Adventure Mode:
In the Adventure Mode, you play as Samus Aran, a female (yes I said female) bounty hunter, who travels to a place called the Alimbic Cluster, inside the Tetra Galaxy. She travels here because of a telepathic message that is received by the brains of the most exceptional beings in the galaxy.
This message saying, “The key to the ultimate power lies in the Alimbic Cluster” is heeded by the Galactic Federation and they send Samus to "investigate". She, along with other interested bounty hunters travel to the Alimbic Cluster to seek out this Ultimate Power. Your job is to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.
Throughout the Adventure line you travel to different planets and space stations. You have to travel around collecting 8 total Octoliths whilst scanning for prophecies, items, and creatures. To 100% the whole game, you have to collect the 8 octoliths, beat a final boss, and scan everything. You can view your progress when you choose your profile on the sub screen under Adventure Mode. And there just might be a special treat if you 100% all three files!
Multiplayer Mode:
In the Multiplayer Mode, there is three different choices you have: Single Card, Multi Card, and Online.
Single Card:
In single card, other players can "download" the game and have a quick battle up to four players. In this mode however, the people who are downloading can only play as Samus and you can only play in the battle mode "Battle".
Multi Card:
In Multi Card, you can play with up to four of your friends wirelessly in up to 7 modes: "Battle", "Survival", "Bounty", "Defender", "Prime Hunter", "Capture (the octolith)", and "Nodes". Also your friends may choose whomever they like from the 7 bounty hunters if they have faced the hunter in Adventure mode or another player hence "unlocking them"
Battle:
In battle, you get a point for killing someone, loose a point for self destructing and who ever has the most points or reaches the point goal the fastest in the allotted amount of time, wins.
Survival:
In this mode, you are awarded a chosen amount of lives and every time you die, you loose one. Once you run out of lives, you are out of the game. If two or more people are left when the time runs out, the person with the most amount of lives is declared the winner.
Bounty:
In this mode, there is one octolith, and one base. To win, you must touch the octolith in you biped (standing) form and carry it to the base with out dieing. Every time you reach the base with the octolith in your or your teammates possession, you get a point. The team or player to reach the point goal or has the most points at the end of the game wins.
Defender:
In Defender, there is one ring and if one person is in that ring, they get points, in the form of time, for how long they are in there. As soon as another person comes into the ring, however, then no one gains points, or time, until there is, again, only one person in the ring. Whoever stays in the ring by themselves for the amount of time chosen, or whoever has the most point, time, at the end of the time limit, wins.
Prime Hunter:
In the mode Prime Hunter, Points are achieved by being the prime hunter. To be the prime hunter, at the start of the game, you have to be the first person to kill someone. Whoever kills someone first becomes the prime hunter and has special abilities. In addition to the characters special ability, the person can use every other characters special ability, so Sylux could freeze someone with the judicator, and in the Bi-ped mode you can walk really fast, and shoot the omega cannon really fast though it does not do as much damage long distance. The person to be the prime hunter as long as the goal time, or has the most time/points at the end of the time limit, wins.
Capture:
In Capture (the octoliths), there are two bases and an octolith for each base. Usually played in teams, one person usually ventures out to take the enemies octolith and bring it back to their base while the other person guards their octolith. In order to carry the octolith, you must be in your Bi-ped form and if you go into your alt-form, depending on the game rules, the octolith is reset to the respective base or droped, meaning you can pick it back up in your Bi-Ped form and the enemy can touch it to reset it back to their base.
In order to score a point, you or a teammate has to make it back to your base from the enemies' base with the enemies' octolith while your octolith is at your base. Whoever reaches the point goal first or has the most points at the end of the time limit wins.
Nodes:
Nodes is sort of like defender except there are more rings and you have to "acquire" them by standing by yourself in one for a few seconds. If an enemy enters the ring during the process then the process is frozen and can only be continued once you are again alone in the ring. If you are knocked out of the ring the process is canceled and you have to start over again.
Once you acquire a node, it starts earning points unless an enemy is in the ring, at that point, point gain for that ring is halted and if you don't deal with the problem soon, they will steal your node and it will start earning points for them. If you have two point gaining nodes then their point gain is doubled along with three and four gaining triple and quadruple respectively. Whoever reaches the point goal first or has the most points at the end of the time limit wins.
Maps:
Maps are the actual playing grounds that you use when you play a multiplayer mode. Visiting that area in Adventure Mode or playing a certain amount of games in multiplayer or online unlocks these maps.
Characters:
In Adventure mode, you can only play as Samus, but as you battle other bounty hunters, you unlock them to be able to be played in multiplayer mode. These Characters have special abilities like Samus's ability for charged tracking missiles. These Characters are:
- Kanden: With a charged blast of the volt driver, it tracks your opponent and on contact distorts their vision temporarily.
- Spire: When you charge the magmaul and hit your opponent, it sets them on fire and causes damage for a few seconds.
- Trace: If you stand still with the imperialist as your weapon, you turn almost invisible.
- Noxus: When you charge the judicator, instead of firing three shots, it freezes any opponents within a certain distance of you.
- Sylux: With the Shock Coil, Sylux can drain opponent's energy and add it to his.
- Weavel: Weavel's battle hammer explodes creating a huge sphere of "damage".
