Ammo Gauge

The Ammo Gauge is a feature of the Heads-Up Display in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It tracks the amount of Beam Ammo that Samus is carrying, represented by two bars of squares, one purple and one white. The purple bar represents Dark Beam ammo, and the white bar represents Light Beam ammo. The gauge depletes as ammo is consumed, forcing Samus to conserve her ammunition and seek out refill pickups, Ammo Stations or return to her Gunship to restore her reserves. When a Beam requiring ammo is in use, that gauge will be highlighted, with both gauges being highlighted when using the Annihilator Beam. Initially, the maximum Samus can carry for each Beam is fifty, but Beam Ammo Expansions can be acquired that will expand her reserves to carry up to 250 units of ammunition. As with the Missile Counter, the Ammo Gauge will warn Samus when her ammo is low, and then when it is depleted. The respective Beam(s) can still be charged to fire a normal shot, as a weak form of defense or to open a door or energize a Portal of the appropriate polarity. In Metroid Prime Trilogy, the positions of the Light and Dark ammo gauge are swapped. Lowering the Visor Opacity will make the Ammo Meter more transparent, with a 0 on the option making the Ammo Gauge disappear from view.

Each bounty hunter in Metroid Prime Hunters has a similar gauge for Universal Ammunition, visible when the Affinity Weapons (which the aforementioned ammunition is required to use) are equipped. Although UA is mostly represented with the colors green and gray and the Affinity Weapons all have their own main colors, this gauge follows the color scheme of the hunter being played. For example, Samus' gauge is always green but Noxus' is light blue.

A somewhat similar gauge is used to keep track of each Hunter's Bombs while they are in their Alt-Form.

• In the Prime series, Samus's Bomb display will be above the central view, placed on the top-right inside the black "widescreen" bar. Three hexagonal bombs will be brightly lit, noting their readiness for use. A bomb icon will dim when one has been used but its brightness will eventually return, signifying a bomb's recharge. If all three bombs are dimmed (used), it may take a second or two to fully recharge all three bombs. Power Bombs are noted to the right of normal Bombs, separated by a vertical line. Power Bombs use a numbered counter to keep track of its ammunition. The Power Bombs were relocated to the left of the normal Bomb counter in Echoes. In Metroid Prime Remastered, the widescreen view is removed and the Bomb gauge now appears in the top-center edge of the screen.

Official data

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes manual

Dark/Light Beam Ammo

"Once Samus acquires the Light and Dark Beams, these gauges will track how much ammo she has for each weapon."

Metroid Prime Trilogy manual

Ammo Gauge

"This line shows the ammo gauge, along with the number of Light Ammo in white, and Dark Ammo in purple."

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide

DARK/LIGHT BEAM AMMO

"The left meter and the right meter show how much ammo you have for the Light Beam and the Dark Beam, respectively."

Metroid Prime Hunters manual

Remaining Ammo

"Check how much ammo remains in the currently equipped weapon."

Development data

In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, an unseen Ammo Gauge is present while Samus is in Morph Ball mode. It is placed horizontally and behaves much as the vertical-wise bi-pedal Ammo Gauge functions. Although it functions normally, it is placed off-screen away from normal camera view and can only be spotted using free-movement camera.

Gallery

The unseen Morph Ball Ammo Gauge in Echoes, repositioned in the center of the screen via hacking.