This is by far the best game on the Gamecube to ever come!
The gameplay and controls can get a little while to get used to, but it takes a maximum of an hour to do that. You can travel to volcanic caverns to icy cold tundras to mines of Phazon. This also adds a new story to the Metroid series, Phazon. Phazon is a chemical that either kills or makes one stronger depending on how strong the victim is. This material has infected Tallon IV and Space pirates are interested in this material are above Tallon IV in a frigate, but Samus has landed on the frigate and you are then put in the shoes of Samus Aran, interstellar Bounty Hunter. You can do all sorts of things in Samus' shoes that you can't normally do, such as jump really, really high! These jumps can be timed very easily and you don't fall to your doom that easily (Unless you are stupid). You are pit against bosses and other creatures of Tallon IV (Oh yeah, the space pirates too!). These bosses can be a lot of fun to kill and simply scanning them gives you there weak spots, even though you get the weak spots, doesn't mean you just hit them, you usaully have to find ways to hit the weak spots with your newer powerups that you have obtained. You can get to places without having the powerup first, like Zelda. Ok, lets say there is a pink door and you can't open it, you must find the wave beam before you can open it, so you have to come back later to open the door. Speaking of Wave beam, you have your different beam weapons, but these dont stack like in the previous Metroid titles, you can use their different abilities to get to places and defeat bosses. Having a good log book can be really efficient too, you get bonuses and have each enemy's weak spots in the palm of your hand. You also have lore which contributes to the story as you read them. There isn't much of a plot, but there are cutscenes which are still pretty exciting. So the lore is your story and reading the lore is fun, its in a little Sci-Fi text and stuff so it's cool.
The graphics are the best of the best in the Gamecube. These graphics beat Halo. This is just one of those show-off games when it comes it the game's graphics. The texture is smooth and nothing looks pixelated no matter how close you are to them. There is no slow down in the game's graphics, hundreds of things are happening at once. This shows the true meaning of: "Each picture is worth a thousand words."
The sound is classic Metroid, there are a whole bunch of classic sounds and effects as well as new ones. Each beam sounds the way you think it would and the way you want it to.
This game is so good, I've beaten it 4 times, and I'm still in the middle of the 5th. This game wants you to come back more and more. Lathough there was no multiplayer, you can still have a party where everyone sits in front of the screen with their jaw dropped while you play through it.
Closing comments: The Gamecube's best game has everything you want from a game with Gameplay, Graphics, Sound, Replay value and everything else from a game. Get this game if you have a Gamecube, and if you don't have it, get it, get it NOW!!!!!