2D Metroid: The Most Ingenious Design Ever?

Well, at the risk of sounding elitist, Super Metroid is a hardcore gamer's game. The control is a little more finicky than ZM or Fusion in that it requires extreme precision and timing, but it is still top notch. It's not worse, just different.

I used to have problems getting out of the sand too, but not anymore. The physics are at times challenging, but never sporadic, unpredictable, or unfair. Mastering them is simply a matter of skill and experience.

I also disagree with the notion that the advanced techs are so integral to the game that they are necessary for enjoyment. My first time through Super I was a Metroid newcomer. My friend and I didn't even know there was a dash button (and thus we were stuck at the collapsing bridge in Brinstar for a sad amount of time). Yet I was enthralled with the game anyway. I was drawn in by the difficulty (it is easy for me now, but extremely hard back then), exploration, atmosphere, and general flow of the game. Every new area was exciting. It was only on subsequent play-throughs that I came to appreciate the layers upon layers of depth the game offers (both in the design of Zebes and the subtleties of the control scheme).