In terms of quality it is top notch. In terms of fun it is hit and miss.
GAME PLAY
Revolutionary this is not. There was so much hype over how the touch screen controls were going to make this game the best shooter ever for a hand held. It may be the best FPS on a hand held, but it doesn't have much competition. I found the gameplay tight, aiming accurate, and movement swift. This is all good but the game never really puts it to good use. I was expecting more of a Metroid Prime like game (not MP2, MP1) where you had one big world to explore with safer areas, more dangerous areas, and lots and lots of secrets. Instead I'm stuck on small areas of planets that have no connection to any of the others. It feels like a huge step backwards in game design.
The big draw is that Samus is trying to find these artifact things, but you have to fight other people who want them. The AI for these bounty hunters are terrible, I found standing still and firing missiles was the most accurate way to kill them without losing too much health.
Each bounty hunter has their own gun, but as Samus you can eventually collect all these guns, allowing you to explore new areas in older planets, as enticing as this sounds, it doesn't amount to as much as you'd expect. I don't find much use for any of the other weapons because I constantly have to worry about how much ammo they have, so I resort to my regular gun usually.
There are some generic non-bounty hunter bosses, but they are boring and don't move at all.
Your multiplayer experience will change as you get better at the game, but the generic death matches do get boring, and its hard to get together a good CTF match, with the limit of 4 people a match.
GRAPHICS
This is the DS we must remember, and the graphics are an achievement for the DS. The draw distance is amazing, models smooth, and textures generally look good. There are some bad textures that were kind of blurry, but no where near enough to ruin the day.
The games frame rate does bog down once in a while, most notably on the ice planet. During Multiplayer lag is at a minimum though, so you will be able to enjoy the game at its fullest in multiplayer.
Because of the large array of planets, the graphics are varied and never feel like the same exact area over and over again, and that is definitely a good thing.
SOUND
Sound effects are generally good, but nothing will blow you away. The music is generally forgettable also. Not really much to say, I've played many GBA and DS games with music that stuck with me for a long time, but this is not one of them. Good sounds with average music and ambiance gets a good sound score overall.s
VALUE
The games single player is decently long, but I had little will to complete it. You'll probably get stuck on Wifi for quite a while if you have a connection, and that adds quite a bit of replay value. If your a Metroid enthusiast, you'll get a lot more out of it than most people.
TILT
I usually base tilt on how the games story immersed me into the world of the game. Well, lets just say the game fell flat on its face in this aspect. Metroid Prime 1 did get me completely into the game, but Hunters fails in this. I felt as this was a very generic shooter, lacking the story telling and finesse of its console brothers. I understand this is a hand held, but many hand held games have gotten into the world of the game. Oh well, I'll wait for MP3 to see if the series can get back to its first entries level of greatness.
OVERALL
First Person Shooter fans that liked Halo probably won't find much new in this. The controls are responsive, game runs well and looks great, but it lacks something that the console games had. If you want to play online, this won't be a problem for you, but people who love to get into games may have problem with MP:H. A disappointing game, just because of the other games in the series.