| It's hard to argue against the impact SM64 had on 2D - 3D translation as a whole. Though I don't believe it was technically the first 3D platformer (Crash Bandicoot may have preceded it, I just don't know), it was the first free-roaming 3D platforming environment of its kind. Some first person games like Doom allowed 360 degrees of lateral motion and jumping before SM64, but SM64 wrote the book on 3D third person platforming.
OoT used the transition to incorporate greater freedom of motion, and introduced lock-on combat (I think...), and the transition was very smooth. In terms of the way the game was played when compared to LttP, much less changed than did with Mario's gameplay between SMW and SM64 (I hope that was a sentence). There are advantages and disadvantages inherent in this observation, and I think it's solely a matter of opinion regarding whether you like one transition more than the other.
MP was, in a way, a blend of both of the other transitions. The core aspect of the game was unchanged (a welcome relief to fans of the series), but the way the player experiences the game was completely re-done. The game controls like a very basic, almost watered-down first person shooter, albeit with excellent jump mechanics; however, the game's tasks were almost lifted right out of the Metroid archetype. Compare this with Super Mario 64, which turned the franchise from A-B platforming to a fetch-quest in a free-roaming environment. Additionally, compare the dramatic change in gameplay control with the very minimalist changes made from LttP to OoT (ignoring, of course, the lock-on fighting system). Again, I think whether or not you like the developer's choices is solely a matter of opinion.
Here are my basic sentiments: SM64 turned the franchise (and the genre!) on its head, OoT made very minimal changes in its transition, and MP did a little bit of both.
Personally, I prefer the decisions Retro made when taking Metroid into the third dimension to the decisions Nintendo made when doing likewise with Mario and Zelda. I think all three games are marvels in their own right, and the well-deserved influence of the first 2 titles on the gaming world speaks for itself. But in my own opinion, Metroid Prime was a better translation of the series from 2D to 3D than the other titles were for their respective franchises.
(For the record, I came into this expecting to argue in favor of SM64, but changed my mind when I started talking about MP. Just goes to show you how hard a question this is to answer!) |