Definitely Team Ninja!
If you are a Metroid fan of any kind, whether it was the prime series or one of the side scroller installments that drew you in.... Go get it. NOW!
Regardless of any review you found, even if it was a review from [insert favorite game review site], you will love it. There is SO MUCH fan service, it's ridiculously awesome. Someone says Tourian out loud. Ridley makes the most badass epic appearance in the series (Well, it's tied with the MP3 intro fight at least), there are sidehoppers (AND the giant Norfair sidehoppers), Zoomers, Phantoon (holy shit), Nightmare, and the list goes ON!!
As for the game, the story itself is actually pretty good, it's when we get into the lines and the cookie-cutter characters for the squad mates (Anthony is pretty good, and well, Adam is exactly as I imagined him), that we run into problems. Also, the voice talent isn't bad, but it's definitely sketchy. Without a doubt they aren't the kind of calibur who can take cheesy lines and make them listenable - at all. But Adam and Anthony have genuinely good VA's.
Samus's is just an outright miscast, or just plain bad. She doesn't emote enough, period. There is one other female who you'll see later in the game and you'll find her rather annoying as well.
The cinematics are beautiful, through and through. Just seriously gorgeous, and considering Team Ninja is working with only 480p the in-game graphics are awesome as well.
The budget was also THROUGH THE ROOF for this game - think Super Smash Bros Brawl!
As for the gameplay, it will take some getting used to. Depending on how much Wii you play, you might take from 1 and a half to 3 hours to get really acclimated, but the controls DO work. They're just strange. It's essentially a sidescroller in 3D. That sounds weird, and it is. But it does work.
Advice for when you play:
-Enemies get progressively faster as you go through the game - make every effort to get all 6 Accel Charges - try not to rely on missiles, unless you can adjust your aim REALLY fast.
-The final boss is RIDICULOUSLY hard - it took me 8 energy tanks and 2 recovery tanks with a concentration mid-boss-fight (that I pulled off with sheer luck) and ALOT of dying before I finally beat it - this is Team Ninja all the way.
-Missile tanks aren't very useful. I never ran out, not even once. A cap of 80 is pretty overkill - if you have 30 you should be fine, but if you're paranoid, 50 for the final boss is fine.
The awesome:
+Great cinematics
+Beautiful particle effects and effects in general
+Makes the most of the Wii graphics capabilities
+EPIC boss fights
+FAST-paced
+Unique and very interesting controls once you get used to them
+The story itself is pretty good - it also takes more cues from Alien than usual this time around.
+Adam and Anthony have great voice actors and are very interesting.
+Endless fan-service, yet it never feels like they're trying too hard
+Huge budget that was put to good use
The not so awesome:
-Samus's VA was seriously miscast
-Most of Adam's squad is pretty cookie-cutter and generally uninteresting, even after beating it I don't feel like I knew any of them. I think James gets like 3 lines? Ouch.
-Though the graphics are great, and there IS visual variety, the environments are pretty bland in comparison to the Prime series.
-Scan sequences are infrequent, but EXTREMELY GOD FORSAKENLY ANNOYING - I'd rather they all be handled in cutscenes. 480p and tiny green goop 15 feet away a good minigame does not make.
-It's kind of short - I had to put effort in to make it last longer.
4.5 / 5 stars
I beat it with 100% item collection in 18 hours and 25 minutes.
I have never gotten up faster than I did at 10 am on August 31st - I was so hyped for this game. For the most part, it did not disappoint.
