Ok, Super Metroid is a 2.... Than any Nintendo game released in the last 10 years, minus DKC and Fire Emblem is a 0.5/5.

Right, because everyone knows the Metroid's difficulty stems from it's deep, complex, strategic combat system.

ive beaten super metroid a few weeks ago for the first time... the only thing frustrating or difficult was the wall jump and some areas.. boss battles were really easy.

2.5 sounds about right

well i think its a 3, not a 2. and yes the last battle isnt realy a battle.
i never cryed while playing super metroid. so it musst be easyer than lost levels or mario bros 3

Difficulty really wasn't the main draw to Super Metroid, (I mean sure you can make it challenging if you want) but the exploration, item collecting and speed are. So I really do not understand this article, at least from my perspective with the game.

Damn, I must suck then because I gave up (temporarily) as a result of being lost. Guess I deserve it for growing up in an age of 3D games though.

Huh?

I never even thought about the difficulty when it came to Super Metroid.

I didn't find the game brutally hard, nor pathetically easy. It all came down to the exploration part, I guess.

I thought it was pretty unanimous that Super Metroid was easy. I only had trouble so far because I missed an important item somewhere lol

Uhhhh...ok.....let's just ignore how much of a game design masterpiece Super Metroid is and concentrate entirely on arbitrary factors that we decided make the game retroactively bad. Seems legit.

Eherm, OT I basicaly agree with OP that it is easier than the original Metroid (haven't played 2), mostly as consequence of improved game design. I got hopelessly lost in the original Metroid because most of the areas look very similar due to harware limitations. As far as I remember gameplay is also much less refined and as a consequence much less fun. My reaction to the original was decidedly 'meh', while I loved Super Metroid which I played afterwards.

A game with slippery badly implemented controls will be hard, yes, but for all the wrong reasons. Accusing Super Metroid of handholding because it wordlessly teaches you about it's world and how to interact with it is ridiculous imo.

I'd rate it's difficulty medium, at least if you go through it without sequence breaking. It's challenging without being frustrating. Also most of it's difficulty isn't supposed to come from combat anyways, but from exploration and puzzle solving, It's very well balanced in that regard imo.

The difficulty was in finding the paths, not dying in the hands of the enemies. The map could help you but its was not helping as in other games. I may be the only one but I find the first game be challenging in the "not trying to die" department but not in I'm lost I don't know where to go. All the secret passage ways were at the same place in the screen.