I was left fairly disappointed in Metroid: Zero Mission on my replay.
There's stuff here I like, I think the new bosses are pretty cool. The Zero Suit Samus portion of the game is also very interesting, I like how you've basically been building up your arsenal only to lose it all and be left powerless. The stun gun having a recharge adds a lot to this section's mechanics and I really wish the game could've focused more on this. The Choso Mirror statue bossfight is also pretty inventive, I like how you have to attack at the right time and if you don't you end up hurting yourself, the charge on your gun makes this even more challenging.
Sadly I don't really think it works as a remake of the first Metroid. Zebes is no longer an arcadey maze but instead an accessible guided tour. And whilst it's not necessarily bad to do something different than the original I don't really think it adds anything to the game experience as a whole. Metroid Fusion for example also had very guided gameplay but at the very least that was tied into the game's narrative. Super Metroid has more subtly guided gameplay where once when you're done with a certain area and found a new power-up, the game map leads you back to an older area where you can now use it to gain access to new areas. Zero Mission's map doesn't really have this because it tries to stay relatively close to the orignal Metroid's map, to its own detriment.
It tries to update the orignal NES Metroid with upgraded visuals and new gameplay elements from Super and Fusion, but ends up not catching what made any of those games engaging.
There's stuff here I like, I think the new bosses are pretty cool. The Zero Suit Samus portion of the game is also very interesting, I like how you've basically been building up your arsenal only to lose it all and be left powerless. The stun gun having a recharge adds a lot to this section's mechanics and I really wish the game could've focused more on this. The Choso Mirror statue bossfight is also pretty inventive, I like how you have to attack at the right time and if you don't you end up hurting yourself, the charge on your gun makes this even more challenging.
Sadly I don't really think it works as a remake of the first Metroid. Zebes is no longer an arcadey maze but instead an accessible guided tour. And whilst it's not necessarily bad to do something different than the original I don't really think it adds anything to the game experience as a whole. Metroid Fusion for example also had very guided gameplay but at the very least that was tied into the game's narrative. Super Metroid has more subtly guided gameplay where once when you're done with a certain area and found a new power-up, the game map leads you back to an older area where you can now use it to gain access to new areas. Zero Mission's map doesn't really have this because it tries to stay relatively close to the orignal Metroid's map, to its own detriment.
It tries to update the orignal NES Metroid with upgraded visuals and new gameplay elements from Super and Fusion, but ends up not catching what made any of those games engaging.