20 years on, Metroid Prime 2 represents the franchise at its experimental best
Follow above Metroid Prime will never be easy. Although many people (including this writer) still doubt Retro Studios’ ability to make the move Metroids into a 3D, first-person world, the team not only managed to successfully execute on the established Nintendo franchise, but also created one of the best games of all time.
How the heck can you achieve that? Good, Metroid Prime 2: Echo Are not rather reached similar heights to its predecessor, and it’s often considered the lesser entry in the final trilogy (though honestly, even the worst Prime game is better than the majority of games out there). other). That said, it will always be one of my personal favorites in the franchise thanks to its bold experimentation with parallel worlds.
Although parallel worlds were hardly an entirely new concept in 2004 (hell, Zelda: A Connection to the Past managed it over a decade ago), its implementation in Prime 2 blew my 15 year old mind. It fundamentally changes the way you approach exploration: by creating a deadly atmosphere within the Dark Aether that slowly damages Samus if she even touches it, you need to take advantage of it. Safe bubbles’ scattered throughout the environment to maintain his health.
This means you can’t stop and wander around like you might have done in OG Metroid Prime. Unless you’re safely ensconced in a permanent bubble, you need to keep moving. There are even bubbles that you can quickly activate, but they won’t last long; Soon, they will shrink to nothing and you will need to reactivate it or just take it to the nearest safe location.
The crossover between Aether and Dark Aether really highlights the tonal differences between each area. The former is a bit quieter and more forgiving, while the latter constantly scares you with its purple color scheme and formidable ‘Warrior Ing’ enemies. While not many people are interested in this, it really helps incorporate the exploration aspect, as Prime 2 doesn’t benefit from spectacular biomes like the Phendrana Drifts in the first game.
More than anything, this is perhaps the most unique, experimental feature in the entire Metroid series. Sure, Metroid’s horror Introducing EMMI sections, Combination added to SA-X and enemies Element 3: Corruption includes some neat motion control mechanics to take advantage of the Wii. But Metroid, as great as it is, has always played it pretty safe with new ideas, and Prime 2’s dual world mechanics are perhaps the boldest and most exciting of the bunch.
It’s a shame that the game isn’t so highly regarded beyond die-hard Metroid fans. Retro Studios has made some notable improvements over the original, including reducing the need to reshoot multiple times, along with incredible additions to Samus’ armor and weapons.
Its reputation has taken some hits over the years thanks to the aforementioned ‘safe bubble’ mechanic and the terrible Spider Guardian boss, but otherwise it’s a great game and deserves to stand side by side Metroid Prime Remastered on Switch.
So what, Nintendo?
Did you play Metroid Prime 2: Echoes back in the day? What did you make of the whole dual world mechanic? Let us know what you think and whether it should come to Switch by commenting below.
