No, of all mainline Metroid games, Other M actually is the black sheep regardless of whether one enjoyed it or not.

The beam upgrades in Other M are just as important as Prime.  Some areas you can't even progress without the Ice or Diffusion Beams.  Or are you going to tell me you would have been able to fight the Hive Boss in Sector 1 without the Diffusion beam killing 5 enemies at once.  Or you'd enjoy running through Sector 3 without the Ice Beam freezing all the maga enemies.  I thought not.

Also, like Mr. Kahn said, I didn't play the game on hard mode, so I don't feel the same as you.  But you could easily make the same argument for Nina Gaiden on hard.  Yet no one is complaining about 'limited gameplay and dodging all day' in that game.  Because its SUPPOSE to be hard.

And frankly, I'm tired of hearing about how Prime is a godly game because it has the most exploration of any of the games.  I already explained how it detracted from my experience, while in Super (and yes, even the original), there is a general path you are suppose to go, even if you want to explore outside that path.  Prime was like sitting in a giant 3D world constantly going 'Should I go in that room *scan everything*.....no, I don't have Grapple beam yet.  How about this room *scan everything*...no, I don't have super bombs.  How about this room *scan everything*...no, I don't have Spider ball yet....'  That's not fun exploration.  That's forced exploration that just makes you frustrated.  It gets old real fast.

Also, as I keep saying, I'm not going to say Other M was the best in progression or item finding.  But you people always take it to the extreme saying 'Zero Pick up items'.  You lose all credibility when you take something to such an extreme that even casual players of the game know you're wrong.  There was even NEW pick up items in this game, including energy parts, 'Accel Charge' to speed up the charging of your Charge Beam and 'E-Recovery units' to improve your concentration.  Yes, they felt easier to find, but please stop trying to claim there's nothing there.  Especially compared to Prime, which is missing key items and basically came down to collecting nothing but Missle Upgrades and Energy Packs outside of the main items.

So was Majora's Mask for the Zelda series.  10 years later, a whole new generation turned it into a cult classic.

Also, I[d like to point out, a lot of the things people complain about with Other M are the same thing people complained about with Metroid Fusion.  Including forced story, limited gameplay, bad 'colorful' graphical design and 'ruining Samus' character'.  Just ever since Other M came out, they stopped complaining about that game and focused on Other M.

I really liked Other M, wasn't a GoY but was fun.

yes but most games with good legs go on to do that.

No, what I wanted to say was that I didn't enjoy the Metroid Prime games. I tried Prime 1 and Corruption, and they're just not for me. I don't like the first person perspective, and the depressing atmosphere, and the scanning and everything. Other M is the kind of Metroid game I'd play.

Maybe it's because Prime 1-3 were made outside of Japan. I found that I prefer Japan made Nintendo games. Not a fan of outsourcing to the US. I haven't tried DKCR yet, though.

Imagine how much it would have sold if it was a better game...

That doesn't mean any game that does that has legs.

I can't really argue with this point since I never played Other M on hard mode either, but I was just wondering what gave you the impression that hard mode was closer to the developer's vision than normal mode?

If the developer did indeed say as much then I would go back and try the game on hard mode so I could get a better idea of where you're coming from. From what I've heard about that mode (no pick-ups etc) it would indeed sound less like a Metroid game and more like a regular action game like DMC...

I agree with this completely. I would also like to add it's possible any metroid game which would have followed Prime Trilogy and gone in a different direction might have been considered a disappointment, just like Mario Sunshine and Majora's Mask were... (edit: If you don't agree with me on Majora's Mask I respect that. Instead, consider Wind Waker).

I think that's just part of the trouble of having to follow a genre-defining game in a series...

Majora's Mask dissapointing??? news to me, IMHO that game mops the floor the OOT, no damn princess to rescue, Ganondorf nowhere in sight, crazy powerups, and a damn moon 'bout to wipe out humanity. Its my favorite in the series. THey took the fomula and pushed it to the edge and still mantained the Zelda feel, whats not to like