With Metroid Prime 4: Beyond expected to release sometime this year, now’s a great time to revisit or experience the Retro Studios series for the first time. The ideal place to start is Metroid Prime Remastered, an overhauled version of the original GameCube classic rebuilt with gorgeous graphics and modernized controls on Switch. Metroid Prime Remastered released in February 2023, but it still almost always sells for its $40 MSRP. It’s one of the Switch exclusives that doesn’t appear in official sales, which makes Walmart’s current deal all the more notable. The retailer is offering an exceedingly rare discount that drops the price of Metroid Prime Remastered to only $30 (was $40), which is the best deal we’ve seen for the must-play adventure.
Amazon may have briefly matched Walmart’s deal, as Prime Remastered is now sold out at Amazon. Walmart’s listing doesn’t make it clear that the game normally costs more than $30, but you’ll find it for its regular $40 price at Best Buy and Target. We wouldn’t expect this deal to be available for long, so grab a copy while you can.
$30 (was $40)
Despite the name, Metroid Prime Remastered feels more like a remake–and a faithful one at that. The alien ruins and wilderness of Tallon IV have been rebuilt with gorgeous new models and high-resolution textures and not only match the original game’s art direction, but enrich its atmosphere. The gameplay and level designs are identical to the original, barring a few welcome changes like new control options, including a modernized control schemes that mirrors the standardized first-person shooter layouts most players are familiar with–though the the original control scheme and gyro-based aiming are also available.
While these changes make Metroid Prime Remastered the definitive way to play, and highlight how good the original core gameplay still is. As Steven Petite says in our Metroid Prime Remastered review, “It’s an experience that has aged like fine wine, and is every bit as intoxicating now as it was 20 years ago.”
This Metroid Prime Remastered deal is a great entry point for new players, but those who already own the game have more Metroid Prime releases to look forward to this year. Obviously, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the big one, but there’s also the upcoming Metroid Prime 1-3: A Visual Retrospective artbook that launches June 24. The hardcover book will include illustrations and concept art from the original Metroid Prime trilogy and the recent Metroid Prime Remastered, along with commentary from Kensuke Tanabe and members of Retro Studios’ development team. Preorders are available at Amazon.
Nintendo also has an official Metroid Prime 2026 wall calendar up for preorder. Despite being a 2026 calendar, it also includes a 2025 planner section, so you won’t have to wait until next year to use it.
While 2025 is shaping up to be a banner year for Metroid Prime, the entire series has been enjoying some well-earned attention over the last few years. The latest game in the mainline side-scrolling series, Metroid Dread, was the first all-new entry in over 19 years when it launched on Switch in 2021. If you haven’t played it yet, you can grab it for $51 at Amazon. You can couple it with the Metroid Dread Amiibo 2-Pack, which includes figures of Samus Aran and the E.M.M.I. robot, for $24 (was $30). And for those who want to explore the earlier games in the series, you can access all the Metroid NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance games through the Nintendo Switch Online service.