Super Metroid Eris is a masterpiece totally deserving of its triumph in this category. No effort was spared in the designing of the world of Eris; not only was each room a piece of art to look at in itself, but in-game effects were used very liberally, even going so far as to pull out cunning and rarely before-seen tricks in order to facilitate the "feel" each subsection of the world Eris has. Quite often, foreground tiles would be used in both foreground and background, going behind and in front of each other, creating the immersive appearance of many layers in the 2D environment. This is a time consuming technique rarely seen in today's SM hacks - yet the creator not only took the time to supplant each and every room with the effects it creates, but to make sure each and every room was well beyond beautiful. Despite using mostly original graphics from Super Metroid itself, the whole world is its own universe, unrelated to regular Zebes in every way, shape, and form. In many hacks, you play in the same old areas, most of the time with blatant palette changes. Still feels like you're in Brinstar, or in Maridia, or the Wrecked Ship. Not here: Planet Eris is its own unique entity to be explored and discovered. None of the designs in this hack make you feel like you're playing a radically rehashed or recolored Norfair. Dmantra took us to a new world, and made it convincing and wonderful.
- DSO