Metroid: Other M - The Black Sheep....or so we thought

[Airas]

Kenryoku_Maxis said:

I mearly stated Super (and the original) have a general path for you to go down, eventhough it allows you to explore elsewhere.  And in the first game, that freedom to explore is actually a negative because you die so often and upgrades are in abstract places.  Whereas in Super and its remake, Zero Mission, its a benefit.

I still do not understand what you mean by this. What exactly is the general path in Metroid? The only times I remember the game following a path are at the very beginning and at the very end, in the area with the Metroids before the final boss. Everything else is pretty much a blank slate.