Metroid Prime Remastered is a hi-fi return to the home planet for anyone who played Nintendoâs iconic action-adventure game when it first came out back in 2002. But Remastered is also a fresh opportunity for those of us who were sleeping or busy being literal children back thenâa first chance to be Primeâs version of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, this time in vibrant color and with modern controls. I learned a lot from my first trip around oozing Tallon IV, and Iâm ready to impart it onto you. Here are some things I wish someone told me before I started playing Metroid Prime Remastered
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Try reverting your controls to âclassicâ or âhybridâ if youâre prone to FPS motion sickness
Remastered has extensive accessibility and controller options, both of which are worth a look.
From âdisplay,â you can customize a few heads-up display features, including whether or not it moves with Samusâ first-person movements, and turn on a âcolor assistâ feature if you canât distinguish between certain colors.
From âsound,â aside from typical special effects and music adjustment, you can also choose to turn on âfullâ or âpartialâ narration and subtitles, which were added to the game for their original Japanese and European releases, respectively. The narration is sparse, only really occurring at the start and very end of the game, but it could be intriguing for U.S. fans of the series curious about international versions.
And from the âcontrolsâ option, you can choose to play using the default dual stick option, âpointer,â which âenables motion controls for camera movement and aimingâ and is modeled after the Metroid Prime: Trilogyâs Wii settings; âclassic,â which reverts you to GameCube controls; or âhybrid,â which blends GameCube with âmotion controls for aiming.â I played mostly with modern standard dual stick controls, but noticed that hybridâs gummier up-and-down motions were useful for keeping my motion sickness in check. They all deserve a test drive, though, either for fun or for nostalgia.
Lock on to enemies
Remastered uses ZL as an enemy lock-on button, but it wasnât the kind of combat lock-on Iâm used toâit more or less imbues you with perfect aim. For me, using it at first felt like cheating, but it ultimately pushed me off of thinking about Remastered as a first-person shooter. Itâs a meandering adventure game where kills arenât nearly as important as exploring every lit corridor, so you might as well shoot as well as you can with the tools the game gives you.
Press B and strafe
Locking on to enemies also allows you to strafe, or jump seamlessly around them, by pressing B and pushing your right stick to either side. The effective dodge isnât possible without locking on, and itâs the best way to avoid health-melting enemy attacks while keeping a battle fast-paced.
Make sure youâre using every type of dodge you can, though, especially during Space Pirate fights when you need to defend your front, back, and head from obnoxious flying goons. Even if youâre not locked on to any particular enemy, keep pressing B to jump over attacks. Youâre not above hiding behind crates either.
Smash every crate
When youâre not hiding behind crates, you should be cracking them open. They often contain health and ammoâsomething to keep in mind if youâre running low during a fight. Be cautious around crates with glowing orange innards, though. Though they also contain items, they can explode and kill you. Harvest them from a safe distance.
Though, throughout your travels, youâll grab up to 14 Energy Tanks to expand your health bar by 100 points a pop. Ultimately, thatâs a lot of health, and you donât really need to stress about preserving it the way another game might force you to. But it can get cut down quick, especially by magma pools or other environmental hazards, so guard it a bit. Checking out your health bar also lets you know how urgently you need to pick up the loose orbs of health and ammo enemies tend to drop.
Hold A during battle
Holding A down not only charges Samusâ Power Beam, but also activates its magnet-like ability to suck fallen enemiesâ dropped items toward you. Need more missiles but the only item drop is suspended in the air, just out of reach? Thatâs fine. Vacuum that shit up. Combining this habit while getting used to kicking crates will make sure that health and ammo are never too much of a concern during huge skirmishes.
Target sentry drones for more missiles
Sometimes getting stuck is inevitable. While Samusâ default Power Beam and many of its variationsâplasma, ice, purple waves of sizzling electricityâfire infinitely, missiles are limited and require your discretion. Theyâre the only weapon able to open certain types of doors and, in the early game, are one of the most effective ways to eliminate bosses and thick-skinned enemies like sentry drones, so you can, naturally, run out rather fast. Then, you might, naturally, get upset. You donât need to be, though. Sentry drones tend to drop missiles more than other enemies. When youâre in a bind, simply head to the Monitor Station in Magmoor Caverns and kill them all.
Donât forget to scan
Samus receives a few useful helmet visors throughout the game, including the thermal visor, which will help you find enemies in the dark; x-ray visor, which similarly lets you detect invisible enemies; and the scan visor you start out with.
The scan visor, which adds environmental observations and analysis to Samusâ logbook, might be nerdy, but itâs by far the most important visor in her arsenal. Using it reveals useful information about enemies and new areas, unlocks doors, and elevators.
And donât be lazy when you use itâtake a few seconds to actually read the information it provides you. Not only will it provide a deeper understanding of the gameâs story, but it also tells you crucial next steps. Itâll point out crumbling blocks of stone, for example, so you can figure out the best place to use Samusâ Morph Ball bombs when sheâs in her transformed, metal roly-poly form. It explains enemiesâ weak pointsâeven bossesâ weak points. Itâs essential for navigating Tallon IV.
Donât waste your time on enemies you canât kill
Scanning also keeps things moving. Donât be like me and wonder why the ice-capped beetles keep stabbing and poking and just wonât die when the scan visor could have told you 10 minutes ago that you donât have the right weapon to kill them. Read what you scan, and let what you learn inform your approach to combat.
Make sure hints are on
Scanning isnât a cure-all, though. As a first time Metroid Prime player, I was often confused about where to go next. Hints, which you can flip on in settings, make sure I didnât spin in circles for too long. If you spend too long idling, a question mark hint will appear on your map and gently guide you in the right direction.
When it doubt, go back to where you came from
Even without hints, take the age-old advice and retrace your footsteps. Metroid Prime requires you to scavenge the same places over and over again but, each time, you come back changed. Phendrana Drifts will look different once you get your springy space boots, and youâll form a unique relationship with gravity once you secure a Morph Ball alteration that lets you sail up walls and railings like a scrawny spider.
Iâm impatient, so I often sighed when Remastered made it clear that I was supposed to double backâŠwhich was most of the time. But checking out old corners with new gear makes them exciting again, and, as a treat, youâll also get beneficial power-ups and expansions you werenât ready for before.
Get extreme Boost Ball height by letting go at the last second
One of, I thought, the most annoying parts of turning back was realizing I had to turn back, curl Samus into a ball, and knock her around a steep ramp until she gained enough momentum to make a huge jump. These sections are aggravating. They might make you feel like the game is fundamentally broken and that you should flush your Switch down the toilet with your childhood goldfish. But itâs not that big of a deal; it takes a little finesse.
Hit boost while youâre only starting to move up a curve, then let go when youâre near the top. Thatâs the most reliable method to get in the air, but if you do it enough times, youâll start to feel a rhythm for it.
Learn what an upgrade sounds like
Remastered is filled with hidden mazes and rooms, and itâs possible that youâll miss an upgrade while standing right in front of it (I did!). But expansions and suit upgrades give off a (very) faint whirring sound when youâre near them. Turn down the music and crank up the SFX in settings to help you identify it.
Circle back to save points
Once youâve found something important, try to hurry to your closest save point. Like the original, Remastered doesnât allow you to save whenever or wherever, so respect your progress and save your game when the map lets you.
What are some of your most helpful Metroid Prime Remastered tips?
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