Oh! Well happy birthday! ^^
Yeah, I did actually enjoy the first. I didn't exactly go into it thinking "this is going to be exactly like Super Metroid", so I didn't mind that it was different. I also still thought it preserved some of the exploration, even if it still didn't have as much as Super Metroid. Prime 2 and 3 however sucked on that front. They were considerably worse, although I still think they're at least decent games.
Yeah, we're going to have a good year with the Wii methinks. The 3DS does look amazing. I'll have to get one when I can. Other M does look epic. It looks like the Metroid we've been waiting for. Interesting how there's suddenly a ton of 2.5D games coming out on the Wii.