If this were any sexier, I don't think I'd be able to handle it.

Metroid Prime could probably be considered my favorite gaming series. I've been playing games in the Metroid series since I was young, and when everything went all fancy and 3D with Prime, it worked so well that I absolutely fell in love with it -- Retro Studios did a fantastic job. When the third game came out, I was (and still am) convinced that I had been experiencing the best first-person control scheme of any game I had ever played. I owned all three Prime games prior to buying this collection, but knowing what it was I was getting, I couldn't resist.

I'm not going to review each and every game, just some of the differences and the entire package as a whole. I hope everyone has played the games by now -- If you haven't, here's your review of the series: DROP EVERYTHING AND PLAY ALL OF THEM. Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get to reviewing the Trilogy package.

Let's start with the package itself. It comes in a SteelBook case with some of the coolest artwork I've ever seen, and included inside is a fold-out artwork sheet which displays previously unseen concept art. Also on this sheet is a recap of the entire series' storyline, so you'll never be lost. If you reserved the game at GameStop, you get a poster (that's the header image above) and a t-shirt (probably XL) for free on top of the excellent standard package.



FIRST THE GOOD

When you start the game up, you'll be greeted with an amazingly detailed menu screen. Contrary to popular belief, you are not limited to just three saves altogether -- You have three main save files with a Mii assigned to each one, and then each of those main saves can hold one save per game. That gives you a total of three save slots for each game, not overall, so no worries about having too little space to play around with. The award system from the original release of Prime 3 is back, and it spans all three games collectively, meaning you're going to have to earn a lot of awards to start unlocking stuff. Overall, the games are pretty much identical to their original versions but with (in my opinion) superior aiming controls added in. If you've played Prime 3, then you know how to play the first two games in this compilation already. It's also interesting to note that this is only the second dual-layer DVD game on the Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl being the first. Good to know we're at least starting to move in that direction on this console.

NOW THE GRIPE

There's something about this collection that really gets to me. If you'll notice above, I said that the games are "pretty much" identical to their original versions. In fact, from what I can tell, Prime 2 and Prime 3 are identical. The first game, however, seemed to take a hit graphically. Nothing game-breaking or anything, but it's easy to tell that some of the detail has been sacrificed for some reason. Remember how in the original game, if you rapidly fired the Power Beam for around twenty seconds your gun would give off a heat effect because there was so much energy coming from it? Well, that heat effect isn't in the Wii version. I thought this would be the only difference, until I got the Ice Beam. Check out the screenshot below:



That's of the original GameCube version. Now look at this Wii screenshot:



Notice anything? That's right -- Ice doesn't surround your gun when you charge the Ice Beam in the Wii version of the game. Another thing missing is the cold fog that comes off of your gun when the Ice Beam is equipped. I'm a lover of detail, and it kind of bugs me that this stuff would be taken out. It detracts from the experience a bit in my eyes. It's not a huge deal, but you can definitely see it when something like that comes up.

So that's the gist of what you have to look forward to with this. If you have a Wii, you shouldn't even have to think about whether or not to buy the Trilogy -- Definitely spring for it. $50 is an absolute steal for what you're getting, and it is certainly on the level of The Orange Box in terms of how good of a deal it is. Even if you have the original copies, being able to play them again with the new control scheme and the universal award system is well worth the money.

On a scale of one-to-ten, I proudly give this game a 9. The games are absolutely amazing, and for the price you're paying, it's easily one of the best deals this year. But they really did take some of the magic away from the first one by removing some of the small, yet noticeable, details.