4/5 ★ – Sefferson's review of Metroid: Samus Returns.

A really solid reimagining of Metroid 2. Visually it feels like it pushes the 3DS to its limit, and can be a bit blurry at times. The beginning of the game is unfortunately rather slow, and the first few areas really feel like a chore to get through, mainly because of the reliance on Spider Ball, but once you get to around the midway portion and get Space Jump especially, the game’s quality feels like it gets a bump. The latter half of this game is much better than the first half of the game, and going through and collecting all the expansions is a breeze and tons of fun. Easily the highlight of this game though is the boss fights. Every evolution of Metroid feels like a real step up from the last, and the new fights included are some of the best in the series. This is the best iteration of a Ridley fight in a 2D Metroid, regardless of how controversial his inclusion may be. Diggernaut is on par with some of the best fights from Dread, making you utilize every ability in Samus’ arsenal. I just wish the initial first two hours or so weren’t such a slog. The over reliance on the new counter ability, Spider Ball, and just not any really fun upgrades happening until around when you get Grapple Beam just kinda make the idea of replaying this game not that much fun.