GBAtemp Recommends #98: Metroid Prime Pinball

[BORTZ]

That´s probably the worst far-from-truth opinion I ever read about metroid prime. First, Hunters wasn´t considered a failure, quite the opposite. It´s just that Metroid Prime never was a franchise that sold very well. A DS game didn´t help that matter. Second, Metroid Prime pinball is in a completely different franchise than the rest of the series. I fail to understand how nintendo could save a shooter/adventure franchise with a fricking pinball game. If nothing else, this game was a disgrace to the metroid series, no matter how good the pinball aspect of it was.

Yeah, ok.

 

[CathyRina]

I absolutely loved Metroid Prime Hunters. First Prime game I ever played and the only FPS I ever played on a DS.
The only thing that I disliked about this game was the recycling of the two only non-hunter bosses but other than that it was a great game to have on the DS.
And as WiiUBricker said I too thought that making a Metroid pinball game was a ridiculously stupid and anticlimactic Idea.

 

[Hadrian]

This game just exists for me, neither like it or dislike it. It is well made though.

As for MPH, well it was a tech demo first and an adequate game second. It was clearly rushed out so Nintendo had something to show off graphically. My main problem was that it wasn't in the least bit a Metroid title and just a FPS, where as previous Prime titles were perfect (well the first one) 3D continuations of the Metroid series told with a first person viewpoint.

It is a shame that we never got a real DS Metroid title (I would have been happy with either 2D or a first person adventure one) but then the DS missed out on a few Nintendo IP's and the ones it had (Zelda & StarfFox) were mostly kinda cruddy.

It´s just that Metroid Prime never was a franchise that sold very well.

Actually the first game did at least 2 million on a console that was a failure, much more than any of the GC Resident Evil, Sonic, Pikmin, Pokemon and 3rd party titles. Back then, that was a lot for a game and it is the 2nd best selling in the Metroid series, the NES game released during the Nintendo boom on a console that printed money only did slightly better.

 

[JoostinOnline]

The game was forgotten quickly probably due to the fact that Hunters was considered a miserable failure.

Maybe by you (did you even play it?), but it was an extremely popular game. It's hard to take your reviews seriously if you're not going to do even a little bit of homework. Why don't you take a look at some of the review scores:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_Prime_Hunters#Reception

 

[BORTZ]

I seemed to have stepped on a few toes with my opinion about Hunters. While the game isnt the worst game ever, or quite possibly the worst metroid, I maintain that its share of flaws broke my interest.

1) The controls were pretty rough... simply, it needed an analog stick, and badly. They had several different control schemes, but there wasn't really one that allowed for both good movement and good aim. I typically chose the former. Sometimes I would switch controls mid-game if I picked up a sniper, but the "aim-centric" controls also made the hand holding the DS get really tired.
2) The DS just wasn't powerful enough. You might have been able to get by with the "sandy" graphics on a TV screen, but the rough graphics did not manifest themselves well on the little screens of the DS.
3) The combat system suffered terribly from the controls. You always felt like you were getting torched either because you couldn't aim well, or you couldn't easily jump/strafe simultaneously.
4) The level design, while reasonable, wasn't up to snuff with the other prime games. I realize that's a high bar, but there it is. In the end, they ended up reusing too many ideas/assets in the later levels of the game from the beginning and things got boring quickly.
5) The enemy design was decent and the other hunters were pretty cool, but the boss design was atrocious. If I remember correctly, there were only two real boss designs, excluding the final boss. I think they mixed it up by giving them more health/faster attack patterns/vulnerability only to specific weapons/etc. DUM. I might have been able to forgive most of these sins, but the controls were what really killed it for me.

Popular or not, most first party IP launch titles do pretty well, and many of the flaws are forgiven because there is simply nothing else to compare them to.

It is probably an unfair assessment of the situation to call the game a "misrable failure" and I am not above rescinding my "insult".

 

[CathyRina]

1. If you are used to standard console shooter controls then yes the controls aren't the best. But for me, I don't play many shooters on consoles I am used to fast & precise mouse shooter controls on PC and the touchscreen allowed me just that.
The standard controls are pretty much the exact same of Kid Icarus Uprising and I don't remember many complaining about the lack of both hand slide pad pro controls.
Also I thought the other control option for hunters were pretty pathetic. Never thought someone would ever consider using them. Except for maybe emulation with a proper gamepad. Maybe try that out and say if it's any better.
2. That's more of a DS issue not Hunters issue. You could literally say that to any game on the DS. Also it's one of the first DS titles so of course it wouldn't use the full potential of the handheld.
3. Combat isn't bad if you get along with the controls. Me and my friends even battled in Multiplayer with ease. Sylux was op though.
4. I didn't feel that way. Hunters was my first Prime game and thought the level design was great. Haven't noticed any similarities when playing the GC and Wii titles.
5. That unfortunately is true but as I said before it was the only flaw in my eyes.

 

[Arras]

I seemed to have stepped on a few toes with my opinion about Hunters. While the game isnt the worst game ever, or quite possibly the worst metroid, I maintain that its share of flaws broke my interest.

1) The controls were pretty rough... simply, it needed an analog stick, and badly. They had several different control schemes, but there wasn't really one that allowed for both good movement and good aim. I typically chose the former. Sometimes I would switch controls mid-game if I picked up a sniper, but the "aim-centric" controls also made the hand holding the DS get really tired.
2) The DS just wasn't powerful enough. You might have been able to get by with the "sandy" graphics on a TV screen, but the rough graphics did not manifest themselves well on the little screens of the DS.
3) The combat system suffered terribly from the controls. You always felt like you were getting torched either because you couldn't aim well, or you couldn't easily jump/strafe simultaneously.
4) The level design, while reasonable, wasn't up to snuff with the other prime games. I realize that's a high bar, but there it is. In the end, they ended up reusing too many ideas/assets in the later levels of the game from the beginning and things got boring quickly.
5) The enemy design was decent and the other hunters were pretty cool, but the boss design was atrocious. If I remember correctly, there were only two real boss designs, excluding the final boss. I think they mixed it up by giving them more health/faster attack patterns/vulnerability only to specific weapons/etc. DUM. I might have been able to forgive most of these sins, but the controls were what really killed it for me.

Popular or not, most first party IP launch titles do pretty well, and many of the flaws are forgiven because there is simply nothing else to compare them to.

It is probably an unfair assessment of the situation to call the game a "misrable failure" and I am not above rescinding my "insult".

The controls (digital movement + precise aiming) is pretty much the same as PC FPS controls, which many people swear by, so I'd say that's more of an opinion (although having an analog stick certainly never hurts).

 

[BORTZ]

The controls (digital movement + precise aiming) is pretty much the same as PC FPS controls, which many people swear by, so I'd say that's more of an opinion (although having an analog stick certainly never hurts).

no you are right, it certainly is, and its the same reason (opinion) why I dislike Kid Icarus, and that game is fantastic.

 

[JoostinOnline]

I seemed to have stepped on a few toes with my opinion about Hunters. While the game isnt the worst game ever, or quite possibly the worst metroid, I maintain that its share of flaws broke my interest.

1) The controls were pretty rough... simply, it needed an analog stick, and badly. They had several different control schemes, but there wasn't really one that allowed for both good movement and good aim. I typically chose the former. Sometimes I would switch controls mid-game if I picked up a sniper, but the "aim-centric" controls also made the hand holding the DS get really tired.
2) The DS just wasn't powerful enough. You might have been able to get by with the "sandy" graphics on a TV screen, but the rough graphics did not manifest themselves well on the little screens of the DS.
3) The combat system suffered terribly from the controls. You always felt like you were getting torched either because you couldn't aim well, or you couldn't easily jump/strafe simultaneously.
4) The level design, while reasonable, wasn't up to snuff with the other prime games. I realize that's a high bar, but there it is. In the end, they ended up reusing too many ideas/assets in the later levels of the game from the beginning and things got boring quickly.
5) The enemy design was decent and the other hunters were pretty cool, but the boss design was atrocious. If I remember correctly, there were only two real boss designs, excluding the final boss. I think they mixed it up by giving them more health/faster attack patterns/vulnerability only to specific weapons/etc. DUM. I might have been able to forgive most of these sins, but the controls were what really killed it for me.

Popular or not, most first party IP launch titles do pretty well, and many of the flaws are forgiven because there is simply nothing else to compare them to.

It is probably an unfair assessment of the situation to call the game a "misrable failure" and I am not above rescinding my "insult".

There's absolutely nothing wrong with you not liking that game. It's not for everyone. However, the part in bold is where you're flaws lie:

The game was forgotten quickly probably due to the fact that Hunters was considered a miserable failure.

"By me" belongs before both of the parts in bold. To the general public, the game was neither forgotten, nor considered a failure. During the DS rein, it was one of the most popular games available, and continued to have an online community long after most games die. I got into it again about 2 years ago, and people were still doing online tournaments.

The problem was you were saying most people felt the same way as you. It's like not enjoying Xenoblade Chronicles (which would be okay, no game is for everyone), and saying that nobody remembers or enjoyed Xenoblade Chronicles.

 

[mechagouki]

What card are you using?

Necro-reply! Pretty sure it was R4i SDHC, don't think I owned my DSTwo back then.

FWIW, I thought Hunters was a sucky game too, I guess the multiplayer was impressive for a handheld release at the time, but the single-player was weak as hell, controls frustrating and uncomfortable and graphics confusing and glitchy.