For context, we haven't seen a new Metroid game since 2010, and there hasn't been a new side-view one since 2004. That was Metroid: Zero Mission, a remake of the original Metroid game. It was wonderful too. I remember going out to buy it on its release day. I finally found a copy at the third place I went to. I started playing on my Game Boy Advance in the parking lot. (Fortunately I had late classes at the time.) And ever since that day, I hoped that they'd remake Metroid 2, which needed a remake even more than the original, since the sequel was a Game Boy game. (Yeah, four shades of gray.)
Earlier this year, there was an ill-timed fan remake called "Another Metroid 2 Remake". Nintendo shut it down pretty fast for now-obvious reasons, but it was pretty cool too. It raised the bar for this one. But... man, Samus Returns is really, really good.
The graphics are amazing. The screenshots on the Internet look a little odd, but on the tiny screen nothing looks polygonal - it looks real. For instance, I love how the wave beam makes these little spiral-y trail-y things on your shots. And of course with the 3D on, it's even more amazing. I actually kept wanting to zoom in and look at things in greater detail.
The controls are great - they make use of every single button on the 3DS (except for the "New"-model-specific ones) and still use the right part of the touch screen to select weapons. (This is actually a bit tricky - it takes a while before you stop pressing the wrong button for some things.) The mechanics are nice - the game is challenging, but not tedious. My favorite thing early one was the map. If you come across an item that you can't get yet, the map sticks a little icon on there for you, so you know where to come back to later on. They threw in teleporters, which is handy, because the world is much bigger than I expected it to be. The "fast" ending requires you to beat the game in under four hours, compared to 2 or 3. (My first run took nearly twelve.)
The Metroids are pretty cool. They're a bit stylized and don't quite look like their counterparts in other games, but Metroids are known to develop differently in different environments, so that's not really a problem. The Queen battle was particularly satisfying. (It was also really hard - I had to leave and gather more items before I finally won, although I have since learned a trick that would have made life easier.)
Of course no Metroid game is ever likely to approach the awesomeness of Super Metroid, even if only due to nostalgia. And I think Metroid Prime is still my second favorite, for similar reasons. But I find myself wondering whether I like Samus Returns better than Zero Mission. It has several points in its favor: Samus Returns is longer, has better graphics obviously, there are no annoying Speed Booster puzzles, it has unique new abilities, there are "checkpoints" (temporary save points) before and after major milestones, and it doesn't even have the immodesty issue in the ending scene. (Unless you buy and use one of the Amiibos to unlock "Fusion Mode", but I hate Amiibos.) But there are a few disadvantages as well: less variety in boss battles and not as many catchy tunes among them.
Speaking of music, Samus Returns does have some good stuff. It's mostly "mood" background music (although it's a huge improvement over the original), although it has a nice remix of the one good tune in the original, plus a few from Super Metroid in a couple of places. The ending music is silmilar too, but it's extended and doesn't quite come across with the same level of catchiness. Of course Zero Mission doesn't have as good music as Super Metroid either, but it does have more "tunes" and less "background" stuff, which I like.
So the comparison is a tough call. We'll have to see how my impression of the game changes after some time has passed. Right now I'm trying to decide whether to attempt a speed run or to play the game on Hard mode. Either one is going to be tough, since I lost a lot in the first run. But the game is awesome, so that's okay.
Here's a Tableau viz, just for fun:
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