Metroid Prime Trilogy Review for Nintendo Wii

System: Wii	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Retro Studios	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Nintendo	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Aug. 24, 2009	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-4	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Sounds in Metroid Prime Trilogy are presented in high fidelity. The classic Metroid tunes, like most iconic Nintendo franchises, have the ability to instill wonderment and a sense of accomplishment with short musical phrases made of a few notes. Furthermore, ambient sound effects from creatures and your weaponry are perfectly attuned to the action on the screen. On the other hand, voice work has always been sparse in the series; reading lines of text from scanned data entries rules the day. Although, Metroid Prime: Corruption often bucks the silent trend. Still, Metroid Prime Trilogy is no Oblivion or Fable II to say the least.

Metroid Prime Trilogy screenshot

One thing players will notice in Metroid Prime Trilogy is that there is a definite attempt to make it appeal to casual gamers. This is evidenced by the fact that two difficulty settings have been included in all three games: Normal and Veteran. While an Easy setting is conspicuously not present, the Normal mode is practically a misnomer - anyone who wants to experience the trilogy should be able to do so quite easily via this setting. Also, strategically positioned save points further temper the challenge. That being said, core players who want a more combat-intensive game must look to Veteran in order to get the true Metroid experience.

Metroid Prime Trilogy does include a local multiplayer game. The four-player competitive feature from Metroid Prime: Echoes will allow you and three other friends to duke it out to see who the king of the couch is. Unfortunately, the addition of this local multiplayer offering is as lackluster as it was when it released in 2004. While its inclusion is a must in order to remain true to the series' second release, I don't think gamers will log very many hours in it.

This leads me to my biggest (and practically only) complaint: there is not enough original content in this release. I would have loved to have seen an online multiplayer component added to the mix. For instance, if Metroid Prime: Hunters (though not a Retro Studios creation) would also have been included - at least the multiplayer portion or some variant of it - it might have made the Metroid Prime Trilogy's purchase more amenable to long-time fans. In the end, returning gamers are left with three excellent games they've likely already played to death.

Despite this glaring issue, Metroid Prime Trilogy is a great release. Any Wii owner who has not played these games simply must go out and pick it up. If you're a returning fan, you may be disappointed with the lack of bonus / original content. Still, the widescreen presentation and the motion controls do breathe a significant amount of life back into the titles. As such, this is likely a must-buy for any Nintendo fan, regardless. Having access to all three games on one disc is a luxury you probably can't afford to pass up.

By Jonathan Marx
CCC Editor / News Director

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.2

Graphics
The visuals are about as good as it gets on Wii. The enhanced 16:9 widescreen presentation brings Metroid Prime and Echoes alive on a flatscreen.

4.5

Control
Controls are extremely accurate and user-friendly. The new motion controls do a good job of freshening up the original GameCube titles. Also, being able to change how a few crucial buttons are mapped is nice.

4.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The simple yet iconic Metroid themes and quality ambient effects are pleasant to the ear.

4.3

Play Value
Three excellent games on one disc means you'll be playing Metroid for tens of hours. On the downside, bonus content is non-existent, leaving the package feeling a bit underwhelming for veterans of the series.

4.4

Overall Rating - Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption set a new standard for first-person motion controls in video games. Now it's bringing those controls to the rest of the celebrated series, allowing players to experience the entire Metroid Prime story arc with the peerless precision of the Wii Remote.

Metroid Prime Trilogy is a new premium three-game collection for the Wii console that bundles all three landmark Metroid Prime games onto one disc and revamps the first two installments with intuitive Wii Remote controls, wide-screen presentation, and other enhancements.

Each game maintains its original storyline and settings, but now Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes let players use their Wii Remote to aim with precision as heroine Samus Aran.

16x9 Widescreen presentation: See the Metroid Prime series in glorious widescreen, now added to Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes for the first time and resulting in a vastly improved visual experience.

Special Metroid Prime Trilogy art booklet and Collector's Edition Metal Packaging: The epic series comes encased in a beautiful metal package, sure to excite any Metroid fan looking to enhance their gaming collection.