Dread is fantastic and all, but I still to this day love Super at least a smidge more. Sure there's a tiny bit of jank to it, especially in the way Samus moves, but there's a very fair margin for error, especially later in the game as you stockpile energy tanks and upgrade the suit's defenses. Samus just hits a point where she can tank an absurd amount of punishment.

What Super absolutely excels in is its map design, which is ingenious with how it organically leads you around and rewards you for paying attention with being able to grab expansions and upgrades in a decent clip basically at all times, even if you're playing casually. There are so many great eureka moments like getting the grapple beam for the first time and realizing there was that one room - also in Norfair - that had a door inaccessible without grapple beam and it gives you the friggin wave beam.

That's another thing. You can miss so much in this game. Items that in other Metroids are 100% required upgrades are optional and missable in this one. You can go the whole game and never find spring ball, x-ray scope, plasma/spazer beam, and even screw attack. And that's just the upgrades you can skip without speedrun tricks. There's something very brave in designing a game where missing out on a lot of content is even possible. Again, especially since in most other Metroids, no upgrade is optional. I can only think of the beam combos in the Prime games.

Such a satisfying game to pick up for a run, I envy anyone who gets to experience it for the first time blind.