Overhyped? If anything, it\'s overrated. Two different things, those..
I\'d say it was underhyped.
Nobody thought it would be good considering Retro\'s internal problems, nevermind the fact that it abandoned the classic side-scrolling action in an unprecedented change to *gasp* first-person!
Metroid Prime had everything going against it, and in the end came out as the best game of 2002. I doubted it, everybody did.. but after putting 30 hours into it (beat it on Easy, got everything, then got halfway through Hard) I must say that MP is the definitive Nintendo game. It is probably not the first game you should try with your shiny new GameCube.. most everything else on the system might not look quite as keen once you\'ve experienced this game.
Meh, now I might really be overrating it.. heh.. there are actually a few other instant classics on the \'Cube that are right up there with MP.. but still.. I gotta say that Metroid Prime is probably the best of the bunch.
So polished, so pretty.. very fun and surprisingly long considering the length of Super Metroid*.
* in my experience, 8hrs SM vs 25hrs MP first time through