Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

Another original Nintendo DS title gets a new lease of life in one way on the big screen, while being severely compromised by hardware limitations in another, an ironic fate for a title which originally did its best with the original hardware it was developed on, only to be hampered again in a different way a decade on; it still thankfully remains more than playable though as a standalone single player offering. Anyway enough from me and on with the game! 
  
Available for download this week we have...

When this title was originally announced, I had visions of a truly portable version of Metroid Prime in a psuedo 64-bit style being that I was a huge fan of Samus Aran's first three-dimensional outing on the GameCube as it's a stunning title which still holds up to this very moment in time and likely will do for many more console iterations hopefully to come. I was so excited for it that I remember paying for an imported American Nintendo DS console so that I could experience the launch titles before setting my sights on the Metroid Prime: Hunters - First Hunt demo which was only initially released via the Nintendo Stars Catalogue where you could use a thousand of your stars to secure the chance to purchase a UK DS console weeks before its general release which came bundled with the fabled demo plus some other extras; so now armed with two Nintendo DS units - one of which went to my youngest brother - plus two copies of the demo we set about having a blast on the multiplayer after exploring all that the single-player portion had to offer and at the time there wasn't quite any other feeling that matched the thrill of the first hunt.

After over a year the final game was released, the game ultimately divided opinion as although it had a single-player story with enemies to battle, logbook entries to acquire via scanning, plus it even has the morph-ball mode with all the puzzles you'd expect; it just doesn't quite stack up to the home console entries in some areas such as the generic main boss battles in addition to not having quite enough variation or longevity to the overall experience. Then again it was never going to or arguably was even meant to, the story revolving around the Galactic Federation receiving a telepathic message originating from the Alimbic Cluster within the Tetra Galaxy informing them of an Ultimate Power at least gives the excuse to introduce six rival Bounty Hunters which are all going up again you as Samus Aran to claim it for themselves.   

All of that first-person Metroid Prime atmosphere, on a smaller screen.

This is interesting because these single player hunter encounters are good training modes for the multiplayer so the two modes feed off each other in a good way, at least it gives you an idea of what to expect being that these are the alternative characters you can select for the multiplayer which I personally had a fair few hours of enjoyment out of playing it online, at least until cheaters with modified game cartridges started ruining it for everyone. (N-Europe does not in any way endorse the modifying of game code in order to enable invincibility and one-hit kills etc plus it negates the whole point of playing!) I did however get to play with members of our very forum for a time and I even got reasonably good at it after winning a fair few matches online in addition to local play at home where my brother and I still battled it out for a good while.

Enjoyable as it is there are still a few issues, some of them newly introduced with this Wii U Virtual Console iteration, of course you still wouldn't be able to play online in the multiplayer thanks to the discontinued Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection but you can't even play locally offline with other players any more leaving you with the only other option of playing against bots which is fun but limited; I have to wonder that if the majority of VC titles already released thus far make it across to the Switch, whether or not they would get their multiplayer modes reinstated with Nintendo going on the record to state that they will be adding extra features to the Virtual Console titles this time around, though with no official details as of yet it's probably best not to get your hopes up though it is nice to dream. Also some fair warning with the controls, the left shoulder button is for firing while you're moving using the d-pad, aiming Samus' arm cannon with the stylus while double tapping the screen to jump... it works well enough but it might take some a bit of getting used to, plus you have the extra weight of the gamepad versus the original DS which makes things challenging, it's certainly a unique setup. 

There's no disputing the brilliance of the original score for the first Metroid Prime by Kenji Yamamoto with its perfect pacing, coupled with some hauntingly beautiful sounds which are a treat for the senses as it's truly memorable even today with the icy piano theme of Phendrana Drifts or the wonderfully paced Magmoor Caverns theme thumping along in time with the pistons amongst the lava; yet there's still a lot to be said for the collaborative efforts of Lawrence Schwelder & James Phillipsen, who manage to get a great deal of mileage out of the DS hardware which is very capable in the audio department with the Celestial Archives in particular having a distinct N64 vibe but with a higher quality to it which makes me wonder what a Metroid game would have sounded like on the console, the individual hunter themes are fantastic plus there are some really upbeat multiplayer themes in addition to the brooding synths of the single-player adventure just to add some variety. You'll still recognise a few jingles & sound effects though which have been brought to life again on the portable hardware, plus a nifty remix with the Arcterra theme which fans of the original Metroid Prime will surely appreciate upon placing which track it's seemingly based on.

And the Morphball sections made it across unscathed as well, impressive stuff!

Visually there is little else which compares as this is easily one of the finest DS games ever made from an aesthetic viewpoint, the whole feel of the Metroid Prime series is translated perfectly down onto the smaller screen, though now you can see it on a larger screen it's nice to appreciate all those small details that the talented developers put into it. Of course everything is lower resolution but being that you're constantly moving around as you explore areas it all comes together beautifully, there are excellent environmental effects present to differ between each major area plus the detail afforded on Samus, her gunship plus the staggeringly good FMV scenes are really a treat to behold; all of it holds up even over ten years on.

I know that there will likely never be a perfect portable Metroid game in 3D when you take into account the system limitations of the DS here and indeed most recently with Metroid Prime: Federation Force on the 3DS - which I promise to properly play one day - but I will say this, what Nintendo Software Technology have achieved in both these instances is nothing short of sheer technical wizardry and it really makes you wonder just what they could do if given the chance to work on a Metroid title again on the soon to be released Nintendo Switch because there's surely not much at all to limit them on a technical level, yet everything available to potentially empower them. In any case, if you haven't played Metroid Prime: Hunters yet but have tackled the main home console entries then you really owe it to yourself to at least play this once and what better time than right now as we patiently await the return of Samus as a playable character hopefully in the next entry in the Metroid universe.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!