Replayed on Switch for the first time in a really long time. The X are a really cool enemy concept, and I like the huge space station setting and the paranoid atmosphere as the SA-X tracks you through the ship. A few problems that hold this back from being on the same level as Super Metroid or Metroid Dread:
- As many have said, the inclusion of dialogue and Samus's internal monologue is totally unnecessary and messes with the spare, mysterious narrative style of these games.
- The use of navigation rooms and map checkpoints makes this far too linear, especially in the way it sometimes locks you into taking a certain path after you visit a navigation room. At the end of the game when I was trying to get all of the items I missed, I kept having to take comically roundabout paths to avoid going through a navigation room and getting locked into the endgame.
- SA-X occasionally destroys certain doors making them completely unusable for the rest of the game, but these are never marked on the map. It makes navigating the map to collect the items you missed really annoying because you inevitably find yourself in situations where you're one room away from where you're trying to get to, only to realize the door is destroyed and you have to backtrack and find another way around.
- There is an energy tank that is impossible to get after a certain point in the game, even if you haven't initiated the endgame yet! I ended up with 98% completion because of this. Really irritating.
Still enjoy it a lot despite these flaws, it's just frustrating that this was so close to being a nearly perfect Metroid game only to be held back by some stupid narrative and design decisions.
- As many have said, the inclusion of dialogue and Samus's internal monologue is totally unnecessary and messes with the spare, mysterious narrative style of these games.
- The use of navigation rooms and map checkpoints makes this far too linear, especially in the way it sometimes locks you into taking a certain path after you visit a navigation room. At the end of the game when I was trying to get all of the items I missed, I kept having to take comically roundabout paths to avoid going through a navigation room and getting locked into the endgame.
- SA-X occasionally destroys certain doors making them completely unusable for the rest of the game, but these are never marked on the map. It makes navigating the map to collect the items you missed really annoying because you inevitably find yourself in situations where you're one room away from where you're trying to get to, only to realize the door is destroyed and you have to backtrack and find another way around.
- There is an energy tank that is impossible to get after a certain point in the game, even if you haven't initiated the endgame yet! I ended up with 98% completion because of this. Really irritating.
Still enjoy it a lot despite these flaws, it's just frustrating that this was so close to being a nearly perfect Metroid game only to be held back by some stupid narrative and design decisions.