Metroid Prime
What I’d want from a new Metroid Prime is essentially what I’m hoping I’ll get from the next Halo, but there’s only one problem: we have little to no confirmation or even indication that a new Prime is coming. Higherups at Retro have dropped slight hints that a new Metroid could be what the studio works on after Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, but no promises have been made and no teasers, concept art, or even intentional planned leak of internal company memos have been committed. Drat.
Either way, one can never let go of hope, and despite the borderline embarrassing Other M, I’m still a believer in Nintendo’s long-term commitment to its core franchises. Even if they do sometimes require hiatus after a misstep or a particularly mediocre reaction from critics.
So what would Metroid Prime have to do to wow us in 2013? Well, more like 2015 or 2016, assuming development has yet to begin. Firstly, the game would absolutely have to deliver in terms of visual fidelity. Though we’ve yet to see the Wii U demonstrate exceptional visuals in a game with a more realistic slant, it’s important to remember the thing that always made Metroid Prime so optically striking in the first place: its beyond-stellar art direction. Sure, the original Prime on the GameCube had lots of polygons and a plethora of bloom lighting, but that’s not why it still looks great today while Halo: Combat Evolved looks like it was made with the Super FX.
Of course, there was a time when we all thought Other M would actually be cool, and if you check out some of the pre-rendered segments from the above trailer and the game itself it’s not hard to see why. Though Wii U is not the most powerful of next-gen platforms, the wizardry Retro was able to pull off with Prime 3 on the 480p original Wii suggests that they could have a serious field day with Nintendo’s newest game-playing box, given enough time and resources.
There are dozens of other cool things a next-gen Metroid Prime could take advantage of, such as mapping the Scan Visor to the GamePad or expanding the game’s cleverly disguised linearity to a more open-world format, but maybe it’s best we don’t get too ahead of ourselves. We haven’t heard much out of Retro since Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze’s unexpected delay, so maybe they’re up to something? Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being wishful.
