Mythinks #15

The Last Metroid #8 - Metroid Prime: Hunters [First Hunt] - Pack it in

Published: July 23rd, 2026

They took my pelvis

The 2000s definitely feels like what I would call Metroid's "Golden Age". If nothing else, that simply just being the era where it got the most attention from Nintendo itself. The series was also seeing pretty major pushes, with the upcoming Metroid Prime: Hunters getting a free pack-in demo that came with their new handheld, the Nintendo DS. Somehow, I didn't end up getting First Hunt, somehow managing to get a DS that didn't have it bundled, I guess. My only first-hand experience with the game being when I watched a friend play it at school for a couple minutes before never seeing footage of it ever again.

Yeah, when we said The Last Metroid was going to include every official Metroid title, I meant every official Metroid title. And because Metroid Prime: Hunters First Hunt has distinct content that isn't in the final game at all, I'm counting it.

Worry not, the pixels were also visible on an original DS screen

Believe it or not, this has. I hesitate to call it a "story" in the game, more of a framework, this apparently being a series of virtual-reality tests and training modules Samus uses to hone her skills and calibrate her suit. Which feels perhaps a little strange, given the only programmed entities in this test are:

- Zoomers

- Mochtroid "Xenomorphs" which do nothing but lazily float in the air

- Talon Metroids, but nerfed even further to not be overbearing to people trying out the DS for the first time ever

It's actually got a decent amount of meat of content on it for a free bundle demo, featuring three different single-player modes that act more as little arcade levels, with an intent to practice them over and over for a higher score. I'll save how Metroid Prime: Hunters controls for when we talk about the final game itself, especially since the most I did to get this one playable was to just jerry-rig together a mouse and keyboard-type setup. But rest assured, it felt like it controlled just like Hunters, did. IF you wanna go back and play this Demo, which. We guess that's what we're doing so, can't say we judge.

What would a platform game be without platforms?

"Regulator" mode is the one that definitely reads as the "main" mode, being the one that has a solid start to finish. You have ten minutes to beat a linear level, which is a series of kill-rooms where you have to defeat every hologram in order to progress to the next room. Playing this coming off the back of Prime 2, a game that was controversial in part thanks to an ammo system, shocked me with how this game also turns out to have an ammo system, but for your regular power beam, of all things. There probably is a way to maximize your shots and make sure no shot is spared when killing anything, especially since nothing in this game makes an attempt to evade you whatsoever. But even when being a little extra careful, I ended up running out of ammo, which means your fire rate goes way, way down.

You are the greenest bounty hunter EVER

At the end of the obstacle course, you encounter Samus' third and most obscure evil doppelganger in this series yet: Green Samus. Green Samus isn't crazy hard, but is somehow very aggressive and passive at the same time. Usually running up to you to gun you down for a bit, only to stop in place while shooting you. She'll go in morph ball form every few seconds to disappear and waste your time. But with her beaten, you've successfully calibrated your power suit. Yay.

This is a steep bill, but it wasn't worth it

"Survivor" mode is what it sounds like, surviving progressively aggressive (praggressive) enemy waves, getting as many kills as you can before you die. Strange choice of mode when we only have three entire enemy types in here, two of which don't even directly attack you. So it is kind of just waiting it out until you get hit in the face by one too many Metroids.

Was, in fact, not very balling

"Morph Ball" mode is an obstacle course where you're expected to hit as many nodes as possible, Morph Balling to the end. You have to be quick, but missing a node will reset your combo or something, so it certainly asks you to be thorough but fast. This mode I don't think even lasts a minute, though, so. Yeah. Kinda just is what it is.

It even has a rudimentary multiplayer mode; not quite as in-depth as the final game, naturally; there's no online, so it's local-only, you can presumably only play as Samus, and there's only three maps. I couldn't get pictures of this mode, since, again, if there's gonna be any game where we'll make an effort to get the multiplayer up and running, it's gonna be Prime Hunters itself. It was probably included to show off the DS's wireless connection functionality, since that was newfangled tech at the time. But still, surprisingly generous for a free bundle demo.

Come to think of it, DS games were made for Youtube Shorts format

It was cool, how much there were really trying to push Metroid of all things to a bigger audience. And surprisingly, if you got a good enough score at the end of one of these missions, you got to see a special extra-secret teaser footage, which was some pre-rendered trailer showing that there was a new game upcoming. Also featuring really early, kinda janky-looking designs for three of the final game's bounty hunters, Noxus, Weavel, and Spire. Noxus so weird I thought he was just a hunter that didn't make it into the final game at first. Mostly surprised this was a secret movie, since you'd want all eyes on Prime Hunters, in case they enjoyed this.

Huh. I wonder if.

Simpler times

Well. Unfortunately, this is the deepest I can get, when Waybacking this thing, cause going any deeper on this site from 2005 is utilizing technology too advanced for my computer. Need "Adobe Flash" to run that bad boy.

Whoa, a sneak peak at the upcoming Metroid Prime: Hunters, I can't wait!

I did find footage of this, which is definitely feeling like it's tickling an old, long-discarded memory or two. An odd premise for giving out bios of all the bounty hunters, given if you could match these names and silhouettes, you're probably already decently privy to which one of these hunters is which and what their deal is, but I digress. I'm not a marketing team. And I would hesitate to call it a "game", even. But hey, here's an obscure corner of Nintendo history, always love those.