Well, I'm 5 hours into Metroid Prime, which according to my save data is 16% complete. This of course doesn't include restart time after I died for various reasons, so I've been playing a bit longer than that.

Anyway, my reaction to the game so far is one word: Amazing. Everyone who has a Gamecube should get it, and those who don't should seriously consider getting one for the game. Yeah, it's that good. And I hear the further you go the better it gets.

At first blush I was a little unsure about the game. I've played other Metroid games before and the move to 3D was a little weird at first. After a couple hours with it though, I got used to it and it actually makes for some really great gameplay. It's definitely Metroid to the core, but the move to 3D has brought up some similarities to other games (to me at least).

Some of the puzzels remind me a lot of Zelda: OOT on N64. Not in the sense of what you do (the puzzles are definitely Metroid inspired), but more the feeling behind it. It's hard to explain but I think it'll be obvious to anyone who's played a recent Zelda game.

The other comparison I keep making is to Marathon, that old 3D Doom-wannabe for the Mac. Two reasons for this, one is that it's first person perspective, and two that there is this sense of playing the role of the character, really being there and exploring. One of the things Marathon did so well was draw suspense by having computer terminals throughout the game. You would check them out and read the story and how things unfolded for the unfortunate crew of the space vessel you were on. Metroid Prime is exactly like this and it works wonderfully. By scanning various items you collect information and as you go through the game it slowly reveals the story.

This is great because it really lets you the player build up the story and get involved with the game at a personal level. So many games today are just CGI cutscene clickthrough games. No cutscenes here to speak of, just solid gameplay. It really makes you feel like everything is important and its up to you to find everything, instead of it being shoved in your face. I think this balance is what sets it over the top. The music and the graphics (both extremely well done) also add to the mood tremendously.

I still have trouble with the controls at times, but overall it handles very well for a first person perspective game. But that would really be my only nitpick about the game, and it's a very minor one at that.

Best of all time though? Naw, not at this point anyway (still got a lot to go ;). I would put it in my top 10 definitely, and it may move up pretty high depending on how the game plays out (usually the Metroid games end really really well). But it is definitely the best game I've played since Skies of Arcadia on my Dreamcast.

Hmm...maybe I should actually make a top 25 list again someday. We'll see. For now, I'm too busy bomb jumping around in a morph ball to care. ;)