Experiencing Metroid Prime 4 with Mouselook and 120 FPS Feels Both Amazing and Almost Forbidden

At the recent unveiling of the Nintendo Switch 2, there were plenty of exciting new features on display. However, one of the highlights for me personally wasn’t a completely new concept but rather a familiar favorite: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

During the demo, Metroid Prime 4 was instantly recognizable, especially to someone who has followed the series closely. The section shown seemed to be early in the game, likely before Samus upgrades her iconic power suit with telekinetic abilities.

This particular part of the demo, set in a tense base-under-siege scenario, showcased only Samus’s well-known arsenal: the trusty arm cannon, missiles, scanner, morph ball, and bombs. It had a familiar feel, almost like a direct continuation from the earlier games in the series. Nonetheless, we know there’s more under the hood, thanks to other glimpses of new abilities and mechanics that were not part of this specific hands-on session with the Switch 2.

The choice of this segment seems intentional by Nintendo and Retro Studios. It’s fast-paced and straightforward, allowing players to appreciate how the core elements of Metroid Prime have been enhanced by the Switch 2’s impressive hardware.

The first thing mentioned by the Nintendo rep assisting me was, “This is running at 120 frames per second.” That’s not usually Nintendo’s style, focusing on performance stats, but here it was significant—and for a good reason.

Metroid Prime 4 on the Switch 2 isn’t just ported over; it’s a full upgrade from what was originally built for hardware that, if you believe some rather questionable statistics from Nvidia, is ten times weaker. It manages full HD natively and even supports 4K at 60fps while maintaining a buttery smooth 120fps in normal resolution. Visually, it outshines the original version seen in streams, though I couldn’t compare side-by-side with the previous Switch release, as it wasn’t available. The high frame rate is definitely a game changer. It’s not what you typically expect from Nintendo, yet here it is.

Now, I’m not saying I stopped the gameplay altogether. No, I’m talking about the new mouse control capability. One of the revolutionary features on the Switch 2 involves placing the Joy-Con sideways to use it like a PC mouse, which adds a fresh layer of gameplay options.

Elsewhere at the event, a perfect example was Civilization 7, where the mouse controls translated beautifully from the PC version. Metroid Prime 4 also takes advantage of this feature—in what is both a metroidvania and a first-person shooter series.

The introduction of this mouse functionality is nothing short of brilliant. It’s not something you toggle on. You just pick up the Joy-Cons like a traditional controller for casual gameplay. But as soon as you place the right Joy-Con on a flat surface, the game intuitively switches to mouse mode. It’s seamless and requires no menu navigation, which is absolutely perfect.

If you’ve experienced mouselook before, you’ll know how it should feel. With Prime 4, it’s responsive and fast, feeling just right. But it’s the ability to switch back and forth that makes it a revelation.

Admittedly, the demo part I played focused primarily on combat, not on the puzzles the series is famous for. Even so, as I got comfortable over the half-hour session, I started switching between control modes effortlessly. For scanning or morph ball maneuvers, the controllers worked great. But during intense fights, I found myself instinctively switching to the mouse control. It truly offers the best of both worlds.

Faced with a boss fight, the controller was set aside. This huge creature had weak points that required precision, and being able to use mouse controls for targeting made the battle much more manageable compared to my peers using standard controls.

The combination of the slick 120fps performance and the precision of mouse controls felt almost like cheating. It delivered a level of performance previously unseen in Nintendo games without resorting to questionable methods. This is a major leap forward from the original Switch, whose games often struggled with performance despite generally looking good for a hybrid console. If Metroid Prime 4 is any indication, the future promises more polished experiences, with both graphics quality and performance.

With Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s release slated for later this year, the original Switch will likely have its version, but if you’re looking for the full experience and can swing it amid everything else going on, the Switch 2 is the place to be. That’s precisely what you want from a next-gen upgrade.