Even though I'm an old gamer and a metroidvania fan, I'd never played this until now as I just never really got my hands on an SNES and emulation isn't really my thing. So, having had this game touted as "peak metroidvania", I have to say I was rather disappointed when I finally finished it. It's not a bad game by any means, but it definitely didn't live up to the hype.

The movement never felt fluid to me. The combat seemed to lack depth, but I'm not sure if this is a problem with the combat or simply because I prefer melee combat to shooting in these type of games.

The only part I really enjoyed was the exploration, but even that fell short as the rewards for it are mostly just endless missile capacity upgrades.

It may have been amazing for its time and a formative experience for many, but it is far from the best in the genre.