System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: First Person Adventure

I’m going to go ahead and say it. Metroid Prime Trilogy is fantastic. Amazing. Outstanding. Three of the highest rated adventure games of the past decade totaling at least 80 hours of gameplay jam packed onto a single disc, stuffed inside of a gorgeous collector’s tin packaging, loaded up with Medals and unlockables, and put on store shelves for $50.

If you own a Wii, there is no reason you shouldn’t have this game in your collection. Period.

I really don’t think I need to say anything else, but for those of you who need a tad bit more convincing, feel free to read on. You’re just wasting time you could be spending driving to the nearest video game store, though.

Review:

As I’ve already stated, Metroid Prime Trilogy is a collection of the three Prime games, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, all on one disc. Both Prime and Echoes, which were originally GameCube titles, have been revamped to include the motion control setup from Corruption, as well as a few visual enhancements to make their journey over to the Wii a bit more graceful.

Needless to say, all games control fantastically, with what are easily some of the best first-person controls the Wii has ever seen. And having both Metroid Prime and its sequel updated with this awesome new control scheme that actually allows you to look around while you move makes the games several times more enjoyable than they already were, and that’s saying something.

It’s also worth noting that all games are gorgeous in terms of visuals. Both Metroid Prime and Echoes have aged very gracefully and look absolutely stunning thanks to their high production values and the insanely brilliant architecture you’ll witness while traversing the exotic foreign worlds. Everything is built logically and artistically, and nothing ever feels out of place. This helps the last generation games maintain a feeling of awe while you play them, even this many years later. And it’s always a pleasure looking at the lush scenery, beautiful architecture, and technically marvelous graphics of Corruption, easily one of the best-looking games on the Wii. However, Echoes’ bland, purply Dark World is just as visually uninspired as ever.

Equally extravagant is the audio design. Sound effects and moody background music help make every world you adventure through feel like a living, breathing atmosphere and you will easily find yourself drawn into the experience and believing in the lush locations you visit. There was no voice acting until Corruption, but its execution is really well-done none the less.

If I had to personally rank the three games, I would have to say that my favorite favorite is Corruption, followed very closely by the original, with Echoes falling in at 3rd. I know that most people still think the original the best, and if it weren’t for that tedious tracking down of those artifacts I would be right there with them. At least Corruption told you where to find those stupid energy cells.

I find it extremely surprising that Nintendo released Trilogy for several reasons. The first is that they almost never put out collector’s editions of anything. They did it once with Zelda, but that was a pack-in to try to get some people to actually buy a GameCube. I think the last time Nintendo released a collection was probably Super Mario All-Stars way back on the SNES.

Another thing is, just look at that case. It’s gorgeous, and it is very uncharacteristic of Nintendo to put any emphasis on special packaging. For God’s sake, this is the company that thought releasing New Super Mario Bros in a red case was some spectacular event.

And finally, up until Trilogy’s release, Metroid Prime 3 was still retailing at $50. Partner that with the fact that Nintendo could’ve easily released 1 and 2 as New Play Control titles for $30, and Nintendo is skipping out on selling the three products as stand alone games for a total of around $120 and is instead putting them all together for only $49.

Final Words:

Go buy this game.

Three of the most acclaimed adventure titles of the last two console generations on a single disc for fifty bucks. That’s 80 hours of gameplay, tons of unlockables, and three of the most memorable gaming experiences you’ll ever have. Sure these games aren’t without their flaws. Metroid Prime took too long to get from one spot to the other, Echoes is full of backtracking and a boring Dark World, and Corruption had you doing ridiculous energy cell fetch quests. All in all, however, these games are all absolutely spectacular, and playing through this entire adventure will easily last you a couple of months, if not much longer.

Pros

• Three fantastic games, one disc
• Over 80 hours of gameplay for $49
• Prime 1 and 2 still look fantastic, and 3 is as breathtaking as ever
• Addictive medals system

Cons

• Fetch quests in 1 and 3
• Backtracking, high difficulty, and Dark World in 2

Score: 9.75/10