UK Charts: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Clings To The Top 40

Unfortunately Metroid has never been much of a chart topper despite its overall fame.

So this is hardly surprising. I think Dread only got so much attention due to it being both good at the first Metroid period in many years.

Prime 4 had a lot of hype around it but we also don't have prime 2 and 3 playable. Even if you don't need to have played those games. A lot won't even glance at a 4th game when they didn't play earlier entries.

So again not surprised. I will say despite some harsh criticism, the game is fun and if you liked the prior games or just like fps mixed with some light puzzle elements then you'll probably like it.

Metroid Prime 4 is a good game despite all the negativity and I am glad it's still hanging on. But in another news why is Mad Max, an absolute banger of a game all of sudden in the top 40?

It still did better than Kirbys Air Riders physically. Hopefully digital sales were strong.

It seems to be doing fine. Not amazing or spectacular, but fine. If it launched at number 8, then left the top 40 entirely, then I'd be more worried.

I’ve put Metroid prime 4 down and struggling to find a reason to go back to it. It just hasn’t clicked with me.
Hades 2 however has swallowed my work commutes whole.

I repeat what I said in the other article:
It really makes me sad to see all the hate around the amazing Metroid Prime 4... And then you see Pokemon ZA getting so much praise around here. Nintendo fans sometimes are really hard to understand.

If I was Nintendo, I would release the Metroid games in every platform possible. Nintendo fans hardly buy this type of gamers, and not only that, they don't even appreciate what they are.
Actually, I would release everywhere all the IPs that sell less than 3-4 million units. Metroid, Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, Bayonetta... They are definitely NOT system sellers and most Nintendo gamers don't care about their existence, so what's the point? That way, more people would enjoy these AWESOME franchises.

The big issue here is when the Bluey comment is going to arrive.

BLUEY is still not on Top 40 this week. 😟

The surge of Nintendo Switch Sports must mean people have made New Year's Resolutions!

Finished MP4 this weekend and enjoyed every second. Plus as it's not a long game I am already looking forward to re-running on hard. And I must say I think the hate towards the game is overblown. I so hope MP5 has been greenlit. I can see Retro building on what they've tried to achieve in MP4 but nailing the format next time with some more open elements yet retaining the classic Metroid immersion, exploration and interconnected world.

@WiltonRoots well, wouldn't you know, the very next comment

Metroid Prime 4: Neither Above nor Beyond the Call of Duty

…Really quite far behind, in fact.

Mad Max probably sprung to no18 because people felt the need for an interesting, detailed desert setting with open world vehicular combat. Something missing from Metroid Prime 4.

Metroid is the most niche of Nintendo’s “big” franchises (of which it’s not even a blip compared to the sales potential of Mario and Zelda etc.). Add the fact that Beyond is as divisive as it is within an already smaller fanbase and it’s not a huge shock it’s dropped off.

I also just think that the vast majority of people who were ever going to show up for it did so on day one. It’s not the kind of game that has evergreen appeal.

The British game charts are miserable, it’s the usual suspects and has been for years now, FIFA, GTA V, Call of Duty and Mario Kart, so depressingly bland.

Japanese game charts are so much more interesting.

Clinging to the top 40 in the same way poop clings to my dogs bum hole via a long strand of hair. No I'm joking I actually enjoyed prime 4 and intend to go back to it very soon for 100% and maybe a wee speedrun attempt. I also enjoy all the hate it gets as some of it is funny and deserved lol.

@DennyCrane A bit like when you check your watch to see where the bus is, and it comes round the corner...

Nintendo haven't really published S2 game sales numbers so far, I am curious abour their next report. Their latest (the first report after S2 launch) only showed two games instead of the usual top 10, MKW and Donkey Kong. Might be they only list games above 1 million units.
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/software/index.html

It feels like S2 software isn't doing as well as the system itself, but I might be wrong.

I wonder if people have been opting for the digital version, but that could be said about all of the games on the list. 🤔

@RumandCohibas The biggest development in the UK Christmas Top 40 over the last ten years was when FIFA changed its name.

I'd really love to know what the actual numbers are on this chart. They have to be in the dozens at least lol. Physical only in a country of 60 million. It can't be very much at all.

GTA V & MK8 continue to outsell orange juice in the UK

Every time I want to return to MP4 and pick up my Switch 2, I launch any other game. No, I don't hate it, I'm just disappointed beyond belief.

I've said it before, but MP4's low sales may also be due to lack of marketing effort.

We got the initial teaser 18 months ago, then basically nothing for 9 months or so. And even throughout the past year only some small amount of footage here and there. There was no collector's edition (unlike Dread, I have that CE and it's fantastic) and no dedicated Direct. Basically it feels like Nintendo themselves wrote it off and pushed it as far back as they could, only just managing to keep their 2025 release date.

@Ironcore OMG, been there done that 😆 the dog poo, not Metroid 🤣 that made me laugh, cheers 👍

@WiltonRoots can I get the lottery numbers

No more Zelda on the list. But The Witcher 3 is always there. Legendary game!

@DwaynesGames It was on the top of the UK/EU eShop charts for at least a short while.

I think when all is said and done it will have sold as well as Nintendo expected but probably not as well as they’d hoped given the expense of its development.

@Powerballad Thats because its not very good. It would be a decent game if they removed the crappy desert area, the bike and the requirement to go back to base to get upgrades for certain things. As it is, it wasted a huge amount of your time. Takes you out of the game and its massively linear. Only really feels like a metroid game in name.

What a shame. MP4 deserves better than this and will probably be the reason we won’t get MP5 in the next 18 years.

i wouldnt expect anything beyond this, because this game has proven to be unpopular with fans of metroid, and metroid typically isnt a top seller.

@1UP_MARIO I won a couple of weeks ago! £4.50. That'll pay for a quarter of a year on NSO!

If it was a better game it could have definitely brought the franchise out of it's niche.

But the game is already divise in it's own fanbase so this is already more than I thought.

@the_beaver

The Nintendo IPs will stay with Nintendo and go down with Nintendo as Satoru Iwata once said in the interview.

Prime 4 for me went from highly anticipated, to a potential second hand purchase down the road. From what I've seen of the game the hand holding, quippy dialogue, and linear yet long winded design have all dampened my enthusiasm. I really liked the first two games, the third a bit less so. Replayed Prime Remastered and was still excellent, but Prime 4 looks disappointing, to me at least. It's probably done best on Switch 2 as I heard you can use the cartridge on Switch 1, so sensible to get the '2' version.

@mctrials23 Honestly, reading comments like yours, I certainly hope Nintendo won't release any other Metroid game. We don't deserve it.

Metroid Prime 4 is a fantastic game, and it feels A LOT like Metroid. I don't know why you say it doesn't.
Sure it's not as perfect as Prime 1 (no game is), but it was great overall. I had fun from the beggining to the end, and I have played EVERY Metroid game in the franchise.

Oh well... Bye bye Metroid Prime. I hope we can at least have another 2D game on the Switch 2, as Dread did quite well.

@XE77 If they stay, they will die.

I definitely prefer them to be released everywhere, at least on PC (same as what Sony does), than see them go away, like F-Zero and Starfox did.
And I believe MP4 would do MUCH BETTER in other consoles/PC. Nintendo fans don't appreciate a game like this.

@the_beaver

Thanks God Nintendo will never go the way you want them to go.

@the_beaver What a strange outlook. You hope we don't get more metroid games because plenty of people don't think metroid 4 is good...

The first 3d prime is easily one of my favourite games ever and dread was great. This was simply not a good metroid game in my mind. If you liked it, cool. I didn't.

@the_beaver "They shouldn't make another Metroid Prime game because you dared to criticize the one they did release," is an utterly wild take. They don't make these things out of charity, they're selling them as a product and when you do that you open yourself up to negative feedback.

And it's not like it's even an unusual opinion either. The game didn't review super great and a lot of people are complaining about the pacing and the desert sections and the story. It's cool that some people are loving it but plenty of people aren't and that's reflected in the pretty mixed word of mouth it's getting.

Took 8 years to place 39th 1 month after release...

@XE77 Not all games, just the niche ones! What's wrong with that?

@the_beaver

Nintendo games only on Nintendo hardware and it will stay that way period.

I wasn't expecting it to be as good as Prime 1 or 2, but man. Bit of a bummer.

@Metazoxan Honestly reminds me a lot of Duke Nukem Forever while I get they didn't want to rush development but after all these **years** it's a lot to live up too, and honestly it might of helped a lot if Nintendo remade Prime 2 and 3, maybe do something like Galaxy did and have all 3 prime games even if it's just HD versions of the Wii versions, or perhaps they could of put Prime 2 on Game Cube classics to get people into prime, while I brought the 1st remake and collection on Wii U back then tho never got round to playing 2 and 3 I'm in no rush to get 4 yet since I still got the 1st remake to finish, feel there's a lot of story to catch up first and Nintendo could of market this better.

@the_beaver Reason Sony do that cus they don't have faith in the PS5 and are desperate to get people to play their games, much like Sega went, started with pc ports then went full 3rd party no more new consoles.

@Ristar24 eh, while its far from a masterpiece its a solid game.

I thought Nintendo’s Halo would do better. #notmymetroidprime 😀🤣

"Perhaps reasonable to assume that the game will have a pretty lengthy lifespan as more and more people upgrade to the new console in the coming months and years."

It is reasonable to assume (that is, look at history and see) Metroid games tend to sell poorly in general, and a 4th Prime version which is generally seen as the worst in the series is likely to do poorly on top of that.

It's okay to see what is happening here.

I was pretty excited to try this game, and had it preordered. But if decently large elements of the game experience (such as music on certain levels) are locked behind the purchase of an Amiibo, I'm out. Nintendo has been in my life since the early 1990's as a young child but these types of tactics are just pushing me a bit too far over the last few years. I hope the game is great for those who love Metroid, though.

The best thing I can say about Metroid Prime 4 I only paid $50 for the switch 2 version. 100 eshop credit for $80 at Costco for vouchers for switch one mp4 cost me $40 and then the $10 upgrade and still feel like I overpaid. Metroid Prime 4 is a physical version of the meme "what if Ubisoft made..."
There's hardly any self-satisfaction of figuring out stuff on your own because you are a constantly told where to go what to do with the new item you found. All that was missing was the infamous big fat yellow arrow on top of the screen pointing you where to go. Like I said before, in time, Metroid Prime 4 will become the Halloween 3 of the Prime series.

It's a shame that so many of us waited years for Metroid 4 only for it to land with a thud and quickly get bested by....Little Nightmares 3(?!) on the sales chart, only a month in. Ooof.

People basing on UK tastes? lol

:: Scans list for Cronos and Death Stranding 2 ::

@SuperEndriu I'll give it a try at some point, certainly the soundtrack seems good and the design of the world still looks outstanding in some areas, though quite inconsistent. I remember getting the first Prime on the GameCube and even though I'd not played if for years, Remastered proved it held up as great a game as it ever was.

If only they’d promoted it properly. Or at all IRL.

I’m starting to wonder if Nintendo actually likes Samus all that much.

It’s even like this in Japan:

Youtu.be/shorts/b2RYWpHkxJU

[normal ol’ linky until I figure out how to embed a short]

Is it just me or have we been missing the Japanese charts recently? I always enjoyed reading that as it detailed hardware sales.

I just got my Metroid 4 Viola amiibo today. It's gorgeous. Loving Metroid 4.

@swedetrap Again Metroid games have never been chart topers. And Metroid Prime 4 was a decent game overall. People just let their hype and years of excessive expectation get out of hand.

The game is fine and overall will probably be remembered fairly fondly long term as people stop trying to be overly critical of it and actual reviews remain.

@RoboCube Yeah there are even rumors they're goign to rush out the PS6 now because Sony is desperate to regain market presence. I don't know how true that is ... but there is no way the Ps6 will be superior enough to the Ps5 pro to be worth it's price tag. At least not THIS soon.

Then Xbox has already abadoned their own console and are moving everything to software based services that can be run on anything.

Hoenstly this is all rather unfortunate because Nintendo isn't perfect and having healthy competition probably helped keep them on the ball. If their compeititon in the console market drops off then while there will still be other game developers they might not put as much pressure on Nintendo due to lacking a more unified identity.

There is the Steam machine, but Valve has said it's meant to be a gamign PC. Not their break into the console market.

We'll see what happens. But IMO consoles are important as if everyone just moves to PC gaming it will become near impossible for anythign to stand out. We might see the gaming industry collapse from over saturation ... again.

I guess the haters got their wish! The epic tantrums from the preview over a computer character manifested into some ridiculous reviews of the full game and overall negative publicity. Metroid Prime 4 could never get a fair critique from people with grudges and, especially in this era, people too stubborn to moderate an initial opinion, much less admit that they were wrong and behaved like turnips. Criticism of back tracking, scanning, and even minor assistance, which are staple of the Prime series, showed an unhinged, if not deranged, mentality in approaching the game. For this site's credit, they got someone else to do the review while Digital Foundary approached it completely fresh. Both gave fair reviews as a consequence, even if I disagree with some aspects of their commentary.

I concur with so many comments that MP4 is an excellent game. I'm loving every bit of it and it is exactly the game I wanted. My last experience was Prime 2 on the Game Cube (I boycotted the Wii and WU era), so I was craving the same formula with a few little additions, of course! I didn't want some open world monstrosity or a weird experiment. Save that for the next game or even a new line in the series.

Edit:
Oh, yeah. People whinging about music locked behind an amiibo or completing the game is more lunacy. We're talking music in the desert area, not entire sections of the game missing! I own the amiibo and haven't scanned it. There's actually a blissful wisp of eeriness to the desert area that I really like. Reactions like this are endemic of people never interested in the game. I refuse to accept any legitimate Metroid fan, who waited 8 years for MP4, really says, "Damn it. I'm boycotting it because an eerie desert environment is the end of the world in video game history. If I can't get music there, F the 99% remainder of the game!"

Yes, Nintendo's lack of promotion hasn't helped. Everything about MP4's release seems like an afterthought. Perhaps they saw all the negativity and saw general interest was low, so gave up. I maintain the release timing was wrong. As a Switch game at heart, MP4 should have been released in early 2025 where there was a dearth of games about and be the Switch's major swansong title. December 2025, with so much more competition around and higher expectations for Switch 2 games, it's all a bit lost. Sad.

@the_beaver Dude, totally...I love Metroid Prime 4...calling bs on a lot of the criticism...I just don't see it...

I'm about 20 hours in and loving it! Feels like a great evolution to the Prime series...especially considering it went through development hell. Will most definitely 100% it.
Sooooo has this game gotten any marketing apart from being featured on the eShop? I personally haven't seen one commercial or ad anywhere. No wonder it's not selling well. Coming out in December was probably also a misstep from Nintendo.

@HalBailman I think you'd really like MP3, it was a strong entry in the series.

@HalBailman "minor assistance" ... you don't think the game would have been more enjoyable if when you found the fire shot chip it actually gave you plasma beam so at that point you would have figured 'oh I should take this to that Ice Mountain location'. But instead you would rather find a chip have to backtrack to an NPC character to build it on your arm Cannon and then as you leave the area he has to radio in and tell you "hey why don't you head to that cold area with your new upgrade"

I'm in the endgame now, revisiting the "dungeons" to collect the items I've missed. I do not agree at all with the continued criticism of this game. Nintendolife's 9 score is spot-on for me. It feels like a Prime game through and through (with some new wrinkles). The open world/motorcycle parts could be better, but aren't bad (much better than the sailing in Wind Waker) and the side characters (maybe a little cheesy) really aren't in the game enough to ruin it for me. It really feels like a bit like the classic 3D Zelda games in a way.

Replying to "hcfwesker", yes, minor assistance. As I said, that's a staple of the series. I recall the original Metroid Prime highlighting a specific part of the map to next visit. That's much more egregious than anything in MP4 and such help was on by default. There's nothing in Metroid Prime 4 that's bothersome to ME. In fact, I appreciate some of it because it fits the character of the game and typically isn't something I care to work out myself. There's so much exploration and discovery in the game to satisfy me anyway. The one assistance I especially like are the reminders of controls. I believe that's a tutorial setting to switch that off anyway.

I'm pleased to read more people loving the game. I'm really done with the petty criticism. I'm not even taking it seriously anymore. Most of it is the usual internet rage machine doing its thing.

Thanks to InfamousOrange recommending Prime 3. One day I hope to play it. Nintendo will need to bring it to the Switch or Switch 2, of course.