Metroid Prime is a shining example of what can be done to a major franchise when you add a creative spark.
Did Nintendo and the struggling Retro Studios pull it off?
Hell yeah they did. Metroid Prime is the pinnacle of GCN games. There's just so much to like. Instead of making a long and boring list, though, I'll give each individual achievement a whole paragraph. First up: Has Metroid converted well into First-Person? Well, Metroid Prime is anything but an FPS. It throws away those traditional FPS controls, like you would find in Halo or Goldeneye 64, and gives all the control to the Main Gamecube Analogue Stick. You see out of Samus' visor, with a health meter up the top of the screen (as if Samus could see her own health depleting), beam controls in the bottom right hand corner (switching between them and the like) and in the bottom left there is your main visor controls, which you have to switch between to unlock all of the scanning information.
Metroid Prime's controls soon become second-nature, and you will only have to get used to traditional FPS controls.
Now to Graphics. Metroid Prime is one of the most impressive looking Gamecube games out there, even with newer games like Resident Evil 4 or even Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory out there (even though Chaos Theory looks nowhere near as good as Splinter Cell: Pandora Tommorow, the second in the series.) It displays very high polygon models, and each of the enemies have undoubtedly been individually modeled (as is the terrain). The effects are generally excellent, with next to no slowdown, and the game is locked in at a super-fast 60fps. With ultra-cool 60 Hz mode, this game is as slick as drinking a nice cold beer on a 40 degree day.
Audio is excellent. Metroid Prime really hammers home the fact that our heroin Samus is on a very alien planet, and sometimes, the sound effects give you a chill. It really is a game where you don't know what's going to happen next, and the audio has been perfectly placed in slightly unnerving places. Retro have undoubtedly worked with Nintendo's own John Williams, Koji Kondo, for work with the alien score.
Gameplay is what you would expect from a Metroid game. Run around, blast Space Pirates to bits and have a great time doing it. With the First-Person Perspective, Retro Studios have upped the ante on the puzzle front, so you can have a more challenging game to play.
All in all, Metroid Prime is a shining example of what can be done to a major franchise when you add a little adjustment, a little spark. You should undoubtedly buy Samus' first Gamecube outing, because it is one of the very best games vere made for any console. Metroid Prime is a diamond in a series of emeralds. Nothing can prepare you for how much better it is than an already near-perfect series of side-scrollers.