Tag Archives: Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime: Throwing in the Towel and Final Thoughts

Image by Flickr user Umesh Bansal (CC)
Image by Flickr user Umesh Bansal (CC)

A little less than a year ago, I made a promise to myself to beat Metroid Prime, a game that had long been shamefully lingering in my backlog. At first, it was “All Systems GO!” I conquered the Pirate Frigate and the Parasite Queen. I bravely explored the Chozo Ruins and put an end to Flaahgra. I beat the heat of Magmoor Caverns and found solace in the Phenandra Drifts. I had a terribly rocky time with Thardus but came out on top. I found the crashed frigate and carefully crept through the Phazon Mines. The Omega Pirate was nearly my undoing, but once I remember the difference between the X-Ray Visor and the Thermal Visor, the Omega Pirate was no match. I rambled through the Impact Crater and met Meta Ridley undaunted.

The time I spent with the game, though fragmented, was filled with purpose. But by the time I finally faced off with the Metroid Prime this past February, I was tired, and I was tired of continually losing to this formidable foe. I then questioned my future with the game, and put it on the backburner for awhile.

Continue reading Metroid Prime: Throwing in the Towel and Final Thoughts

Metroid Prime remains, and the question of “beating” games

Image by Flickr user  Michel Ngilen (CC)
Image by Flickr user Michel Ngilen (CC)

Last month, the fine folks of A Most Agreeable Pastime posted a thoughtful article titled From The Armchair: Leaving Things Unfinished. As someone with a plentiful backlog of started-but-not-yet-completed games, which I made mention of in that article’s comment section, the post deeply resonated with me, especially considering my grand promise of 2014 to finally complete Metroid Prime. This post here will serve as both an update and admission concerning that game, as well as offer an exploration of the question:

What does it mean to “beat” a game?

Continue reading Metroid Prime remains, and the question of “beating” games

Stories are the Keys

Image by Flickr User: Charles Williams (cc)

It’s been an odd year in gaming for me.  Despite all the new games that have come out this year, I’ve often found myself drawn to the senior ranks of my collection. Mirror’s Edge, Final Fantasy VII, KotOR 2, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, etc., somehow they’ve all wound up being much more interesting prospects for my game time than just about everything that’s come out this year so far.  At first I thought it was just a severe case of gamer nostalgia (after all, being back in the day really was awesome Am-I-right?), but that just didn’t feel like a good answer. It took playing Destiny to bring the problem into clear focus: there just wasn’t enough story to be had in many of the newer I played games this year.
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A Different Kind of Frustrating

"Metroid gamecube god" by Eoder - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metroid_gamecube_god.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Metroid_gamecube_god.jpg
“Metroid gamecube god” by Eoder – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons

This past weekend, I had the rare opportunity to spend a whopping three hours with video games! Not three hours broken into ten-minute segments. Not one hour in the morning, one hour in the afternoon, and one hour in the evening. But three consecutive hours, all in the stretch of a discretely lovely afternoon. It was a beautiful thing!

When that time period presented itself, my plan was to play several games. First I’d return to Metroid Prime for a bit. Then I’d catch up with Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, and then I’d hop onto the PC to see if I couldn’t finally complete LIMBO. Well let me tell you, those plans went right out the window when I started Metroid Prime.

Many of us know what it’s like to rage quit a game. You get to a certain point in a game where things get so dang frustrating, it takes every ounce of your being to maintain composure. But then, without warning, you crack. Maybe a controller gets thrown, maybe a console gets knocked over, and/or maybe you yell and scream a lot. However the rage quitting happens, the game that caused it is put into purgatory. Maybe it goes on the shelf to be internally mocked for awhile. Maybe it gets traded in for calmer pursuits. Or maybe, in the worst case, the game ends up destroyed, trashed, or otherwise maimed as to be rendered inoperable.

This is not where things stand with me and Metroid Prime. This game is a different kind of frustrating.

Continue reading A Different Kind of Frustrating

Metroid Prime, IT’S GO TIME! (And this time, I’m serious.)

Image by Flickr user courtney johnston
Image by Flickr user courtney johnston

It seems the right combination of inspiration and timing have struck in the midst of my gaming life. At the beginning of this month, my colleague Hatm0nster wrote Finishing Final Fantasy VII, in which he discussed who determined he was to complete this classic game. After reading, it made me think of how I, too, never finished FFVII, and that maybe it was high time I get around to it as well! But as much as my incomplete FFVII venture bugs me, that feeling is nothing compared to the deep disappointment I carry concerning Metroid Prime.

Long story short, with nothing less than immense thrill and glee, I picked up Metroid Prime when it was released. I choked on and fought through my dislike of first-person perspective gaming to carry on with Samus and her adventures on Tallon IV. It felt like it took me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to reach just the first boss. Continue reading Metroid Prime, IT’S GO TIME! (And this time, I’m serious.)

Resonance: Metroid Prime Trilogy Intro Music

Image By Flicker User: Jorgen Haland

It’s been awhile since our last Resonance entry, so this time we’re doing not one, but three most excellent pieces of gaming music! Specifically the introductory themes from Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption! Continue reading Resonance: Metroid Prime Trilogy Intro Music

My “Deserted Island” Games – Gamecube edition

Image by Flickr user Beto sound!
Image by Flickr user Beto sound!

I had a poignant relationship with our Gamecube. We had some absolutely wonderful times together, filled with sailing, slaying, and sleuthing. But it also rendered one of my biggest gaming disappointments in the form of Super Mario Sunshine.  (I tried, I really did, but it turned out to be one of the few Mario titles that just didn’t resonate with me. And that made me very sad. However, spoilers, I try to rectify things as you’ll see below.) I had very few titles for the system, which made making choices both easy and hard. Some were shoe-ins, while other required a good bit of mental debate.  Among some of our stored electronics, our Gamecube still sits. Waiting for its chance at resurrection! (Or, morbidly so, the death of the Wii.)

Continue reading My “Deserted Island” Games – Gamecube edition