70%Nintendo Switch

Alright Metroid game, good to see where the roots of the series really took hold. I played Fusion first and found this game kind of clunky in comparison.

100%Super Nintendo

MASTERPIECE! ★

100%Nintendo Switch

Probably the best game ever made or something idk

90%Super Nintendo

Super Metroid is an absolute must-play, and one of the best games of all times. No argument here. It's a masterclass in level-design, a brilliant take on action/adventure conventions... well, play it. But. Super Metroid (as all the Metroid series, actually) has those floaty controls I'm never really comfortable with. This is probably very subjective, but I can't say it's a delight to play this game.

70%Super Nintendo

Great for it's time, but didn't age too nicely.

Good
- the visuals were incredible for its time.
- the game retained that sense of isolation which was one of the hallmarks of the original Metroid. Making me feel like I am stranded in an alien world alone.
- the new upgrades introduced are really cool, and I do like how they implemented the usage of these in puzzles throughout the game.
- the damage tolerance Samus has is also a lot more forgiving, which I appreciate. Because it was way too harsh in the original metroid.

Bad
- the maps can be a bit more detailed, in terms of what doors are locked and what colors, which future Metroid games do have. But some extra information would have been extremely helpful, and make the experience less tedious.
- the space jump timing is very inconsistent. In some rooms I can seemingly jump 10 or 20 times without fail. While in other rooms I can't seem to even be able to pull off one jump.
- too many hidden blocks. Does the game really expect me to x-ray every room that I'm in to see if there are hidden blocks. Doing that would break the pace of the game way too much. There's a wall at the end of the game that you can't even x-ray. For players who want to replenish their supplies or get more energy tanks before we attempting to fight Ridley, they can't.

90%Super Nintendo

Doesn’t hold up AS well as some SNES titles do to their modern counterparts. Some serious old-school jank. But it ultimately sucked me in and was very fun. My thumbs hurt.

75%Emulated

Note: As usual with Metroid games, the in-game timer is BS. My uploaded time is the actual time marked in retroarch.

So, I played this for the first time in 2024, after playing all the other 2D Metroid games before and a bunch of other metroidvanias. I waited for Nintendo to release a remaster someday, but given the amount of people saying the game is a "masterpiece" that "didn't need a remaster because it's perfect", I decided to play it.

Let me start saying the game has aged incredibly well, it's still pretty, the controls feels great and the map design is quite good. In 1994 this should have been absolutely phenomenal, and I can't believe that the very first metroidvania was already this good. I also love how the focus is all on exploration, instead of trying boring non-metroidvania stuff like other newer Metroid games.
That being said, people claiming this game is a "perfect masterpiece" are just blinded by nostalgia, there's a bunch of stuff that it just feel bad:

-Using the same button to cycle between 5 different powers. To use the scanner you have to press the button 5 times (only to be able to use it, then you use it with another button). Hella annoying.
-The hook was horrible, I understand for a SNES game you can't expect advanced balancing physics, but once again, people talk about this game as it was better than modern games, but stuff like the hook really scream how old the game is, it feels cluncky and it takes too much time to make a good jump. Fortunately it gets replaced with the space jump... even if this is the most annoying space jump of all the Metroid games I've played, but at least with practice it is manageable.
-The knockback for some hazards feels weird and clucky, the direction feels random and is way too fast, it make some platforming sections feels frustrating.
-Getting out of quicksand... ugh.
-I also felt there where a bunch of moments when it was not obvious at all what I was supposed to do, but it would take too much time to describe those here.

But beside that, I enjoyed my time with the game, and I can understand why so many people who played it long ago love it so much, it definitely has a unique charm.
BUT I think a remaster/remake would definitely elevate the game to the next level.

95%Nintendo Switch

A fantastic game held back by some limitations of the technology at the time. Future games have refined the controls, map, and movement nitpicks I have, but the atmosphere, progression, and soundtrack are all S tier. A perfect candidate for a remake / remaster with modern day QoL improvements on the Dread engine. A man can dream lol

85%Super Nintendo

Me gustó mucho el juego, buena sensasión de progresión y exploración, banda sonora muy bacana, buenos bosses. Me gustó mucho la manera en que el juego te enseña el shinespark y el walljump. El problema para mi es que a veces me perdía mucho y me tocaba repasar las areas bastante hasta encontrar el camino, esa sensasión de estar completamente perdido y no saber donde ir no me gusta, sobre todo si no hay un sistema de quick travel donde te deje ir a las otras areas rápidamente. Tampoco me gusta la manera en la que se cambia entre misiles, grapple hook, etc, le baja el pacing al juego, así como tambien que samus se sienta lenta, con el salto espacial. Pero aparte de todo eso es un excelente Metroid en el que se puede ver el origen de todo el genero metroidvania, con la introduccion del mapa y un sistema de mejora que te permite explorar el mundo de una manera mas completa, haciendo back tracking, la posibilidad de hacer sequence break, etc. Puedo apreciar eso. Igual prefiero los otros Metroid que he jugado hasta ahora, para mí no llega a obtener el título del mejor Metroid como muchos proclaman, pero puedo ver por qué lo hacen.

100%Super Nintendo

Has aged unbelievably well

50%Nintendo Switch

Pros:
Super Metroid's last sequence in the final area is pretty cool and surprising. First, you get introduced to the big Metroid, when it depletes almost all of your HP and then when you think you've lost against the boss fight with Mother Brain, the big Metroid comes to your rescue. It's a pretty cool moment, although if I knew the story implications behind it, it would've probably been more shocking.
The music in the game is also pretty good, but it's not all that surprising, since this is Nintendo after all.

Neutral:
Super Metroid guides the player where to go and what to do next pretty well most of the time. However there was one moment where I had no idea where to progress because I missed one place I could progress and wasted a lot of time going back and forth over and over.
You can also feel the game's age and the SNES limited button layout in the game's controls. Aiming directionally is inconsistent and you can't aim directionally without also moving forward. Wall jumping is also very precise although I feel that it is somewhat by design as it's a technique you are taught later in the game. I still wish it was a bit more lenient though. Sections, where you had to use the grapple hook in Maridia, were also quite frustrating due to the limited angles Samus can aim in. Returning to your normal shot after switching to missiles, means you have to mash the plus button to cycle through your weapons, which is very impractical in the middle of a battle when you'll likely be trying to do so. My last gripe with the controls is that the space jump didn't always seem to activate when I pressed the jump button, even though I think it should. When you're not fighting with the inconsistencies in the controls, they aren't too bad.
You gain quite a lot of power over the course of the game, which is fitting for any Metroidvania, although I didn't feel the increase in power and strength as much as I had hoped, due to the aforementioned annoyances with the controls.

Cons:
The worst part of the Super Metroid though was easily the difficulty curve between the bosses. Kraid was a bit too tough, requiring precise platforming. It took me a good amount of tries to finally beat him. Phantoom was a good level of difficulty, he wasn't as difficult as Kraid and I managed to beat him on my first try. Draygon on the other hand was a complete joke. All you had to do was grapple one thing and he instantly dies. Then we have Ridley. He has an absurdly difficulty attack pattern and a shit ton of HP. I had to fight him many times over and the only reason I eventually won was because I used a half-cheese strategy during one of his attacks. Mother Brain once again returned to a fitting level of difficulty for a final boss although maybe she could've been a smidge harder.

100%Super Nintendo

This game is timeless

90%Nintendo Switch

Super Metroid even today is one of the best Metroidvanias created.

Currently i've been playing through all of the Metroid games in order and was quite intrigued to how this game would handle with me considering i'm not a big fan of NES/SNES games, however it for sure surpassed all of my expectations. It's by no means a perfect game and having alot of hidden upgrades that would require alot of time wasted searching if no guide is used but besides that, the gameplay is solid, story is short, simple yet effective and most importantly, it was enjoyable from start to finish.

90%Super Nintendo

Old skool ‘Metroidvania’ classic. Very challenging, very confusing (at times) but very rewarding upon completion. I like how many techniques they fitted in as the game progresses even if some of them take a bit of practice to master. Each boss has its own specific weakness to figure out and exploit. I can see why this game has been so highly rated over the years, a literal game changer.

60%Nintendo Switch

While I don't dislike Super Metroid by any means, it did do a lot to shape the Metroidvania genre as we know it today and I do think it holds up better than SOTN, but at the same time after replaying Super for the first time in almost 10 years, I can see why I was never *that* big on it.

What I like about the game at least at first is the level design, the way the game starts off and how it bottlenecks you but at the same time, gives you enough freedom to look around to find new upgrades and the first few hours of SM can be pretty enjoyable because of that, the game never tells you where to go and the level design's initial charm of giving you information but just enough where it feels like you are finding upgrades for your suit and missile upgrades can feel rewarding and makes me feel pretty cool for finding them, it manages to hit the sweet spot of feeling guided but just enough that it feels like I'm finding things on my own.

Then there are parts where it feels like the game has soft locked you when in reality it's more of a puzzle to progress later on in a section, it is rather clever how it feels like I'm getting softlocked but it's actually a challenge I have to overcome.

All that then becomes diminishing returns since so much of this game expects you bomb and shoot every tile to progess, even power bombing them won't make a difference since I used them so many times and it doesn't lead to me finding anything, then there was this one part where you were supposed to power bomb a glass tube but I would never know that playing the game the first time, and there is no crack to indicate that I should power bomb it. After a point, I was starting to get lost since it felt I just had to look at specific spots to progress.

Then I get the Freeze Beam and then later the Spazer Beam and pretty much everything goes downhill and this is where the difficulty of the game becomes borderline non existent. 95% of the the enemy roster of Super Metroid are weak to this combo, every enemy will be frozen and the Spazer has such a wide spread to the point where moment to moment enemy encounters will barely put up much of a fight. Metroid Prime, Samus Returns, Dread, AM2R, never had this problem where with Super once you get to the Freeze and Spazer Beam combo, moment to moment enemy encounters will forever remain braindead easy and it's hard for there to be any tension during the exploration parts.

The platforming has been stated many times to not be that great and it isn't. I think my big issue with it is that doing the vertical jump and the horizontal sommersault jump require different button presses and movements of the d pad, and this isn't bad during moment to moment platforming but it's infuriating during bosses.

Speaking of bosses, they fare slightly better in that they are immune to the Freeze Beam, but this leads to my second issue:

The controls for selecting missiles. In order to do it in Super Metroid, you need to get your hand off the d pad, and press what is the stand in for the middle button on the SNES controller, this can be rather cumbersome since you need to move around to avoid the bosses' attacks but you will spend a good amount of time, cycling through missiles, super missiles and later power bombs, the grapple and x ray vision just to start attack the bosses and by that point they would've gotten some hits in while you are looking above to see if you selected what you wanted.

Speaking of bosses Ridley's is the worst in the game, the camera does a terrible job at tracking him and he can attack you off screen a lot and you got to spend your time jumping while hoping the camera can track Ridley in time to hit him or dodge his attacks.

Other issues include the Screwattack having weird physics where one minute it feels like I am able to stay in the air consistently and and the I start falling the next.

And while I appreciate what this sequence did for game storytelling at the time, the part where the Baby Metroid came and protect Samus is hard to really appreciate since it was gone for so much of the game and didn't even appear towards the end which makes it hard to care when Mother Brain kills it. I'm not expecting a super deep story but outside for what it did for games' storytelling at the time, it's hard to really care for it in isolation.

Overall, while I don't dislike Super Metroid, I feel like it can be overhyped at times and is more known for it's legacy then rising above it. I'm willing to bet the game is popular to speedrun because it's the only way to get any form of moment to moment challenge. Every time I play Super, I would just much rather play Prime or Dread instead.

50%Super Nintendo

5/10

Cara eu vou ser sincero, eu tenho um ranço enorme com esse jogo (Ele diminuiu mais após zerar ele e prestar bem a atenção em varios pontos do jogo). Veja bem, tenho 29 anos, em breve farei 30.. E desde a minha infância eu tenho a mesma opinião sobre esse jogo: "É um jogo muito bom, mas é enfadonho demais, puta que p....!"

Veja bem, eu estou re-jogando a série completa novamente. E eu posso dizer com propriedade que continuo com a mesma opinião, mesmo sabendo a historia do jogo. Super metroid é enfadonho. Não pelo fato de se perder, habilidades secretas e etc.. Isso é normal, torna até o jogo mais interessante. As ambientações do jogo também são incriveis (tanto que eu me perdia apenas ouvindo a música de certas áreas do mapa)! Mas sei lá, a movimentação da Samus em SMT é meia bugada, o wall jump é infernal de se fazer, certas áreas são monotonas pra caramba (O que te sustenta ali é a musica que é fenomenal, e o fato de que ta sendo obrigado a achar algo para progredir). Então essas coisas, na minha opinião, deixam o jogo meio enfadonho, sabe? Mas para época, é totalmente compreensivel.

Tanto que os titulos que vieram depois ficaram mais ''rápidos", bonitos e enfim.. O que é esperado da evolução tecnologica. No fim, pra mim, o que me incomodava em SMT era só a Samus ser lerda mesmo e alguns itens serem desnecessariamente chatos de achar (Não é nem de pegar, porque a dificuldade para pegar e maneira, é mais e achar mesmo ahahah') entre outros menores que não tiram o brilho do game. Depois de velho se aprende porque as coisas eram daquele jeito ahahahah'

E é isso, é um bom jogo apesar de enfadonho. Mas valeu demais a pena jogar!

70%Super Nintendo

I haven't played this back then.I can say that I would have really liked it then, having seemingly limitless free time.

I can understand how it got well liked, and while I think it aged somewhat well enough mechanically I don't think it holds up that great now. It can get frustrating to backtrack and look for where to go next if you missed a "secret" passage. So many times I found a secret passage only for it to be the actual way to go. At the beginning it's fine but by the end it gets tedious.

I also had to look up a guide for the second half and had to google some stuff because the game assumes you have the manual.

I understand where the game comes from and how influential it became. But playing it today, without nostalgia, as an adult with limited time, I can just say that it was good for the most part and tedious on the last stretch.

90%Super Nintendo

A game with a lot of perfections, and a lot of flaws. It's very easy, especially early on, to miss upgrades. It's even easier to get lost, and start asking yourself, "where the hell do I go from here?" That being said, this is one of the best games ever made, period. The ambient scoring, the upgrade system, the beautiful environments, and even the indirect storytelling. Another excellent super nintendo entry.

The game is a little too easy for the Castlevania scale, so I'll pass on grading it here.

80%Nintendo Switch

Moving onto the game that made Metroid a big deal, I have to say the jump from GB to SNES was quite a neat experience. I enjoyed the hell out of this a lot despite some issues.

For starters, moving to SNES graphics finally allowed for identifiable locations. They're much more colorful and the background design allows you to take in the sights when discovered for the first time. The game finally includes a map as the area is obviously huge, and finding map stations feel rewarding when found. Now that I don't have to use a guide (for the most part), it allows for a much better experience with exploration and item discovery. Finding secrets is a bit easier to tell, as often you may find yourself exploring but end up in a suspicious dead-end when the map says otherwise. It still does have its vague moments like finding the rest of the energy tanks, missiles, or areas that not even the map displays. Maridia is the biggest example, and without spoiling it, I'm baffled by how people were able to discover this area without a guide, unlike me who had to resort to one to figure out where to go next.

Lots of cool items to discover. And unlike the previous game where you can only choose one arm cannon, it allows you to combine it all, which beats going back and selecting which weapon you'll need. The items also help compliment the level design which is one of the game's strongest suits. Creating platforms through enemies with an ice beam, bombing walls for secrets, using certain types of missiles to progress, grappling beams on blocks or flying enemies, or using an X-ray scope to discover hidden areas. What makes the item discovery so satisfying is the realization that the item you needed to progress from before. For example, you find yourself in a room but there's a wall that seems too high to jump to. Once you discover an item like Space-Jump, it clicks and you remember some of the areas that you may need it for, allowing some backtracking involved. Each item adds to the progression and power-fantasy aspect. For example, going to Norfair and dealing with annoying platforms with lava that damage you, but once you come back with the gravity suit, it becomes a breeze to walk through the lava. One aspect I appreciate is how at times it feels like you're soft-locked in a room, but there's always an intention behind it, and when you figure it out, it's very satisfying.

Coming after 2, I didn't have a problem with the controls like most people say as having the ability to shoot from any direction felt nice. Unfortunately, space jumping is still an issue despite the cool animation it has. It still feels unresponsive at times when not in the water. Next, there may be some instances where once you get the jump boost, you're bound to jump high to a platform, you never know where you're going to land so you end up on an enemy or a hazard. Lastly, wall-jumping like space-jumping is also unresponsive, and it's worse because I never knew that it was a mechanic.

Maridia before getting space jump, was something I did not like. The sand areas were what grated me the most with the amount of times you fall and get stuck. The constant tapping of a button to escape is so tiring, thank god for Switch's rewind, though my point still stands. Admittedly, I was so fed up with this area that I had to resort to a guide for the items I needed so I could get out there.

Next, I wasn't so keen on boss battles. They look cool visually, but most of them result in just shooting missiles and that's it. The only one that struck out to me was Draygon, simply because that's where you had to use an item like the grappling beam other than missiles to kill it, but disappointingly it's over quickly. What I wanted to see was having to use your items on certain bosses. Imagine one where you use the X-ray for its weak points. Using the morph-ball in certain situations? Or a longer Draygon fight using the grappling beam to shock the boss but you damage yourself in the process so you have to kill enemies to regain health and repeat.

Overall, this is my favorite Metroid for now, but I'll see how the other sequels fare. The soundtrack is nice and adds some atmosphere to the area. Some area bits can be annoying like the ones with spikes above and below and feel tight to move through, but it's not too much of a deal. I can see why many fans recommend this to newcomers and perhaps I would if the first two games are very off-putting to you.

100%Super Nintendo

Inspired a billion other games for a reason, in 2D and 3D.

95%Nintendo Switch

the controls are a bit clunky, and it's pretty dang hard to tell what i'm supposed to do sometimes, but this game was so influential for the series and for everyone else, and it's so full of iconic moments, that i gotta call it an ultimate classic. it gets better with every playthrough, too, rounding out the list of collectibles, learning little tricks, and trying to beat your previous time

90%Super Nintendo

I played this for the first time in 2024. No nostalgia goggles. It's truly amazing and has mostly stood the rest of time. Age only shows in controls, especially grappling and wall jumping. Also Maridia is a huge slog compared to the excellent pacing of the rest of the areas. Overall phenomenal, easy to see why this game is so influential.

90%Emulated

When it came out, this game defined the Metroidvania genre. And even today, the pixel art holds amazingly (like many games on the SNES) for today's standards. I played Metroid Fusion before I tried the Super Metroid. I never player Metroid 1 or 2. And I'm so glad I did.

This is an excellent game and for many people, including myself, the best in the series. There is very little exposition, most of the story is transmitted to the player through the gameplay.

And the gameplay is solid. The only gripe you can have with it is the choice of buttons for different actions, but that's something that can be changed in today's world (if you want to). For Metroidvania fans this is a must-play and if you haven't already, just give it a go. You'll find many tropes repeated in future games.

70%Super Nintendo

After struggling through the 8 bit games expectations were pretty high, this one is considered great by the community.
Well, it is much better than the first 2 games, but still too much of getting lost to my taste, ended up using some map online.
Some moves are clunky to implement, like that super jump with crouching, wall jumps, double jumps.
Overall it is pretty addicting, but I really hate getting lost in games.

100%Plug & Play

When people say this is a masterpiece, they're right. This game is excellent and I'm highly recommend it to everyone.

100%Nintendo Switch

One of the best Metroid games ever. It is really fun to explore at the end.

80%Nintendo 3DS

Super Metroid
• First time playing
• Metroid-Vania Classic

95%Nintendo Switch

Excellent atmosphere and music. Top notch level design and exploration. Really an incredible game for the SNES. Boss design is excellent. Controls were a bit too floaty for my taste.

Played on NSO app on Switch using a pro controller. Some of the techniques were more difficult using the pro controller and analog than the SNES controller.

70%Super Nintendo

Solid game. It didn't quite live up to my expectations though. It actually had some story, which was awesome. The gameplay was good, but tough to control sometimes. Especially after getting the super jump, you can't always see where you're jumping above you. The atmosphere was amazing and spooky. It got with the game being really cryptic and loaded with secrets. Sometimes too cryptic though. Some of that stuff, I don't know how you ever would've been able to find it without a guide or someone telling you.

95%Nintendo Switch

It cannot be properly stated as to just how important Super Metroid was to the history of video games. Building off of the ideas of its predecessor, Super Metroid improves and fixes every issue with Metroid on the NES. While still challenging, the decision to include a map and extra movement controls alone make Super Metroid a much easier game to enjoy, but it goes above and beyond at establishing itself as a monumental experience in just about every other facet.

The design of the world has been and will always be the most crucial aspect of a Metroid game. If the world is boring, confusing, or full of bullshit, the game will fall apart. While I won't pretend like Super Metroid doesn't have its low-points, they are not enough to warrant not playing this game. Super Metroid's areas are mostly designed as one big playground for you to investigate and experiment within in order to acquire the its various hidden upgrades and other goodies. While some of the basic missile upgrades are in incredibly arbitrary and random locations, about 95% of the upgrades are either hidden in plain sight or are placed in inaccessible areas until late-game. Nowhere is this better implemented than in Norfair, which is brilliant for several reasons. Despite having to backtrack to Norfair on three separate occasions, it never felt monotonous due to how easy Norfair was to navigate and how there was always new things to discover or acquire upon return visits. Brinstar is also excellently designed as the first point for Super Metroid's genius design to show itself. Additonally, the bosses are all great, especially the final boss.

However, not all areas in Super Metroid are created equally. Although short, the Wrecked Ship was needlessly cruel with being unable to save nearby before fighting Phantoon and the room at the top full of enemies that must be eliminated before opening any of the three doors gets frustrating when it has to be repeated upon reentering the room until every door has been passed through at least once. Additionally, in perhaps the worst design choice of the game, the intended path to leaving Ridley's Lair is near-impossible to locate without a guide due to the X-Ray Visor not working on the patch of blocks that are in front of the door you're meant to take to leave. It's one small moment, and it's not infuriating unlike something else I'm about to talk about, but it seems like a mistake that wasn't caught before the game was released as it's the only thing the X-Ray Visor doesn't work on that is able to be walked through. However, nothing in this game pissed me off quite like Maridia. I know it's not unpopular to state that Maridia is the worst part of Super Metroid, but it stands out like a sore thumb in an otherwise incredible game. The entire place is built around either: slowing your movement down with awful awful sandpit physics, having you fall down a level and be forced to traverse the entire area again just so you can return to the room you fell from, or just being full of dead ends and looping mazelike sequences that confuse the player and send the pacing of the game to a grinding halt. It's not fun to traverse and it's not fun to explore due to how bad the controls get here. Also the abundance of Grapple Beam sections can piss off. There's also no fun chances to sequence break unlike nearly every other section in the game, meaning that you're forced to endure this fucking trashpit of a labyrinth until you get the Space Jump. It feels like this area was designed with the Space Jump specifically in mind, so I recommend getting as soon as you get to Maridia before exploring the rest of the area.

In terms of gear upgrades, the suits completely change the way in which certain areas are explored or navigated, with the Gravity Suit's special function being that it makes water sections actually fun (something other games could learn a thing or two from). The beam upgrades always come at the right time in your progression, with the ice beam in particular opening up a lot of platforming options with its freezing capabilities. The only upgrades I had issues with were the Grapple Beam and the Space Jump. The Space Jump worked like a charm in horizontally built rooms, but was extremely clunky to use when it came to verticality. However, the Grapple Beam was just clunky altogether. It felt like not enough thought was put into how it was meant to work, leading to several instances where swinging from grappling points didn't feel good to control.

The music was phenomenal, knowing when and where to remain subdued as opposed to more upbeat and triumphant. From the excellent progression of Norfair's intimidating music once you reach the bottom of it to the ultra funky bass slapping of Brinstar, not a single track is wasted. Maridia's music got a bit droning but that's probably due to how long I spent in it.

Cannot recommend this game enough even with some its shortcomings. You need to play Super Metroid.

90%Nintendo Switch

A bit of a product of it's time, it's odd controls and somewhat strange physics make it somewhat difficult to get into, however once the controls click and I started building up health, weapons and power ups the game got better and better. The game doesn't really tell you what anything does, relying on experimentation to see what things do. Going in blind, expect a rough experience till halfway point. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

70%Nintendo 3DS

Super Metroid is a classic game that I couldn't experience properly due to:
1. My 3ds dying mid-way through my playthrough.
2. The new controller I have just seemingly not willing to work with it.
Most of my gripes with the game is space jump and how it is very clunky to use but other than that its a good game but not a really good metroid game in my opinion with the lack of feeling of exploration at times.

90%Super Nintendo

Absolutely amazing.
There are lots of people who did better job at breaking down the gameplay of Super Metroid, so without fancy words I'll just write down my own experience here.

I have some prior experience of Metroid. I've beaten Fusion and Prime when I was in middle school. So I had some idea of what it'd be like to play Super Metroid, but considering it's only the third entry in the franchise which came out almost 30 years ago, I expected very little from this game.
But soon I found out that this IS the definitive experience of Metroid. Everything is so carefully designed to give the player just enough information to beat the game by their own. I thought I'd get lost and waste several hours, because it's Metroid game, but surprisingly I didn't get lost much. They didn't need the objective markers from the modern Metroid games to guide the player, as they could achieve the same thing with a clever world design.
The graphics, the controls, the boss fights- in every way, it felt like it's a culmination of every SNES games developed before. The difficulty was right on the spot too. A little bit hard, just enough to make it worthy of a challenge. The story was pretty much basic sci-fi stuff, but the brilliant presentation of it made it much more memorable. Super Metroid is still the prime example of 'show, don't tell' approach of storytelling in video games.

I'm glad I finally tried this amazing game after all this time.
If you're hesitant to play this game because of its age, just try it for once. I found the first two Metroid games aged poorly to the point of unplayable, but I had no issue playing Super Metroid. You'll be surprised by how this 30-year-old game gets the Metroidvania right from the start.

90%Super Nintendo

29/07/2019
8h00min
92%

100%Super Nintendo

Easily one of the greatest games of all time. Almost sad I didn’t play this as a kid but what a great experience all the way through

75%Super Nintendo

Good game, must have been mind blowing in 1994. I always have issues involving the control of things like the brapple beam and getting the screw attack to work well, also the wall jump. Some things I really think are too obscure. There are a handful of spots I had to super bomb that I would never have thought of without looking it up, which is ok for secrets, but some of these are required to beat the game. Outside of these obscure moments, the game is pretty easy. I didn't die once on normal. I did love the ending moments, which helps a lot.

100%Emulated

Oct. 27 Update-
My old review sucked. This game is amazing. Play it now.

85%Emulated

My first Metroid and maybe third Metroidvania. Great game even thou it feels a bit clunky in some places (the whip, quicksand).

100%Nintendo Switch

Wish I got to experience this game as a kid, but I understand now why it is held in such high regard

90%Super Nintendo

Pros:
•Story
•Soundtrack
•Graphics
•Mechanics
•Controls
•Impressive Atmosphere

Cons:
•Most bosses are a war of attrition
•That one plant room in lower Brinstar

80%Super Nintendo

The quantum leap of the series, and objectively the best. Hell, this is probably even better than its rival SotN, so I feel terrible for not rating it a 10. I just fucking hated the bosses. If, upon replaying, I no longer find the bosses to be extremely tedious, this'll be bumped up to 10 immediately.

95%Nintendo Switch

Constantly bombing walls and scouring surfaces for missile expansions and energy tanks honestly has grown on me. It adds a level of exploration with such a nice reward, I found it extremely enjoyable. I feel like it wasn't too much either, I didn't have to do too much item hunting at the end, the concept wasn't under or overused. The combat was great, being able to aim diagonally was a magnificent addition. Many of the boss fights were very challenging but not "let's make this impossible to make the game last longer" level of challenging like Metroid 1 and 2 did. The bosses have interesting gimmicks and are unique. 1 small thing I don't love is obscure solutions necessary to progress and having no idea where to go. Many people find this enjoyable but for me needing to find that hidden bomb tile to progress was just annoying, and a few times after clearing an area and beating a boss I had no clue what to do. It was only a few times so it's not a bit deal, but that's what keeps this game from a 100% for me.

85%Nintendo Switch

8.5/10

The game starts of very strong, and I love the early level design! Super Metroid has a creepy isolated atmosphere that appeals to me. The story is very short and simple, but I thought it was enjoyable. I liked how I became friends with the kangaroo ostrich and the cat koalas by the end. Unfortunately, I became pretty tired of backtracking since it was my first playthrough. Maridia grew on me, but I definitely hated it on the first visit when I didn’t have the right power ups. Overall, I had a nice experience and a fun time playing through Super Metroid!

90%Nintendo Switch

Muy bueno y adelantado a su época, pero algunos problemas:

- a veces ir de algún punto del mapa a otro puede ser repetitivo.
- problemas con los controles.
- parte final con dificultad algo elevada y soluciones ilógicas que sólo pueden resolverse mediante ensayo y error o buscando en internet.

100%Emulated

The definition of a true classic. Put back in its context and time, one of the greatest. Even nearly 30 years after, still an excellent game that holds up nearly perfectly.
Played an emulated SNES version on snes9x with output as "TV mode" and high res set to 4x.

95%Super Nintendo

One of the best games out there. Best to play it without a guide

95%Super Nintendo

Jogo incrível, revolucionário.

100%Super Nintendo

What else is there to say about the definitive Metroidvania that codified the entire genre? How can I articulate the reasons this entry in the series has proven the most timeless and enduring, as excellent to this day as it was in 1994?

Maybe it's the environments and ecosystem of Zebes that remain so beautifully haunting decades later. From the rainy surface of Crateria to the alien flora of Brinstar, from the watery depths of Maridia to the hellish ruins of Lower Norfair, the major areas of SM leave a lasting impression to explore. Perhaps it's the phenomenal music that truly does them justice, composed by the incredible duo of Kenji Yamamoto (who would go on to make his stamp on the Prime subseries) and Minako Hamano (who would helm the soundtrack to Super's direct sequel, Fusion). But really, more than anything, I think it's the interconnected world design and the tools you're given to navigate them that push these areas to their fullest potential.

Progression in this game is what you make of it, once you realize you can walljump or bomb jump to sequence break past many of the barriers that locked you in linear loops on a first playthrough. If you delve deeper and learn how to shinespark and grasp the degree of control the dash button grants your jump height and trajectory, your freedom to blaze through the game at a breakneck pace opens further. And if you really want to appreciate this game beyond what the developers even intended, you can devote time to learning speedrun tech like mockballs, gravity jumps, damage boosts, hellruns and suitless Maridia strats.

The more you play this game, the more you come to appreciate just how fluidly seamless Zebes is to move through. There are so many shortcuts and side paths that open up to you as you gain new items and abilities. If you know the map and the optimal route, you can race from the bottom of Norfair to your ship on the surface in a handful of minutes. Unlike later games in the franchise, collecting 100% completion is another thing you can optimally route so that there's barely any wasted time backtracking. Super Metroid is a game that deeply respects your time and commitment to learning its intricacies.

Are there aspects that haven't aged as cleanly? Sure. Switching ammo types is clunky as heck, the lack of respin is irksome, bosses tend to be damage sponges without a whole lot of interesting strategy (unless you're a high level speedrunner), and Maridia is probably a little too cruel and mazelike for first time players who won't know how to walljump and will inevitably get frustrated with the grapple beam and sand physics.

But the game is a masterpiece that impresses new fans to this day for a reason. Many reasons, actually. One of them is how well it tells its story - minimalistically, without a single spoken word past Samus' opening monologue. The game's director, Yoshio Sakamoto, went to painstaking lengths to communicate an impactful tale through visual storytelling alone. Given the mixed results he's presented in later entries where scenes with dialogue took on a larger role, I think it's safe to say Super Metroid is where we can see his strengths as a designer shine brightest.

But overall, the reason Super Metroid is the best game not only in its own series, but in the whole of the genre it launched, is because of how addictively fun it is to play and replay, as many times as you like. The skill ceiling here is limitless, and Zebes is the perfect playground for testing your mettle as far as you wanna push it~

90%Super Nintendo

One of the best childhood classics we never came even remotely close to finishing. Super Metroid remains one of the great pioneers of the Metroidvania genre (far more-so than its two prequels), and is the first to introduce a sprawling but natural-feeling map with a literal map!

We all know what a great Metroidvania is at this point, and Super Metroid remains that nearly 30 years later. It does, however, have a couple issues that age it a bit: The pacing is all off, particularly in the last third. There are a few moments in that chunk where you're left quite lost or you have to get to the opposite end of the map. Traveling back and forth in this section is, honestly, not at all fun.

Happy to see this game still gets so many folks playing it to this day. 3.4k players is a dang lot for a retro game that isn't Mario.

Note: Do *not* play Super Metroid with a guide if you can. When I first made my way through it using a guide in the '00s, it just killed the magic of the experience. Guess I would have appreciated a guide in '94 when I was tiny, but these days it's a fairly manageable game once you get the logic of which walls or floors likely hold hidden paths.

90%Nintendo Switch

Un juego histórico que marco todo un genero.