Super underrated but still flawed for sure. Probably the best thing is the atmosphere this game makes. There's such an eerie, claustrophobic feeling you get plunging deep into the caverns of an alien world, hunting for metroids that are gradually becoming stronger and more horrifying as you progress. And the ending sequence is incredibly cinematic and terrifying for a Game Boy game from 1991. But the fact that most rooms look exactly the same so you get lost easily and the somewhat clunky controls make it a bit hard to recommend. But if you can push through all that, this game is a great experience for any Metroid fan

An incredible game that, as I played, my opinion of which changed drastically several times. When I first began playing, I totally got the acclaim this game has received over time. The atmosphere is just... magical. Almost unparalleled in video games. The environments are gorgeously realized, especially thanks to the amazing remaster job, the music is eerie and makes heavy use of synthesized instruments that sounds incredibly alien. And of course, the log entries that reveal information about the world of Tallon IV. It's fantastic worldbuilding all around.

Then I got to the Phazon Mines, and my enjoyment dropped somewhat. The Phazon Mines are by no means bad, or even difficult, but they are stressful. The enemies hit hard and are super durable, especially the Fission Metroids (apparently in the original version they didn't show up here -- I don't know why they would have changed that). The Phazon Mines doesn't pull punches, you need to get good. You can't cruise on by with the combat. And that was annoying at first, but as I got a better grasp on things I didn't mind them as much, but I still think it's the worst area in the game, especially to backtrack through.

Then I hit the Chozo Artifacts quest, and I ended up taking a several month long break from this game. I had just gotten through the Mines and was ready to face the end of the game, and to be hit by the crushing realization I had to backtrack through all these areas was just too much. When I finally came back to the game, determined to beat it and refreshed, I found it much less annoying than I feared. I even went through and 100% completed the items, despite the backtracking being a little tedious.

After going through the whole game, finishing it, I can confidently say this is an excellent game. Is the acclaim it's received completely warranted? I don't know, I've got some issues that I've already been over. It's still absolutely worth playing. I think my experience speaks as to why it's so important to finish games before judging them, and not giving up. You never know what might come of a full experience. My issues with the game lessened the more I played, and a fantastic final two bosses helped place this game among some of the best gaming experiences of my life. I hope I continue to take this approach to future games I play, and maybe you'll be more inclined to do so as well in the future :)

One of the most boring and mind-numbingly easy platformers I have ever played. The level design is flat and uninspired, the bosses all feel more or less the same, and the game isn't long enough to impress you with more ideas. The last level is literally just fighting the four bosses again with no changes, or at least not any I noticed. Kirby's suck mechanic is an interesting idea, but it wouldn't reach it's full potential until Kirby's Adventure, and here it just feels slow. Everything in this game feels slow. Kirby moves slow, he flies slow, and defeating an enemy means sucking them up and spitting them out or swallowing them, a process that becomes incredibly tedious, even over the course of a game that takes an hour to beat. This game would be a 4/10 if not for the pretty good soundtrack and some charm, especially on the character designs for Kirby and Dedede that just barely pushes it up to the 5/10 range. This is the first Kirby game I've played and if this is what they are all like, I am not looking forward to playing the rest of the series.

I think this game's difficulty is the thing everyone knows. It's the "borderline impossible Mario game that is only for the truest of gamers". The thing is, this game really isn't that hard. It just takes practice, and the game thankfully has a much more generous continue system than the first, allowing you to continue from the beginning of a world. A lot of this game relies on simply being able to make precise jumps. Can you position Mario accurately enough to land on a single block? Can you get a perfect running start and time it so you bounce off the Paratroopa and get enough height? The game's difficulty can be annoying but oftentimes it leads to experimentation. Each action you take in this game needs to be incredibly thought out ahead of time but the game always keeps you on your toes. It's the same feeling you get from other difficult platformers. In fact, I'd say nothing in this game is harder than a lot of modern indie platformers.

The issue with this game is that a lot of these levels just are not good. You can tell by playing them that the developers were experimenting a lot with ideas, and developer interviews confirm this. This game's levels are a lot more interesting and unique than the first game, with a few new mechanics being introduced that add a lot of variety (poison mushrooms, wind, and more difficult piranha plants). Mario can also bounce higher off enemies allowing them to become part of the level design in all new interesting ways. Unfortunately, with experimentation comes failure and a lot of levels in this game are failures, with way too many deaths coming from obstacles that aren't telegraphed to the player.

All in all, I think everyone should try this game. Don't be put off by the difficulty or what people say, this game has a lot of creativity and passion poured into it, much more than a lot of later games in the series. It's just sad that a lot of the levels don't end up being that fun to play.