While this isn’t even close to my favorite Metroid game and not even top 5 it is still a wonderful time. Let’s be honest a mediocre Metroid game is better than most games could dream of being. There were aspects of this game I loved. The atmosphere was top notch. The game is well paced until near the end. The puzzles are fun and challenging while not being impossible to figure out, for the most part (see negatives in a minute. The gameplay was fun and Samus was bad ass per usual.

My negatives are that near the end you have to find 9 keys to fight the final boss. There is little explanation other than go find the keys. The only hint is hidden within a room that you again are just expected to go find. There is so little direction its amazing. Remember by this time you’ve opened the whole map basically so they legit could be anywhere. By the time I stumbled into the gate to the boss I had already miraculously found 8 keys. This killed the pacing to me and felt like just to much tact onto a game that if they left it out would have already been the same length as Metroid Prime.

These negatives are not enough to drag down the bulk of the game though. It’s a great game and in my opinion it is a must play. Just don’t expect it to be absolute top tier of Metroid games.