MP2: Echoes Multiplayer

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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes features an added bonus, which is a multiplayer mode. The controls are similar to that of single player mode. Up to four players can duke it out, each with slight colour differences from the standard Varia Suit worn by Samus in single-player mode.

New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and the Metroid Prime Trilogy both also feature the multiplayer mode, utilising the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, as opposed to the Gamecube pad. However, neither support Wi-Fi.^[1]

Contents 1 Characters 2 Modes 2.1 Deathmatch 2.2 Bounty Mode 3 Arenas 3.1 Unlockable Arenas 4 Background Music 5 Items 5.1 Unique Upgrades 6 Reception 7 Trivia 8 References

[edit] Characters

• Player 1 has the normal Varia.
• Player 2 has silver armour with green lights.
• Player 3 is green with orange lights.
• Player 4 is blue with orange highlights too.

Each player has the Varia Suit, Morph Ball, Power Beam, Missile Launcher, Dark Visor, Spider Ball, Bomb, Space Jump Boots, Boost Ball, Gravity Boost and Grapple Beam. Other Beams can be added to one's arsenal by destroying special crates found around the arena.

[edit] Modes

There are two playable modes in multiplayer.

[edit] Deathmatch

The first is Deathmatch, in which players must destroy each other a number of set times, or within a time limit to win. Deaths and kills for each player are displayed at the end of the match.

[edit] Bounty Mode

The second mode is Bounty Mode, where players begin with a set amount of coins. The object of the game is to strike someone to force coins out of them. The one with the greatest amount of coins is victorious at the end of the time limit.

[edit] Arenas

Six arenas are available in multiplayer mode. Four are usable from the start, while the other two are unlocked when the player has progressed far enough in the Story Mode. The default Arenas are:

• Crossfire Chaos - A stage based on the Agon Wastes.
• Sidehopper Station - A stage based on the Frigate Orpheon.
• Shooting Gallery - A setting with origin lying in the Chozo Ruins.
• Spider Complex - An arena resembling the Phazon Mines.

[edit] Unlockable Arenas

• Pipeline - A stage implementing features of Torvus Bog and the Space Pirate's Phendrana Drifts labs. Unlocked after restoring Energy to Torvus Temple and talking to U-Mos.
• Spires - An original arena, slightly resembling the Great Temple and Sanctuary Fortress. Unlocked after restoring Energy to Sanctuary Temple and talking with U-Mos.

[edit] Background Music

Background music can be unlocked by progressing through the Story Mode of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. There are 8 to be unlocked, while the default Music is "Hunters" which is a remix of the Jungle Brinstar music heard in Super Metroid.

• Pirate Fear - Unlocked after restoring Energy to Agon Temple and talking to U-Mos. A Sountrack motif based on the Space Pirate Battle theme. Heard in areas like Agon or other places of Pirate presence.
• Luminoth - Unlocked after restoring Energy to Agon Temple and talking to U-Mos. Heard in the Temple Grounds.
• Torvus Bog - Unlocked after restoring Energy to Torvus Temple and talking to U-Mos. The main theme heard in Torvus Bog.
• Sanctuary - Unlocked after restoring Energy to Sanctuary Temple and talking with U-Mos. The main theme heard in Sanctuary Fortress.
• Dark Echoes - Unlocked after completing the game. Theme heard on the Main Menu or File Select screen.
• Darkness - Unlocked after completing the game. Heard during battles with Dark Samus.

[edit] Items

Sometimes health items and Ammo appear on the stage. The following is a list of items that appear on the stage and their values. They may appear either by set place generation or being dropped by another player.

• Purple orbs - 10 health units.
• Red orbs - 30 health units.
• Missile ammo - 5 missiles.
• White Coin - 1 Bounty point.
• Aqua Coin - 5 Bounty points.
• Red Coin - 10 Bounty points.
• Emerald Coin - 50 Bounty points.
• Gold Coin - 100 Bounty points.
• Super Missile - all current missiles are changed to Super Missiles.
• Massive Damage - Damage enemies take from your attacks is doubled. The masive damage icon looks like the Screw Attack power up.

[edit] Unique Upgrades

In each arena, there are two machines which slightly resemble Save Stations called Randomizers. When a player enters the glowing area he/she will receive a special upgrade. There are many things that can be unlocked. However, they only last for a short amount time. When an upgrade is obtained, the holographic area will disappear for a short time. Below is a list of all the Special Upgrades and their uses obtainable by using a Randomizer.

• Unlimited Super Missile ammo - press Y to fire fully charged Super Missiles.
• Massive Damage - doubles the damage enemy players take from your attacks.
• Unlimited Missile Ammo
• Unlimited Beam Ammo
• Unlimited Power Bomb Ammo
• Invisibility - can be countered with the Dark Visor.
• Invulnerability - shots bounce off you when you have this feature.
• Death Ball - covers Morph Ball with a sheath of electrical energy. Contact results in severe damage.
• Hacker Mode - used in the same fashion as using the Scan Visor. Hacks another player's suit to inflict continuous damage and hinder vision. The Mode wears off over time, or once the player has infected all other players with it NOTE: Uploading takes some time, so it's best to make sure that your opponent is in view or else the hack ceases.

[edit] Reception

Reception of the Multiplayer feature appears to be mixed. Some found it fun, like Gamepro, calling it "simple, quirky, and ridiculously addictive".^[2] The multiplayer mode was also considered bad by others. GameSpy said it was "nothing memorable"^[3], and Eurogamer said that the single-player features did not translate well to multiplayer. ^[4] Game Informer criticized the multiplayer mode because of its inclusion of the lock-on mechanism, considering it a feature that made multiplayer too simple.^[5] This was remedied in the New Play Control! and Metroid Prime Trilogy versions, since the Wii controls can be altered with the "Lock on/Free aim" option, which allow players to merely keep track of other players whilst moving around them, intstead of locking a player's vision and aim.

[edit] Trivia

• Lock-on can be escaped by the Morph Ball boost.
• Death Ball has a function similar to Death-Alt in Metroid Prime Hunters.
• Observing another do a Space Jump shows that they will do a Spin Jump during this, even though their own visor will not show any indication of this.
• Sidehopper Station is largely based on the first area visited in Metroid Prime, the Orpheon, a Space Pirate frigate orbiting Tallon IV.
• There is a strange killing effect when the Morph Ball launcher is functioning. If a player enters the Kinetic Orb Cannon and another player comes into contact with the cannon while it's firing, then the contacting player is killed.
  • Using the Orb Cannons, it is possible for two players to crash into each other when fired from opposite launchers. This is most notable on Sidehopper Station and Spires.
  • Even if a player is invulnerable, they can still be killed in this way.
• In the Gamecube game, several effects on the Charge Beams are missing. These include the Dark energy creeping over the Dark Beam, and the streams of Sonic energy moving from the Charge of the Annihilator Beam. However, the New Play Control! version retains these changes, but only during two player matches.

[edit] References