This game is supposed to be a direct sequel to Super Metroid, isn't it? So why is Samus's breakdown during the Ridley scene such a big deal?
Because it portrays her as weak.
The sight of Ridley alone likely would've been enough to make anybody cry if he'd killed their parents (and nearly killed them) when they were three, but she's also thinking about all those other things too.
Except she immediately snaps out of it once
Anthony "dies." The writing in that particular scene is even more horrendously inconsistent than in any other scene in the game. I've heard arguments and cries of "PTSD" and "psychological issues" but a more likely explanation is that they had no efffing idea what they were doing. They added that scene because they felt that they needed more drama or some nonsense like that.
Also worth noting is that Sakamoto
had no reason to expect that American audiences would know anything about Samus' past with Ridley. The only indication we're given that there's a past feud between them is in the manga, which is Japan-only (yes, we got it eventually, but only because fans translated it; the writers of
Other M should not have been able to count on that). So even if the scene itself was okay (which it wasn't), western audiences were given no prior frame of reference or context for it.
And yes, I do take this issue fairly personally. I admire Samus as a strong character. I can't watch the scene without getting a little ticked off at how badly it was handled. I can't play the boss battle without regretfully considering how much more awesome it would've been if Samus hadn't broken down and turned into a three-year-old two seconds beforehand. I can't listen to that battle's background music (which was incidentally the only excellent piece in the game) without a bittersweet twinge in my stomach reminding me of the pure, unadulterated
suck that came not a few moments before that.