Another brilliant reimagining of the Metroid formula in 3D, just as the original Prime which leans a bit more into horror themes than other Metroids. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who has played the first Prime, but keep a guide handy because the dimension-switching mechanic becomes tedious pretty quick. This is a game I play once every five to ten years, but I find it too frustrating and repetitive compared to the original Prime to play more than that.
I really enjoyed the game leaning into horror aspects, especially with the possessed soldiers at the start, which is a sequence that will always creep me out. I also love the soundtrack of Echoes, it sounds alien, scary when it needs it, and some excellent ambiance. Echoes has great environments and art for its major zones, however they are not as distinct as the environments of Prime.
Unfortunately I think Echoes suffers from people wanting the sequel to Prime to be more difficult. Quite a few of the bosses go beyond challenging to frustrating, either they are just too tanky or they feel like filler for a small upgrade. They attempted to make a few bosses easier in the Trilogy release, but, while better, there are still plenty of issues. The bosses in Prime were mostly unique, named enemies, in Echoes, there are multiple bosses just named some variant of “<Power up> Guardian” which could have been replaced with a puzzle or some other method of discovering new abilities.
Having to manage beam ammo is also a huge change from any previous Metroid installment, and I find it to be more cumbersome instead of being an interesting balancing act. The annihilator beam, which uses both ammo types for each shot, ends up rarely getting used in my play throughs because it feels so wasteful, which is such a shame because it is one of the coolest weapons in the franchise.
As said above, dimension-hopping is an interesting mechanic that quickly becomes tedious and repetitive. You’ll pick up an item in a room, have to back track a good amount to a portal, switch dimensions with the brightest light your screen has ever produced, and and then back track to the other dimension’s version of that room. I find myself aimlessly wandering until the hint system finally kicks in because I end up having no idea where to go next, an issue I don’t have in other Metroid games. They found a way to double the back tracking!
Some mechanics are cool to see in 3D, but feel clunky and inconsistent, such as the screw attack and wall jumping with the screw attack. These could probably be written off as the game is over 20 years old, but nothing stopped my progress and fun harder than a wall jump sequence, the timing never felt natural or obvious, and was not very forgiving, thank god they don’t have shinespark.
Lastly, I really do not enjoy the scavenger hunt before the final sequence, it really pads out the playtime and only really adds new areas specifically for the scavenger hunt. I do not think I would ever be able to find all nine keys on my own without a guide, and I would not recommend trying to for any player. It is an ok excuse to use all of your abilities before the game ends so you can grab all of the expansions you missed, but I do not think it is worth stopping the momentum dead for one last string of backtracking. It takes 1-2 hours with a guide, I’d guess closer to 4-6 without one because the keys are invisible with the regular visor, they do not make any sound or other indication, most move, and most are obstructed or hidden on top of being invisible. I hope any sort of remake would give you more help than just single text hints for each key, maybe highlight a set of rooms on the map, so the player knows where to look without completely holding their hand.
I really enjoyed the game leaning into horror aspects, especially with the possessed soldiers at the start, which is a sequence that will always creep me out. I also love the soundtrack of Echoes, it sounds alien, scary when it needs it, and some excellent ambiance. Echoes has great environments and art for its major zones, however they are not as distinct as the environments of Prime.
Unfortunately I think Echoes suffers from people wanting the sequel to Prime to be more difficult. Quite a few of the bosses go beyond challenging to frustrating, either they are just too tanky or they feel like filler for a small upgrade. They attempted to make a few bosses easier in the Trilogy release, but, while better, there are still plenty of issues. The bosses in Prime were mostly unique, named enemies, in Echoes, there are multiple bosses just named some variant of “<Power up> Guardian” which could have been replaced with a puzzle or some other method of discovering new abilities.
Having to manage beam ammo is also a huge change from any previous Metroid installment, and I find it to be more cumbersome instead of being an interesting balancing act. The annihilator beam, which uses both ammo types for each shot, ends up rarely getting used in my play throughs because it feels so wasteful, which is such a shame because it is one of the coolest weapons in the franchise.
As said above, dimension-hopping is an interesting mechanic that quickly becomes tedious and repetitive. You’ll pick up an item in a room, have to back track a good amount to a portal, switch dimensions with the brightest light your screen has ever produced, and and then back track to the other dimension’s version of that room. I find myself aimlessly wandering until the hint system finally kicks in because I end up having no idea where to go next, an issue I don’t have in other Metroid games. They found a way to double the back tracking!
Some mechanics are cool to see in 3D, but feel clunky and inconsistent, such as the screw attack and wall jumping with the screw attack. These could probably be written off as the game is over 20 years old, but nothing stopped my progress and fun harder than a wall jump sequence, the timing never felt natural or obvious, and was not very forgiving, thank god they don’t have shinespark.
Lastly, I really do not enjoy the scavenger hunt before the final sequence, it really pads out the playtime and only really adds new areas specifically for the scavenger hunt. I do not think I would ever be able to find all nine keys on my own without a guide, and I would not recommend trying to for any player. It is an ok excuse to use all of your abilities before the game ends so you can grab all of the expansions you missed, but I do not think it is worth stopping the momentum dead for one last string of backtracking. It takes 1-2 hours with a guide, I’d guess closer to 4-6 without one because the keys are invisible with the regular visor, they do not make any sound or other indication, most move, and most are obstructed or hidden on top of being invisible. I hope any sort of remake would give you more help than just single text hints for each key, maybe highlight a set of rooms on the map, so the player knows where to look without completely holding their hand.