Metroid Zero Mission has its moments - it can be really fun. But it very quickly starts to feel like a limited world, especially after you get your last suit. This is often a problem with Metroidvanias, in that they can never quite be big enough to prevent you from eventually feeling their limits in your head. Like, you wish there had been even more interesting places to explore. Part of this is, of course, a constraint of game development - not every game can be as massive to explore as Xenoblade.

And then there's Metroid Fusion. It's a...solid game, in that has a lot of area to cover, and such. But I forgot how sterile it all feels. Aboard a human space station with all artificial habitats, it lacks all of the alien world mystique that Zebes and SR388 have. The humans in the Metroid universe don't build anything nearly as interesting as the Chozo's high-tech structures that integrate themselves with their natural surroundings. In fairness, virtually all of those Chozo structures are ruins which nature has taken over, but at least I wouldn't call Chozo design sterile.

I still have plenty of other Metroidvanias I can (re)play. And, perhaps I can look into the big world of ROM hacks of Super Metroid and the GBA Metroid games.