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[ecosse_011172]

Wonderful write up, Thanks.

I disagree about the visual progression though, I found the jump from Echoes to Corruption far in excess of the jump from MP1 to Echoes

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Does anyone remember how awesome the title menu was in Metroid Prime? Its gotta be one of the best menu's ever made.....all that 3D molecule shit in the background......fucking awesome.

 

[[Nintex]]

Great post, Metroid Prime is amazing. MP3 is my favorite, they ironed out all the flaws of Metroid Prime 1 and 2. I remember they were bragging about MP2, "We already finished the game, we only need to polish it from here on out!". "In fact, we had so much time left that we decided to create a Multiplayer mode". MP2 had some cool things, but they made some stupid design choices. The final boss for example. The first form is some egg like creature and you need to shoot it's tentacles, aiming up with R all the time(locking is almost impossible) just didn't work. The jumping also felt floaty compared to Metroid Prime 1. Metroid Prime is the only first person game with platform elements that work.

One of my favorite series, but I'm glad that they decided to end it at it's prime.

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

Although I hate FP games in general but the Prime series was an exception. I wasn't even going to buy it because I wasn't familiar with the Metroid series. One of my friend lend me his copy of the Prime 1 just to try it and I was SOLD, the next day I bought my own copy.

In general

Prime 1: Loved it

Prime 2: Good, Light World<==>Dark World was the worst aspect of the game

Prime 3: <3 <3 <3

 

[blu]

Does anyone remember how awesome the title menu was in Metroid Prime? Its gotta be one of the best menu's ever made.....all that 3D molecule shit in the background......fucking awesome.

true. prime's and echoes' title menus were simply genius in both design and score. cannot say the same about corruption's, though. latter left the impression they were trying to not scare off the new players, whereas primes and echoes were designed to send shivers down the player's spine.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

Metroid Prime is definitely my favorite game of last generation. So deep and so dramatic. I loved in particular the sensation of exploration and freedom and the Soundtrack: way better then Echoes and/or Corruption.

The only thing that is definitely better in Corruption are the controls: almost as good as on a PC and definitely better then ANY other console FPS game.

 

[Avrum]

I love the trilogy to death. I only got into Metroid for my first time with Metroid II just before the GCN generation started and before 2002 (when Prime launched) I managed to also play Super Metroid and then the original by linking Fusion with Prime.

The original Prime though, man, I remember getting that for Christmas and I couldn't put it down. The moment I touched down on Tallon IV, I think I spent a while just exploring the environment before actually embarking towards the Chozo Ruins. My dad used to watch me play it and I think he assumed a lot more about Samus' capabilities than were possible. Like I'd hide behind something when an enemy was nearby and he'd be like "shoot a missile through that and use it as cover." I'd tell him "I can't do that" and he'd be like "Why the fuck not?" I dunno, he was hilarious sometimes playing through that. I still think the most memorable scene in that game though (aside from the Frigate and seeing Samus touch down in glorious 3D) was when you first entered Phendrana and all you could see was a huge ass shadow of Ridley as he flew oerhead towards one of the research stations. That sent chills up and down my spine just looking at it.

Oh, and don't get me started on the Chozo Ghosts...that very first time you see one and it runs off and dashes through the wall screeching that horrible screech. *shudder*

Echoes I thought was good too, although I agree with how Dark Aether put a damper on things. If the idea of a miserable world where the Ing dwell was the point Retro wanted to get across, they did a good job; my problem wasn't exploring it so much as the atmosphere it created, almost depressing. But the Chykka and Quadraxis made it all worthwhile not to mention that DAMN boost guardian.

Corruption, I didn't like how linear it was but I enjoyed it a lot as well. I liked the fact that you had multiple places to visit but it still seemed more like a different way of representing the various zones on any one planet, except the zones in this game weren't nearly as varied. (Though I did like the archaic feel of Bryyo and the spot alien feel of the homeworld) The large scale puzzles (especially the ones involving your ship) were pretty cool and there should have more of them. The one you need to do in Elysia was probably my favorite in the game. Music was great too, probably my favorite in the trilogy after the original Prime.

 

[egocrata]

We need more of this stuff: articles that do not review the games, but discuss the basis on how they work, the mechanics, the structure that drives them as a form of storytelling and entertainment.

Brilliant write up. I like corruption more than you do, but still.

 

[Sagitario]

Just came here to post this:

I

Andrew Jones!

 

[DragonGirl]

That was an awesome series of posts, and really deserves to be its own feature article on gaming news website like our very own gaming-age (or 1up) or something. I love how articulate/verbose/eloquent the writing was, and it really made me appreciate the Prime series more than I did.

You think so? Perhaps if I write another piece I should try submitting it somewhere.

 

[PantherLotus]

You think so? Perhaps if I write another piece I should try submitting it somewhere.

perhaps you should start your own blog?

 

[beef3483]

The Prime series is my favorite series of all time. Each game had unique aspects. Excellent write-up.

 

[TheGrayGhost]

Excellent thread. The imagery is very evocative of the games.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

I'm surprised at the lack of love for Phendrana Drifts in this thread. Definitely one of the best snow/ice levels in recent memory.

The scenery, the music, the Space Pirate base, everything is perfect.

 

[Osuwari]

i'm one of the very few who liked the first 2 almost equally and the 3rd one much less. i played mp2 first and then mp1. mp3 was disappointing in some ways. something was gone. i think they focused on the wrong areas and the game wasn't as good as it could be.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

I finally, FINALLY got around to playing Echos for the first time. It was a fantastic experience. I very much enjoyed the entire game and the whole light/dark mechanic. I'm currently on Emperor Ing, though I have not yet given him a serious try. I don't have a Wii yet (just my trusty 'ole GC) so it will be a long while before I try the third. But I thought this game was every bit as good as the first.

If you have never played this series due to not having the platform, you seriously owe it to yourself to do so. A used GC is selling for $25 CAD at EBGames, and the games are even cheaper. For the price of one new 360 or PS3 game you could easily get a used GC, and Prime1+2.

Of course, if you are the type of person who hasn't played these games yet, you probably arn't hanging around in a Prime love thread anyways

 

[Arde5643]

Excellent, awesome very detailed and explanatory posts, DragonGirl.

*clap clap clap clap*


While I agree that the first Prime was the best in capturing the original Metroid feeling, the third one was the most fun to play, and the second one is the only one I'd never try to finish or even hope to have the patience to finish.

MP1>MP3>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MP2

 

[Rentahamster]

Excellent series of posts. 3D Metroid was great.

Each installment has strong points that I personally liked -

MP1: beam and visor mechanics, environment diversity, various ways of sequence breaking
MP2: puzzle complexity and harder bosses, great character design
MP3: Wiimote controls, easier navigation, less irritating key hunts

If only those qualities could be combined in a game of Metroidy goodness.

 

[Slavik81]

Excellent, awesome very detailed and explanatory posts, DragonGirl.

*clap clap clap clap*


While I agree that the first Prime was the best in capturing the original Metroid feeling, the third one was the most fun to play, and the second one is the only one I'd never try to finish or even hope to have the patience to finish.

MP1>MP3>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MP2

I absolutely agree. It pains me too, because I got reasonably far through it.

 

[master15]

I still think the most memorable scene in that game though (aside from the Frigate and seeing Samus touch down in glorious 3D) was when you first entered Phendrana and all you could see was a huge ass shadow of Ridley as he flew oerhead towards one of the research stations. That sent chills up and down my spine just looking at it.

Nice write-up. Totally agree with what you said, that was one of my favourite moments in Prime too.

 

[BuddhaRockstar]

I've got to say my favorite part of the Prime series has been the atmosphere. Where as in most FPS, the scenery is simply there to walk past when you're going from firefight A to firefight B, the worlds in Prime were filled with tiny little details that really made them stand out. Structures and architecture that didn't repeat from room to room, insects and maintenance bots that simply did their thing, and just buildings that made you feel part of an alien world. It's these features that allow you to forgive things like mediocre gunplay, because the exploration is just so damn good.

 

[RocketDarkness]

That was a fun read, so thank you.

Roughly a month before Prime 3 released, I decided to go back and play through the first two Primes. The first I went through on Hard mode, as I had already beaten it once when it first came out. I took the opportunity to use a guide to acquire all the scans, so that I could unlock all the concept art, as well. It was a little rough in the beginning, with so little health, but that made it all the more intense.

After reliving the first Prime, I moved into uncharted territories. Though I had originally intended to purchase Prime 2 on day one, it ended up falling through the cracks, so I borrowed it from a good friend. And then I wondered why in the world I waited several years to play this. Prime 2, though having a lesser impact than Prime 1, was still a fantastic game. Of course, the boss battles were a high point. They always required thought and skill to defeat. And honestly, I forgot about the Seeker missile ability far too often. Ah well.

Prime 3 ended up having to wait a week after releasing before I played it, since I was still neck-deep in Prime 2. Prime 3...hmm... a very good game, though in retrospect, it definitely had some issues. The combat was a blast, so it's a shame it ended up watered-down from previous games. The screenshot tool and the command visor were great. Being able to fly around for once was a godsend. The puzzles may have been lacking, but the game was still gorgeous, and the lore was very interesting in spite of losing the pirate humor.

Conclusion: Metroid. Good stuff.

 

[Arde5643]

I've got to say my favorite part of the Prime series has been the atmosphere. Where as in most FPS, the scenery is simply there to walk past when you're going from firefight A to firefight B, the worlds in Prime were filled with tiny little details that really made them stand out. Structures and architecture that didn't repeat from room to room, insects and maintenance bots that simply did their thing, and just buildings that made you feel part of an alien world. It's these features that allow you to forgive things like mediocre gunplay, because the exploration is just so damn good.

This moment happened to me the first time in Prime 3 in Elysia and then the second time in the wrecks of Valhalla.

For a few minutes, I just stood there, mouth agape, scoping the view while listening to the excellent soundtrack, my senses just trying to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of those worlds.

Whereas in Elysia, I was stunned at the beauty and magnificence of the planet.
The first time I went to Valhalla, I felt such dread (that can only be replicated by playing Silent Hill), where the only safe place I can think of is the hangar.

I think Metroid Primes are the only FPS console games that have that can induce that kind of atmosphere in gamers.

 

[Avrum]

Excellent, awesome very detailed and explanatory posts, DragonGirl.

*clap clap clap clap*


While I agree that the first Prime was the best in capturing the original Metroid feeling, the third one was the most fun to play, and the second one is the only one I'd never try to finish or even hope to have the patience to finish.

MP1>MP3>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MP2

Oh, well then your path is clear...

...to finish Echoes simply to have the satisfaction and grounds to say; "yes, I completed it." (you need to at least get as far as witnessing Sanctuary Fortress and Quadraxis)

 

[_Alkaline_]

This moment happened to me the first time in Prime 3 in Elysia and then the second time in the wrecks of Valhalla.

For a few minutes, I just stood there, mouth agape, scoping the view while listening to the excellent soundtrack, my senses just trying to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of those worlds.

Whereas in Elysia, I was stunned at the beauty and magnificence of the planet.
The first time I went to Valhalla, I felt such dread (that can only be replicated by playing Silent Hill), where the only safe place I can think of is the hangar.

I think Metroid Primes are the only FPS console games that have that can induce that kind of atmosphere in gamers.

God the Valhalla is AWESOME. I loved when the air suction would mess up our visor and make everything blurry. It just looked and sounded completely awesome too. Plus at the same time you have metroids popping out of thin air, electrocuting you and making sweet love to your head.

 

[Crescendo170]

Nice read! Was thinking of writing something like this but don't have the patience/skill. So I'm glad someone did. =)
Prime is the best gaming-trilogy ever made btw. It deserves more love than it is getting.

 

[Tenbatsu]

Japanese site up. Awesome design.

http://metroid.jp/index.html

 

[blu]

Japanese site up. Awesome design.

http://metroid.jp/index.html

and the us site is still at the proverbial 'return later for something more than the we'd like to play commercial'

fuck you, NOA.

 

[Formless]

Does anyone remember how awesome the title menu was in Metroid Prime? Its gotta be one of the best menu's ever made.....all that 3D molecule shit in the background......fucking awesome.

Yep, I wish they'd make the other title menus as awesome. The way the music lead into it was great too.

 

[Innotech]

1. classic.
2. mixed
3. amazing (and still ongoing)

 

[goomba]

Metroid Prime was the best single player game last generation.

I was considerably disappointed with Echoes though, I still have not finished it. I found echoes quite game boring and irritating. Just got MP3 recently and its pants!, graphics are surprisingly ace and the controls set a new standard for console FPS imo.

 

[D.Lo]

Bookmarked this a few days ago and finally got around to reading it, good stuff. I do think you were a bit harsh on Corruption, I think it's great that each game has a different focus and are not just re-treads. I refuse to rank them, whichever I last played is my favourite. The only thing that was actually annoying to me about Corruption was that they didn't go full circle with the ending. Dark Samus should have gone back to Metroid Prime form. Also the ending FMV was a bit crap.

About the Samus model, Nintendo forced Retro to use the Zero model for branding. It's more a case that they should have standardised Samus earlier.

Here's a nice tip for people after something different for subsequent play-throughs - play them in Japanese. Assuming you don't know the language, it really adds to the 'alien' feeling. It also speeds up the games since the story takes more of a back-seat. While I love the stories, it is quite a liberating feeling to skip them in replays.

Also, the differences between versions of MP1 are quite interesting. There are major lore differences, and Space Pirates fights play completely differently. PAL MP1 is the definitive version IMO, apart from the unnecessary voice intro.

Corruption, like Prime and Echoes before it, displays some of the most beautiful and atmospheric art direction in the gaming industry. On the technical side though, I'm hard pressed to say whether there's as much of a visual leap between Corruption and Echoes as there was between Echoes and Prime. So much detail and polish has been put into each game that there comes a point where “more” becomes irrelevant.

I don't know about that, Corruption was far above the GameCube games IMO. The Valhalla, Skytown and Pirate Homeworld looked as good as they could have on a good PC IMO, the bloom and higher res textures were a knockout. MP1 and 2 looks sorta 'dead' when playing them immediately after MP3.

 

[DragonGirl]

About the Samus model, Nintendo forced Retro to use the Zero model for branding. It's more a case that they should have standardised Samus earlier.

Aye, the Zero Suit look premiered in Zero Mission, and as a sprite I didn't mind it. Seeing it in 3D made me gag. I know they made Retro use the Zero Suit look since it is now the official look for Samus outside her Chozo Suit (hopefully Nintendo will rethink that decision). Aside from that, my complaint concerning how Samus looked in Echoes and corruption had to do with the wonky human models, not explicitly with the Zero Suit standardization. In Echoes, Samus looked like a baby-faced Asian chick, which really wasn't a look I thought suited her...at all. In Corruption her head looked vertically stretched and, well, I just didn't like it. Here are some further thoughts on the human models seen in the Prime games that I posted on another forum.

Do note that I am biased against attempts at photorealism in games. I take this stance for two reasons. One, if you have the power to create anything, what a waste to simply use it to mimic reality. Sure, this is appropriate sometimes, but I'd rather it be a last consideration than a first one. Realism is not the be all end all of game "graphics". My second reason for being against realism has to do with a concept called "The Uncanny Valley". It should be MANDATORY that every animator and artist have intimate familiarity with this concept before being allowed to create anything. The gist of the Uncanny Valley as it relates to this discussion is, the more realistic a character is designed to look, the less convincing it is likely to be. The best visual design to aim for is a stylized character, whether we are talking about anime or DC comics or Saturday morning cartoon. For a better understanding of The Uncanny Valley, give it a Google. It's a valuable concept to grasp.

Okay, tangent aside, it's not the symmetry that bothers me in regards to the humans in Corruption, it's the (failed) attempt at realism. Well, and an unattractive design. Interestingly, Admiral Dane, who had a more comic book-like design, looked the best. Not that I particularly liked his design, but he didn't look as freakish as the regular crew.

Addressing Samus herself, I loved her head model in Prime, but I also took issue with it. It too was overly realistic. It looked good, but it didn't match the cartoon-clean, saturated color of her armor. Now, in Echoes we had the opposite problem. The armor gained a more "gritty" patina that the head model in Prime would have matched just fine. But in Echoes, Samus herself was cartoonified. She was very clean, texturally simplified, color saturated, and brightly lit. This created a rather ugly juxtaposition with the environment she was set in. Now, as much as I dislike her look in Corruption, she fit in with the environment she was in at the end of the game. However, I think the main reason may be the lighting. the light was very bright and saturated, giving everything a glow, so Samus's clean design didn't really stand out glaringly.

I don't know about that, Corruption was far above the GameCube games IMO. The Valhalla, Skytown and Pirate Homeworld looked as good as they could have on a good PC IMO, the bloom and higher res textures were a knockout. MP1 and 2 looks sorta 'dead' when playing them immediately after MP3.

Playing Prime, Echoes, and Corruption back to back, I right away could see a jump in detail from Prime to Echoes. From Echoes to Corruption, I just didn't see it as that dramatic. Most of the changes were to effects like bloom lighting and particle effects. I'm not saying the improvements weren't there, just that they felt a lot more subtle to me. Frankly, as an artist myself, I pay little attention to the technical stuff, like polygonal edges, bump mapping, and what have you. I'm all about the art direction and animation and prowess of the artists, not how advanced the tools are so I tend to look at things with a different sort of critical eye.

 

[_Alkaline_]

It's funny because a lot of people saw no graphical difference between Prime and Echoes, but I saw it instantly. It really stood out for me in terms of texture resolution (Prime's oft-blurriness was gone), lighting and particle effects (smoke and explosions looked much better).

However, the jump from Echoes to Corruption was MUCH larger in my opinion. I honestly did not expect Corruption to look as good as it did. Maybe I played it on a good TV. I don't know. But when i first started playing, i really was shocked. The focus on bloom lighting, as well as the higher resolution textures, just looked damn good. The best thing is that the visuals got better and better as the game progressed. Olympus looked great (aside from the UGLY UGLY UGLY human models) but stuff like Pirate Homeworld and Valhalla look incredible for Wii. I actually said "whoa" out loud. Maybe it was my expectations of the poor Wii hardware, but i was blown away.

 

[blu]

Playing Prime, Echoes, and Corruption back to back, I right away could see a jump in detail from Prime to Echoes. From Echoes to Corruption, I just didn't see it as that dramatic. Most of the changes were to effects like bloom lighting and particle effects. I'm not saying the improvements weren't there, just that they felt a lot more subtle to me. Frankly, as an artist myself, I pay little attention to the technical stuff, like polygonal edges, bump mapping, and what have you. I'm all about the art direction and animation and prowess of the artists, not how advanced the tools are so I tend to look at things with a different sort of critical eye.

i'd hate to dilute this thread with tech talk, so if you don't mind, DG, i'll be very brief.

echoes and corruption share the same lighting/reflection model. which is only natural given that corruption's engine is an evolution of echoes', by retro's own words*. on top of that, though, corruption's post effects are both quantitatively more and more prominent too (the constant bloom filter immediately comes to mind).

scene-complexity-wise, though, corruption blows echoes out of the water. just to give you a hint of the magnitude of the increase - most people simply would not notice a doubling in polycount in most situations, whereas in corruption it is so well notably higher than echoes'. then comes the particles work - if echoes and prime had any weak not-so-strong tech sides that'd be their particle work - not anymore with corruption. so add all that and at the end you get quite a notable bump in the visual department. of course, art-direction-wise corruption is the same genius work by retro - there are several teams on this planet who are undisputed champions in certain aspects of their work, and retro is one of those when it comes to translating sci-fi visions into modelling - the level of meticulousness they reach in modeling the last pebble in their levels in inhuman.

* AAMOF, by my observations at least one more prominent title on the wii seems to have adopted that model lately - SMG.

 

[jwj442]

Also, the differences between versions of MP1 are quite interesting. There are major lore differences, and Space Pirates fights play completely differently. PAL MP1 is the definitive version IMO, apart from the unnecessary voice intro.

Could you elaborate? Do the pirates have better AI in the PAL version?

 

[Chris FOM]

While I certainly noticed that everything in Corruption looked much better than in Echoes, where I really noticed the difference most was not in terms of how good any one object looked but rather in how many there were. My observation (and I am not a tech-head that notices a lot of the technical aspects of things like shaders) was that Retro really put a lot of work into making the environments far larger and more interactive. While Prime and Echoes generally alternated big rooms with smaller ones (to hide loading the next room) Corruption usually skipped the small transitional rooms in favor of putting the high points directly adjacently to each other (which also caused the much longer load times).

But even beyond putting the big rooms next to each other, Corruption's were also far bigger than in the other two games. The larger, more open "rooms" in Echoes were genuinely fairly simplistic in terms of their actual geometry and where you were able to physically go. Despite the rooms being quite large, generally there would just be two or three platforms that Samus could actually interact with, while the rest was just there for a sense of scale. Many areas in Elysia (particularly in Eastern Skytown) absolutely dwarfed even the largest rooms in Echoes and were far more complex at the same time. I don't think the GameCube could have handled the ziplines, the area with the gigantic gears that get destroyed, or the room in Bryyo with the golem trapped by vines (to give three quick examples). Certainly there was nothing in Prime or Echoes that hinted at the engine being capable of anything on that scale.

 

[DragonGirl]

i
echoes and corruption share the same lighting/reflection model. which is only natural given that corruption's engine is an evolution of echoes', by retro's own words*. on top of that, though, corruption's post effects are both quantitatively more and more prominent too (the constant bloom filter immediately comes to mind).

scene-complexity-wise, though, corruption blows echoes out of the water. just to give you a hint of the magnitude of the increase - most people simply would not notice a doubling in polycount in most situations, whereas in corruption it is so well notably higher than echoes'. then comes the particles work - if echoes and prime had any weak not-so-strong tech sides that'd be their particle work - not anymore with corruption. so add all that and at the end you get quite a notable bump in the visual department.

I'm certainly not disputing any of that, but do go back and compare Prime and Echoes in the effects, environmental complexity, and detail work on Samus and all other critters. That all caught my eye more so than it did in Echoes VS Corruption, with lighting and environmental complexity (in some notable areas) being exceptions. As for particle effects, the most obvious comparison would be the particle smoke in the broken elevator shaft on Pirate Homeworld (Corruption) VS the textural smoke coming off Samus' ship in Echoes after she crash lands. However, this isn't a question of which is better, it's simply more realistic VS more stylistic. I prefer the stylistic look and take the Echoes smoke over the Corruption smoke.

 

[nincompoop]

Great thread, its really incredible how all three games manage to offer such meticulous attention to detail in both the visual design and the actual layouts of the worlds they present. That's the main thing that really sets the MP series ahead of just about every other game on the market. I'm playing MP3 now and though its early I'm really enjoying it so far, currently on the second planet (Elsyia or something like that). The only thing that disappoints me is that so far it seems almost completely linear, is there any point in the game where you actually get to explore and choose between more than one or two objectives at once?

 

[DragonGirl]

My observation... was that Retro really put a lot of work into making the environments far larger and more interactive. While Prime and Echoes generally alternated big rooms with smaller ones...Corruption usually skipped the small transitional rooms in favor of putting the high points directly adjacently to each other...

But even beyond putting the big rooms next to each other, Corruption's were also far bigger than in the other two games. The larger, more open "rooms" in Echoes were genuinely fairly simplistic in terms of their actual geometry and where you were able to physically go. Despite the rooms being quite large, generally there would just be two or three platforms that Samus could actually interact with, while the rest was just there for a sense of scale. Many areas in Elysia (particularly in Eastern Skytown) absolutely dwarfed even the largest rooms in Echoes and were far more complex at the same time. I don't think the GameCube could have handled the ziplines, the area with the gigantic gears that get destroyed, or the room in Bryyo with the golem trapped by vines (to give three quick examples). Certainly there was nothing in Prime or Echoes that hinted at the engine being capable of anything on that scale.

I have to dispute this a bit. One thing that struck me about Corruption was, just the opposite of what you say. I found most areas in Corruption pretty small or only moderate compared to some very large room in Echoes. I even dismiss Elysia, as most of the large open spaces there were empty sky with simple hovering platforms. I also found the rooms in Echoes more interactive due the higher degree of vertical travel. As for your comments about the Sky town zip lines, I recall the bridge leading to Sanctuary Fortress in Echoes and have to wonder.

I'm not saying Corruption doesn't indeed increase the scale and detail of areas over what was done in Echoes, I simply didn't find the increase as dramatic (in comparison to Prime VS Echoes) as many other people seem to. There are absolutely individual areas that showcase the differences, like the examples you've given, but they are not as universal as the additions I took note of in Echoes over Prime.

All I'm saying is that I personally found the visual extras in Echoes more noticeable over Prime while the visual extras in Corruption were more subtle generally speaking (though they certainly peaked in certain areas).

Edit: Bah! I had shut my computer down and everything when I realized I forgot to note one big point, so I'm back again. In all of my talk about room size and complexity, I have always been referring to near geometry, the surfaces Samus can get close to and typically interact with. Distance geometry is a whole'nother story. Yes, absolutely, Corruption blows Echoes out of the water in regards to filling in the horizon. First stepping out onto Bryyo makes this obvious. The Gamecube certainly didn't have the power to give us that sort of vista.

 

[NotWii]

listen to this man. MP3 was easily the best of the trilogy.

It was ok, but nowhere near as good as MP1 and MP2

 

[DragonGirl]

Great thread, its really incredible how all three games manage to offer such meticulous attention to detail in both the visual design and the actual layouts of the worlds they present. That's the main thing that really sets the MP series ahead of just about every other game on the market. I'm playing MP3 now and though its early I'm really enjoying it so far, currently on the second planet (Elsyia or something like that). The only thing that disappoints me is that so far it seems almost completely linear, is there any point in the game where you actually get to explore and choose between more than one or two objectives at once?

Yes and no. There are a couple areas you can explore at your leisure but they are relatively small and pretty straight forward (though one is easily a contender for best environment in a Metroid game). The primary worlds are quite linear with minimal branching and simplified all the more by being chopped into bite sized pieces.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

crap, double-plus crap, and decent, respectively.

It's absurd that everyone I agree with about the horror that is MP1 had their feelings so vastly improved to ambivalence for 3. It almost makes me want to try it.

 

[JasonUresti]

Don't really understand how one could hate the Prime 1 and 2, and be ok with 3.

All the Prime games are very similiar. If you don't like one, then in all probability you will not like the others.

 

[nincompoop]

I guess some people just can't get over the fact that there isn't free aim while moving... they just can't get it into their heads that it isn't a traditional fps and that the shooting mechanics (in 1 and 2) work perfectly within the confines of the game.

 

[PBalfredo]

One of the things I like in Prime was how Samus started off well suited from her previous mission, but lost some of her powers in the explosion. It always irked me that in Super Metroid, Samus has apparently taken all of the power-ups she discovered and used to exterminate the Metroids on SR388 and stashed them in some locker in her ship and promptly forgot the combination. It was nice to have a canon explanation on why her armor always went back to the starter level with each game, although by the time they did the same trick in Corruption, I must admit it was getting a bit old.

The decision to take the game into the first person had a significant impact on the design of the game. One area this is evident in is the power-ups. Many of the power-ups found in the three games were visors and beams, all of which lent themselves well to the first-person perspective, but there were few movement-based power-ups. The Space Jump/Screw Attack didn't appear until the second game and the Speed Booster was given a pass completely.

One of the things I always enjoyed about the power-ups in previous games, and what makes Metroid's progress-by-power-ups system work best, is when power-ups have a diverse functionality. The simple-appearing Bomb power alone allows Samus to attack enemies, open up hidden tunnels, energize switches, launch herself while on the ground, off a spider-ball track or even in mid-air. It is both tool and weapon. The Screw Attack in Echoes and Corruption, is clearly a tool and only a tool. Sure it can kill any WarWasp unlucky enough to be in the way of Samus' platforming, but attempting to take out a Space Pirate with the Screw Attack is a futile effort. When a power-up is a tool only, and a single use tool at that, it starts to become a glorified key. Blue-green walls is to Screw Attack as Red door is to Red key in DooM.

Granted, we see the same occurrence in the 2D Metroid games, with opposing examples. The Spazer and Plasma beams in Super were weapons only, unlike the Prime version of the Plasma beam that also burned, melted and welded. To generalize, it seems that movement based power-ups often had the most diverse functions in the 2D games while view-point and weapon power-ups were more varied in use in 3D. We don't know yet which direction the next Metroid game would go - classic 2D, first person 3D, third person 3D, pinball table - but hopefully all power-ups will be equally varied in their functionality.

 

[blu]

Edit: Bah! I had shut my computer down and everything when I realized I forgot to note one big point, so I'm back again. In all of my talk about room size and complexity, I have always been referring to near geometry, the surfaces Samus can get close to and typically interact with. Distance geometry is a whole'nother story. Yes, absolutely, Corruption blows Echoes out of the water in regards to filling in the horizon. First stepping out onto Bryyo makes this obvious. The Gamecube certainly didn't have the power to give us that sort of vista.

ok, that explains a lot in your position ; ) in contrast, when i'm talking of scene complexity i mean practically everything that falls into your field of view as per given location.

btw, speaking of showcases of corruption's trumping visual superiority over echoes, i'm sure you must have noticed one quite early in the game - the first elevator on norion. the moment i stepped into that elevator, turned around and saw below me a whole freaking docking hub segment of the base, featuring my hunter-class ship and the frigate enkindu at dock, that moment i knew retro reached the next level with the visuals in this series. why? because technically an elevator is a prime candidate you'd use to let your next-room streaming do its job, and that includes evicting the old room assets - not with that measly elevator on norion, though - practically a dull loading screen suddenly turned into a vista. and if retro could afford, and most important, did bother to do that with such humble location in the first place, i had no doubts left whatsoever that i was in for a treat of vistas throughout this game.

btw, even olympus' interior together with the far background plan was already tickling my senses.

 

[TheGrayGhost]

I'm currently playing through Metroid: Zero Mission, and I've only just begun to notice how the Chozo are depicted as an Egyptian-like culture. It makes sense, Horus and all. But I've always associated the Chozo with the American eagle and hence, Native Americans.

 

[permutated]

The first was easily the best, no question.