ShareThis
This month saw the release of Next Level Games’ sort-of installment in the Metroid franchise, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, a cooperative shooter that pits players not in the role of series heroine Samus Aran, but four faceless Federation troopers as they struggle to complete missions for the Galactic Federation. As one would expect for such a radical departure, these changes were not taken too kindly by fans, and the game has been dogged by controversy ever since its announcement for straying so far from the series’ template.
Its own merits notwithstanding, it’s clear Federation Force is not the glorious return Metroid fans have been eagerly hoping for since the series’ last divisive title, 2010’s Metroid: Other M, though it hardly means we won’t be getting a more traditional Metroid game in the future. Until then, we’d like to know which of the series’ other installments is your favorite. Cast your vote in our poll below, and be sure to sound off in the comments!
[poll id=”211″]
Corruption will always be my favorite, I think. Metroid Prime 1 is definitely a close second, but Retro created environments that perfectly encapsulate what Metroid is about in Corruption. Exploring Ellysia for the first time is an experience I’ll never forget, I think, and it speaks volumes about the amount of care that went into building these worlds.
I love Super Metroid as much as the next guy, but I never got immersed in its world quite like I did with Corruption.
I had to go with Super, but I consider Prime to be of equal perfection. I have very fond memories of all of these games, even Hunters, which felt a bit like Metroid-skinned Quake, and Other M, whose gameplay I enjoyed even if the story wasn’t the greatest.
Return of Samus on the green-screened brick was amazing too, and whenever I replay it I’m reminded just how much credit it deserves. Story-wise, it contains the most pivotal moment in the series so far (during no-text, no-cutscene gameplay, I might add) and the majority of what we think of as “Metroid mechanics” started there.