OK the energy tank in the hallway having a trap was actually a good one. I was already full on energy tanks but that is hilarious, well played game.

Also finished my first run! Did it in 2:15. Mother Brain was heavily annoying and I never realized how scary the Metroids are without Ice Beam even if they're very fleeting (like... 4 rooms?). I'm going to go for a speed time to get under an hour and then end it there.

Not a fun game, and it's not just limitations and the timeframe. Movement is super restrictive and everything feels like it lags. I appreciate the violent alien atmosphere that thinks Samus should leave and the disorientation it tries for, but it is so unfun to play and how combat is just "tank the damage and hope for the best" is grueling.

I have no idea how speedrunners beat Kraid, seems like he covers all options in terms of movement and there's no way NOT to get hit. I just tanked damage and bombed and missiled and waved as much as I could and survived with like 90 health. Felt like I cheesed it.

Really, really wish you could switch beams like you switch to missile mode. Also, dear god there are rooms that look exactly the same, with barely a difference other than one has a wall and one doesn't. You really do need to write yourself a map to get around. It just feels like it doesn't fit in a game of sci-fi where Samus has a suit with a visor that could probably give it SOME kind of map, as opposed to La-Mulana where the guy is literally an archaeologist who writes on maps, or Zelda 1 where you're a kid on an adventure. I know the NES has limitations but it also has the capability to make rooms more distinct than this based on other games.

Locking missiles behind different beams so you have to track through more monotonous areas just to get a replacement is insanely annoying, I don't know why I didn't just give up there.

Norfair sucks. It is easily slower to traverse than Brinstar because you are jumping and platforming way more and Samus sucks to maneuver with. Why do people like this game again?

I'm taking the Wave Beam with me to Kraid. I've been told there are like 4 strategies and I didn't choose the easiest or the hardest. Wish me luck.

To the people who played this game without any map or guide to help you out, I'm happy you're built different, but also is it a product of cope, because these walls all look the fucking same and I'm known with being good with directions and I still got lost, which is a first!

Got terrified by the things that show up in some item rooms if you leave and come back. Yeah they barely do any damage but it looked like a fucking glitch

This game is painfully slow. The movement hurts and genuinely is kinda unfun to play.
Wall jump glitch is fun though.