3,199 words
Metroid Prime: Echoes is a 2004 videogame originally released on the Nintendo GameCube, a direct sequel to Metroid Prime. While it achieved only moderate commercial success, it was highly critically acclaimed. The original Prime is widely regarded as the best GameCube game ever made, but while Prime 2: Echoes is outstanding, it didn’t stray far enough from the formula or bring enough new gameplay mechanics to supersede it. (Within Retro Studios, the developer, the game was thought of as “Metroid Prime 1.5”.)
Both games are oddities which still merit close examination, especially to present them to non-gamers. Why write about a game that’s nearly two decades old — and not merely that, but one that has had far too many keystrokes expended on it already? While the gameplay,...