It was pretty cool to see the Metroid franchise go back to it's scroller roots; Super Metroid remains one of my all time favorite games. The original Metroid was well ahead of its time. I tried to like Fusion, but to this date, never finished it.

But I had some serious issues with Other M, starting with the liberties the developers (specifically the writers) took with the main character as well as the scenario in which she was written into, taking Samus from the lone, unflappable, baddest bounty hunter in the galaxy to the just another member of the team Other Samus, who does really well at taking orders and following direction.

If the story weren't so interwoven into the game, I probably could have enjoyed it more, or at least enough to warrant playing through to the end.

We'll see where they take the franchise next since Metroid, along with the next Zelda (a franchise I haven't enjoyed since Ocarina of Time) would be the only reasons a Wii U might be in my future.

Another Prime game like Prime 3, which was not at all like Prime 1/2

Lowered expectations saved my experience with this game, I was able to look past some of its flaws because I already knew most of them :P
It felt more like a 3d version of Metroid Fusion than Super Metroid, though, so many things in common with that game.

Interesting idea, plus it would go along with what some other games in the franchise established about Samus and the power suit: Namely, that she has to focus to keep it activated. Maybe adding some kind of meter for the suit that slowly depletes over time (or as the player takes damage) would make sense in this context. I'd have to test it to see if it works.

With regard to Other M, the game's main problem was that it took away too much control from the player, but in many cases this is an issue that seems like it could be easily fixed with some changes to the controls, and in other cases (such as level design) there are plenty of existing games that already nailed the template, no need to reinvent the wheel.

Metroid Other flop is the floppiest of flops, it has sold less copies than Super Mario 3D flop and will be passed by Donkey Kong Tropical flop. Both 3D flop and tropical flop were better system sellers than Other flop.

This was a lot funnier than it should have been.

O/T: Other M was not a good game. It was a decent game by itself. But, leaving that aside, the reason everyone hates it is that it was a bad Metroid game. An awful characterization of a beloved heroine, a pathetic attempt at injecting a long winded narrative into a series that has always leaned towards showing instead of telling, and a rather shocking lack of atmosphere, combined with almost no exploration or player discovery, and a huge over-emphasis on action and explosive set pieces over natural level design and traversing an isolated world.

Other M's decently fun to play on its own, but it's drastically different from any Metroid game in the past. Even Fusion, which was universally considered the most linear game in the series before 2010, seems like an MC Escher creation in comparison to Other M. I like some of the things Other M did with Samus, particularly the way she moves and the quicker, more 2D Metroid esque feel she has, and I would love to see another 3rd person Metroid game where they build off some of those concepts with a much more complex control scheme (hammering a direction to dodge endlessly is way too easy), but as it stands, Other M barely even tries to be a Metroid game outside of re-using the same power ups and enemies from Super Metroid.

We are going to do this?

Metroid Other M was a trainwreck in every way. It doesn't exist to me.

Gameplay was awful. Simple, boring, repetitive, no exploration, no feeling of awe, no new power ups, no creepy ambiance. Bleck.

Visually it was boring, with rehashes of old villains, bland as fuck environments, and just a boring overall look.

Story...I don't even have the energy. It was just a piece of utter dogshit.

The game is a stain on the franchise, and a stain on Nintendo as a whole.

thaaaaaank you. but I do disagree about the story. In fact, i was say the story vs gameplay concept is more fitting with the Metroid prime series.
My biggest beef w/ otherM though was with the voice direction. The sound of the actresses voice was exactly how I imagined samus sounding, but the actual acting was not spot on. Whatever the next game brings, I just hope they keep voice acting and cut scenes. I was so sick and tired of using a suit of armor that might as well have been empty. Actual story telling was more than welcome in a universe that could thrive on it. They definitely overdid it in otherM, but that said, otherM did two things that I thought were outstanding. the first was the ridley confrontation. that was outstanding. I though satan himself was rising from the flames of hell to claim samus personally.
the second was the lore they added to ridley's gestation cycle. From little birdy all the way to the mature form, I thought that was just the coolest thing done in Metroid so far.

What's wrong with you?

We have strict guidelines for things like this. One of them is to never mention "Metroid Other M" and "good" in the same sentence unless that sentence is, "Metroid Other M is not good at all."

Sorry... no... Other M sucks. A lot!