I've always been a fan of Metroid Dreadnought when it came out in the DOOM WAD section of the mods. Man, being able to shoot demons as Samus was truly something. Of course, like most metroid mods or fangames though, it was eventually abandon/little word was being heard on its development.
And then came along Metroid: Vanguard
And I gotta say, Metroid: Vanguard definitely carries the spirit of Dreadnought with it, despite the engine differences with SRB2.
For one, if you're like any metroid speedrunner, the mechanics to execute complex speedrunner techniques are built right into SRB2, but combined with the mechanics thrown into this mod - Ball boosting, Shinesparking, even ball-spiking off of enemies - adds to that experience a whole lot. Now unfortunately with SRB2 does come the caviate of semi-imprecise movement - IE, Samus kinda moves with a bit of a delay, as with any other character in SRB2, and when it comes down to strafing or shooting at a target, ESPECIALLY with the custom ones the mod adds, you're gonna find yourself at the edge of a game over quite a bit. If you can get over Vanguard's movement in comparison to Dreadnought's, however, it's still a very rewarding mod with a good depth on how metroid operates in something like SRB2. Pardon my french, but this fucking guy knows how to nail the feeling of a metroid game in the custom maps he made - the isolated, lonely, and downright haunting ambience combined with those tense build-ups before the custom bosses adds a whole ton to this mod than any other mod, and this is what sets it apart from its Dreadnought inspiration. If anything, I hope Golden Shine goes on to add onto Dreadnought even with the amount of detail he puts into his maps and the enemies as well, he's got talent, and it's very apparent he's a hard-core Metroid fan.
Beyond the movement criticsm, my only other critisms would be the lack of new, custom maps and other custom enemies. Don't get me wrong, what's in there is great, but otherwise it IS just a character mod throughout. Maybe in future versions we'll see more added to it, but otherwise it does leave one wishing for a little more.
Overall, great mod, dare I say it even goes above and beyond Metroid Dreadnought in both its presentation and amount of detail. As someone that's been playing metroid since Prime 1, hell, since even Super, Golden's definitely outdone himself here with everything thrown in, and I highly recommend keeping an eye out on the other stuff he makes with this amount of quality put into this one mod.
1: Try give Fusion Mode a shot, you probably won't find it so easy! (don't do it on "new game plus" that time. :P) If even that's easy, try a low% Fusion run. If you find THAT easy, try entering eSports.
2: Turning special stages back on IS an option in the ship, actually! I just personally think they're repetitive for anybody who's collected the emeralds before. NiGHTS special stages use the same gameplay for all characters and break the Metroid spirit.
3: I got really burned out after the ACZ4 and DSZ4 bosses and stage and would've had to delay Metroid Vanguard and give up on SA-Sonic if I continued. Glad you're up for more content, though!
4: It being Fang is moreso an easter egg than anything meaningful. The Sonic cast isn't really related to the mission or ever brought up. Samus just got fed up with Eggman's intervening and extended the mission to take him down. (Really, just an excuse to keep playing through SRB2's campaign. The story was written around SRB2's campaign rather than vice versa.)
The "Blue" Fang wrote on the wall is a warning not to approach the nearby Phazon. (Which is blue.)
5: Was meant as final stretch base-storming hype music. The game's a cakewalk after ACZ4 until Brak catches Samus off-guard.
That's my thoughts! Much as I love Metroid Vanguard, I might not approach it again in the future. But then I did say that before and the 2.2 update ended up alot more ambitious than intended, so who knows!