And I thought falling off a ledge was frustrating.
As you get more health, the chances of getting a game over go down. That does not mean you need to compensate! The security of more health is something you go out of your way to grab in Metroid games. It’s not something naturally gained in the course of playing the game (like leveling up in an RPG), nor do you even get it from boss fights. The 2D Metroid games make sure that every fall is recoverable, though you certainly can take quite a lot of damage getting out. And the 3D games other than this one make falling out of bounds into a slap on the wrist, with the tiny amount of damage assigned. Even crushing isn’t a major hazard. But no, that wasn’t good enough for this game. While I certainly like that they put checkpoints everywhere, I’d like it even more if I never had to find that out.
With the wide variety of pickups you get in other games, I find it a little funny that there’s so little in this game. Missile expansions, UA expansions, energy tanks and weapons account for 100% of the upgrades. With the last weapon gained, that’s it for new abilities. There are no visors, suits, or even mobility upgrades. Yes, the Alimbic people’s records say they pretty much only made weapons, but this is a bit much. You’d think they’d have something even slightly resembling a defensive upgrade.