15 Video Games That Did Something Unique With Their Genre

METROID PRIME

Unlike other Nintendo mainstays like Zelda and Mario, Metroid’s jump from 2D to 3D was quite belated- but when it came, it took all of our breaths away. Reimagining Metroid as a first person shooter was a bold move by Retro and Nintendo, but one that paid off. And that’s largely because Metroid Prime isn’t really much of a shooter at all. It deemphasizes shooting or any skill necessary for shooting. There’s a hard lock on, so the shooting is not the point- the point is exploring and traversing the world, the shooting is just how you’re interacting with the world. This is combined with the level design and progression mechanics that are (obviously) right out of a Metroidvania, which, again, is not a style that common to shooters.