Experiencing Metroid Prime 4 with Mouselook and 120fps: A Surprisingly Thrilling Adventure

When Nintendo unveiled the gameplay for the Nintendo Switch 2, fans were treated to a host of new experiences. Yet, for someone like me, the highlight of the showcase was a familiar face: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

Trust me, the demo for Metroid Prime 4 felt like coming home for a fan of the series. It was a glimpse into a segment of the game that’s starkly simple and devoid of the fresh elements Nintendo is keeping under wraps. If I had to place a bet, I’d say this part is pulled right from the opening scenes, before Samus gets her suit upgraded with those cool telekinetic powers.

In this demo, Samus was equipped with her well-known arsenal: arm cannon, missiles, scanner, morph ball, and bombs—no surprises there. This made Prime 4 seem like a straightforward sequel to the previous games, offering nothing groundbreaking at first glance. But rest assured, there’s more lurking beneath the surface, as other footage hints at new abilities that weren’t on display during this quick hands-on session.

Nintendo and Retro Studios clearly made a conscious choice in selecting this segment for the demo. It was short, sweet, and focused, allowing players to soak in how the core Metroid Prime experience feels on the Switch 2 without being distracted by new mechanics.

“You’re seeing this run at 120 frames per second,” the Nintendo representative mentioned right after I sat down. It’s the first thing they pointed out, which is a bit out of character for Nintendo; they usually shy away from boasting about performance stats. But here, it made sense.

Indeed, Metroid Prime 4 on the Switch 2 is a significant upgrade over a game designed for hardware supposedly ten times weaker, according to Nvidia’s perhaps optimistic figures. It runs natively in full HD and can go 4K at 60fps. But what really shines is that butter-smooth 120fps performance. Visually, it looks a step up from the original Switch version, which wasn’t available for side-by-side comparison. That frame rate, though—it feels almost un-Nintendo, yet here it is.

Let’s talk about controls. The Switch 2 introduces an intriguing feature: you can set the Joy-Con down on a flat surface—your lap does the trick for some games, but Metroid needs a mat—and use it like a mouse, mimicking a PC setup.

In another corner of the event, Civilization 7 showcased this new control scheme, matching the PC’s mouse mechanics. Metroid Prime 4 is a perfect fit for this too, blending its metroidvania roots with first-person shooter mechanics in a fresh way.

The implementation of mouse controls in Prime 4 is nothing short of genius. There’s no toggle switch needed; just hold the Joy-Con as you normally would to start off. It plays like the other games in the series. But the moment you shift that right Joy-Con to the right position on a surface, the game instantly recognizes and transitions to a mouselook setup. No menu diving required, it’s seamless.

I’ll spare you the deep dive and just say—when you use the mouselook setup, it feels exactly right. Responsive and instinctive, it just works. The real magic is in being able to effortlessly swing back and forth between control styles.

During my session, which was more combat-intensive and light on puzzles, I grew increasingly adept. I navigated with the Joy-Cons for scanning and morph ball exploits, but during combat, I’d instinctively drop the Joy-Con into mouse mode. It was the perfect blend of both worlds.

In the heat of a boss battle, I switched to mouse controls entirely. The enemy had all the classic traits: glowing weak spots appearing intermittently, and my precision, courtesy of the mouse controls, made the encounter significantly smoother and more efficient relative to others using traditional controls.

Paired with the fluidity of 120fps, the experience felt surreal—almost like bending the rules. This level of performance was once the stuff of forbidden tweaks in Nintendo games. It’s a solution to a long-standing gripe with the original Switch, where game performance was often compromised despite the decent graphics for a hybrid device.

As Metroid Prime 4 launches later this year, there might be a version for the original Switch, but if you’re in a position to get the Switch 2, it’s clearly the better choice for this game. That’s basically the essence of what you’d expect from a next-gen console.