Our impressions of Metroid Prime Trilogy: Buy it

Earlier this week, a copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy arrived, by way of Nintendo. We were thrilled; even peed in our pants a little.

Foremost, because the three games that appear on the single DVD — the GameCube titles Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and the Wii’s Metroid Prime 3: Corruption — are all unbelievable experiences. Doing a proper review of this collection almost seems silly at this point. While the two original GameCube games are retrofitted with the motion controls (which work near-flawlessly, and are your only control option) and give slight tweaks, we’ve played these games before, and each comes-highly recommended.  

The packaging is a thing of beauty — a sexy metal case sheathed in a transparent, plastic sleeve. Besides the single-DVD of games, inside the case is also a gorgeous, fold-out sleeve of artwork and story detail. By story detail, we’re talking heavy spoiler material here, with each of the three Metroid Prime games explained from beginning to end. The artwork on the flipside features amazing, never-before-seen concept pieces.

The disc itself also features plenty of slick goodies as well, like animated transitions when entering into each of the individual games. All three titles also feature an “achievement” system that awards players with tokens redeemable for unlocking concept art, game music, and more. While this system was found in the Wii version of Corruption, it’s now available across all of the titles; there’s plenty here for Metroid fans to unlock. It’s an excellent excuse to revisit some of the best games of their generation.

While some players may be turned off by the fact that you can’t choose standard GameCube controls for the first two Prime games, Metroid Prime Trilogy is easily one of the best values in gaming since Valve’s The Orange Box. It’s only $49.99, and available on August 25.