Oh Metroid!
My word do I love Metroid! The Metroid series is actually in a close race with The Legend of Zelda series for my all-time favorite game series. Each Metroid game is something special and fantastic. While the series was known for being of the 2D sidescrolling sort, Metroid Prime turned heads for being a Metroid game in the first person perspective! Needless to say, fans and the press were skeptical and lamented the changes, until the game shipped, and they got their hands on this masterpiece of course. The game completely silenced naysayers with terrific gameplay, absorbing atmosphere, and an interesting world to explore from a new perspective. While fans argue if Prime or Super Metroid is the superior title, no one denies Prime is one of the greatest games of all time. I hate to reference Metacritic in regards to a game’s quality, but holding a 97 from 70 reviews and a 9.2 user score is no small feat.
Part of what makes Prime so special is the world the player explores. The world of Tallon IV is full of diversity in every way. Like Dark Souls, the game manages to present different and unique environments with new and interesting concepts, but manages to convince the player that everything is interconnected and not just a series of “levels”. One of the areas the player explores in the game is Phendrana Drifts. Phendrana is a frozen tundra full of beautiful sights like this:
What makes Phendrana unique is how relatively tranquil that actual environment itself is. Whereas most of the other environments have a myriad environmental hazards, Phendrana seems more relaxed in comparison. While the hazards are there, they can be easily forgotten by simply watching the snowflakes fall and taking in the view.
The introduction to Phendrana is what makes the area memorable to me. When you first enter the main area, the camera pulls back to a bird’s eye view of the area and then the song kicks in.
The song really sets the tone for Phendrana. It’s subtle, ethereal, and haunting rather fitting for a frozen, abandoned region. But the song is beautiful in its simplicity. Like the best game music, it is rather simple, but extremely effective.
The soundtrack to Prime was composed by Kenji Yamamoto who was assisted by Kouichi Kyuuma. Mr. Yamamoto also composed the soundtracks for the other games in the Prime series along with Super Metroid. This really gives the games a continuous feel with some songs showing up in later games remixed and remastered.
The song in all of its glory!
Also of note is the Metroid Metal version of the song. I do not think the metal treatment works for all game music, but given Metroid’s gravitation towards darker themes and the skill of this remix, I wholeheartedly recommend it
Enjoy the music!