Without Nostalgia, it's hard to fully sing the praises of Super Metroid in 2021. Is this a monolith game that set the stage for some of the best (and my favorite) modern games? Absolutely. Is it dated in ways that other marquee SNES games are not? Absolutely.
While I think Super Mario World, Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, and some other SNES AAA games hold up; Super Metroid is the game that has probably seen the most evolution and iteration on it's own format. Things that may have felt clever and fresh way back when, feel annoying and not user friendly now. There is a lot of pixel and exit hunting going on in the game that is simply not user friendly.
While I think Super Mario World, Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, and some other SNES AAA games hold up; Super Metroid is the game that has probably seen the most evolution and iteration on it's own format. Things that may have felt clever and fresh way back when, feel annoying and not user friendly now. There is a lot of pixel and exit hunting going on in the game that is simply not user friendly.