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Metroid Prime 4: Beyond thrillingly modernizes the classic series.
Alright, let's get straight into it. I just got my hands on about 90 minutes of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and honestly? It’s the glow-up we’ve been waiting for since the Switch 2 dropped.Having recently replayed the remastered original, the difference is night and day. The original Prime was a masterpiece for its time, no cap, but man, did it feel clunky.The platforming was a pain, and getting swarmed by Metroids was a surefire way to lose your cool. Jumping into Beyond felt like slipping on a favorite pair of jeans that have somehow been magically tailored to fit perfectly in 2025.The controls are tight, responsive, and everything you remember—charge blasts, morph ball, missile cannon—is right where you’d expect it, just remapped for a more modern feel. I was scanning enemies and blasting weak points within seconds, no tutorial needed.The opening sequence, which Nintendo demoed at those secret Switch 2 events earlier this year, throws you right into the action: Samus flying in to save a base under siege. It’s classic Metroid, but with a visual polish that’s absolutely stunning.We’re talking HDR explosions that pop, details on Samus’s ship you can actually appreciate, and a frame rate that’s smoother than butter. Playing on the Switch 2, both handheld and docked, it looked crisp and ran without a single stutter.This is the first Metroid Prime game on a console with real power behind it—remember, Corruption was on the Wii—and it shows. The art direction is peak Nintendo, but they’re flirting with photorealism here in a way that makes the alien worlds feel more immersive than ever.And the voice chatter? Yeah, that’s new. Soldiers are shouting directions, praising Samus, making the universe feel alive instead of that lonely, isolated vibe from the original.It’s a welcome change that adds depth without drowning out the mystery. The second area I explored was a lush jungle planet, dripping with alien flora and fauna that want you dead.The boss fight against a giant tentacled plant was a blast—literally. It felt like a scaled-up version of classic Metroid battles, with tentacles flinging everywhere and poisonous flowers firing off.The arena was huge, forcing you to maneuver and time your shots carefully. But here’s the kicker: the new psychic abilities.This isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a game-changer. You charge up this psychic beam, fire it, and time slows to a crawl as you guide it with the analog stick.In the boss fight, I had to weave it around obstacles to hit three tentacles before the core became vulnerable. It adds a fresh layer to both puzzles and combat, and I’m itching to see how it evolves.That said, not everything is a revolution. Save stations are back, which feels like a weird throwback in an age of autosaves.The music and sound effects are straight out of the Prime playbook, and Samus starts with the same basic moveset, complete with the inevitable power loss and morph ball hunt. At times, it almost feels too familiar, like a remaster on steroids rather than a full reinvention.But let’s be real—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. For a series that’s been dormant for so long, this familiarity is comforting, and the modern touches make it accessible for newbies and veterans alike. December 5 can’t come soon enough.
#Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
#Nintendo Switch
#game review
#new abilities
#graphics
#featured
