A great mix of old and new, while fun, is sure to leave fans wanting.
I cut my teeth on the original Metroid for the NES when it was released back in the 80's and I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much I remember mapping out every screen on several large drafting sheets of grid paper. This was of course prior to the days of gaming guides.
When Super Metroid came out it blew the original away in every aspect except one: it was much easier. This is a trend I think a lot of people have noticed though. My recollection of the difficulty of games from the 80's is much different than now. Games back then were ball-busters. I downloaded several old school games onto my Wii for nostalgic reasons; games like The Legend of Zelda (NES), Ninja Gaiden (NES) and of course Metroid (NES). I couldn't believe how much I struggled with these games!
I'm sure some of my disinterest in these classics is due to the graphics but I was floored at how quickly I died each time I tried to replay Metroid. This was a game I had previously mastered! I had all items back when there was no internet to get help. I literally had to figure it out on my own. I couldn't get past the first few rooms before dying. This quickly lead me to lose interest and I haven't picked it up since. In this regard, I'm glad games aren't the time sink they used to be.
This leads me to my first point of contention about Metroid: Other M. It was way too easy. And I mean easy! If you're health gets too low you can simply hold the remote vertically and hold the A button for about 5 seconds and you'll regain a bunch of health. You can do the same to refill your missile supply. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand it's nice to not have to grind enemies to get missiles and health. Believe me, this was a major drag when trying to replay the original Metroid, however, it kind of took some of the challenge out of Other M. In the end it let me focus on the game rather than the grind, which helped the game flow. So I have to say well done!
The sidescrolling 3D movement works very well. I rarely had problems maneuvering around and the system's auto-aim worked great and again I think this sped the game up. It let me focus on playing through the level rather than grinding against the enemies. I actually really enjoyed this aspect.
The concept of pointing the remote at the screen to enter 1st person view was tricky to get comfortable with at first but after a while it became second nature. You can only fire missiles while in 1st person view, so during boss fights you'll have to be quick with your remote. While definitely a little clunky it wasn't as bad as I thought once I got used to it.
Another major change is the prevalence of cutscenes in this story. The Japanese influence really bleeds through in the art design and dialogue. That is to say it was a little over the top or cheesy. Overall it was a nice if not meaningless insight into Samus' persona.
When playing Metroid and Super Metroid, part of the challenge, and consequently part of the drive to continue on, was finding upgrades and hidden items. In Other M Samus starts with her weapons and chooses not to use them unless her superior officer authorizes it. It's a different take on the "lose all your items you gained in previous titles just to find them again," but I think after playing through the game I preferred the satisfaction of obtaining a weapon upgrade after defeating a boss. What do you get now if you defeat a boss in Other M? You get a door unlocked so you can continue the game. Ok, that's nice but where's my goodies?
Another point of contention is that all the special items, like extra energy tanks and missiles are shown on your map and it's just up to you to figure out how to get to them. Do you look for a little hole or drop a power bomb or have your super missiles been authorized yet? I know it's in the room but how do I get to it?
Some of them were pretty tricky to find. I only found 56% of the items during my initial run but the game is designed to send you back in after you beat the game to find the rest of the items. That's a double edged sword though.
After you beat the game there is a reason created in the story for you to return to the space station to "do something else." During this it's expected that you'll search the station to find all the items you missed. You don't have to but it's kind of obvious that's what you're supposed to do. In effect there's a little more game after you beat the game. In one regard that's really cool. But in the other regard I was able to beat the game with relatively half the missiles and a few energy tanks short. So why go back and get all these items if you don't need them to beat the game? Plus, there are no trophies or achievements for obtaining 100% of all the items. I still did it but now the game is done and I see little reason to go back to it.
Honestly I'd put in the Prime series before I ever played Other M again, and that's it's biggest downfall. It's really short (I think it took me 8 hours maybe) and there is no replay value once you obtain 100% of the items, which isn't too hard considering they are all mapped out for you!
Still, it was a blast and would be a great addition to any Wii collection, even if you never played any of the other Metroid games. Thanks! I can't wait for the next one.