Jun 27, 2009

Metroid Prime Trilogy Box Art

Categories: Nintendo

Tags: Metroid Prime Trilogy | Remakes | Wii

The concept of game remakes are a bone of contention with me, why pay for a game I’ve already bought and played simply because its been given a fresh coat of paint, or been enhanced with a new and improved formula? Of course, just like any other weak willed shopper I do allow myself a few concessions, if there’s been sufficient time between remakes and more importantly a descent generation gap then I can at least justify to myself it’s worth it.

A good example (and strangely coincidental) would be Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission on the NES and GBA respectively. The gap between the games stands at eighteen years, long enough for me to have forgotten playing the original and thanks to the advance in graphics Zero Mission was almost a completely different game. There was also the added bonus of including the”extra level” at the end that also helped to sway my decision.

The Metroid Prime Trilogy box set had me split right down the middle, my logical Vulcan side is telling me that I shouldn’t give this the time of day because as loyal Nintendo solider, I purchased all three of the original games at full retain price on their respective release dates.

I thoroughly enjoyed Metroid Prime, so much so I’ve played it many times since I bought it. I Also enjoyed Metroid Prime: Echoes, not to the same degree as Metroid Prime but I enjoyed it nevertheless and the more I played the more I enjoyed the overall experience. Corruption, on the other hand left me cold, the essence of the game was there and the motion controls were fine, but I felt the game was too easy (possibly an attempt to compensate for the motion controls). Graphically I found it was far too much of a departure from the previous two, which may sound shallow but affected my enjoyment of the game to the point where it’s still currently unfinished.

When I first heard of the trilogy box set my initial reaction was that of cynicism, Corruption is too new to be changed and Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime: Echoes will simply be reworked to incorporate the “waggle”and nothing more. Sure enough when Nintendo released details about the trilogy there wasn’t anything to offer people like me who purchased and completed the last three (I will complete Corruption, I promise). There’s not even an online option Echoes’s mediocre multiplayer mode.

The side that controls my whimsical impulse buys has just seen the intended box set for the trilogy (shown above and below) and I’m already starting to the relish the idea of reliving Prime, Echoes and actually finishing MP3. Damn those clever marketing bods at Nintendo!