I was at work today and in the back of my mind I started to think about Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for some reason.

I liked the game enough when I played through it a year or two ago... but the more I thought about it I couldn't help but think it was the weakest game in the trilogy. The reasons why I think I feel this way can be summed up rather easily:

The Environments:
I know some consider a lot of the original Prime's environments to be rather stock (a fire area, a winter area, etc.) but I can help but think even given that they are superior to Prime 3's because I never really got "lost" in Prime compared to Prime 3. In Prime 3 so much of the environment ran together to me (the BIG culprit here is Elysia[sp?]) that I constantly had to check the in-game map. That was really damaging to the experience IMO.

Samus' Fellow Hunters:
I think most people will agree with this one. It's not that I dislike these characters... not at all, I just had a real problem how we're quickly we're introduced to them, and then we pretty much kill them and it means absolutely nothing. At the end of the game when Samus was reflecting on those lost it was such a forced moment because they were just mere obstacles and nothing else - in no way could Prime 3 pull a Metal Gear Solid and make me care about the "people" I just killed.

The Crumbling Difficulty
I had a real hard time with this game when I started out. The controls were just a pain... but I kept at it and it did become second nature. Unfortunately, after this happened the game's challenge fell like a stack of dominoes. I felt the first two bosses were actually hard but by the time I got to Omega Ridley I just absolutely crushed him... and the last leg of the game was an absolute joke when it came to challenge I don't know how you could possibly lose.

Anyway, I'm sorry if this comes off more as a rant... and I don't know why I was thinking of this when stocking shelves, but have to admit I don't think the game is a good as I originally thought and it's finally hitting me.

Still, I think the first game was the best. I'd talk about Prime 2 (and how just plain odd it is) but I'd be here all day. Still if anything Prime 2 feels very different than the original so at least it's not a carbon copy.

You said it, man. I flew through the game (two days, 12+hours) and never went back to complete it again. Or at least I don't remember going back for it! (For reference I've beaten Prime 4-5 times, and Echoes 3-4 times; the last time I played each game I got 100% completion without any FAQs because I love them both.) It was Prime, but in retrospect the lack of immersion, relatively confusing environments compared to 1&2, weird controls, and the missing feeling of isolation and desperation made the game feel different. I don't remember liking the music as much, either. Felt more like Hunters 2.0 instead of Prime 3, but still decent enough to play through - if it had me hooked so quickly, they must have done something right.

Odd, maybe, but awesome? Yep. Echoes feels pretty different on an environmental/atmospheric level, but feels so good (even better, I'd say) as far as controlling Samus and getting all the upgrades are concerned. Two words: Screw Attack.

Yep, I agree with this although I should point out I'm only comparing it to the first one. I never played the second one. The obvious cut and paste level sections were just too, well, obvious in Prime 3 for me. And oddly it started to really annoy me the way enemies respawned when you returned to an area. I know we got away with that in the 8-bit era but it seemed sloppy by the time I got to Prime 3. That left me wondering why it didn't strike me as a problem in the first Prime and the only answer I can come up with is that in Prime 3, unlike the first, I often ended up going into an area before realising it was the wrong place and had to turn back into the enemies I just cleared. Prime 1 felt like a far more natural progression.

Still, I did enjoy the game and was pleasantly surprised by how well the controls worked.

I really disliked Prime 3, to the point that I quit after maybe 4 hours. I hated the environments. Didn't feel organic. Sense of isolation and fear was gone, on account of the other bounty hunters. On the whole, it just felt phoned in.

I enjoyed Prime 3. It wasn't as good as the amazing Prime 1, but I liked it a lot more than the incredibly frustrating Prime 2.

I haven't gotten around to playing it, but I think Nintendo/Retro became corrupted into trying to make Metroid into something it wasn't starting with the inclusion of Prime 2's multi-player (why did Cube fans request this?) towards the end of Prime 2's development. (This is a loss of identity.) I remember reading threads on here on how the music felt like uninspired Halo music. The bounty hunters inclusions makes it seem like Halo really was the game's template. From Halo-killer to Halo-clone. *sigh* The designs of the bounty hunters and enemies weren't any good from what I spoiled myself (and now have long forgotten) of in a Prime 3 thread on some big game forum.

Totally, Echoes does feel feels pretty different on an environmental/atmospheric level... but I thought the Screw Attack attack kind of got "screwed" with its transformation into the third dimension. It's a little too situational IMO, but it's not like I think Retro outright failed with it... I think they did the best they could given the situation really.

Also, while I can't deny how important they are in making Prime 2 the game it is, am I the only one that isn't a big fan of the Ing? I say this but I'm probably just hung up on how much I love how the first game portrays the Space Pirates in-game and through the various data logs.

The inclusion of multiplayer made some since back in 2004. Nowadays I can't imagine anyone ever making use of it given how many other options are available.

Yeah, I agree with what you say about Elysia. In general, Prime 3 is actually my least favorite of the series, though not by much at all. It has such strong points though, like the controls, and the graphics in general.

I found Prime 2 and Prime 3 equally frustrating. To the point where I actually found OTHER M more enjoyable ... at times ... don't bite my head off.

The point is, Prime 1 is a freaking masterpiece. ^^

Problems with the narrative and Samus' characterization aside, I actually had very few issues with Other M.

I recently found out it may even be non-canon. Other M was allegedly based on a non-canon metroid origin story manga. Good news for the fanbase, I suppose, if that's the sort of thing that keeps one up at night.