$20 Game of the Week: Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii U)

While it doesn’t have half as many entries as Mario, Pokemon, or Legend of Zelda, Metroid is one of Nintendo’s most prolific franchises, at least in North America. Along with introducing one of gaming’s strongest female characters, it helped pioneer a new style of gameplay that developers frequently revisit in everything from open world titles to indie retro throwbacks. Even today, Super Metroid is regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time and it’s Virtual Console appearance is a top seller. However, the franchise’s success isn’t as widespread in Japan, Nintendo’s home base. This probably explains why we haven’t received a new title in the series since 2010’s lukewarmly received “The Other M”. It also possibly explains why Nintendo decided to make the series then-next gen debut (it was on GameCube, and it was the first game in the series since Super Metroid 8 years prior) as a FPS. While many players were unsure of the new direction, Metroid Prime, developed by Retro Studios, managed to hit it out of the park. Two sequels followed, both managing to be good in their own right. Despite the first person gameplay, Metroid Prime retains everything that fans loved about the Metroid series. It’s still exploration heavy, and there were loads of gadgets to collect. Metroid Prime Trilogy was previously a Wii-only disc title. It received a limited print run, and copies of the disc would be sold for as much as $50 used. Thankfully, Nintendo announced plans to include Wii games on Wii U’s virtual Console, Metroid Prime Trilogy being one of them. It’s only $20 now, so if you have yet to expereince these games, now is the time. Since this is the Wii version, you’ll need a Wiimote and nunchuck for it.