I just "finished" it (aka saved the day... now I'm going back to 100% it), and I have to say that that 15 minute ending really was a downer after the mostly excellent Queen Metroid.
I say mostly excellent because it would be nice if the game told you that your power bomb was functional in those last few seconds, like it did for every other weapon/suit upgrade you get in the game. I probably died 7 times before I realized what to do. Good thing the checkpoint system is extremely forgiving... or I probably would have never finished it. 
I find that that's one of the biggest flaws in this game. The game goes through extremes of either telling you exactly what to do, or leaving you in an area that you have no idea how to progress (and it's not a clever puzzle, it's just a completely random, non highlighted area you have to use a morph ball bomb against. ).
I mean, the first person "Where's Waldo" sequences is one of the silliest and unnecessary gameplay elements I've seen in a game. Grrr!
And as for the bosses... while I find them to be the highlight of the game, they're still deceptively simple to defeat. Just spam your sense-move to avoid damage, and when you have room, blast the boss with either a charged beam shot or a missile. Rinse and repeat. Even Ridley was a cinch... (I laughed when he's down to a sliver of health and he starts to charge you. I just spammed sense move and it looked completely ridiculous. 
) I really only found Queen Metroid to be a very diverse/fun/tough boss. Seeing as you had to focus on both the Metroids and herself.
Yeah, besides the "end" of the game, I didn't even mind the story/voice acting/characterization that Sakamoto implemented. Even the plot holes and the silly dialogue didn't phaze me that much. I just find the gameplay, the exploration, the other stuff (the music... hardly worth noticing)... just not up to snuff. I just found Metroid: Other M to be disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good game, but when it's Metroid we're talking about, I was expecting more. My bad I guess.
I'll 100% the game no doubt, take down Phantoon, and reach my ship before BS explodes... but after that, I'm gonna play some Castlevania on the DS.
