Metroid Prime was developed by rookie Retro Studios (based in Texas), directed by the inimitable Shigeru Miyamoto and published by Nintendo. The game was released in the US for the GameCube on November 18, 2002. (The Japanese release was February 21, 2003 and the European release was March 21, 2003.) The game packaged in a DVD case with the system band at the top, the Metroid Prime title overlaid over the Screw Attack power-up (which has become something of a series logo; in this case a red circle and silver, angular "S"), which in turn is overlaid with a simple picture of Samus standing and looking impressive.

The Metroid Fusion GBA link features were added to the game so late in the development cycle that the game's manual only mentions that there are special features that can be unlocked by linking to Metroid Fusion, not what they are. Instead, there's an insert inside the case called "Confidential - Subject: Metroid", describing how to unlock Samus's Fusion suit and the playable original Metroid.

Gameplay aside, Metroid Prime has also been a continuing source of controversy.

The original controversy stems from 2000, as Nintendo was announcing their major titles for the GameCube. Nintendo announced an upcoming sequel in the long-absent (primarily due to the death of Gumpei Yoko) Metroid series, to be developed by newcomer Retro Studios, based in Texas. After the questionable history of American takes on famous Japanese series, fans were leery. Shortly, it came to light that Shigeru Miyamoto was directing the project, so early qualms were quieted.

Then came Space World and E3 2001, where Shigeru Miyamoto himself dropped a bombshell. After the original project was scrapped due to lackluster progress on the original project (and due to the fact that Nintendo was working on a 2-D Metroid in-house, as would later come to light) a new GameCube Metroid was announced, to be known as "Metroid Prime," and that, at Shigeru Miyamoto's insistance, it would be a first-person shooter.

Everyone went nuts.

At once, just about every flame war about game design reerupted. The 2-D vs. 3-D jihad was reawakened, as well as the "The classics shouldn't be so radically changed" vs. "Stagnant series grow tiresome," with console partisans muddying every debate, as always.

Filtering out the flames and long-standing, unresolved arguments, the big question seemed to be such. First-person shooters, with all of their merits, tend to be utterly terrible when actual exploring is required, especially when trying to leap platform to platform, a convention of nearly every other similar genre. Some games overcome this simply by making the payoff worth the tedium, and others simply forgo the exploration for constant combat. Metroid (particularly Super Metroid, considered by many to be the definitive game in the series) focuses heavily on exploration, with lots and lots and lots of platform jumping.

Many of these qualms were answered with the E3 2002 demo (later released on Nintendo's demo disk, sent to various stores for display use) which ably demonstrated that Retro Studios had gotten the jumping and exploration right. However, this demo drew fire from critics - of both the professional and armchair variety - for eschewing normal FPS dual-stick controls (one stick to move, one stick to look and aim) in favor of a hybrid auto-aim/lock-on system. (It's a bit ironic that, at different points in its development, the game caught fire for being too much like other FPS, then for not being enough like the other FPS. What difference a year makes.)

Well, the game finally made it to market, and wasn't available to the public for a day before another controversy erupted, this one a case of overzealous fans misinterpreting comments made by critics. A handful of critics (Gamespot in particular) compared Metroid Prime to Halo, in that it was the game to have for the GameCube, as Halo was the game to have for the Microsoft Xbox. Fanboys being fanboys, Metroid Prime's apples were endlessly being compared to Halo's oranges all over the internet. As with all stupid debates, this has since died down.

Despite initially positive critical and popular reception (nutjob fanboys notwithstanding), Metroid Prime has been a general disappointment as far as sales go, especially in Japan. While Prime was certainly a top-notch game, quality didn't turn into dollar signs (or Yen signs, for that matter). Perhaps because of this, Metroid Prime was one of the first four games to be chosen as part of Nintendo's "Buy a GameCube, get a game free" program, along with Luigi's Mansion, Resident Evil Zero, and Super Smash Brothers Melee.

Metroid (Zero Mission) || Metroid Prime || Metroid Prime 2: Echoes || Metroid II || Super Metroid || Metroid Fusion

Sources: Two years of Electronics Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, Gamespot, and general info from keeping my ear to the ground.