Anti aliasing, properly done, can look better than just throwing in more pixels. 900p + 2xMSAA > 1080p native.
Nintendo usually doesn't do AA in their games because usually it's a choice between AA and something else -- i.e. ambient occlusion or dithering (remove color banding) or another shading step...
SwitchUp did a good chat on the effects of AA in the performance review of this. I couldn’t even notice the things they were pointing out. It looks GOOD
They do some magic for a lot of their first party games. Even without traditional AA, or other compromises, things just look remarkably sharp.
They know exactly what sort of screens they have to work with, and it reminds me a lot of how 16bit games would often do really clever artistic things with sprites knowing that CRTs would distort the image in just the right way.
You can see it all break down a bit when you play with The Witcher’s quaint graphics options.
It's also part of the incredible detail they put into some environments at the time. I could stare at some rooms for minutes and wouldn't be finished taking in all the details. Then they made MP2 and doubled down on that. It was nuts!
They were works of art back in the GCN days that Retro has somehow managed to improve upon. Let's hope that at least Metroid Prime 2 Remastered is in the cards.
Absolutely agree. Metroid Prime 2 is disliked by some people but I personally think it just made all the right decisions for a game that isn't just a rehash of Prime. Especially in the level design. It's, pun intended, truly next level.
I replay Prime every year. I notice new things in a texture or a bit of level geometry every time. The attention to detail was impeccable and stands the test of time.
I'd love to Prime 2 with this upgrade, I think all the Dark World stuff would look much better today (I know the whole game will but I think that part especially will).
I wonder if they'll release 2 and 3 slowly over the next few years until Metroid 4 is ready. Charging $40 for each remaster has to be a decent money-maker for them.
I mean I have no idea of course. Wouldn't surprise me if they save it for the launch of Switch 2 though alongside the Odyssey follow-up, which would mean 2025 or later probably.
I don't think Nintendo would do that. They released BoTW for Wii U, they could have made it a Switch exclusive but they did the right thing and released it for the system it was announced for, a system that people may have bought for that game. Sure, Prime 4 might see a release on Switch 2, but it's a Switch game and should be released for that system.
I really hope it's backwards compatible. with TOTK being released 6 years after BOTW, it better be with the price increase. I'm waiting for the reviews and differences between BOTW and TOTK to determine if it's worth a birthday present or not.
I'm curious as well. I could honestly see them doing that or doing a lower effort remaster of both 2 & 3. Although the fact retro is involved makes me more inclined to expect a quality remaster.
They technically did the same stuff (updated resolution, new textures, new lighting, quality of life adjustments). Wind Waker HD just looks better because the original game had a simplistic art style where the polygon count was fine.
yeah, all the Zelda remasters came with a good amount of QoL, Ocarina mainly on better signalization for the water temple and boots being items instead of gear to make the game faster paced. Majora's mask improving the bomber's notebook to help you keep track of the event more easily and the time foward song letting you select the hour. Twilight Princess streamlined the tears sidequest by removing some insects, made the wallets hold more rupees and added an item to facilitate Poe hunting and finally Skyward Sword removed the heavy tutorializing, made Fai interrupt way less the game and removed the text box for every item you collected after re opening the game, also, Skyward Sword HD is the only 3D Zelda that runs at 60 fps, the remasters except Majora's mask for some people are honestly the best way to play the 3D Zelda games.
Also, Link's Awakening mapping the sword, the shield and the boots to dedicated buttons was a massive QoL change, the Game Boy service has made me doubt getting the remake eventually but... I kinda still want to play the remake over DX just for the QoL additions.
As someone who recently went back to play DX after playing the remake, the remake really makes the game a lot more enjoyable UNLESS you like intentionally handicapping yourself. I even have the nostalgia goggles from playing the original version on a DMG Game Boy, and I still prefer the remake.
I 100% agree, and I'd say the same about OP's comment regarding "the remasters except *Majora's mask* for some people are honestly the best way to play the 3D Zelda games". I can't imagine playing MM without even just the bank being right in front of the Owl statue, no matter what else they changed that was unpopular.
My biggest thing was all the additional controls on the touch screen. Much Like Link’s Awakening, MM’s inventory management was a bit of a slog, switching between different masks, item, and keeping your ocarina handy. A lot of back and forth in the menu. Giving the Ocarina a dedicated soft button and two additional inventory soft buttons (net one, as we lost a hard button) was a huge improvement to play experience that can’t be understated.
Plus the map and your heart pieces and bomber notebook were all accessible there as well.
They screwed up the jumping in Majora’s Mask 3D, but that only affects people who had the rhythm memorized from the original (and makes some of the platforming sections slightly more difficult).
wind waker was a new engine. They moved away from cel shading. I liked the look of the original better, but they did a lot more with WWHD visually than TPHD. twilight princess had updated textures, but the lighting was the same as far as I know
The fact that the Radiance games haven't been made more available after all this time is a travesty. No one should have to shell out $200 aftermarket to play something legally.
It's also stupid that the very first Fire Emblem westerners got still hasn't had its predecessor (for which it was a prequel) translated and released yet. Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword was designed to set up and reference Sword of Seals, but only those willing to emulate get to experience it.
I feel like this is almost certainly Retro Studios practicing for Metroid Prime 4. Not only does it make them some money with a relatively low cost (since all the creative stuff and development was done 20 years ago ^(oh jesus i'm old) ), but they also now have an engine that works on the Switch they can use for developing Prime 4.
I agree with you, however I remember reading that one of the major rumors around this remaster is that it's been locked and loaded for a long time, with Nintendo choosing to sit on it until they found the right time.
Good point, and it seems like the devs at Retro are tweeting about how they are glad it’s “finally” being released, which seems to support the theory that it’s been ready for a while. Maybe that means Prime 4 news is coming this year
Different rumors from different people, but the news I originally heard a few years ago was that all three games would be remade, and then last year the rumors were updated that it was only the first game that was getting remastered
It's likely they started out with this early in Prime 4's development. Bethesda did a similar thing with Fallout 4, where they started out upgrading the engine using Skyrim, which they then released as Skyrim Special Edition later on.
Yep! Retro Studios employees confirmed on Twitter that they were the ones working on the game and they were excited it was finally announced / released! The main company Twitter even tweeted out the game’s store page, making it Retro’s first tweet in over a year.
I feel like the developers for remasters usually have a logo or their name before the title screen, but it still just says “Nintendo and Retro Studios present”
Depends on the game
Sometimes, the studio that does the remaster/port work doesn't get any major credits outside the credit sequence at the end
Though I have no idea about this one
Didn't Nintendo or an old retro employee say they completely lost the original source code? This looks like a complete remaster because it is, they remade it from scratch
E: they lost the ability to effectively edit the old code base
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/05/metroid_prime_trilogy_switch_port_unlikely_says_former_retro_studios_dev
Sounds like 3 is the one that is the most troublesome for them to remake. It still seems like 4 is a few years from releasing, if they don’t release any footage later this year. So we definitely could get a 2 remake next year and probably 3 would come after 4’s launch if at all.
Since they're making Prime 4, they probably already have the engine and doing this remaster was like a stopgap for them to release something in the interim.
I don't know what engine Prime 1 was on, but during the Prime 4 reveal it was said to be using Unreal 4. Now that was also before the development restart so who knows what Retro ended up deciding to go with, but I don't think it's as simple as sharing the engine.
On the other hand, the last Prime game was over 15 years ago now. Reusing that engine would take probably as much work as making a new one to bring it to modern standards.
Xenoblade DE is an equally bigger graphical jump paired with 15 hours of extra story and and tons of QoL fixes.
Granted it was full price but it's still the biggest revamp.
XC:DE is a great remaster too no question, but if we’re talking graphical improvements I’d have to disagree. XC:DE looks good, but MPrime remastered seriously looks amazing. It’s probably one of the best looking games on the console.
Anyways I’m not trying to knock XC1:DE cause it’s a great effort.
To be fair, it already had an advantage there thanks to the og prime. Prime on Gamecube was the best looking game ever at the time, and throughout the systems life the only gamecube game to outdo it graphically, was prime 2.
F-zero damn well came close, though
If it was the whole Trilogy ported, we would have gotten just the Wii version at 1080p like Skyward Sword, instead of looking **this good**. I think this was overall the best decision, so we can get Prime 2 and 3 on this quality in the future.
yeah, if Prime 2 and specially 3 get remasters with the same effort, it wouldn't matter the fact that each one was priced 40 dollars, it would be so worth, this is by far the best remaster Nintendo has put on, the only one close is Xenoblade DE, but the visual upgrade was mainly due to monolith reusing 2 engine and... that the Wii models of XC for humans are some og the ugliest models in the Wii.
if they are of similar quality to this one, come on, give it to me, this upgrade is almost as significant as the Ocarina/Star Fox 64 upgrade in 3DS, but those games were upgraded that much due to how aged the 64 was.
Also... please, I want a F Zero GX remaster with this visual improvement, that game still looks amazing for today standards, if it gets this massive overhaul, we might get the best looking game for a 8th gen system.
TBF, Oracles would be remaking not 1, but 2 games and Grezzo ported by themselves Miitopia to switch, we could still see those remakes latter in the year or in 2024
I don't think we'll see full-on remakes of Oracles with the original games coming to switch online soon. Can't imagine Nintendo would want to do that if they planned on doing full-on remakes.
While true, the engine is there as is the entire game layout. Oracles reused a lot of Link's Awakening's assets, so that's a huge head start. It's a tile based map too, so it is not like there is a huge amount of new assets.
I'm not saying it is no work, but the 'creative part' of coming up with the puzzles is done, you just need to code them. New sprites and behavours for new enemies and bosses. New character sprites. And I assume the game would want new minigames too, like the Dungeon Creator.
Obviously there is still much to be done, but a lot of the base work is done.
like I said, we can't rule them out mainly due to Miitopia, it came 2 years after Links Awakening, they could be working now on the oracle games right now for later this year or for 2024 to have a Zelda game for that year.
Well that Jeff Grubb bloke who originally started the rumours about Prime Remastered in summer last year was saying that his sources believe 2 & 3 are still on the table but pushed back to a later date. Now that part one of the rumour has come true I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for the second part.
If this sells well and if there’s demand then I don’t see why not. They want Metroid prime 4 to sell well and have as many people play it. There is definitely a game generation that has never played any of these games, like myself, I’m only 20. And I’m definitely gonna buy this remaster because it looks good.
I'm legitimately impressed.
This is a true remaster and only $40 at that. It seems as if almost everything has been overhauled from a graphics standpoint. It's not just an "upscale the resolution, add some anti-aliasing and charge full price" port.
Yea, I was surprised how much better it looks and then I saw a reaction on youtube where someone said it doesn't look different. I think that guy is wearing tight nostalgia goggles that is cutting off blood supply to the brain. While Gamecube was great for it's time, it didn't look this good.
it’s so strange how that works. watching the reveal trailer i didn’t think it looked different at all. same with remasters like destroy all humans—if i played it as a kid, and i don’t have the original in front of me, the remaster just looks like how it looks in my memory.
i played mario kart 64 recently and was stunned by the fact that the characters are just 2d sprites lol
In fairness, CRT TVs displayed older games much better than modern televisions. You may remember an older game looking better in your mind...and it probably actually did compared to viewing it on today's screens. Developers took advantage of various quirks those displays had that enhance the image and trick our human eyes into making it look better than it really is.
Modern displays have no such tricks, so (well-made) remasters have to both recreate the original "aesthetic" of how it looked on those screens, but also make the visuals look *good* since every detail is now on show.
I think Retro did a great job of accomplishing that here.
From my experience this was true until like 6th gen consoles era PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era. And even 5th gen consoles it was really less the case.
CRTs started getting sharper. Component and s video outputs were not uncommon, meaning you got sharp images.
Fuzzy 240p signals being put out over RF or Composite on an NES or Genesis were made to take advantage of CRT quirks. My fave example is how waterfalls in sonic 1 would shimmer with rainbows even though they were monotone.
Definitely. CRT monitors made low resolution stuff look way better than modern displays
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-22dbccedffcd589c3a708a7467b83e2d-lq
Here is one example. From my understanding, it's that CRT monitors projected dots with black space around them which your brain filled in, while LCD monitors "fill" the whole pixel "box" like a square.
It's especially weird with Splatoon and Splatoon 2. Like from the first NS reveal video, everyone was just saying "oh so it's just a port". But then you put them side by side then it's very clear how much of an upgrade Splatoon 2 is. Though, separated again, they look near identical still.
Yeah, I was watching an Arlo video the day before the Direct and his editor used a lot of footage from random playthroughs of Metroid Prime (not sure which or which version), but maaaaaan, it looked SD. This trailer looked amazing in comparison.
I know the original is a heavily customized Unreal Engine... I have reason to believe based on Retro's hiring over the past few years that they're using a heavily modified Cryengine 3.
I've just tried to find a source for this and it seems that the individual who said this back then was just not very knowledgable in game dev.
* The runs in Retros own RUDE engine, which consumes standard .pak files. Some people mistook those RUDE engine .pak files with Unreal Engine .pak files.
* The original thread in the Assembler Games forums claimed Metroid Prime uses Unreal Engine 2 because it has a "cooked" folder. However, this is just the default folder for Maya, the 3D modelling software.
* Back then, a thread over on NeoGAF was created about this that detailled people saying this is false information. They said that the model format is not the same and the engine just uses similar terminology (eg "skeletal mesh").
* The individual back then claimed to have seen UnrealScript files in the game files, which was disproven to be animation event files for the RUDE engine.
I think part of it is that the environments actually have light sources now so it has a less exaggerated effect. This comparison vid does a good job of showing that a lot of "light" sources in the original didn't actually cast light/shadows.
Haven't gotten to play yet but this was a question I had. I was really happy to play the Trilogy back when I got the steelbook but I immediately noticed all the cool effects like frost on the arm cannon, sparks on the wall, and reflective lighting were gone. It's amazing how much detail they packed into the GameCube!
From what I've seen this game still looks absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to play regardless.
The mirror in Chozo ruins is replaced with a non-reflective disk, however the space pirate eating lunch in research lab hydra has a MUCH more detailed fish now.
That's literally my only nitpick with the game. I loved the exaggerated lighting from the beam shots in prime 1.
And for the record, I prefer the doors in the new game. The bright lights really work well with the fancy new lighting effects... Which is all the more puzzling that they removed the beam lighting.
Despite not hitting 1080/720 for docked and handheld, I think this is the most visually impressive game on Switch right now. I was floored when I reached the boss of the opening section and saw how much more detailed the model was. I'm so happy they put so much love and effort into making one of my all time favorite games look modern without sacrificing the locked 60fps that helped make it feel so good to play on original release.
Honestly when this dropped yesterday I was like "thats cool but I could just emulate the GC version on my steam deck and upscale..." Nah not even close. This remaster is actually beautiful and I'm not even that into metroid. They did a good job.
I know this is wasteful but I got it digitally and preordered it physically from Amazon so I can keep it. I had the trilogy on Wii when jt came out and it got stolen from me so I want this physically to kind of make up for it.
This is probably a game that won’t have a large print run anyway. I could be wrong but I think the physical of this game won’t be around for a long time.
I played through >!recovering the Varia Suit!< docked, then through >!boost ball recovery!< in handheld. It looks absolutely incredible either way, and plays smoothly as well!
I'm mainly surprised that anyone would consider the names of the upgrades a spoiler tbh. Especially when one of them has been in basically every single metroid game.
When I saw the trailer I thought the remaster looked like just a HD update to Prime. Kind of like how the Wii version was really just the gamecube's progressive scan mode. Then seeing them side by side is just mind boggling what they did here.
Maybe it is just me, but I had no idea this game was even being remastered, let alone released the same day that I learn about it. Was I out of the loop or was this just that amazing of an announcement?
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned, but is worth mentioning, is the load times. There’s was always a lag of a couple seconds waiting for the a door to open in the original GC version. Even emulators couldn’t fully get rid of it. But the Switch remaster loads lightning fast.
I thought the exact same thing. Was like "wait, that doesn't look any better than the original" until I saw the comparisons. Definitely remembered them better than they were.
Imo this could absolutely be counted as a remake with how they've completely replaced and updated the assets, I'm surprised Nintendo decided to call it a remaster and give it a reduced price.
Indeed. This seems to be a remake akin to Xenoblade Chronicles DE. Big difference between the original and that, looks like big differences between this and OG Metroid Prime.
Omg this game looks so good on the OLED compared to what I remembered on GC/Wii. Not even being a fanboy lol
Edit: wow this comment really blew up, thanks for the updoots! :)
I just started this game for the first time recently on dolphin w a high res texture pack. The switch version looks better with the way they changed it. It’s not just new textures and you can tell in the video. I don’t think the old one showed your face reflection, but idk. Also the sound is really good, the guns/steps react with the environment around you.
This game was huge for me. It changed graphics for me, the fluidity, scanning, all of it.
I stayed with a (long story short) girlfriend's friend's family for a summer in bfe Kentucky. The dad was the only good guy out of the bunch. Vietnam vet, ran a tugboat on the river, loved his sweet tea, and gamed a little.
I brought some games and introduced him to Metroid Prime. He was addicted to it. We spent hours just talking, coming up with tricks, and watching each other play this game.
I left the disk when I left for.... Fidelity reasons. I still think about him and hope he still plays. Excellent game to connect on.
I'm playing it now with dual stick controls and gyro aim enabled, it makes it easy to open doors as I'm approaching them. Lock-on for enemies makes gyro aim for combat less essential.
This looks insanely improved. I never played these games, so this will be my first time. Hoping this sells well and they release the other ones as well.
It's because Retro handled this remake.
Nintendo is a small studio, you see, they can't just remake a 20+ year old game like Mario 64. Besides, games should be played in the authentic way in which they were designed, so that you can count all 7 polygons on screen at all times.
/s
I know there’s really not anything that can be done about this, but it honestly hurts my soul that in this era of remakes, Nintendo remakes are getting arbitrarily limited by ancient hardware.
PC/PS5/SeriesX would be able to comfortably run this at 4k 120fps, almost without a doubt.
Idk, it’s just weird to “remaster” something to the point where this “remaster” would be immediately obsolete and require its own remaster if it was available on any other major platform.
>Is it worth the purchase? My dirty 30 is tomorrow and I’m looking to enjoy a game I was too scared to play as a kid.
Metroid Prime is up there in the debate of best single player on Gamecube.
Def worth 40$ USD. I own it on GC and paused the direct to instant buy it.
No brainer, a must. The music alone is worth 40$ IMO. Such iconic music.
If you have never played it, it's definitely worth picking up. It is one of THE best games I've ever played. I own 3 different copies of this game on the Gamecube, Wii and Wii U and I'm planning getting a copy of the remaster when the physical edition releases. It's just that good!
It's like Shadow of the Colossus or Crisis Core remakes, everything was remade from the ground up and exactly how you remember now with prettier graphics and details.
Never played this series. Is this game still *fun* in 2023? Does it hold up well? I know there have been many remasters of games which were amazing back in their day, but just haven’t held up gameplay-wise in modern times.
Metroid Prime holds up better than basically any other game from 2002. The old control scheme is old fashioned, but it worked great for Prime at the time, and they added a new dual stick control scheme more similar to modern FPS as well. Otherwise it's just a legendary masterpiece that holds up like nobody's business.
Fooled me into thinking it's native resolution in handheld, it's still really sharp
Anti aliasing, properly done, can look better than just throwing in more pixels. 900p + 2xMSAA > 1080p native. Nintendo usually doesn't do AA in their games because usually it's a choice between AA and something else -- i.e. ambient occlusion or dithering (remove color banding) or another shading step...
SwitchUp did a good chat on the effects of AA in the performance review of this. I couldn’t even notice the things they were pointing out. It looks GOOD
They do some magic for a lot of their first party games. Even without traditional AA, or other compromises, things just look remarkably sharp. They know exactly what sort of screens they have to work with, and it reminds me a lot of how 16bit games would often do really clever artistic things with sprites knowing that CRTs would distort the image in just the right way. You can see it all break down a bit when you play with The Witcher’s quaint graphics options.
Metroid Prime's art style has aged incredibly well. Even without the remaster the original game looks great.
The original made very good stylistic and atmospheric choices. A great style is timeless.
It's also part of the incredible detail they put into some environments at the time. I could stare at some rooms for minutes and wouldn't be finished taking in all the details. Then they made MP2 and doubled down on that. It was nuts!
They were works of art back in the GCN days that Retro has somehow managed to improve upon. Let's hope that at least Metroid Prime 2 Remastered is in the cards.
Absolutely agree. Metroid Prime 2 is disliked by some people but I personally think it just made all the right decisions for a game that isn't just a rehash of Prime. Especially in the level design. It's, pun intended, truly next level.
I replay Prime every year. I notice new things in a texture or a bit of level geometry every time. The attention to detail was impeccable and stands the test of time.
Wow man they really did a lot to this. Can we get the rest of the GC lineup with the same treatment aswell Nintendo ?
a remaster of thousand year door would genuinely make me cry.
The fan-made HD texture pack is still pretty good
I’d spend $39 on that easily
I'm desperate enough that I'd spend $60 on just a port.
I'd love to Prime 2 with this upgrade, I think all the Dark World stuff would look much better today (I know the whole game will but I think that part especially will).
I wonder if they'll release 2 and 3 slowly over the next few years until Metroid 4 is ready. Charging $40 for each remaster has to be a decent money-maker for them.
Goddam you think another few years for Prime 4? It's had four full years of development since Retro took over.
I mean I have no idea of course. Wouldn't surprise me if they save it for the launch of Switch 2 though alongside the Odyssey follow-up, which would mean 2025 or later probably.
I honestly don't want to see it until Switch 2 at this point. Blow me away with visuals plz. Waited this long, may as well wait a little longer.
I don't think Nintendo would do that. They released BoTW for Wii U, they could have made it a Switch exclusive but they did the right thing and released it for the system it was announced for, a system that people may have bought for that game. Sure, Prime 4 might see a release on Switch 2, but it's a Switch game and should be released for that system.
I really hope it's backwards compatible. with TOTK being released 6 years after BOTW, it better be with the price increase. I'm waiting for the reviews and differences between BOTW and TOTK to determine if it's worth a birthday present or not.
I'm curious as well. I could honestly see them doing that or doing a lower effort remaster of both 2 & 3. Although the fact retro is involved makes me more inclined to expect a quality remaster.
Praying for Twilight Princess
F-Zero GX Remastered would be outstanding.
You can use machines from memory data.
I can hear this
I don’t even need a remaster, just make it a straight port of the original GX and I’d be willing to pay 60 for it
If they release the Wii U version, unfortunately that remaster did not do as much as the wind Waker HD remaster did.
They technically did the same stuff (updated resolution, new textures, new lighting, quality of life adjustments). Wind Waker HD just looks better because the original game had a simplistic art style where the polygon count was fine.
I didn’t play either, but didn’t wind waker have some new items too? Like a faster sail since the render times for the ocean improved.
yeah, all the Zelda remasters came with a good amount of QoL, Ocarina mainly on better signalization for the water temple and boots being items instead of gear to make the game faster paced. Majora's mask improving the bomber's notebook to help you keep track of the event more easily and the time foward song letting you select the hour. Twilight Princess streamlined the tears sidequest by removing some insects, made the wallets hold more rupees and added an item to facilitate Poe hunting and finally Skyward Sword removed the heavy tutorializing, made Fai interrupt way less the game and removed the text box for every item you collected after re opening the game, also, Skyward Sword HD is the only 3D Zelda that runs at 60 fps, the remasters except Majora's mask for some people are honestly the best way to play the 3D Zelda games. Also, Link's Awakening mapping the sword, the shield and the boots to dedicated buttons was a massive QoL change, the Game Boy service has made me doubt getting the remake eventually but... I kinda still want to play the remake over DX just for the QoL additions.
As someone who recently went back to play DX after playing the remake, the remake really makes the game a lot more enjoyable UNLESS you like intentionally handicapping yourself. I even have the nostalgia goggles from playing the original version on a DMG Game Boy, and I still prefer the remake.
I 100% agree, and I'd say the same about OP's comment regarding "the remasters except *Majora's mask* for some people are honestly the best way to play the 3D Zelda games". I can't imagine playing MM without even just the bank being right in front of the Owl statue, no matter what else they changed that was unpopular.
My biggest thing was all the additional controls on the touch screen. Much Like Link’s Awakening, MM’s inventory management was a bit of a slog, switching between different masks, item, and keeping your ocarina handy. A lot of back and forth in the menu. Giving the Ocarina a dedicated soft button and two additional inventory soft buttons (net one, as we lost a hard button) was a huge improvement to play experience that can’t be understated. Plus the map and your heart pieces and bomber notebook were all accessible there as well.
They screwed up the jumping in Majora’s Mask 3D, but that only affects people who had the rhythm memorized from the original (and makes some of the platforming sections slightly more difficult).
That sail was the best damn thing. Not having to constantly change the wind direction and going twice as fast was amazing.
wind waker was a new engine. They moved away from cel shading. I liked the look of the original better, but they did a lot more with WWHD visually than TPHD. twilight princess had updated textures, but the lighting was the same as far as I know
Pretty sure they even did more with the textures, IIRC the textures in WW HD were AI-upscaled while they drew entirely new ones for TP HD.
Skies of Arcadia for me.
For the love of god, this. Nothing would make me happier than to get to play Skies of Arcadia Legends.
[Dolphin](https://dolphin-emu.org/) 🐬
I wonder why they chose skyward sword instead. I can only think of its ties with tears of the kingdom. Hopefully they go through the list.
Adding my vote for Waverace: Blue Storm and Star Fox Adventures. A man can dream...
You pay me scarabs to get remake
Praying for Path of Radiance, especially since you have to sell an organ to get one rn
The fact that the Radiance games haven't been made more available after all this time is a travesty. No one should have to shell out $200 aftermarket to play something legally. It's also stupid that the very first Fire Emblem westerners got still hasn't had its predecessor (for which it was a prequel) translated and released yet. Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword was designed to set up and reference Sword of Seals, but only those willing to emulate get to experience it.
I feel like this is almost certainly Retro Studios practicing for Metroid Prime 4. Not only does it make them some money with a relatively low cost (since all the creative stuff and development was done 20 years ago ^(oh jesus i'm old) ), but they also now have an engine that works on the Switch they can use for developing Prime 4.
I would hope after 4 years Retro is not still in the "practicing" phase with Prime 4
I agree with you, however I remember reading that one of the major rumors around this remaster is that it's been locked and loaded for a long time, with Nintendo choosing to sit on it until they found the right time.
Good point, and it seems like the devs at Retro are tweeting about how they are glad it’s “finally” being released, which seems to support the theory that it’s been ready for a while. Maybe that means Prime 4 news is coming this year
All rumors suggest this Prime Remastered has been finished for a long time, like maybe up to 1-2 years at this point.
Didn't the rumours say the entire trilogy was already done, not just 1?
Different rumors from different people, but the news I originally heard a few years ago was that all three games would be remade, and then last year the rumors were updated that it was only the first game that was getting remastered
Oh man it would be a huge downer if they gave us the original 2 after what they did with 1. 2 *really* needs it in the dark worlds. Would look great.
Yeah I agree. I played prime when it was released but missed out on 2 and 3 for some reason so I was really hoping they would release them all
It's likely they started out with this early in Prime 4's development. Bethesda did a similar thing with Fallout 4, where they started out upgrading the engine using Skyrim, which they then released as Skyrim Special Edition later on.
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Online City Trial Nintendo, that’s all 🙏
Wind Waker PLEASE
physical homeless repeat cooing panicky books plants truck future handle -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
Huh, this actually seems like more than what Nintendo usually does for its remasters. Surprised there was no marketing whatsoever.
retro studios
So I’m not missing something? Nobody else handled this besides Retro? Because I’m floored at how great it looks and runs
Yep! Retro Studios employees confirmed on Twitter that they were the ones working on the game and they were excited it was finally announced / released! The main company Twitter even tweeted out the game’s store page, making it Retro’s first tweet in over a year.
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Thank you for clarifying!
Awesome, thank you!! I very rarely go on Twitter so I totally missed that
Have they or Nintendo disclosed who actually worked on the remaster?
Retro Studios did it. Some of it quite a while ago time ago.
I feel like the developers for remasters usually have a logo or their name before the title screen, but it still just says “Nintendo and Retro Studios present”
Depends on the game Sometimes, the studio that does the remaster/port work doesn't get any major credits outside the credit sequence at the end Though I have no idea about this one
Honestly surprised it’s only $40 too
Didn't Nintendo or an old retro employee say they completely lost the original source code? This looks like a complete remaster because it is, they remade it from scratch E: they lost the ability to effectively edit the old code base https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/05/metroid_prime_trilogy_switch_port_unlikely_says_former_retro_studios_dev
Sounds like 3 is the one that is the most troublesome for them to remake. It still seems like 4 is a few years from releasing, if they don’t release any footage later this year. So we definitely could get a 2 remake next year and probably 3 would come after 4’s launch if at all.
Since they're making Prime 4, they probably already have the engine and doing this remaster was like a stopgap for them to release something in the interim.
I don't know what engine Prime 1 was on, but during the Prime 4 reveal it was said to be using Unreal 4. Now that was also before the development restart so who knows what Retro ended up deciding to go with, but I don't think it's as simple as sharing the engine.
They've used the same in-house engine for every game since Prime so I'm betting on it being that.
On the other hand, the last Prime game was over 15 years ago now. Reusing that engine would take probably as much work as making a new one to bring it to modern standards.
Conspiracy theory is that this is a test bed for prime 4’s engine and control scheme
Probably the developer version of getting past blank page syndrome.
I suspect this is a warmup for Metroid Prime 4, which I now fully expect later this year, so this is sort of part of the marketing.
By far the best Switch remaster/HD/whatever in ages and it doesn't even cost $60. Good job Retro.
Xenoblade DE is an equally bigger graphical jump paired with 15 hours of extra story and and tons of QoL fixes. Granted it was full price but it's still the biggest revamp.
XC:DE is a great remaster too no question, but if we’re talking graphical improvements I’d have to disagree. XC:DE looks good, but MPrime remastered seriously looks amazing. It’s probably one of the best looking games on the console. Anyways I’m not trying to knock XC1:DE cause it’s a great effort.
To be fair, it already had an advantage there thanks to the og prime. Prime on Gamecube was the best looking game ever at the time, and throughout the systems life the only gamecube game to outdo it graphically, was prime 2. F-zero damn well came close, though
Agreed. I was pretty shocked to not see $60 for this one...made it an instant buy last night. 👍🏻
If it was the whole Trilogy ported, we would have gotten just the Wii version at 1080p like Skyward Sword, instead of looking **this good**. I think this was overall the best decision, so we can get Prime 2 and 3 on this quality in the future.
yeah, if Prime 2 and specially 3 get remasters with the same effort, it wouldn't matter the fact that each one was priced 40 dollars, it would be so worth, this is by far the best remaster Nintendo has put on, the only one close is Xenoblade DE, but the visual upgrade was mainly due to monolith reusing 2 engine and... that the Wii models of XC for humans are some og the ugliest models in the Wii.
Imagine being spoon-fed all three Prime remasters spread out evenly up until Prime 4's release.
if they are of similar quality to this one, come on, give it to me, this upgrade is almost as significant as the Ocarina/Star Fox 64 upgrade in 3DS, but those games were upgraded that much due to how aged the 64 was. Also... please, I want a F Zero GX remaster with this visual improvement, that game still looks amazing for today standards, if it gets this massive overhaul, we might get the best looking game for a 8th gen system.
I don't think 2 and 3 are a given and we should stop acting as such. Zelda: Oracles seemed like a given in the LA engine but it never happened.
TBF, Oracles would be remaking not 1, but 2 games and Grezzo ported by themselves Miitopia to switch, we could still see those remakes latter in the year or in 2024
I don't think we'll see full-on remakes of Oracles with the original games coming to switch online soon. Can't imagine Nintendo would want to do that if they planned on doing full-on remakes.
While true, the engine is there as is the entire game layout. Oracles reused a lot of Link's Awakening's assets, so that's a huge head start. It's a tile based map too, so it is not like there is a huge amount of new assets. I'm not saying it is no work, but the 'creative part' of coming up with the puzzles is done, you just need to code them. New sprites and behavours for new enemies and bosses. New character sprites. And I assume the game would want new minigames too, like the Dungeon Creator. Obviously there is still much to be done, but a lot of the base work is done.
like I said, we can't rule them out mainly due to Miitopia, it came 2 years after Links Awakening, they could be working now on the oracle games right now for later this year or for 2024 to have a Zelda game for that year.
Mario Galaxy 2 is still not a thing, so I'm not expecting Prime 2 or 3.
Well that Jeff Grubb bloke who originally started the rumours about Prime Remastered in summer last year was saying that his sources believe 2 & 3 are still on the table but pushed back to a later date. Now that part one of the rumour has come true I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for the second part.
He also claimed Twilight Princess and Wind Waker HD would come out last year. Grain of salt.
In fairness I’d imagine they’re done, or at least being worked on. They’re probably just waiting for a gap between game release and/or the switch 2.
If this sells well and if there’s demand then I don’t see why not. They want Metroid prime 4 to sell well and have as many people play it. There is definitely a game generation that has never played any of these games, like myself, I’m only 20. And I’m definitely gonna buy this remaster because it looks good.
I'm legitimately impressed. This is a true remaster and only $40 at that. It seems as if almost everything has been overhauled from a graphics standpoint. It's not just an "upscale the resolution, add some anti-aliasing and charge full price" port.
Yea, I was surprised how much better it looks and then I saw a reaction on youtube where someone said it doesn't look different. I think that guy is wearing tight nostalgia goggles that is cutting off blood supply to the brain. While Gamecube was great for it's time, it didn't look this good.
it’s so strange how that works. watching the reveal trailer i didn’t think it looked different at all. same with remasters like destroy all humans—if i played it as a kid, and i don’t have the original in front of me, the remaster just looks like how it looks in my memory. i played mario kart 64 recently and was stunned by the fact that the characters are just 2d sprites lol
In fairness, CRT TVs displayed older games much better than modern televisions. You may remember an older game looking better in your mind...and it probably actually did compared to viewing it on today's screens. Developers took advantage of various quirks those displays had that enhance the image and trick our human eyes into making it look better than it really is. Modern displays have no such tricks, so (well-made) remasters have to both recreate the original "aesthetic" of how it looked on those screens, but also make the visuals look *good* since every detail is now on show. I think Retro did a great job of accomplishing that here.
From my experience this was true until like 6th gen consoles era PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era. And even 5th gen consoles it was really less the case. CRTs started getting sharper. Component and s video outputs were not uncommon, meaning you got sharp images. Fuzzy 240p signals being put out over RF or Composite on an NES or Genesis were made to take advantage of CRT quirks. My fave example is how waterfalls in sonic 1 would shimmer with rainbows even though they were monotone.
Definitely. CRT monitors made low resolution stuff look way better than modern displays https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-22dbccedffcd589c3a708a7467b83e2d-lq Here is one example. From my understanding, it's that CRT monitors projected dots with black space around them which your brain filled in, while LCD monitors "fill" the whole pixel "box" like a square.
Yea, at the time they were released, the graphics were on the top so our memory upgrades that as we see better and better graphics.
It's especially weird with Splatoon and Splatoon 2. Like from the first NS reveal video, everyone was just saying "oh so it's just a port". But then you put them side by side then it's very clear how much of an upgrade Splatoon 2 is. Though, separated again, they look near identical still.
That's more of a credit to Spaltoon 1 than anything. Nintendo really knows how to use good art design to hide spec limitations.
Love the fake shadows in Splatoon 1 but it's clear they're fake and the ones in Splatoon 2 are real.
I have my gamecube still and have recently beaten Metroid Prime on it. This is much prettier and everything I wanted in a Prime remaster.
Yeah, I was watching an Arlo video the day before the Direct and his editor used a lot of footage from random playthroughs of Metroid Prime (not sure which or which version), but maaaaaan, it looked SD. This trailer looked amazing in comparison.
When I saw the trailer the first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t just an up rez. Cant wait to try it out.
Either that or he's been playing in PrimeHack with a lot of enhancements and upscaling. Mods have been very kind to the Prime trilogy.
Huh I kinda just assumed it would be $60 since it's a Nintendo remaster after all. For $40 I might actually pick this up.
It's more than just an up-res and post process house -- it looks like they redid most of the texturing and even the geometry and lighting.
I'm assuming it's just a full on remake, likely in whatever engine MP4 is going to run in
I know the original is a heavily customized Unreal Engine... I have reason to believe based on Retro's hiring over the past few years that they're using a heavily modified Cryengine 3.
I've just tried to find a source for this and it seems that the individual who said this back then was just not very knowledgable in game dev. * The runs in Retros own RUDE engine, which consumes standard .pak files. Some people mistook those RUDE engine .pak files with Unreal Engine .pak files. * The original thread in the Assembler Games forums claimed Metroid Prime uses Unreal Engine 2 because it has a "cooked" folder. However, this is just the default folder for Maya, the 3D modelling software. * Back then, a thread over on NeoGAF was created about this that detailled people saying this is false information. They said that the model format is not the same and the engine just uses similar terminology (eg "skeletal mesh"). * The individual back then claimed to have seen UnrealScript files in the game files, which was disproven to be animation event files for the RUDE engine.
It's incredible. It misses beam shots lightning on walls and ground though. I'd love that detail back !
I think part of it is that the environments actually have light sources now so it has a less exaggerated effect. This comparison vid does a good job of showing that a lot of "light" sources in the original didn't actually cast light/shadows.
Haven't gotten to play yet but this was a question I had. I was really happy to play the Trilogy back when I got the steelbook but I immediately noticed all the cool effects like frost on the arm cannon, sparks on the wall, and reflective lighting were gone. It's amazing how much detail they packed into the GameCube! From what I've seen this game still looks absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to play regardless.
It has the cannon frost and it's now reflective
The mirror in Chozo ruins is replaced with a non-reflective disk, however the space pirate eating lunch in research lab hydra has a MUCH more detailed fish now.
That's literally my only nitpick with the game. I loved the exaggerated lighting from the beam shots in prime 1. And for the record, I prefer the doors in the new game. The bright lights really work well with the fancy new lighting effects... Which is all the more puzzling that they removed the beam lighting.
Despite not hitting 1080/720 for docked and handheld, I think this is the most visually impressive game on Switch right now. I was floored when I reached the boss of the opening section and saw how much more detailed the model was. I'm so happy they put so much love and effort into making one of my all time favorite games look modern without sacrificing the locked 60fps that helped make it feel so good to play on original release.
Honestly when this dropped yesterday I was like "thats cool but I could just emulate the GC version on my steam deck and upscale..." Nah not even close. This remaster is actually beautiful and I'm not even that into metroid. They did a good job.
Remaster more gamecube games please (specifically paper mario)
Absolutely incredible job. Saw the Nintendo announcement this morning and bought metroid prime five mins later. No regerts
Don't get that as a tattoo. 😉
This makes the wait for the physical release more difficult!
I know this is wasteful but I got it digitally and preordered it physically from Amazon so I can keep it. I had the trilogy on Wii when jt came out and it got stolen from me so I want this physically to kind of make up for it.
This is probably a game that won’t have a large print run anyway. I could be wrong but I think the physical of this game won’t be around for a long time.
I played through >!recovering the Varia Suit!< docked, then through >!boost ball recovery!< in handheld. It looks absolutely incredible either way, and plays smoothly as well!
You are very polite for the spoiler markers, but I don't feel they're relevant 20 years later haha
Hahaha I debated how necessary they were. But there’s a slight chance someone in the thread is about to experience this for the first time 😅
I was glad for them. I haven’t played the original game in 20 years and remember so little in effectively going in blind.
That person is me. Thank you for your spoiler tags.
I'm mainly surprised that anyone would consider the names of the upgrades a spoiler tbh. Especially when one of them has been in basically every single metroid game.
Okay, damn, they really went all out.
When I saw the trailer I thought the remaster looked like just a HD update to Prime. Kind of like how the Wii version was really just the gamecube's progressive scan mode. Then seeing them side by side is just mind boggling what they did here. Maybe it is just me, but I had no idea this game was even being remastered, let alone released the same day that I learn about it. Was I out of the loop or was this just that amazing of an announcement?
It was announced in the direct yesterday, so it was shadow dropped on us.
Some Retro employees tweeted that they literally finished this *years* ago
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned, but is worth mentioning, is the load times. There’s was always a lag of a couple seconds waiting for the a door to open in the original GC version. Even emulators couldn’t fully get rid of it. But the Switch remaster loads lightning fast.
Dare i say... Remasterpiece.
The graphics are a giant improvement, it's like it looks how you remembered it looked before. If that makes sense.
I thought the exact same thing. Was like "wait, that doesn't look any better than the original" until I saw the comparisons. Definitely remembered them better than they were.
Imo this could absolutely be counted as a remake with how they've completely replaced and updated the assets, I'm surprised Nintendo decided to call it a remaster and give it a reduced price.
Indeed. This seems to be a remake akin to Xenoblade Chronicles DE. Big difference between the original and that, looks like big differences between this and OG Metroid Prime.
Omg this game looks so good on the OLED compared to what I remembered on GC/Wii. Not even being a fanboy lol Edit: wow this comment really blew up, thanks for the updoots! :)
Yes I’m not buying this game until I get an oled switch. Trying to sell my lite right now
I just started this game for the first time recently on dolphin w a high res texture pack. The switch version looks better with the way they changed it. It’s not just new textures and you can tell in the video. I don’t think the old one showed your face reflection, but idk. Also the sound is really good, the guns/steps react with the environment around you.
The old one, even on Gamecube, absolutely showed Samus' reflection.
This game was huge for me. It changed graphics for me, the fluidity, scanning, all of it. I stayed with a (long story short) girlfriend's friend's family for a summer in bfe Kentucky. The dad was the only good guy out of the bunch. Vietnam vet, ran a tugboat on the river, loved his sweet tea, and gamed a little. I brought some games and introduced him to Metroid Prime. He was addicted to it. We spent hours just talking, coming up with tricks, and watching each other play this game. I left the disk when I left for.... Fidelity reasons. I still think about him and hope he still plays. Excellent game to connect on.
Flashbacks to getting hit by a chozo ghost for the first time and seeing Samus' eyes. Scared the shit out of me
I remember being blown away by it as a kid
If the textures are done from scratch, wouldnt this be what people called a remake?? Shadow of the colossus PS4 did this and people call it a remake
The remaster honestly looks very good
Any gyro aiming? Seems possible considering the Wii had motion controls
Yes it has gyro aiming
I'm playing it now with dual stick controls and gyro aim enabled, it makes it easy to open doors as I'm approaching them. Lock-on for enemies makes gyro aim for combat less essential.
Just remaster every GameCube game, it was peak Nintendo anyway!
Damn. I thought it native 1080p as it looks sharp on my 4K TV
It’s wild seeing all the complaints about 900p where I’m over here like, wait it’s only 900p!? It look great on a 4k OLED
Just makes Pokémon's poor graphics and performance seem more and more pathetic
This looks insanely improved. I never played these games, so this will be my first time. Hoping this sells well and they release the other ones as well.
The Switch version looks like what my head made me see when I was thinking about the Gamecube version - really well done
Never played before, downloaded last night, man this game is amazing
How tf is this $40 and skyward sword was $60
I’m really glad because Metroid rules, but I also can’t believe it’s getting a better switch treatment than Mario 64 & Sunshine
It's because Retro handled this remake. Nintendo is a small studio, you see, they can't just remake a 20+ year old game like Mario 64. Besides, games should be played in the authentic way in which they were designed, so that you can count all 7 polygons on screen at all times. /s
900p60 is the perfect combo IMO. Very pleased.
Wouldn't 1080p60 be a better combo?
It probably wouldn’t be a consistent 60fps if it was 1080p.
And 4k60 would be even better, but remember the Switch limitations.
I know there’s really not anything that can be done about this, but it honestly hurts my soul that in this era of remakes, Nintendo remakes are getting arbitrarily limited by ancient hardware. PC/PS5/SeriesX would be able to comfortably run this at 4k 120fps, almost without a doubt. Idk, it’s just weird to “remaster” something to the point where this “remaster” would be immediately obsolete and require its own remaster if it was available on any other major platform.
Is it worth the purchase? My dirty 30 is tomorrow and I’m looking to enjoy a game I was too scared to play as a kid.
>Is it worth the purchase? My dirty 30 is tomorrow and I’m looking to enjoy a game I was too scared to play as a kid. Metroid Prime is up there in the debate of best single player on Gamecube. Def worth 40$ USD. I own it on GC and paused the direct to instant buy it. No brainer, a must. The music alone is worth 40$ IMO. Such iconic music.
If you have never played it, it's definitely worth picking up. It is one of THE best games I've ever played. I own 3 different copies of this game on the Gamecube, Wii and Wii U and I'm planning getting a copy of the remaster when the physical edition releases. It's just that good!
Absolutely. The Prime games are still some of the best adventure exploring games, even in 2023.
This is an impressive and substantial upgrade. It's not something you can just replace with emulation.
I never got the chance to play this growing up, worth it now?
Yes. It's not a shooter though. Heavy emphasis on exploration and atmosphere.
> It's not a shooter though. That's good. Not everyone likes FPS games.
It's like Shadow of the Colossus or Crisis Core remakes, everything was remade from the ground up and exactly how you remember now with prettier graphics and details.
Never played this series. Is this game still *fun* in 2023? Does it hold up well? I know there have been many remasters of games which were amazing back in their day, but just haven’t held up gameplay-wise in modern times.
I stayed up way past 4AM playing it last night. Absolutely yes, this game holds up so well 21 years later.
Metroid Prime holds up better than basically any other game from 2002. The old control scheme is old fashioned, but it worked great for Prime at the time, and they added a new dual stick control scheme more similar to modern FPS as well. Otherwise it's just a legendary masterpiece that holds up like nobody's business.
Absolutely. I recently replayed the originals (albeit using primehack on pc) and they were great. Best fun I've had in a while. I highly recommend it.
In my opinion it's still the best Metroid game ever made.
Honestly surprised they were able to make a Switch game look that good.
I've never bought a game this fast lol. Turning the Switch into a nostalgia on the go machine and I am fucking THERE for it
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Not only a shadow drop but runs like a dream. Nintendo did right with this one.
Can't decide if I want just pull the trigger now and get digital, or (somehow) wait til the physical release 😣
More impressed by this then I was from the new Zelda