I have been a huge fan of the Metroid series since Fusion and have played them all over the years. The 2D ones have always been really great.
Prime 1 is one of my top games of all time. I never enjoyed Prime 2, when I was a kid or more recently as an adult. I only played Prime 3 a bit as I did not care that there were other people.
Metroid has always been about being alone and surviving.
I have been playing Metroid Prime 4 recently and It is very much the opposite of a Metroid style game. In fact, it feels quite linear and there is a lot of help telling you where to go pretty frequently.
The gameplay is not bad, but it is more like a generic shooter than a Metroid game.
What are your thoughts on the Prime series and Prime 4?
I tried playing it a year or two ago using the prime hack mod so I could use keyboard and mouse. I think I was burned out after grinding through the second one. I really hated the second one. I still remember being so disappointed as a kid when I got it.
Speaking of hacks, there are ones to turn off the limited ammo mechanic of the light and dark guns. A lot of people seem to think that improves 2 a lot.
Edit: And using primehack to play it with mouse and keyboard would definitely go a long way towards making it feel more generic by giving it a more generic control scheme.
The limited ammo was one thing I hated about that game. But the level design was boring and I think many areas looked the same so it was too easy to get lost.