Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
For the strongest all-around adventure, start with Metroid Prime. This ranking weighs exploration and progression, world design, combat and controls, atmosphere, and how successfully each game delivers on its own format. The order is editorial, not an official or consensus ranking—and the pinball and multiplayer spin-offs are judged as the kinds of games they are.
How this ranking works
The Prime series is more than its three first-person console adventures. Nintendo’s official material also documents a DS shooter, a pinball game, a cooperative 3DS shooter, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Each entry below is assessed by its own aims: an adventure is judged on exploration and connected world design, while a pinball game is judged as pinball rather than as an imitation of the main series.
The list covers seven distinct released games. Metroid Prime Trilogy is a collection of the first three games, not an additional installment. Metroid Prime Remastered is an updated version of the original, not a separate story entry.
The Metroid Prime games, ranked
1. Metroid Prime
The original remains the clearest expression of what makes Prime distinctive: a first-person adventure grounded in exploration, environmental scanning, and gradual ability-based progression. Samus investigates the connected regions of Tallon IV, uses selectable Visors to analyze the world, and returns to places that open up as she gains new abilities. Those systems make exploration itself the central reward rather than a stretch of scenery between fights. Nintendo describes the original adventure and its core mechanics.
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11#1 Best Overall
- It’s eat or be eaten! Survive against vicious assailants to escape labyrinthine ruins
- Take control of Samus Aran, a renowned bounty hunter ambushed by unknown attackers and marooned on an unfamiliar moon.
- Strike quickly and aggressively with beams, missiles, and more—lest you become the enemy’s next meal.
For a modern way to play it, Metroid Prime Remastered brings the first game to Switch with updated visuals, audio, and control options. Nintendo lists its release date as 8 February 2023. It is a remaster of this entry, not a new chapter in the series. Nintendo’s product page provides the edition details.
2. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Echoes is the second adventure in the trilogy and a direct continuation of the series’ first-person exploration approach. It belongs near the top because the format gives it room to build on the original’s combination of discovery, combat, and revisiting places with new abilities. Nintendo identifies it as the second game in the trilogy, but its official product material does not establish a quality ranking against the other entries; this placement reflects the rubric used here. Nintendo’s Trilogy page identifies the three included adventures.
Rank #2
- Explore a mysterious planet to find your way home
3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Corruption completes the original trilogy’s story arc. It is the third adventure in the series, and Nintendo’s Metroid Prime Trilogy description calls it the “hit conclusion to the series”—Nintendo’s promotional wording, not an independent measure of quality. It ranks below the first two here because the list gives particular weight to the exploratory structure that defines Prime, while recognizing its role as the trilogy’s conclusion. Nintendo’s official collection description places the game alongside the two earlier adventures.
4. Metroid Prime Hunters
Hunters shifts the series toward first-person shooter action on Nintendo DS. Its touch-screen aiming, solo missions, and multiplayer modes give it a distinct identity rather than simply reproducing the console adventures on a smaller screen. That shooter focus makes it a worthwhile spin-off, though the ranking’s emphasis on exploration and progression puts it below the trilogy. Nintendo’s UK page lists its European release date as 5 May 2006. Nintendo UK’s game page describes its modes and controls.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Rank #3
- Become intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran and explore an alien planet in this critically-acclaimed first-person adventure
- Use and upgrade abilities like the Morph Ball, Missiles, and an array of beams to survive the harsh environments and lethal creatures of the planet Tallon IV
- Gain abilities and revisit areas to uncover the different routes and secrets hiding in a beautiful-yet-threatening interconnected world
- Scan your surroundings to gather information about the planet’s history and the creatures that call it home or to reveal enemies’ weak points
- Choose from multiple control options and experience revamped graphics, sound, and unlockable art in this remastered classic
5. Metroid Prime Pinball
Pinball is the biggest genre departure in the series: Nintendo classifies it as science-fiction pinball action. Its place here is not a penalty for being unlike a first-person adventure; it is ranked as a pinball game, with the main Prime qualities of exploration and ability-based progression naturally less central to its format. Nintendo’s Japanese page lists its release date as 19 January 2006. Nintendo Japan’s official page identifies the game and its genre.
6. Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Federation Force is a 3DS first-person shooter built around cooperative missions for up to four players. Players control Federation marines piloting specialized Mechs, a substantial shift from playing as Samus in a solo exploration adventure. That focus can make it a better fit for people seeking team-based missions than for players who want the classic Prime structure. Nintendo also made Blast Ball available as a free download, a separate piece of the game’s multiplayer-oriented offering. Nintendo’s 2016 announcement describes the Mechs and cooperative play; Nintendo UK’s product page gives further game details.
Rank #4
- Nintendo Switch 2 features Aim with a Joy-Con 2 controller as a mouse Experience enhanced resolution, framerate, and load times in the Nintendo Switch 2 edition of the game
- Explore a mysterious planet to find your way home Deadly sharpshooter Sylux has finally caught up with renowned bounty hunter Samus Aran! After an unexpected accident in the wake of their clash, Samus finds herself transported to Viewros—a mysterious planet once inhabited by an ancient race. Now she must explore this planet, all while battling the strange creatures that inhabit it, to find her way home.
- Scan your surroundings for clues, make the most of your equipment and weapons, and use Samus’s newfound psychic abilities—and her technologically advanced bike, the Vi-O-La—to traverse and explore the environment. Operate mechanisms, control your charge beam, and more—you’ll need every tool at your disposal to survive and escape Viewros!
- Play with mouse controls, enhanced visuals, and two different display modes—only on the Nintendo Switch 2 system Aim with a Joy-Con 2 controller as a mouse! The Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition game also features enhanced resolution, framerate, and load times.
- Two display modes let you choose how to experience the adventure. Enjoy more detail in Quality Mode, which runs at 60 frames per second in 4k while docked and in 1080p while in handheld, or prioritize super-smooth action with a higher frame rate in Performance Mode, which runs at 120 frames per second in 1080p while docked and 720p in while in handheld. Both choices are HDR compatible.
7. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Beyond sends Samus to the planet Viewros, introduces psychic abilities, and brings back bounty hunter Sylux. It is the latest distinct entry in this ranking, but its position at the bottom is not a claim that it is objectively the weakest: it reflects the ordering used here, and the official product information establishes its premise and platform context rather than a comparable quality verdict. Nintendo’s product page identifies compatibility with Switch and Switch 2. Nintendo’s product page has the current platform and feature details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which Metroid Prime should you play?
- For the classic exploration-focused experience: Start with Metroid Prime; the Switch remaster is the updated edition of that original adventure.
- For the original trilogy: Play Echoes and Corruption after the first game. Nintendo’s Metroid Prime Trilogy packages all three together; it is a compilation, not a fourth game. The Wii collection adds unified Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls, widescreen presentation, and bonus galleries. Nintendo’s collection page lists those features.
- For a handheld shooter: Hunters offers DS touch-screen aiming, solo missions, and multiplayer.
- For pinball: Choose Metroid Prime Pinball as a genre spin-off, not as a substitute for the main adventures.
- For cooperative missions: Federation Force is the series’ team-focused 3DS shooter.
- For the newest distinct entry: Look to Prime 4: Beyond, set on Viewros and featuring psychic abilities.
Why the order is subjective
Nintendo’s official pages establish what these games are, how they differ, and—in some cases—historical release details. They do not settle which one is best. GamesRadar+ offers one broader editorial point of reference, but its Metroid franchise ranking does not compare every Prime game on the same rubric: it places Hunters tenth and Prime 4: Beyond ninth in its broader list. GamesRadar+’s ranking is a separate franchise-wide judgment, not a definitive order for the seven games here.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Become intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran and explore an alien planet in this critically-acclaimed first-person adventure.
- Use and upgrade abilities like the Morph Ball, Missiles, and an array of beams to survive the harsh environments and lethal creatures of the planet Tallon IV.
- Gain abilities and revisit areas to uncover the different routes and secrets hiding in a beautiful-yet-threatening interconnected world.
- Scan your surroundings to gather information about the planet’s history and the creatures that call it home or to reveal enemies’ weak points.
- Choose from multiple control options and experience revamped graphics, sound, and unlockable art in this remastered classic.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
