Since the release of the immortal classic Super Metroid right through the N64 era Samus Aran was sorely missed during her eight year hiatus having not starred in a single game until the year 2002 when suddenly two games came along at once. The first of course was Nintendo developed Metroid Fusion - aka Metroid IV - which saw Samus back in true 2D form and was well received by fans; but then came something even greater as the Texas-based Retro Studios took it upon themselves to work alongside Nintendo to bring the Metroid series into the third dimension with the end result being Metroid Prime.

The original game was released to such critical acclaim that a sequel was released and more recently the third and final installment providing Wii owners a satisfying conclusion to this epic trilogy that originated on the humble Gamecube. Following the improved control scheme that was implemented in the latest title which offered far superior motion enhanced control, Retro decided to go back and apply this far more precise control scheme to their earlier masterpieces while upgrading the visuals slightly and unifying all three fantastic titles into one package; and thus Metroid Prime Trilogy was born.

For the uninitiated this collection has never been more essential because not only are you getting three of the best games ever conceived but they are in fact now the definitive versions with the new controls adding so much more to the overall experience. Scanning feels more satisfying, jumping feels more natural and most importantly blasting Space Pirates with your arm cannon feels better than ever and it's all thanks to the Wii remote.

Visors are now assigned to a quick press of the minus button and a flick of the remote into the desired portion of the screen, this is the same for the Beams which are assigned to the Plus button; this may initially sound more complicated than the simple flick of the C-stick or D-pad on the Gamcube pad but in practice it's actually effortless and feels much more concise. As for the all-important Super Missile and other beam variants, these can be fired by simply charging up with 'A' - or 'B' if you've opted to change the settings - and pressing 'down' on the D-pad which works particularly well indeed; it's also worth mentioning that the 'ball-hop' move from MP3 which allows you to perform a small jump while in morph-ball mode with a simple upward flick of the remote has been retroactively fitted which will surely please many.

On a visual level the series has never looked better with all three titles now featuring full 16:9 widescreen support, anti-aliasing and smoother textures; the new unified title screen is very much welcome as it brings together the essence of all three games perfectly. Indeed it's truly testament to Retro's great abilities as a developer that despite the first two titles being updated GC ports they still manage to outshine the vast majority of games that were designed for the Wii so for the lazier developers there really aren't any excuses for it anymore.

Aurally things are as breathtakingly beautiful as they have always been thanks to legendary composer Kenji Yamamoto who worked his magic on all three games creating a sensational soundtrack that brings everything together seamlessly. Everything else from the charging of Samus' power beam to the rolling of the metallic morph-ball sounds fantastically fine-tuned and adds to the authenticity of the experience and goes a long way to contributing towards the astounding amount of atmosphere that the Prime games are so famous for.

Regarding changes that have taken place firstly as aforementioned there is a new unified title screen with a wonderful new accompanying theme, now some may mourn the loss of the original individual title-screens but the new one is exceptional and even changes to reflect the progress you make in the games which is a particularly nice touch. The difficulty of certain bosses in Echoes has been toned down slightly but this doesn't make things any less enjoyable, in fact if anything it improves matters; also there have been a few dialog changes to Corruption with the most notable being the removal of the word 'damn' which is hardly a big loss being that it added nothing to the overall experience.

On the extras front the Fusion Suit from the original game has made it back in thanks to the achievement-like credits system which is now in effect across all three games; for those unaware you get different coloured awards for your in-game progress which you can then use to redeem extras, it's a decent system because it ensures that you'll need to play through the games properly to gain enough for the better obtainable items such as the screen-shot capture tool but then again the games are immensely enjoyable to play anyway so it never feels like hard work but you are rewarded well for your efforts.

While it's mainly fans of the series that will no doubt be purchasing this collection, newcomers are catered for as well because the default 'Normal' difficulty while still challenging should prove to be conquerable for even newcomers with a reasonable amount of effort. However if you are after more of a challenge then the Veteran mode plus the newly added Hyper mode difficulty – only available once you've beaten the game once – should prove more than adequate for even the most hardened would-be intergalactic bounty hunters.

Overall this is one truly fantastic package that is well worth its price-tag for both newcomers and veterans to the series alike, indeed if you have yet to experience any of these fine games then I personally envy you because playing through them for the first time is a truly magical experience. But even for someone like myself who's very much well acquainted with all three games, I still found playing through them again to be a completely engrossing experience and that speaks volumes of the true quality that is on offer here in this stellar compilation.

Sam Gittins
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