Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

The Switch 2 mouse-mode aim is the headline new feature, but the part that shapes how you actually play Metroid Prime 4 on a handheld is older and simpler: Save Stations only. There is no save-anywhere. There is no every-three-minutes autosave. If your commute ends or a meeting starts mid-room, the explore time since the last Save Station is gone.

Game overview

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the long-delayed fourth main entry in Retro Studios’ first-person Metroid line. Nintendo originally announced it in 2017 with Bandai Namco Studios developing, restarted the project under Retro in January 2019, and finally shipped it on 4 December 2025 — simultaneous on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Next Level Games and Virtuos supported the build.

You return as Samus Aran, exploring a new alien world with the Prime-series formula intact: first-person traversal, scan-everything lore reading, weapon and visor upgrades that gate progress through earlier areas you have to come back to. The series-defining loop is unchanged. The handheld context around it is what is new.

Where you can play it

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is Nintendo-exclusive. The Switch 1 and Switch 2 versions both launched on 4 December 2025 — Nintendo did not delay or cancel the Switch 1 SKU despite mid-2025 rumours that it might.

The three purchase options are worth understanding before you commit:

• Switch 1 edition: $59.99 / £49.99. The standard build, runs on the original Switch and the OLED model.
• Switch 2 Edition: $69.99 / £58.99. Quality Mode runs 4K at 60 fps docked and 1080p at 60 fps handheld, with HDR. Performance Mode runs 1080p at 120 fps docked and 720p at 120 fps handheld. Plus the Joy-Con 2 mouse-mode aim and faster load times.
• Switch-to-Switch-2 Upgrade Pack: $9.99. Adds the Switch 2 enhancements to an existing Switch 1 purchase. The cheapest path to the mouse-mode aim and the higher frame rate.

In the UK first week, 83% of sales were the Switch 2 Edition. The demand pattern is doing the upsell Nintendo’s pricing structure does not formally do — buyers strongly prefer the premium build at the £9 premium over the base SKU.

Not on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, or anything else. The Steam Deck does not run it. The ROG Ally does not run it. Cloud gaming does not stream it. Nintendo exclusivity is total.

Cross-saves and keeping your progress

There is no documented dedicated cross-save between the Switch 1 and Switch 2 versions over Nintendo Account. The path Nintendo documents is the standard Switch-to-Switch-2 system transfer, local console-to-console or via NSO cloud save backup. That is a one-time migration, not ongoing sync. Start on Switch 1, apply the Upgrade Pack later, and the migration carries your save to the Switch 2 SKU.

The community PSA before the endgame is the relevant practical detail: there is a point-of-no-return that locks you out of late-game side content once you cross it. Press X on a save slot to duplicate it before that crossing. The same in-game duplication lets you keep a “before final boss” checkpoint without restarting.

Nintendo-exclusive means there is nothing to sync with anyway. Pick Switch 1 if you only own a Switch 1, pick Switch 2 Edition if you have either device, pick the Upgrade Pack if you started on Switch 1 and bought a Switch 2 later.

Features that matter on the move

• Save Stations only. Limited autosave at cutscenes, boss fights, and some region transitions. A handheld session ending mid-corridor costs the explore time since the last station, which can be 20-30 minutes of careful map work. Plan around the next Save Station, not the next chapter break.
• Battery profile on Switch 2 handheld: around 3 hours under continuous play. Below the 4.5 to 9 hour general Switch 2 envelope. A long-haul flight needs a power bank. See the best power bank for portable gaming guide for the picks that hit 60W PD for Switch 2 dock-mode passthrough.
• Joy-Con 2 mouse mode is the genuinely new portable control scheme. Place the right Joy-Con 2 edge-down on a flat surface (a tray table, a desk, the arm of a chair) and aim works like a desktop FPS, swapping back to dual-stick the moment you lift it. No menu toggle, no settings change. For a first-person Metroid this is the closest the series has come to the Prime Trilogy Wii pointer feel on a handheld.
• Gyro pointer auto-engages on lock-on, Prime Trilogy and Metroid Prime Remastered style. Works on Switch 1 and Switch 2 alike.
• Suspend-resume behaves as expected on Switch 2 sleep. The Save Stations design matters more for how you stop — the system holds the session fine; the game-design constraint is the real one.
• No DLC announced as of June 2026. Patch 1.1.0 at or near launch added amiibo support, cinematic vibration, Gallery unlock tweaks, and Hard Mode enemy tuning.

Recommended setup

For docked play, the Switch 2 Pro Controller is the right answer. Its rumble and gyro are tuned for the platform. The 8BitDo Pro 2 covers Switch 1, Switch 2, and PC if you want one pad across other Nintendo titles, though the Joy-Con 2 mouse-mode trick is Joy-Con 2 specific and the Pro Controller does not replicate it.

For handheld play with mouse aim, the Joy-Con 2 you already own is the input. You just need a flat surface within reach (a tray table or a desk). The mouse mode is the feature that justifies the Switch 2 Edition over the base SKU if you are coming from the Prime Trilogy Wii era and remember how much the pointer aim mattered for the series feel.

See our controllers guide for the wider multi-device picks, the Steam Deck vs Switch 2 cornerstone for which handheld fits which kind of player, and the best power bank for portable gaming guide because the 3-hour Switch 2 battery on Prime 4 is not a coincidence.

Verdict

The first major Switch 2 release where the new Joy-Con 2 input scheme is the reason to take the upgrade, not the resolution bump. If you own a Switch 1, the $9.99 Upgrade Pack is the cheapest mouse-mode aim Nintendo will sell you for the foreseeable future. If you are buying fresh, the Switch 2 Edition at £58.99 is what UK first-week buyers picked 83% of the time, and it is the version this guide recommends. Save Stations design means a power bank goes in your bag for any flight longer than two hours, and the X-to-copy save habit goes in your head before the endgame.