~Intro~
It took me a long time to finish a
selection of ten favorite Nintendo games. It was taking me even longer to list
them in a top ten order. So, I decide to scrap ordering the ten I had chosen,
and now will post simply my “Ten Favorite Nintendo Games”, in no order. I plan
on doing one each week, along with one of my top ten favorite PC games (though
I was able to order those).
I’ll start my favorite Nintendo
games with one that, were I to order the list, would certainly be in the top
five if not the top three: Metroid Prime.
~Metroid
Prime~
Metroid
Prime is one of a kind among Nintendo games. There is no other Nintendo
game that offers solitary exploration and non-linear structure in a
first-person perspective. Being a connoisseur of first-person games with
adventure or role-playing elements (System Shock, Thief) I have a special
taste for the kind of game Prime is.
Prime
translates the Metroid game
experience brilliantly. It perhaps is the most satisfying 2D to 3D translation
of Nintendo’s, right alongside, if not ahead of, Super Mario 64. Much of the game’s structure and gameplay is Super Metroid through and through. The Prime-specific elements, such as
scanning enemies and reading log entries, gives the game a flavor of its own,
saving it from merely being just “a Super
Metroid in 3D” (though that wouldn’t have been bad).
Like most Nintendo games, the Metroid series takes gameplay traditions
and dilutes them into simple and accessible mechanics. The first three Zelda games did this brilliantly,
diluting the very complex dungeon-crawler experience of CRPGs into a more
understandable design.
Metroid
does
this too. Samus is basically a role-playing game hero, leveling up and being
able to do more and better because of this. But, instead of being built out of
the D&D ruleset, Metroid is built on a simple design of
finding new items that upgrade Samus, allowing her to explore more areas and
defeat more enemies. Metroid Prime is
a ‘Nintendo-take’ on games like System
Shock 2. Samus’ beams are like keycards, and her items like RPG character
upgrades, though they don’t cost cybernetic modules (and save stations don’t
cost nanites). A Shock 2 comparison
is a stretch, and I use it to illustrate that Nintendo’s games, like Metroid, are accessible hybrids of many gameplay designs.
Prime
isn’t
easy, but it is accessible. Despite this, there’s a lot going on in the
background. There’s the beam, visor, and suit upgrades; the health and missile
expansions; additional power-ups (morph-ball bombs, grapple beam); scans of
creatures and objects; and log entries. I love the backstory that the log
entries create. This is another element of Prime
that can be compared to something from Shock
2, in this case Shock’s PDA audio
logs.
Prime’s
accessible
yet complex gameplay is coupled with a well-crafted atmosphere. The music and
visuals both make the game very aesthetically pleasing. The music’s role is
made more important by how it builds up with additional layers as you progress,
notably in the Tallon Overworld and Chozo Ruins sections. Visual effects with
Samus’ visor, such as water droplets smearing down it, or her eyes reflecting
in it when being hit by certain attacks, enrich the game’s flare.
Prime
also
allows players the satisfaction of feeling more and more powerful as they
progress. As you first explore Tallon IV, you feel inadequate. You can’t blow
up Benzium materials. You can’t grapple. Enemies take a lot of shots to defeat.
But, before you know it, you’re blowing up every rock, swinging around like Donkey Kong, and melting enemies with the Plasma rifle. I love games that give you
this feel of progression.
There are a couple things I dislike about Prime. One, first-person platforming is
awkward, and in Prime there’s a lot
of it. In most cases it isn’t done poorly, but there are a few instances where
it is annoying to jump delicately from one platform to the next. Two, there are
some ridiculous boss battles. These in themselves are not bad, but when they
come out of the blue they halt the flow of gameplay and inspire frustration and
woe. I think of Thardus and Omega Pirate. This is a nitpick more particular to
me—I’m not fond of boss battles (except in JRPGs). Given how much I love
exploring around in Prime, getting
stuck at one big baddy grates on me.
However, any negatives I can think of with
Prime are vastly outshined by the
game’s positive qualities. The successful translation of the Metroid formula into 3D, the non-linear
exploration and player upgrading, and the excellent sound and visuals make for
one of the best Nintendo games ever made. I’d also call it the Gamecube’s best
and one of the best ever.
