Both are forms of 2D display but the sprites in games like Braid and Muramasa are different from snes games and the like. They're higher res, have more colors...etc - They look completely different form each other imo

When I say pixel sprites, I mean this

I get what you mean when you say Braid's and Muramasa's graphics were made from 2D 'sprites', but I'm refering to the graphical style of past 2D games, aka a 2D index map with a palette of indexed colors... Braid is to snes sprites as jpeg is to GIF

Also I'll add, you're right, I didn't like the art style in Braid that much, that's why even though Braid = Muramasa in sprite type, I loved Muramasa's art style >>> Braid

Rol, I think you expressed my way of thinking. Maybe when nintendo decides it wants to please its fans instead of fertilizing their ego(sakamoto).

I really would like the idea of games like A Link to the Past and Super Metroid on the 3DS. As Rol said, those kinds of games never stopped selling, but they were just stopped being made because the N64 put so much focus on 3D environments that all Nintendo franchises moved to 3D, and because Nintendo was so great at recreating these games in 3D. But I also think that you have to give credit to Nintendo for bringing 2D back: If it weren't for NSMB, we wouldn't have any 2D games now, not from other publishers either. I also don't really get your issue with 3D Mario, because it is very clear that we will get a new 2D Mario sooner or later. I mean, it is not the same team that creates the Galaxy games (EAD Tokyo) and the Bros games (EAD 4 or any other number), so I'm pretty sure the Bros team is already working on a new game, probably for the Wii U.
Also, it is not only Mario that Nintendo re-established in 2D but also Donkey Kong, and they were already testing the waters a little bit with Other M, so your critique about Nintendo doesn't seem really fair to me.

Now for the two games we are actually talking about: I think a new side-scrolling Metroid is definitely a possibility, because other forms of the franchise didn't really succeed to sell well. Top-Down Zelda is a bit more unlikely I'm afraid, but I think the 3D Zeldas are not as different from the 2D games as it is the case in the Mario and Metroid franchise, so no 2D Zelda is more acceptable than no 2D Mario or Metroid to me.

The best part of Metroid's timeline is how simple it is to make Metroid games that have zero to do with it. It's too bad that Nintendo doesn't seem to understand that (well, Retro understood).
Samus is a bounty hunter and she isn't as bound to the history of the world of Metroid as Link and Zelda is to their world. The only thing you need to figure out is the reason for there being metroids in the game and you're set. And considering that those flying jellyfishies are spreading throughout the galaxy faster than the zerg thanks to space pirates, scientists etc. that shouldn't be a problem.

I guess another problem would be the suit upgrades. A simple solution to that would be upgrades specific to the worlds Samus visits. Once Samus leaves the place she loses her upgrades and you won't ever need to use that damn authorization fix for the next game because Samus already comes equipped with enough weaponry to blow up the moon. This solution would also make every Metroid game more unique in terms of upgrades, environments, enemies etc.
We've already mastered the basic upgrades such as missiles, bombs, grapple beam etc. so those should be enabled from the beginning. I want the designers to come up with new equipment instead of making me search for the missile for the nth time. This goes for Zelda as well. No more knowing beforehand what atleast 4/5 of the upgrades will consist of.

I find all of these ideas agreeable. Master Quest scenarios need to be more standard in general. It should be implemented in all Zelda games, though, not just the 2D ones. I'm not as sure about the viability of that option in 3D Metroids, but then I'm also unsure of anything that would hinder it, so it would probably work. It's a bit tougher for Metroid, I guess, in that there's no overworld/dungeon separation, so the entire world has to be redesigned. Probably easier in 2D than 3D.

Going by what Rol said, they will not be making those games for 3DS, (maybe Metroid). Its not about whether they have the capacity but the desire. If they feel that those 2d games are not worth a full retail release, then why not put them on a DL network?? Everyone else does it and they seem to do ok for the most part. Im not saying i totally agree with it.

I thought Miyamoto already said he wanted a top down Zelda similar to ALttP on the 3DS? As for Zelda, I'm all for what Rol said, but I like my puzzles so i don't want the puzzles to be as few as Rol wants em. I totally enjoyed drawing my map in Spirit Tracks, especially those dark rooms where you had to light touches to find your way and draw your entire map yourself. I just don't think you should have to draw the whole map yourself all the time. And critics say that there are sections in Mario 3D Land that are almost impossible to pass without the 3D so Rol might be wrong in this regard, and I hope that Zelda can prove that to me.
Metroid, I'd like a game that plays like Other M with just a few changes. 1. Change the health system back to what we're used to.......collecting floating health/ammo packs.
2. Better puzzles
3. More emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving than just combat. That's what makes the combat fun.
4. Proper scanning like in the Prime series, not the watered down scanning Other M had.

Well Other M was definitely closer to a 2D game than the Prime games were, and if NSMB wouldn't have happened before, I don't think Nintendo would have dared to put 2D sections in their big games like Other M or Mario Galaxy 2.

I think that IF we happen to see a new Metroid during the upcoming console generation (3DS and WiiU), it will be a sidescrolling game. Chances are high that the franchise will skip another generation and then be reinvented completely again though.

That's not true, there were definitely some sections where you could only move in two directions while not being in a Morph Ball tunnel in Metroid Other M. I'm not sure how many of them existed though.

I agree with the things you say about 3D Mario, but you make it sound like a bad thing. I would say it is a good move from Nintendo that they are trying to implement the things people like about 2D Mario into the 3D games. Of course, if the goal is to replace the 2D games with 3D ones, it would be bad, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the case. The first Mario game on the WiiU will be in 2D, you will see.