Metroid Prime is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the fifth main installment in the Metroid franchise. It was the first Metroid game to use 3D computer graphics and a first-person perspective. It was released in North America in November 2002 and in Japan and Europe the following year. Along with the Game Boy Advance game Metroid Fusion, Prime marked the return of the Metroid series after an eight-year hiatus following Super Metroid (1994).