When Metroid Prime Remastered launched on 9th February 2023, we were utterly convinced that its sequels, Prime 2: Echoes and Prime 3: Corruption, would follow suit sometime after. Now that 2025 is fast approaching, our certainty has waned, yet we remain confident that Nintendo will complete the saga on Switch before Metroid Prime 4: Beyond launches. The question, however, is when.
Fresh rumours of an early 2025 launch have surfaced thanks to a social media user by the name of Samus Hunter, a self-described leaker whose credibility has been, shall we say, spotty at the best of times. In sharing the recent news of an official Metroid Prime trilogy art book from publisher Piggyback, they stated that a remaster of Echoes would arrive at some point between Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (16th Jan 2025) and Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (20th March 2025).
Jeff Grubb, who has been known to tease potential future projects from Nintendo, expressed his belief in Samus Hunter's claims in an episode of the 'Last of the Nintendogs' podcast, reiterating previous claims that the game is likely "done" and Nintendo is simply waiting for the opportune moment to release it.
The problem we have here is that although Samus Hunter has been right about a couple of claims in recent months – such as a cheeky nod towards the announcement of Xenoblade Chronicles X and a tease that would quickly tie in with the Donkey Kong expansion at Super Nintendo World – they'd need to have a few more under their belt before we put serious weight behind their information regarding Echoes. As for Jeff Grubb, we certainly respect him, but his previous reports of Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD Switch ports (a.k.a, the "Zelda blowout" that, at the time of writing, hasn't happened) have dented some fans' confidence.
There is, however, reason to believe that an Echoes remaster (and possibly a Corruption remaster) could launch within the suggested timeframe. Nintendo has, where possible, been quite partial to having one significant Switch release per month throughout the Switch's lifespan, and given that the success of the original Metroid Prime Remastered's February launch, its sequels could well follow suit. We could certainly imagine Nintendo hosting a Direct presentation or cheekily shadow-dropping Echoes and Corruption on the second anniversary of the first game.
Either way, it just wouldn't feel right for the Switch to play host to Metroid Prime Remastered and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond without Echoes and Corruption. Granted, Beyond's 'big bad' Sylux doesn't show up until a very brief cameo at the end of Corruption, but it makes sense for Nintendo to allow players who might have missed out on the originals to catch up on the story so far.
To Grubb's credit, he likened Nintendo's potential plans for the Prime trilogy to that of Pikmin, and it certainly sounds plausible: both of the original Pikmin games on Gamecube received basic remasters on the Switch shortly before the launch of Pikmin 4 in 2023, allowing new or lapsed players to play catch up before diving into the new entry. There's still time for Prime 2 and Prime 3 to receive the same (or hopefully better) treatment, and we're keeping all of our fingers and toes crossed.
Do you think Nintendo will launch Metroid Prime 2 and 3 Remastered in 2025? (1,400 votes)
- Yes, in February
- Yes, but later in the year
- Maybe, but I dunno...
- I honestly doubt it at this point
- Not a chance
What do you think, dear readers? Are we due a remaster of Metroid Prime 2? What about Prime 3? Cast your vote in the poll above and let us know your thoughts with a comment.
Comments 85
Patience. Honestly, it's like everyone does nothing but play video games here...oh, wait.
Great to hear that maybe they'll come out, and maybe they won't.
At least they ported Metroid Prime 1 first, Luigi’s Mansion fans got the LM 2 port before Luigi’s Mansion 1 on Switch
@MiniKiwiGeek According to my uncle who is the uncle of your uncle I can confirm, that your uncle is indeed correct.
We’ll get them right after Nintendo releases Mother 3 with an English translation to Switch Online
@JSC016 im still waiting on zelda ww and tp 😭 but whe got pikmin so there is still hope
Between Samus Hunter and Jeff Grubb I'd say the former has more credibility as at least they have been spot on recently as mentioned by the article and so could have actual sources now, but of course we'll just have to wait and see.
Regardless, fingers crossed rereleases - even better if remasters à la Metroid Prime Remastered - of 2 and 3 will be a thing first and foremost and hopefully come sooner rather than later as it would make more sense to (re)play those before 4!
Anytime next year would be fine. Just keep them physical.
MP2+3 is a perfect Switch 1 game, because as we have seen with MP1R, it will run with 60 fps and reasonable resolution, while the texture resolution will likely be quite low due to poor original texture resolution (AI upscaling anticipated).
The Switch 2 would be somewhat „overpowered“ for this game collection. So a release of this collection before the Switch 2 release would make much sense.
I think it comes down to whether they want to release digital before physical again like Prime 1 and Pikmin 1+2.
If they want to release digital first, I could easily see a situation like:
But if they want to release physical and digital at the same time then it sounds more like:
My guess is maybe they’ll release the two in a less remastered combo a month before prime 4 like they did Pikmin 1+2 before 4
I am thinking these would be announced to come out later in the year. Really depends on when MP4 releases as they may want to release them to build up hype or save them for more OG Switch releases into late '25 or early '26. Easy support for the installed user-base.
I'm subscribed to the theory Nintendo constantly has remakes and remasters both in the works and already finished, but only release them when they're relevant or they need some filler during a year. Especially in an age where they can release budget titles digitally whenever and worry about a physical release later.
I maintain my stance that until we get a firm date for Prime 4 there's still a chance we get 2 and 3 Remastered. If we find out exactly when Prime 4 is coming and the remasters aren't announced/out soon after that...well just go on and dust off those Wiis lol
I'm 98% certain the remaster was made to test how much the system could handle when it came to devloping Prime 4. I don't think their intent was to remaster EVERY Prime game.
@PikminMarioKirby I still haven't played the Luigi's mansion series because I want to start with the first one and am still waiting for it to come to Switch
Same place the Wind Waker and Twilight Princess remakes are, I assume.
I honestly don't know if it'll happen at this point, I can never tell what Nintendo is thinking. When Miitopia happened on Switch, I seriously thought they would do the same with Tomodachi Life, and...nope, still nothing years later.
I think they will be shadowdropped in a Direct but not sure if the direct will be Jan or Feb
They're big games. IMHO, it'd be REALLY daft to release either this close to MP4 release date... Or even stupider to release them at the same time!
People will be too busy playing the original trilogy to play the new game.
For me, it's insane that they released the trailer for MP4 and didn't announce at the same time the release of MP2 and 3 to complete the collection.
Originally they were suppose to be just quick-and-dirty HD ports, no improvements or changes. Perhaps now they're getting the full-on Remake/Remaster treatment like MP1?
A rumour years ago stated that the first Metroid Prime game was being remastered but 2 and 3 would just be ports at a later date. I wonder if that's likely to still be the case.
Rumour has it they ditched the remaster project to come on board with getting Prime 4 done, so we only got MP1 as a result. I'm sure the others will follow, but perhaps not on Switch.
I think we'll see Metroid Prime 2: Echoes HD remaster fairly soon. But Metroid Prime 3: Corruption HD remaster will most likely release 9-12 months after
@FlyingDunsparce @PikminMarioKirby @JSC016
I think Nintendo are very inconsistent with this stuff. Sometimes with good reasons. Like the reason we didn't get all three Primes together was that they went up, up and way beyond the norm for a remaster for Prime 1. I'm sure it had a significant development time. And for that reason I think either Prime 2 and 3 will take a long time, or we just won't get them at all.
This wasn't a lazy job they did like with Mario 3D All-Stars.
Then regarding Luigi's Mansion 1. I personally would not assume we will ever get that on Switch/2. That would be far to logical for the madness that is the Nintendo marketing team.
Again, what the heck happened to Mario Galaxy 2? Whhhhhyyyyy was it missing Nintendo?
I anticipate they release prime 4 first, then some time after, a quadrilogy. Or perhaps a remake of pinball, or a Metroid-starfox crossover.
We can only hope they’re being worked on and being released one day…
I did want to play all 3 in the run up to 4 and I was confused as I couldnt find 2 and 3. I hope they release them, Ive enjoyed metroid prime 1 so far.
I own the Prime Trilogy for Wii. It's one of the few reasons I boot up that console anymore. I don't personally see any value in 2 & 3 for Switch if they release as simple ports but I do hope others get a chance to play them before 4 releases. I would however buy 2 & 3 if they got the same remaster treatment that Prime 1 got.
MP2 remake will only receive a green light once MP4 has launched and is a proven success.
It's a similar release schedule to TP and WW getting ported.
Think about it... MP4 launches in 2025. How many years will we then all have to wait for MP5? That void of 6, 7 maybe even 8 years is where MP2 Remaster would be.
But even that is a stretch right now. MP4 needs to be VERY successful first - it cannot be a typical Metroid sell through, it has to be bigger. Retro Studios have released zero games for eleven years - that's a huge expense running a large dev studio that needs to make some serious money.
TP and WW are the ones you'll see first. TotK has been and gone and we now wait a long long time for the next 3D Zelda. That's exactly when TP comes along to play.
I could definitely see a trailer for Beyond happening at the VGAs and Prime 2/3 getting announced or dropped at the same time. Metroid fits well amongst the more “mature” (ugh) games that usually get top billing during that show and Nintendo are no strangers to announcing/showing off games during them.
Either way, if these remasters are happening it makes sense that they’d launch before the fourth game drops.
The answer is the same place as Zelda Twilight Princess and Windwaker remakes.
I'm confident that we'll be getting these remasters in 2025. Whether it's February, I feel less certain about, but that seems plausible.
I agree that MP 2&3 would be too big to shadow drop, especially in close proximity to MP 4. It would be a complete waste from a commercial perspective, and also (in my opinion) a bit of overkill and "Metriod Fatigue" from players' perspective. To be honest I feel like they have already gone a bit too far with Zelda: TOTK was a monster game, one which takes months to complete and then years to get over. Playing Echoes of Wisdom so soon afterwards definitely brought on some Zelda fatigue for me: if they were to finally release Wind Waker & Twilight Princess now, I'd definitely buy them but there's no way I'd want to play them for quite a while.
Come on, they need to release it asap!!!!!
@shoeses this right here. They have shown time and time again to hold stuff on the shelf until they need to fill a release schedule or need a quick boost. Earthbound Beginnings is the very best example: fully translated and localized and lived on the shelf for so many years until Nintendo needed a quick win during the desolate Wii U twilight. I still believe despite the endless conjecturing about content that Mother 3 will never be localized until Nintendo is hurting that bad again. And of course all 3 Primes didn't drop at once or even close together. The penetration rate would be abysmal. I'm sure it's all a carefully measured plan to keep the interest stoked in the long lead up to Prime 4. Same reason why Zero Mission didn't drop on NSO right with Fusion. And if their team decides interest is fine? They'll shelve those remasters for another rainy day.
Even though I wasn't a fan of either Prime 2 or 3, I want those remasters too. I want to see if perhaps my opinion of Prime 2 has changed, and if Prime 3 feels better with a proper control scheme.
They both had motion controls. It'll likely never happen! Skyward Sword of course did too but the motion controls on the Switch weren't great.
Sitting in the Nintendo vault. It's like Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin, nothing will come out of it until they want it to.
@Simu001 I was kind hoping you'd say "I can confirm, that your uncle is indeed your uncle".
Anyway, as much as I'd like to play Remasters of Prime 2 and 3, I'd be fine if they don't come out. Metroid Prime: Trilogy still has a place on my Wii and my digital Wii U collections.
These are full blown remakes we're taking about, I can see them coming before Prime 5 but definitely not next year.
Seeing the huge amount of work put into the MP1 remaster, I don't think we'll see an MP2 or MP3 remaster any time soon. The idea of having the entire Prime series on one console is appealing, but there's a law of diminishing returns, in terms of sales, for direct sequels. On the GameCube, MP1 sold ~2.8 million, while MP2 merely sold ~1.1 million. Furthermore, MP1 Remaster hasn't even reached the sales numbers of the original. The business case isn't really there.
I hope I'm wrong, though!
I don’t think we’ll get remasters. I think they’ll just be upscaled ports like what they did for the Pikmin 1+2 and Mario 3D All-Stars.
If we get full-blown remasters, though… I’ll be super happy!
I have been wondering were thay got to the other day
But at this point it's a question is it coming to the switch or is going to be on switch 2?
I want to believe, so I say: Yes, in February.
And Metroid Prime 4 by September, along with the Switch 2.
I have confidence the games are coming at some point, but not sure when. Or even IF they'll be remastered, but I'm decently confident in that too.
Question is, where will Prime Hunters and Federation Force play in this. Joking, but both games ARE important for Sylux, and I love Hunters.
I think we may get ports of the other two Prime games... eventually. I do have Metroid Prime Trilogy, but it's digital only and stuck on the Wii U. So I wouldn't mind other ways to play this stellar trio. I enjoyed revisiting Metroid Prime via the remaster earlier this year.
If they are still in development then likely they may come out later in 2025 that is if they are proper remastered and not just a port like in the Metroid Prime Trilogy. One could be released before Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and one could be released after cause we all know MP4 may likely had DLC expansion as well so the final remake could be released before that.
People simply assumed and set themselves for disappointment. Of course I'd be glad to have them, but if there's no official mention then there's no reason to expect them. Being popular and selling well isn't enough for Nintendo, at least in terms of doing it when everyone is expecting it and honestly it has worked pretty well for the company. I do (low-key) expect them as surprise drops on every direct just as it happened with the first, but I try not to think about them otherwise.
can’t wait for the surprise Hunters remaster announcement!! Yes please!!
I bough the Prime trilogy on Wii U for only 10 bucks on sale on eShop.
Before the release of Prime Remastered, the rumor was that the whole trilogy would be re-released, but that only the first game would be remastered, not the second and third. A while back I read that Prime remastered didn't sell gangbusters, but still reasonably well. Maybe enough for Nintendo to consider holding of on the regular Prime 2 and 3 re-releases, in order to remaster them anyway? If they did, it would give them a little bit more time to perfect Prime 4. Just some spitballing here.
Prime 1 Remastered was a commercial failure, wasn’t it? Why would they bother with the other two?
Don’t get me wrong, I’d buy them if they were released.
I’m expecting them some time after the FE4 remake, that’s been rumored for years too.
I’d rather have the Zelda games first.
@LastFootnote over a million copies sold as of a year ago. Doubt they consider that a failure.
I sure hope we get those sequels! That Prime remaster was a masterpiece; the gyro controls were a gamechanger. Fingers, toes—all appendages—crossed!
I would be shocked shocked if they release 3 3d metroid games next year. And I mean shocked! The release date for 2 would have to be super early in the year, with 3 during the summer and 4 in the fall. Shocked
one thing people are forgetting is that Prime 1 remaster was rated two whole years before release, so if they are remastering the other two games in the same vein then I can see Prime 2 remaster being released next year easily
Maybe holding off to release the complete Metroid Quadilogy as a steel book treasure for the ages.
Worse than Zelda, Metroid might be just the worse time between main games. I really don't understand it, one of the most sought after IPs in the world of Nintendo but they treat it like its the black plague. Remasters? How about a new mainline game? I'm not saying they have to Call of Duty 68 the thing, but yeesh.
I assumed MP 2 and 3 were being saved to fill out game release schedules for Swtich 2 cycle. Same for Mario Galaxy 2, Zelda Windwaker.
@msvt Haha, that would be an amazing shelf companion to my Alien Quadrilogy dvd set.
Will buy Echoes day one as it's one of my top 10 games of all time.
Corruption can be forgotten forever as far as I'm concerned. It has a few great moments but overall is the worst mainline games in the series, IMO.
Yes please. The sooner the better.
Thank you for this article! We need as much coverage in this topic as possible!!
IT WOULD BE A CRIME not to release the other two, ESPECIALLY WITH 4 coming out!!!
HEAR US NINTENDO!!!! WHERE ARE THE PRIMES!?!?!?!?
Nintendo has been known to literally sit on games for months (if not years). They exist, and are done.
When they release is a matter of when Nintendo chooses to begin the build up to MP4: Beyond.
The same way we were convinced we'd get Super Mario Galaxy 2 as long as we all quickly shelled out $60 for a predatory, artificial scarcity release?
[grumbling intensifies]
@msvt : And on a single 32GB (or 64GB) cart. drools
@BoilerBroJoe : How dare you remind me of that cruel injustice. grumble grumble
Knowing the critical acclaim for the first Prime (and it being the first) Nintendo likely went ahead with just remastering that, seeing what sales were like, then maybe starting on remastering two and three
I feel Pikmin 1 and 2 are slightly different because they're somewhat smaller games, and Pikmin 2 was late in the life of the GameCube so people would have been less exposed to it than the Metroid sequels
Sure, Nintendo might be remastering 2 and 3 (and mark my words they'll release separately) but perhaps digital only, and with less fanfare than number 1
No idea. I am interested, though. Prime Remastered was my first serious go at those games, and after a fair bit of initial frustration, it eventually clicked and I loved it. So I'm intrigued about a remastered second and third title.
It would’ve made sense to have already released them and the WW and TP remasters but no. At this point I think Nintendo has no plans to release them.
Finished Prime yesterday, a few rough difficulty spikes for me (and I hate the permanently missable scans, had to settle for ~95% completion) but overall really enjoyed it! Would love to be able to play the sequels first.
Still mad I didn't pick them up when the Wii prices were still reasonable.
I don't see why you lot have any respect for Jeff Grubb as a Nintendo insider/leaker, he's been wrong most times than not
Personally I would rather see them devote theft full attention to the new game instead.
But unfortunately the remake business is booming, so I bet they are in the pipeline.
If they are ports rather than remakes, this is exactly the level of announcement that Nintendo would grace the Game Awards with.
If people are wondering, it seems incredibly unlikely that MP4 will make less sense to anyone who hasn't played the Trilogy. The narrative in those games was largely ambient storytelling.
I have to disagree. I don’t think Nintendo have any plans to release Prime 2/3 anytime soon. And if they did they’d more likely be ports rather than full remasters. MP1 Remaster seemed more of a test run for the development of 4 which they’ll have been flat out on since. Plus, didn’t an ex Retro employer say that converting Prime 3’s motion controls would be like beginning the game from scratch?
I might be wrong, but I just don’t see it happening before 4 comes out.
February 2025 sounds about right, closely ahead of "never".
It depends on Metroid Prime 4. The recent "coming soon" addition to the initial "2025" schedule makes me think MP4 could be April to mid 2025, instead of around September that I originally thought. If MP4 is mid year or beyond, I can see the rest of the trilogy released early next year. If MP4 is, indeed, "coming soon", like first quarter of 2025, then goodbye to games 2 and 3 of the trilogy.
MP Remastered always seemed a test run of new developmental tools and determining the potential of MP4. I never expected a trilogy in that context. To rebuild all three games would take significant time and delay and significantly delay the release. Only as straight ports would I imagine a trilogy released at the time.
The curiosity now is that we're almost 2 years from MPR and there's still no MP4 or the rest of the trilogy. Perhaps MP4 was expected sooner, then got delayed, and the developers began to rebuild MP2 & 3 in the meantime.
@brunojenso The weird thing about 'Super Mario Galaxy 2' being missing on Switch was they released it on the Nintendo eShop on the Wii U way before 'Super Mario Galaxy 1.' The Nintendo eShop for the Wii U also had both Wii and DS versions of New Super Mario Bros.
@PikminMarioKirby I was hoping we would get more Gamecube games on Switch when they included Super Mario Sunshine in the Super Mario 3D All Stars collection starting with Lugi's Mansion, Mario Kart Double Dash and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker but sadly it doesn't look like it is going to happen.
I'm calling it guys:
Prime 2 remastered coming for the Switch 2,
Prime 3 remastered coming for the Switch 3.
These two people need to go the way of Pyoro.
lol, I know what happened to it. It would've been out years ago, but...
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