In this form, she is given an unlimited supply of bombs but is only allowed to use three at a time. To enter small tunnels, Samus can roll into a Morph Ball, an alternative form of the Power Suit that decreases her size substantially. An Arm Cannon is attached to the Power Suit, which she uses to attack enemies. She can scan almost any object in the game the gunship will return relevant information retrieved from its database. The player controls Samus Aran, who is equipped with a Power Suit that allows her to access her gunship from anywhere. However, the game differs from its predecessors with the removal of assisted aiming, more action-oriented gameplay, and the inclusion of an online multiplayer mode. Like the previous titles in the Prime series, Metroid Prime Hunters is generally classified as a first-person adventure to highlight the focus on navigation and discovery. The HUD and touchscreen for the bounty hunter Trace is shown here. In multiplayer, every character has their own unique interface design. Metroid Prime Hunters was re-released on the Wii U's Virtual Console service in Japan in 2015, and in North America and Europe the following year. Over 410,000 copies of the game were sold in North America in its first month of release, and it was the fourth best-selling game during its debut month in Japan. It also received several honors including an "Editors' Choice" award from IGN, which also named the game the "Best DS Action Game" of 2006, while Nintendo Power gave it awards for "Best Graphics", "Best Shooter/Action Game", and "Best Wi-Fi Functionality". Reviews were generally favorable towards the game praise focused on its gameplay and graphics, while criticism targeted its control scheme. A pack-in demo version of the game, titled Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, was included with the Nintendo DS when it launched in November 2004. Hunters was announced by Nintendo at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo. It introduced new bounty hunters with unique weapons and alternative forms as well as the ability to travel to different planets with Samus' gunship, concepts later expanded upon in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The game contains more first-person shooter aspects than previous titles in the Metroid Prime series, emphasizing various multiplayer modes with Wi-Fi and voice chat capabilities.
Players assume the role of series protagonist Samus Aran, who investigates a mysterious message that originated from the Alimbic Cluster and comes into contact with a legion of bounty hunters. The story takes place in between the events of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It was released in North America in March 2006, with other territories later.
Metroid Prime Hunters is an action-adventure game published by Nintendo and developed by its Redmond-based subsidiary, Nintendo Software Technology, for the Nintendo DS.