Metroid Database Prime 2D Demo is Here

UPDATE: New screenshots added!

UPDATE 2 (8/27/2021): Prime 2D has been officially cancelled. See our headline for details.

Yesterday, Team SCU, the team who have been working on Prime 2D (“Metroid” is absent from the title for obvious reasons) released their first public demo. It wasn’t a joke, either.

Download the demo here.

Lots to be said about this demo. First off it’s breathtakingly gorgeous. Sprite art of the finest caliber. Fans of Metroid Prime will recognize many of the same locales and enemies and even musical themes, which have been intelligently translated into 2D, astoundingly well. In the brief amount of time I spent with the demo, I was able to get to visit the rainy Tallon Overworld, the mysterious Artifact Temple, and the sandstorm-laden Chozo Ruins, but wasn’t able to progress much further than that. I will need to spend more time with it.

From what I can tell, the main items to collect in the demo are Power Grip, Missiles, and Morph Ball. I never found the Bombs or Charge Beam but maybe I need to play a little more. Starting items are Power Beam and Scan Visor. It also requires a mouse and keyboard. No controller/joypad use has been integrated in. I’m not sure if it’s planned either, as the game seems to be designed around using m+k play style. Fans may recognize the 360 aiming style from Samus Returns but for me, it harkens back to the old game Abuse. Anyone remember Abuse? No? Well then…

Since the game doesn’t immediately tell you the controls before you start (Despite the Readme saying otherwise) or even allows you to configure them, I’ll describe them here:

A key – Move Left
S key – Kneel
S 2x – Morph Ball
D key – Move Right
Q key – Scan Visor toggle
Space Bar – Jump, Release Grip
Mouse movement – Aim cursor
Left click – Shoot, Switch back to Battle visor, Lay Bomb
Right click – Scan items, Missile
Esc key – Map/Status/Logbook

I really wish the game allowed for a 2X or 3X Windowed mode. 1X Windowed mode is far too small for comfort for me, but Full Screen on my 1080p monitor seemed to do just fine. Definitely worth playing for all Metroid fans.

PS: Don’t quit when the credits roll, the game isn’t over!