The problem we have here is that Samus Hunter has been right about several claims in recent months – like a cheeky nod to the Xenoblade Chronicles X trailer i.a a tease that would quickly tie in with the Donkey Kong expansion in Super Nintendo World – they should have a few more before we put any serious weight on their Echoes information. As for Jeff Grubb, we certainly respect him, but his previous reports on the Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD Switch ports (aka, the “Zelda blowout” that hasn't happened at the time of this writing) have rattled some fans' confidence.
There is reason to believe, however, that the Echoes remaster (and possibly the Corruption remaster) could be launched within the proposed timeframe. Where possible, Nintendo has been pretty partial to having one major Switch release per month throughout the Switch's life, and given the success of the original Metroid Prime Remastered in February, its sequels could follow suit. We could certainly imagine Nintendo hosting a Direct presentation or a cheeky throwback to Echoes and Corruption on the first game's second anniversary.
Either way, it just wouldn't be good for the Switch to host Metroid Prime Remastered and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond without echoes and damage. Admittedly, Beyond's 'big bad' Sylux doesn't appear until a very brief episode at the end of Corruption, but it makes sense for Nintendo to allow players who may have missed the originals to catch up on the story so far.
To Grubb's credit, he compared Nintendo's potential plans for the Prime trilogy to those of Pikminand it certainly sounds plausible: both of the original Pikmin games on the Gamecube received core remasters on the Switch shortly before Pikmin 4 launched in 2023, allowing new or lapsed players to play catch-up before diving into the new entry. There's still time for Prime 2 and Prime 3 to get the same (or hopefully better) treatment, and we're keeping our fingers crossed.
