Metroid Prime 4 Locks Major Features Behind amiibo — $30 Samus Figure Required for Bike Radio

Metroid seems particularly prone to these restrictions: Metroid Prime 4 again ties extras to amiibo. Scanning the Samus on Viola amiibo reveals how far you’ve ridden the bike and unlocks cosmetic skins as you hit distance milestones, while scanning Sylux grants access to a special cutscene (which is also obtainable by completing the game fully without amiibo).

The most egregious example is the new Samus amiibo, which enables a radio feature for the Viola bike so you can play music while traversing the desert. That amiibo retails for about $30 (roughly £17 in the UK) and is specific to the Metroid Prime 4 Samus design — older Samus amiibo from Smash Bros., Samus Returns, or Metroid Dread will not activate this functionality.

If you scan any other Metroid-series amiibo, you only get one of five short in-game sound effects — nothing comparable to the radio feature.

The voice actor for the Doom Slayer appears in Metroid Prime 4, and he’s open to a Samus crossover: “I wouldn’t be opposed to that pairing — neither character speaks much.”