History YMMV / MetroidSamusReturns

* ScrappyMechanic: The Melee Counter has gained some criticism for how it works - while it lets you parry oncoming enemy attacks and retaliate with heavy damage, it cannot be used while moving. Instead, you have to stand still and wait for the enemy to come to you before you can use the counter. Mildly annoying for the average player, but for speedrunners, the "stop and go" nature of the Melee Counter makes it waste precious seconds when trying to run as fast as possible. ''VideoGame/MetroidDread managed to [[SalvagedGameplayMechanic remedy this]] by allowing Melee Counter usage while moving, throwing speedrunners a bone and also allowing it to feel much snappier.

* ScrappyMechanic: The Melee Counter has gained some criticism for how it works - while it lets you parry oncoming enemy attacks and retaliate with heavy damage, it cannot be used while moving. Instead, you have to stand still and wait for the enemy to come to you before you can use the counter. Mildly annoying for the average player, but for speedrunners, the "stop and go" nature of the Melee Counter makes it waste precious seconds when trying to run as fast as possible. ''VideoGame/MetroidDread managed to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescue this]] by allowing Melee Counter usage while moving, throwing speedrunners a bone and also allowing it to feel much snappier.

* MemeticMutation: "It's so squishy!" [[labelnote: Explanation]]The first thing people describes the Metroid Amiibo is how soft and squishy it is, leading to naming it Squishy.[[/labelnote]]

* CanonFodder: The [[spoiler:Chozo that killed the [=SR388=] Chozo at the end of the Chozo Memories gallery. Their motivations, be they a rouge faction, wanting to use the Metroids or X Parasites for their own ends, carrying an exemplary punishment for the Metroid outbreak, or suspicious that the [=SR388=] Chozo could be X Parasites mimicking them], was a big source of fan speculation before ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' picked up this cliffhanger and gave proper context to it.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Are the Metroids mindless predators hunting through pure instinct? Or are they fiercely protective of their own kind, but also territorial? Note that the [[MamaBear behavior]] of the Metroid Queen is that she roars in pure rage after you kill her larva hatchlings before you make it to her chamber. And then there's the hatchling that saw Samus, thinking she is its mother. Which according to Samus, floated around her like a confused child. There's another whether the Chozo programmed them that way.
** The [[spoiler:Chozo commander that kills the [=SR388=] Chozo at the end of the Chozo Memories gallery. Is it a rogue Chozo? Or an executioner carrying an exemplary punishment for the Metroid outbreak? Or was it just suspicious that the [=SR388=] Chozo could be X Parasites mimicking them? Heck, could it be interested in the potential of the X or the Metroids just like the Galactic Federation, but faced opposition from the [=SR388=] Chozo (thus, it had to kill them)? This was left up in the air until ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' picked up this cliffhanger and gave proper context of this 11th Memory.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Creator/KenjiYamamoto is back in form, directing the musical themes here; the arrangements were made by Daisuke Matsuoka.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: This game adresses many criticisms made against Sakamoto's previous game, ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM''.
** Not only is the style of gameplay classic Metroid to a tee mixed with the art of ''Metroid Prime'' and some new toys to play with, there is no sign of Samus' controversial characterization from ''Other M'', with Samus instead showing her emotions through body language alone. Sakamoto himself has stated that much of the story being relegated into the background rather than be integrated into the main gameplay like a novel. Additionally, ''Samus Returns'' brings back things that were well-received from ''Other M'', such as the cinematic combat counters and acrobatic maneuvers.
** After the [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks backlash]] from the Gravity Suit not changing the Power Suit's color and being presented as a purple aura when in effect in ''[[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM Other M]]'' (due to Sakamoto at the time perceiving the purple suit to be {{Narm}}; [[NarmCharm the fandom disagreed heavily on that]]), the Gravity Suit is a full purple once again. Not only that, but it's no longer just a PaletteSwap of the Varia suit, now having been given an [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/metroid/images/8/88/Metroid_Samus_Returns_Gravity_Suit_artwork.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1024?cb=20170907232522 awesome makeover]] for good measure.
** A criticism of the ''Metroid'' series in general was that Samus would be sexualized more and more in each game, with her build becoming more lithe and her Zero Suit getting more screentime, as epitomized in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM''. ''Samus Returns'' limits the Zero Suit's appearances to death and ending sequences. When it ''does'' appear, Samus has a [[AmazonianBeauty more impressive build than in previous games]], akin to ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', and the ending sequence depicts her in a powerful, non-sexualized hand-on-hip pose (although she does retain her CombatStilettos from ''Other M'' and Zero Mission).
** After considerable backlash to Samus's characterization in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' and Samus's boss battle in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce'', ''Samus Returns'' fittingly [[CharacterRerailment returns Samus to her established and beloved characterization]] as a strong and courageous hero who largely conveys her personality through her actions and body language. Her portrayal in this game has been praised as a return to form, from her flashy battles against Metroids and Diggernaut to her heartwarming encounter with the baby Metroid. This is well shown when Samus reacts when she sees [[spoiler:Ridley]]; unlike the highly controversial scene from ''Other M'', [[NoNonsenseNemesis she wastes no time and proceeds to kick his ass yet again]].

* EightPointEight: IGN's review of the game got flack for this due to giving the game an 8.5 - it's not the score itself that people had a problem with, but rather, the fact that it's ''the exact same score'' the website gave to ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', a game widely seen as vastly inferior (so much so that prior to the release of ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce Federation Force]]'', it was a FranchiseKiller).

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: After [[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM two incredibly]] [[VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce polarizing games]] released during a six-year DorkAge for the franchise, ''Samus Returns'' has been lauded for bringing the series back to greatness.

* GoddamnedBoss:
** Omega Metroids. They move slow enough to be easy to dodge, have widely telegraphed attacks and generally are easy to run circles around once you encounter one. However, they make up for this by [[DamageSpongeBoss having mountains of HP]] in addition to having a regenerating chest plate you need to destroy first, which you only have ''very'' limited openings to hit and their attacking animations take up a good amount of time to play out. All this results in fights that go on longer than needed without much actual threat to them.
** Once escape tunnels become available to them, Gamma Metroids turn into this.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** ''VideoGame/AnotherMetroid2Remake'' has [[HilariousInHindsight/AnotherMetroid2Remake its own page]] listing coincidental similarities between itself and ''Samus Returns''.
** In the ''Manga/SuperMetroid'' 4koma comics, Samus would smack things with her arm cannon, many years before that became a move in this game

** The bat-like Gulluggs deal a surprisingly large amount of damage to Samus & are very common, making it extremely easy to quickly lose a lot of health to them if you haven't mastered the melee counter yet or are trying to speed run through the game. The fact that they [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority change colors as they become more powerful]] doesn't really help. If you find the blue and pink Gulluggs manageable, the electric Gulluggs are even worse, as they cannot be melee countered and you can get damaged even while using the Screw Attack.

* FriendlyFandoms: Again, with fans of ''VideoGame/AnotherMetroid2Remake'', most people have played it & want to play ''Samus Returns'' and think both games are going to be great. They still like to compare the two games and see how they take different approaches to re-making ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus''. It's also helped by the fact that a number of suggestions by the fans that followed ''[=AM2R=]'' through its development (such as [[spoiler:a Ridley battle]] or [[spoiler:a cameo by the X-Parasites]]) were either denied by the developer or planned but never implemented by the fan game, but here they see full ''glorious'' implementation, which hints that Nintendo and [=MercurySteam=] may have been following ''[=AM2R=]''[='s=] development a lot more closely than one would think. For the record, the creator of ''[=AM2R=]'' [[https://twitter.com/AM2Rgame/status/874701004092166145 wholeheartedly supports]] ''Samus Returns'', calling it the ''Metroid II'' he has always wanted to play; after buying a [=3DS=] just to play it, he said that he "really enjoyed the game."
-->'''Milton Guasti''': [[http://metroid2remake.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-return-of-samus.html Is Metroid Samus Returns worth your time?]] I think so. It's a very well realized action game that poses a decent challenge. And it's also a very good reinterpretation of the original Metroid 2. The vision that the devs had is extremely different to mine, but it was very well executed, and that's what matters.

* After considerable backlash to Samus's characterization in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' and Samus's boss battle in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce'', ''Samus Returns'' fittingly [[CharacterRerailment returns Samus to her established and beloved characterization]] as a strong and courageous hero who largely conveys her personality through her actions and body language. Her portrayal in this game has been praised as a return to form, from her flashy battles against Metroids and Diggernaut to her heartwarming encounter with the baby Metroid. This is well shown when Samus reacts when she sees [[spoiler:Ridley]]; unlike the highly controversial scene from ''Other M'', [[NoNonsenseNemesis she wastes no time and proceeds to kick his ass yet again]].

** Samus' character has a balance of displaying showing courage and compassion in battle only through body language without having the extremely long monologues of Other M. Also Samus has no issue when fighting [[spoiler:Ridley]]; unlike the highly controversial scene from ''Other M''.

** A criticism of the ''Metroid'' series in general was that Samus would be sexualized more and more in each game, with her build becoming more lithe and her Zero Suit getting more screentime, as epitomized in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM''. ''Samus Returns'' limits the Zero Suit's appearances to death and ending sequences. When it ''does'' appear, Samus has a [[AmazonianBeauty more impressive build than in previous games]], akin to ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', and the ending sequence depicts her in a powerful, non-sexualized hand-on-hip pose (although she does retain her CombatStilettos from ''Other M'').

** The inclusion of [[spoiler:Ridley as a PostFinalBoss]]. The debate isn't about whether it was a good boss battle, as even detractors agree that it is one of the best in the series. The debate comes from whether it belongs in ''Metroid II''. Some like how its design indirectly confirms once and for all that the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' is canon (which settled a long-lasting debate in the fandom), how it strengthens the bond between [[MamaBear Samus]] and [[AndroclesLion the baby Metroid]] in a ShowDontTell manner, and how it serves as retroactive {{foreshadowing}} for ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''. However, others believe the fight is a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere with zero setup that is an obvious example of PanderingToTheBase, and hate how it significantly alters the more somber tone of the game's ending, which was originally a quiet sequence of Samus and the baby Metroid peacefully traveling back to the gunship together.

* CharacterRerailment: After considerable backlash to Samus's characterization in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' and Samus's boss battle in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce'', ''Samus Returns'' fittingly returns Samus to her established and beloved characterization as a strong and courageous hero who largely conveys her personality through her actions and body language. Her portrayal in this game has been praised as a return to form, from her flashy battles against Metroids and Diggernaut to her heartwarming encounter with the baby Metroid. This is well shown when Samus reacts when she sees [[spoiler:Ridley]]; unlike the highly controversial scene from ''Other M'', [[NoNonsenseNemesis she wastes no time and proceeds to kick his ass yet again]].

* CharacterRerailment: After considerable backlash to Samus's characterization in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' and Samus's boss battle in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce'', ''Samus Returns'' fittingly returns Samus to her established and beloved characterization as strong and courageous hero who largely conveys her personality through her actions and body language. Her portrayal in this game has been praised as a return to form, from her flashy battles against Metroids and Diggernaut to her heartwarming encounter with the baby Metroid. This is well shown when Samus reacts when she sees [[spoiler:Ridley]]; unlike the highly controversial scene from ''Other M'', [[NoNonsenseNemesis she wastes no time and proceeds to kick his ass yet again]].

** Not only is the style of gameplay classic Metroid to a tee mixed with the art of ''Metroid Prime'' and some new toys to play with, there is no sign of Samus' controversial characterization from ''Other M'', with Samus instead showing her emotions through body language alone. Sakamoto himself has stated that much of the story being relegated into the background rather than be integrated into the main gameplay like a novel. The game does to take what ''Other M'' did right, such as the cinematic combat counter and acrobatic maneuvers.

** [[spoiler: [[ArchEnemy Ridley]] being in this game as the final boss despite not being in the original Metroid II at all]].

* {{Narm}}: While it is an awesome moment, the way the Baby Metroid charges at [[spoiler:Ridley]] to save its adopted mother looks a bit silly when you can see its baby teeth while it dashes towards him. This is the whole point, since despite the little beast's bravery, a newborn Metroid's undeveloped fangs wouldn't even hold on to Samus let alone something as strong and violent as [[spoiler: Ridley]], otherwise the fight would be too easy.

** The inclusion of [[spoiler:Ridley as a PostFinalBoss]]. The debate isn't about whether it was a good boss battle, as even detractors agree that it is one of the best in the series. The debate comes from whether it belongs in ''Metroid II''. Some like how its design indirectly confirms that the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' is canon (which settled a long-lasting debate in the fandom), how it strengthens the bond between [[MamaBear Samus]] and [[AndroclesLion the baby Metroid]] in a ShowDontTell manner, and how it serves as retroactive {{foreshadowing}} for ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''. However, others believe the fight is a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere with zero setup that is an obvious example of PanderingToTheBase, and hate how it significantly alters the more somber tone of the game's ending, which was originally a quiet sequence of Samus and the baby Metroid peacefully traveling back to the gunship together.

** The Nintendo Power Source interactive online story ''Roleplay/BloodOfTheChozo'' was actually the first ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}''-related work to feature [[spoiler:a villainous faction of Chozo]].

** Once the initial hype from the announcement had died down, several concerns were raised about ''Samus Returns'', since it was developed by Creator/MercurySteam (known for their divisive ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games) and produced by Yoshio Sakamoto (who was responsible for the most controversial elements of ''Other M''). The fact that some fans were worried this game was [[ChristmasRushed rushed]] in an attempt to quickly quell the fan outrage following ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce Federation Force]]'' certainly didn't help matters. After the game was released however, these concerns were laid to rest, with [=MercurySteam=] and Sakamoto being redeemed in the eyes of fans.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Many agree that this game was designed to fix many criticisms made against Sakamoto's previous game, ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM''.
** Not only is the style of gameplay classic Metroid to a tee mixed with the art of ''Metroid Prime'' and some new toys to play with, there is no sign of Samus' controversial characterization from ''Other M'', with Samus reverting back to being a SilentProtagonist again. Sakamoto himself has stated that much of the story and lore is relegated into the background rather than be integrated into the main gameplay like a novel. The game seems to take what ''Other M'' did right, such as the cinematic combat counter and acrobatic maneuvers, and leave out what fans loathed about that game.

** During development of ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', Yoshio Sakamoto didn't take into consideration any events from the ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy Prime]]'' trilogy, leading to some major continuity errors with the former. He also made the unpopular statement that the ''Prime'' trilogy was [[GaidenGame not integrated]] into the larger series narrative and instead "parallel" to it ([[GodNeverSaidThat which caused some people to believe]] that he considered the ''Prime'' trilogy non-canon). ''Samus Returns'' both clarifies and rectifies that statement, [[spoiler:as Ridley appears in the game having parts of his Meta Ridley implants, solidifying that the ''Prime'' series is indeed in Sakamoto's vision for the whole series]]. Furthermore, ''Samus Returns'' uses several classic tracks such as the Samus Appears and Item Obtained Fanfares, Lower Maridia, and [[spoiler:Ridley's Theme]] that are more directly based on their ''Prime'' variants than on other versions.

* CharacterRerailment: Done very intentionally by Yoshio Sakamoto to Samus after a backlash from the last ''[[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM Metroid]]'' game he was involved with. This is well shown when Samus shoots at the defeated Diggernaut without looking while she's about to obtain the Power Bomb. The FinalBoss is even more pronounced. How does Samus react when she sees [[spoiler:Ridley]]? She wastes no time and [[NoNonsenseNemesis proceeds to kick his ass yet again]].