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If you're a fan of Nintendo's classic Metroid franchise, you know you deserve this. You've waited much too long to be denied. Super Metroid was released in April of 1994, and since then there has been a nagging question in the back of your mind: When will Samus return? Don't fret. Open season on Metroids has begun.

Metroid Prime is a first-person adventure game. Players control a bounty hunter named Samus Aran who must unravel a mystery behind the ruined walls scattered across Tallon IV.

The game opens just as Samus' spaceship docks on a Space Pirate vessel orbiting the planet. Immediately, the beautiful graphics slap you across the face. Trust us, it's a firm slap. A silky-smooth framerate accommodates razor-sharp visuals of efficient machinery and foreign architecture. Meanwhile, a cinematic soundtrack sets the mood and eerie sound effects thicken the alien atmosphere.

By far, the most effective visual effect is that everything you see is viewed through Samus's visor. The entire screen has a convex look, and a digital display provides information ranging FROM current energy levels to ammunition data. The most effective ideas are sometimes the most simple, and the visor view in Metroid Prime makes a huge leap forward in immersing players in the first-person perspective.

Samus uses a Power Beam to shoot a series of locked switches, and eventually enters a cylindrical corridor very similar to the passageways found in the original Metroid titles. When Samus strides by broken pipes spewing steam, the visor becomes smeared with condensation. Later in the demo, the visor is splattered with the internal juices of ruptured enemy carcasses. Yes, life within Samus' gravity suit is a beautiful thing.

Weapon effects are equally pleasing. Hold the A Button to juice up the Charge Beam, and you see the corridor glow and warp as the blast travels through space. Enemy animation is delightfully disgusting, whether it's a giant parasite queen squirming from the ceiling or a swarm of blood-thirsty critters gushing from a dark hole. Take note: the word "swarm" has been misused in video game reviews for years. With Metroid Prime, we can use the word "swarm" and feel perfectly justified. The screen fills -- FILLS -- with baddies, and the framerate doesn't even blink.

Original Name	メトロイドプライム
Release Date	Feb 28, 2003
Genre	Shooting
Version	Japan
PAX-Code	PAX0001842579
Catalog No.	DOL-P-GM8J
Item Code	4902370506433
Players	1

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• Official Website (Japanese)
  
• Official Website (English)
  
• Review (Insert Credit)
  
• Review (IGN)
  
• TV Commercial 1
  
• TV Commercial 2
  
• TV Commercial 3