Metroid Prime Trilogy: The games of my childhood

I have no shame in admitting I’m an avid gamer. We all have that one special game, that one gem that connected with us and kept us hooked more than any other. For some, that game was Pokémon, Mario, Ratchet & Clank, or one of many, many others.

Me? I’ve played those games, the ones whom anyone could put a case forward for it being the ‘best game ever’. In my eyes, only one holds the true crown. And that is the outright masterpiece that is: the Metroid Prime Trilogy.

Now I know, the first thing you’ll say (if you care that much) is something along the lines of ‘that’s actually 3 games you pillock‘ but they’re all packaged on a single disc, and they tie in rather closely and almost feel like ‘episodes’ of the same game. For me, it’s the vibe and experience itself that puts Prime Trilogy a class above the rest. This one small section of the Metroid franchise, introduced to shift the gameplay from side-scroller to first-person shooter, was the perfect step to breathe new life into the series. I recently decided to play through the Prime games again after spending much of my later childhood totally addicted to them.
In case you don’t know, the Metroid games involve playing as a bounty hunter named Samus, equipped with her Power Suit as she travels the stars, exploring open worlds and defeating alien threats. The Prime subset continues this perfectly in a FPS style, and it makes for a whale of a time.

From the moment you pop into the first game, Metroid Prime, the eerie atmosphere of the abandoned Tallon Overworld is an unforgettable feeling. There are pathways leading everywhere, but some are locked; upgrades from other locations are needed. As you venture through stunning locations like the icy Phenandra Drifts, the firey Magmoor Caverns, and the creepy Phazon Mines, you feel a slowly building sense of power and excitement as you collect different beam upgrades and find new ways to take out enemies; regular Space Pirates and menacing bosses alike. Facing the mighty Metroid Prime itself at the end is an intense battle to say the least – I’d never fought a boss as complex and as thrilling as that. Finishing Prime almost – almost – felt disappointing for me, as I couldn’t let it go. I wanted to play more of this monster of a game! But notice the ‘almost’ – that’s because I still had two more games left to play!

Echoes, the second Prime game, focused around a planet that had been split into two dimensions – a light world and a dark world, and many of the puzzles and upgrades required the use of both sides to progress. The game had a very bipolar feel to it which gave it another direction to explore – it didn’t feel like a repeat, which was brilliant. Likewise, the third game, Corruption, had a more space-y feel than the others, and the fact you were working with other bounty hunters (which were all eventually  corrupted and turned evil) exhibited that same loneliness you experience in the other Prime games; only it was a gradual distancing instead of being thrown in at the deep end. The Hypermode mechanic was one of the greatest things about this instalment – you’d sacrifice one energy tank of health for temporarily boosted weapons. Knowing it could instantly kill Samus if overused made it a bittersweet blessing, leaving you right on the edge whenever you activated it. I was a nervous wreck every time I used the bloody thing.

The final level of Corruption has you on the planet Phaaze – the world where the substance Phazon, which fuels Hypermode, comes from – and you’re stuck in permanent Hypermode, essentially making it a long, intense race against time to make it to the final boss before you succumb to corruption. And the final boss? Only the Metroid Prime itself again, taking the form of a ‘dark’ version of Samus. Never have I been so satisfied to defeat a video game baddy.

Having said all this, I still can’t put a finger on one aspect that makes Prime Trilogy the thing of beauty that it is. It could be the mysteriousness and the feeling of not always knowing where you’re meant to go. It could be the sense of power you gain from the immense array of weapons and abilities you collect. Hell, it could be the fact that you can’t save your progress without wandering about to find a save station first. But it’s the combination of these elements that solidify it as a trilogy you can return to over and over again. There’s a reason I’ve racked up hundreds of hours on it – it’s an absolute triumph in modern video gaming. Simply put? It’s a work of art.