Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Multiplayer

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes features an added bonus, which is a multiplayer mode. The controls are similar to that of single player mode. Up to four players can duke it out, each with slight colour differences from the standard Varia Suit worn by Samus in single-player mode.

Images from a magazine show that the Multiplayer feature will return in New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and the Metroid Prime Trilogy set. However neither will support Wi-Fi.

Characters

 * Player 1 has the normal Varia.
 * Player 2 has silver armour with green lights.
 * Player 3 is green with orange lights.
 * Player 4 is blue with orange highlights too.

Each player has the Varia Suit, Morph Ball, Power Beam, Missile Launcher, Dark Visor, Spider Ball, Bomb, Space Jump Boots, Boost Ball, Gravity Boost and Grapple Beam. Other Beams can be added to one's arsenal by destroying special crates found around the arena.

Modes
There are two playable modes. The first is Deathmatch, in which players must destroy each other a number of set times, or within a time limit to win. Deaths and kills for each player are displayed at the end of the match. The second mode is Bounty Mode, where players begin with a set amount of coins. The object of the game is to strike someone to force coins out of them. The one with the greatest amount of coins is victorious.

Arenas
Six arenas are available in multiplayer mode. Four are usable from the start, while the other two are unlocked when the player has progressed far enough in the single player storyline. These stages are:
 * Crossfire Chaos - A stage based on the Agon Wastes.
 * Pipeline - A stage implementing features of Torvus Bog and the Space Pirate's Phendrana Drifts labs.
 * Spire - An original arena, slightly resembling the Great Temple.
 * Sidehopper Station - A stage based on the Frigate Orpheon.
 * Shooting Gallery - A setting with origin lying in the Chozo Ruins.
 * Spider Hall - An arena resembling the Phazon Mines.

Items
Sometimes health items and ammo appear on the stage. The following is a list of items that appear on the stage and their values. They may appear either by place generation or being dropped by another player.


 * Purple orbs - 10 health units.
 * Red orbs - 30 health units.
 * Missile ammo - 5 missiles.
 * White Coin - 1 Bounty point.
 * Aqua Coin  - 5 Bounty points.
 * Red Coin - 10 Bounty points.
 * Emerald Coin - 50 Bounty points.
 * Gold Coin - 100 Bounty points.
 * Super Missile - all current missiles are changed to Super Missiles.
 * Massive Damage - Damage enemies take from your attacks is doubled. The masive damage icon looks like the Screw Attack power up.

Unique Upgrades
In each arena, there are two machines which slightly resemble save stations called Randomizers. When a player enters the holographic area he/she will receive a special upgrade. There are many things that can be unlocked. However, they only last for a short amount time. When an upgrade is obtained, the holographic area will disappear for a short time. Below is a list of all the Special Upgrades and their uses obtainable by using a Randomizer.


 * Unlimited Super Missile ammo - press Y to fire fully charged Super Missiles.
 * Massive Damage - doubles the damage enemy players take from your attacks.
 * Unlimited missile ammo
 * Unlimited beam ammo
 * Unlimited Power Bomb ammo
 * Invisibility - can be countered with the Dark Visor.
 * Invulnerability - shots bounce off you when you have this feature.
 * Death Ball - covers Morph Ball with a sheath of electrical energy. Contact results in severe damage.
 * Hacker Mode - used in the same fashion as using the Scan Visor. Hacks another player's suit to inflict continuous damage and hinder vision. The Mode wears off over time, or once the player has infected all other players with it NOTE: Uploading takes some time, so it's best to make sure that your opponent is in view or else the hack ceases.

Reception
Reception of the Multiplayer feature appears to be mixed. Some found it fun, like Gamepro, calling it "simple, quirky, and ridiculously addictive". The multiplayer mode was also considered bad by others. GameSpy said it was "nothing memorable", and Eurogamer said that the single-player features did not translate well to multiplayer. Game Informer criticized the multiplayer mode because of its inclusion of the lock-on mechanism, considering it a feature that made multiplayer too simple.

Trivia

 * Lock-on can be escaped by the Morph Ball boost.
 * Death Ball has a function similar to Death-Alt in Metroid Prime Hunters.
 * Observing another do a Space Jump shows that they will do a Spin Jump during this, even though their own visor will not show any indication of this.
 * Sidehopper Station is largely based on the first area visited in Metroid Prime, the Orpheon, a Space Pirate frigate orbiting Tallon IV.
 * There is a strange killing effect when the Morph Ball launcher is functioning. If a player enters the launcher and another player comes into contact with the cannon while it's firing, then the contacting player is killed.
 * The music track "Hunters" is a remix of the Jungle Brinstar music heard in Super Metroid.
 * Strangely, the animations for the Charge Beams are in 2D instead of 3D (it's 3D in the Solo Mode).