It's a good game, and mechanically it's very sound. However, the developers failed to grasp what made Metroid 2 such a special part in the continuity of Metroid. It's such an important game, and more people need to play it.
Nice video. This guy does make great stuff.
I sort of disagree that Samus Returns fails at capturing what Metroid II is about though. I mean his reasoning is more than sound but at the same time, we don't have the limitations of 1991 anymore, so I wouldn't judge this game as failing to respect them.
This game is all about combat and Samus is effectively carrying out a genocide. Making the game about combat makes sense, making more atmospheric sounds better than it would have actually been. Technical limitations being common and understood means gamers were more "forgiving" of them (do note that Metroid II wasn't very popular) in 1991, this is not the case in 2017.
His point about the final sequence and it's lack of enemies was great, definitely a missed opportunity for this game.
I take it scan pulse is a 'where to go next' tool? Metroid's usually been pretty good with this, I don't know about the various portable games but at least starting with Metroid Prime you could always turn the notifications on or off. Personally I find Metroid much more enjoyable having it off going old school style, and only turning it on if completely stumped.
It is a item that allows you to reveal a portion of the map around you.
But you can choose not to use it (I believe you have to pick it up however) so that was a nice nod to the old school.
---
Finished the game last night.
The final two bosses are homeruns in terms of gameplay. Holy hell were they hard!!