In an unprecedented move, Nintendo let a Third Party developer create the new entry into the venerable Metroid franchise.  Metroid Other M is the result of this choice by Nintendo.  At first, it seems a bit odd that out of all the developers out there, Nintendo decided to go with Team Ninja, the company behind Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball.  The result is something of a mixed bag.

Metroid Other M takes place right after the events of Super Metroid.  Players are even graced with a very nice 3D cutscene rendition of the final fight between Samus and Mother Brain from Super Metroid.  Samus' past is explored in Other M, and is even given a voice actor.  This is the first time players have actually been able to hear Samus speak and they even go into a bit of Samus' back story.

Overall, the story is a bit silly.  At least, the cutscenes showing Samus' past and her introspections are.  Being a Japanese game, the story itself has a definite Japanese flavor to it, with shady governments, shady experiments and feelings of the heart being explored in detail.

But story should be entirely secondary to the way a game plays.  Other M brings back the traditional side scrolling layout of the older games, only going first person when you need to look around, examine your surroundings, fire missles and use the grapple beam.  I found that last bit to be more than a little annoying, however.  In Metroid and Super Metroid, a simple button press allowed Samus to choose what among her arsenal she was going to use.  As usual for Wii games, the pointer controls while in first person mode can be a bit wonky and frustrating.  The side scrolling elements all work quite well, however.

An element of timing has been introduced into Other M.  Time it right, and Samus can dodge incoming enemy attacks.  Hold down the fire button while doing so, and Samus gets an instantaneous full charge for her Charge Beam.  This makes dodging a central part to playing the game.  As previously stated, it is done well.

All of the other Metroid staples are here, as well, though presented in a slightly different manner.  Samus doesn't need to collect her power ups to progress to inaccessible areas as in previous games.  She starts out with all of her equipment, but as she's taking orders from Galactic Federation Commander Adam Malkovich, he has to authorize her use of her equipment.

The game takes place on a space station.  Samus is making her way through the galaxy when she receives a distress beacon from some type of Federation Research Station, only to find that a Galactic Federation team is already on site.  So, Samus works cooperatively with the team as they try to discover what has transpired aboard this station.  All of the classic enemies from the Metroid series are on display, as well as a few new ones.  Phantoom even makes an appearance, though, as with the Prime series, Kraid is absent.

Overall, the game is good fun with a few frustrating elements to it and a lackluster story.  The "final" boss fight is also very frustrating and more than a little anti-climactic.  Long time fans of the Metroid series should pick the game up, and anyone that owns a Wii should, at the least, rent it.