Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Launches

The sequel to Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes has been released to consumers. Details on the sequel can be found via a Gamespy hands on look or a Gamespot review. A snip from the review: "If you've played Metroid Prime, you've essentially played Metroid Prime 2. Retro hasn't mucked with the original, winning formula, so veterans of the first game will feel quite at home resuming their position behind Samus' computer-enhanced visor."

Comments

JUSTIN BAILEY

[Breakfast Pants]

Still no JUSTIN BAILEY leotard code? Dissappointing.

Re:JUSTIN BAILEY

[Breakfast Pants]

Offtopic my ass. JUSTIN BAILEY was one of the first name other than my own that I learned how to spell. The original Metroid for Nintendo was godly for its time.

Re:JUSTIN BAILEY

[grungebox]

Humorously, when Metroid came out a kid in my kindergarten class (Justin Bailey) said the code was named after him because he wrote so many letters to Nintendo.

Re:JUSTIN BAILEY

[Anonymous Coward]

For the record, the JUSTIN BAILEY password (and its many variants) is almost certainly a complete coincidence. I spent hours reverse-engineering Metroid's password system, and it just so happens that the number of possible passwords (many of which will give the same results, and some of which will do unexpeced things such as locking up the game) is so vast that there are many, many passwords that spell interesting and novel things. In fact, you can put in any password at all, minus the last 2 characters (which encode a checksum) and calculate the final characters to make it valid.

There is one password that is hard-coded into the game, and this can be verified with a string dump[1] of the ROM. The password is "NARPASSWORD" (speculation is that this stands for North American Release Password). Enter this while leaving the remaining characters blank (or equivalently filling them with 0s[2]) to get what I assume is some kind of debugging mode. There are a few notable things about it: 1) Samus is invincible, and has infinite missiles. 2) Samus has both the Wave Beam and the Ice Beam equipped, which results in a beam that behaves just like the Ice Beam, but the projectile appears to be a blue Wave Beam projectile. 3) Destroying metroids has a tendancy to freeze the game.

Footnotes:

[1] The strings are not ASCII. IIRC, the character set is laid out exactly as it is on the password screen, so the value 0 corresponds to the character '0', etc. Obviously, strings are not 0-terminated.

[2] Unfilled spaces on the password screen are equivalent to 0s. The space character that you can enter is something different. In the case of the NARPASSWORD password, only so many of the characters are actually significant, so the last 8 or so characters can be anything. I've forgotten exactly how many are ignored.

Re:JUSTIN BAILEY

[M3wThr33]

One would want to think that.
Sadly most people never realize the code is actually "Just in bailey." And with a little bit of knowledge of the British culture, you find out "bailey" means "bikini."

WTF?

[oGMo]

Why is it in every review they make the point to emphasize "this is not full of revolutionary new gameplay"? If I get a Metroid game, I don't want revolutionary new gameplay: I want Metroid. Metroid Prime was good despite the new 3D stuff, because it was still essentially Metroid.

What we should be asking is "is this game a new Metroid game with good story, level design, secrets, etc.", and it sounds like it is. After all, the first thing we asked about MP1 was not "does this have revolutionary new gameplay", rather "is this still the Metroid we love?"

Anyhow, point made. I hope this one has more secrets and stuff than the last. Sounds like it does, but that's one of the few things I thought the original (Prime) lacked.

"the first game," eh?

[centauri]

Somehow, I'm guessing you don't really mean that.

Re:Nintendo

[JohnFromCanada]

"Isn't rooting for a big, monopolistic company thats against free software kind of anti-slashdot?"

Making a game like this for free is just not feasible. Games are often far too complex and involve too much maintenance and work to be free. It also takes a lot more than just programmers to put together a good game by today's standards. There are some free games out there that are very good such as (ie. America's Army, Nethack, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory) however it is just not possible to expect all games to be free software.

Re:Well

[Justin205]

Metroid is NOT about the graphics, or the innovative new ways to play it... Metroid is about the story, mainly.

The philosophy behind this is really "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." The original MP engine worked wonderfully. It is visually impressive, even now, a few years later. Just add a few minor enhancements, and leave it. Concentrate most development on the multiplayer execution and the heart of every Metroid game - the story.

Re:Haven't Played Yet

[UWC]

I'm looking forward to the DS game more (already out I believe). Multiplayer!

This new GC game also has multiplayer, though I think limited to 4 players on a single TV instead of the DS short-range wireless connection. The upside of the GC one is that only one system is needed, whereas you have to know others with a DS to play that one multiplayer.

And the DS one is not out yet. There's a demo of it that comes with the DS, which will be released on Nov 21, which seems to be a Sunday for some reason.

welly well well

[ImTheDarkcyde]

looks to me like the good folks at gamespot have a case of "halo fanboy-ism"

they honestly do not point out ONE flaw worthy of crippling this game a whopping 0.9 from the sheer perfection it is. Show me a more beautiful game, and i will weep.

all sequels..

[Folmer]

What about something completely new?
All ive seen in the last couple of months is sequels:
Half-life 2, Halo 2, GTA:SA, Everquest 2 etc...

Re:all sequels..

[kid-noodle]

Ok, here's a crazy thing to say:

Who cares? Really. Why does it matter, that we have franchises? Why is it important (and here's my caveat) as long as we innovate and improve within them.

The Mario games are an uber-franchise, Mario 64 was both evolutionary and revolutionary. Metroid Prime is part of the Metroid franchise. Are you going to tell me that it didn't innovate within that?
Half-Life 2, happens to be the sequel to Half-Life. That's a problem?

Here's something - franchises allow innovation with minimal risk for the developer. They can almost certainly know they'll make money, because they've got a huge whack of good will, and brand recognition. They've got carte blanche to experiment within the framework, with minimal risk, which is more of an incentive to take that step. I'd call that a Good Thing.

Re:all sequels..

[patternjuggler]

All ive seen in the last couple of months is sequels

This argument keeps coming up again and again here and elsewhere on the internets.

There's always this unspoken implication that sequels are inherently bad. I would guess that the reason is that if all the big games are sequels, and all franchises eventually get boring and old and no one buys them anymore, then therefore the industry is in trouble because all the games are sequels and nothing will replace them when they die out. Or, the other reason is this argument keeps coming up is that the proponents of it are incredibly jaded, incredibly nostalgic for their lost youth spent playing more primitive games, or just don't have the same tastes as the majority of the gaming public so therefore anything new is not automatically good, but at least has a greater chance of appealing to their tastes than a tried-and-true formula that they know they'll dislike.

The other thing I hate about this "too many sequels" whining is that there are a lot of original games out there. Granted a lot of them were made on small budgets and don't get a lot of press (and are complete crap)- so what the critics are saying is that they'd like more game companies to make huge investments in experimental games, and that the press should devote more time to it accordingly, but without presenting a business case for why this is superior to making games that consumers unquestionably desire. My suggestion- if you like innovative and original games, go out and spend money on them. Talk them up on websites. Etc. And just ignore all the press the sequels are getting.

In movies there's this whole self-sustaining world called 'independent film' (someone needs to create that for games)- it wasn't created by critics, it was created by film-makers and supported by small but devoted audiences.

Re:Well

[mcc]

Actually, it seems like Retro Studios is being treated pretty well, there aren't reports of people there getting laid off, and in fact Nintendo keeps asking them to make more games. Meanwhile some of the games they've made-- MP:Hunters and the original Metroid Prime itself come to mind-- have been uncommonly creative.

Whatever they're doing with this one game, it doesn't seem like this one dev house is going with the depressing flow of the rest of the industry in general. So with all they've done, shouldn't Retro get the license to create a game just to make people happy and make some money once in a while?

Meanwhile, I for one am glad they did what they did with MP2. The original MP just felt too unrefined, and the setting was too familiar (Oh gee.. I'm fighting Ridley... again...) for me to really get anything out of it. I rented it once and couldn't be bothered to go back to it, it just wasn't worth it too me. But I'm really looking forward to MP2 because from what I heard they were able to take the formula they experimented with in MP1, refine it to perfection, and put it in a much more interesting setting. This, I want to play.

Behind Samus...

[Ghostgate]

resuming their position behind Samus

I'm sorry, but that just puts all sorts of naughty ideas into my head!

What happened.....

[Rooked_One]

to the good old side scrolling games? I mean, we had 3d games isolated to the PC and the side scrollers for consoles, and while some games on the XBOX and PS2 like Sudeki are very cool, they are not first person and save a certain aspect.

I look at all the people, including me, who would like a side scroller with outstanding graphics - which could be done quite easily, and I don't see it happening.

Did companies either...

a - decided that side scrollers aren't popular enough, or

b - decided that its easier to basically copy the computer industries years of work?

Sorry for the ran, but i'd just like to see a super graphical mario brothers, or better yet, Metroid. The real metroid - the first one. After they turned it into 3d blasphemy they should have renamed it.

Re:What happened.....

[Osty]

and a new, stellar Metroid Advance

Did I miss a Metroid game somewhere? Are you referring to Metroid Fusion (a "new" Metroid game in that it's not a remake like Metroid: Zero Mission, but it's not "new" as it was released a few years back)? Some would say that Metroid Fusion was a departure from the normal Metroid formula. The addition of the ship computer giving you missions added a sense of urgency and linearity to the game that other Metroids didn't have. Because of that, you were often limited on where you could go (doors were opened by the storyline, and not by 5 missiles or super missiles or super bombs) and how much time you could spend there (the story urged you to run through an area rather than spending time exploring). It was still a good game IMHO, but not up to par with Super Metroid or Metroid: Zero Mission. It was better than Metroid Prime, though.

As for other side-scrollers, Metal Slug was recently published on XBox, and Alien Hominid is available on PS2 and Gamecube (great development story behind this one -- it went from a fun little Flash game to a full-blown console side-scroller, and was developed by literally a handful of people like back in the days of "garage game developers"). The Mega Man Anniversary collection is available for PS2 and GC if you want to get your old school Mega Man game on. Also, even though the DS looks like it will recycle N64 games, there's still a ton of side scrollers available for the GBA to keep you happy for quite a while (everything from Mario to Mega Man to River City Ransom).

Check out Viewtiful Joe for the Gamecube though - a great reinvention of a sidescrolling game for the modern gameplay ear.

Also available on the PS2 now, if you don't have a Gamecube.

Re:Its not a name

[Anonymous Coward]

So, does anyone know where the name justin bailey came from?

Yeah, I already explained this above.

The password itself "fits" exactly into the Metroid password system -- it's not recognized and treated differently in any way. Unless they specifically engineered the password system around this password (while at the same time taking the easy approach by hard-coding the NARPASSWORD password), it's completely spurious.

Re:Oh grrreat

[tgibbs]

Wow, so it wasn't enough that they ruined one of my favourite game series by turning it into a crappy FPS, but they did nothing to rectify their transgressions in the sequel?

I thought Metroid Prime did a wonderful job of translating everything I loved about the original game into 3D. Even my initial reservations about the first-person format were dispelled. I'm no fan of FPS games, but then MP isn't really a FPS. Indeed, I basically bought the GC for Metroid Prime, and found it well worth the cost. And for 2D purists, Nintendo is still turning out Metroid titles for GameBoy.

SCREW ATTACK!

[Jace of Fuse!]

Just two words...

SCREW ATTACK!

YES YES YES!

It has made it's way into Metroid Prime 2!!!

I loved the first one, and literally went without sleep for days playing it, even replaying it on hard!

My only real complaint was the lack of Screw Attack! And it's in there now!!!!!

My 2 Cents

[ripbruger]

I've been reading the comments posted before this one, and I have to agree with a few in that the tag line left behind my gamespot puts a negative slant on the game. At the same time, I've read the complaints that others have posted about how this is just an incremental update; and I don't disagree with that claim either. The way I look at it, however, is that at least when I go to drop $60 (that's Canadian $) on the game, I'm not going to be overly disappointed. I really loved the first game, and I'd be kinda P.O.'ed if the game was way different than the original.
It's the same when playing something like Half-Life 2; while I agree the game is big, and has a lot of hype behind it, it's still a continuation of the gameplay in the original game. The difference between Metroid Prime and Half Life, is that one had a longer development time than the other, so you're going to see more changes on the technical level.
I guess it doesn't matter what the reason is why you like or don't like the game, it's how much fun you have with it, and how much you're willing to invest in future releases. The people who like the series will most likely buy the game. Those that don't, obviously won't. I really can't see why people have to complain about something they're not going to play or bother with.

Re:Well

[jacobito]

Metroid is about the story, mainly.

My memory doesn't always serve me well, but Metroid Prime is the first Metroid game where I could sense anything like an appreciable storyline. What strike me as the Metroid series' most representative qualities would be its atmosphere of alienness and the frequently exhilarating feeling of exploration and discovery. The subdued soundtrack and near lack of verbal cues in the original Metroid lent the game a kind of elegance and abstraction that perfectly fit its alien setting. I think later games like Metroid Fusion, while still great fun, lost a little by grafting more overt storytelling elements onto the game. (As I mentioned, though, maybe my memory's not so good and I'm just idealizing the best parts of the earlier games.)

More generally (and this is not addressed to the parent post), I'm not sure why some gamers insist on the primacy of storytelling in games. In some cases, like the old Infocom games or brilliant RPGs like Planescape: Torment, a plot is indispensable, but there are games like Doom or Defender, in which the story is understood to be completely irrelevant. And then you have games like Go or Checkers, for which a story would be meaningless.

Re:Well

[Anonymous Coward]

MP: Hunters is being developed by NST (Nintendo Software Technology Corp.), not Retro. For reference, they also developed 1080: Avalanche and Wave Race: Blue Storm.

Re:After reading some of these posts

[Zangief]

Because:

-This is not an incremental upgrade. They redid the entire world, reusing only the engine.
-They do not release Mario 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, etc. There are a lot of sequels, yes, but not every year, and each is CLEARLY different. Madden, FIFA and all EA Sports is just the same, with different roosters. Face it.
-Nintendo doesn't buy good companies and make them release shit (see the ultima games and a LOT of other examples).

EA is all evil in the industry. I stealed the following lines
from a post in penny-arcade.

1) Release their sports lineup each year with only slight improvements and still charge $50

2) Buy great developers and turn them into crap

3) Buy every license they can and churn out cookie cutter games

4) Work their employees 70 hours a week with no compensation

5) Ignore the Dreamcast completely (While supporting the n-gage. Explain that.)

6) Brainwash the masses into thinking their products are actually good.
--
Wiki de Ciencia Ficcion y Fantasia

Re:awesome

[Edgewize]

It's only a "horrendous abortion of a control scheme" if you've played a lot of dual-analog games, and gotten so comfortable with that that you've come to expect it.

I love Metroid Prime's control scheme. Sure, you have to use target-lock to be able to strafe around, but how often do you want to strafe when you're not fighting something? Never once in all the times I've beaten the game have I ever felt like I was being limited by the controls. The only minor complaint is that the turning speed could be faster, but then again, you /are/ wearing a giant metal suit.

I'm glad that they haven't changed the control scheme for the sequel. Maybe a dual-analog option could have been added to satisfy the hardcore FPS fans, but I prefer the controls the way they are right now.

Sequence breaking?

[Spleener12]

I'm curious as to whether or not Retro managed to make this game as sequence-breakable as its predecessors.

Prime contained a lot of ways to do things out of order to the point where it was possible to finish the game in a little over an hour (impressive given the fact that it's designed to be done in 7-15 or so). But then someone between them and the Nintendo higher-ups (I'd like to think it was Nintendo) ordered as many of these to be removed as possible in later (PAL, Japanese, NA Player's Choice) versions- for example, in the original it was possible to get to the Plasma beam room without the Spider Ball or the Grappling beam, but in the Player's Choice version there was a lock placed on the door to the room that went away when you got the grappling beam. I'm surprised you didn't get a picture of a middle finger when you scanned the thing.

Hopefully over time people will discover as many ways to sequence-break Prime 2 as they did Prime 1. At the very least it won't be as bad as Fusion in this regard.

Re:dear god

[Hormonal]

Were your friends dropped as children? Microwaved? Eat a lot of paint? If they couldn't make their way through the game with a map that often shows the next objective, perhaps it's because they kept drooling on the controller, making things hard to control.

Methinks they played the game so ferociously because they couldn't find their way out of the room with the TV, and nobody checked on them for 3 weeks.