WonderCon, held every year in LA at the Anaheim Convention Center, is a show we haven’t been able to get to for a few years, so it’s great that we’re now back and able to run a feature on some of the incredible cosplay present at the event for 2023.
I haven’t been able to find attendance figures for the 2023 show (which ran in late March), but the 2019 event—the last pre-Covid one—brought in over 66,000 people, so I’d imagine this year’s event was in that ballpark.
As usual all photos and video here are provided by Mineralblu, and you can check our way more of his stuff at his Facebook page. And as usual, every photo has a watermark on it detailing the cosplayer’s social media information and the character they’re cosplaying as.
THIS IS WONDERCON 2023 BEST COSPLAY MUSIC VIDEO ANIME EXPO 2023 LOS ANGELES COMIC CON BEST COSTUMES
I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see the day, but after years of waiting, the top hits from the Game Boy Advance are steadily trickling onto the Nintendo Switch. Metroid Fusion joins the Switch Online Expansion Pack library next Wednesday, perfectly timed for everyone who just beat Metroid Prime Remastered and is still itching to shoot through some creepy underground test facilities.
Metroid Fusion sees bounty hunter Samus Aran charged with investigating an explosion in the Biologic Space Laboratories station on a dark and stormy planet, only this time she’s infected by the X Parasite and rocking a new teal suit to compensate. Oh, and she’s being hunted, Terminator style, by a relentless clone of herself, called the SA-X. On the upside, she can absorb additional parasites to restore health, ammunition, and gain new abilities. The 2002 GBA release is one of the most linear in the series, but what it lacks in open-ended exploration it more than makes up for with cool boss encounters, good storytelling, and an incredibly eerie vibe.
Prior to 2023, Nintendo had made trying to revisit Metroid’s past a huge pain in the ass. If you didn’t have a Wii U or the ambassador’s program on the 3DS, there was no way to access Metroid Fusion. This was particularly frustrating since 2021’s Metroid Dread is a direct sequel. In the span of just a couple weeks, however, Nintendo has finally brought both Fusion and another classic, Metroid Prime, to the Switch. It now contains:
Metroid
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Super Metroid
Metroid Fusion
Metroid Prime
Metroid Dread
Not too shabby, especially considering that the GBA’s Metroid: Zero Mission, a remake of the first game, and Metroid Prime 2 and 3 also now appear destined to eventually get added. The only Metroid Switch owners aren’t likely to get their hands on any time soon is Metroid: Samus Returns, the 2017 3DS remake of II. In fact, most 3DS games seem unlikely to ever make the jump to a modern platform. Is there a Metroid I’m forgetting? Nope, can’t think of any others.
I only have one gripe: I wish the Switch Online games could also be purchased separately like in the old days of the Virtual Console. While Sony has been slow to add PlayStation 1 classics to PS Plus, the ones that have arrived are also sold separately, letting you hone in on the exact ones you want and not rely on an indefinite paid subscription for access. Maybe Switch (or the Switch 2) will get there one day. Baby steps I guess. For now, inject the Parasite X directly into my eyeballs like it’s 2002 all over again.
Nintendo’s new Metroid Prime Remastered—physical copies of the Switch game released on February 22, if you could get your hands on one—has a lot of stuff in it. While you guide unshakeable bounty hunter Samus Aran around the winding planet Tallon IV, you’ll pick some of it up, valuable upgrades and alterations to her powerful space suit. The Boost Ball will help you curl Samus into a speedy, silver sphere, for example, the flamethrower melts through opponents and dense slabs of ice, the x-ray visor lets you see every bone in an enemy’s body, and so on. The Gravity Suit, which grants Samus uninhibited exploration of underwater areas, is one of the most significant and important members of this stuff, but it can be a little tricky to find on your own. That’s where I come in.
Here’s everything you need to know about getting the Gravity Suit.
Can you get the Gravity Suit in Metroid Prime Remastered early?
Not really, unfortunately. Getting the Gravity Suit requires the Ice Beam, which requires the Spider Ball upgrade, which requires you to beat boulder boss Thardus, which reminds me…
Requirements before you get the Gravity Suit
Before you attempt to find the Gravity Suit, you need to make sure you’ve cleared most of the snow-coated Phendrana Drifts, including its Sheegoth mini-boss and true boss Thardus. Proceed once you’ve acquired the…
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Wave Beam
Super Missile
Thermal Visor
Spider Ball
and Ice Beam
…the Gravity Suit is the next chronological upgrade.
Looks welcoming.Screenshot: Nintendo / Kotaku
Now head to Phendrana Drifts (again)
At this stage in the game, you’re likely accustomed to running to and from the Drifts for upgrades, but you might still feel unsure about the right pathway for you. It’s not your fault, Google Maps never made it to Tallon IV.
So, OK, you got the Ice Beam from the stony Chozo Ruins antechamber and saved your game at the nearest station. Excellent. Now get your ass up and start another journey back to Phendrana Drifts.
From the antechamber, head left through the doors until you’re able to scan and enter the Tallon Overworld South elevator. Or, instead of this, if you’d like, there’s an energy tank and artifact you can pick up—go back to the Hall of Elders to solve a Morph Ball puzzle for the tank, then go to the Suntower, scan four runic symbols, then receive the Artifact of Wild from the Sunchamber.
Whether you’re now navigating from the Tallon Overworld or taking the Magmoor Caverns North elevator near the Sunchamber, your next goal is to make it to the Caverns’ Monitor Station. When you’re there, cross the bridge to reach the Phendrana Drifts North elevator; use it, reach the Phendrana Shorelines, and save your game.
You have options from here. You can move through Ice Ruins West until you make it all the way back to the Research Core to grab a missile expansion along the way, in Research Lab Hydra. Use your fresh Ice Beam to open the frosty door in this room, then go through the Pike Access hallway to reach Frozen Pike. Or, instead, you can return to Thardus’ boss room, Quarantine Cave, ignore the Magmoor elevator near it, and complete a Spider Ball maze to get to Frozen Pike.
Either way, once you’re in Frozen Pike, you need to open the purple door with your Wave Beam. It leads to Frost Cave Access, which leads to Frost Cave, another save point. Save there, then curve left to the Upper Edge Tunnel and Phendrana’s Edge.
You’re so close now! Get into the water and pass through doors until you’re in the Gravity Chamber—the Gravity Suit, marked by the S-shaped Metroid symbol, is spinning like a coin on the far side of the Chamber, on the left. Your Thermal Visor should help you identify it, making it appear yellow in the muck.
Yay!Screenshot: Nintendo / Kotaku
Where to go after you get the Gravity Suit
The Gravity Suit lets you move and see more effortlessly underwater, and with it equipped, you’ll be able to reach the Wave Beam door that leads back to Hunter Cave, Frozen Pike and, ultimately, the Magmoor Caverns South elevator. Push your way back to the Landing Site in the Tallon Overworld. Go to the Frigate Crash Site and start swimming—there’s an underwater area you can now easily explore. I know this is basically where you started from, but you have to spend money to make money.
Metroid Prime Remasteredis a hi-fi return to the home planet for anyone who played Nintendo’s iconic action-adventure game when it first came out back in 2002. But Remastered is also a fresh opportunity for those of us who were sleeping or busy being literal children back then—a first chance to be Prime’s version of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, this time in vibrant color and with modern controls. I learned a lot from my first trip around oozing Tallon IV, and I’m ready to impart it onto you. Here are some things I wish someone told me before I started playing Metroid Prime Remastered.
Try reverting your controls to “classic” or “hybrid” if you’re prone to FPS motion sickness
Remastered has extensive accessibility and controller options, both of which are worth a look.
From “display,” you can customize a few heads-up display features, including whether or not it moves with Samus’ first-person movements, and turn on a “color assist” feature if you can’t distinguish between certain colors.
From “sound,” aside from typical special effects and music adjustment, you can also choose to turn on “full” or “partial” narration and subtitles, which were added to the game for their original Japanese and European releases, respectively. The narration is sparse, only really occurring at the start and very end of the game, but it could be intriguing for U.S. fans of the series curious about international versions.
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And from the “controls” option, you can choose to play using the default dual stick option, “pointer,” which “enables motion controls for camera movement and aiming” and is modeled after the Metroid Prime: Trilogy’s Wii settings; “classic,” which reverts you to GameCube controls; or “hybrid,” which blends GameCube with “motion controls for aiming.” I played mostly with modern standard dual stick controls, but noticed that hybrid’s gummier up-and-down motions were useful for keeping my motion sickness in check. They all deserve a test drive, though, either for fun or for nostalgia.
Lock on to enemies
Remastered uses ZL as an enemy lock-on button, but it wasn’t the kind of combat lock-on I’m used to—it more or less imbues you with perfect aim. For me, using it at first felt like cheating, but it ultimately pushed me off of thinking about Remastered as a first-person shooter. It’s a meandering adventure game where kills aren’t nearly as important as exploring every lit corridor, so you might as well shoot as well as you can with the tools the game gives you.
Lock on!Image: Nintendo
Press B and strafe
Locking on to enemies also allows you to strafe, or jump seamlessly around them, by pressing B and pushing your right stick to either side. The effective dodge isn’t possible without locking on, and it’s the best way to avoid health-melting enemy attacks while keeping a battle fast-paced.
Make sure you’re using every type of dodge you can, though, especially during Space Pirate fights when you need to defend your front, back, and head from obnoxious flying goons. Even if you’re not locked on to any particular enemy, keep pressing B to jump over attacks. You’re not above hiding behind crates either.
Smash every crate
When you’re not hiding behind crates, you should be cracking them open. They often contain health and ammo—something to keep in mind if you’re running low during a fight. Be cautious around crates with glowing orange innards, though. Though they also contain items, they can explode and kill you. Harvest them from a safe distance.
Though, throughout your travels, you’ll grab up to 14 Energy Tanks to expand your health bar by 100 points a pop. Ultimately, that’s a lot of health, and you don’t really need to stress about preserving it the way another game might force you to. But it can get cut down quick, especially by magma pools or other environmental hazards, so guard it a bit. Checking out your health bar also lets you know how urgently you need to pick up the loose orbs of health and ammo enemies tend to drop.
Hold A during battle
Holding A down not only charges Samus’ Power Beam, but also activates its magnet-like ability to suck fallen enemies’ dropped items toward you. Need more missiles but the only item drop is suspended in the air, just out of reach? That’s fine. Vacuum that shit up. Combining this habit while getting used to kicking crates will make sure that health and ammo are never too much of a concern during huge skirmishes.
Target sentry drones for more missiles
Sometimes getting stuck is inevitable. While Samus’ default Power Beam and many of its variations—plasma, ice, purple waves of sizzling electricity—fire infinitely, missiles are limited and require your discretion. They’re the only weapon able to open certain types of doors and, in the early game, are one of the most effective ways to eliminate bosses and thick-skinned enemies like sentry drones, so you can, naturally, run out rather fast. Then, you might, naturally, get upset. You don’t need to be, though. Sentry drones tend to drop missiles more than other enemies. When you’re in a bind, simply head to the Monitor Station in Magmoor Caverns and kill them all.
Don’t forget to scan
Samus receives a few useful helmet visors throughout the game, including the thermal visor, which will help you find enemies in the dark; x-ray visor, which similarly lets you detect invisible enemies; and the scan visor you start out with.
The scan visor, which adds environmental observations and analysis to Samus’ logbook, might be nerdy, but it’s by far the most important visor in her arsenal. Using it reveals useful information about enemies and new areas, unlocks doors, and elevators.
And don’t be lazy when you use it—take a few seconds to actually read the information it provides you. Not only will it provide a deeper understanding of the game’s story, but it also tells you crucial next steps. It’ll point out crumbling blocks of stone, for example, so you can figure out the best place to use Samus’ Morph Ball bombs when she’s in her transformed, metal roly-poly form. It explains enemies’ weak points—even bosses’ weak points. It’s essential for navigating Tallon IV.
Don’t waste your time on enemies you can’t kill
Scanning also keeps things moving. Don’t be like me and wonder why the ice-capped beetles keep stabbing and poking and just won’t die when the scan visor could have told you 10 minutes ago that you don’t have the right weapon to kill them. Read what you scan, and let what you learn inform your approach to combat.
Make sure hints are on
Scanning isn’t a cure-all, though. As a first time Metroid Prime player, I was often confused about where to go next. Hints, which you can flip on in settings, make sure I didn’t spin in circles for too long. If you spend too long idling, a question mark hint will appear on your map and gently guide you in the right direction.
Image: Nintendo
When it doubt, go back to where you came from
Even without hints, take the age-old advice and retrace your footsteps. Metroid Prime requires you to scavenge the same places over and over again but, each time, you come back changed. Phendrana Drifts will look different once you get your springy space boots, and you’ll form a unique relationship with gravity once you secure a Morph Ball alteration that lets you sail up walls and railings like a scrawny spider.
I’m impatient, so I often sighed when Remastered made it clear that I was supposed to double back…which was most of the time. But checking out old corners with new gear makes them exciting again, and, as a treat, you’ll also get beneficial power-ups and expansions you weren’t ready for before.
Get extreme Boost Ball height by letting go at the last second
One of, I thought, the most annoying parts of turning back was realizing I had to turn back, curl Samus into a ball, and knock her around a steep ramp until she gained enough momentum to make a huge jump. These sections are aggravating. They might make you feel like the game is fundamentally broken and that you should flush your Switch down the toilet with your childhood goldfish. But it’s not that big of a deal; it takes a little finesse.
Hit boost while you’re only starting to move up a curve, then let go when you’re near the top. That’s the most reliable method to get in the air, but if you do it enough times, you’ll start to feel a rhythm for it.
Learn what an upgrade sounds like
Remastered is filled with hidden mazes and rooms, and it’s possible that you’ll miss an upgrade while standing right in front of it (I did!). But expansions and suit upgrades give off a (very) faint whirring sound when you’re near them. Turn down the music and crank up the SFX in settings to help you identify it.
Circle back to save points
Once you’ve found something important, try to hurry to your closest save point. Like the original, Remastered doesn’t allow you to save whenever or wherever, so respect your progress and save your game when the map lets you.
What are some of your most helpful Metroid Prime Remastered tips?
