26.So I have a little bit of a confession to make with this one, while I do love the Metroidvania gameplay setup, I definitely love the -vania part of that title more than the Metroid side. Not because I have anything against Metroid, but truth be told Super Metroid was my first entry in the series and the only one I ever beat. I own the original and Metroid II but acquired them years after the fact and they are trapped in my backlog hell with another 200 games you're probably wondering why they are not on this list. I also just didn't care for the direction Prime took the series and their is enough fan backlash against Other M and most Metroid related products released since then that I haven't really paid much attention to the series. Course with all that said, we're now sitting on entry 26 of this thread and I've got Super Metroid, I guess what I'm saying is that I like Metroid, but I'm certainly just a casual fan of the series.In hindsight, I feel I liked the last two games a bit more than this one but this is still an outstanding game on the SNES and perhaps it's just been too long since I played through it.
Set shortly after the events of Metroid II, where Samus basically went all genocide on the Metroid species, Samus handed over the last surviving member of the species to the government despite the poor thing having a childlike bond to her. Unfortunately, the facility studying the creature is attacked and Samus returns to find the Space Pirates of Zebes she vanquished in the first game have regrouped and are ready to rumble with her again over the last Metroid. The game has the player return to the world of the first game, and you can even revisit the original rooms where Samus defeated Mother Brain. What I find the most striking about the game is it's wonderful atmosphere. If you love the Aliens franchise, the game pulls off a similar vibe as you explore the gloomy planet and facilities while almost everything is there to kill you like. Like most Metrodvania style games, the focus is on exploring the world and acquiring power ups to expand your ability to reach previously unreachable places on the map. It's actually more fun than it sounds as you have to platform and look for better weapon upgrades to prevent you from just becoming a bloody smear on some enemies shoe. I honestly always got excited finally working my way through an area and finding a new one. The "ghost ship" being a particular favorite especially with the semi-50s era inspired robots that wandered about it. There is a real sense of accomplishment when find things like the grapple beam or the screw attack, especially since this genre loves to always shove out of reach stuff in front of your nose, so even backtracking isn't quite the chore you feel it would be as you try out your new abilities to see if you can uncover a secret or reach a new area. While the main enemies are not too difficult to deal with, the bosses in this game are exceptional with several memorable encounters and some real challenges to what you may feel is a tried and true strategy, like using super missiles until you fight Ridley and learn the hard way he can actually catch them and throw them back at you. One of the elements I really liked about the game was some of the outside of the box thinking you can do to win battles. My all time favorite being the battle in the ocean stage against the giant shrimp monster who loves to grab you and rape you. You can blow up some side vents on the walls to break open an electric current. If the boss grabs you, you can use the grappling beam to latch onto the current and roast both of you, but as long as you've been looking around for all those health power-ups, chances are, you'll have more health than the boss and outlast him which is a surprisingly satisfying feeling. The final confrontation is also worth mentioning, and frankly, it might be one of the best conclusions to a Nintendo game I've ever played. It's bittersweet and unexpected with a fun little god mode to play through and I feel it says a lot about the game's writing that so many emotions can be felt in a sequence where no one talks. I don't feel it's hard to see why people often feel Super Metroid is the definitive entry in the series with the exception of the Prime series. Overall, if you're looking for a sweet atmospheric sci fi thriller with an emphasis on exploration and semaless platfmoring and combat, then definitily check this game out.