Too Linear

Something happened between Super Mario Bros/World/Yoshi's Island and Super Mario 64/Sunshine/Galaxy. Gamers have gotten used to the open world free-roaming environments and are growing tiresome of the "restricted" "linear" style of old.

Recently games have been criticized for being too linear, but some of the best games I have ever played are the very definition of linear: Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Ghouls and Ghosts.

Complaining about linear games or games being too linear feel like the current gaming consensus hates some of the types of games I still love...

I don't want to resort to playing sequels to Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid on the Nintendo DS and not my PS3 or 360 - there is a reason there is so much hype surrounding Metroid:Other M.