There's not much I can say about a 26 year old beloved game that hasn't been said before but I had a great time playing this classic for the very first time.
Still, I had to start three playthroughs before realizing how much I like this game. The first two times I didn't get far and I think it has to do with the stiffness in the movement and just had to get used to it.
Even during my third playthrough it took a while for it all to really click, it all came together after I fought the doppleganger for the first time. At that point the Castle started to unfold itself for me and let me tell you this castle is pure joy to explore. It's filled with secrets and cool things to find. Once you start having good equipment and you get a bit OP, it becomes so much fun slashing your way through enemies while exploring. The upgrades to make the traversal easier are amazing. How is it that every metroidvania keeps using the double jump but none of them gave us the power to turn into a bat?? There are some low points with a difficulty spike (that was mostly my own fault) and the boss fights that aren't anything special, but everything else in the game outshine those things completely. Loved this game so much.

Having played the two grandfathers of the metroidvania genre with Super Metroid and SotN and through a good chunk of both series (mainly the Igavania's when it comes to Castlevania) I still prefer the structure and gameplay of the Metroid series but SotN placed itself above them all.