Metroid Prime

The Set Up: Metroid doesn't quite have the mainstream fame that other Nintendo franchises have like Mario or Legend of Zelda, but its fan base is certainly no less strong.  To this day, many consider Super Metroid to be the pinnacle of action/adventure gaming: a difficult expectation to live up to.  When series producer Gunpei Yokoi left Nintendo and tragically died in a car accident in 1997, the series seemed to be listless; indeed, Metroid never appeared on the Nintendo 64.  However, when Nintendo hooked up with former Iguana Entertainment members to form Retro, a new Metroid project was formed.  Originally teased at Space World 2000, Metroid Prime was shown off in a more complete form at E3 2001.

The Reaction:  With all previous Metroid games being 2D side-scrolling affairs, the fact that Metroid Prime was a 3D first-person affair was shocking to some.  Some asserted that the game's mixture of adventure and action could only be achieved in 2D and some thought the game's realistic aesthetic didn't match previous versions of the series.  Other fans thought the game should have been third-person instead of first person; the internal debate at Retro over this move caused the game's original director to leave the company after it was decided to make the game first-person. 

The Aftermath: In the end, Metroid Prime was embraced by the gaming community: it received sparkling reviews and went on to sell over two million copies.  Two sequels were produced by Retro in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, with all of the Prime games recently re-released for Wii as Metroid Prime Trilogy.  Still, some Super Metroid fans never fully supported the Prime games, and the Metroid home console series will now return to Japanese development with Metroid: Other M from Nintendo and Team Ninja.