IGN producer Zach Ryan and I have played a few hours of Metroid: Samus Returns Nintendo Voice Chat (be sure to tune in to the September 8 episode ), and we’ll have our full review of Samus Returns on September 12.

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Every IGN Metroid Review 12 IMAGES

We’re not supposed to use the intro “It’s hard to believe it’s been XX years since…” here at IGN. It’s a banned phrase! So just let me say it’s unthinkable, unfathomable -- unjust -- that it’s been 14 years since the last “2D” classic Metroid (which was Metroid: Zero Mission). Samus Returns? About frackin’ time, amiright?Truly. As much as I love the Metroid Prime series (and I do!), to me, Metroid is a franchise that begs to be played in 2D. Metroid did it first, Metroid did it best, and now, Metroid is doing it again. Finally.Yeah, and if it doesn’t have a big, gross brain in a jar, is it really a Metroid? I’m not sure if this game has a Mother Brain yet, but I do love (bounty) hunting the smaller jellyfish brain things in a sprawling, twisted, subterranean labyrinth. In the early '00s, we got a 2D Metroid or a 2D Castlevania basically every year, and then… nothing. There have been some great indies that tackle the whole Metroidvania thing, but man, leave it to Yoshio Sakamoto, director of Super Metroid, Fusion, and Zero Mission, to get it 100% right. Does it feel like a classic to you as much as it does to me?Almost? As much as I’m enjoying the exploration and (maybe even more so) the combat, something feels a tiny bit off to me. Maybe I’m just not far enough into the game, as I’m currently deep in “Area 2” but I’m missing some of the sense of awe that previous Metroid games have inspired. I’m willing to wager that this reverence will arrive in due time, but I was honestly a bit put off at how much the game hands to you out of the gate. In the first hour or so I found the Charge Beam, the Ice Beam, the Spider Ball and numerous missile and health expansions with relative ease. This sort of flies in the face of the careful exploration and exhaustive spelunking found in classic 2D Metroid games, but it does manage to give this adventure a heightened sense of urgency, which I really dig. I’ve opened up much more of the map faster, and that’s a pretty rewarding feeling in and of itself.I agree, I have quite the arsenal at 19% completion. What’s more, one of the very first abilities you get is a big cheat bomb that reveals the secret rooms. It hasn’t hindered my urge to explore like I feared it would, but I definitely don’t obsess over every map detail as much. As for the combat: I’m just in love with the way that Samus moves. You can change directions in a split second, button mash for rapid fire, and tear through rooms without stopping at a breakneck pace. You only need to stop to counter attack! I like the counter attack so far because it not only kills efficiently, it also recharges your ability meter. Pretty clever, but it might get old. We’ll see. The biggest reaction we all had in the E3 2017 War Room when we first saw this game was “ewww, polygons!” What do you think of the 3D graphics so far?Oof, nailed it. I can’t understate how much fun it is just to play as Samus in this game. I think more so than even in the Prime series, you feel like such a badass right out the gate. Samus sprints, vaults over enemies, fires in every direction, and climbs over obstacles at a blistering speed. It’s just plain fun to see in action, especially considering all the animations are gorgeous. Some of the positions she can fire from look ripped out of the Metroid manga. It rules. Animations aside, environments shine and really benefit from cranking the 3D slider all the way up. Easter eggs and graphical flourishes are tucked away in all corners of the backgrounds to the extent that it’s nice to stop and take a look around between blasting bugs and dodging projectiles.Ultimately, because it plays like a 2D game, it matters a lot less that it’s built in 3D. But I do love pixel art and I’m sad that it’s become an indie aesthetic that major studios seem to have abandoned for ease of development or whatever. Did you ever play Metroid II: Return of Samus? I did: It’s really dated, slow, and confusing. It seems like the original design was mostly abandoned, and this game, with Chozo lore, familiar upgrades, and lightning-fast movement might as well be a new entry entirely. What it did keep that I love is the bounty hunting: There are 40 metroids to kill, and you must hunt them down, presumably to get paid. It’s a great premise for a game about a bounty hunter. I want that space money!Yeah, space money is great because you can spend it on space booze, or space pancakes, but I’m not entirely sold on the idea that bounty hunting is the bee’s knees. I miss boss fights. My favorite part of any Metroid (or any of the Iga-Vania games) are screen filling, thumb-busting boss fights, and while the Metroid in Samus Returns present a formidable challenge, it’s the same challenge over and over again. Well, it is so far, anyway. Hopefully there are some late game mega-bosses that require a change up in tactics. I did play play the original Metroid II (in fact it was the first game I ever rented as a kid!) and I applaud the upgrades to pacing, lore and design here, but I wish they’d pushed the envelope a bit and thrown in some classic style big-bads.There’s no way there aren’t at least one or two Ridleys later in this game, Mecha or otherwise, right? But yeah, I’ve fought the same Metroid miniboss a dozen times now, and I always beat it the same way: By freezing its stupid bug butt and then pumping it full of missiles. I’m playing Uncharted, Mario + Rabbids, and Metroid right now, but I still want to play Metroid the most, so it’s got that going for it. I’m a big Metroid fan, though, and both Prime and Zero Mission are in my personal top 10 favorite games, ever. So final question: Are you going to continue playing?Of course! What is this, amateur hour?! I love Metroid, and despite my (minor) complaints here, this game is feeling very polished and I’m really looking forward to seeing what else this new version of SR388 can throw at me. If this is truly is the 3DS’ swan song as many of us speculate, I can’t really imagine a better game or a better franchise to go out with. Long live Samus Aran!Thanks, Zach! For more on Samus Returns, check out the interview I did with long time Metroid director Yoshio Sakomoto at E3 2017 . The videos above on this page are all new as well, so give those a peek!And while we've got your attention, take a look at this Metroid review retrospective: In the slideshow below you’ll find every review score we’ve ever given for a Metroid game -- that should tide you over until our review on September 12th.

Samuel Claiborn is IGN's Managing Editor and both fixes and breaks pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.