How would you change a game?

[Zero Kirby]

I'd give Metroid: Other M a few changes

1) Change the bloody controls
"Retro" is not a good excuse when it actively detriments the game. By using a Wiimote-Nunchuk control scheme, you eliminate both the hassle of first-person (either making it a button or removing it completely in favor of Epic Mickey-style aiming which would work just fine as well), and the hassle of moving in 3D without being able to control speed or fine-tune direction. Other things, like shooting missiles and whatnot, can now have buttons dedicated to them instead of having to use a clunky, backwards (seriously WHY ARE FREE-LOOK AND LOCK-ON THE SAME BUTTON THAT MAKES NO SENSE), and really generally useless first-person view.

2) Change the bloody story
Government conspiracy! Wow, never seen that before, except in Metroid: Fusion. So wait, since this is before Fusion, how come Samus is still working for the Federation at the beginning of Fusion when it's made abundantly clear the Federation are a bunch of asshats? Somethin's screwy here

Adam was also kind of a bad character. He was bland and uninteresting and didn't do anything except give you orders and blow up a bunch of Metroids. Whee. All that stuff about who he is? It's just straight up told to you by Samus, as opposed to you getting to infer it or anything through his actions, which were... giving you orders, and blowing up a bunch of Metroids. Oh, he also said that one line a couple times

And Samus was annoying. She lacked gravitas. In Metroid Prime it's evident the moment you look at her that she is here to kick ass and take names and don't mess with her. Here? She's an emotional wreck whose inner monologue puts me to sleep (see Metroid: Fusion for a proper way to do Samus monologues) and really seems rather idiotic and incompetent.

Also either she's really short or the Federation hires nothing but nine-foot tall men as soldiers.

I'd probably put the game farther back in the past. It seems kinda weird that Adam's sacrifice is so close to Fusion. I figured it was before even the first Metroid game. That way an inexperienced Samus actually makes sense and the game's story can be about building their relationship as opposed to just telling you they had one.

3) Change the bloody structure
Why do I need authorization to use the Varia Suit?

It really is kind of lame running into an enemy and it's like, "Oh how do I fight this" and then Adam chimes in with "WEAPON THAT'S USEFUL IN THIS EXACT SCENARIO AUTHORIZED" and then it's just like, "oh well that was easy." You only get a couple items from beating boss fights. That sense of satisfaction from beating a difficult boss is just... not there. Having doors and such constantly locked behind you shuts down exploration. Not being able to collect all the items before the final boss is just... what? And also hey WHY DO GAME NOT SAY POWER BOMBS ARE AN OKAY TO USE DURING METROID QUEEN? You have no hints of being able to use them, and every other time you try to charge them up you're actually allowed to charge them up to 99%! So you have to "accidentally" hold down the button for a full ten seconds or be psychic (there were no Power Bombs in Metroid II, the only other game where you fight a Metroid Queen). And then the boss after that one was just a joke. "Stare at the target for a second. You win!"

You get an item, and it's not like, "Hey! Now I can go explore that one place!" It's, "Oh! I hope the story directs me towards that one place so I can explore it!" Yep that's a uh-huh yeah that's uh hmm. Metroid Prime 3 gets a lot of shit for being linear in comparison to 1 and 2, but at least you were allowed to go wherever the hell you wanted as long as you had the requisite abilities.

So I'd just make the game more open, come up with more interesting items (was there any original items beyond the Diffusion Beam?), and probably put the game in a different setting. A planet would be cooler than a spaceship. The trailers made the game's areas look open, as opposed to just an illusion of such.

And less cutscenes.

4) Change the bloody name
Real subtle Nintendo. Might as well just bash my head in with a tire iron saying "GAME IS ABOUT MOTHER ISSUES"

Any title would be better. Metroid: Super Turbo Championship Edition would be a better title.