SPOILERS IN THE WHOLE POST, PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION

I am a very recent metroid fan, and within the past year I have played versions of all 5 metroid games (plus prime one) and have decided I need to vent feelings so here is my order from favorite to least favorite. The order I played was: Super Metroid Metroid Zero Mission AM2R Dread Fusion

1. Dread. I have no nostalgia for the series, and perhaps the modern controls and physics made me really happy, but this game just worked for me in so many levels. I almost literally could not put it down until I killed Raven beak and blew up the third planet in the series, and then went back to 100% the game.

2. I played AM2R as my foray into Metroid 2, and it was inCREDIBLE. It did fall prey to a couple moments where I was completely dumbfounded on what to do and after looking it up decided I NEVER would have found that.

3. Zero Mission felt so good. A strict improvement in physics that made exploration and backtracking feel incredible, and the portion at the end off of Zebes was very enjoyable as well.

4. I am going to get a LOT of flak for putting super metroid at #4, but you have to understand that while this game is definitely worth playing, it has NOT aged well. And this was the first I game I had played, so I came into it unbiased. Still very enjoyable, but the poor physics and lack of momentum conservation in jumping was so infuriating at times. But the mother brain fight escape sequence, Draygoon grapple beam method, and Mr. Long arm corridor boss were all good highlights of the game.

5. Fusion was a game that I played to finishing on a 12 hour car ride on and off. And imo, the game is worth playing up until Nightmare. It felt incredibly linear which for a while I didn't mind, but it felt constricting when Adam blocked off areas of the map from exploration near the end of the game. The game up until Nightmare is very fun and I had a blast despite being pulled from one area to the next, but after nightmare the game feels so cryptic to find where to go, and by the time I got to SA-X I was in no mood to deal with figuring out the best way to fight it, and the omega metroid's stunlock swipe attack was so infuriating when combined with his small hitbox and a semi-broken L button. Maybe it was a little jarring to go from Dread controls to old school, but it felt like it had similar annoying quirks about the movement that I did not like.

Because I'm posting something online I am bound to have criticism and such, which I am OK with. Please keep it civilized, and if you don't read the full post and comment on something that I already addressed I will not reply. Anyways, here's hoping I can play Samus Returns sometime soon to give that one a go!