Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime is an action-adventure game in which players control protagonist Samus Aran from a first-person perspective, unlike previous games in the Metroid series, with third-person elements used for Morph Ball mode. The gameplay involves solving puzzles to reveal secrets, platform jumping, and shooting foes with the help of a "lock-on" mechanism that allows circle strafing while staying aimed at the enemy. As exploration takes precedence over combat, Nintendo described the game as a "first-person adventure" rather than a first-person shooter (FPS).

Samus must travel through the world of Tallon IV searching for twelve Chozo Artifacts that will open the path to the Phazon meteor impact crater, while collecting power-ups that let her reach new areas. The Varia Suit, for example, protects Samus' armor against high temperatures, allowing her to enter volcanic regions. Some items are obtained after boss fights. Items must be collected in a specific order; for example, players cannot access certain areas until they find a certain Beam to open doors, or discover new ordnance with which to beat bosses. Players are incentivized to explore to find upgrades that increase Samus' maximum ammunition and health.

Five decades prior, the Chozo race fell after a meteor impacted on the planet Tallon IV. The meteor contaminated the planet with a corruptive, mutagenic substance that the villainous Space Pirates later named Phazon, and also brought with it a creature known to the Chozo as "The Worm". A large containment field emitter of the Artifact Temple in the Tallon Overworld area was built as a seal to the meteor's energies and influence within the crater where it landed, which the Space Pirates attempt to disable or bypass in order to gain better access to extract the Phazon. The containment field is controlled by twelve Chozo artifacts that are scattered around the planet.

Not long after defeating Mother Brain and Space Pirate forces on the planet Zebes, Samus Aran intercepts a distress signal from the Space Pirate frigate Orpheon, whose crew have been slaughtered by the Pirates' own genetically modified, experimental subjects. At the ship's core, she battles with the Parasite Queen, a giant version of the tiny parasites aboard the ship. The Parasite Queen is defeated and falls into the ship's reactor core, initiating the destruction of the ship. While Samus is escaping from the frigate, she encounters a cybernetic version of Ridley called Meta Ridley, who also escapes.

According to the producer Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo did not develop a Metroid game for the Nintendo 64 as it "couldn't come out with any concrete ideas". Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto said he could not imagine how the Nintendo 64 controller could be used to control Samus. Nintendo approached another company to make Metroid for Nintendo 64, but the offer was declined, supposedly because the developers thought they could not equal the previous game, Super Metroid (1994).

Metroid Prime was a collaboration between Nintendo EAD and R&D1 and the American company Retro Studios. Retro was created in 1998 by an alliance between Nintendo and Iguana Entertainment founder Jeff Spangenberg. The studio would create games for the forthcoming GameCube targeted at a mature demographic. After establishing its offices in Austin, Texas in 1999, Retro worked on four GameCube projects.

Metroid Prime became one of the best-selling GameCube games. It was the second-best-selling game of November 2002 in North America, behind Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, selling 250,000 copies in its first week. Eurogamer suggested that Prime being released after Christmas in Europe contributed to the GameCube's decline there.

As of July 2006, Prime had sold more than 1.49 million copies in the US alone and earned more than US$50 million. It was the eighth-bestselling GameCube game in Australia. More than 78,000 copies were sold in Japan, and Nintendo added it to its Player's Choice line in the PAL region. It sold 2.84 million copies worldwide and was the best-selling Metroid game until Metroid Dread (2021).

Metroid Prime was followed by Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) on the GameCube and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007) on the Wii. They were rereleased on Wii as part of the New Play Control! series in Japan and as part of the compilation Metroid Prime: Trilogy (2009). A pinball game, Metroid Prime Pinball (2005), and the action spin-offs Metroid Prime Hunters (2006) were released for the handheld Nintendo DS console, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force (2016) for the Nintendo 3DS. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was released in 2025 for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

Characters and stages from Metroid Prime have appeared in other Nintendo games, such as the Super Smash Bros series, in which the Frigate Orpheon is a playable stage, with the Parasite Queen in the background and music from Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime's gameplay and HUD influenced FPS games such as Geist and Star Wars: Republic Commando.