'Metroid Prime Remastered' is out today on Switch with dual-stick controls

Here's a pleasant treat from today's Nintendo Direct: the surprise launch of a revamp of the original Metroid Prime for the Switch. The appropriately titled Metroid Prime Remastered boasts much-improved graphics, of course, but it also includes dual-stick controls that are considerably more intuitive. You can use a GameCube-like scheme and other control options, but players used to two decades of console first-person shooters should feel more at home.

The remaster is available now in digital form through the Nintendo eShop for $40. If you prefer a hard copy, you'll have to wait until February 22nd.

This isn't the long-delayed Metroid Prime 4, and there's no word on remasters for the other Prime games. For now, at least, Metroid Dread is the only real way to continue Samus Aran's adventures on the Switch. Look at it this way, though — this is the first time a Metroid FPS has been playable on a handheld console short of some very unofficial GameCube mods. It may do the trick if you want more than a 2D platformer during your daily commute.