I fucking hate walljump in Super Metroid, I hated it in 94 and I still hate it now considering how cumbersome it is to use, it's a good thing the game nearly never requires it.
NSMBW and N+ do walljumps the right way and if we mean exploration platformer then HK does it right.
My issue with powerups in SM is that they're either one note like the grapple beam, pace killers like the scanner or shit we saw in the previous 2 games and they still managed to not include the best powerup of Metroid II too.
HK is better at it for me because it doesn't gate its progression as evidently as even SM does.
Like the usual "enter a room with a very obvious way you can't enter and a very visible object to pass that somehow require a powerup you don't have", there's little to no door like the colored thing in SM too.
The exploration part is also masterfully done in HK even at the concept level, the fact that you have to earn the map instead of being given the map by default makes for great exploration. Better yet, by not giving less information to the player on where he is, you force the player to actually commit to knowing the map and its context into the game.
In SM, if you want to go to a specific place you can pinpoint in the map, you don't need to know your way through the maze as a quick glance to the map and generally following the minimap will take you anywhere (same in Axiom verge btw).
HK is more raw, if you can afford it you can have a pin with your position on the map otherwise you need to know the context of the map relating to the ingame world and manage from there.
As far as exploration goes, it's the difference between a GPS and an oldtimey map.
Guess it depends on what you want out of the game in the end, I think explained why my preference goes the way it does.
