I'll add my little opinion to the conversation...
(which as always isn't so little because I always end up writing long stuff).
I don't think SotN ripped off something from Super Metroid other than the map.
The rest have its basis on games from its own franchise, and the RPG elements are present in dozens of franchises, anyway.
So, they say LoS ripped off GoW and SotC. It's true that GoW fed itself from other successful games, LoI amongst them. The titan battles really reminded me of SotC, and the ledgeforming reminded me of Prince of Persia.
But... after all... be it SotN or LoS...
What's the big deal if it implements things from other games?
I personally don't give a f* damn about innovation, and I'm sick of reading every critic and a lot of people talk about innovation like it was the only important thing, when if fact, it is not.
If something isn't broken, don't fix it. If games are fine the way they are, keep doing the same, perhaps adding little elements characteristic to each title, like the Super Mario saga does, but keeping the essence.
What do I care about stupid innovative games? Every time someone does something completely different it receives a huge amount of unjustified praise from all over the world, fans and critics, but especially critics.
I like platforming, RPG, 3D action games, etc... the games we all like.
What's wrong if a game "copies" something which I liked in the first place?
That's fine for me.
Critics (and some people) seem to have a complex where they have to complain about something all the time, and a rare condition where they love to death something the first time they see it but they hate it if they see it again, using one of the phrases I hte the most in the world... "This has been done before".