Metroid Prime 4 On Switch 1 Impresses Digital Foundry – “Nigh-Imperceptible Dips”

We already know that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a technical showcase on Switch 2, and we’re sure many of you have spent the weekend exploring Viewros on the new console over the weekend. But for those of you who are still clinging on to your Switch 1 and wondering whether Samus’ brand new adventure holds up on the old system, fear not.

Digital Foundry has taken a look at the Switch 1 release of Metroid Prime 4 and is pretty much in agreement with us on the surprising quality of the release. You can read their impressions on their shiny new website, or listen to the trio talk about the game on this week’s DF Direct Weekly (up top).

Leave it to Retro Studios, hey? The game has understandably taken a hit on Switch 1, as you’d expect, but Digital Foundry says “Our resolution and frame-rate analysis tools tell a positive story for one of Switch 1’s prettiest games yet.” That’s high praise indeed, with much of the positivity from the team coming from just what the developers have managed to squeeze out of the old system.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Prime 4 on Switch 1 is the solid 60fps performance, which Digital Foundry feels confident enough to say”we classify this as a ‘locked 60fps’ game on all Switch consoles.” The only drops the folks note are a handful in the open-world bike sections, and they’re extremely few and far between.

Even though image quality takes a hit — pixel count is around “504p for geometry, 576p for Samus’ visor”, which is lower than 2023’s Metroid Prime Remastered on Switch — there’s a lot more going on here. While the pixels might be lower, the level-of-detail in the environment, shadows, and particular effects are “seemingly identical” to the Switch 2 version.

So that cut in pixel count and visual smoothness is to allow Retro to still give the full experience to players on the older consoles. You’ll be missing some detail and smoothness, and you’ll have to put up with worse texture filtering, an apparent lack of anti-aliasing, and fuzzy, jagged edges and textures in places. But it’s an impressive experience on the Switch 1, all the same.

Heck, we said so ourselves last week: “if you’re not looking to upgrade anytime soon and you’re keen to jump into Samus’ latest adventure, it’s well worth picking up, as there’s a fantastic game to be had.”

Of course, the Switch 2 version is the version to get, and Digital Foundry were full of praise for that release. You’re getting a good game regardless of where you’re playing it, essentially.

Are you playing Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on Switch 1? What do you think of it so far? Let us know down below.