Within about 5 minutes of controlling Samus you can tell this is going to be a great game, and a worthy addition to the Metroid franchise - the new movement additions feel fresh whilst also being familiar, the level design is (mostly) wonderful, and running at 60fps it just feels really good.

This is probably the most I've died playing a Metroid game - the bosses in this can be brutal at times until you learn their movesets. The E.M.M.I machines - goddamn, countless deaths to them from being greedy or just trying to whiz past, it's fun to actually require stealth in a Metroid game. I don't dare to think how bad Dread mode is.

There's some issues with the aforementioned level design - it feels like exploring the wider ZDR planet is pointless until you get the last couple of powerups, as there's needless blockades which can only be circumvented by these which halt a lot of exploration. This is also related to the other issue, which is the hand-holding - it feels far too aggressive at times. I like that I never got lost (and the Aeon moves help alleviate this), but it always seemed to be guiding me too much? It's a strange complaint but in these sort of games I want to get lost and stumble on things. The soundtrack is also non-existent outside of a couple of remixed tracks - not sure what happened here as Prime/Fusion had fantastic OSTs.

All in all, a fantastic return to form and a good alternative to the (imo superior) Prime series.