(@sharky, and to a lesser degree sky, but more addressed in the first edit, posts popped up while I was typing)
Compared to other Nintendo properties, yes. But in the context of my tastes, sadly, it doesn't hold up. I'm trying to think of fair comparisons to illustrate what I need out of games, where not everything has to be a BioWare RPG. Platformers are a hard sell. By their nature they don't require much plot or character development. So I quit playing Mario for not suiting those needs. But then along came Braid. With bits of mystery and snippets of really interesting and charming characterization. Weird and intriguing gameplay. And an end-game reveal that was so out of left field I didn't even get it at the time, it was later explained to me and made me appreciate it even more. To me, Mario is just colorful with good controls, but there's nothing else to it, for me
Looking to games like Zelda or Metroid where you're basically just running around killing stuff and solving puzzles or getting upgrades to advance, they kinda only have that going. Link meets some weird characters but they rarely add anything to the story other than plot convenience. Shiek is usually about the only character that ever helps advance the plot outside of giving Link something useful for the next dungeon, or giving him a horse to ride around on. And the only Metroid I've ever sunk much time into was Prime, and even then it kinda grated on me. I tried regular and Super Metroid and lost interest in them pretty quickly for not offering anything other than random exploration and weird bugs attacking me. I didn't get anything out of it. But now there's "Metroidvanias" that I think built the exploration and mechanics into the game with much more necessity. And adventure RPGs like Fable and Darksiders has raised the bar beyond Zelda's forgettable and whimsical characters and plot convenience. Things actually feel like they're at stake. The characters (especially in the Darksiders example) or well fleshed out and really interesting. And on the Metroidvania front we have things like Cave Story, which to me so much a better Metroid. Probably because it has memorable characters. Again, things are at stake. Characters are at stake. There are things I can sink my teeth into. I figure out the mystery of what's going on. Watching my friends die. And doing everything I can to save anyone I can while I can. For such a simplistic game, it was delivered phenomenally. Not trying to say if you enjoy Cave Story for what it is, then you must be too advanced to enjoy Metroid or that there must be something wrong with anyone who enjoys Metroid
Their charm and appeal are just lost on me, because I need those deeper ideals. There needs to be better reasons for me to play. More at stake. More mental stimulation. Hopefully I've made a good illustration
Though comparing things to Starfox is hard. That series is generally fun as hell, and there aren't a lot of really good spacefaring dogfight sims out there to take the crown. But I wish there were, because Starfox also just feels like a really fun time-waster. Unfortunately
Edit: Regarding Majora's Mask. I have never played it. I attempted to, through emulation, especially because OoT was the only Zelda game I've enjoyed to completion. But even as someone who is not a fan of the series, I am aware enough to know that Majora's Mask is basically the black sheep of the Zelda-verse. Is there any other game in the series quite like it?
As far as Metroid, I think I probably need a bit more than atmosphere, sadly. It also might be that I didn't play any Metroid game until well after Symphony of the Night. I either was an adult, or close to it. So by the time I got to Metroid, that dark depressing atmosphere was lost on me. It just felt like a lot of running around in the dark with a lot of backtracking. It may have been wholly different had it played it as a child. Same probably goes for Zelda. I had Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy and then I got my Genesis and only played Sega games until mid high school. They didn't hit me at the most impressionable time in my life. Who knows what the reasoning is
I should also admit that I don't play games as much as I would like. Not nearly enough. My standards are too high even for me. I taste test a lot of games, but barely any of them have lasting appeal. I don't just game to game, I'm constantly looking for something. Always trying to find "that game". Which delivers a transcendal experience rather than just something fun to do to unwind. I hate it. But it's how my brain is wired. And with those standards in mind, Nintendo just really doesn't offer enough for me :/