In defense of the music
I loved Metroid Prime's music so much that I was actually searching online to see if it was possible to buy the sound track. Thats how I found your page and I was a bit dismayed to see the things you had to say about it. When I was playing through the game one of the things that stood out to me the most was the music and I got similar comments from some of my friends. In doing my search I came acrosed a bunch of sites that had nothing but good things to say about the music in Metroid Prime. Anyway I am not looking to get into an argument about it or anything since it is just a matter of opinion. But I just wanted to let you know that their are a lot of people who feel completely differently about Metroid Prime's music than you do.
-Ben
Thanks for your comments, Ben. Indeed, I am not oblivious to the fact that Metroid Prime's music was well received by some old fans and many new fans. I'm also well aware that it was often praised by game journalists who reviewed Prime. To those who enjoy the music I say "good for you", but my arguments are not so much against the music's subjectively perceived quality but more so against the music's adequacy for a Metroid game. Many Metroid fans are attracted to the franchise because of the dark, tense, and mysterious otherworldly atmosphere that the games exude and the music in Metroid 1-3 worked hard to help create this sort of ambiance. Somewhere in the eight years between the release of Super Metroid and the release of Metroid Prime someone in charge of the series seems to have forgotten that. The music in Prime was often too light, cheery, and upbeat to truly convey the same sense of atmosphere that its predecessors did. Again, this has little, if anything at all, to do with my musical tastes outside of gaming. Games like Dance Dance Revolution and Jet Set Radio Future have soundtracks made up of songs and genres which I will never listen to outside of the games, but they fit their source material perfectly. Had Prime's soundtrack done a similar job of convincing me of its adequacy I'd be singing a different tune, but for me (and many other Metroid fans like me whom I've had the pleasure of chatting with) that just didn't happen. And truthfully, Retro could build a soundtrack made up of my favorite songs from my favorite artists, and I'd still call it inappropriate for a Metroid game. It's just not about taste, it's about what fits the game. If it doesn't work to complement the atmosphere, then it's just working against Metroid.
And if you're still looking for the soundtrack, I've heard good things about CDJapan. Too bad they're not carrying the much rarer (and far superior) Super Metroid soundtrack. ;-)
Multiple planets
I like the fact that you have a site on comments and suggestions for the next 3D Metroid game. Speaking of suggestions, I suggest that the next 3D Metroid game will involve multiple planets or at least a planet and some of its moons.They could each have unique environments and monsters. That could involve Samus' ship more often. Or, to take a step further, Samus could explore a whole solar system of planets and moons and a computer inside her ship or her scan visor could scan the planets or moons and see if she has the powerups to make the planets more habitable.
-Ingamar
It's true that exploring multiple planets does seem like a natural extension of the franchise in some ways. If done right, it could add some variety to the upcoming games. However, the element of digging deep into a single planet's core and discovering its secrets does harbor some of Metroid's charm. If multiple planets were placed in a game, it's doubtful the designers could make each as detailed as they could one, not to mention that the areas would not seem as connected. The illusion of one huge world does make the games all that more intriguing. Plus, one Metroid planet can have enormous diversity; just look at the different areas of Zebes in Super Metroid! Still, if done right having more than one planet could make for an interesting Metroid experience.
Metroid difficulty
So there has come to be a question of the difficulty of metroids throughout Prime. Why are they truly so easy? I will tell you why. The truly main reason is that you can walk backwards in Prime. They were so hard in Metroid 2 because you had to run away, turn around, shoot and so forth. Now you can shoot them with your Ice Beam running away and facing them at the same time. How to fix it? Up the AI and have them attack in groups. I think that if they surround you and their speed and defensive power is slightly increased that they should be enough to overwhelm Samus. The attack power should also be raised. As another person made me realize, in Prime, even if the metroids did get you you wouldn't care. They sap power so slowly. In Metroid 2, they stole your power as fast as the acid did and you could see the numbers flying down.
-Seth Friedman
Yes, it's true that the Metroids in Prime seemed like shadows of the small, poorly detailed 8-bit sprites that scared the heck out of me the first time I faced them all those long years ago. You're right when you mention their much slower energy drain as one of the elements, but a couple of others are partly to blame. For one thing, they take way too little ammo to kill. Though they've always been susceptible to the ice beam, that one-missile kill took much of their threat away. Had they required five missiles (as they should have), they would have seemed stronger foes, and traversing those Metroid-filled Phazon mines would have been a much more tense affair as missile ammunition became scarce. Another thing is their much diminished aggressiveness. In past games they'd dive right at you as soon as they came into view. Here they're content to do a little warning dance while you charge up a shot. While the limited field of view probably played a part in this decision, it detracted too much from the title enemies' characteristic threat. Retro seemed aware of the games' somewhat easy difficulty level since they made a few changes to the PAL version of Prime to try to correct this, so let's hope they tweak this element as they play test the sequel.
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