It's a fuckin classic, c'mon.
Super Metroid pretty much nails everything and does most of it arguably better than any other entry in the franchise. Still has the best soundtrack of the series, Planet Zebes is so atmospheric and fun to explore, puzzles are mostly satisfying to complete, and the moment-to-moment gameplay is amazing.
I still have to lower the score cause of three things in particular.
1. Dedicated run button
This didn't bother me too much when I first played it and I just got used to it, but after playing all future 2D games in the series, it's a little annoying to come back to again.
2. Obtuse required puzzles
This very easily could just be me, but I felt like a few of the required items (Gravity Suit in particular) were oddly annoying to get. It seems to completely throw out the problem-solving skills you obtained through most of the game just for a one-off puzzle where the main premise behind it doesn't show up again and it's just weird.
3. Flawed map system
For the first time in the series, there's a map! And it's usually great and does everything it needs to do, except for one glaring issue. Items are marked with dots on the tiles, but they never change to indicate that you've gotten that item. Future games have unobtained items as circles that change into dots once you get them which makes backtracking infinitely easier, but not here. I ended up wasting so much time running through past areas over and over again cause I couldn't keep track of what I already had.
Still kicks ass though
Super Metroid pretty much nails everything and does most of it arguably better than any other entry in the franchise. Still has the best soundtrack of the series, Planet Zebes is so atmospheric and fun to explore, puzzles are mostly satisfying to complete, and the moment-to-moment gameplay is amazing.
I still have to lower the score cause of three things in particular.
1. Dedicated run button
This didn't bother me too much when I first played it and I just got used to it, but after playing all future 2D games in the series, it's a little annoying to come back to again.
2. Obtuse required puzzles
This very easily could just be me, but I felt like a few of the required items (Gravity Suit in particular) were oddly annoying to get. It seems to completely throw out the problem-solving skills you obtained through most of the game just for a one-off puzzle where the main premise behind it doesn't show up again and it's just weird.
3. Flawed map system
For the first time in the series, there's a map! And it's usually great and does everything it needs to do, except for one glaring issue. Items are marked with dots on the tiles, but they never change to indicate that you've gotten that item. Future games have unobtained items as circles that change into dots once you get them which makes backtracking infinitely easier, but not here. I ended up wasting so much time running through past areas over and over again cause I couldn't keep track of what I already had.
Still kicks ass though