PAL Metroid Prime improved over NTSC version.

[Teasy]

Finally us European's will get something to compensate us for waiting so long for a game.

Additions and improvments for the PAL version (taken from IGNCube):

- Defeated enemies don't drop as many power-ups as the US version; less ammo and energy.

- Stronger enemies: it takes more shots to eliminate certain enemies and their attacks are more powerful.

- Faster loss of energy when walking on acid or lava
Some doors will now require multiple shots to open just like in the SNES game.

- Hint system refined: it takes 10-15 minutes longer for hints to appear when players are stuck.

- Gamers can skip cut-scenes after they've played through once.

- Includes speech: English speech for the intro and voice output when scanning objects and adding them to the log.

- Also, a voice notifies players when doors are locked and unlocked and there is an added voice for the ending of the game.

The most interesting bit is about the addition of speech. It seems to be saying that everything you scan will be read out. If so that would be a great improvment IMO. I prefer to hear stuff like that rather then having to read it all.

 

[Almasy]

The only improvement I see is the voice acting. The rest sound like hard mode as the standard difficulty, and how many cutscenes are in the game? 5?

BTW, a real improvement would be the toning down of the excruciating and pianfull backtracking. Oh, and the removal of the crappy one time only events that make you replay the entire game from scratch if you want a 100% rating (or at least give a warning). Now those two would make a difference.

 

[Teasy]

BTW, a real improvement would be the toning down of the excruciating and pianfull backtracking.

But its not likely that you'd find every peice of tech just before you need to use in a a specific part of the world. So finding something and then realising you could have used it earlier and so backtracking is realistic isn't it? It adds a certain none lineararity to the game and its something that was in the original Metroid games too. So I do't think it would have improved things to change that. It certainly would have made the game easier and more straightforward (linear), but is that a good thing?

I suppose I haven't played the game that much (I've only been able to play it in a shop for a little bit so far), but the backtracking sounds like a good thing to me.

 

[clem64]

The only improvement I see is the voice acting. The rest sound like hard mode as the standard difficulty, and how many cutscenes are in the game? 5?

But it will make the game more balanced if both modes are a little harder. On my first time through, the only parts that were tough were the last 2 bosses. The rest of the game is a little easy.

BTW, a real improvement would be the toning down of the excruciating and pianfull backtracking.

That's a direction of game design. It's not necessarily a flaw. Metroid has always been about backtracking to prior areas to revisit them with a new found power-up which can give you access to new paths/upgrades. If done well, I don't see anything wrong with backtracking. I liked that aspect of MP.

Oh, and the removal of the crappy one time only events that make you replay the entire game from scratch if you want a 100% rating (or at least give a warning).

Yeah. That sucked.

I wonder if they'll release the upgraded version in the rest of the world.

 

[zurich]

Metroid Prime International?

 

[Blade]

Yeah, those one-time scanable objects (bosses, for instance) can be a drag.. but bonii are for the dedicated!

If you want all of the secrets, you gotta scan all of the log book entries.

Backtracking is part of the Metroid design, BTW.. and it works.

 

[Almasy]

Teasy, wether or not backtracking makes the game more realistic, it still makes the game painfully dull and annoying towards the end. Offering shortcuts after clearing certain events would be a good way of toning down the backtracking, that would be a serious improvement.

Seriusly Teasy, it´s a huge design flaw, no matter how realistic or "in line with Metroid" it is.

 

[zurich]

Halo did it (backtracking)

It was somewhat annoying, but there were enough twists to make it somewhat enjoyable.

I guess thats what happens when you don't have enough dev time to make a unique set of levels, hehe.

 

[Colourless]

Hey, back in the day at around the time of Quake 2, being able to backtrack through levels was seen as a feature

 

[jvd]

Hey, back in the day at around the time of Quake 2, being able to backtrack through levels was seen as a feature

You remember the praise the first zelda got for it. Now it seems gamers what everything force feed to them

 

[Teasy]

Almasy

You think its a flaw, but obviously not everyone does. If the majority of people like it, which they seem to, then Retro/Nintendo made the right decision.

When I recently played Metroid I thought the backtracking added to the game. It made it seem a lot less linear. So I hope it does the same in Metroid Prime, I'll have to wait and see.

 

[Ty]

I suppose it's a fine line between an acceptable amount of backtracking and an unacceptable amount. I haven't found the amount in MP to be that bad actually. I just wished there was a way for me to mark an area on the map so I'd know to go back to it rather than having to remember it with my faulty memory.

In some ways it was a cool reward system. 'Hmm, I wonder what I need to get past this? <Later on> Ah! I bet I can use this new fangled power to bypass obstacle X I encountered over at that spot'.

 

[CeiserSöze]

The backtracking in Metroid Prime didn't annoy me at all. There was always something going on (hey, I liked blasting enemies to pieces over and over again in Metroid Prime The "battle system" was just fun) and there were new things to discover in the already visited areas too (upgrades you couldn't reach the first time, doors which remained closed before etc.).

I agree that backtracking can be a real pain in the ass if it isn't implemented very well though. Just don't get me started about StarFox Adventures for example: Walk for a few minutes... then walk some more (with nothing remotely of interest happening while you're walking)... then walk all the way back again to see a completely uninteresting, badly scripted cutscene (the kind that tries to be funny while having the exact opposite effect) just to walk some more afterwards. I could really use a puke-smiley right now

 

[CaptainHowdy]

they did cut back the backtracking, new abilitys forge new paths to be taken, exploration=less backtracking.

there are shortcuts to pretty much any level.

 

[Blade]

'Hmm, I wonder what I need to get past this? <Later on> Ah! I bet I can use this new fangled power to bypass obstacle X I encountered over at that spot'

This gameplay feature is a Metroid trademark, as we've stated.

If it was taken out of MP (as Almasy appears to want) then it'd struggle to be a Metroid game. I guess Nintendo looked at fans' reaction to the previous game (note the 10/10 reviews and EGM's fan-voted "Best Game Ever") and decided to keep the gameplay the way it was, instead of changing it for the minority that apparently don't even like Metroid games.

 

[Almasy]

jvd, I suppose that it is a crime to want continuously new content, instead of having to go through areas you´ve gone through over and over again.

I do believe that backtracking is somehow more tolerable in 2D games (you are able to go through those previously visited areas faster than in 3D, I think), but it´s still a design flaw. A better implementation would be to offer some kind of warp instrument to let the people that want to go on, well, go on, and for the ones that want to backtrack, that option would still be available. (I love constructive critisism is great ).

I have to say though, that while I still think that MP felt like a chore close to the end, I made it sound like I hated the game. I don´t, I really liked it and IMO it´s one of the best games of 2002 (although it´s way overrated by the reviewers that give it 10/10 IMO).

 

[Grall]

Almasy,

It's not a design flaw, it's Metroid. These games have ALWAYS been like this, so yes, constantly getting new content would indeed be a crime because then it would no longer be Metroid.

If you're so impatient you need warp devices or whatever to play your games, buy something else mmkay? Why not find a robot to play the game FOR you too while you're at it, that way you can just watch all the new content you're constantly receiving and revel in it. I'm sure the Japanese have invented something suitable by now.


*G*

 

[Goldni]

Guys MP is one of my favorite games ever. Nothing beats that feeling of solitude and power. The level design is 2nd to only say Zelda maybe. You Euros do yourselves a favor and pick MP up. You wont regret it. Unless your the casual type taht likes to be led by the hand and expects 'action' to fall into your lap from the first 10 minutes of the game. When you guys get it in 2 weeks let me know what you think on this thread. Especially when you are about 35% thru.

BTW, Teasy has the advertising in Europe begun for MP? I read where NOE was really gonna push it. Have they aired ads alot for TV or Mags?

 

[V3]

Backtracking is good, when there are things to be discovered and you have an idea where to go. Backtracking is bad, when you have no clue at all.

But overall, I don't mine heavy backtracking. But I like backtracking better in some games more than others, I don't know why though.

 

[Quaid]

Offering shortcuts after clearing certain events would be a good way of toning down the backtracking, that would be a serious improvement.

the game does do that. many shortcuts are revealed after getting power ups such as gravity boots, spider ball, super bomb, etc... if you had played it, you would know.