This game is the most free Samus has ever felt to control. At this point in the story, she's a hardened soldier who is about to eviscerate the last of a species. Call me a soy Nintendotuber, but this game feels like being a badass action hero. The planet itself builds tension super well, and being able to use the spider ball again opens up exploration. The ending that references Fusion was a really nice touch. As far as the definitive Metroid 2 experience, this ties with AM2R.

The need to battle 3 identical bosses like 40 times definitely made me push through the game at times, but exploration was really nice and it's definitely one of the more comfortable Metroidvania games with how good backtracking is made thanks to teleportation stations.