Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Hands On) (GameCube) Preview

Thankfully it doesn't disappoint in anyway what-so-ever! With four players this is an amazing experience, everything is so much more intense and random, yet the skill involved in doing well is evident from the off. The game runs very smoothly indeed, we tried our best to get it to slow down but we just could not manage it. There is masses to do in multiplayer, you can of course shoot, roll about in your Morph Ball form (terrific fun it is too), running away, hiding, being sneaky, and using any number of handy upgrades. From first impressions it seems to be the perfect multiplayer option.

A rather unexpected surprise were what we liked to call 'big-bugger-off-cannons' that were placed at certain places in the level. If you get into your Morph Ball mode and approach one of these beasts it fires you across the level to another section. One this is good for people that like to run away a lot, and two it is good for people that like to chase the people who run away a lot; never before have we laughed so much at what is meant to be a serious title!

As Nintendo keep on reminding us, the MP series is not meant to be a shoot-'em-up, and although this technically was a demo of a death-match mode, it still had that very different and distinctive feeling that so many loved about the first GameCube title, and the same is indeed true for the single player section of Echoes. It is hard to pin down what this feeling is, but it is certainly here and it oozes quality and class on all levels.