Metroid Prime Hunters

Metroid Prime Hunters is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo Software Technology and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in North America in March 2006, with other territories later. The story takes place in between the events of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Players assume the role of series protagonist Samus Aran, who investigates a mysterious message that originated from the Alimbic Cluster and comes into contact with a legion of bounty hunters.

The game contains more first-person shooter aspects than previous titles in the Metroid Prime series, emphasizing various multiplayer modes with Wi-Fi and voice chat capabilities. It introduced new bounty hunters with unique weapons and alternative forms as well as the ability to travel to different planets with Samus' gunship, concepts later expanded upon in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Hunters was announced by Nintendo at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo. A pack-in demo version of the game, titled Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, was included with the Nintendo DS when it launched in November.

Reviews were generally favorable towards the game; praise focused on its gameplay and graphics, while criticism targeted its control scheme. It also received several honors; including an "Editors' Choice" award from IGN, which also named the game the "Best DS Action Game" of 2006, while Nintendo Power gave it awards for "Best Graphics", "Best Shooter/Action Game", and "Best Wi-Fi Functionality". Over 410,000 copies of the game were sold in North America in its first month of release, and it was the fourth best-selling game during its debut month in Japan. Metroid Prime Hunters was re-released on the Wii U's Virtual Console service in Japan in 2015, and in North America and Europe the following year.

Gameplay

with navigation and discovery being prominent gameplay elements. The game differs from its predecessors with the removal of assisted aiming, more action-oriented gameplay, and the inclusion of an online multiplayer mode. The player controls Samus Aran, who is equipped with a Power Suit that allows her to access her gunship from anywhere. She can scan almost any object in the game; the gunship will return relevant information retrieved from its database. An Arm Cannon is attached to the Power Suit, which she uses to attack enemies. To enter small tunnels, Samus can roll into a Morph Ball, an alternative form of the Power Suit that decreases her size substantially. In this form, she is given an unlimited supply of bombs but is only allowed to use three at a time. She can use the bombs to defend herself and destroy small objects.

In Metroid Prime Hunters, the Nintendo DS's top screen shows Samus's HUD as seen from her visor, which displays the amount of remaining ammunition for the currently selected weapon along with her health; in multiplayer games, the number of kills and time remaining in the round are also shown. The bottom touchscreen displays the radar. When using the default control scheme, movement is controlled using the D-pad, and aiming is controlled by dragging the stylus along the touchscreen.

Metroid Prime Hunters features a multiplayer mode that supports up to four players and includes voice chat capability. In it, the player is able to control Samus or one of six other bounty hunters featured in the single-player mode. Each bounty hunter has a unique alternative form, such as Samus's Morph Ball, and a special weapon. The game host can set options for point and time limits, and restrict the use of radar. Computer-controlled players of varying skill levels can be added to games if the minimum of four players is not met.

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Metroid Prime Hunters takes place between Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and is set within the Alimbic Cluster in the Tetra Galaxy, where it was once ruled by the Alimbic race, who disappeared without notice, leaving artifacts scattered throughout the planetary system. In the present, a telepathic message is sent from the Cluster to bounty hunters and other intelligent species, stating the key to the "ultimate power" resides there. The planetary system consists of two planets (Alinos and Arcterra) and two space stations (the Celestial Archives and the Vesper Defense Outpost).

The protagonist of the single-player "adventure mode" is bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates the Alimbic Cluster after the Galactic Federation receives a telepathic message. During the investigation, Samus is confronted by six other bounty hunters: Sylux, a deadly sharpshooter who harbors a strong hatred for the Federation and Samus by association; Weavel, a cybernetic Space Pirate warrior who was injured in a battle with Samus; Trace, a feared member of the Kriken Empire; Kanden, a lab experiment and a supersoldier that was invincible; Noxus, a bounty hunter of the proud and reclusive Vhozon race; and Spire, the last of the silicon-based Diamonts.Official Nintendo Player's Guide 2006. "The Hunters". pp. 4–11.

Plot

The governing body of the galaxy, the Galactic Federation, receives a strange telepathic message. The Federation broadcasts a message to bounty hunter Samus Aran, asking her to investigate and retrieve the "ultimate power", and should it prove irretrievable, to keep it secret or destroy it outright. Six other bounty hunters intercept the transmission and proceed to the Alimbic solar system to claim the power for themselves.Official Nintendo Player's Guide 2006. "Adventure Mode". pp. 20–67.

Through investigation of the planets and space stations that orbit the Alimbic sun, Samus gradually pieces together the history of the Alimbic race. She discovers that they were a peaceful, spiritual, highly evolved society.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: History 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Compression Chamber. "We were a peaceful people, but we defended our homeworld with a fierce determination". The Alimbic utopia was shattered when a comet struck the planet (Alinos), and out of it emerged a monstrous creature named Gorea.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 03. Area: Arcterra Sanctorus. "At first we thought GOREA was a comet. It crashed upon our planet and emerged as a vapor". The creature copied the cellular structure of the Alimbics, physically mimicking them and their weapons,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 04. Area: Arcterra Sanctorus. "GOREA mimicked our cellular structure and replicated itself in solid form". and destroyed their civilization.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 07. Area: Celestial Archives New Arrival Registration. "Our defenses were useless against GOREA as it swept through our empire in an orgy of annihilation". Unable to stop Gorea's rampage, the last of their race transformed themselves into focused telepathic energy,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic War 11. Area: Arcterra Subterranean. "To contain GOREA, our people reduced themselves to pure telepathic energy through the process of ESSENCE TRANSFERENCE". then confined Gorea into a "Seal Sphere",Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 01. Area: Arcterra Fault Line. "The monster cannot be defeated. As a last resort, we created the SEAL SPHERE to cage the horror for all eternity". which they placed in a starship called the Oubliette.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 03. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Stasis Bunker. "The ALIMBIC CANNON creates a fissure between this dimension and the INFINITY VOID that houses GOREA's prison, known as the OUBLIETTE". The ship was launched into a dimensional rift called the Infinity Void,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Stasis Bunker. "We have sent the OUBLIETTE beyond this dimension to ensure that the galaxy will never again suffer the horror that is GOREA".Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Cannon 01. Area: Alinos Alimbic Cannon Control Room. "The ALIMBIC CANNON issues bursts of polarized antimatter beyond light speed at specified coordinates and frequency to open a dimensional rift known as the INFINITY VOID". to be released only when eight keys called "Octoliths" were assembled.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Order 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Fuel Stack. "Reunite all EIGHT OCTOLITHS in the CANNON CONTROL ROOM to open the doorway to GOREA".

After warding off the other bounty hunters, Samus retrieves the eight Octoliths and opens the Infinity Void.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Cannon opens the Infinity Void. Area: Alinos Alimbic Cannon Control Room. Here, she and the other six hunters confront Gorea, who originated the telepathic message in an attempt to free itself. After the beast absorbs the powers of Samus' rivals,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea boss intro. Area: Oubliette. Samus engaged in a proacted battle with it. If she did not heed the words of the Alimbic prophecy by shooting seven colored panels in the arena with their representative sub-weapon in a particular sequence, Gorea's demise would quickly destroy the Oubliette before any of the hunters could evacuate to safety.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Bad ending. Area: Oubliette. Otherwise, the panels would transport her and Gorea to another realm for a more definitive final battle where Gorea becomes invincible to all weapons, save for the new Alimbic weapon, the "Omega Cannon", which Samus finds and uses to destroy Gorea once and for all. As Samus and the other hunters evacuate the exploding Oubliette on their respective ships, three Alimbic spirits appear before an armorless Samus, and honor her with a salute.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Good ending. Area: Oubliette.

Development

The development team for Metroid Prime Hunters at Nintendo Software Technology (NST) was led by the game's director, Masamichi Abe and the lead technical engineer, Colin Reed, who had both previously worked together on several games, including the Nintendo games Pikmin and 1080° Snowboarding. The team for Hunters was composed of thirty people, which Abe noted was larger than the development team of most other Nintendo DS games. Kensuke Tanabe of Nintendo came up with the original idea for the game. Retro Studios, which developed previous Metroid Prime games, was unable to develop Metroid Prime Hunters because it was already working on a game. Therefore, Tanabe contacted NST with the idea, and let them develop it instead. NST developed the game instead of Nintendo themselves because Nintendo wanted the division to influence Metroid Prime Hunters with western ideals, styles, and presentation.