Players assume the role of series protagonist Samus Aran, who investigates a mysterious message that originated from the Alimbic Cluster and comes into contact with a legion of bounty hunters.

The game contains more first-person shooter aspects than previous titles in the Metroid Prime series, emphasizing various multiplayer modes with Wi-Fi and voice chat capabilities.

It introduced new bounty hunters with unique weapons and alternative forms as well as the ability to travel to different planets with Samus' gunship, concepts later expanded upon in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

A pack-in demo version of the game, titled Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, was included with the Nintendo DS when it launched in November.

Metroid Prime Hunters was re-released on the Wii U's Virtual Console service in Japan in 2015, and in North America and Europe the following year.

To enter small tunnels, Samus can roll into a Morph Ball, an alternative form of the Power Suit that decreases her size substantially.

[2] The protagonist of the single-player "adventure mode" is bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates the Alimbic Cluster after the Galactic Federation receives a telepathic message.

The Federation broadcasts a message to bounty hunter Samus Aran, asking her to investigate and retrieve the "ultimate power", and should it prove irretrievable, to keep it secret or destroy it outright.

If she did not heed the words of the Alimbic prophecy by shooting seven colored panels in the arena with their representative sub-weapon in a particular sequence, Gorea's demise would quickly destroy the Oubliette before any of the hunters could evacuate to safety.

[23] While developing the game, most of NST's efforts were focused on its multiplayer aspect because of its first-person shooter gameplay, and to take advantage of the Wi-Fi and voice chat capabilities of the Nintendo DS.

[25] A demo version, titled Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, was included as a pack-in game with the Nintendo DS when it launched in North America on November 21.

[28] As a single-player game, it consists of training scenarios with no specific plot, while the multiplayer portion allows up to four players to compete via the Nintendo DS' local wireless communications.

[29] GamesRadar wrote a positive review for the demo, citing it as "a fine showcase for demonstrating what the Nintendo DS hardware is capable of".

The commercial was directed by Len Wiseman, known for his work on the Underworld series, and was produced by the Leo Burnett Worldwide, while the special effects were handled by Ntropic.

[34] According to Wiseman, the commercial intends to "give the players a sense of how high the body count is going to be in this game, the amount of mayhem, and just how vicious Samus can be".

[35] In May, Nintendo of Europe and HMV held the "Hunt Is On Tournament" competition in several locations throughout the United Kingdom, with BT Openzone providing a video link.

[68] Several reviews praised the amount of value that Metroid Prime Hunters offered on the Nintendo DS handheld video game console.

[63] The Australian agreed that the graphics are "outstanding" and push the Nintendo DS to its limits,[61] and The Independent asserted that Metroid Prime Hunters was perhaps the best first-person shooter ever for a handheld console.

[48] GamesRadar lauded Metroid Prime Hunters' gameplay, and believed that the game was strictly for hardcore gamers "who live for fragfests".

Convinced that making a Metroid game different from its slow-paced adventure predecessors into a "nail-biting wrecking ball" was a "risky trick", they appreciated the results.

[57] This sentiment was shared by Electronic Gaming Monthly, which claimed that placing the interface used to switch visors and weapons on the touchscreen made the process unnecessarily complex.

They criticized the levels as "contrived and predictable", and noted that the designs felt too formulaic "after a few worlds of hunting for keys, fighting repeat bosses, and escaping before the bomb blows".

[49] The Washington Times agreed that the game's repetitiveness eventually grew tiring, and that "manipulating the DS controls will be a painfully cramped endeavor".