It's about time, frankly. Nintendo has put all three Metroid Prime games onto one disc for you to play on your Wii. Not only has the control scheme of the earlier two games (originally released on the GameCube) been overhauled for the Wii, they've also been made widescreen with new rewards thrown in for good measure.
Things begin with Prime. You typically begin your adventure stripped to the bare bones, with only your suit and a single shot weapon at your disposal, yet gameplay remains intriguing. The early stages of the game teach you how to navigate the sprawling game world and how to use your visor for scanning. Move forwards, left, right, strafe, jump and fire - you get the idea. And a semi lock-on crosshair comes in especially handy, removing the need for lengthy sessions of combat, so time can be spent focusing on the platform elements of the game.
Before long you'll encounter several familiar Metroid quirks, such as missiles and super-missiles, but most importantly, the ability to morph into a ball. You'll pick up this trademark upgrade early on in the Metroid adventure, and with the touch of a button, it allows Samus to curl into a ball, giving her access to tight spaces such as pipes and rock crevices. There are even certain areas of the game where the camera pans out to a side-on view, and briefly Metroid Prime actually becomes a scrolling platformer as players navigate vertical mazes. It's a nice touch that lets you know developer Retro didn't forget why Metroid became the game it is.
Next up is Echoes. The premise of Echoes, though hardly integral to the game as a whole, will be all too familiar to some, as Samus is called to answer yet another distress call on yet another dark and foreboding planet where she soon finds herself in the grip of a long-lasting conflict between good and evil.
Run of the mill it is, but chances are you'll have forgotten the Echoes story within a few hours of play - the reason being that gameplay, as with the rest of the series, takes precedence over all.
Last, but certainly not least, is Corruption. The story begins with Samus waking from cryogenic sleep as her ship comes up to a cluster of Federation starships orbiting a bluish green planet. She has been called here, along with four other hunters, to help fend off an attack on the planet below. Without giving away too much, things take a surprising (or unsurprising, if we're brutally honest) turn for the worse. You are given the general layout for the remainder of the game and provided with a few key power-ups that will enable you to really get things under way.
One of the standouts about this edition is that, unlike previous outings, Samus is not forced to start things from square one. Right out of the gate, you have the morphball and bombs and you receive rockets very early on to help you in your journey. All of your basic powers will be upgraded and expanded via power-ups throughout, but the bothersome 'get up to speed' section has been left out almost entirely.
Trilogy is surely a must-have for hardcore Wii gamers.
| Publisher: |
Nintendo |
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Platform: |
Wii |
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Category: |
Shooter |
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| Players: |
1 |
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Release Date: |
04 Sep 2009 |
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PEGI Rating: |
 |
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