Bloodreign, from the Chapel etc., is that you? Sorrow here, if it is. If it isn't, just...ignore this paragraph.
But yeah, I'm going to be extremely original and say Super Metroid. And I can vouch for no nostalgia there, as I only played it first a year ot two ago. In playing it through the second time I finally got completely accustomed to the controls and realised how amazingly well designed the game as a whole is. All the level designs are interesting and fun to go through, the areas feel isolating and very authentic, and flow together into each other amazingly well, and the atmosphere of the game is just about the best I've ever seen in a game, bar maybe the first two Metroids and Prime. The music really adds to that, and with songs like the ones in Brinstar (both of them) and the depths of Norfair really stand out amongst videogame music as a whole.
Now, I do want to place Prime here, but I honestly can't say for sure. It was the game that got me interested in the series, but I haven't really played it since then. The second-and-all-since-then playthroughs of Super feel amazing, but I do find it hard to compare to Prime due to my limited experience. But really, it feels like they took almost everything from Super and made it in 3-d, and brilliantly so, but adding its own flair in the way. The level designs and areas are really great, and the atmosphere is once again amazing, accompanied by great music like Phendrana Drifts and the Space Pirate song (God I love that synth that breaks in at one point and just shakes you to your core...shame they omitted it from the sequels : \ ) and overall probably my favourite Gamecube game, and one of the best games I've ever played. Didn't think Texans had it in them :P (that was a joke, see, don't get offended if you/someone you know live/s/d in Texas)
Third place, however, is largely unusual for me, as I place Metroid II in that place. Its level designs are pretty smartly made, their irregularity and such making it feel more organic than in the GBA games, but not quite as great as Super's, and the general flow of the game is really great, urging you always to explore more and more, yet keeping you on a somewhat linear path, a perfect solution for the mapless interface of the game. The enemies aren't really amazing but they do awaken the world in it, and the Metroids, weak as just bosses, really work well in terms of just creating a survival balance for the player, as you usually won't go unhurt, but you still have to get consistently better throughout the game in order to get hurt as little as possible in order to survive in the main game. The atmosphere is also amazing, as I mentioned in the Super paragraph, better than in most games I've played. The world feels bleak and desolate, yet overrun by life, and the ruins creat a great sense of mystery within its walls.
So yeah, Super's pretty much at the top, standing as the peak of sidescrolling gameplay ever since (until Cave Story came out, anway...) and just generally being and amazing game.
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