I disagree in regards to the gameplay, in a franchise that invented a genre based around exploration and back-tracking, having a game that was a linear corridor after linear corridor with no chance to backtracking is not my idea of fun, I thought the environments were nowhere near as captivating as they are in the previous games, especially compared to Super Metroid or Metroid Prime, I also found the combat incredibly simple and I just kinda went on auto-pilot after a while, I also found a lot of the designs to be completely unmemorable, only things I remember is spoilers:end of spoilers, and the Gravity Suit changing from Purple to some kind of of glow, neither of which I was a fan of.
Baby/adolescent Ridley
I will give it one thing though, Samus felt really nice to control, that's one thing I always liked more about the 2D games, Samus just always felt faster and more agile than in Metroid Prime, where she felt a bit more clunky, I mean, it worked well for the kind of game Retro wanted to make, but I always did kind of want a 3D Metroid that had the feel of the 2D games, and Metroid: Other M delivered on that front, but that is the only plus I will give it.