I think this game has a lot of shortcomings in its single player mode. It has a very repetitious cycle that got to me after a while. Having to fight the same two bosses four times with little variation is wild and they are awful encounters I hated having to do. But I do find its structure quite interesting and I was often having fun doing Metroid Prime lite puzzle solving and finding hidden items. I really like the weapons in this game, they are all well rounded and very cool. They definitely ape off of Quake but I mean that is a good inspiration to have. I also found the final boss to be incredibly satisfying. One of the absolute best in the series. So the single player is a bit rough around the edges and doesn't quite live up to the prime trilogy, but I really admire that it tries its absolute best. For a DS handheld spin-off not developed by retro studios, I think they nail it more than they don't. It also helps that this game has one of the best console FPS control schemes I've ever used. Stylus aiming is such a joy and as long as you can avoid getting hand cramps its a really fluid experience.

Unfortunately I can't really speak to the multiplayers quality now since it's not as accessible anymore, but I do have really fond memories playing with friends and bots. This was my first metroid game but I spent all of my time in its death match modes. From memory this is the best multiplayer Nintendo has ever published. I eluded to a Quake comparison earlier and uh...yeah, this is Nintendo Quake through and through with a Metroid Prime flavor (combination of two of the best things ever tbh). I really love how all the hunters are implemented. They all share the same basic gameplay but their aesthetics and morph balls are all different and fun. I have a special place in my heart for Weavils morph ball being to split and half, become bipedal, and his robot legs turning into a turret. I like how all the hunters are a little different but still stick to the core gameplay style. Think Quake Champions as opposed to like overwatch or tf2. The game has really good maps which are all then used for the single player mode (rather well actually I'm pretty surprised about that) and it's already solid weapons and the multiple hunters you can play as make for peak multiplayer, it's really fun. I know there are ways to set up multiplayer matches in 2024 and hopefully I can wrap my head around that.

This game is definitely flawed and people see it as a black sheep in the Metroid series for a reason, but honestly, I was surprised how much I liked it. I'd say if you are a fan of the prime trilogy like I am give this a shot. It's fun seeing how well they replicate the feeling of Prime on such a smaller scale title.