All Metroid fans will be overjoyed to see Nintendo’s continued interest in the Metroid series, and their recent announcement at Nintendo Direct is the icing on the cake. Metroid Prime Remastered is now available from the Nintendo eShop for £39.99. February 22 will see the release of the hard copy version.
Reviews of the remastered version have already been strong, as not only have the graphics had an upgrade, but the control system has been updated, offering greater flexibility and responsiveness.
Remaster or remake?
This remaster has already been a hit, and the details have not been spared, with some like DreamcastGuy explaining that the game feels more like a remake than a remaster. Remasters have often been lazy and sometimes even broken, like Rockstar’s botched attempt at their Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy (Rockstar Games even released an apology letter for it).
However, Nintendo and Retro Studios (the developers) seem to have ticked all the boxes with this one.
There are original upgrades in art direction, and upgrades to lighting and textures, and on a technical level the game has had a straight upgrade in almost every way. The game also runs at a solid 60fps. For a 22-year-old game, the results are impressive.
Is Metroid Prime 2 getting remastered?
Jeff Grubb confirmed in a recent tweet that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will be getting a remaster at some point. They will both be released on Nintendo Switch, but there is still no definitive date as to when they’ll be released, and to what extent they will be remastered to.
It might be a while, as Nintendo and Retro Studios have got a lot on their plate, having just released this remaster, Metroid Dread, and still have Metroid Prime 4 to think about, but it’s now confirmed to be in the pipeline.
The date and technology of the games is also a factor. Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes were both released on the GameCube but Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was released on the Nintendo Wii. The GameCube was discontinued in 2007 (the same year Metroid Prime 3 was released on the Nintendo Wii) leaving the GameCube graphics behind. The Nintendo Wii was then discontinued in 2013, six years later, with the Nintendo Switch being released four years after in 2017. Therefore, a remake for Metroid Prime 3 is unlikely to be anytime soon as the game already had its upgrade.
Metroid Prime was released in 2002, and Metroid Prime 2 was released in 2004, so theoretically, we could expect a Metroid Prime 2 remastered in 2025.
Metroid Dread was Nintendo’s fastest-selling Metroid game, so in terms of numbers, things are looking up for the Metroid series. Retro Studios is most likely on its way to releasing Metroid Prime 4, and due to the success of Metroid Prime Remastered, perhaps working behind the scenes on remasters of some of their older beloved titles?
