Metroid Prime Remastered: Kiwi Talkz Review with Former Lead Technical Engineer Jack Matthews
Kiwi Talkz just released a Metroid Prime Remastered review with Jack Mathews, the former Lead Technical Engineer on the original GameCube version. Throughout the review, they lookback at the original Metroid Prime and how the remastered version captures its core essence, while still improving upon it in amazing ways.
As Mathews notes early on, much of the original intention is still there. Rather than adding quality of life changes that people might have expected, like checkpoints for example or an updated user interface, the core experience was left as is. Some might think that a negative, but personally I think it was a smart choice. It offers new players that same original experience. Attempting to alter that even with something trivial like checkpoints, could have very much removed aspects of the game that led to its timeless success.
Another interesting point that Matthews touches on is the enhancement to lighting. The remastered team was able to implement a modern based lighting technique known as Physically Based Rendering (PBR). This method utilizes a variety of different textures such as normal maps, roughness, albedo, and compiles them to create an incredibly realistic form of lighting. And to top it off, the team was not only able to implement PBR, they did so while still maintaining 60 FPS on the Switch; truly a feat.
The interview with Jack Matthews is just over an hour and a half long and covers a variety of topics. I’ve listed some interesting highlights below, but if you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out the full interview at the bottom of the page.
- Why the Original Team Should Be Credited
- Why the Thermal Visor is Worse in MPR then the Original
- Ramping of Difficulty in the Phazon Mines Gauntlet
- Particle Effect Upgrades/Magmoor Caverns
- We Are in a Renaissance of the Metroid Series
- Dread vs. Prime Remastered/Older 2D Metroids Have Aged
After watching the interview, be sure to let us know what you think. What topics did you find most interesting? Is there anything in particular you agree or disagree with? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Kiwi Talkz
Daniel is a Website Reporter for Omega Metroid and an avid fan of the Metroid series. You can find me most places as AFallenApple.
