Metroid Prime

METROID PRIME

And now it's time for the first game in the widely acclaimed 3D trilogy for the Metroid series, Metroid Prime. Released for the Nintendo Gamecube, the game focuses on Samus responding to a distress call on the planet Tallon IV, a former Chozo stronghold and new center of Space Pirate activity conducting experiments on a substance called Phazon.

The game goes from a sidescroller to a first-person shooter, showing you the world from the inside of Samus's helmet. She comes with her standard laser beam, and picks up the charge beam, the morph ball, missiles, bombs, the boost ball ability (allowing her to jump while in ball form), the space jump boots, the super missile, a thermal visors, the spider ball (letting her crawl along walls as a ball), the wave buster, the ice beam, the gravity suit, the power bomb, the grapple beam, the x-ray visor, the plasma beam, the ice spreader, the flamethrower, and a phazon suit and phazon beams for traversing the final level.

Meta Ridley is our main villain, of sorts, leading the Space Pirates in their experiments with Phazon. He is basically Ridley, just needing cyborg enhancements after the injuries he sustained in his fight with Samus on Zebes. In this form, he can fly, shoot beams from his mouth, drop bombs, slam into the ground, swipe at Samus, dash forward, shoot fireballs, and create shields out of wind. The final boss of the game, however, comes in the form of the Metroid Prime, a Metroid that has been mutated into a crablike monster by Phazon. The Prime will barrel forward, hang from the ceiling, shoot energy beams, lunge, burrow underground, drop bombs, shoot balls of fire, release a wave of green fire, turn invisible, and take on a final form.

Our other bosses include the Parasite Queen from the beginning, who just shoots an energy beam; a giant plant called Flaahgra, that can slash and has poisonous breath; Thardus, an ice golem that rolls, creates a shockwave of ice, and punches; and three elite forms of Space Pirate: the Elite Pirate that fires energy blasts, punches hard, and creates a shockwave; the Omega Pirate that punches, fires energy blasts, teleports, and creates shockwaves; and the Phazon Elite, that unleashes a devastating shockwave.

From here, we have a bunch of enemies. The most important include the Space Pirates, who can swim and have jetpacks now; the Metroids; and the Chozo Ghosts, vengeful spirits of fallen Chozo who move around invisibly, float, dash, and shoot energy balls. From there we have the rampaging Sheegoths, Aqua Drones, Reapers, and Sacs, War Wasps, Beetles, Blastcaps, Bloodflowers, Burrowers, Eyons, Geemers, Grizbies, Jelzaps, Magmoors, Oculuses, Parasites, Plazmites, Puffers, Pulse Bombus, Reaper Vines, Shriekbats, Stone Toads, Tallon Crabs, Tangleweeds, Triclopses, Zoomers, and Auto Defense Turrets. Most of these fill a single niche and that's about it.

The game starts out on the Frigate Orpheon, an abandoned ship that acts as a tutorial phase. From there, we move down to the planet Tallon IV, where Samus's ship rests in the Tallon Overworld. The main areas include Chozo Ruins, a jungle-y area; Magmoor Caverns, a lava area; Phendrana Drifts, an ice area; the Phazon Mines; the Artifact Temple where Samus faces Ridley and unlocks the final level; and the Impact Crater, which acts as the final area.

And that's just about it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Samus: laser beam, charge beam, morph ball, missile, bomb, boost ball, space jump boots, super missile, thermal visor, spider ball, wave buster, ice beam, gravity suit, power bomb, grapple beam, x-ray visor, plasma beam, ice spreader, flamethrower, phazon suit, phazon beam

Meta Ridley: fly, beams, drop bombs, slam, swipe, dash, fireballs, wind shields

Metroid Prime: barrel, hang, energy beams, lunge, burrow, bombs, balls of fire, green fire, invisible, final form

Elite Pirate/Omega Pirate/Phazon Elite: energy blasts, punch, shockwave, teleport

Space Pirates: swim, jetpack

Metroids

Chozo Ghost: invisibility, float, dash, energy balls

Sheegoth

War Wasp

Geemer

Bosses:

Parasite Queen

Flaahgra

Thardus

Stages:

Frigate Orpheon

Tallon IV

Chozo Ruins

Magmoor Caverns

Phendrana Drifts

Phazon Mines

Artifact Temple

Impact Crater

Thanks for reading! Next up, the game's sequel, Echoes!