Metroid: Samus Returns crawled, so that Metroid Dread could run. You can see that many of Dread's elements were tested here. I really enjoyed the modernised controls, but unfortunately, Samus Returns is held back by the structure of the original Metroid II. The overall progression is super linear, meaning that there is no reason to backtrack, except for finding upgrades which the game withheld from you, because you simply didn't have the right upgrade yet. This just feels artificial and arbitrary. However, I really enjoyed how Mercury Steam expanded the areas of Metroid II. Now, every sub-area of Samus Returns is kind of like a mini-Metroidvania in its own right. That was also true for the original, sure, but there, the areas were far too small to actually get lost in.

Reviewed on Feb 01, 2023


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