Ok so my younger brother got dread for Christmas a couple years ago and I’ve played Metroid 1, Metroid fusion, Metroid zero mission, Metroid other M (don’t understand the hate), and although to my understanding most people embraced it I have mixed feelings. I thought the lore of the raven dude being Samus’s papa is insane and there’s a few new abilities to the point that I kind of wondered from an outsider perspective if they could be redundant with previous abilities seen throughout the games. I understand it’s the sequel to fusion story wise which is GREAT because I love the hell out of fusion, but I can’t help but think it doesn’t fill fusions shoes in the same way. Idk maybe I’m just being too picky but I would appreciate some honest feedback both critical and supportive of the game.

Prime 2, Hunters, Federation Force and now Prime 4 are the only ones I've missed/skipped.

I actually played Prime 3 when it came out, might have even been my first game in the series. Can't remember if I got the VC release of Super before or after.

But I've heard good things about Echoes, also that its pretty tough. Going to play it on PrimeHack for mouse controls. Just recently played through Prime 1 that way and I actually enjoyed it a lot more than my first playthrough of the game and a lot of that had to do with the free aim (and drawing my own 2D map to mark places to come back to later. That helped a lot with backtracking and finding the artifacts.)

I never played original Metroid on NES, so I don't know, but there's a major slowing down during the Metroid scene when many Metroid spirtes come at once. The flashing and slowing down is real. This is evident throughout the game, but I think it's the most visible there.

Can anyone recall if this happened on real NES hardware as well?

With Metroid turning 40 this year I’m sure we’re all wondering what exactly Nintendo might have in store for the celebration (even though Nintendo isn’t really known for these types of celebrations). For the 35th anniversary we had the lovely surprise of getting Metroid Dread, but that feels more like a happy coincidence rather than a planned thing. With 40 being a big milestone, here’s everything that I can think of that might happen this year (do note that I’m not saying all of this will happen, just only some):

- Free Switch 2 updates for Metroid Dread and Metroid Prime Remastered

- Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3 HD remaster (let a man hope for its existence)

- Metroid Prime 2 Nintendo Switch Online drop

- Boss rush update for Prime 4 like what Dread got?

- Samus Returns HD (there’s nothing hinting at this thing existing, just something fun I wanna see hopefully)

- Super Metroid Remake announcement and/or release (there’s a rumor going around saying this is a thing, but I don’t buy it personally)

- Metroid 6 announcement

For my money I think the two most likely things to happen are free upgrades for Dread and Prime remastered and Prime 2 releasing on NSO. I wanna say that we’ll get the announcement for Metroid 6, but unless that’s something that releases this year I doubt it since Nintendo seemingly wants to shrink the announcement to release window for their games.

(Switch Titles only pls)
I’m more of a cozy gamer nowadays but I don’t mind action and shooters when they’re well made and the story is decent.
I’ve always loved Samus as a character even though I’ve never played and I want to give the franchise the honour of atleast trying. I find I get very stressed in some action games and my life is already quite stressful due to mental heath struggles and working a physical job so I’ve started playing more relaxing titles over the past few years. That being said, I always enjoy a bit of action here and there especially on weekends or when I’m feeling upbeat so I was wondering what game would be considered easiest to grasp and has the best visuals and story elements? I love sci-fi fantasy so I’m excited for whatever gets suggested since I figure the fandom is the best place to ask!
I also do want to mention that I’m looking for an easier to grasp game but I don’t mind a bit of a learning curve, I just want something that I can enjoy and that gives me a solid taste of the franchise, I will be going in with a very open mind!

I have been a Metroid fan for a few years and due to not having access to all the games I’ve filled in my knowledge gaps with wiki readings and video essays so I already know the base lore for these games.

Beyond came out a while ago and I’m starting to get tired of avoiding spoilers. Is it ok to go back to prime 2 and 3 (I have finished prime 1) after playing beyond just so I can engage with the community again? Or will there be a lot of context I’m missing if I don’t finish the other 2 first?

It's not an easy setup process but when its done its wild: https://github.com/Nobbie248/PrimedGun

here be spoilers for Beyond

Continue at your own enjoyment's risk.

No, it's not my favorite, nor do I think it's better than any other Prime. But there's been overwhelming "this game sucks" threads, so this is a "I liked this about it" thread. Because there ARE good things in Beyond.

• Visuals. As expected of one of the first titles on a new 4K capable console, Beyond looks gorgeous. Detail-rich environments in high resolution are a treat for the eyes. No notes: excellent work.

• Beam ammo system. As soon as I realized there was beam ammo I was immediately worried it would be as mildly annoying as it was in Echoes. But no! By having all the beams share a larger ammo pool, you never feel like you're running out, even when you use almost exclusively one type for a while. Great design decision that I honestly think an Echoes remaster could benefit from.

• Morph ball tunnels. Minor one, but I liked that a bunch of the morph ball tunnels were super wide (especially in Volt Forge). It just felt more realistic and fresh to navigate. The lore of them all being maintenance tank tunnels also helped make them more believable, which I liked.

• Psychic additions to abilities. No, not "this is a normal Metroid or Prime ability but the word 'Psychic' was added". The actual changes:

  • Guided charge shot. Cool AF and the puzzles with it were clever. They were usually the ones that stumped me (mostly because I couldn't see them, not because I was lacking info). Having to kill Phenoros with it by striking deep within its body felt like a re-imagining of killing a Metroid Queen, and I LOVED that.

  • Throwing morph ball bombs. I realize that a far-reaching bomb slot is normally an opportunity for a morph ball or spider ball puzzle, but being able to just ignore all that and throw a bomb was neat. The fact that this extends to power bombs was the cherry on top. I'd be thrilled if this mechanic somehow returned in future games.

  • Spider ball tether. Flinging yourself around pinball-style as the spider ball is fun. I could see this making some truly fascinating morph ball puzzles. Great addition.

• Ice Belt lab. What makes Prime's Phendrana labs one of my fave parts of that game is how creepy and unsettling it is. Ice Belt's lab, prior to repowering it, is very similar in its creepiness, and that's a good thing! Atmospheric highlight in Beyond! And for those who say 'yeah but they just compied Phendrana labs' it's not a sin to copy a good thing. Something like 70% of Metroid Prime is copied from its predecessors, so this is fine.

• Griever lore. The idea that Grievers are mutated Lamorn adds a welcome dimension to them. All the scans surrounding their origin and the Lamorn's attempts to change them back and failing is great storytelling.

• Beam chips. The idea that Samus can take random bits of machinery and reengineer them to become functional beam weapons is fun. I know there's the whole 'defeat an enemy and take its power' thing that Metroid generally has but I like the more sci-fi feel of the former.

• Vi-o-la. Fundamentally cool, criminally underutilized. There's so much more you could do with it that roam. Volt Forge's paths and tracks brought to mind F-Zero GX like possibilities, and the Phenoros battle was just scratching the surface of what a boss battle with it could look like. No, I'm not saying Metroid should become a Mario Kart: I'm saying there's more you can do with the Vi-o-la and the addition of vehicles that expand Samus' capabilities is welcome (which Corruption did first, BTW).

• Telekinesis. Again, fundamentally cool, criminally underutilized. I want a fight against space pirates where I get to change the battlefield with my mind powers. Or a boss battle where I need to mentally mess with its insides to defeat it. Or just levitating power up crates around for fun. Being able to move stuff in Metroid is almost always restricted to puzzles and pathfinding. Not only could more be done on that front (think Portal), but the combat and miscellaneous potentials are vast indeed!

Please also show you appreciation for Beyond in the comments!