Metroid Prime 2002

About

The main story takes about 7.5 hours, doing everything about 18 hours. It won the British Academy Games Award for GameCube.

A 3D exploration-focused metroidvania with first-person shooting mechanics and the first 3D entry in the Metroid series, Metroid Prime follows Samus Aran after the events of Metroid (1986) as she boards a Space Pirate frigate, then chases her escaping archrival Ridley into the intricately structured Tallon IV, a planet full of deadly wildlife and former home to the advanced and ancient Chozo race.

Story

After receiving a distress signal from a Space Pirate frigate in orbit, bounty hunter Samus Aran boards the vessel and discovers the Pirates have been conducting biological experiments. When the frigate is destroyed, Samus pursues her nemesis Ridley to the surface of the planet Tallon IV, where she uncovers the remains of the Chozo civilization and the source of a toxic substance called Phazon that is corrupting the planet's ecosystem.

What is happening now

Metroid Prime brought the long-running 2D platformer series into first-person territory when it launched on GameCube in 2002, blending shooting mechanics with exploration and puzzle-solving in a fully 3D environment. The shift represented a significant departure from the franchise's original side-scrolling roots that had defined it since the '80s. Recently, fan creativity has circled back to those origins with a new project that reimagines Prime as a 2D experience, essentially "demaking" the 3D adventure into something closer to the classic formula. While Nintendo now comfortably operates across both dimensions with the franchise, the fan effort highlights lingering nostalgia for Metroid's traditional design.