"Retro studios+Nintendo=Metroid Prime 2= Metroid Perfection!"

First off, let me say that the Metroid series has been the greatest thing I have ever played. I remember when my fried got me Metroid for the NES for Christmas, and I played it for 20+ hours. Then there is one of the greatest games of all time, Super Metroid. Then, Retro studios cranks out Metroid prime 1, which was actually not liked at first because of it being in first person. Some people refused to buy it because of that. I was not blinded by this so I bought it. It was one of the greatest games of all time. Of course not as good as Metroid prime 2: echoes, but darn near close. Of course everyone is entitled to there own opinion, but that is where I stand on which game is better. That is why I gave this game a ten and Metroid prime 1 a nine. The rest is history. So retro studios had major pressure to make a game to live up to the standards that they set before themselves. I was eagerly awaiting the release of Metroid prime 2 and when I finally got my hands on it, I played it for 3 hours+ a day, they made it perfect! I loved it!!! Retro studios made a great first Metroid prime, so now they will need to live up to there name. So enough of my babbling, I will now tell you my opinion about the game, and why I love it.

Gameplay-10/10
What can I say? The controls are as sharp as a bayonet. The creatures around you give you a feeling of accomplishment when you destroy them, because some enemies can be really strong. I am not going to lie to you, this is a hard game, but you need to stick with it, because you will have bragging rights if you manage to beat this tough game. Retro Studios adds to the toughness level by introducing the ammo system into the game. You have limited ammo for the light and dark beam, but you can always charge them up if you are out of ammo, and fire a regular shot. The new scanning system is just brilliant. They color coded anything that you can scan in a color. So if you ever get stuck, resort to scanning everything, and there is a lot to scan. But I like the color code because you will never miss a scan like you could in the last one if you were not looking at the center of that scanning item. The game gives you a feel like you are stranded and you are all alone.....no help in the whole entire universe. The whole galaxy depends on you. You are trying to help a tribe called the Luminoth. There planet was at peace until the Ing came. The Luminoth controlled temples and had the edge over the Ing..... Until the Ing slowly overpowered the Luminoth. The Ing split the planet of Aether into two worlds, dark Aether and light Aether. Dark Aether is just a mockery of light Aether. It is almost a mirrored world of light Aether. the Luminoth are almost all wiped out and Samus needs to return power to the temples in light Aether by first getting the energy from a dark Aether temple, the return it to the corresponding light Aether temple. Good versus evil, and you always have a disadvantage in the dark..... The very atmosphere of dark Aether hurts you. Luckily, the Luminoth tribe managed to put light crystals in several locations, and they will protect you from the atmosphere. Rookies will find themselves frequently going back to these to regenerate. As time goes on, you will get different items to help you with this problem. But I don't want to spoil it for you!

Story-10/10
You are sent to a planet to find marines, because they have lost contact with them. You eventually find them dead and sometimes will have to fight them as zombies! COUGH*resident evil*COUGH. I have said a lot of the story ideas above, but here are some more you soon find dark Samus, and fight her once for now, and she disappears into dark Aether. You follow her and go on a long search to find her again. This search takes first time players (players without guides, obviously) anywhere from 15-18 hours of play, maybe even more. It took me 18 hours to do my first time, so it definitely keeps you occupied. After a long time of seeing dark Samus, you think you are close to done, but you aren't, you have much more to do. a couple of times, I thought I was done with the game, only to be rudely awakened and find more story to come...... so in conclusion, the story is awesome.

Graphics-10/10
These graphics are awesome. The Gamecube graphics have never looked better. The graphics are a lot like Metroid prime 1, except there are a lot of better qualities in Metroid prime 2 echoes. First of all, the graphics are a lot crisper. The HUD (which is the visor) in the first Metroid prime was kind of clunky, but not in this one. Retro studios went as far as to making sand hit your visor, and rain, and mist, and gas. It's all perfect. It looks really realistic. Next, the graphics set a mood in this one. The light world feels bright and happy. The dark world fells like you could drop dead at any second. In dark Aether, there are things that look like little poison spores, and that adds to the effect of deadly places. Light Aether always has sun shining and "the light of Aether" protecting you. I always get a warm feeling when I go from dark Aether to light Aether. It's just kind of relieving to get out of death and get into a protective light. It's great. And that is really all I have to say about the graphics.

Sound/Music-10/10
Hey, you have to give mp2 credit for this. I usually mute my TV because the repetition of music. Metroid prime 2 has a wide variety of music and it makes me not want to mute my TV. I got fed up once, but that's because I spent 1 hour in the same room...... don't ask. Also, you have got to love the classic Metroid music right before and after you get an item. Boop, boop, boop, boop.... sorry. I have never booted up mp2 just to listen to the sound, but it's not bad at all, so that's the sound and music.

Replayability-10/10
After beating this game after playing it for 18 hours, I said "I will never play this game again" because it was so long. But I found myself, 2 days later picking it up again to try and do all of the extra stuff. After you beat it once, there are many more things to do, like 100% scans, 100% percent items, and much more things that if I said in here it would be ruining the surprise, and it would be a spoiler. So go out and beat it and find out for yourself!!!

Multiplayer-10/10
Metroid has never been a game for multiplayer....until now. The multiplayer mode kept me occupied for hours. Its great fun. Especially using certain beams that come up at the end of the game and using those certain beams to kill your friends before you have actually got those beams. I love how they have the unlimited missile power up in multiplayer, and I have yet to discover what the hacker mode does. multiplayer has a certain "random power up" circle, and if you step into it, you can get certain powers like invisibility, invincibility, infinite missiles, hacker mode, death ball, and infinite beam ammo. There's nothing better than wiping out a friend with just single power beam shots, while you are invisible while they scream "WHERE ARE YOU?!?!? YOU ARE CHEATING” there's also the not-yet-famous turret to blow away your friends for a nice laugh. You also have several maps to choose from, and also several types of music. In addition, you have two different game modes! There is a standard kill match, and then there is bounty mode where you have to collect as many coins as you can by shooting your opponent.

So now you are asking the question, should I buy this????? YES!!! Do not rent buy, buy, buy! Oh, and if you are ever thinking about selling this game, don't! Hang on to it! You'll want to play it a couple months down the road. Make sure of this. Unless you really need money, then by all means.... but never mind that... keep it!

So that is my 1,500 word essay on why I love this particular Metroid game. Thanks for reading and get out there and start playing!!(a lot)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/03/05