersIsAwesome]

I genuinely didn't know you could do that! That's sick! I'm gonna try it next time I play it. :) I personally don't care what anyone says, I love prime 3 just as much as the other two games.

[@neochozo]

I’m curious about the Rundas install now. Is there a video tutorial on this somewhere?

[@jonathanwest8415]

​@@neochozo I assume you mean "Rundas Instakill." As far as I know, you'd need to do some pretty heavy sequence breaking in order to see it that I'm not even sure is possible without hacking the game. Hence why I mentioned "randomizer junkies." it's obviously very possible to get ship missiles before Rundas in a randomizer (yes, there is a Prime 3 randomizer.) I haven't been able to find a tutorial, but if you just want to see it happen, go to *BashPrime's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Randomizer #9* and go to timestamp: 54:41, which will take you to a little before the fight. He does skip all the cutscenes because it's a randomizer, but it still looks gloriously jank nonetheless.

[@cameronwallace8265]

I'm afraid I can't get through it all in one sitting, but I'm excited! I've been waiting for this for a while, and I can't believe it ended up coming out right after the Prime 4 announcement.

[@renegadegameboy4946]

As another person who's 100%ed prime 2's scan log, I felt that line about not recommending it but doing it anyways.

[@PGReviews_]

We have no one to blame but ourselves.

[@brichan1851]

So well said. Metroid has always been all about excellence. There have been a couple stumbles, but mostly are incredible games. Metroid Prime is a truly great series. I even liked Metroid Prime Pinball!

[@TheOldMachines]

Prime 2 is unbelievably good. All around gameplay, themes, atmosphere, music, isolation is unreal in it. Great retrospective

[@neogotham2k395]

Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is my favorite because I like the light & dark concept!

[@akario973]

I actually started Metroid with Prime 3 it was the first one I owned, I did play a tiny bit of Prime 1 thanks to some of my cousins who had it on the gamecube and I had also seen some gameplay of Prime 2 when they played it and honestly it was probably best that I started on prime 3. I was around 8 years old when I played it and back then I was very short tempered so playing the easiest and most linear prime probably benefited me the most tho it still took me a couple of moths to beat ;p but oh did I fucking enjoyed it and right after I got my dad to buy me the trilogy to play the first two and I did struggle to beat them not because I was stuck but because they were very scary. Prime 1 pirate research base was tough to get through for 8 year old me and pretty much the entirety of Prime 2 was scary AF especially dark aether but after many moths I prevailed.

[@samy29987]

Now my question is: if you found Prime 1 and 2 scary, how did you manage to get through the Valhalla in Prime 3? That, to me is the scariest/creepiest place in all of Metroid. Haha

[@akario973]

@@samy29987 😂 yeah that one was tough luckily it's much later in the game I actually was more scared of the Metroid part in Elysia because by then Samus has less power-ups.

[@samy29987]

I could write thousands of words to congratulte you for this amazing video. It probably was a lot of work. But the one thing that really stood out to me was how your encounter with the artifact temple from prime 1 impacted you so much and left you wondering if you were supposed to be there. I felt the _exact_ same way when I played it back when I was a kid. This sacred abandoned temple, spooky, yet serene... It instilled a feeling of awe of the place. The soundtrack elevates that feeling immensely. I vividly remember just standing there, looking at every bird sculpture, the architecture, taking in the raindrops hitting the visor and just... Stopping for a few minutes and taking it all in. It was the first time any game generated that reaction in me. Truly a special moment.

[@salreishopemobile]

saw this on my recommended and had to immediately drop everything and watch the whole thing. more prime content? sign me up! the video did not disappoint, it was great. i have a couple nitpicks about some things that were mentioned though: one, prime 1 speedruns are very fast. scandashing opens up a ton of crazy movement-go watch the TAS if you want to learn more. two, losing lock-on during the dark samus fight is intentional, not a bug. she shakes off your lock on with her speed. third, the screw attack had the collision of the morph ball in the gamecube version, but the out of bounds possibilities that opened up from that forced them to enlarge the collision. the spaces the game asks you to get into with the screw attack were designed around that collision and not the collision in the wii version. other than those details, the video was amazing. amazing job!

[@PGReviews_]

Appreciate the insights! The Dark Samus thing makes a lot of sense, and I respect the heck out of Prime speedruns and tech. I just personally never gravitated towards them anywhere near as much as speedruns of some of the 2D games.

[@salreishopemobile]

@@PGReviews_ understandable. sm speedruns are kind of the face of speedrunning in general, with the save/kill the animals and all. they’re also a blast to watch in their own right, the gdq stuff aside.

[@Mythic916]

Corruption hit a special note for me. It’s not my favorite but it gets me the most excited to keep playing at times, I think it’s the cinematics. And the main menu theme and a lot of boss music goes crazy. 12/10 trilogy. Prime 1-10/10 Prime2-10.5/10 Prime 3-9.999

[@kruvik]

Echoes is just on another level. Atmosphere always creeped me out. It just has something about it - I can't really put my finger on it but it definitely is my favorite.

[@denryuu3]

The coolest thing about MP2 multiplayer was you could see Samus doing a spin jump every time she double jumps, which I choose to believe is how it is in all Prime games (you just can't see it as the player character cause that would mess up the camera)

[@TurKlack]

Still hoping for a Prime 2 and 3 Remaster :D Hell maybe even a Trilogy Remaster.

[@LilacMonarch]

Prime 2 especially, I think it would get the biggest glow-up. They could really give Dark Aether a makeover just with the new lighting, it would allow expanding the color pallette while still keeping the same aesthetic

[@vzdragon]

Happy to see others view echos as the superior game outta the trilogy. So many hours spent. The prime remastered gave me a whole new appreciation for the first one that I WISH they gave echos the same treatment. Playing prime remastered is essentially what we all thought prime originally looked like on GameCube and it's just the best way to play prime 1 if you haven't already

[@TachyBunker]

My man, the sheer effort to produce a video like it is inconceivable. Not only do you have a proper obsession like us with the Metroid games, but you're obsessed with this obsession. Right on a lot of times ❤

[@MorphBaller388]

I’m completely sick and tired of people not liking Samus returns. It’s a good game and I’m really wondering why these people by cleaning the church vans are skipping over it.

[@andresarrieta1455]

Some folks are butt hurt that Nintendo shut down AM2R for Samus Returns. Which makes zero sense to be angry about, but people be dumb

[@EmperorOfApathy]

@@andresarrieta1455It makes sense to be angry, Nintendo has a thing for shutting down things they don’t like that have to do with their properties even if they aren’t making a profit, but it doesn’t make sense to hate the existence of samus returns just for that

[@andresarrieta1455]

@@EmperorOfApathy As much as I don't like it either, Nintendo has every legal right to do it. Getting worked up about it is pointless

[@the_real_Kurt_Yarish]

Metroid Prime was the first FPS game I owned, and probably the first one I played as well. It was also my introduction to the Metroid series (though I was aware of them being a massive nerd). Safe to say it completely blew me away and raised the bar for what I thought games could do.

[@luizhenriqueramos5426]

That’s the best Metroid prime retrospective I’ve ever seen. We can see the amount of effort that you put to do that. Please do more Metroid content!

[@PGReviews_]

Other M won’t happen for a while but it’s coming! Along with a Prime 4 video after that comes out.

[@neochozo]

I was gonna subscribe anyway after watching it but damn, your “gimme an L…M A O” bit sealed the deal.

[@wolfpack_104]

Having been able to finally beat Prime 1, I can honestly say the artifact hunt didn't bother me as much as I thought it would for two reasons: 1. Just due to osmosis, I had foreknowledge about the two most obtuse artifact locations. 2. I initially thought that the artifact hunt was locked until you made it to the temple, but by the time I got there, I had already found 6-7 of the 11 artifacts so while it still took me roughly 2 hrs to find the others, it was more due to looking for the correct route rather than difficulty finding the artifacts. The only glaring issue I had was that Magmoor Caverns was the bottleneck for traversing a lot of the areas which made it tiring.

[@XATH0RN]

My favorite part about the plot of Prime 3 is that it retroactively answers the main question of 1 and 2. In both of the prior games, the threat was caused by a great impact from space, which brought phazon with it. In 3, the implication is that the leviathans spreading across the galaxy are also the source of the tragedies of Aether and Tallon IV. It's the through line for the entire Prime series. Which begs the question: where is the plot of Prime 4 even going to go? I mean I always wanted a new 3D Metroid game, but I always interpreted the Prime series as the story of phazon, or more specifically, the titular "Metroid Prime", and it's incarnation in Dark Samus. If the plot goes back to those ideas now, it would feel like a betrayal of Prime 3's perfect ending, but if it doesn't, is it really right to even call it "Prime 4"?

[@quagsiremetalhead1401]

I can't wait to get through this. You're metroid restrospectives made me get into the series so this should be killer

[@gamingwithahandicapreviews]

So excited pg can’t wait to watch your Metroid prime retrospective!

[@idontwantahandlethough]

The scan feature is my favorite part of the game. It's just such a dope worldbuilding tool!

[@joshuamagruder2241]

It has always tripped me out that these games are so underrecognized. Prime 1&2 are some of my favorite games of all time, and up until the mp4 announcement and trailer and stuff, its been hella slept on. Glad to see it get recognition despite it being all these years later.

[@NintendoHero]

This retrospective is an impressive achievement, doing all the Prime games in one massive video had to have been a huge challenge. All three are such great experiences, but you definitely made a strong case for why Corruption is the weakest. I have a soft spot for that game, but I found myself agreeing with all of your critiques. I also agree that Prime 1 is the best, despite Echoes being stronger in a lot of ways. This is a perfect look back at these incredible games before Beyond comes out next year. Fantastic job with this one!

[@V0rwArd]

For me Metroid Prime started with playing Metroid Prime 2 Multiplayer at a friends house. I then bought 2 and 1 - best decision I made at that time :)

[@kyurei4478]

1:29:18 Dude! I exactly know what you're talking about here, I played the Prime trilogy the exact same way on the Wii U during this same reduction when the whole trilogy was sold for only 10 bucks. It looked so crazy to me I couldn't not buy it. Looking back, yeah it was a steal for sure. I didn't expect such an unforgettable experience for this ridiculous price. What a deal for sure. It became one of my favorite franchises of all time. You were so blessed to have a Wii U if you were a Metroid fan. The whole collection of Metroid games was available minus Prime Pinball. Playing Prime Hunters on the Wii U was horrible but I'm glad I succeeded to play it nonetheless cause it deserved it. That's definitely the one that needs a remake the most right now and I really hope it will get one someday. Who knows now that Sylux is finally back in the business with his recent reveal in Prime 4 Beyond. Regarding Prime 3, I just like it as much but for different reasons than the other two. I think Prime 3 has its own merits and even if it's worse than 1 and 2 in certain areas, I think it's also better than 1 and 2 in others like action, world building, Samus' characterization and story. So really I can't decide which one I like the most.

[@Chad_Thundercock]

I never thought of Samus' trembling as pain when she got the phazon suit. I alway took it as a DBZ kind of power level rise. Like all that sudden influx of power is difficult to control at first, then she suddenly masters it.

[@SuperSonicJester]

I never knew the beam icons were actual hand signals to use the beam, that's so cool!

[@superboy9431]

wow all 3 games? AND federation force the goat? You're spoiling us bro goddamn. Thanks for the amazing video you're the one who really went above and beyond lol.

[@SandmanURL]

Another banger video, I love the way that you gush about each game and how you describe your feelings and experiences when playing. Also your transitions between topics and games are seamless its amazing. The powerbomb bit in Prime 1 was so silly it just kept happening at every vendezium wall haha. Congratulations on 11k subs you deserver it :)

[@MrDgf97]

Comparing your voice performance between this video and your Dread review is like night and day. You've improved a lot in these 2 years

[@a-10warthog90]

i hold your exact same opinion in regard to prime 1 and prime 2 and which is the "favorite" for me

[@SectorZeroGP]

Is curious because i think that the first time we played echoes we considered it as the weakest, and however after the years we all have learnt to valuate how well designed it is. Is basically the dark souls of the metroid primes. As you said, the ambientation, the music, the color pallete, the ammo system, the corrosive atmosphere of dark aether... everything placed there to remind you a single concept every time... "that conflict wasnt your war, and you shouldnt have joined into the party" While most of people would define the prime 1 atmosphere as "surrounding" or "inmersive" or "inspiring" and most of people would describe prime 3 atmosphere as "dense" or "frenetic" or "stunning", what i think is the common description of prime 2 atmosphere would be words like "oppresive" ... or even "terrifying". Prime 2 has the capacity of keeping you in a permanently alert state, like you would've been in a really hostile environment, and wow men... this thing combined with the things i've said before.... makes it an amazing combination. From now, if we just count prime 1 2 and 3, i would say prime 2 is the best METROID GAME, despiting prime 3 is the funniest to play.. Prime 1 falls in the "first game syndrome" xD (basically is amazing, yes... but there are too many aspects where is obvious its mechanics arent so well polished as there was in the other games, specially when it comes to the combat system). P.D.: YES BRO.... THE ALPHA BLOG.... -_- I dont know anyone who has beaten that thing at the first attempt hahaha XD

[@esmooth919]

Super Metroid always has been, and always will be my favorite Metroid game of all time; but I didn't get to play Metroid Prime until the remaster came out last year. And after all of that, that game is still a freaking masterpiece, 22 years later! Only two things about that game didn't age well, in my humble opinion: The original GameCube controls, and the difficulty, especially by end game. I can get through the game just fine, until I get to the Omega Pirate. The first time I got to him, I died thrice before I figured out how to beat him. And I don't know what's going on with that Ridley boss fight, but somewhere down the line, he appears to just completely stop taking damage no matter how many times you shoot at his weak point. Is it a glitch? Is it a bug? I managed to get past him once I started unloading on him with the plasma beam, but The Omega Pirate, Ridley, and Metroid Prime herself are just tedious boss fights to me. And don't even get me started on the long and drawn out Subway system that is the Magmoor Caverns. Also, for first-timers, if you don't know what you're doing, the process of getting the gravity suit is a beginner's trap.

[@IamCanadian3333]

I mentioned this in a previous comment. In the original GCN and even trilogy version, sometimes when you exposed his chest weakness, he would sometimes be inexplicably invincible, and you wouldn't be able to do any damage until you try again and hope he didn't get said-invincibility glitch which potentially makes the fight even longer than it already was. This is most obvious if you use the WaveBuster. It seems completely random, and I've seen the argument that this design might have been intentional as to not abuse the Wavebuster, which actually shreds him, as this was not fixed in the updated Trilogy version. The Remastered version does however fix it, though ti seems that they nerfed how quickly the Wavebuster depletes his health.

[@esmooth919]

@@IamCanadian3333 I disagree. The remaster did not fix this. The first time I fought Ridley, I got him down to a quarter of his health before he just decided to stop taking damage. I ran out of missiles, he kept hiding from me, and then he eventually killed me. That fight was not fun for me.

[@IamCanadian3333]

@@esmooth919 Hmm interesting. Personally, I have not run into it (at least not in the same manner as the originals). Maybe I'm just lucky. Admittedly, I only played through it once. I'll have to check again and do some more attempts.

[@mjc0961]

Yeah the whole Gravity Suit thing in Metroid Prime was crap. You get the Ice Beam. The game leads you outside from there, and puts you right next to the crashed frigate. You can enter the crashed frigate, because it's an Ice Beam door and you just got the Ice Beam. So I went in there, seemed like the very logical and obvious thing the devs wanted me to do. Get in there and there's some water, but I can still get through. This is normal enough, other Metroid games made you deal with the slow water movement before getting the Gravity Suit. I figured it must be coming up soon. LOL NOPE. Eventually after getting about 3/4 of the way through the frigate, which is all underwater and very slow, the game finally goes "LOL what are you doing here, you need the Gravity Suit to proceed, turn around and go back through all that slow underwater crap again to exit" WTF. I was furious and as you cam probably tell, I'm still salty. If I wasn't supposed to be in there without the Gravity Suit they should have put a "you can't get past here without the Gravity Suit" room right at the start of the frigate. Absolute smooth brain game design on Retro's part And this also came around the same time the game starts expecting you to go through Magmoor Caverns a million times, so this soured me on the game a lot. I was really enjoying Prime until the Ice Beam and crashed frigate happened. The only positive thing is that if I do ever replay Metroid Prime, I should remember not to fall for the absolutely bad game design beginner's trap and have a much better time. But seriously, WTF Retro, that was an incredibly malicious thing for them to put in the game.

[@Sephiroth69]

This was an amazing heartfelt video and you just earned a sub

[@Narrative_Ink]

Never played Prime 1 only ever saw some people play a bit of Prime 3. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes was my game growing up. - The multiplayer was amazing for a young group of kids who don't understand the complexity of shooters. We would launch from the morph ball launchers and kill each other mid air on contact. Still an amazing memory and feeling. - The survival horror element with the suits, ammo, and music was just fantastic. - Overall i love yhe game. Didn't play any others and it really gave me all i needed for the series. Glad to hear some love for it.

[@impulze64]

I love you reviews and retrospectives bro there literally the best

[@JeremyMFer]

I remember getting Metroid Prime and Fusion on Christmas. Now, 2 of my favorite games even though they were so different than anything I’ve played. I truly didn’t understand the Metroidvania gameplay at the age so I had to take a break but when I finally went back to them and beat them it changed me.

[@gamingwithahandicapreviews]

This was a great video pg! One of your best! I can’t wait till you tackle the 3D Mario games! Keep up the great work man I love your work and dedication! :)

[@Twisted_Logic]

You pretty much exactly stated my own thoughts on Prime 3. For a game so much more focused on combat you'd think the combat would be better, and the level design felt like it took the wrong lessons from the previous games. That frustration people feel at the backtracking in Prime 1? That's how I feel in 3. As for the other games, I agree that 2 is the best in the trilogy, but 1 is my favorite. In no small part because of nostalgia, but I'm also a weirdo that prefers Prime 1's world design and progression. 2 always felt too artificial/gamey to me. I like that bit of inconvenience that makes me feel like I'm in a place. Not that a few more connections between areas wouldn't improve things, and the Phazon Mines is a crime, but that large scale navogational challenge is something I really love about Prime 1 that I've never been able to find anywhere else. My ideal Prime game would have isolation, progression, and world structure inspired by 1 (but better interconnected), combat, bosses, resource management, and level design inspired by Prime 2, and quality of life and an end game artifact hunt inspired by Prime 3.

[@robertkenny1201]

Hope they HD Remaster the other two Prime games someday.

[@jonathanwest8415]

I find it unlikely personally, but not impossible. It'll probably take a while though, if they only decided to remaster them after the reception to Metroid Prime Remastered. Not all is lost though, as I find it more likely they'll give ports of Echoes and Corruption at some point, with MPR's control schemes and a good, simple upres. Maybe this is hopeful thinking, but I could see 2 & 3 ports getting shadow dropped this September as part of Prime 4's marketing. It's namely the Mario & Zelda company though, so I'm not holding my breath. The catch is that-port or remaster-they'll probably do some classic Nintendo jank and make the motion input segments in Corruption required regardless of control scheme, and as such, cumbersome on pro-controller, and impossible on licensed controllers. Sounds just like them to double down on things like that.

[@robertkenny1201]

@jonathanwest8415 actually considering the sales of the Prime 1 Remaster its Highly likely the other two will get HD Remastered.

[@jonathanwest8415]

@@robertkenny1201 hence why I said not impossible. However, I find it unlikely that it'll happen anytime soon. This largely stems from the rumor of a Metroid Prime remaster that ended up being true, said rumor also mentioned ports of Echoes and Corruption were also on the way. As such, with no evidence that they're sitting on two more remasters, the only way I could see remasters of Prime 2 & 3 happening any time soon is if they pivoted from making ports after the advent MPR's sales. Which, assuming they'd want to get those games out before MP4, (and assuming 4 will probably come out Q1 or Q2 2025) there would be relatively little time for that, especially considering that it would be not one, but two remasters, that would both need tons of original assets. Not to mention they'd have to siphon off members of their staff to help other (likely 3rd party) studios to get these remasters out all while Metroid Prime 4 is still their main focus, I just find it very unlikely unless we're talking a couple years from now, when Retro is finally done with Prime 4, and their plate is clean. Until then, ports that have been reported to already be in development are WAY more likely to me.

[@rmsgrey]

@@jonathanwest8415 The theory I've heard from someone with a reasonable track record of Nintendo-watching is that they have the remasters of Echoes and Corruption already done and are just waiting for the right time to release them in order to try to hit peak hype for MP4's release next year. For Echoes in particular, it makes a lot of sense to do the remaster work on that while you've opened up the shared engine code for the Prime 1 remaster rather than having to let people get back up to speed on the old code. Depending which version they worked from, that might not apply to MP3, and it having been designed around motion controls creates a bunch of porting issues that weren't present in the previous games - a lot of the motion inputs could be replaced by button presses, but the motion aiming will require actual thought to solve. If they had Prime 1 and 2 both done but Corruption still needed to be figured out, that could be another reason to hold back 2 - releasing just 1 and then releasing 2 and 3 close together looks a lot better than releasing 1 and 2 and then having a substantial break before releasing 3. My guess, for what little it's worth would be a shadow-drop in November - with a new Zelda due in late September, there's no reason to compete with it with the remaining Prime Remasters, and dropping them then sets up for a Q1 MP4 to be a hybrid launch title on the Switch Successor - either Twilight Princess/Breath of the Wild style releasing two versions, or by having full backward compatibility on the new console.

[@25meip]

The original steelbook Metroid prime trilogy for Wii was my first ever exposure to Metroid. I picked it up on impulse for $20 at Target. Was absolutely blown away

[@EtherealMystic]

Always love a good retrospective on Metriod. I love these games. Im Excited to play Prime 4 next year, hopefully on the switch 2

[@doublea125]

Phendra Drifts is very inspired, almost simulating what real world snow days are like. Calm, peaceful, well lit even in the night, and sounds are simply muffled.

[@BlueEyed2448]

I was 10 when prime and fusion came out. To this day my favorite games. Really looking forward to echoes remastered....if it comes out

[@kidgruesome407]

One of the greatest releases ever. I remember getting it day 1 at gamestop and the guy said i was the only one so far who came in for it. Now its one of the most expensive wii games. The new controls in prime 1 and 2 and the widescreen really made this legendary.

[@SirMisterMr]

When describing the sequence needed to proceed through the ice door in Phendrana after getting Spiderball, you forgot to mention "After getting off the right elevator on Overworld, turn right, NOT left, even though left lies the crashed frigate whose Ice door you can now open; you'll be able to get quite deep into it and even get an Energy tank earlier for your troubles, but climbing back up without the grav suit is a BITCH and you'll be getting that energy tank later anyways".

[@zephshoir]

I JUST finished your AM2R retrospective, perfect timing!

[@BenjaminSteber]

I like in echos they have those really slow shooting enemies that if they hit you it would crash Samus’ suit and you had to reboot the operating system. Surprisingly immersive, plus it took so long for them to charge up the attack it felt like you deserved the forced recovery.

[@TevyaSmolka]

i love Metroid prime series its really awesome and badass

[@JetBalrog]

49:03 Prime 2 is my favorite in the trilogy but I will not deny that the Boost Guardian actually stopped my hard difficulty run in its tracks ages ago. I should really give it another go...

[@Heinrich_Hein]

This was a great retrospective, excellent work!

[@DropkickNation]

Glad how many people are sharing their love for the Prime series again now. :D Best trilogy in gaming.

[@sidnew2739]

It will soon be a quadrology.

[@DropkickNation]

@@sidnew2739 😎

[@Bermersher]

One thing to note is that chozo ghosts can also be defeated with a super missile. You can also use a plasma beam charge shot on the ground where the ghost is standing to do splash damage and 1-shot it

[@esmooth919]

15:13 If you like that, then you're going to love the dual stick gyro controls in Prime Remastered, if you haven't already discovered those.

[@davidconlee2196]

Thank you for making this awesome video! I initially didn't like Prime 2 very much, but it really grew on me subsequent playthroughs. Now it is one of my favorites. I've really come to enjoy the increased difficulty compared to typical metroid games. My first playthrough on hard mode really kicked my butt (I'm not that good at video games), but I absolutely loved it. I initially liked Prime 3 more than Prime 2. But Prime 3 didn't hold up for me on subsequent playthroughs. I still like the game. I love the pointer control with the wii-mote. I have tried to play Hunters 3 or 4 times. I bounce so hard off the control schemes that I have never been able to finish it. Prime 1 is my overall favorite of the trilogy.

[@logosimian]

The real poison was the friends we made along the way.

[@Morgil27]

Prime 2 had one of the most ingenious marketing ploys... which most people don't even know about.

[@desamster]

We made another Metroid Prime game and it's purple?

[@ExtremeAce]

If you're talking about the Prime 2 Cookie then I agree

[@Morgil27]

@@ExtremeAce That's not it 😁

[@isymfs]

I remember watching my big brother play the Metroid Prime games on GameCube and Wii, and just loving every moment of it. Im 25 now and just got the remastered version and Dread. I understand why my bro was a fan.

[@thefraser5131]

I have not yet finished this video, but for Prime 1 im a freak who actually enjoys the backtracking and wishes more metroids had that level of backtracking. Playing with no hints for a first playthrough was something else, so easy to get lost and every bit of progression truly feel like your own. I loved being able to expertly navigate the entirety of Tallon IV quickly without the need of even checking the map, I've been through these areas so much that I Memorized them by the end of the game. I hope Prime 4 keeps the ability to turn off the hint system (this is almost guaranteed), and has a final fetch quest like the end of Prime 1 and 2, I love the fetch quest as it gives you a reason to re-explore and gather power ups you may have missed before the end. So far great video! Now that I finished it, a Metroid the Other M video might be interesting since you alluded to "that game" a couple times. Metroid the Other M is wierd for me since it was my first Metroid game funnily enough. I agree that its the worst in the franchise, but I cant help but have a soft spot for it, since its what introduced me to the franchise after all.

[@cc_chris]

Great video. Believe it or not, I actually played the trilogy backwards back in the day, starting with Prime 3. In retrospect it's definitely way too easy with hypermode, but the art direction, music and graphics are still just as top notch as the rest of the games. Gandrayda is one of my favorite fights in all of Metroid. Lucky enough to own a steelbook copy of the collection!

[@weebonamountain3700]

This was a phenomenal video to watch. Im really happy these games are getting more attention in a large wave. I wholeheartedly relate to just about everything in this video. Exceptions, being that i enjoyed hunters a lot while corruption and its silly wii mechanics were immersive in my eyes. I do, however, agree with you on both game's weaknesses. Despite them, man, all of these games are possibly some of the best games ever made.

[@neahagglund4377]

I loved this. Thank you for an amazing review of the MP series. I loved the first Prime for the same reasons like you. But I love to get the artifacts as early as I can. ;p Prime 2 though scared THE HELL out of me aswell. I learned that if you hide long enough from the space pirates they eventually dissapear. 😂😂

[@AmateurHourProdu]

Now that all of us prime era kids are adults metroid bouta do gangbusters with all this fire content I've been seeing pop up!!

[@mjc0961]

Thank you! I feel so vindicated right now. I recently played Prime 2 and had the "what is this, why can't I hit the Grapple Guardian's weak point?!" experience I was watching videos from other people on how to fight the boss and they seemed to have no problems. It's nice to know I wasn't the only one having issues with it.

[@vancodling4223]

Playing this game optimally excludes ever traversing Magmoor from end to end. I like that a lot. Similarly, Thardus has a weakness to the plasma beam despite it being out of sequence. Love it

[@darkone739]

Prime 1 I hold very dear to me because of the memories with my grandfather. Echoes is my other favorite in terms of personal choice. I love the setting and atmosphere of the game, it has my favorite regions, with torvus being my top favorite. The themes for the regions are great too especially with how the fit each region, with Agons conveying that feeing of stillness, being nearly devoid of life, While Torvus’s is the exact opposite giving that feeling of their being a sort of serenity with life being around every corner, and then sanctuary fortress with its upbeat, energetic tone conveying that it used to be a place of scientific wonder and discovery.

[@reflectionist]

36:55 - I disagree about being "clearly" inspired by Fusion - but I get it, considering the similarities between Dark Samus and the SA-X. But the story in Prime 2 is set up almost exactly the same way that Metroid 2 - Samus Returns is set up. The mission was to land on the planet and look for the Federation Troopers that had gone quiet shortly after landing on Aether, render assistance if needed, escort the survivors to safety. Etc. In Prime 2, instead of committing a genocide against the Metroid species, your mission is to prevent the genocide of the Luminoth species.

[@autismandgaming4532]

You didn't mention that during Metroid Prime's development, the head of Retro was hosting P**n websites on Nintendo's own servers. After being rightfully kicked out of the company for this, Spanberg would go on to make The Guy Game I'm not making this up

[@PGReviews_]

Yeah, decided not to include it. Not a pleasant topic and I just thought it would be out of place for this video specifically.

[@novustalks7525]

Corruption is arguably the best of the 3. Its controls, gameplay and story go up and beyond the previous games

[@Thechozochampion]

I AM BEYOND HYYYPEEEED

[@Dzzy123]

Prime 3 is my favourite of the trilogy. I think it has the best environmental art designs of any Nintendo game. Bryyo and Elysia were breathtaking.

[@mobes8876]

Can confirm. Despite my brother and I playing Halo (I suck at FPS), we played Prime 2 multiplayer/battle mode a lot. It was stupid fun

[@Jimmylikehalo]

I love all three of these games more than any other form of media ever

[@generalcjg]

1:27:39 Two personal fun facts about the lead up to Metroid Prime 3: *1.* I actually found out about Metroid Prime 3 coming out soon because of the Club Nintendo magazines that were coming out monthly here in Mexico, I never viewed the Metroid Prime 3 Preview channel on my Wii, it was the magazines that gave me all the hype and details of the upcoming game. And *2.* I am one of those hardcore gamers that did skip playing "The Second Coming of Christ" (aka Halo 3) in favor of "Twist It! Pull It! and Bop It!" (aka Metroid Prime 3) back in the 2000s while all my other friends chose the other game, lol. Halo 3 I played it after I had first played Metroid Prime 3.

[@gubbothehuggo2771]

Back then people got stuck in a game for an entire week with either no, or very limited/useless, access to the internet and they would still confidently say that their time with it was one of the best gaming experiences ever.

[@noahaustin-em5fj]

2 things on Prime 1 1. The Meteor crashed 60 years ago. Source: Terminal in the map room on the Pirate Frigate 2. You can turn the opening narration on in the settings on remastered.

[@ermkindofcringe9401]

my phone ran out of battery right when you mentioned the hacker mode and it freaked me tf out lmao

[@user-jm6wx3nl7d]

30:17 Not gonna lie I too was like "WHAT. THE. ACTUAL FUUUUUUUU" But eventually ran in the room to investigate.

[@discordthedood2666]

Ranch enthusiast, my man!

[@danielheward8372]

I've, gone through maggmore faves so much to the point I know it like the back of my hand

[@TheRavenArchon]

Prime is my favorite game of all time. I was a massive fan of Super Metroid when it was first teased and by the time it launched I was foaming at the mouth for it and convinced my siblings to pool our allowances and trade in a ton of our N64 games to afford a brand new shiny Platinum GCN and Metroid Prime on launch day (along with a couple games they wanted too, to be fair. Like Smash Melee.). I have played this game through probably dozens of times, and I just want to say in all this time I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD KILL TRICLOPSES WITH BOMBS. I did an actual double take when I saw that in one of your clips and now I feel like an idiot. Edit: Also, I know I'm in the minority, and I kind'a get it, but I had zero problem with Prime's backtracking and actually genuinely love it. Magmoor is basically a subway and everywhere in the game is like one or two stops away from anywhere else in the game and I loved all the retreading. Made me get genuinely attached to several of the rooms in the game how often I revisited them. General backtracking and artifact hunting were also probably helped by the fact that I am insanely thorough and even on my first playthrough I had over half the artifacts before I even knew about the hunt. I personally found Prime 2 to be worse in this regard, because it locked so many things off and had so many one-way traps, where you'd go down a path and then the path would lock off and you couldn't return that way till you found a certain item, typically much later. And the one-ways don't appear on the map in any way, so I would often fall for them more than once while item hunting mid-game. Still love Prime 2 and also bought it day one, but between what I feel to be less visually interesting, and less well designed maps (Sanctuary Fortress is an exception), and the dark world it actually rates third for me in the trilogy. Although I think all of them are 9.X/10 games.

[@froggie_oggie]

19:25 I had the same issue with the Grapple Lasso until I realized that you should always wait a second until your beam turns yellow to pull, that indicates the earliest possible time you can yoink whatever you're targeting The game should say this, but whatever, it feels way better once you know this

[@PGReviews_]

Yes, this can make the ability more consistent, but there were times where the nunchuk shake still wouldn’t be detected even after waiting a bit. Could just be my nunchuk; who knows? Gotta love motion controls!

[@LittleRedKuma]

31:59 the same thing happen to me in this spot. After getting back here I realised I had no bombs, so ended up having to backtrack quite a bit just to get a single bomb 😂.

[@ScarletStarManor]

Here's what I felt like MEtriod prime 3 should of done for the whole gameplay thematic and mechanics: Make it so the phazon infection happens, and then the gameplay from that point on becomes a mix of risk and reward where she winds having to do more Dark Samus esque actions to survive as she tries to overcome the corruption. She no longer can heal normally through the pick ups, the pick ups for healing are gone, instead, she has to engage the Phazon device to draw energy from enemies, kind of like a metriod. She gets a Beam combo from her power beam (or just use the grapple beam) where she tethers and drains the life out of a targeted enemy to restore health, if she does it too much in one time, she becomes corrupted, and now has to sacrafice a chunk of health to fire off shots. Each time she becomes corrupted, her max slots for her energy tanks gets damaged and locked out until the next save room. In hard mode, doing this has no cap and if you do it too much, you get a bad ending: where she fully becomes corrupted and turns into essentially another Dark Samus.

[@Thebluedud]

Just wanting to chime in on Prime Hunters, I think it's fair for what it is and the singleplayer can be very atmospheric at times. But yeah, it definitely is kind of that "FPS with Metroid Elements" people were afraid Prime 1 would be. Luckily, it came out during the "Golden Age" of Metroid, so I'm very willing to overlook the sore spots and focus on the good. I'd unironically like to see a Metroid Prime Hunters 2 some day.

[@TwilightWolf032]

The issues with Hypermode would have been solved with two simple changes: 1. After Hypermode ends, you enter a cooldown period so you can't just enter and exit it at will; 2. Enemies entering Hypermode do not disrupt the X-Ray visor. My issues with the Hypermode are mostly that it can be spammed and enemies around you in Hypermode render the visors useless, so you can't even use the X-Ray + Nova combo on enemies that do have weak spots and would make the most sense to defeat that way given the extra armor they have from the powerup.