I get it now. I see why everyone says this is such a masterpiece, and it certainly lives up to its legacy. My only knocks against it are as follows:

Despite being a very enjoyable game, I don't believe this game has much replayability for me, which is a major factor in how I score games. I'm not interested in speedrunning or 100% completion, which is a big factor in replayability for a game like this.

The other reason is the minimalist story. While not bad by any means -- and Metroid games are frequently defined by their scant storytelling -- a truly engaging story, for me, can often overcome a lack of replayability or, in many cases, assist with my desire to play a game over again. For Super Metroid, a game whose story is tertiary to gameplay and atmosphere, it simply isn't enough to keep me coming back.

Nevertheless, Super Metroid is certainly a game that lives up to its long legacy, and despite my very subjective hangups, it is worthy of being considered one of the most influential games of all time.

This is an extremely critically acclaimed game, so I had to play it as a result. And I had a lot of fun with it! Some parts were really frustrating though, because the Metroidvania-style gameplay can easily lead to a lot of backtracking. This is unfortunately something that was a problem in this game. It didn't bother me that much though, and the end section of this game more than made up for it because of how good it was! The soundtrack is really good, but most of the tunes exist in better versions in the Metroid Prime games in my opinion. So, overall an overhyped, but pretty good game!

Nearly everything about this game is fantastic. The art is beautiful and colorful, and the soundtrack is full of classics. The game feels like one large puzzle... it can be cryptic and confusing at times but the sense of accomplishment when you finally figure out how to progress is addictive. The only gripe I have with this game is the controls, the layout of the buttons can be hard to get used to at first and samus’s jump is floaty and imprecise. It’s still an amazing game, despite those issues.

It's a fantastic game, especially considering how much of an innovation it was and how influential it became for so many games that followed it.

The problem with having played it for the first time in 2020, though, is that there's so many games that are cut from its cloth that it's hard to really get an appreciation for how distinct and amazing Super Metroid really was - especially when there are games that are just "Super Metroid, but X" that fill in niches and shortcomings that the game can't fill on its own.

For example, Rabi-Ribi - my go-to Metroid-like fills the problem I have with Metroid's combat. Aiming missiles is clunky; too many bosses have specific weaknesses and vulnerabilities and gimmicky attack patterns; and Samus' hitbox is simply too big with too clumsy movement controls - Rabi-Ribi solves all these problems by basically being Kirby meets Touhou in boss battles.

But I don't really want to spend this... review? gushing about Rabi-Ribi. What Super Metroid does get right, even moreso than other games like it, is atmosphere and storytelling through sheer intrigue and its world. The brief glimpse at what looks like a Metroid in the drop in Maridia, the menacing statues of the four bosses encountered early in Crateria, the Chozo statues and so much more...

And honestly, this and Zero Mission combined really do absolve the sins of the first game, huh.

Man I get it but I just dont get it. As far as I'm concerned the only things that hold up are its aesthetics and the whole sequence breaking thing. While the game looks and sounds good and sequence breaking is cool in theory, at the end of the day you have to play Super Metroid.

Super Metroid, for its nearly unrivaled pedigree and acclaim, is one of the worst playing and feeling games I ever played for so many reasons. Let's list them! Samus has weird crap acceleration
Jumping is slow, floaty and destroys your momentum
Dash being a "B" button prompt fucks the ENTIRE button layout
Scrolling through missiles/bombs/whatever by mashing select
Walljumping is designed for sequence breaking in future playthroughs which means it's incredibly obtuse to perform without looking it up
Consecutive space jumps have a weird timing window that's less consistent than walljumping that doesn't add meaningfully to the gameplay
Quicksand gets an honorable mention for being egregiously heinous

Take all this, and add that there's no real fast travel option and a map that doesn't tell you what rooms are actually connected and you just have a lot of wasted time running around with these awful controls and my patience just thinned and thinned and thinned.

Real shit, if this game ever gets remade with GBAesque controls and changes to its button layout the game it'll probably be Actually Good but until then two playthroughs of this shit is enough for twelve lifetimes.

The original Metroid was lonesome, oppressive, alien. This sequel is atmospheric but friendlier, familiar. It’s less a hostile world and more a videogame space, domesticated by map rooms, recharge stations, and save points. This Metroid cares.

The player is guided through seemingly open environments at a steady clip, but without the threat of loss, without real risk, it’s just the same old metroidvania story: empowerment articulated through space. A world fit exactly to your need.

It’s a fine game, a thoughtful sequel, but a lesser experience. This may still be many players’ idea of great game design. It’s not mine.

I don't think there's anything NEW I or anyone else can say about this game. It is, rightfully so, regarded as a pillar of modern game design. It is an absolute master class in its design, stupefying in its depth as the world loops back in on itself over and over, creating confounding connections and new paths forward. If you pay attention, there will be an "aha!" moment so often that it is difficult to keep up, as your arsenal expands rapidly, fundamentally changing your relationship to Zebes every single time you get a new upgrade. And all of that is just speaking on the gameplay loop itself, not even touching upon its excellent art, music, environmental storytelling, replayability, the depth of its many mechanics, the multitude of techniques to perfect, how it teaches the player through its design...

And yet, despite how influential and groundbreaking it is, it still feels extremely fresh and exciting. Plenty of games wear this influence on their sleeves, from Symphony of the Night to Hollow Knight, and although many of them succeed in their own ways, nothing may ever surpass the towering achievement that this game is.