Until you actually put the effort into those other Metroid games, your opinion is not valid!*  That's like starting the Zelda series by playing Twilight Princess, and maybe one of the games on the DS, and proclaiming that Twilight Princess is your "favorite game in the franchise."

So far, also, I feel this game has the worst boss battles in the history of the franchise.  I get very little enjoyment out of the Ninja Gaiden-like twitch battles, which do not feel right in a Metroid game.  Metroid Prime 1 still has the best overall boss battles. 

*To be read with sarcasm in mind, but seriously though.  Shut off Other M and play the good ones first.

The problem being Prime 1 and 2 had terrible controls and I absolutely cannot play a game with terrible controls which is why I need to find Trilogy.  And I played all of the others before playing Other M the reason I didn't beat them was due to them not hooking me like Other M, I've already beaten Other M by the way.  I got really excited during the boss battles as well, I mean Ridley in Corruption vs Ridley in Other M... I pick Other M any day of the week.

I'm weird enough as it is already, since I like Metroid Prime the best out of all them (hint: you're supposed to like Super Metroid the best, but there ya go... ). In fact... I believe that I played enough of Other M to give it a proper standing in my list of top Metroid games:

1. Metroid Prime
2. Super Metroid
3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
4. Metroid: Zero Mission
5. Metroid: Other M
6. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
7. Metroid Prime: Hunters (Eww.)

Haven't played: Metroid Fusion, Metroid (NES), or Metroid II: The Return of Samus. I have played Metroid Prime: Pinball, but I won't put it on the list.

Other M gets the gameplay down, mostly. There's a lot of design choices I just don't agree with in this game, but that doesn't let the solid gameplay mechanics not shine through. I'll post my final thoughts on the game once I'm finished with it. Still, I'm glad I bought it.

Prime 1 and 2, terrible controls?  Oh no way, Retro made the right choice on the controls for those games.  The games weren't meant to be FPS titles, and for the way Prime 1 & 2 were played, the controls were perfect.  Both games also had a lot more originality and depth than Other M, which has an overall emptiness to the game and the exploration is gimped. 

Other M's controls vary from pretty good to twitchy to hit-or-miss.  Switching from holding the remote sideways to pointing it is annoying and floaty.  The dodge move from first-person mode almost never works, and the third-person segments are just ungainly and slow.  The jumping and platforming is worse than any of the Prime games what with Samus' weird stopping at the edge of a platform.

The game is, like I said, just Metroid by numbers, and if you had played through Prime 1, 2, and Super, you'd see that.  This took what was the same basic gameplay of those titles, and just reused it without expanding upon it.  Rather, it's gimped by having to switch modes, a lack of creativity in weapons and items, and the mostly linear story-based exploration.   "Samus go there." "Samus do this."  "Samus come here." Dude, lame.  Exploration, for that matter, is a secondary feature (if not tertiary).  In a normal Metroid game, I see all sorts of areas and things that are out of reach early on, and I remember them and come back to them upon finding the right item or weapon.  Here, half the time, I'm not allowed to go back because doors are just plain locked when I want to go back.  In a normal Metroid game, once a door is open--it's open.  None of this "now this door is locked because Adam wants Samus to go somewhere else right now" bullshit. 

The Wii's microscopic D-pad is just about the worst thing I've ever used for moving a character in three dimensions.  The gameplay is fast, to be sure, but it's certainly not more fun than any previous Metroid game.  Maybe more fun than the very original title on the NES, but you really started with nothing on there.  The arm cannon didn't even shoot all the way across the screen in the beginning!

Other M, for that matter, is the first game in franchise I've ever seen with cheap deaths.

Don't get me started on Ridley being in the game.  Besides the fact that the best Ridley battle ever was his appearance in Prime 1 (as Meta Ridley), I'm sick of him appearing in every single game.  Even his attacks in Other M are just copied from previous games making this even lamer.  Oh, I have to admit it, the battle early in Prime 3 with Ridley was just outstanding.  I'm still sick of him, though.

To be fair, when you break it down to is core, Metroid Prime 1 was little more than Super Metroid 3-D, but it was oh soooo good at doing it, and at least it expanded upon what Super Metroid had built. 

So you're aware, Metroid Fusion is a lot like Other M in the way that the exploration is ... (I need a new word)... let's go with limited since you're still forced to follow preset "mission objectives" and are not really allowed to go exploring on your own, which is the hallmark of the franchise. 

I really have to disagree with the gameplay of Other M.  I feel that it only works half the time.  In side-scrolling and running and just blasting regular enemies, it works brilliantly.  Also when solving environmental puzzles.  During tougher battles and boss battles, it's broken.  During battle with the, er, construction tank thing, the "tap-dodge" routinely caused me to be hit twice rather than avoiding being hit altogether.  The dodge move in first-person mode doesn't work, like, at all.  I just swing the Wiimote sideways, tap the jump button to dodge, and then try to get back into first person mode again. 

I'm still having some fun playing it, but the sense of awe and the thrill of exploration a la Super Metroid the Prime Trilogy, and to an extent, Zero Mission, the original game, and Metroid II--that stuff isn't there at all.  The environments don't inspire me to just look around like in previous games, since I know I can't explore, I don't really bother, and the moments where it sticks you in first-person mode to scan the area looking for one tiny detail?  Damn that's annoying.

On the upside, the cinematics aren't cluttering the game like I feared they would.  They just feature ham-fisted writing and lame anime-style melodrama.

Amazing post. Bolded what i agree with and i italized what i dont agree with. The problem is that new (OP, maybe Maxwell) nintendo fans are barely getting to know the Metroid Franchise, and yes, Other M is a "good" game, but they never had the chance to play the old games which are CLASSICS, to notice how the franchise has progressed, and what makes "Metroid" metroid. Anime fans who love cliche and horrible story telling, probably fell in love with this game, and  since they hadn't played a metroid game ever, they believe its a "9" rated game... so much PHAIL in this thread.   

Best to worst in my opinion: Super Metroid > Metroid Prime 1 >  3 > Metroid Zero Hour>  Metroid Fusion> MoM > 2 > M

There is nothing wrong with Other M's controls, and not being able to play the game well doesn't imply that the controls do not work.

Amen to that brother.

Like I said, there's some really weird design choices in this game (Example: not a fan of the idea behind Adam giving the go-ahead for your powers. Like he needed to take away your Varia and Gravity Suit upgrades... *rolls eyes*). Still, I really enjoy the combat... and find it immensly satisfying.

I haven't gotten as far as you yet, but I'll be sure to keep up the good fight.

1. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

2. Super Metroid

3. Metroid Fusion

4. Metroid: Zero Mission

5. Metroid Prime

6. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

7. Metroid Prime Hunters

Yes.

Haha I've played enough of the other games to know how they control and how they work, you're acting like cause didn't beat them then I don't know, which isn't true I didn't beat them cause they couldn't hold my attention, many times because side scrolling games have evolved since those games came out.

Most of your post can be summed up with a big fat NO.

Prime 3 Ridley battle better than Other M? NO, the Ridley fight in Other M had a better build up and execution

Prime 1 and 2 controls are perfect? NO, Prime 3 proved this

Exploration is gimped? NO, there are many items you're just gonna pass simply put you can't go back sometimes but between bigger plot points you're free to run back once you have an item to get said item, then at the end you have all doors unlocked and you'll still have trouble finding all the items even with them marked on your map.

Controls twitchy? NO, they're just not, transitions are a bit awkward at first but by the end of the game you don't even notice and it becomes more natural, though personally I feel a nunchuck could have solved this.

Cheap deaths? NO, if you die it's your own fault for not figuring out patterns and most effective methods of putting down said foe.

I could go on but I'm kinda sick of the discussion and would rather play the game and 100% it right now