It foreshadows the next Zelda game being called "windwaker 2".

Just been having a long conversation with a friend about this.  He claims
that without the "prime" bit the game wouldn't sell as well.  As if somehow
the "Metroid" brand alone isn't strong enough.

Personally I don't see it, after all Return of the Jedi wasn't called Star
Wars: Empire Strikes Back 2: Return of the Jedi.

It's totally unecessary.

["FooAtari"; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 23:02:22 GMT]

Maybe it actually will feature Metroid Prime.

Most people's problem with that title is that it refers to something
that we assume isn't in the game, i.e. the Metroid Prime, which was an
actual creature in the game, not just a title.

Or:

Metroid Prime: Echoes

It keeps the 'Prime', with all its positive press, etc, and doesn't get
cheesy with the "2" in there.

-Jon

"DeepThought" <deep_42_thought@hotmailEARTH.com> wrote in message

Sure.  "Metroid 2: Return of Samus"
Then there was "Metroid 3: Super Metroid".
And then "Metroid 4: Metroid Fusion".
Go watch the intro sequences to those games, they're all numbered.
Metroid Prime didn't do that, though.  It never said "Metroid 5".  It should
have.
Metroid: Zero Mission didn't either, but it had a good reason not to.
I think it should be called "Metroid Echoes" and the intro should say
"Metroid 6".

Nekofrog:

Well, the Metroid series isn't called 'Samus' after all. As opposed to her
doing any bounty hunting, she seems to just be going around doing good
deeds/fulfilling personal revenge against the space pirates for killing her
parents and adopted parent race.

The Metroid storyline isn't so much about Samus' life as it is centered
around Mother Brain and the events that spawn as a result of that. MB and
Space Pirates try to use Metroids as weapons. Boom goes Zebes. To stop her
from doing so again, boom goes SR388. Samus saves one Metroid. So MB tries
again. Boom goes Zebes. Metroids gone, x flourish. Boom goes SR388 and BSL
labs. Et cetera.

The Metroid Saga (Metroid 1-4 + Prime), I'd like to imagine, is merely a
part of Samus' career and not her entire history as a bounty hunter.

<SNIP>

 There are only so many directions you can go with the Metroids because
the Metroids themselves are actually pretty darn boring.  And it seems
like the creators of the various games have realized this.

 In Metroid, the metroids are played up to be deadly, and they are.
You spend the entire game getting ready before you even see them, and
then you have to deal with a new attack form and use a new strategy of
your own.

 Metroid II tried to turn them into a standard enemy, and it didn't
really work.  The various metroid incarnations in Metroid II look like
just what they are, a cobbled together attempt to turn them into a
main enemy.

 Super Metroid goes back to a minimalist approach, similar to Metroid.
The plot is still focused around metroids, but you don't see them until
the end.

 Metroid Fusion, I skipped.  Heard enough negatives about the game to
not really care.  (Too short, too easy, lousy story, weak layout, etc.)

 Metroid Prime tried both minimalist and mutated, though you'd be hard-
pressed to notice the latter.  You fear the metroids for most of the
game, both from the data that you read (about how bad they are and how
they are mutating into stronger breeds) and from the thought of just
how painful it will be to fight multiple metroids in 3D (considering
how annoying it was in 2D).  Then the metroids show up, and they aren't
that bad.  Easier than some of the normal enemies.  Then the mutated
metroids show up (the hunters with the ranged attack) and they aren't
that bad, you only fight something like one at a time, and then they
are gone from the area.  Then you fight the fission metroids, and it isn't
that they are dangerous, it is that they are just really frustrating.
And the only reason they are frustrating is the combination of multiple
gimmicks and the area you have to traverse.

 What can be done with them in the future?  Prime was effectively the
ultimate mutation, and it was a form that came about because of heavy
space pirate intervention.  The ending of Prime hints at a possible
path for the sequel, which could be about as far as the metroid theme
has gas.  (And even that theme has already been done to a degree in
Fusion.)

 Samus is the one that put the metroids at risk of extinction.  Mother
Brain and the pirates were breeding metroids.  Samus is the one that
starts killing them in Metroid, and kills all but the last in Metroid II.
As I recall, that last one is saved only because it mistook Samus as its
mother (or something like that), and she has that one put into captivity
to be studied by scientists.

 Though honestly, at this point the name "Metroid" is tied enough to
Samus that it could be used for a series of games without any actual
metroids present.  Particularly if you throw in space pirates, Ridley,
or other staples of the series.  Heck, after the importance that Prime
put on the Chozo in the data backstory, they could even go for a Metroid
game without space pirates, but just Samus dealing with the Chozo (either
as a pre-Metroid prequel, or as a post-metroid story).

Maybe include the bosses from Super Metroid (such as Kraid) and this time
Samus utterly defeats them and goes on to pastures new.
Perhaps she helps bring back the Chozo in the later games.

William

WHICH IS WHY SOMEONE SHOULD MAKE A DEATH'S HEAD GAME!

I'm looking at you MARVEL, YES REALLY YOU!