4.5/5 ★ – Zimtiki's review of Metroid Prime Remastered.

Ayy yoooo let’s return to Metroid Prime! This is a LOVINGLY crafted remake of the classic 2002 GameCube game. Once again, this game follows Samus Aran directly after the events of Metroid: Zero Mission. After destroying the Space Pirate base on Zebes, the Space Pirates have gone into hiding as they now fear being destroyed by Samus, who they simply refer to as “The Hunter.” Samus stumbles upon a Space Pirate base orbiting a small planet called Tallon IV that sent out a distress signal. Upon investigation, it’s clear that these pirates were continuing their bioengineering projects and created a beasts that ransacked the base, killing the entirety of the crew. After defeating the beasts, Samus comes across a partially mechanical and fully healed Ridley, who she chases to the surface of the planet in an attempt to stop him once and for all. This leads her to discover a new, terrifying threat to the galaxy: Phazon, a seemingly biological substance that has an affect on everything it touches, and is the main reason the Space Pirates have come to this planet. They want to harness it and use it for experimentation, even on Metroids. So get this: this game is a PERFECT remake. It upgrades the visuals to the absolute BEST fucking graphics I’ve seen on the Nintendo Switch, and, SOMEHOW, also hits a constant 60 FPS. Also, it fixes the controls. In the original game, you had to hold the right trigger to look up and down, making you immobile while aiming. Now, the controls are those of a modern first person shooter. You can still lock onto enemies, making this still FEEL like Metroid, but GOD DAMN it is so much easier to appreciate the art and detail in this game when you’re free to look wherever you want at any time. It’s such a SMALL FIX but it’s fucking game changing. So, after making my way through the game, fucking up Meta Ridley and destroying the Phazon-mutated Metroid Prime, I went “damn. That was even better than I remembered.” Backtracking just fucking works in this game too, idc what anyone says, this is a METROIDVANIA, it’s SUPPOSED to have backtracking, it’s a part of the discovery! It’s actually nuts how close this game feels to a 2D Metroid game despite being so different, it’s genuinely great. This is a remake you must experience, and if you’ve never played Metroid Prime at all, wtf, bro? Play it. Just make sure you scan everything you see for the LOOORRRREEEE.