Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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A playthrough of Nintendo's 2010 action game for the Nintendo Wii, Metroid: Other M.

This is a 100% run through the game on the normal difficulty level. You can see all of the Gallery Mode's unlockable images at 6:22:42.

The "movie" version: youtu.be/APwWQPhKOPI

Kicking off in the direct aftermath of Super Metroid's explosive finale (youtu.be/Y9tufNHthJE), Metroid: Other M opens with the galactic bounty hunter Samus Aran reflecting on the death of the last metroid - "the baby" - as she's recuperating following a mission that resulted in the destruction of the planet Zebes. After some extensive monologuing and a pointless combat tutorial that fails to acknowledge any of her previous accomplishments, Samus decides that it's time to move on.

Shortly after departing the station, Samus picks up a distress signal and sets course for a seemingly deserted craft named the "Bottle Ship." Once aboard, she encounters a platoon of space jarheads, and among them, some familiar faces. Anthony, a buddy from Samus's military days, warmly greets her with the nickname "Princess," and Adam Malkovich, her former CO and surrogate father figure, reacts to her presence with a pointed sense of detachment. After saving the group from an ambush, Samus agrees to support their mission and takes off on her own to learn more about what has happened on the Bottle Ship.

Other M was produced by Team Ninja (the people behind the Dead or Alive and 3D Ninja Gaiden games) under the direction of Yoshio Sakamoto, a prominent member of Nintendo's R&D1 team who had become the steward of the Metroid series following the success of Super Metroid.

Sakamoto's aim was to create a modern, narrative-driven 3D experience that would appeal to the masses without alienating the fans of 2D Metroid games. Nintendo granted him complete creative control over the project, and Sakamoto was extremely proud of the result. He viewed Other M as the perfect execution of his vision and has said that, in retrospect, he wouldn't have done anything differently.

Nintendo deserves props for placing such faith in an employee who'd proven his loyalty and worth through the decades. Sakamoto is a talented guy with a keen eye for solid gameplay mechanics and organic storytelling, and Other M is a gleaming triple-A monument to the spirit of auteurship. However, instead of playing to his strengths, he waded into uncharted waters with Other M, and the final product turned out to be somewhat less than spectacular. Not everyone can be a Hideo Kojima or a James Cameron, after all.

From a gameplay perspective, Other M is compromised but passable. The game runs on a modified form of the Ninja Gaiden engine, so the action is fast and the controls are responsive (until you have to switch between the first and third-person views, at least), but the game is controlled entirely with the Wii remote, so Samus auto-aims at targets and easily auto-dodges incoming attacks with a simple tap of the d-pad. It's a choice that lends the combat all of Ninja Gaiden's cinematic flash with none of the challenge. There isn't much exploration, either, since the plot dictates which areas are available to you at any given moment, and the map points out the locations of hidden items.

But it's the storytelling that ultimately knocks the wheels off the wagon. Though the intended takeaway is usually clear, Samus is portrayed as a petulant child who yearns for approval, and her expository dumps are little more than mawkishly garnished recaps of previous events. The flat cast of supporting characters also fails to engage with their mindless banter. The writing hits with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, as if penned by an overly eager college freshman trying to show off what he learned from his 100-level "Intro to Literary Analysis" seminar. It tries to be multi-faceted, insightful, and provocative, but it's pedestrian as f--k, and the voice direction is excruciating.

At least it paints a nice picture. The hours of prerendered CG cutscenes are shiny and expensive looking, the framerate is rock solid, and the quality of the graphics is way up there for a Wii game. You wouldn't mistake it for a PS3 game, but it looks damned nice for an anamorphic 16:9 presentation rendered at 640x480.

I respect the unwavering commitment to the vision, but Other M would've benefitted from someone periodically stepping in to give the leash a sharp tug. Had Sakamoto had the humility to recognize his limitations, Other M could've been so much more. I'm not above enjoying a glossy yet mediocre action game, and Other M has some fun moments, but the bright spots are totally eclipsed by its insistence on being a terrible movie above all else.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.