Being a big fan of the original Metroid on the NES, and after reading all the reviews of the game, I had high hopes for this title. Unfortunately I was sorely disappointed. This game could have been great, but the technical issues and poor control scheme and UI made it nearly unplayable, at which point I completely lost interest in the game. I still finished it because I wanted to see what happens, but it felt more like a chore than a game. Overall I give this a 2/5. Read on for details.

Graphics
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Samus, the ship, the monsters, the cutscenes and the environments are all beautiful to behold, but the poor lighting and confusing color scheme made it nearly impossible to navigate some areas. Paths around corners were way too easy to miss because the walls all blended into each other. Due to the lack of shading in the graphics engine, I spent way too much time muttering, "There's supposed to be a path here somewhere" than actually going from room to room. Nevertheless, despite this shortcoming, the graphics themselves are excellent. I give it a 4/5 for graphics.

Music / Sound
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The music was very well done. It was subtle, and you won't recognize many of the themes, but they added real atmosphere. Like a great movie soundtrack, you don't really notice it while you're there, and only really appreciate it in retrospect. The sound effects were all appropriate, with lovely explosions and beam noises and stereo effects. I find no faults with music nor sound. 5/5.

Controls
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This is where the game really starts to fall apart. With the lack of a calibration system, you can't just point your Wiimote at the screen and expect it to aim where you want; you have to be able to see the cursor. Unfortunately, with all that's going on, you can rarely see it, so half the time you have no idea where you're aiming. The Z-targeting, if anything, makes it MORE difficult to aim. When you go to/from the ball, it often shifts your perspective around. This is extremely inconvenient when navigating in tight situations where there's no room for the camera. I never got used to the three different 'helmets' in the game, and I was always going into the wrong helmet for various tasks. I give it points for the space boost and the screw attack control scheme - that part worked pretty well. Overall, though, the controls were frustrating at best. 2/5.

Gameplay
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Metroid should be fun. This was not fun. Going from place to place took FOREVER because doors wouldn't open when you want them to (due to a long-standing bug - they have to load the adjacent zone before the door will open). Looking up things in the menu system was incredibly frustrating, and the fetch quest at the end was contrived and pointless. The plot was uninteresting and convoluted, and about half-way through the game I no longer cared why I was performing these tasks - not that I could follow it anyway. The 3D map system is horrible. It's nearly impossible to read and using it is often more confusing than just looking around the room you're in. Between the poor load times, the frustrating control scheme, the monsters that just kept coming back over and over again (didn't I just kill you? what the...), the INCREDIBLY LENGTHY boss battles, and any number of things that robbed the game of any fun-factor it had at the beginning, I can't give this game more than a 1/5 for the gameplay.

Replayability
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Even if this game were replayable, I wouldn't want to. When you finish the game, it does allow you to go back and play it in "hyper difficulty" mode, but why would you want to do that? 33 hours of frustration later, and you want to leap back into it? I think not. 1/5.
Being a big fan of the original Metroid on the NES, and after reading all the reviews of the game, I had high hopes for this title. Unfortunately I was sorely disappointed. This game could have been great, but the technical issues and poor control scheme and UI made it nearly unplayable, at which point I completely lost interest in the game. I still finished it because I wanted to see what happens, but it felt more like a chore than a game. Overall I give this a 2/5. Read on for details. Graphics
--------
Samus, the ship, the monsters, the cutscenes and the environments are all beautiful to behold, but the poor lighting and confusing color scheme made it nearly impossible to navigate some areas. Paths around corners were way too easy to miss because the walls all blended into each other. Due to the lack of shading in the graphics engine, I spent way too much time muttering, "There's supposed to be a path here somewhere" than actually going from room to room. Nevertheless, despite this shortcoming, the graphics themselves are excellent. I give it a 4/5 for graphics. Music / Sound
-------------
The music was very well done. It was subtle, and you won't recognize many of the themes, but they added real atmosphere. Like a great movie soundtrack, you don't really notice it while you're there, and only really appreciate it in retrospect. The sound effects were all appropriate, with lovely explosions and beam noises and stereo effects. I find no faults with music nor sound. 5/5. Controls
--------
This is where the game really starts to fall apart. With the lack of a calibration system, you can't just point your Wiimote at the screen and expect it to aim where you want; you have to be able to see the cursor. Unfortunately, with all that's going on, you can rarely see it, so half the time you have no idea where you're aiming. The Z-targeting, if anything, makes it MORE difficult to aim. When you go to/from the ball, it often shifts your perspective around. This is extremely inconvenient when navigating in tight situations where there's no room for the camera. I never got used to the three different 'helmets' in the game, and I was always going into the wrong helmet for various tasks. I give it points for the space boost and the screw attack control scheme - that part worked pretty well. Overall, though, the controls were frustrating at best. 2/5. Gameplay
--------
Metroid should be fun. This was not fun. Going from place to place took FOREVER because doors wouldn't open when you want them to (due to a long-standing bug - they have to load the adjacent zone before the door will open). Looking up things in the menu system was incredibly frustrating, and the fetch quest at the end was contrived and pointless. The plot was uninteresting and convoluted, and about half-way through the game I no longer cared why I was performing these tasks - not that I could follow it anyway. The 3D map system is horrible. It's nearly impossible to read and using it is often more confusing than just looking around the room you're in. Between the poor load times, the frustrating control scheme, the monsters that just kept coming back over and over again (didn't I just kill you? what the... ), the INCREDIBLY LENGTHY boss battles, and any number of things that robbed the game of any fun-factor it had at the beginning, I can't give this game more than a 1/5 for the gameplay. Replayability
-------------
Even if this game were replayable, I wouldn't want to. When you finish the game, it does allow you to go back and play it in "hyper difficulty" mode, but why would you want to do that? 33 hours of frustration later, and you want to leap back into it? I think not. 1/5.