Happy Decennial, Metroid Prime

As we head towards the end of the year, I just realized that the best game of the past decade (though decidedly not gaming’s “Citizen Kane,” whatever that might mean) turned a decade old itself last month.  I am in fact playing through the game again over the holidays, on the sadly limited edition Metroid Prime Trilogy (which is going for >$200 on the interwebs these days), once again reminded of how good it is.

IGN celebrated the decennial with an exhaustive summary of its tumultuous development and rapturous reception.  They also checked on the ill-conceived Metroid movie, which was thankfully also ill-starred.  Kotaku observed the centennial preemptively, with a lengthy interview with Retro and Nintendo back in 2009.

Of course, the Lure has written on the game as well.  We argued that MP has the best map in gaming, defended its placement at the top of the heap (while still blanching at IGN’s effusive and inaccurate praise), and preemptively (and perhaps prematurely) lamented Retro’s post-Metroid design choices.

Finally, if you need more Prime reading material, here’s one of the best reviews of the game I have encountered.