Here’s a little fact about me: Metroid Prime is my favorite game of all time. The GameCube classic only gets better with age, making it clear that Retro Studios was ahead of its time by decades. You’d think that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond would be my most anticipated game of 2025 as a result, but to be honest, it has terrified me. With its troubled development cycle and an oddly low-key gameplay trailer revealed last week, my expectations had reached their lowest point yet. I figured I was bound to be let down.
I no longer feel that way. That’s because I have actually played Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and it left one heck of a first impression.
During a Nintendo preview event, where I went hands-on with the Switch 2, I played through the upcoming adventure-shooter’s opening. Though it was only a short, linear intro that likely lasted only 20 minutes, it restored my faith in the project. It very much seems to be taking cues from the series’ first entry, while mixing that with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption‘s larger scope and worldbuilding. Where it really shines, though, is in its jaw-dropping visuals and surprisingly intuitive mouse controls. That perfect storm of strengths makes it the most impressive Switch 2 game I’ve played so far, even toppling Mario Kart World.
Returning to what works
Though Metroid Prime 4: Beyond seems much bigger and louder than any game in the series’ history, the demo I played had a familiar structure that harkens back to the first Metroid Prime. After a little story explanation, I take control of Samus Aran as she touches down on an unfamiliar planet. If you can remember the Frigate Orpheon opening of Metroid Prime, you already have a good idea of how the sequence was structured. I run through some linear corridors where I learn to shoot, scan, use my morphball, and lock on to targets. It all leads to a big boss fight, not unlike the way Prime‘s opening builds to a battle with the Parasite Queen.
The difference is in energy. Whereas Prime‘s opening is quiet and mysterious, Prime 4 throws me into a full-on action movie. I run through a battlefield as Space Pirates and Galactic Federation members shoot at one another. It’s a safe way to learn how to shoot again, as my foes have their attention split as they fight of enemies. The shooting is fairly identical to how it is in previous games, as I tap a trigger to fire pea shots and charge it up to let off a bigger blast. I also had access to my missiles, which I could launch with another button.
Soon, I’m walked through some naturally implemented tutorials. I switch to my scan visor to open a door and drop into morphball mode to roll under some debris. Later, I use my morphball bombs to clear some debris so I can ride through a rail. I hit a bit of Metroid Prime 3 motion-control DNA when I run into a door that must be unlocked by aiming my Joy-con to shoot four mechanisms using my lock-on. This is all fairly basic stuff, but the spectacle surrounding it makes simple tutorials feel exhilarating. As soon as I have a feel for the shooting, I’m tossed into a room with multiple space pirates — the kind of battle that you’d find much later in the first Prime.
The big thing to note at this point is that I was playing with the Switch 2’s mouse control scheme. That meant that I was rolling my right controller across a table to aim and holding a Joy-con naturally in my left hand, using its stick to walk. I thought it would be too confusing to handle and leave me mixing up buttons, but the control scheme is shockingly intuitive. The mouse function is what really makes it sing, as it’s for more precise than you’re probably expecting. My aim on screen felt one to one with my hand movements with no lag to speak of. It genuinely felt like using a PC mouse in a shooter, and that completely changes the pace of battles. Those Space Pirate encounters are entirely manageable here where they’d be a pain in other games because I can switch my aim between foes much quicker. I didn’t even need the series’ traditional lock-on to do it. It feels like the ideal way to play and that’s something that could make it Switch 2’s first real must-play game.
What stands out most during all of this is just how incredible Prime 4 both looks and runs. The series has always been Nintendo’s most visually impressive, which only became more apparent thanks to the gorgeous Metroid Prime Remastered. That usual art direction gets a kick in the pants here as Samus runs through busier set pieces. At one point, I’m tossed into a room with a giant mech at its center, flanked by a squad of Space Pirates. Explosions go off overhead and Federation members fire shots behind me. The metallic surfaces all reflect harsh light from a sun above. All of that happens as the game holds an incredibly smooth framerate that most Switch games could never have hoped to achieve.
Everything culminates in a big boss fight against a creature with eye-like weak points on its body who seemingly gets a boost from a stray Metroid. Naturally, I need to lock on and fire while jumping to avoid grounded blasts, using my morphball to quickly duck under a wall of energy, and strafing out of the creature’s fast weapon shots. It’s a long duel, one in which I occasionally have to mash a button to escape its grasp when it nabs me, but I come out victorious. It all ends with a tease of the grander story as I come face to face with Sylux, a villain that the series has been teasing for two decades at this point.
This may all sound a little too exciting for a series that’s unique for its lonely atmosphere, but I feel the original Prime’s spirit here. It tells so much story in that opening with so few words and intuitively tutorializes how each of Samus’ tools work. It’s the Frigate Orpheon sequence beat for beat, but in the context of a wartime scene that takes full advantage of upgraded tech. I don’t know how it’ll look on a current Switch, but it’s a true showstopper on Switch 2. All of that is more than enough to alleviate any fears that arose when its gameplay was unveiled. This is the same series that made waves in the GameCube era, but with all the power it needs to take its ambitious space opera to a bigger scale. Until the next trailer worries me again, count me in.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will launch in 2025 for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
