Although it's a little different and falls a tiny bit short of the home console games it is still a superb DS game.
User Rating: 8.3 | Metroid Prime: Hunters DS
Although it's a little different and falls a tiny bit short of the home console games it is still a superb DS game. This game really shows off the full graphical capabilities of the DS. As it is a handheld console you don’t get such a feel of being in there like you would on a larger screen but the game still gives the feel of its game environments very well for a handheld. The hunters, objects and everything else in the game are very pleasing for the eye and the only real criticism I think I have for the graphics is that when you get close up to some objects you start to see the detail fizzle out. As for the cut-scenes they really look amazing and do something graphic-wise that I thought was impossible for the DS. As I’ve said gameplay is slightly different from the home console versions. For example in hunters you have the morph ball, bombs and the missile launcher from the start. The biggest difference about this game is in your shooting style, you will find that you do not have lock-on but fear not as you have much more control over your shooting, you aim by moving your stylus around on the bottom screen to make Samus aim on the top screen, this seems to be a very unique method of using the touch screen and becomes second nature once you start playing. As well as allowing you to aim it also allows you to change your weapon, jump and go into morph ball mode quickly and practically and it also acts as a short range enemy radar. The aim of the game is to defeat the final boss which can only be reached by collecting the 2 octoliths on each of the 4 planets, each is held by a boss that can only be reach by collecting 3 artefacts, each of which can only be unlocked by first collecting a shield key… It’s not as complicated as it sounds but all the time there is also the threat of the other hunters, trying to kill you to steal your octoliths. The multiplayer mode is also very fun, there are 25 different battle grounds to play in and you can play as any of the hunters (including Samus), each with their own favoured weapon and alternate form as in the main game but there are glitches you can exploit to your advantage in the multi-player mode and I have found the Wi-Fi “match my rank” feature can behave a little strangely. The music is the kind of atmosphere-mimicking thing you’d expect to find in Metroid Prime and there are over 400 sound effects in the game. I’ve fond the sound quality isn’t too great on my copy when the music grows loud but I don’t know if that problem is unique to me, still the sound is all pretty cool. There is slightly less to scan than in the other Metroid Prime games but I thoroughly enjoyed discovering the past of the Albmics (an ancient almost Chozo-like race) and I thought the prophecy fitted into the game perfectly. As I said before, this is a fantastic DS game and well worth getting. P.S I apologise that this review is not properly paragraphed but every time I try it is simply reseted to normal. 
