Metroid Prime (GC)

Metroid Prime
Developer(s)	Retro Studios
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Metroid
Platform(s)	GameCube
Genre(s)	First Person Action Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-Player
Input methods	GameCube Controller
Compatibility	4 Playable
GameIDs	GM8P01, GM8E01, GM8J01
See also...	Wii Version Trilogy Version Search Dolphin Forums Open Issues Search Google Search Wikipedia

Metroid Prime is an action-packed adventure set in the first-person perspective that takes place just after the events in the original Metroid (NES). It has lead character Samus Aran, a bounty hunter by trade, chasing down the evil Space Pirates. Their intention is to use a genetic mutagen called Phazon to create a super army and take over the universe. While the installments in the series before have never been home to deeply involving storylines, Metroid Prime breaks the shell to offer up one of the most intriguing and read-worthy sagas yet. Developed by Texas-based Retro Studios. Metroid Prime brings all of the elements of the acclaimed franchise into a gaping 3D arena.

An updated version exists for the Wii; as part of the Metroid Prime: Trilogy which also contains the sequels Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Problems

Garbled Text in JP Release

Text is garbled in the JP release, refer issue 30, but this is apparently fixed in more recent releases.

Ghosting Effect with Phazon Suit

Not fixed yet

Broken x-ray/thermal visor

Use efb to ram to fix

Audio Issues

Several sounds don´t play appropriately, and sometimes music stops playing, refer issue 2530.

Crashing

It is extremely rare, but will happen sometimes regardless of settings.

Alcove Room

Sky becomes black when the room "Alcove" is opened, where Space-Jump-Boots are located. The normal sky appears when the room is closed.

Stereo (3D) Mode

Works in stereo mode with the IZ3D-driver. The 32bit dolphin has to be used. The depth effect is nice. Big contrast might lead to ghosting. The convergence must be drastically changed when starting first time in 3D. The performance impact is quite severe.

Configuration

Only configuration options for the best compatibility where they deviate from defaults are listed.

Graphics

Config	Setting	Notes
Scaled EFB Copy	On
Disable Fog	Off	Prevents everything being black in the space frigate and possibly other dark areas
Texture Cache Accuracy	Position 4	Fixes fixes broken text and crash after: landing with the ship on the space station and several other places

Version Compatibility

The graph below charts the compatibility with Metroid Prime since Dolphin's 2.0 release, listing revisions only where a compatibility change occurred.

r6569

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5.0-21401 (current)

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Δ

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2.0 (r5384)

Compatibility can be assumed to align with the indicated revisions. However, compatibility may extend to prior revisions or compatibility gaps may exist within ranges indicated as compatible due to limited testing. Please update as appropriate.

Testing

This title has been tested on the environments listed below:

Test Entries
Revision	OS	CPU	GPU	Result	Tester
r6569	Windows 7 x64	AMD Phenom II X4 @ 3.7GHz	ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB	Great, but heavy fps drops in some places
r6569	Windows 7 x64	AMD Phenom II X2 550 3.1GHz	ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB	Playable: 30-60 FPS with DX9 plug-in, OpenCL Enabled and Recommended Configuration
r7338	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core i5 @ 2.53GHz	nVidia GeForce 330M	It runs great, though when heavy particles kick in, it gets a little sluggish, but recovers.	Rymar
r7417	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz	nVidia GeForce GTX 460	It started when i loaded it the first time. After saving in the first level, it only plays audio and shows a black screen. I can´t play it anymore.	AssAsSin
r7647	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core i7-2600 @ 3.4GHz	nVidia GeForce GTX 580	Crashes in "Temple Entryway" (Phendrana Drifts) after you get the wave beam, when you go back to Phendrana Shorelines. Forced passage. Seems to freeze when loading the next location data, in the middle of the corridor.
r7661	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core 2 Quad 9550 @ 3.2GHz	AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB	Great, no significant performance drops so far, sound problems sometimes
r7670	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.1GHz	AMD Radeon HD 6850	Runs perfectly fine. There still is glitches along the edges of the screen using "stretch to window".	MegaJump
r7719	Windows 7 x64	Intel i5 2500k @ 3.4GHz	nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti	DX11, 1920x1080, 4x Native, 4x AA. Game runs smoothly at 60 FPS at almost all times. Audio popping and crackling problems persist, but the frequency of audio errors appears to be drastically reduced when using XAudio2. Occasionally sound effects will drop out for a bit or fail to play. FPS drops immensely when splashing into water, and when looking upwards at rain droplets in large rooms.	Helvetica
3.0-153	Windows 7 x64	AMD Phenom II X4 @ 3.4GHz	nVidia GeForce GTX 460	Used Recommended Configuration; Fullspeed 60fps, Audio still cracks and pops (happens when pressing digital type controls e.g. D-Pad, A, B) extreme framerate drop 95%+ when water droplets get on HUD (but does not happen from visor being covered in condensation), same effect from Arm Cannon overheat smoke and when falling in water. Some rooms cause framerate drops, not sure why yet. Sometimes when using the Scan Visor framerate will drop to 20-21 fps, not sure why yet.	AnonMX
3.0-201	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 3GHz	nVidia GeForce GT 220M	Used Recommended Configuration with 4xAA. Very little audio popping. Speed was mostly good, dropped to 60s% in some areas due to weak GPU (overclocking GPU helped). Widescreen hack doesn't work here, models that are outside of the 4:3 ratio disappear.	Maave
3.0-201	Windows 7 x64	i5 760 @ 2.8GHz	AMD 5850	DX9, 2x IR, 4xAA, and running very smooth. Haven't noticed any negative effects from Cache Display Lists. XAudio2 distorted various sounds, using DSound instead.	Maave

Gameplay Videos

Metroid Prime (NGC) on Dolphin Emulator HD