Metroid Prime Remastered controls offer Wii-style pointer option, and it feels great

An announcement of the unexpected release Metroid Prime Remastered during Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct, Nintendo mentioned that the new version of the classic 2002 first-person adventure supports modern twin-stick controls as well as a classic scheme based on the controls of the GameCube original. What it didn’t mention was that the game also has a “pointer” control scheme enabling motion controls for camera movement and aiming, “similar to Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii.”

In reality, Remastered boasts four control schemes. “Dual Stick” is the default control scheme and handles as you would expect any contemporary first-person game to, with fire on the right trigger. “Pointer,” based on the Wii release, works similarly to the dual-stick mode but uses gyro controls on the right Joy-con for aiming, with fire on the A button (the right trigger is used for gyro recalibration). “Classic” emulates the original game’s controls, where aiming and is done by holding down the right trigger or bumper, locking Samus in place, and then using the left stick to aim. “Hybrid” works like the classic controls but enables the pointer-style gyro controls for aiming.

Purists will appreciate the classic scheme, which is why it’s so popular. Metroid Prime’s target lock function, plays much more smoothly than the recent and rather raw re-release of GoldenEye 007Switch. If you have a GameCube controller or the adapter, it will undoubtedly be nostalgic. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. But it still feels cumbersome by modern standards, and most players will probably find the dual-stick scheme the most effortless — particularly for portable play or when using a Pro Controller.

Image: Nintendo

The revelation for me — as someone whose copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy is, for some inexplicable reason, still in its shrink wrap — is how good the pointer control scheme is. The gyro controls are very responsive and accurate, and map perfectly to the movements of Samus’ right arm. The joy of Metroid Prime has always been its strong physicality: the sense that you are really looking through the visor of Samus’ suit at an alien landscape, and feeling her heavy, armored tread make contact with the floor. It’s a great way to play the game, I think.

Would you please credit me with the development of? Metroid Prime Remastered with this thoughtful and well implemented option — but at time of writing, it’s not clear where this new version of the game was made. Only Retro Studios and Nintendo are mentioned in the credits. It’s possible the remaster was done in-house at Retro, although the team there is presumably busy working on Metroid Prime 4. Polygon reached out to Nintendo for clarification.

Metroid Prime RemasteredIt is available on Nintendo eShop now. A physical edition will release on February 22.