really solid actually! jump physics feel super tight and enjoyable, level design is generally tough but fair, but most interesting and important to me is the way that the game plays with conventions in a surprisingly forward-thinking way. going from upwards to lateral travel in world 2 was a surprising, exciting change of pace, and the total genre switch during the final boss was awesome and a super memorable way to close out the game, just delightful to see stuff like this in an older title. other details, like freeing little angel guys in the dungeons only for them to help out in your battle against the boss, just bustle with imagination and whimsy. curious about a world in which this got a ton of iterative sequels like its 1986 siblings metroid and zelda. it's lacking a bit of the wow factor and cohesiveness of those games, but is still a remarkably fun time nonetheless.