Messages

176

TalkBack / Re: Super Punch-Out!! Headed to Virtual Console Next Week

« on: March 26, 2009, 12:51:15 PM »

Not too shocking since the new one is coming out so soon.  Either way, it's a truly awesome game however, and I'm certain it will earn a Recommended for Everyone rating.  Of course, I still have the original so no need to buy it again for me!

177

TalkBack / Re: A Few Parting Shots

« on: March 25, 2009, 09:50:43 PM »

The thing is, there's no active management going on with the consoles (except the downloadable stuff).  I think of DRM as an "active" process.  The term came into existence to describe such processes, not to describe how you can't copy a GameCube or Wii disk.

178

TalkBack / Re: A Few Parting Shots

« on: March 25, 2009, 06:57:46 PM »

I can't play NES games on my microwave?  WTF

179

TalkBack / Re: A Few Parting Shots

« on: March 25, 2009, 02:39:19 PM »

Consoles have been the same since they were invented in terms of "DRM" and the word and concept didn't even exist in the 70's.  I'm just not willing to consider a game that only works on a single console and can't be (easily) copied a form of DRM.  If that's DRM, then it's acceptable DRM.  In any case, let's not argue semantics.

The thing, which I'm calling DRM is any kind of system whereby you need the permission of an external server to play the game.  That is the DRM that I do not want to see.  But of course, it will eventually be pervasive.

I don't care what it's called honestly, I just care about the functionality.

180

TalkBack / Re: A Few Parting Shots

« on: March 24, 2009, 10:57:24 AM »

Thanks for the well wishes, you to pap...

As to your parting thoughts, I'm sorry that you are not too keen on Wii fare outside of the Nintendo 'Big Three'. I am a bit surprised that between the 'February Three + Madworld' none are interesting to you. I guess that much of the selection isn't catering to your tastes.

To be fair, I own Madworld but haven't tried it yet.  Naturally more and more acceptable games are going to come as time goes on.

I agree that there is less time when you are older in life to finish long games. I prefer long games but I like it when they are broken up into manageable chunks. Metroid games take a bit for me to really get into them, I'll play them for a few days to a week in short bursts not really getting very far, but then something clicks and I tear through most the game in a day or two. A friend of mine said it well when he stated that Metroid games require a minimum play time of 30-minutes per 'gaming session'. When you are cramped for time you lose your ability to have those multi-hour/day gaming sessions and I think you begin to desire more succinct and satisfying content for your gaming dollar.

For a game as awesome as Metroid Prime, I make the time.  Basically, I just forget about my social obligations and geek out for a few days.  But I'm not going to do that for mediocre games, or even "great" games that I don't personally find compelling (GTAIV).  The last two games I forced myself to play through where MGS4 and Dead Space.  I enjoyed Dead Space far more of the two (and far more than RE5 incidentally; the game doesn't hold a candle to 4 and I'm sick to death of third-world war-torn country settings since playing MGS4).

I think that in some cases we will see games with a 2D gameplay using 3D models  similar to New Super Mario Brothers. This then begs the question; which matters more, 2D graphics or 2D gameplay?

2D gameplay generally is what's really important, however there is always something a little floaty about 2D games with 3D graphics.  The increased detail of the animation forces the designers to add these realistic start-up phases to the animation.  Also, the 3D graphics make it harder to spot little details.  A great compromise is cell shaded 2D/3D as in Viewtiful Joe.  I'd like to see more like that.  What I'd really like to keep seeing is honest 2D artwork.  We will for now.

181

TalkBack / Re: A Few Parting Shots

« on: March 24, 2009, 02:03:57 AM »

Consoles are big DRM boxes.  Their software is locked to that hardware, how is that not DRM?

The *really* bad DRM is the one where you have to go online to the companies server to validate your game which doesn't even have an online component (Half-Life 2 single player being the oldest notable example).  That sucks.  That's what I had in mind when I wrote that part of the blog.  If the company bites the dust, your game is now worthless.  You don't own it at all.  You own the right to play it as long as the company exists.

With an old nes game, you own the right to play it as long as you can find working hardware that is compatible.  That's a huge difference.

182

TalkBack / Re: A Few Parting Shots

« on: March 23, 2009, 09:34:18 PM »

How are consoles effectively DRM?  That makes no sense.  A console is a fixed hardware platform (unlike the PC), but that isn't not an onerous restriction.  If my original NES breaks today, I can buy a new one, or even a third party knock-off that does a decent job of imitating an NES.  That is nothing Half-Life 2 (on the PC) in which the install files are encrypted and unplayable until Valve's server unlocks them.

Dunno, as this generation goes on I've been noticing my patience for storylines and other filler like that dropping steadily. The stories you find in games would feel inadequate even in a B-movie and it seems they're taking more and more time for cutscenes and stuff like that.

There are a few worthwhile story lines and story presentations in games.  The ones that are brief, the ones that use few words and the few that are well scripted and acted.  Eternal Darkness was pretty good for example, while scenes in Metal Gear Solid 4 excessively long and can't hold a candle to the real movies they're trying so hard to live up to.

Well, HD by itself doesn't mean increased costs, the PC ports of N64 games usually support any resolution you throw at them and I doubt that cost ext.

This is true, and I would appreciate it if even the Wii were presented in HD without any other bump in the graphics.  I'll go on record saying that the next Wii better have a massively upgraded controller if the graphics aren't going to be bumped to at least 360/PS3 quality.

[Wii Don't Play]

183

TalkBack / A Few Parting Shots

« on: March 23, 2009, 08:30:34 AM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=18009

 

Just as Justin Nation and Rick Powers are (sorta) getting back on board, I'm afraid I have to take my leave of NWR.  The short story is that I was already busy with school and other projects when I suddenly stumbled into an excellent full-time job.  It's not that I have no time at all, but I need to use my time very carefully.    

I was going to use this blog as a last chance to reminisce, but the 10 Year Anniversary special already gave me a chance to do that.  Instead, I'll take this opportunity to get a few things off my chest before I go.  I mostly just want to say what I think about the current state of gaming.  I'm not passing judgment on any console manufacturer; they each have a business to run and must do what they think is best for their bottom line.  Good luck to them all.  As far as I'm concerned, the more games being made, the greater chance I'll find something that I can enjoy.  With that said, let's get started.    

Wii Don't Play    

I barely play the Wii lately.  I'm not bitter (not too bitter anyway), but I'm just not that interested in the games that have been coming out.  Predictably, my Wii favorites are Zelda, Metroid, and Mario Galaxy.  Even though I prefer standard controls, these games were undeniably great and I enjoyed them quite a bit.  Unfortunately, it seems like there are no other games on the Wii with their kind of scope and quality, and nothing on the way either.    

Interestingly, a look at the GameCube library shows that we're really not much worse off now than we were then.  The main shortcomings are due to the lack of quality second and third-party contributions (there are a few ports of great games such as Resident Evil 4 and Okami, but really nothing new aside from Sega’s offerings).  You would think that Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft and others would be dying to cash in on the Wii market by making exceptional games that stand above the riff-raff.  Who knows, maybe they're working on some now and we'll see them at E3 later this year.  If not, then I think we need to be really careful what kind of games we buy.  We don't want to encourage mediocrity just because there's nothing better available.    

Nintendo, at least, will remain right on track as long as we assume they have a few secrets up their sleeve in addition to Sin and Punishment 2 and whatever Retro is working on.  Punch Out!! could be great as well, but I must admit I'm worried that it's going to end up playing more like "My First Punch Out!!" (i.e. due to the motion controls being less tight than buttons, and the target audience perceived as being less skilled, the difficulty may be cut drastically).  Let's hope I'm wrong about Punch Out!!, because that's one franchise that has been dying for a good sequel.    

Don't Touch My DS!    

I think I have even less interest in stylus control than motion control.  It's alright when the stylus is on the screen where the action isn't (Metroid Prime Hunters), but I really don't like drawing paths for Link to follow or tapping on enemies to kill them (Ninja Gaiden).  Thankfully developers haven't shied from making games that have little or no touch control in them, and I love having the second screen around despite what it was primarily designed for.      

What I really like about the DS is that it continues to foster the development of great 2D games in the classic mold.  However, I fear for the future.  As the years go by and hardware can accomplish 3D more easily, people who enjoy 2D games could become increasingly marginalized as their numbers dwindle.  Eventually the audience for 2D games may not be big enough.  We'll have to continually introduce new gamers to classic 2D games if they're going to stick around.  If I could freeze the portable market in its current state I'd do it in a heartbeat.    

Downloadable Content    

On the other hand, as downloadable games become more prevalent, maybe tiny niches can be effectively targeted after all.  Mega Man 9 is a fantastic example.  World of Goo is another.  Then there are games like Portal and Braid on other platforms.  Experts are predicting that all games will be downloadable eventually.  I'm sure they're right, although I'm not happy about it.  A twenty dollar game is one thing, but something seems wrong about paying sixty dollars and not having your game accessible via a relatively permanent and portable medium that you control (i.e. a cartridge or disk with no DRM).    

The Competition    

I own a lot of 360 and PS3 games.  I buy them, bring them home, open them, play them for a few minutes, and then forget about them.  I want HD graphics, epic stories, and deep gameplay, but the truth is that most developers just can't do it like Nintendo does (excluding the HD part, for the moment).  I'm exaggerating a little, a little, of course;  I probably do play half of the 360 and PS3 games I buy, but usually it seems like something isn't right.  Nintendo's failure to get on board the HD train has left a big void in my gaming world.    

Now What?    

I assume Nintendo will go HD with the Wii 2, but there is still the problem of ever-increasing development costs to consider.  There are a lot of ways to cut development costs.  One of the best ways is to share technology.  The Unreal Engine is a great example of this; now if only developers would hire artists that can think in terms other than excessive bump-mapping.  Staying a generation behind the tech-curve is also a great way to control costs.  All the tools you need will have already been developed for and by the other guys five years earlier, and will be available at a discount.  If the next Wii is a step behind the tech curve again, then third parties will continue to line Nintendo's pockets if only because it is the least expensive platform to develop for (excepting handhelds, but Nintendo’s pockets will continue to be lined by that segment as well).  Another great way to keep costs down is to make games shorter.  I can't speak for everyone, but my time has become increasingly valuable to me as I've grown older, so I really don't mind when a game ends in a timely manner.    

Speaking of ending in a timely manner, I’d better not overstay my welcome.  It's been a swell seven years.  Perhaps someday I'll come back again as others have, but I have my doubts.  Of course, this isn't a complete good-bye.  I'm sure I'll continue haunting Talkback threads here and there, starting with the one for this very blog.  See you in the forums!

184

TalkBack / Re: A Decade of PGC/NWR: 2005

« on: March 18, 2009, 08:05:29 PM »

halberd, I would strongly argue that merely changing the view point and allowing for precise aiming drastically changed the feel and gameplay of resident evil 4 compared to the rest of the series.  it is totally accurate to call it a new control scheme.  that the old school turn and move mechanic was retained within it practically increases its brilliance (although as RE5 makes clear, they obviously had to design enemies in such a way that the limitations of the controls wouldn't bother the player... much as they did in Goldeneye and PD on the N64).

185

TalkBack / Re: A Decade of PGC/NWR: 2004

« on: March 17, 2009, 12:05:31 PM »

For some weird reason Pikmin 2 failed to truly captivate me. It should have because its by far the best game in the whole series.

Same thing happened to me.  I loved the first one to death, but somehow the second game just didn't grab me.  Maybe I'll try it again some time.  I've played the first one through twice.

186

TalkBack / Re: A Decade of PGC/NWR: 2002

« on: March 12, 2009, 07:30:11 PM »

Have to agree with the people giving some love to Mario Sunshine.

Count me in.  I've never even played the American version through to the end thanks to the import extravaganza mentioned above, but I really did enjoy the game.  There might have been a few bad spots, but they were worth stomaching.

Someday I'm going to replay it.  I think I'm more fond of it than Galaxy.

Metroid Prime was the first game in a good while that gave me that 'giddy gamers joy' when I was playing it. Kind of like the feeling you get when you first play a new console or a revolutionary game. The last game before Prime was probably Super Mario 64 for me. Maybe Star Fox 64 with the rumble pack.

I was going through a religious phase when Prime was released.  It's hard to explain, but at that moment I was getting pretty serious about God.  So I'm playing Metroid Prime, locked in my room with the lights off, and my little brother (age 20) comes in and tries to get me to go to church...   I don't remember what words were spoken, but I know I that I wasn't about to stop playing Prime just to go to church.  Prime was lack crack for me.  It felt like God himself came down and designed a game just for me.  No wonder I didn't want to go to church.

187

TalkBack / Re: A Decade of PGC/NWR: 2000

« on: March 10, 2009, 03:54:20 PM »

For my part, I liked the Goldeneye and Perfect Dark controls the same way I like the controls in Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4.  Yes they're weird and technically limited compared to modern games, but they had a unique feel that worked for the game.  That said, they definitely needed to be put to rest.  I also love the mission structure of GE and PD.

You want to play a game with truly terrible controls today, try Doom 64.  I can still play Doom on the PC (and playing co-op Doom is still tons of fun imo).

188

TalkBack / Re: A Decade of PGC/NWR: 2000

« on: March 10, 2009, 03:37:12 AM »

There's an overclock mod you can do with the N64 to make the framerate super-smooth, but it is far from easy. I ruined one of my N64 systems attempting it...

That's really interesting.  Seems like it would be a pretty simple feature to emulate.

Well, unofficial emulators definitely bump framerates and resolutions with very few issues.  whether or not this can be done while keeping up with Nintendo's quality standards and staying true to the original games is another story... but I've always wondered why it couldn't be an option (much like the PS2 offers compatibility mode for old games, but also a mode with smoothed textures).

You'd also think that it would be easy to make it so that old games on the VC didn't have the same performance issues but that sadly doesn't happen.

Apparently it depends on how the game was programmed. I don't really know much about the technical aspect, but basically, with the overclock mod, certain games would simply run at 1.5 times the speed; Smash Brothers is one example. Such games would probably need to be reprogrammed to run at better framerates on improved hardware, but something like Perfect Dark should actually run smoothly on an emulator without modification to the game's coding.

In fact, if you play a Perfect Dark ROM on a PC emulator, it runs smoothly. I do not endorse this of course.

Old 2D games were designed such that the game logic was coded on a frame to frame basis (the console was going to output 30 frames a second no matter what).  If anything gummed up the process, the entire game slowed down.  In later 3D systems, game logic was generally tied to a real-time clock and if anything gummed up the works, the game-logic trucked on while frames were skipped (resulting in the variable framerates that characterize most 3D games).  Technically slow-down is possible in 3D games and frame skipping is possible in 2D games despite the conventions.

In fact, Zelda OoT usually slows down in the water temple as an example.  This was unusual.  Most 3D games, such as Turok 2, suffer from inconsistent framerates rather than slow down.

189

TalkBack / Re: Happy 10th Birthday, Nintendo World Report!

« on: March 07, 2009, 05:24:06 PM »

I want to know some of the staff's stories.

I got on the staff back in 2001 by making these size comparison pictures:  http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=5154

At the time, Microsoft had not released the official dimensions of the Xbox so it was hard to tell exactly how big it would be.  I used the size of the dvd tray as a way to pin point the size of the xbox and scaled the pictures accordingly.  The rough estimate of size turned out to be pretty close.  The PS2 was a little too big however.

Max Lake wanted to post the shots, and a little afterwards Jonathan Metts suggested that I might want to join the staff.  So I asked Billy, he said yes and the rest is history.

At least it went something like that.  My memory is getting a little fuzzy on the details for something that occured so long ago.

190

TalkBack / Re: A Boy and His Blob are Back

« on: March 05, 2009, 05:18:36 PM »

Basically, the studio does great art -- I'm sure we can all agree on that.  But the three games of theirs that I've played were all disappointing/crap to various degrees.  Ping Pals is worthless junk, obviously.  Sigma Star Saga took a great idea and fumbled the execution in more ways than I can count.  And Contra 4 is basically a level pack for Contra 3, except even harder.  It has no new ideas and shows basically no gameplay progress since the early 90s.  I'm just not nostalgic enough about Contra to accept more of the same from fifteen years ago.  I bought a copy on the recommendation of many friends, but traded it in after a couple of weeks because I wasn't enjoying it at all.

If Contra 3 seems easier, it's only because you're more familiar with it (or else you haven't played it in a while and have forgotten how hard it actually is).  Compare the hard mode in each game and I don't think you will find 4 any more difficult than 3.  If the normal mode is a touch harder, it's probably good considering that it is a sequel aimed mostly at fans of the series.

And I think it's unfair to call 4 a Contra 3 level pack.  It borrows ideas from all over the series and specifically tosses several elements from Contra 3 that were not great ideas.  You don't start out with the machine gun as you do in 3, the murder everything on the screen bombs are gone, and the silly mode7 levels are also gone.  They kept the switchable weapons (adding upgradable weapons from Super C) and replaced the overhead levels with over-the-shoulder levels from Contra 1.  The hand rails are from 3, but the associated gameplay is changed because the grappling hook attaches to them.  They made excellent use of the dual screens as well, which was entirely uncharted territory for the series (and not very well charted for any 2D shooters really).

My biggest complaint about Contra 4 is that it's a little buggy (nothing major, but it's noticeable here and there).

My worries about Blob are that it's probably a more difficult game design to build on.  The original was flawed in many ways and doesn't hold up today nearly as well as Contra (so they will need more fundamental innovations to fix it and make the new game really compelling relative to today's games).  As an action/adventure/platformer/puzzler, Blob's most direct competition will be the critically acclaimed Braid.  The great thing about Braid was that it didn't make you do the same things over and over again.  That works in an action game, but sucks in a puzzle game.

191

TalkBack / Re: A Boy and His Blob are Back

« on: March 05, 2009, 04:12:43 PM »

I own the NES game but never could figure out what in the world you're supposed to do in it. There's too much trial and error in it for me as you have to keep giving each type of jelly bean to the blob to figure out what they all do and how to use them. Add to that the limited amount of beans, and, well, I don't have the patience for a game like that anymore.

This could turn out interesting however. If you're given more direction and explanation of each bean's transformation, it would be a lot easier to get into the game.

The limited amount of beans was one of the larger problems in the original.  With unlimited beans, you could have seen the various things that each bean did without issue.  In the new game (look at the videos on IGN) you can see that you have a radial jellybean select menu which shows a preview of the transformation the bean will cause.

192

TalkBack / Re: Punch-Out!! to Support Classic Control

« on: March 03, 2009, 08:58:33 PM »

It's a remake, but it's supposed to have new boxers in addition to the old.  I'm sure the returning boxers won't twitch exactly the same.  For example, the boxers that are common to Punch Out and Super Punch Out behave differently in each game (they're generally easier in Super Punch Out, but imo they are less cheap).

This is a good sign I think.  It sounds to me like you'll essentially fling your arms to simulate the A and B button presses, but hold the analog stick in a certain direction when you need to throw a hook (you could hook your arm, but won't have to rely on dodgy motion controls to determine whether you hooked or jabbed).

Hopefully the fact that both are present means that the motion control can keep up with button presses well enough that they didn't have to slow the game down (assuming they didn't do it already because of the mob of casual Wii owners).

193

TalkBack / Re: Iwata Asks: DSi

« on: February 27, 2009, 12:15:34 PM »

Bigger screens and a better DAC for higher sound quality?  Count me in!  I could care less about cameras and calculators.

194

TalkBack / Re: Dead Space to Support Wii Motion Plus

« on: February 27, 2009, 11:48:22 AM »

If this was more like S&P where you had a visible character on the screen, that would definitely be better than a typical rail shooter and leave some room for innovation.  Have they said anything about a two player co-op mode?  You can't have a rail shooter without that (besides it's so inexpensive to implement).

195

TalkBack / Re: IMPRESSIONS: Wii de Asobu Metroid Prime

« on: February 27, 2009, 11:45:49 AM »

Well, I consider the Prime series the king of immersive games, and those silly awards detract from the immersion.  As long as you can disable them, it's all good.

196

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Unveils New Classic Controller, the Classic Pro

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:35:36 PM »

Actually that's a very real possibility.  Most DC games didn't fill up the GD-ROM, and elements like movies and music can always be compressed.  If Hudson can do it with TurboCD, I'm sure there's a subset of Dreamcast games that could be mashed into a Virtual Console packet.  The emulation wouldn't be dramatically more intensive than N64.

Ah, actually I have to disagree.  If the Wii could emulate a Dreamcast, it would be a very close thing.  I'm not at all certain that it could be done.  It would have to be a very efficient emulator.

197

TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: Rygar: The Battle of Argus

« on: February 26, 2009, 06:20:53 PM »

Dunno, I kinda liked the game on the PS2 though I got stuck at the boss fight with Icarus (in the sky above some island). Can't say I've really noticed improvements to the genre in GoW (except for the tedious and repetitive quick time event finishers) but maybe that's because I don't like melee combat in any game and will always spam the one combo I can actually remember.

The only 3rd person action game whose melee combat I have ever enjoyed is Castlevania LoI.  It's not that it's so great, but it's relatively simple and I find the music entertaining when the game is not.  I can't say the same for its sequel which had crap music, larger (yet still bland) environments and a very poorly designed level layout (making the required backtracking extremely tedious).

198

TalkBack / Re: Resident Evil 5 Skipped Wii Due to Developer Ambitions

« on: February 26, 2009, 04:52:35 PM »

Ultimate problem?  Actually, this is really the only problem with the Wii.  However, if Nintendo hadn't chosen this route, the Wii would almost certainly be no more successful than the GameCube was (marginally more successful at best).

I disagree.  The PS3 was a complete disaster at first.  Nintendo could likely have beaten Sony by merely being competent.  I think Wii Sports has enough of a mainstream hook with the real-time racket swinging and such that Nintendo could still have sold buttloads of hardware with it at a higher price point.  iPods are really expensive for example and yet sell like hotcakes because they're got that "it" factor that people just love and thus cost no longer becomes a concern.  The Wii could have cost as much as the Xbox 360 and I think it still could have had near identical success due to the widespread appeal of Wii Sports.  The Wii has "it" and it isn't because it's cheap.  People had to wait up to a year to find one in stores.  The demand was such that it could have cost a good $100 more and I think it would have been fine.

Now that the Wii is the unquestionable market leader, publishers will start forcing their developers to make Wii games.

I assumed this too but the Wii has been the market leader for quite a while now.  We got Dragon Quest X and that Monster Hunter game that gets lousy review scores and no one in America ever gave a **** about before it was announced to the Wii but we still get bull**** like that Dead Space spin-off rail shooter crap.  I think if we were going to see a real improvement, like PS2 level support which we SHOULD have, it would have happened already.  The "well no one assumed the Wii would be so huge" argument no longer makes sense.  Now third parties like Capcom here are looking for excuse to not support the Wii.  Well there has to be some reason for that.  That's why I assume it will never change because it's taken WAY too long.

The problem is that Nintendo couldn't predict that it would be popular enough to sell at a higher price.  And you can't predict that it would definitely have been just as well off at a higher price because it turned out to be in such high demand.  Part of the high demand was no doubt due to the lower price

You may be right about the third parties to an extent.  The problem is that a large part of Wii's customer base are non-savvy consumers who will buy anything.  They're not checking the magazines and websites nearly as religiously as the PS3 and 360 fan base.  However, a percentage is, and that percentage has the power to lead the non-savvy consumers into better purchasing decisions.  This just means that the Wii needs a higher customers base than a normal platform before third parties feel comfortable.  I think that time has come and you will start to see the games flow.  However, they need to finish being developed first.

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TalkBack / Re: IMPRESSIONS: Wii de Asobu Metroid Prime

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:51:26 PM »

I also didn't like the little awards in Prime 3.  It's bad enough I have to suffer through that crap on the PS3 and 360.  I think you could switch them off at least (I think).

200

TalkBack / Re: IMPRESSIONS: Wii de Asobu Metroid Prime

« on: February 26, 2009, 10:40:51 AM »

That point was more to explain why people who prefer the first feel that way, it wasn't meant to imply that everyone prefers the first. There's still individual gaming tastes to factor into the equation.

I believe the artifact hunt exists because the game was a little rushed at the end of development. Sadly it was a reoccurring trend in many GameCube games.

Heh, I figured the artifact hunt was good because it also gave you a chance to hunt down extra energy tanks and missiles and take another tour of the game's fantastic locations.  I went on to replay the game on hard mode, scanning everything.  A year later I lost my memory card and did it all over again (both difficulty modes) and enjoyed every minute of it.

Let me be more explicit here:

Metroid Prime: 100 out of 100
Metroid Prime 2: 97 out of 100
Metroid Prime 3: 90 out of 100

I knock a few points off of 2 because I never was a huge fan of light world/dark world gameplay.  Metroid Prime was still excellent, but if you want to talk about tedium forget the fetch quest at the end of 1, every foray into the drab dark world was tedium compared to the original game.  2 also has that lazy circular layout to the game world.  The random looking layout of 1 was much more interesting.  Not to mention awesome touches like finding the crashed orbiting space station on the ground and reading about Metroid Prime several times before encountering him.  I'm sorry, but MP1 the superior game in almost every way imo.  It's not just because I played it first.

The main thing I don't like about Metroid Prime 3 is the character interaction and the lack of good scanning.  In Prime 1 and 2, you could find interesting details about the game world (that were totally pointless) by scanning things.  The amount of this information decreased dramatically in 3.  As for characters, I could have lived with most of them but the Admiral (or whatever he was) was highly annoying.  I also prefer the traditional control (I admit that may be because I tried it first).