So its my mini-review of Super Metroid, now that i finally have beaten it, 2 years and 6 months since i intially acquired it, back in the VC month of Metroid in August 2007
Basically, i enjoyed the game quite a bit, as it takes the better elements of its predecessors and successors, and has them in measure. More civilized then the barbarism of original Metroid, yet without Fusion's restrictive Mission system. You're free to navigate as you will, but not to the point where you can really find yourself A: lost as hell and B: finding items you probably shouldn't be finding yet. The balance of worlds was really enjoyable and the enemies kept you thinking.
However, i must say i was disappointed by the ending. Nowhere near the great, cathartic experience that was described to me so many times over. It might be because i had the ending spoiled again and again, or because i've played Metroid Fusion, where the final boss fight plays out the same way, except that i had much more emotional investment in SA-X than i did in the Baby (though in SA-X's case, it was fear and loathing). Mother Brain was a pushover, given that i remember having to practice again and again to finally get Ridley down, but i picked up the game for the first time in probably over a year today, and barely remembering the controls, was mostly able to tank my way through Mother Brain until the Baby came in, and the exploit to fight Mother Brain after you have the hyper beam was simple.
It's easiest to draw comparisons to Fusion, so i shall do so again. In that final fight you had more on the line, given that the clock was already ticking and the final boss was right there, standing between you and freedom. Also the fact that the Omega Metroid was still dangerous after you acquired the Ice Beam, unlike Mother Brain who keels over for you after you go Hyper.
Despite the lacklustre ending, i feel compelled to play the game again, to take a crack at really mastering the world of Zebes now that i've familiarized myself with it, so it wins more points than Fusion in that regard (it took me almost 7 years to muster the will to go back to that, mostly due to displeasure with the mission structure and the world design in general. That and Fusion is hard in a bad way)
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.
