GameCube's 'Metroid Prime' thrills

When I first looked at the early screenshots of Metroid Prime _ Nintendo's new release _ I became doubtful that GameCube's installment of Samus' adventures would retain any of the original Metroid feel. Sure, it would have the same characters, the same power-ups, perhaps the same general progression, but what I mostly expected was a first person shooter that played like Halo (X-Box) and carried the Metroid name.

These fears, however, were quickly allayed upon playing the game as it became immediately apparent that its developers invested a great deal of effort in ensuring that the game's transition to a next generation console did not ruin its classic style.

Among its many laudable attributes, the game features breathtaking visuals and a painstaking attention to detail. The environments are beautiful and expansive and the enemies are detailed and varied. Yet, even the small things _ like steam condensing on Samus' visor, or her visage reflected in sheets of ice _ are done with an exceptional focus on realism that exemplifies the power of the GameCube's hardware. Sound effects, such as those accompanying a discharge from Samus' blaster, are similarly topnotch, and although the background music is not particularly noteworthy, it certainly does not detract from the experience.

Metroid Prime is an adventure game, and although there is an abundance of enemies and frequent boss fight sequences, the real enjoyment gleaned from it is that of discovering new areas, acquiring new abilities, and figuring out various puzzles. It's a slow-paced, thirty hour journey across the vast planet Tallon. And make no mistake, it's one hell of a trip.

Like the original, the game follows the pattern of beating a boss to gain a new ability and then using that ability to explore an area of a world that was previously inaccessible. And, of course, there are lots of those wonderful "now that I have the spider ball ability I can go back to that area where I noticed the magnetic track and ride it across the lava pit" moments that define the Metroid series.

It is important to note that in Prime, like its predecessors, one spends a lot of time figuring out where to go, how to get there and what to do. Despite its deceptive first-person fa?§ade, this game is not a conventional first-person shooter _ apparent immediately from its lack of dual analogue control.

This joystick configuration is the one sore spot I have with the new Metroid. One joystick controls Samus' forward and backward movements, as well as her ability to turn from side to side. This means forward movements must be made separately from turning ones, making it impossible to go down narrow twisting pathways without exposing yourself to fire from any enemy that's awaiting you. Looking around freely at one's environment can be accomplished by holding down the R button, but to do so requires that Samus be stationary.

The inability to look around while moving is not only frustrating when trying to orient yourself with, and explore, your surroundings, but it becomes infinitely worse when fighting multiple enemies. The lock-on feature, akin to that of Zelda for the Nintendo 64, allows Samus to center her enemy and strafe around it, making a fight with one enemy relatively easy. But using it when fighting several highly mobile assailants leads to many instances of being shot at from unknown locations, facing an inappropriate direction, or being trounced by one enemy as you remain locked-on to another. While it doesn't ruin the game by any means, one must be prepared to fight with the controller for the first few hours.

Control issues aside, the gameplay in Prime is fun and highly addictive. The more you play, the harder it is to stop before reaching that next boss, acquiring that next ability, or just seeing if that pathway you bypassed led to any hidden goodies. While the early enemies are certainly just there for target practice, the encounters later in the game are challenging and exciting, with boss battles exemplary of the pinnacle of the Metroid combat experience.

If you were a fan of the original Nintendo game, you won't be disappointed with this update, and if you are brand new to the series you will be hard-pressed to resist Samus' charm. After taking some time to adjust to the pacing, I found Metroid to be one of the most engrossing adventures ever to come to a console.