"Metroid Prime 2 is NOT shiny."

One day, I saw Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. All the video game characters that little kids looked up to were starred in a fighting game. The video game society went insane, and so did their parents. Mothers and fathers of 5-year-olds everywhere weeped and cried, because they thought their children's idols have finally gone bad. I got to play it and I thought it was awesome! I was introduced to Nintendo characters I've never even heard of. One of them being Samus Aran. I had no idea what Metroid was at that time, so I mostly ignored the mysteries of the Nintendo characters I'd never heard of. Some years later, I saw a commercial for Metroid Zero Mission. That was the first time I ever saw Samus in her own game. I ignored that too. I had noticed that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was the most popular game for the Nintendo Gamecube at the time. Since I had started to appreciate Metroid, I had decided that Metroid Prime 2 would be on my LONG list of games I want. It was Christmas and I got a Nintendo DS. When I was done jumping and dancing everywhere, I had started playing Super Mario 64 DS. After it started to get a little boring, I decided to try out the free demo of Metroid Prime Hunters that I got with the system. It was a lot of fun and I started to really like it... A few months later, I took some of my money to a nearby video game store and looked around at the Gamecube games. Of course they had Metroid Prime 2, but I didn't have nearly enough money to buy it. I didn't have nearly enough money to buy most of the games I wanted, but I saw Metroid Prime there for about twelve dollars. I figured that if I'm going to be able to understand and enjoy Metroid Prime 2, I ought to at least be able to enjoy its prequel to understand the changes that are in Metroid Prime 2. I bought it and tried it and it was pretty cool. Then, 'twas my birthday. I got a lot of video games and what was one of them? You got it; Metroid Prime 2. After getting the rest of my presents, I rushed upstairs to play Metroid Prime 2. I really liked the opening theme, but that's not important. I had begun to play and I still love the game to this day. (After about a month)

Gameplay: 10/10

This game is fun and long! Games like Sonic, Mario, and Pokemon are very linear. They say "Go this way. You have no choice. Get to the goal ring. Get to the shine sprite, get to the gym badge, get to the emblem of courage, pay for your house." Metroid Prime 2 is more wide open. It says "You have four doors to pick from! One has a red blast shield on it. Do you have any missiles? This door over here has a grey blast shield, that door leads to a big room with two doors. The other one goes to a hallway, that goes to a save station. There's a missile expansion in the door preceding the next room guarded by..." Sometimes it's a little too overwhelming how many options you have.

Story: 7/10

The storyline actually has 2 parts to it. The first part involves the galactic federation. While several galactic federation troopers were exploring the planet Aether, contact was lost with them so they sent Samus to Aether to check things out. While attempting to land on the planet, her ship was struck by a bolt of lightning and it crashed onto the planet's surface. Samus goes to find the galactic federation squad, Bravo while her ship is in auto-repair mode and as she nears their landing site, dead troopers are lying all over the place. Some are even getting up and attacking her! The second part is the most important. The planet Aether, is...er, WAS inhabited by a moth-like race of aliens who can project holograms from their hands called the Luminoth. Long ago, a phazon meteor struck the planet and split Aether into 2 separate planets, each in their own dimensions. Living on the dark copy of Aether that was created from the meteor, was a race of spider-like aliens called the Ing. The Luminoth were dragged into a war against the Ing and most of their population was killed. The Ing had stolen the energy from 3 temples on Aether, and used it to energize the temples on Dark Aether. It's up to Samus Aran, to get the energy back and avenge the Luminoth. The Ing have the abilities to possess enemies and bosses to make them more powerful. Splinters become dark splinters, pirate troopers become dark pirate troopers, bloggs become dark bloggs, etc... Aside, from these "dark" enemies, Samus has also discovered a Dark Samus who happens to look somewhat "familiar". Interesting, a little basic, but why I don't like the story all that much is because it has NOTHING to do with the Metroid series: the space pirates play an incredibly small role, no Ridley, no Chozo, no Zebes, no Tallon IV, zilch!

Graphics: 8/10

The original Metroid Prime had graphics that could be explained in one word: "shiny". Metroid Prime 2's prequel was shiny. Samus' suit was shiny, Meta-Ridley was shiny, Metroid Prime 2 is NOT shiny. Everything is dull and rusty. Samus' suit is dull and rusty, the enemies are dull and rusty, even when you're not on Dark Aether, everything is dull and rusty. Even the objects that glow don't make that same shine Metroid Prime did, making Metroid Prime 2's graphics not as sci-fi-ish. Also, I can't exactly put my finger on it, but Metroid Prime 2 lacks something in it's graphics that Metroid Prime doesn't. My guess is it's the movement. Metroid Prime's movements flowed a little more smoothly than Metroid Prime 2. The characters kind of look like action figures being moved around. In the opening scene where Samus' starship is flying towards Aether, the ship looks like a clay model hung on a string. However, the cheesiness in the game's graphics makes Metroid Prime 2 look better. It's like it's so bad, it's good. As the game progresses these graphical issues are barely noticeable.

Control: 9/10

Every button on the controller does something. There's a lot of attacks and combos, but they're easy to remember. There's at least 15 different forms of attack in the game that can be performed simply by pressing a button, holding a button down, or holding one button while pressing another. It's less complicated than it sounds. As you progress through the game, you'll gain power-ups that can help you pass certain obstacles, and not all of them are just weapons. So many things can be done with the screen that you don't see in many games. You can change the screens X axis and Y axis, you can stretch the screen, make the screen darker or brighter, and change the volume of the music and sound effects. Somewhere around the second half of the game, a "long-awaited" power-up will make its appearance.

Sound: 10/10

I'm WAY too obsessed with video game music. I think music and sound effects are two of the most important qualities in a video game and this game has the best soundtrack I've ever heard in a video game. Most of the songs in this game are remixed from Super Metroid and Metroid Prime such as the "Hunters" song in Multiplayer mode and the "Hydro Dynamo" theme so a lot of the music isn't original. The music and sound effects are so great, I actually whistle the Save Station noises! I liked this game just listening to the title screen theme! The sound effects are amazing. You can hear your footsteps when you're walking on a metal surface, the noises in the water are feint and blurry, you can hear Samus' suit making crunching sounds when your power-ups get taken away. The music and sound effects are phenomenal in this game.

Replayability: 9/10

This game has enough stuff to keep you busy for a LONG time. You can beat the game, but you could also try beating the game with 100% items, or 100% scans, or 1 energy tank and 10 missiles, or within a certain time limit, or try to beat the special thing you unlock after beating the game. If you've done all that, try multiplayer mode. The multiplayer mode is a little basic, but you get to choose whichever BGM you want to play during the battles, and choose from a wide variety of levels to fight in. If you're bored with that, be creative! Try skipping items, try to find glitches, try to beat the game with the screen stretched all the way, or with the brightness at 100, or with the brightness at 0!

Multiplayer Mode: 7/10

Metroid Prime 2 is the first Metroid game to sport a multiplayer mode and Retro Studios did pretty well for their first try. There are 2 different types of multiplayer and several stages to choose from. You can also choose which song from the game you want to be playing in the background, before the game and during the game. More songs and stages can be unlocked as you progress through the game, but not all the songs from the game are in multiplayer and the stages are kinda small, especially compared to most multiplayer-focused games. I haven't gotten to fight anybody in multiplayer mode, so I just play against myself.

Final Recommendation:
If you're planning on getting this game, I HIGHLY recommend that you get Metroid Prime first, even if you play the original Metroid Prime for just a couple minutes. If you don't, you won't notice the improvements in the scan visor, or the changes in the graphics, or any of the familiar songs and jingles. This is one of the greatest Action-Adventures I've ever played. I award it a 10 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/16/05, Updated 03/29/06