Metroid Prime Trilogy

[MinisterofDOOM]

In the words of Strong Bad, "It's about time."

Nintendo wasn't satisfied to just release the first two Prime games with updated controls. This trilogy pack is a whole updated package, with HORDES of unlockable extras and graphical updates as well.

Even though most of the actual in-game assets for Prime and Echoes are carried over from the gamecube versions, the games have still recieved graphical makeovers, with new shinies like dynamic lighting as well as 480p widescreen support (Wii doesn't do full HD).

For those who like unlockables, there's an awesome new system that makes achievements look pathetic. It's similar to achievements, except that for each one you get a token (different color depending on what type of achievement it was). You get orange or grey from Prime, purple or grey from Echoes, and red, blue, and gold from Corruption and, in an effort to promote the Wii's friends system carried over from the standalone Corruption, gold is gained from sharing "friend vouchers."Some extras only cost a couple of tokens that can be found in a single game, but others cost dozens of tokens that require efforts spanning all 3 games. Extras run the gamut from concept art galleries and sound test mode to bumper stickers and a bobblehead for your gunship (the bumper stickers are a particularly creative reward...the game looks for OTHER game's save files on your wii and applies bumper stickers from those games to the gunship).

So now there's even more incentive to try and scan that hard-to-scan enemy or hunt down that last missile expansion.

As for the controls, anyone playing Prime or Echoes for the first time this way would never guess the game hadn't been designed for it. Even the residual HUD elements designed around the gamecube controller's d-pad and c-stick mode switching have been redesigned slightly. The Wii controls are as superb as ever, with 3 sensitivity settings, though why anyone would use any but the highest is beyond me. That highest setting emulates a keyboard/mouse FPS, where the lesser sensitivities require you to move the reticule to the very edge of the screen or near it to move the view even the slightest bit.

One of the neat surprises I've found so far (early on in Prime) was one of the first times I switched to morph ball mode after reacquiring that ability. I was in a small, poorly lit room and as I started rolling, I found that the seam around the morph ball (exposing the energy core inside) was casting an arc of light across the walls and ceiling. The dynamic lighting updates definitely weren't done shoddily.

I'm most looking forward to Echoes, which should definitely put those new shinies to the test (with the light suit's numerous small sources of light).

I was surprised to see that the trilogy even includes the multiplayer mode from Echoes (which is local split-screen only).

Overall, an excellent package worth picking up even for people who already own all 3 titles (like me) and absolutely worth getting for those who never had the chance to play them before now.