Ryan's Archive

Meet the troopers

After the huge media backlash on Myles Makenzie following the release of mainstream coverage of the Prime 4 press event, we took a little bit of heat ourselves by defending Nintendo’s decision to make Prime 4 a game that is not focused on pure isolation. Moving forward, I am going to reserve judgement on Nintendo/Tanabe’s decision making until I play Prime 4 myself.

 

That being said, the Japanese Prime 4 website has (once again) gone all in on providing fans with an incredible amount of hype content whereas us Americans are left with jack and shit in regards to website content.

 

The “Troopers” page of the Japanese site has some awesome bios and renders, along with voice clips, on all the new characters Samus will be teaming up with on Planet Viewros. We have gone ahead and Google Translated the info for your convenience and are reporting here.

 

*SPOILER WARNING* the first and only – reminder you are on a *METROID* *WEBSITE*!

Meet the troopers!

  • Name: Myles MacKenzie
    • Galactic Federation Soldier Class: Special Skills

(Translated) Bio: Not only is he a mechanic who handles the maintenance and repair of various vehicles, but he is also an excellent computer technician. His timid personality has allowed him to avoid the worst situations.

  • Name: Tokabi
    • Galactic Federation Soldier Class: Sniper

(Translated) Bio: A solitary hunter who volunteered for the federal army in search of a stable life. He always carries a talisman in the shape of a tiger, and believes that it is its protection that has allowed him to escape from difficult situations.

  • Name: Duke
    • Galactic Federation Soldier Class: Sergeant

(Translated) Bio: A veteran who has survived countless battles with the Space Pirate army, his stubborn personality often leads to conflicts with his superiors, but his sincere and compassionate nature make him a reliable presence on the battlefield.

  • Name: Armstrong
    • Galactic Federation Soldier Class: Private First Class

(Translated) Bio: A private first class in the Galactic Federation Army. She has excellent knowledge of vehicle structure and operation, and can drive them intuitively. Her bright and proactive personality allows her to solve problems frequently, and she has a strong affection for Samus Aran.

 

 

  • Name: VUE-995
    • Galactic Federation Android

(Translated) Bio: A combat android belonging to the Galactic Federation Army. It pilots fighter jets, armored vehicles, and bipedal manned combat mecha on behalf of humans. It is not equipped with a program that allows it to have emotions, but there are cases where pseudo-emotions can be generated.

December 4 can’t get here soon enough. -R

Marathon Stream

Metroid Marathon 2025

It’s that time again! The Metroid Database and friends are going to be holding their annual Metroid Marathon this year starting on this Sunday, September 28. We’re kicking off the event with contributing editor Rue playing Zero Mission. 

 

This year, our charity will be to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, with 95% of proceeds going to that organization. We chose this one because Rue was tragically struck with the condition early this year, and fortunately he has recovered thanks to the incredible breakthroughs in medical science.

Here’s the current (tentative) schedule:

 

Hope to see you there, we’ll be offering free giveaways during the show, as always!

Shapes of Gaming Episode 21

I was invited to be in a podcast by a longtime friend of mine, Matt and along with his cohost Bob, we shot the shit about gaming and Metroid for a good 3 hours. 
Shapes of Gaming is a longform, unscripted podcast and prides itself on being “unedited, unfiltered and unhinged.”

 

You can listen to episode 21 here or play it below:

Shapes of Gaming Linktree: https://linktr.ee/shapesofgaming

Discord invite: https://discord.com/invite/y5R4SpVjCM

 

Thanks to Matt & Bob for having me on. I had a great time and hope to do it again sometime.

MP4B Amiibos

The official Nintendo Amiibo website has been updated! It now contains all three new Amiibos that are being released alongside Metroid Prime 4 Beyond.

The new Prime Samus is looks very slick in her pose with her slightly upgraded Varia suit, which inclues her new psychic powers as shown by the upgraded helmet along with the pink lights on her armor:

Next up we have Samus in her Vi-O-La Suit with her new cycle, the Vi-O-La!! This Amiibo is a top contender for ousting the Samus Returns Metroid Amiibo as the best Amiibo ever made.

And finally we have Sylux, who seems to have also upgraded his suit as well! Time will tell if we see him actually doing it in-game.

METROID PRIME 4 RELEASE TRAILER

Today during Nintendo’s Direct event this morning, they sandwiched Metroid Prime 4 Beyond’s trailer giving us a firm release date of December 4, 2025. Watch it below.


As you can see, Samus will ride on a Tron-like cycle during her adventure. The trailer aslo has a remix/rock arrangement of the intro song from Prime 3 Corruption.

 

Lastly is the other big Metroid announcement that there will be not one, not two, but THREE new Metroid Amiibos coming soon:

Get hyped because Metroid Prime 4 is coming out THIS. YEAR.!!!!!!

Metroid A to Z

A few months ago, Nintendo began releasing a new feature article on their Nintendo Today app titled, “Metroid A to Z.” The feature goes through every letter of the English alphabet, and designates a Metroid-themed idea along with examples. We got screenshots of the entire thing and assembled it together for you on a single page:

Metroid A to Z

 

Can’t say I agree with all the choices made here, or the examples, or especially some of the descriptions, or the fact that it makes no mention of anything related to the Prime series. But it’s better than nothing, I guess? Let’s hope Nintendo ups the ante when it comes to marketing Prime 4, and soon.

 

In other news, Prime 4 has been rated by the ESRB (T). 

 

39th Metroid Anniversary

Today marks the 39th anniversary of Metroid’s release in Japan. I discovered a tweet by Hip Tanaka who reminisces on creating the final end credits theme to the game:

Translation:

What an awesome way to celebrate the anniversary!

We’re also having a ONE DAY ONLY sale, offering a whopping 39% off your entire order. https://metroid-database.myshopify.com

 

Happy Mother’s Day with a visit with the real Mother Brain

We had the pleasure of working closely with one of Facebook/Discord mods, Carl, (aka Object Oriented Props) who has created one of the greatest known pieces of wearable Metroid fan-art: a nearly-life size Mother Brain “pixel” costume.

Last January at the annual MAGFest celebration in National Harbor, MD, we sat down with Carl to interview him and get the scoop on the history and future of this awesome creation. We hope you give it a good read as this article has been quite a while in the making. The original debut of Mother Brain was at MAGFest 2024 – the theme was appropriately Metroid Prime. Carl’s creation was also the star of the stage that weekend, as she was shown off during the Metroid Metal concert.

Thanks again to Carl and his colleague Matt, for making such a stunning piece of work and for allowing us to scoop this awesome “cosplay” that will go down in history as one of the most epic ever!

[Read the interview here]

Oh – and Happy Mother’s Day to all those mothers out there!

MP4B: Switch 2 Edition Treehouse Gameplay

This video contains the entire Treehouse footage, which is (assumedly) the entire intro to the game.

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