Back in 2002, Retro Studios released Metroid Prime. While many longtime fans of bounty hunter Samus Aran were upset with the move to 3D from 2D, those who took the plunge and played realized that this was very much Metroid, and not a first-person shooter despite the viewpoint. It was still a game primarily focused on exploration, platforming and turning Samus into an unstoppable force of suited-up nature. Since the final product was the best game on the Nintendo GameCube at the time, and also ended up as the highest rated game of last generation on any console, two sequels were spawned, one on the GameCube and one on the Wii. All three of these titles are three of the most important games in Nintendo’s catalog–not just from the last two generations, but in Nintendo’s long history–so it’s no surprise that they would get the collector’s edition treatment.

A collector’s edition with just the two original games packaged together with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption would be neat enough at a $50 price point–Corruption’s MSRP is still in that area after all–but Retro more than went the extra mile in putting this together, and has come away with a deal that challenges the Orange Box in terms of sheer value as well as content. Let’s go over the basics, and then cover the changes made to the games. The original Metroid Prime, as stated, was the top game of last generation–you would be hard pressed to find games for which the press has that much glowing adoration for, and the use of the word “perfect” in describing it was commonplace. While its sequel, Echoes, did not draw the same amount of attention–Retro kept some parts of the formula firmly in place, making it a very familiar feeling sequel in some ways–it was a wonderful game in its own right, the Majora’s Mask to Prime’s Ocarina of Time.

You had a darker storyline in a much more difficult experience that could punish even the most seasoned Metroid fan, and for that Echoes earned its stripes. The final portion of the trilogy is probably the best title on the system behind Super Mario Galaxy, but you would find people to argue it’s the best as well. Besides bringing Metroid into the next generation, the game also managed to enhance the series’ control scheme and produce one of the best console setups for a first-person shooter that I have ever used- It doesn’t have the customization of The Conduit, but the default setup is amazing on its own.

So what’s different? The major change to the first two games comes in the form of the controls. Now those controls that you know and love from Corruption work in both Prime and Echoes, which makes playing through those titles again (or for the first time) a more satisfying experience. I recommend the advanced controls, as they allow you to lock on to one enemy but shoot freely on screen, as if you were playing on a PC. Besides implementing the controls, there were also some graphical updates. Both titles run in 16:9 widescreen now, and the original Prime also has new bloom lightning effects that Retro was able to stick in. There are upgraded textures and enhanced visual effects as well, which hides a bit of the age of those games. It’s not an insult to the Wii’s catalog when you say that both Metroid Prime and its sequel Echoes look better than a significant portion of the competition; Retro’s art direction and artists were and are just that good at what they do, which is why Metroid Prime Corruption is far and away the best looking realistic title on the Wii as well.

One other change to the actual gameplay that you may notice is that the loading times have been decreased; Metroid’s loads were never that noticeable to begin with, as each door that opened loaded the next room as it was opening, or had you in a quick elevator ride where you got to check out the enhancements to Samus’ suit, but those have been tightened up in all three titles, and they run off of the disc much faster than their previous ones, even in Corruption which has not changed platforms like the other two.

All three titles run off of one dual-layer disc. You can access single-player mode for Prime 1-3 all from one screen, and the multiplayer from Echoes from the main hub, rather than from Echoes itself. While Echoes’ multiplayer was a bit boring given you button mashed and had to deal with controls that, while suited to exploration and the idea of Metroid, were not ideal for frenetic competition, it gets a second life here on Trilogy. The enhanced control scheme makes this a much better test of skill, and playing in 16:9 widescreen also helps with the four-player local visuals and view. There’s still no online, but it’s a much more worthwhile experience when you just want to see which of your friends is the better Samus Aran than in its original form.

Besides the gameplay, an achievement system was put into place in Prime and Echoes, similar to the one employed in Corruption when it was first released. You get tokens for clearing certain areas, defeating bosses and mini-bosses and the like, and these tokens can be used to unlock loads of fan service such as music and artwork. This extends the replay value of the titles–and helps gives you an excuse to go through the first two titles again, not that you wouldn’t anyways with the other changes–but also fits very well into a collector’s edition package given the nature of it.

Blast Factor: Three of the most important games in Nintendo’s history and one of the best trilogies in all of gaming, together in one package for the price of a single game. You get a collector’s edition case, special artwork, the definitive version of each game in the Prime trilogy, and worthwhile multiplayer for the first time in the series’ history, in addition to the loads of art and music you can unlock with the tokens from the achievement system. The one negative you could point out about these titles is that you have played them before, but given how well they hold up and how they lend themselves to replayability, that’s not much of a negative argument and certainly not a reason to avoid 80 hours of Retro’s masterpiece.

Metroid Prime Trilogy is available exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99

Nintendo has been releasing GameCube classics on Wii using their New Play Control! line of games. The results, so far, have been positive, and the desire to see more of these games in the future is certainly there. The one thing that was bothering many gamers and game media though, was the complete lack of mentions for the beloved Metroid Prime series, at least in North America. This is because of Metroid Prime 3′s control scheme, and the obvious improvements and enhancements that would fit the first two Prime games perfectly. Japan has already seen New Play Control! entries from Metroid, but there was no release date or information regarding North American releases.

Until now, anyways. Nintendo today announced the Metroid Prime Trilogy compilation, which includes New Play Control! versions of both Metroid Prime and its sequel, Echoes, as well as the Wii-only Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Time for a bit of a math lesson: Metroid Prime 3′s MSRP is still $49.99, and the New Play Control! games retail for $29.99 each. That means that you have roughly $110 worth of game in this compilation, and Nintendo is asking you to pay…

…wait for it…

…$49.99. For all three games. If you don’t own Corruption, this is the perfect opportunity to get it, and if you do, you’re still saving $10 over buying Metroid Prime and Echoes individually.

Here’s the info on the Wii versions of the original Prime and Echoes. In addition to including 480p and 16:9 widescreen, the first two games will now include the controls from Metroid Prime 3-though not everyone has jumped on board the Wii as a first-person shooter console, Metroid Prime 3 showed everyone just what you can do, and helped pave the way for games like The Conduit. The games will control significantly better-we already know that, considering how well Corruption’s controls work.

Think about that for a moment: the original Metroid Prime is the fifth-highest ranked game ever on GameRankings, and now it’s going to have improved controls and presentation. Yes, it won’t hold up perfectly with the best looking games of this generation, but it was a stunner on GameCube, and still looks good today.

As for Echoes, I’m excited to see how the multiplayer is now, using the Wii Remote controls and the 16:9 widescreen. It was tough to control due to the nature or the original on GameCube, but this is an area that might be better for being on Wii as well.

In addition, the medal system used in Corruption is now in use in the previous two games, giving you an achievement-like system for those on their second time through the Prime universe. Check out the press release on the next page, and come back here for more information as the game nears release.

In retrospect, the GameCube was an excellent console as far as software went, but the sales just were not there when compared to last generation’s behemoth, the Playstation 2. It’s no surprise then that there are a multitude of quality titles that many gamers have either never heard of or never got a chance to play, as they chose another console as their primary source of gaming. Nintendo is doing their best to rectify that situation with their New Play Control! line of titles, which breathe a second life into ‘Cube classics for a Wii install base that is already more than twice the size of its predecessor’s, and at a reduced price of $30.

The first wave of Wii-makes included Pikmin, with its improved control scheme and enhanced graphical presentation, and Mario Power Tennis, which was somewhat of a disappointment given its transition to motion controls. The best release during the young lifespan of this line is the latest though, and that’s Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. This platformer was developed by the same studio that made Super Mario Galaxy, and you can see the similarities as far as attention to detail goes “" whether it be graphical, sound, or in the superb level design.

There are two things that make this game a worthwhile entry in the New Play Control! series. First, the original was a critically acclaimed success, and one of the finer titles from GameCube’s diverse lineup “" this title was part of that peak of creativity seen from Nintendo that saw them develop a few new IP (Pikmin, the Skip-developed Chibi Robo), as well as give completely different takes on old ones such as Metroid (moving it to first person). Second, and this matches up with the creativity, the game is controlled with a pair of bongos. You did everything with the bongos, from jumping, to attacking, to simply walking left or right. If you used a standard controller, the analog stick simply mimicked the action of the bongos.

While this can be seen as a stroke of creative awesome by some “" you were banging on bongos to beat people up, after all “" others were turned off from what turned out to be an excellent platformer because of the controller alternative, and sales were dismal given how well it scored across the board. The New Play Control! version of the game scraps those bongo controls for an analog stick and the A button, while keeping some of the bongo moves (attacking, fighting bosses) linked up with the motion to simulate the bongos. Very little is lost in the translation, and what is lost is not missed given how improved the simple things like walking around are with an analog stick rather than the bongos. Yes, there were times against bosses where I would have liked to slam down on bongos to pummel them rather than use my dual controllers like large drumsticks, but the precision given to you by an analog stick “" especially in a platformer that requires the level of precision DK Jungle Beat does “" is more than worth the trade-off.

There’s no real story in this title; Donkey Kong simply wants to prove he’s the best in the Jungle, and he’s going to bust the head of anyone who thinks otherwise. This turns out to be fine in the end though, as there is no shortage of quality gameplay in this title. Donkey Kong runs, jumps, swings, floats, pounds his fists, punches enemies, attacks them with waves of sound to stun them… all of the things you expect Kong to do, he does. Keeping up with the tradition begun by Rare back in the days of Donkey Kong Country, this game looks incredible, but uses a different style than those classic platformers.

I don’t speak a bit of Japanese, but I still know what this website is for. The page for the New Play Control! version of Chibi Robo hit the Internet recently, as it is slated for a June 11 release in Japan. Thankfully, John Tanaka of IGN can read what is going on in the site, as he details here:

You can now point at items with the Wiimote. Once pointed to, items release unique sounds… some areas of the game use waggle controls. You use the Wiimote to control Chibi’s various tools…You also toss the Wiimote like a ball in order to make Chibi throw stuff into a trashcan…Finally, the game uses pointer controls for camera movement.

I think the addition of sounds for items you point to should be a fun feature, as far as adding to the quirkiness of the game goes; there were some entertaining sound effects in the title already, so more of that is good by me. Waggle controls, as long as they are intuitive and not overused, should at worst act as a fair substitute for your standard controller. The camera control may be my favorite aspect though, as anything that moves away from analog sticks and more towards a keyboard/mouse feel is good by me.

It hurts a little to say that this is not yet scheduled for a North American release-and that’s speaking as someone who has the GameCube version of this on his shelf. Chibi Robo was a charming game for the GameCube that (unfairly) did not sell many units; this is the kind of game I expected to see on the New Play Control! line, given how little exposure it received despite its high quality gameplay. Hopefully, with the larger install base, budget price, and enhanced features (don’t forget the 16:9 widescreen!) more people will notice it this time around, and developer Skip (who also has worked on the recent Art Style games for WiiWare and DSiWare, as well as the Japan-only Captain Rainbow) will get the kudos they deserve from home console owners. For now though, let’s just hope it comes stateside so we get a chance to see whether it’s improved or not over the original.

[Ed. Note] The screens below are from the GameCube version of the game, not the upcoming re-release.

Nintendo, in its infinite wisdom, took one step closer to total world domination today.‚  Okay, well maybe not, but certainly held their solid ground in what looked to be a testy patent violation case involving the big N as well as Microsoft and Sony.

Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court in Tyler, Texas, dismissed the case on Monday, and ruled that a jury trial would not be necessary.

Fenner Investments Ltd originally brought the case to court alleging the Wii console and its controllers as well as the GameCube infringed upon one of its patents.‚  Clearly, Fenner was dead wrong in its assumptions and Nintendo can chalk up another one for the good guys.

“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” said Rick Flamm, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President, Legal & General Counsel. “Nintendo has a long history of developing innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others. We also vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party’s patent, despite the risks that this policy entails. I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the tireless efforts of our legal team, which represented us so well.”

Despite being the console at the center of a very creative period in Nintendo’s long history, the GameCube did not, sales wise, permeate the mainstream in the same way that Sony’s Playstation 2 did. There are plenty of classics on the system that many gamers have never played nor heard of thanks to these sales figures, but now with the Wii climbing ever farther ahead in this generation’s console war, Nintendo decided to (re)introduce these titles, at a budget price and with a few upgrades to make them worthwhile for gamers who have experienced them in the past in their original form.

One of the first of these is Pikmin, a real-time strategy game that released early in the GameCube’s life-cycle and eventually saw a sequel. The brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto, Pikmin was created based on Miyamoto’s daydreams in his own garden (while our daydreams involve skipping out on work or imagining that the pretty waitress is actually interested in us, Miyamoto daydreams million sellers. If only, huh?).

The game revolves around Captain Olimar, who has crash-landed on a strange, alien planet. The air is full of poisonous oxygen, so Olimar has just 30 days to collect his ship’s missing parts and escape before the unimaginable happens to the adorable space pilot.

Olimar stumbles upon an “Onion”, which sprouts a small bud. When he plucks the bud from the ground, a red creature, which he names a Pikmin thanks to its resemblance to a food on his home world, appears. Olimar goes about learning just what the Pikmin can do, and begins to sprout more of these creatures by feeding the onion certain objects and fallen creatures from the environment. You eventually discover two other colors of Pikmin (yellow and blue) and have to use them to fend off enemy creatures, explore further into each region, and eventually discover all of your ship’s parts to Olimar can head back home before time runs out.

Each Pikmin type has different abilities. Red ones are the best fighters, and they are also impervious to fire. Yellow ones jump very high, and can also use powerful bombs on both walls and enemies. The Blue Pikmin have gills, and therefore can breathe underwater, and are also capable of saving your other Pikmin from drowning. In addition, there are three stages to each Pikmin as well. When they are first planted, they have a leaf on their heads, and are basic Pikmin. Either by staying in the ground for a certain amount of time or by acquiring yellow nectar upgrades hidden in the grass and held by certain enemies, your leaf Pikmin can upgrade to have a bud or a flower on their heads. Those with buds and flowers move faster and attack more powerfully than the lower level Pikmin, and will be the first ones jettisoned from their respective Onions at your base when you call for them.

The controls are incredibly simple now that you have use of the Wii Remote. This is a real-time strategy game after all, and there’s a reason those are most effective on the PC rather than on a console with a standard controller. The IR pointer acts in place of a mouse in this updated version of the game, and it does the job well. You can control your army of Pikmin with a speed you could not attain on the standard controller, and you can also aim much more effectively with your throws of the creatures than you could before, making battling more effective and efficient.

You point at the screen with the Wii Remote and press A to throw your Pikmin there. You can wrangle them up with the B button (and at a further range than in the original version of the game, thanks to the IR function of the Wii Remote). Pressing Z will realign the camera, but you can also rotate it like you would on a PC by combining the Z button with the pointer functions of the Wii Remote, giving you a thorough and fast view of the area around you at any time. Disperse your Pikmin into separate groups with the C button, change the camera (there are three separate views: the normal view as well as both zoomed in and zoomed out versions) with the left and right buttons on the Directional Pad, and manually direct your Pikmin in a line with down on the D-pad while pressing C on the Nunchuk.

This review originally appeared on Reviewcenter.com in 2002.

An evil force by the name of “Spooky” has been unleashed by those dastardly ghosts and it’s up to everyone’s favorite pepperoni-slice shaped yellow hero to make sure Pac-World is rid of this ancient evil.

The objective of the game is to collect various “Gold Fruits” Once you collect them all you will be able to do away with Spooky by ways of sealing him in a…er…tree. Ok, so the storyline isn’t that great, but c’mon, this is PacMan we’re talking about here; PacMan don’t need no stinking storyline.

Munching power-pellets and chomping ghosts is what PacMan is all about. How, you ask, was this simple concept used to create a wildly entertaining 3D platform game? With a little help from our good friend innovation. This arcade-turned-platform game borrows from a few different game designs and successfully integrates them all into one solid, respectable title.

PacMan World 2 feels like it was influenced from games like Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario World, Sonic Adventure, Klonoa and even Super Monkey Ball. What is surprising is that Namco was able to extract all the fundamentally entertaining aspects of these games without botching the project along the way. Not to say that Namco has a tendency to churn out poorly executed titles, but even the most respected companies sometimes set they’re sights a little too high — State of Emergency and Ehrgeiz for example. The only detrimental thing that this game has inherited from its predecessors is the sometimes in-the-way camera issues.

Every stage comes complete with a uniquely animated and entertaining loading screen, although it hardly seems necessary since the loading times are practically non-existent. But it does go to show that Namco’s development team did not at any time rest on their laurels, so to speak, during the creation of this game. While the visuals are fundamentally simple, the series basic design looks appropriately evolved on the current hardware that it runs on. Which is to say that PacMan is incredibly cool looking.

Real-time rendering is colorful, well animated, and boasts some impressive visual techniques on top of its already sweet looking cartoon graphics. Every atmospheric element that the game offers is equally good looking, the visual quality is consistent all the way through. There is not much in the way of cut-scenes, outside of the cool looking opening cinema there are only a few instances where dialog transpires.

In some respects the game’s sound is blissfully retro, at times using the same exact sound effects found in the arcade original. Music consists of around 20 original musical scores, which effectively give an added sense of immersion into the game’s beautifully rendered universe. Each track was specifically composed to compliment the stage that they appear in. The Haunted Boardwalk level sports spooky Halloween-like music while the stage “Volcanic Panic” includes tribal-influenced tunes. Namco did a great job in the sound department.

PacMan World 2 is an adventure game complete with a Super Mario Bros 3 type world map. The in-game play control style is fully 3D but is also similar to SMB3 in the sense that it offers top-notch, well thought out, running-and-jumping dynamics. What keeps this game from being in the same league as the classics however is its unbalanced difficulty and short life span. For how well the game looks, it is pleasantly surprising to find gameplay that is equally appealing. PW2′s nagging camera issues are somewhat diminished by the fact that the game actually lets you know when the camera is only partly functional or completely inoperable, by means of an on-screen notification.

PacMan is equipped with a few cool maneuvers to assist him on the journey, like the ‘Butt Bounce’ which launches Pac into the air like a super-ball, and the ‘Rev Roll’ that propels him forward — not unlike Sonic’s dash ability. He also has a flip kick that you can perform by pressing the B button while you are in the air, although this particular move is rarely required and seems like it was thrown in as an afterthought. PacMan will run, jump, scale ledges, and tiptoe across rope-thin bridges Monkey Ball-style. PacMan World 2 is about far more then just running around and jumping, you’ll don a pair of ice-skates and be set loose down a steep, winding mountain of ice while avoiding hazards and collecting items, equip a pair of flippers and get down with some aquatic action, and even pilot a PacMan shaped submarine. Namco has really put PacMan through his paces in this title, pitting the little yellow sphere in situations that Lara Croft would think twice about.

There is an arcade on the first stage that you can go back to at any time. In the arcade you will find a slew of emulated PacMan iterations of the past. The roster reads like this; PacMan, Ms. PacMan, PacMania, PacAttack, and a custom PacMan World 2 Maze game. An entire collection of fun games is at your disposal, assuming you have collected enough ‘Tokens’. Tokens are strewn throughout each stage, and as you collect them more Pac-Man games will be unlocked. This adds considerably to the replayability of Pa-Man World 2, as you will inevitably go back to previous levels to collect more tokens.

It’s quite apparent at first glance that this game is wicked enjoyable. PacMan World: 20th Anniversary was a great platforming game for the PSX and was somewhat overlooked in its time, hopefully this game will not suffer from the same fate. Assuming your down with platformers, you’ll be thoroughly entertained from beginning to end.

This brings me to my next point; the time it actually takes to get to the end is far too short. Expect to complete the game in around six hours. But I am not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, what is there is fun — and fun is fun. The included arcade mini-games just sweeten the deal. PacMan World 2 exonerates PacMan from the horribly disappointing PacLand games and the freakishly wrong cartoon on which the game was loosely based. If solid, entertaining, platforming action floats your boat, you would be well advised to pick this title up.

Quick hits:

Publisher: Namco
Developer: Namco
Platform: PS2, Gamecube
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
Launch Date: March 13, 2002

Playability: 4 out of 5 stars
User friendly: 5 out of 5 stars
Support: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: 4 out of 5 stars
Graphics: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Ratings were determined in 2002