Metroid Prime

***Metroid Prime*** is a video game developed by Retro Studios and Nintendo for the GameCube console.[5] It was released in North America on November 17, 2002, and in Japan and Europe the following year. *Metroid Prime* is the fifth main installment and the first 3D game in the *Metroid* series. Because exploration takes precedence over combat, Nintendo classifies *Metroid Prime* as a first-person adventure rather than a first-person shooter.[6] On the same day as its North American release, Nintendo also released the Game Boy Advance game *Metroid Fusion*, marking the return of the *Metroid* series after an eight-year hiatus following *Super Metroid* (1994).[7] In 2009, an enhanced version was released for Wii as a standalone game in Japan and as part of *Metroid Prime: Trilogy* internationally.[8] The *Trilogy* compilation was re-released for Wii U on January 29, 2015, as a digital download in the Nintendo eShop.[3][4]

*Metroid Prime* is the first of the three-part *Prime* storyline, which takes place between the original *Metroid* and *Metroid II: Return of Samus*.[9][10] Like previous games in the series, *Metroid Prime* has a science fiction setting in which players control the bounty hunter Samus Aran. The story follows Samus as she battles the Space Pirates and their biological experiments on the planet Tallon IV.

The game was a collaboration between Retro's staff in Austin, Texas, and Japanese Nintendo employees, including producer Shigeru Miyamoto,
 who suggested the project after visiting Retro's headquarters in 2000.
Despite initial backlash against the game's first-person perspective,[11] the game garnered universal acclaim and commercial success, selling more than a million units in North America alone.[12]
 It won a number of Game of the Year awards, and it is considered by
many critics and gamers to be one of the greatest video games ever made,
 remaining one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic.[13]

## Contents

* 1 Synopsis
	+ 1.1 Background and setting
	+ 1.2 Plot
* 2 Gameplay
	+ 2.1 Items
* 3 Development
	+ 3.1 Audio
	+ 3.2 Versions
* 4 Reception
	+ 4.1 Legacy
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Synopsis

### Background and setting

*Metroid Prime* is the first of the three-part *Prime* storyline. Retro Studios wrote an extensive storyline for *Metroid Prime*,[14] which was considered a major difference from previous *Metroid* games.[15] Short cutscenes
 appear before important battles. The Scan Visor can be used to read
records, examine objects, interact with electronics, and hack Space
Pirate computers.

The *Prime* trilogy is set between the events of *Metroid* and *Metroid II*,[9][10] but according to some sources, including Gradiente—Brazil's former Nintendo distributor— and the *Nintendo Power* comics adaptation of *Metroid Prime*,[16] the events in the *Prime* games occur after *Super Metroid*.
 This is supported by some of the log entries in Metroid Prime, which
refer to the destruction of Zebes at the hands of "a hunter clad in
metal". The Brazilian publicity states that the Phazon meteor is a piece
 of Zebes, which was destroyed after *Super Metroid*.[17] In *Metroid Prime 3: Corruption*, however, it was confirmed that the meteor was a "Leviathan" from the planet Phaaze.[18]

The game takes place on planet Tallon IV, formerly inhabited by the Chozo race.[19]
 Five decades before the game's events, the Chozo civilization fell
after a meteor collided into Tallon IV. The said meteor contaminated the
 planet with a corrupting substance that the Space Pirates named
"Phazon",[19][20] and also brought with it a creature known to the Chozo as "The Worm".[21]
 A large containment field emitter of the "Artifact Temple" in the
Tallon Overworld area was designed as a seal to the meteor's energies
and influence within the crater where it landed,[22] which the Space Pirates attempt to disable or bypass in order to gain better access in order to extract the Phazon.[23] The containment field is controlled by twelve Chozo artifacts that are scattered around the planet.[24][25] The player assumes the role of the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who receives a distress signal from Space Pirate Frigate *Orpheon*
 and travels to Tallon IV to investigate and stop the Space Pirate
activity she found. Her investigation leads her to stop the Space
Pirates from exploiting Phazon and stop the spread of Phazon on Tallon
IV.[24][19]

### Plot

* ***Metroid Prime***
* *Hunters*
* *Echoes*
* *Corruption*
* *Return of Samus*
* *Super Metroid*
* *Other M*
* *Fusion*

Samus intercepts a distress signal from the Space Pirate frigate *Orpheon*, whose crew have been slaughtered by the Pirates' own genetically modified,
 experimental subjects. At the ship's core, she battles with the
Parasite Queen—a giant version of the tiny parasites aboard the ship.
The Parasite Queen is defeated and falls into the ship's reactor core,
initiating the destruction of the ship. While Samus is escaping from the
 doomed frigate, she encounters a cybernetic version of Ridley
 called Meta Ridley. During her escape, an electrical surge and
explosion destroys her suit upgrades, forcing her to revert to her
original Power Suit. Samus escapes the frigate and chases her nemesis in
 her gunship towards the nearby planet Tallon IV.[26]

Samus initially lands on Tallon IV at a rainforest location referred
to as "Tallon Overworld". After a brief period of exploring, she
discovers the Chozo Ruins, the remains of the Chozo civilization.[26]
 After further investigation, Samus learns that many years ago, the
planet was struck by a meteor, which carried with it a substance the
Chozo and Space Pirates call Phazon.[20] The meteor also contained a creature called "The Worm".[21] The Chozo built an Artifact Temple over the crater to contain "The Worm" and to stop the Phazon from spreading over the planet.[22] The temple's sealed entrance is controlled by twelve Chozo artifacts, which must be found to gain access to the crater.[25] After obtaining the Varia Suit in the ruins, Samus finds her way to the Magmoor Caverns, a series of magma-filled underground tunnels, which are used by the Space Pirates as a source of geothermal power
 and connect the game's areas together. Following the tunnels, Samus
travels to the Phendrana Drifts, a cold, mountainous location which is
home to an ancient Chozo ruin and Space Pirate research labs used to
study Metroids,
 as well as ice caves and valleys home to electrical and ice-creatures.
After obtaining the Gravity Suit in Phendrana, Samus explores the
interior of the crashed *Orpheon*, then infiltrates the Phazon
Mines—the mining and research complex which is the center of the Space
Pirates' Tallon IV operations. Here she battles Phazon-enhanced Space
Pirates and obtains the Phazon Suit after defeating the monstrous,
Phazon-mutated Omega Pirate.[26]

During her exploration of Tallon IV, Samus finds the twelve keys to
the Artifact Temple and lore recorded by the Chozo and the Space
Pirates, providing insight into the history of the planet and the two
races' colonization of it. As Samus puts the final key in place, Meta
Ridley appears and attacks her. Samus defeats it with help from the
temple's defensive artillery. The Chozo Artifacts and Phazon Suit allow
Samus to enter the Impact Crater, where she finds the so-called "Worm":
the Metroid Prime,
 the source of the Phazon on Tallon IV. After she defeats it, all the
Phazon on Tallon IV disappears, but the Metroid Prime absorbs Samus's
Phazon Suit in a final effort to survive, reverting her armor to the
Gravity Suit. Samus escapes the collapsing crater and leaves Tallon IV
in her ship. In a post-credits scene,
 only viewable if the player has collected all of the items, Metroid
Prime uses the Phazon Suit to reconstruct its body, becoming the entity
known as Dark Samus—one of the antagonists of *Metroid Prime 2: Echoes* and the main antagonist of *Metroid Prime 3: Corruption*.[26]

## Gameplay

Samus facing a Flying Pirate, surrounded by a crosshair; also shown are: immediate area danger level (left), radar (top left), health status (top middle), mini-map (top right), missile ammo (right), current/available beams (lower right), and current/available visors (lower left).

See also: Gameplay of the Metroid series

As in previous *Metroid* games, *Metroid Prime* takes place in a large, open-ended
 world in which regions are connected by elevators. Each region has a
set of rooms separated by doors that can be opened with a shot from the
correct beam. The gameplay involves solving puzzles to reveal secrets, platform jumping, and shooting foes with the help of a "lock-on" mechanism that allows circle strafing while staying aimed at the enemy. *Metroid Prime* is the first game in the *Metroid* series to use a first-person
 view instead of side-scrolling, except in Morph Ball mode, when Samus'
suit transforms into an armored ball and the game uses a third-person camera.[27]

The protagonist, Samus Aran, must travel through the world of Tallon
IV searching for twelve Chozo Artifacts that will open the path to the
Phazon meteor impact crater, while collecting power-ups
 that enable the player to reach previously inaccessible areas. The
Varia Suit, for example, protects Samus' armor against dangerously high
temperatures, allowing her to enter volcanic regions. Some of the items
are obtained after boss
 and mini-boss fights, which are encountered in all regions except
Magmoor Caverns. Items must be collected in a specific order so that the
 player may progress. For example, players cannot access certain areas
until they find a certain Beam to open doors, or discover new ordnance
with which to beat bosses.[24][28]
 In common with previous games in the series, the player must return to
areas already explored to retrieve items that were previously
inaccessible.

The heads-up display, which simulates the inside of Samus' helmet, features a radar display, a map, ammunition for missiles, a health meter,
 a danger meter for negotiating hazardous landscape or materials, and a
health bar and name display for bosses. The display can be altered by
exchanging visors; one uses thermal imaging,
 another has x-ray vision, and another features a scanner that searches
for enemy weaknesses and interfaces with mechanisms such as force fields
 and elevators.[24] *Metroid Prime* introduces a hint system that provides the player with clues about ways to progress through the game.[29]

### Items

While Samus is in Morph Ball form, the view changes to a third-person camera.

Throughout the game, players must find and collect items that improve
 Samus's arsenal and suit, including weapons, armor upgrades for Samus's
 Power Suit and items that grant abilities—including the Morph Ball
which allows Samus to roll into narrow passages and drop energy bombs,
and the Grapple Beam which works by latching onto special hooks called
grapple points, allowing Samus to swing across gaps. Unlike those in
earlier games in the series, the beam weapons in *Metroid Prime*
have no stacking ability, in which the traits of each beam merge.
Instead, the player must cycle the four beam weapons; there are charge
combos with radically different effects for each.[24]

Items from previous *Metroid* games appear with altered functions. Art galleries and different endings are unlockable if the player collects a high percentage of items and Scan Visor logs. *Prime* is one of the first *Metroid*
 games to address the reason Samus does not start with power-ups
acquired in previous games; she begins the game with some upgrades,
including the Varia Suit, Missiles and Grapple Beam, but they are lost
during an explosion on the Space Pirate frigate *Orpheon*.[30]
 The producers stated that starting with some power-ups was a way to
give the player "different things to do" and to learn the functions of
these items before settling into the core gameplay.[31]

Players can gain two features by connecting *Prime* with *Metroid Fusion* using a Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable: use of the Fusion Suit that Samus wears in *Fusion* and the ability to play the original *Metroid*.[24][32]

## Development

Concept artwork of the Impact Crater

Further information: History of Retro Studios

After *Super Metroid*, fans of the series eagerly awaited a sequel. It was allegedly due for release for the Nintendo 64, but while the game was mentioned several times,[33] it never entered production. Producer Shigeru Miyamoto said this was because Nintendo "couldn't come out with any concrete ideas".[34] *Metroid* co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto
 said that he considered creating a new installment for the Nintendo 64,
 but was not interested in being part of its development, mainly because
 of the console's controller. He said, "I just couldn't imagine how it
could be used to move Samus around". Sakamoto also said Nintendo
approached another company to make an N64 *Metroid*, but the offer was declined because the developers thought they could not make a game that could equal *Super Metroid*‍ '​s standards.[35]

*Metroid Prime* was a collaboration between Retro Studios and important Nintendo EAD and R&D1
 members. The overall game design was a collaborative effort, while the
art and engineering was done entirely at Retro, and the music was fully
handled in Japan.[5] Retro Studios was created in 1998 by an alliance between Nintendo and Iguana Entertainment founder Jeff Spangenberg. The studio would create games for the forthcoming Nintendo GameCube targeted at a mature demographic.[36] After establishing its offices in Austin, Texas
 in 1999, Retro started working on four different GameCube projects.
When producer Shigeru Miyamoto visited Retro in 2000, he suggested the
development of a new *Metroid* game after seeing the prototype of a first-person shooter engine they created.[37] In 2000 and early 2001, three games in development at Retro were canceled,[38] and in July 2001, an RPG called *Raven Blade* was terminated, leaving *Prime* as the only game in development there.[39]
 During the last nine months of development, Retro's staff worked 80 to
100-hour weeks to reach the deadline imposed by Nintendo.[37]

"We didn't want to make just another first person shooter. [...]
Making a first person shooter would have been a cheap and easy way to
go. But making sure the themes and concepts in Metroid were kept was
something that we wanted to do. And translating those things into 3D was
 a real challenge. For example, translating the morph ball was one of
the hardest things to do."

—Michael Kelbaugh, Retro Studios president since 2003[40]

The Japanese crew, which included producers Miyamoto, Kensuke Tanabe, Kenji Miki and game designer and *Metroid*
 co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto, communicated with the Texas-based studio
through e-mails, telephone conferences and personal gatherings. The game
 was originally planned as having third-person perspective gameplay, but
 after Miyamoto intervened this was changed to first-person perspective
and almost everything already developed was scrapped. The change from
third-person perspective was prompted by camera problems experienced by Rare Ltd., which was developing *Jet Force Gemini*. According to game director Mark Pacini,
 Miyamoto "felt that shooting in third person was not very intuitive";
Pacini also said that exploration is easier using first-person.[40]
 Pacini said that after picking that perspective, the crew decided not
to make a traditional first-person shooter. He said, "We weren't trying
to fit in that genre. We had to break down the stereotypes of what a
first-person game is and make a fun *Metroid* game.[5]

Pacini stated that Retro tried to design the game so that the only
difficult parts would be boss battles and players would not be afraid to
 explore because "the challenge of the game was finding your way
around".[41]
 Senior designer Mike Wikan also said that the focus on exploration led
the development team to spend much time making the platform jumping
"approachable to the player", and to ensure the resulting gameplay had
"shooting [as] a very important, though secondary, consideration".[42] Retro Studios developed the storyline of *Metroid Prime*
 under the supervision of Yoshio Sakamoto, who verified that the plot
ideas were consistent with the lore of the series' earlier games.[14] The developers intended that Kraid, a boss from *Metroid* and *Super Metroid*, would appear in *Prime*;
 designer Gene Kohler modeled and skinned him for that purpose. However,
 time constraints prevented Kraid from being included in the final
version of the game.[43] The development team considered implementing the Speed Booster power-up from *Super Metroid*
 but they considered that it would not work well because of the
first-person perspective and the "limitations imposed by the scale of
our environment", and discarded it.[42]

The first public appearance of the game was a ten-second video at SpaceWorld 2000.[44]
 In November of the same year, Retro Studios confirmed its involvement
with the game in the "job application" part of its website.[45]
 In February 2001, the game was confirmed by Nintendo, which also
announced that because of its emphasis on exploration and despite the
first-person perspective, *Metroid Prime* would be a first-person adventure rather than a first-person shooter.[6] In May 2001, the game was showcased at E3 2001, with its name confirmed as *Metroid Prime*.[46]
 The first views of the game drew a mixed reactions from fans because of
 the change from 2D side-scrolling to 3D first-person navigation.[11]

### Audio

Kenji Yamamoto, assisted by Kouichi Kyuuma, composed the music for *Prime*. The soundtrack contains arrangements
 of tracks from previous games in the series because Yamamoto wanted "to
 satisfy old Metroid fans. It's like a present for them", he said.[47] The initial Tallon Overworld theme is a reinterpretation of *Metroid*‍ '​s Brinstar theme, the music heard in Magmoor Caverns is a new version of the music from *Super Metroid*‍
 '​s Lower Norfair area, and the music heard during the fight with Meta
Ridley is a fast-paced reimagining of the Ridley boss music first
featured in *Super Metroid*—which has reappeared in most *Metroid* games since. Tommy Tallarico Studios initially provided sound effects for the game,[48] but Shigeru Miyamoto thought they were not yet good enough for an extended presentation at SpaceWorld 2001.[49] The game supports Dolby Pro Logic II setups and can be played in surround sound.[30] The official soundtrack to the game was released on an album called *Metroid Prime and Fusion Original Soundtracks*, which was supervised by Yamamoto.[50]

### Versions

*Prime* was released for the GameCube in five versions. The original North American and Japanese NTSC
 versions and the second North American version, which contained minor
changes, all used a loader that sometimes caused the game to crash in
specific rooms. The European PAL version resolved these glitches and contained altered elements of the gameplay to prevent sequence breaking,
 a slower loader that prevented the occasional crashes, slightly
different story details, and narration in the opening and closing
scenes. Some of these changes were carried over from the PAL version to
the NTSC region's Player's Choice re-release, along with additional changes not made in other releases.[51] This version, which was bundled with a silver GameCube, also contained a second disc featuring a preview trailer and a demo for *Metroid Prime 2: Echoes*, a timeline of *Metroid* games, and an art gallery.[52]

*Metroid Prime* was re-released in Japan in 2009 for Wii as part of the New Play Control! series. It has improved controls that use the Wii Remote's pointing functionality. The credit system from *Corruption* is also included to unlock the original bonus content and the ability to take snapshots of gameplay.[53] Internationally, the Wii version was released in *Metroid Prime: Trilogy*, a single-disc compilation containing *Prime*, *Echoes*, and *Corruption* for Wii, and digitally through the Nintendo eShop for Wii U.[4][8]