Topic: Tried to play Metroid Prime: Trilogy

[gpw11]

Started the first one, got like an hour in and just couldn't take it. I tried it years ago and liked it but it hasn't aged well at all.  480i stretched out over 46" is hard to take and then I got to that wasp boss right before the missiles and just turned it off.

I'm going to hold onto it, but I think that's pretty much it for me.  Skyward Sword at least doesn't look like there's Vaseline all over the screen, so I'll probably give that a go.

Nintendo could fucking clean up with HD remakes like Sony does (Ratchet and Clank Collection is the bomb by the way)

[Quemaqua]

I doubt I'll ever buy another system, and I no longer have my Wii, which I gave to the ex. That also had the Prime trilogy on it, so I never got to finish 3.

[gpw11]

I figure I'll probably always have something as a netflix machine/media server, but I have so many games to play casually on my PS3 right now that I either got for dirt cheap because I didn't have a console for YEARS that I don't think I'll be getting something else until it's dead and the next console generation is going out.

I think my days of PC gaming at all are dead as soon as my Core2Duo goes though.

[W7RE]

I was super excited about Metroid Prime. Bought it new, got a couple hours in, and gave up because of the controls not being FPS enough. I haven't bothered with the series at all since then.

[Quemaqua]

I loved it. Played through it I think twice, and loved the shit out of Prime 2. I'm still sad I'll never get to beat 3. They were games of pretty amazing design at the time.

[Cobra951]

The controls put me off at first, but I quickly adapted.  That's a very special game to me.

OK, I just had to go fire it up.  First of all, on the Wii, it asks if you want progressive mode (480p).  That helps a great deal.  The gamecubes which allow a component hookup should give you the same choice.  I don't stretch it, though.  I leave it at 4:3.  Looks great on a 23" LCD.  The controls, yeah, totally alien now.  It took me a minute just to remember how to do the most basic things.  It didn't help that the save file I loaded was 98% complete, and at the Tallon world.

I could easily get into this game again now.  The memories came flooding back fast.  If you can power through the wonky outdated control scheme, it's very much worth it.

[scottws]

I played MP on a Gamecube paired with a 27" CRT.  I haven't tried to hook it up to a modern TV and haven't played it since near release.  I also own MP2 for Gamecube, but never played it. 

It's amazing to think about how much has changed since then.

[gpw11]

Is there really a bug difference with 480p vs 480i?  I've thought about buying the component cables but figured it might not be worth it. 

I really want to like the games but just can not get into it ( I tried about a year ago as well)

[Cobra951]

If you can get the cables cheap enough, yeah, it's a big difference on a digital flat screen.  It all depends on how much you're going to be using them, though.  If you're going to look at just the one game for 10 minutes, then lose interest and put it away, don't bother.  I never did get GC component cables.  The best I did there was S-video.  The component hookup is on the Wii, which also happens to work as a very capable GC.

[gpw11]

Its a Wii I'm using and I think I'll get the cable...they're cheap enough, I play it occasionally with peeps when they're over and I'd like to make more use of it and hopefully give Prime a try again.

Should I maybe just skip the first one and bump right up to the third?

[Cobra951]

On the 3rd, set the controls to Advanced immediately, and the game will become the one and only glimpse of how good FPS controls can be with the Wiimote.  The aspect ratio will be wide too, but only through component.  You definitely want the cables for a Wii.  Don't forget to change the display settings.  It won't happen automatically.

But I would still play the first MP at some point.  Love it.

[sirean_syan]

I would also stick with the first as well. Three is the worst of the bunch and while personally enjoyed 2 the most it is predicated on how it builds off of 1. I'd also say the first is still the best on a purely design level. Once you get to 480p it still looks fairly good. Really, the only thing holding the game back still is resolution. If anything ever needed an HD update it would be the Primes. Of course, it's Nintendo and they sorta seem like they want to disown them from the franchise after Other M so they're probably going to languish for another while.

It's hard for me to be objective about the games though. As someone who often claims that Metroid is their favorite series I think Prime 1 is, in a lot ways, the best representation of what the series is really about in my own head. I also think it's so well put together that I don't feel bad saying it is the best game of the PS2/GC/Xbox era. It was one of the first games that really felt like it showed a believable world that told its story through its locations and is still a high mark for that idea (if not the high mark).

I should go back and play them, but then I'd need to bust out the Wii again.

[Cobra951]

As someone who often claims that Metroid is their favorite series I think Prime 1 is, in a lot ways, the best representation of what the series is really about in my own head. I also think it's so well put together that I don't feel bad saying it is the best game of the PS2/GC/Xbox era. It was one of the first games that really felt like it showed a believable world that told its story through its locations and is still a high mark for that idea (if not the high mark).

Yes!  If it's not the very best Metroid, it's at least the best one to fully immerse you into its universe.  Becoming Samus in first person, particularly the first time, in such a well-designed environment, was the highlight of that console gen for me.

[K-man]

Seeing Metroid Prime for the first time was a watershed moment in console gaming.  It just looked so, so much better than any other game I had seen at the time.

[gpw11]

And y'all convinced me to give it another go.  Just got the Varia suit and I'm pretty much hooked. The resolution difference was a bit jarring coming off of the PS3 but I think I'm more used to it now and it actually ads to the charm a bit, if that makes any sense.  Didn't even go with the new cables.

[nickclone]

When I bought a GC I wanted Eternal Darkness, Best Buy didn't have it so the first game I got was Metroid Prime. I really liked the game, but I got lost and stopped playing for a while. When I came back to the game, I had no idea where to go, so I just stopped playing.

[PyroMenace]

I loved it. Played through it I think twice, and loved the shit out of Prime 2. I'm still sad I'll never get to beat 3. They were games of pretty amazing design at the time.

Yea same here, I loved those first two games but just never got around to really dig into 3. Now Eternal Darkness, there's one that passed me by that I'll probably never be able to enjoy now. The controls and dated graphics just wasn't doing it for me.

[gpw11]

Yeah, I'm so fucking hooked on this, thanks everyone for convincing me to give it more of a chance.

Eternal Darkness is something I'll never touch for the reasons you mentioend.  I actually started watching a Lets Play of it a while ago on Something Awful but it was abandoned and I really don't think any of the Youtube run throughs would be anything I'd want to invest time in (Something Awful has the highest quality content in this category out there.  If you suck at all they will tear you to shreds and close your thread).

[gpw11]

Well finished MP1:  What a trip.

Like you guys said the game is amazing and the small details in it (light reflecting off of snow flakes, the visor effects) really add a bit of magic on top of the great level design and music.

I was pretty burned out on it by the end but only really had two complaints:

1.) This is probably just personal but I really hate "this color beam kills this color enemy" as a game mechanic...especially when that's the only difference between the enemies. This isn't isolated to Prime but I honestly think they've done a poorer job of it than other games I've played with this mechanic.  With the space pirates...fine I guess, but once they brought Metroids in as well...pffft.

2.)

(click to show/hide)

Having to go back and get all 12 artifacts to progress.  I knew they were something I should be looking out for and I had some of them, but it was a bit of a pain when I hit that roadblock and realized I had to go search for them all.  Backtracking is obviously a huge part of any Metroid game, and that's fine but this seems like the least clever way it's ever been done.

 

Not touching another Metroid game for a while now, but might get into one of the other two eventually (possibly just skip to MP3).  Anyway, thanks for the recommendations!

[Quemaqua]

Definitely don't skip to 3. I think 2 is the best of the bunch, and has a really cool vibe to it.

[gpw11]

Hmmmm.   I've heard its a ton of backtracking and that kinda turned me off.

[K-man]

Prime 2 is worth playing, for sure.  It certainly has its frustrations, though.  The constant energy drain is incredibly annoying, and there are a few bosses that border on being unfair.  It is certainly worth your time despite that frustration.  When I finished the game I was happy I played through, but equally happy to be done.

[Cobra951]

Prime 2 is worth playing, for sure.  It certainly has its frustrations, though.  The constant energy drain is incredibly annoying, and there are a few bosses that border on being unfair.  It is certainly worth your time despite that frustration.  When I finished the game I was happy I played through, but equally happy to be done.

Yes, I didn't quite finish 2, but I got very close.  I was very much into it until the frustration drowned out the fun.  It's certainly the hardest Metroid I've played in a few places.  I highly recommend it even so.  I know I'm on the lightweight side when it comes to difficulty spikes, and most of us should be less put off by the ones here.