Earlier today I finally beat Metroid Prime. So as usual, I bring you several long paragraphs on why you should or should not go run to your local video game store and see if you can find this moderately old Metroid game used.

The controls, like those of any Metroid game, are simple and easy to get used to. The only gripe I have with them is how to move the camera. You have to hold R and rotate the joystick, which means that you can't move while adjusting the camera. The C stick would have been much more convenient, and while the excuse is that the C stick is already used for switching beams, something could have been done to make both switching beams and visors possible with the D-Pad, while the C stick was devoted to camera movement.

The music wasn't obnoxious, but most of it wasn't very memorable. Still, it was always appropriate for the situation and added something to the atmosphere of the various areas of Tallon IV, the planet Samus explores in Metroid Prime.

The game wasn't exceedingly difficult (of course, I was playing on Easy Mode ), but there was the occasional boss that took a few tries to beat. The Omega Pirate, third-to-last, was probably the hardest boss in the game, and while the next two battles (Meta Ridley and Metroid Prime) were difficult, neither took more than four or five tries (while the Omega Pirate probably took twice that). Unfortunately lacking in the game was a lot of the head-bangingly confusing puzzles that I have come to love in a Metroid game.

The game's six areas (Tallon Overworld, Chozo Ruins, Magmoor Cavers, Phendrana Drifts, Phazon Mines and the Impact Crater) are all very diverse environments. The whole thing is uncannily similar to Mata Nui's six regions, which is a plus for anyone who followed the story back then. Of course, the orange Phazon-infested Impact Crater hardly represents a Bionicle element.

The game's story is pretty straightforward. Mostly it's advanced by fighting bosses and gaining upgrades, but much information can be gained by using your scan visor to read Space Pirate data or ancient Chozo texts. While both can give you interesting or useful information, the Space Pirate lore tends to be entertaining as well, such as the anecdote of what happened when Space Pirates tried to replicate Morph Ball technology or the urgings from Space Pirate Command not to feed the Metroids without authorization.

After beating the game once, Hard Mode is unlocked and then you can try to beat the game in Hard Mode and/or attempt to collect all energy tanks, missile expansions, power bomb expansions, and charge combos. Or you could challenge yourself to see how fast you can complete the game, or with how few upgrades you can complete the game. With a Metroid game, there's always plenty of replay value, and the same holds true for Metroid Prime. Apparently, it can even link to Metroid Fusion, and if you have a completed file on Metroid Prime, you can play as Fusion Suit Samus in Metroid Prime. (If you have a completed Metroid Fusion file, you can play the original Metroid, but that's not necessary if you have Zero Mission, in which you unlock the original Metroid after beating the game.)

While this game doesn't surpass Metroid Prime 3 as my favorite Metroid game, it's not a bad game at all and since you can probably find it used for as much as a Phantoka at your local video game store, I would definitely recommend it for any fan of the Metroid series. For those who haven't played the Metroid series but are interested in it, this would be a good game to become introduced to the series with.

Of course, my brother and I have already started Metroid Prime 2, and I'm beginning to like it better...