Is Metroid Prime The Citizen Kane Of Video Games?

If Orson Welles’ groundbreaking, multiple award winning film Citizen Kane has an analogous counterpart in the video game space, one ABC News report argues that it’s Nintendo’s Metroid Prime Trilogy.

It’s IGN’s Michael Thomsen that makes that argument, saying that the “dark and lonely world” of Welles’ film is comparable to the environments presented in the Metroid Prime series. It’s also the game’s emphasis on exploration over combat and its reflection of Samus Aran’s visage that helps to humanize the experience.

Maybe he’s right. Metroid Prime is arguably the best GameCube game ever made. But is it as nearly universally praised by fans and critics of the medium, as Citizen Kane is in film? Does that even matter?

Where we might disagree—and not to take away from Retro Studios and Nintendo’s work on the series—is on Metroid Prime’s comparable technical and cinematographic accomplishments. Sure, Morph Balling in 3D works like a charm, but are they on par with Welles’ and his crew’s work? And does that matter?

And do we benefit in any way from the comparison?

Nintendo’s Video Game Masterpiece [ABC via GoNintendo]