Never has there been a 2D to 3D transition so well executed and polished. Astonishing.
The game starts out on the Space Pirate Frigate Orpheon, whence Samus Aran has received a distress signal. When she arrives, she finds everything in disarray, bodies lie strewn over the ground and a generally destroyed environment. Then, after a fight with a Parasite Queen, a self-destruct countdown sequence starts and whilst escaping, she meets a cyborg Meta Ridley, who flies off towards a planet close by. Samus follows her arch-nemesis to Tallon IV, but finds herself later on in an adventure more important and dangerous than she had thought.
Most of the story is told through the varied objects Samus can scan with her special scan visor. Through scanning, bits and pieces of the story can be put together to form the story of both the environments you go to and the life forms you find. Overall, though, MP isn't a story-heavy game, relying rather on atmosphere than straight-out storytelling. In most games, that would be more of a fault. However, MP's gorgeous visuals, ambient sound and sublime design effortlessly tells a story of its own.
As mentioned, the graphics are absolutely stunning, and still hold up to the games of this generation. Sharp and clear visuals along with clever creature design and smooth animation makes MP a sight to see.
The music fits well with the environment, ranging from bizarre to calm to slightly unsettling. The sound effects are good as well, synchronized with what is going on around you. Just to clarify, there is little to no voice-acting in MP, though it generally doesn't matter at all.
To simplify, MP is an adventure/shooter, the emphasis being on adventure. The game world is huge, filled with beautiful scenery and various dangers. You have the standard power beam, and soon you obtain missiles and the morph ball. Even further on, you gain new beams, visors and weapons to play with. With all the stuff you'll be getting, it's very fortunate that the combat is easy to use and works very well. The bosses work on various mechanics in the game, and finding out how to beat them is one of the joys of MP.
Nothing is without fault, though. Going from one place to another can be a long and tiring process. Finding what to do next can also be hard at times, especially near the end where the same places will pop up repeatedly.
However, these faults are dismissable when the whole package is so good. Metroid Prime is a lengthy adventure that never grows old, and is a must-buy for any Gamecube owner. MP is a stunning adventure from start to finish
-calvinsora