Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, was the first follow up, releasing on the Gamecube in 2004, and it was a damn fine sequel to the original, albeit with a slightly higher difficulty level than the original, and the end result somewhat divided fans as to whether it was a better, or lesser sequel to the first outing from Retro. Personally, I've enjoyed Echoes more over time, it wasn't something I was a fan of after my initial play-through, but going back through it three times now, I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Better than the first? Hard to say, but it's certainly a worthy follow-up.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, made the jump from Gamecube to Wii, and I actually wrote up the original Gaming Age review. Safe to say, I was a pretty big fan, and I enjoyed the little additions to the gameplay made possible by the Wii remote, and while the game does place a heavy emphasis on action this time out, in a possible reaction to the ever growing popularity of the FPS genre, it still retains a lot of the classic Metroid exploration elements, and stands out as an excellent end game to the trilogy Retro started.

So now, with this newest release from Nintendo, we have all three games packed into a single disc on the Wii, including new Wii specific controls for the Gamecube titles, and it's a great value for anyone that's missed out on one, or all three, of these titles. There's not much to review here in the way of in game content, the games play out just like you remember, outside of a few sequence breaking changes that are altered by the motion controls, but for the most part, they're just like you remember them.

Of course, that might not be what everyone was hoping for from this release. I was slightly disappointed, but not necessarily surprised, to find that the first two titles haven't seen much of a graphical update. There is a 16x9 mode present now, which is nice, but some of the textures and models from both titles are definitely behind the times tech wise now, and when you stack them up in a direct comparison to Metroid Prime 3, they definitely stand out as lacking. The art design of all three games is excellent, and it certainly makes up for a good chunk of the graphical failings, but it doesn't mask everything. It's been pointed out that there are some re-done textures in the first two titles, and addition of some bloom lighting, but to be honest, I rarely noticed the change. Even going back for a few quick comparisons between the GC version of Prime 1 and the Wii version, I would be hard-pressed to tell you what they updated or changed. I've never been particularly great at pointing out things like this, but I can tell that Corruption still looks leagues better than the first two, and that's still evident here.

The Wii controls work extremely well for the first two titles, and they're exactly like Metroid Prime 3. The remote controls your aim and camera movement, the nunchuk moves Samus around, the A button fires, B jumps (and these can be swapped), and that's about the gist of it. The controls are easy to get acquainted with, and outside of some slight awkwardness from swapping to your visor or other weapons using the minus button, you won't have any trouble with the way the game controls. Purists that are looking for Gamecube controls will be disappointed though, there's no optional control scheme present here. The controls aren't particularly flexible either, you can switch around a couple options, but for the most part they're stuck on default.

Metroid Prime 3 introduced the idea of faux achievements in the game, usually from defeating a boss, collecting items, discovering hidden stuff, and so on. These achievements came in the form of tokens, which would then be used to unlock bonus features from the extras present at the menu screen. This idea is spread out to include all three games for the compilation, so you'll start to see these achievements pop up from the Parasite Queen fight and onwards with Metroid Prime. You can unlock quite a bit of stuff, from soundtrack selections to artwork and a few other extras, so if you're the type of person that enjoys getting 100 percent of a game finished, this one can last you quite a while. Unfortunately the friend tokens also return, so you'll need to swap out friend codes to get a few of these tokens locked in, and that can be a little annoying for most, especially considering how many tokens are needed to unlock certain things.

However, you can't deny that the game has an incredible amount of value to it, even if you can purchase the first two Gamecube titles used for a relatively low price nowadays. There's definitely some convenience to be had with all three games on one disc, and the addition of Wii controls for the first two titles is enough to make both of them worth playing through again. The targeting is especially more interesting, and it's nice to have that free aim ability that isn't as hindered by analog controls, and without the need to lock on, especially for some of the boss fights. The first two games are must plays for anyone that missed out on them and went straight to part three, and if you've not played a single game in the series so far, then there's no reason to not pick this up. It helps that the game comes with a pretty snazzy steelbook/slip-cover too, which from what I understand goes for every copy that releases in North America. If you're a Wii owner, a Metroid fan, or just someone with a passing curiosity in the series, then you should definitely pick this compilation up. Some of the best games that Nintendo has published in the last decade, and they're all together on one disc.

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