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By: James Yu

The graphics we've seen thus far on the Wii haven't done much to dispute comparisons that describe the system as an overclocked GameCube. Game developers have achieved success building games around the Wii's obvious strength, the motion-sensitive Wii Remote, rather than focusing on the graphics. Games such as Rayman Raving Rabbids and Mario Party 8 sell well, but the core gaming audience still needs its high poly-counts and fancy shader effects. Fortunately, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption has arrived in time to prove that the Wii is capable of delivering just such an excellent graphics experience.

Retro Studios, already well trained in coaxing performance out of the GameCube in past Metroid Prime games, did a fantastic job upgrading the series for the Wii. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption has surpassed Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in all of the major graphics categories. Corruption has better artwork, higher-resolution textures, improved enemy models, highly detailed environments, and extensive high dynamic range lighting. We put together a collection of screenshot comparisons to illustrate the improvements in Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii.

Mouse over the default Metroid Prime 2: Echoes screenshot to see the Metroid Prime 3 comparison image.


Galactic Federation soldiers still have problems with survivability, but at least they have more accurate lighting and increased armor detail.

It appears Samus was able to upgrade her ship after leaving Aether in Metroid Prime 2.

Retro has upgraded the save stations in Metroid Prime 3 with high dynamic range lighting.

Check out this hallway if you thought the save-station HDR lighting was too subtle.

The side view of the morph-ball areas draws attention to the resolution, texture, and lighting differences between the GameCube and the Wii.



What do you think of the graphics quality in Metroid Prime 3? Is it enough to satisfy Wii players?

962 Comments

  • chrizmol

    Posted Sep 5, 2008 3:03 am GMT

    The 2 are very much alike, but 3 has better lighting.

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  • rabbids

    Posted Aug 29, 2008 10:12 am GMT

    The two games pretty much have the same graphical quality, looks great.

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  • BLuFAlc0n

    Posted Aug 23, 2008 12:26 am GMT

    this game has 360 graphics, and an awesome game, I'm 81% through the game

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  • mastiffchild

    Posted Jul 31, 2008 11:53 am GMT

    MP3 is just a great game for the Wii an, yeah it's clearly a visual improvement on Echoes but it doesn't stop there. Some atrocious voice acting apart it's still my favourite game on the Wii(even more so when you get the sensitivity right on the already ace control sys)and all us Metroid fans get a bit guilty of not wanting to move on at times but the sharper visuals do add to a great experience. Also you don't need a higher poly count to neccessarily beef up the look of a great series-this proves it. Totemic achievement for the little concole, imo.

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  • MrGoldenBullet

    Posted Jul 12, 2008 6:52 am GMT

    ok i thought wii still had gc graphics now i know it doesnt. i wonder wut peple could do if they push the wii to its limits? get everything it has to offer?

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  • omnifury

    Posted May 1, 2008 3:05 am GMT

    opviously, MP3 is much better

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  • psjunkye

    Posted Apr 26, 2008 8:42 pm GMT

    Yep. Im buyin it.

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  • mrkame16

    Posted Apr 4, 2008 6:35 am GMT

    I thought the wii was only slightly better in graphics than the gamecube, but this comparison proved me wrong, to me it looks like Vivid colors and brighter lighting can make a difference.

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  • so_hai

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 11:14 pm GMT

    This Wii game was such a pleasure to play. Graphically, it was literally breath-taking in several specific areas. Even the more mundane / boring settings were more than enough for me. They go for more memorable settings and scenes, rather than technically clever ones. Thats' why Prime has more heart than Halo.

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  • Spitt78

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 2:22 pm GMT

    They managed to take all the GameCube had and put it into a game, now they've done that for the Wii.

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  • Yojimbo25

    Posted Mar 2, 2008 5:23 pm GMT

    Metriod Prime still looks great. Even better on the Wii

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  • Sharingan-ZeroX

    Posted Feb 13, 2008 3:37 pm GMT

    good enough for me, I don't honestly care about graphics too much

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  • organic_machine

    Posted Feb 4, 2008 6:25 pm GMT

    After playing both games, these screen comparisons don't satisfy. Corruption looks MILES better than Echoes. Much much much better.

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  • Spectacular66

    Posted Feb 3, 2008 12:25 pm GMT

    The only reason the Wii pictures may look worse is because LCD televisions aren't capable of producing images at resolutions above or below their native resolution so a 640x480 picture will appear blown up and more pixelated. GameSpot should have played both games on a CRT to notice the real difference since they can produce images at any resolution...

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  • aladd04

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 2:10 pm GMT

    me personally, i don't care for graphics, i just think that if they are amazing then that gives the game a bonus. the gameplay is what really matters. as for the difference, in certain screenshots i see very little difference, but in others i see a huge difference, maybe its just my computer or its the way the game is. none the less, the wii is still a kickass system, with or without high powered graphics

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  • erict702

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 9:45 pm GMT

    WOW!

    Thats a great diffrents!

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  • xxGnarKillxx

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 9:32 pm GMT

    the graphic difference is pretty small in my opinion
    but the wii and metroid 3 rule none the less.

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  • Anihiliator

    Posted Jan 18, 2008 1:02 pm GMT

    all prime games are awesome...the wii delivers much better graphics and interactives...plus we can talk to people and even use the ship!! wats better than that?!!

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  • blaxax

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 1:00 pm GMT

    i believe that all prime games are amazing,but the wii does a better job in lighting.although,i think that the gamecube versoins are better.

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  • blaxax

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 12:56 pm GMT

    nice!

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  • nate1222

    Posted Jan 6, 2008 11:59 am GMT

    Looks like one of the more solid Wii titles. Prime and Echoes rocked. Coruption won't disappoint.

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  • jogunther

    Posted Jan 6, 2008 12:53 am GMT

    If the games fun the graphics are always almost always satisfactory. The change in graphics though is really not very impressive. agreed?

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  • icehawk001987

    Posted Jan 3, 2008 12:22 pm GMT

    i never played the old one but the new one has great graphics for the wii

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  • twitch008

    Posted Dec 27, 2007 5:16 pm GMT

    It's enough of a boost to satisfy me, I'm excited and wish I could get my hands on a Nintendo Fan Bundle.

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  • Phopanda112

    Posted Dec 25, 2007 9:58 pm GMT

    Graphics are a big element in games, and the Wii is still trying hard to break through the Gamecrap days. The Wii can and did improve the graphics though--Super Mario Galaxy

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  • hassam7

    Posted Dec 21, 2007 3:31 am GMT

    yup tue Wii can't improve its graphics more than this!

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  • PostedOval

    Posted Dec 19, 2007 9:30 am GMT

    The differences don't seem that great to me. Nothing really blows me away.

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  • jimbo-b

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 7:31 pm GMT

    Yes, the graphics in Metroid Prime 3 are great enough to satisfy some of the most hardcore Wii players.

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  • ninjakid12

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 3:21 pm GMT

    well nnot do good but better

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  • starmetroid

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 9:05 pm GMT

    The graphics are superb (bet ya never though a Wii owner would say that) but they are glitchy sometimes

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  • GreenXMega

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 10:10 am GMT

    The earlier screenshots were "meh" because they aren't much better, but the rest really stand out.

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  • Master_Z13

    Posted Dec 14, 2007 8:18 pm GMT

    MP3 does indeed have great graphics...but sadly I think the Gamecube could pull it off...

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  • BreadCrumbsz

    Posted Dec 14, 2007 5:42 am GMT

    The quality is superb in both, sure MP3s' is better but that doesn't mean I'm gonna play one over the other. Enough to satisfy Wii players eh? It more than enough satisfies me to just have the game as that's all I'm after, and if it's pretty, sure I stop and gander at all the stuffies. Graphics don't feed my gaming fuel, my SNES games still look great and new to me everytime I fire up the same game I been playing since day 1.

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  • Keypo

    Posted Dec 14, 2007 2:13 am GMT

    looks about the same... minor changes not enough to make someone not looking for differences notice much

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  • zracxes

    Posted Dec 14, 2007 1:27 am GMT

    Hi after spending moore time with the game i got one thing that i dont like so much : In the older versions of Metroid, Samus dont walk into friends that talk and give u missions, It ruins alot of the explore function in the earlier games. The silence feeling is gone so are some of the mystics along. I dont wanna run into talking humans or stuff like that when i play Metroid, i use my fantasy, and the text based old Metroid version is better than humans,friends, chatting (i Hope they remember that for the next Metroid game , that this is and alien world that dont speak english ; ) at least not before now except for this missions and friends talk alot the game is like all other Metroid games and alot moore fun) but any way plz STOP turning this game into HELO(x-box)

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  • zracxes

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 10:33 am GMT

    Wii isent all about graffics and i think wee all should know that now. The game is awsome cool > and its a good way to start produce games with new way of thinking & NextGen gaming, i hope the next Nintendo Flag will be an improment of wii tec and maybe get even a bether feeling with remote equipment/tecnologi and graffics can follow todays performens (maybe) or moore would be even greater) SMILE

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  • charlie_bm

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 2:09 pm GMT

    Graphics don't make a game, but it is really nice to have a game that has good gameplay and graphics.

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  • dark_-_knight

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 10:36 am GMT

    It doesnt matter the graphics if they are bad or good ,
    this is the best game of all time

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  • Whitewind617

    Posted Dec 8, 2007 5:48 am GMT

    omg u have THE worst spelling ive ever seen. I agree tho, bad scenes.

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  • enrique_marrodz

    Posted Dec 7, 2007 3:08 pm GMT

    I can say I was pleasently surprised when playing the game for the first tiem, mainly, because of the vastly improved graphics. But then, when I got into the game, I re-discovered you can soon forget about this as the game, as well as the previous, is a so delightful experience, full of action, mistery and the story is so intense.

    So, GS, pls try to make comparisions which actually worth it. The screenshots you choosed are not good for this purpise, it appears as if you chosed the worst ones. Second, the real deal with MP3:C is the control schema that absolutly rocks! Why don't you make a proper analisys that allow us to see the evolution through prime series in all it's big points?

    This not an 8.x game so stop trying to compensate another of your mistakes qualifying games with this useless content.

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  • PlayfulParasite

    Posted Dec 6, 2007 10:27 am GMT

    Well, the lighting seems to be better and better attention to detail imo

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  • thewilyranger

    Posted Dec 3, 2007 4:22 am GMT

    @DJ_Quack_Quack

    Thanks for the compliment, its hard for me to be judgemental on graphics I have been gaming since the NES and it just annoys me to see these dumb graphics comparisons and have gamers judge games on looks, I am not trying to say good graphics = crappy game, but it would be nice to have games to be judged on game play instead of looks alone.

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  • DJ_Quack_Quack

    Posted Dec 1, 2007 10:19 am GMT

    thewilyranger = true gamer.

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  • Doc_smock

    Posted Nov 30, 2007 4:33 pm GMT

    they could be the same game, I feel for you wii owners. then again you probably didn't buy the wii for graphics so it's all good.

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  • thewilyranger

    Posted Nov 29, 2007 6:26 am GMT

    Why is it that people complain about graphics on games, I remember when I first started playing games there was only 8 colors that were being used and I still had a great time playing those games, it seems anymore that a game is judged on its graphics rather than the actual gameplay.

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  • taddia

    Posted Nov 26, 2007 6:00 pm GMT

    PPL.... It's fun! Do i have to add anything more? -..- cmon...

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