I think we often only recon the sheer size of a work after we have something of the same magnitude to compare it to. For this reason some great games have a growth in its recognition generations after it is released, but what if you play a game and have an insight instantly? When the change is so drastic, apart from your current reality that you can’t do anything but accept what is in front of your eyes, that you’ve seen the next step in a saga.
For many years, before we had the internet and modern media channels via social networks, the only access we had to games was by magazines, dealers and friends. We used to go into friends houses to play some sweet Need For Speed coop or to play that new ultra realistic Medal Of Honor that just got out. That, beyond the fact that it was an interesting social interaction, was also a moment where the player could be totally surprised. It happened to me once, with the same franchise I already talked here in this post.
My sister had a boyfriend that liked to play video games, normally that was the only thing I had in common to talk with him since I was much younger. Eventually, she went to his house and I went with her to play some games, he had a new generation console. I didn’t even know what game was, just that it was new and that was enough. When we got there, I was first surprised by the console. A box! What an amazing piece of tech. Beyond that, the optic disc was minuscule! Maybe half the diameter of a PS2 title. Really it was Nintendo magic. But the most important thing was, of course, the game. And believe it or not for my surprise the game he was playing was nothing but the one and only Metroid Prime.
It took me some time to conceive that this was from the same franchise that I played some time before. I didn’t have any clues there was another Metroid game, this was my second contact with the series. Already in the beginning you could sense something familiar, this eerie effect that the Prime had on its main menu, the strong presence and almost “alien” feel of the music and the microorganisms aesthetic, already preparing you for what was under the hood. Beautiful as it is, in that time, I was much more eager for some sweet gameplay! And I really should.
You do not often see franchises making great POV changes in it’s main titles. There are of course exceptions like Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy but usually games stay faithful to they core mechanics and such changes, like from 2D to 3D, have a significant impact on the mechanics. At first glance, I didn’t notice the meaning of those changes, but the more I played the more it was undeniable that the technological advancements made from the 16-bits console to the 32-bits were really awesome.
The game I was playing was saved right after Samus arrival to Phendrana Drifts, in the first save room that you find after the little Ridley cutscene. Getting to know the controls was something new, the first person perspective was already something established on PS2 and PC, even some PS1 titles, but Metroid had both a different approach and a different layout to those titles. The game was much more relaxed, letting me take my time shooting all around with this new perspective without either ammo depletion punishment nor crowds of enemies coming after me, Tallon IV inhabitants were mostly peaceful in this region. The more calm and contemplative nature of the game was displayed in its default control schema as well as the main button, the giant GameCube Controller “A” button in red, was not designed for shooting but for jumping. This is subtle but it says something, the main action that the game expects from the players was not intense fighting against enormous hordes of enemies, but more of the exploration of the many biomes of the planet. Another incredible detail that caught my attention was the fact that you could see Samus helmet through her vision, sometimes even her face in reflection! It was constant, always there, always remembering the player that the only human he was going to see in this experience was himself.
And what about the scenery? Forget the slime caves or wet/sandly tunnels of Zebes, we now got some out in the open architecture, temples covered by years and years of snow. The fact that you have a fully 3D environment to work with opens a ton of possibilities for creativity. And speaking of possibilities, one of the main mechanics that I got to see this difference from the franchise older entry was the morph ball. A little later in the game exploring Phendrana Drift, I was faced with a big room with a ground in the shape of “U”. The texture of the region was different as well, a light ice that looked thinner and more slippery than the rest of the floor. The “U” shaped and different ground texture instigates the player to try different things with it, right in the same room you got the Boost Ball. And of course, I could use this new environment with the power up I just got to archive new highs, quite literally. Bouncing from side to side in this track, using the boost ball to increase momentum, you can get to places you couldn’t access before expanding greatly and cleverly the uses of the morph ball.
This change of perspective, with the new graphics and power ups, everything contributes to this new and awesome experience in Metroid Prime. After that brief session of gameplay I didn’t have the opportunity to play this game again for years, since the console was expensive and I was just a kid. But one thing is for sure, the impact that this experience had in me resonated so clearly with my first contact with the series, showing how much a game can grow and continue to evolve, independent of (or even better, correlated with) technology.
These two games I talked about had such a great impact on me that they stand out until this day and I still visit them from time to time. But with that said, it’s time to move on to what I truly want to talk about in this blog. In the next post I’m gonna talk about game design for an amazing franchise I’ve discovered in recent years, see you in the next post!
Edit: Just as a gimmick, in that time I didn’t have the resources to have Prime, but when I grew older I got myself a copy of this game. From time to time I look at it and appreciate the art. Unhapply, I do not own a Wii anymore so this will be eventually a family relic.
posted 02/14/2021, edited 02/16/2021
