Metroid Prime was the first Nintendo game to feature Samus Aran in a first-person perspective.
Retro Studios developed Metroid Prime for the Nintendo GameCube, and Nintendo published it in 2002. Earlier Metroid games used a side-scrolling viewpoint, but Metroid Prime placed the player inside Samus’s helmet and presented exploration, combat, and scanning from her first-person view.
The game retained major series features such as beam weapons, Morph Ball traversal, environmental puzzles, and the gradual acquisition of new abilities. Its visor interfaces also let players scan creatures, machines, and lore entries throughout the planet Tallon IV.
Metroid Prime is sometimes grouped with the later Prime sequels, but it is the original title that made the series’ first-person transition. Metroid Fusion was released around the same period but remained a two-dimensional side-scrolling game. Metroid Dread likewise returned to the traditional 2D format.