Gameplay wise, it’s almost all here. It feels great to explore the castle, uncover secrets, and experiment with all your options as far as combat goes. If you’re yearning for Castlevania, this will definitely keep you sated. I’m still floored by the amount of content this game offers, I definitely didn’t see everything.

Where the game loses me a bit is in its story. Which isn’t a big deal to everyone, but as someone who loves over analyzing the Castlevania franchise, it’s a little disappointing. It treads well-worn ground without the excuse of demonstrating the cycle of violence Castlevania is about. In particular, it feels a little derivative of Order of Ecclesia, my favorite Castlevania game and one of my favorite games of all time. Disappointing, but no deal breaker.

I’m so happy this game had a chance to be made, and it demonstrated that plenty of people still want some non-linear castles to explore. Can’t wait to see what the future holds!

I’m not a rhythm game guy, but I’ll never pass up some free Zelda. And this was a great experience! It wasn’t too difficult to keep the beat, and fighting enemies in tune to it was immensely satisfying. Despite not having puzzles in the same way Zelda games do, this game still offered some room for experimentation and problem solving, since there are multiple ways to access certain areas or fight!

Most importantly for a rhythm game, the music slapped. Excellent covers to some iconic songs. I’ll definitely be listening to some of these again.

This was a very pleasant bite-sized Zelda experience and I’m happy I checked it out.

I don't think it's possible for me to be more of an ocean nerd than I am, so I got a lot of enjoyment out of seeing all of the different critters you can discover. The models were realistic and mostly pleasant, and a nice variety of creatures are represented. The story can be comfortably beaten in a few hours, but there are plenty of secrets to explore that'll definitely kill some more time. Unfortunately, the controls could be janky, the music was unremarkable, and having to go back and reinteract with every creature in order to unlock all their trivia dragged the game down.

I think, for the most part, that great games are timeless. I say most part, because I think Metroid falls into a strange place where I cannot in good faith call it a good game, but nor can I call it a bad one. I suppose the best way to describe it would be a good game limited by the technology of the time. I respect it a lot more than I like it.

Samus isn’t as much of a pain to control as I’ve seen people say she is, but wandering endless identical halls without a map in sight is only remotely tolerable thanks to some excellent music. It’s a slog to sit down and play through.

And yet, this game is brimming with so much ambition I can’t bring myself to hate it. I’m happy knowing it got a chance to reinvent itself with better tech and become so iconic. I look forward to playing them for myself. So hats off to you, Metroid, for starting it.