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

Crashing

Random crashes are extremely rare, but may happen regardless of settings. Save often.

Audio Issues

Several sounds don´t play appropriately, and sometimes music stops playing. DSP LLE fixes the sound effect problems, but unfortunately BGM may still stop; and once it stops it requires a full emulation reset to recover. See issue 2530 and issue 5563.

Dynamic Loading Issues

Metroid Prime uses dynamic loading to load areas seamlessly. On the GameCube, it creates the appearance of no loading whatsoever. However Dolphin has some problems with this feature, and "studders" as it loads new areas. This is most apparent when moving through areas quickly, forcing it to load constantly. There is currently no fix for this problem, but, while it may be very annoying, it is not game breaking. Use "Speed Up Disc Transfer Rate" in the game settings to alleviate the problem somewhat. It does not correct it completely, but it helps.

Broken x-ray/thermal visor

The Xray and Thermal visors will not work with EFB to Texture. Use EFB to Ram to fix it.

Ghosting Effect with Phazon Suit

Not fixed yet

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.

Configuration

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

Audio

Config	Setting	Notes
DSP Emulator Engine	LLE	Minimizes audio problems

Game Properties

Config	Setting	Notes
Speed up Disc Transfer Rate	On	Improves dynamic loading

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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5.0-21455 (current)

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Δ

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	Great, but heavy FPS drops in some places
r6569	Windows 7 x64	AMD Phenom II X2 550 3.1GHz	ATI Radeon HD 4850	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	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 Core i5-2500k @ 3.4GHz	nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti	DX11, 1920x1080, 3x Native, 2x 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 60 FPS, 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	Intel Core i5-760 @ 2.8GHz	ATI Radeon HD 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
3.0-201	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core i7-2620M @ 2.7GHz	Intel HD 3000	Using recommended settings and dx9 back-end. Its playable, with a consistent 30 FPS, however it will glitch only in certain rooms, and sometimes in morph ball form it will drop to 11 FPS. Some audio issues but for the most part very good and consistent. Also playing in 720p and frame set to auto instead of native.	cohn
3.0-415	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3GHz	nVidia GeForce GTX 260	With recommended settings, XAudio2 and 2x native resolution I get almost perfect emulation speed, but will drop at larger boss fights to around 60% and snowy areas to around 80%. Sound and music are sometimes missing or playing strangely, like if you are far away or closer to the source. The alcove room sky bug mentioned in the wiki didn't trigger. Got a single crash after the second boss.
3.0-586	Windows 7 x64	AMD Athlon II X4 640 @ 3GHz	ATI Radeon HD 4200	With recommended settings works almost flawlessly. Lava, water, and snow sometimes lowers the fps, but the fps will go right back up if you turn the visor to scan mode. IMPORTANT: I don't know about other revisions, but save states are broken; loading a state results in a black screen.
3.0-631	Windows 7 x64	Intel Core i7-920 @ 3.7GHz	AMD Radeon HD 6950	Absolutely fluid FPS even with 2.5x native on HLE audio, however, massive audio glitches occur (cracking, noise and 90% of sounds are wrong), LLE audio fixes this but yields a comparatively pathetic performance, even on 1x native with settings trimmed on extreme performance very annoying lags occur in fights with more than 2 opponents. LLE on a discrete thread seems to improve this a bit, but not satisfyingly. High FPS drops in large outside areas when water drops come onto the visor. UPDATE: I have recently found the solution: Enabling "Accurate VBeam emulation" causes a slight lag and FPS-drop in the menu and just after entering new areas, but increases overall performance substantially and makes it well playable.
3.0-688	Windows 7 x64	AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition > X4 B50 @ 3.2GHz	ATI Radeon HD 4890	Been playing for a few hours. Default settings yield 60 FPS. Sometimes Audio is choppy. Random glitched noises appear when "boss" fights start. Once in a while certain textures appear black. Works great otherwise.	Oerg866

Gameplay Videos

Metroid Prime (NGC) on Dolphin Emulator HD