With Metroid Prime 4: Beyond finally on the way, many fans might be interested in the previous Metroid Prime games. Metroid Prime 1 received a remastered Switch version in 2023, and a lot of fans are asking about Prime 2 and 3. However, these aren't the only games in the series. In fact, Metroid Prime Hunters was the game that was originally included as a demo with the launch of the Nintendo DS, and it was one of the first major games to support Nintendo's online service.
But what if I said this game had a major flaw? What if I said there was one thing in this game players never wanted to do? Well, today I wanted to take a look back and bring up this piece of ancient history. It's actually something those buying a used copy of the game might want to be aware of, or even those playing the Wii U version might want to avoid. It's a game breaking glitch that can literally destroy your game.
What is Metroid Prime Hunters and Why does it matter?
Before getting into this glitch, let me take a minute to explain what Metroid Prime Hunters is, and why it matters for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Prime Hunters is a Nintendo DS exclusive that released back in 2006. It was the first 3D game in the series to be released on a handheld, and it was the game to introduce multiple main characters into the mix.
The main theme in Hunters was in fact the "Bounty Hunters" in the series, with new ones being introduced along side the protagonist Samus. These other Hunters each had their own unique abilities, and gave players different reasons to use them in the game's online multiplayer. Unlike other Nintendo games at the time, Hunters actually tracked everything you did within the game, and your stats and progress could be viewed on the Official Nintendo WFC Website. This included kill/death ratio, your ranking, your wins, how much time you played, and how you compared to your friends and added rivals. While this stuff is pretty standard for online games today, it wasn't as common in 2006, and especially not for Nintendo.
Putting aside the online aspects of the game, the rest of Hunters was your standard Metroid Prime experience. You got to explore multiple planets while using your scanner to learn more about the world, and take on multiple bosses and "rival" characters. These rivals were in fact the other Bounty Hunters, with one of them being none other than Sylux. And this is where Hunter's connection to Prime 4 comes from.
Sylux will be a returning and major character in Prime 4: Beyond. He's had a grudge against Samus for years, and finally we will be getting to see the (possible) conclusion to this story arc. It's been a long time coming, and something fans have been wondering about for years. While it isn't 100% necessary to play Prime Hunters, those who want the full experience should know that the story begins here.
Now with that being said, what do you want to avoid doing in Prime Hunters? Well..
The % Glitch
Thanks to it's online mode, Hunters lets you customize your name and view your profile. Here is where everything you do in the game is tracked, and it was how other players could see what you were up to. One cool thing users discovered was the fact that using the percent symbol (%) in your username would cause strange effects to happen. Based on whatever letter you put after %, something different would happen. While some fans hoped to use this to their advantage to cheat the game, some unlucky ones found out very quickly that using "%n" would do something else.
%n would brick your game!
In reality %n would cause a crash and instantly kick you out of the game back to the title screen. While you could send this in the in game chat to kick people out of your lobby, placing it somewhere seen throughout the game, like in your username, would produce the same effect.
The moment your username loads on screen, the game instantly crashes. This effectively makes it impossible to do anything or view any screen that displays your name.
Thankfully there is a way to correct the issue, but it's not one you will want to do if you can help it.
Opening the options menu and clicking "Erase All Data" will clear everything from Metroid Prime Hunters, but doing so could mean losing countless hours of work. It's not recommended, but it's your only choice if you happened to use %n in your name. Next time you open up multiplayer your username will be set to your default DS name, and you will then be able to continue like normal.
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