The ranking will be based mostly on the look and art design of each suit, with maybe 10% consideration given to their ingame abilities. It isn't about which is more powerful than which (something largely impossible to determine from game to game, given the mostly-shared ability pool). It's more about which ones are the most appealing to look at in action.
12. Fusion Suit (Metroid Fusion) - This one is an abomination against nature, and for a long time it was synonymous with the main series being seemingly over with (for 19 years). Metroid Fusion couldn't have a sequel (unless they Deus Ex Machina'd the suit off of Samus and back into a separate thing, which they did). A literal fusion of Samus, her suit, and Metroid DNA, this suit is quite unattractive and unappealing from a form factor perspective. It's also much weaker than Samus' other suits, with a huge weakness to ice. The whole look and lore of this suit just feels like a big misstep. At least it was creative, since it turns Samus into essentially part-Metroid, hunched over and primal in a way she isn't in the rest of the series.
11. PED Suit (Metroid Prime 3) - A mass-produced Federation suit that gives Samus a significantly more powerful beam, this was Metroid Prime 3's big addition to the suit lineup. You can really see the Halo effect rubbing off here, as Nintendo decided to try and emulate that series since it was so big at the time. End result is a fairly generic suit that is powerful yes - probably the second-most powerful suit on this list - but just doesn't do anything for me. I barely even remembered it for this list.
10. Dark Suit (Metroid Prime 2) - An interesting suit that adapts Samus to the oppressive climate of Dark Aether. Pairs well with the Dark Beam. I like how Metroid Prime 2 got so much mileage out of Light and Dark elements after the first game based its beams around Fire, Ice, and Electric elements. There's also an interesting Luminoth tech aesthetic with this suit and it's pretty recognizable. Why is it so low? Because of those damn shoulderpads. It looks like she's about to transform into a motorcycle or something. As interesting as this suit is, it isn't appealing to look at in action.
9. Light Suit (Metroid Prime 2) - This one is better, and opts for a sleek streamlined approach that rocks a much higher power level than the bulky, muscled Dark Suit. This is a theme that shows up quite a bit in Japanese culture: See also DBZ having Freeza's strongest form be the smaller, sleeker, streamlined form rather than the large, formidable-looking forms. This one can dominate Dark Aether, and pairs well with the Light Beam. So why is it ranked low? That bizarre chest. Once again, they got weird with it and it doesn't really work.
8. Power Suit (Metroid 1+) - The suit Samus uses in the first game (and wears for much of Metroid Prime, until she gets the Varia) has a nice simple design that I always liked. It was created by the Chozo and adapted to upgrade with their various artifacts. Why isn't it higher? Because it has so much steep competition. This is just the "base form" for everything else, and as such it doesn't really stack up to some of the later models.
7. ??? Suit (Metroid Prime 4) - I wasn't going to include this since we've hardly seen it yet, but we've seen enough. It has a very Iron Man esque look to it with heavy usage of reds, while otherwise being similar to the suit Samus uses for the majority of the series. What makes this suit interesting is the ability to manipulate things with force and psychic telekinesis. It's intriguing so far.
6. Gravity Suit (Super Metroid+) - One that I'd like to rank higher but can't really justify it. I like the purple color and the ability to move normally underwater, and this looked great in Super Metroid as the ultimate suit there. However, there isn't much to it. It's just the Varia Suit with purple added. And out of the four suits in Metroid Prime, it's probably the one I like running around in the least even if it's the second-best of the group.
4. Zero Suit (Zero Mission) - It has been diminished a bit by the endless fetishization of it online and all the exploitative artwork of Samus' ass. Either way, this suit is actually pretty damn nice when it comes down to it. It's probably the weakest suit on this list in terms of powers, but in a way that actually enhances why it's cool: It's Samus demonstrating her resourcefulness and being able to defend herself even without her OP suits. Represents something cool in that regard, and it's simply a sexy outfit.
3. Fusion Suit Plus (Metroid Dread) - Speaking of sexy, the narrow-waist and round-hips design of this suit manages to be much sexier than any other armored suit in the series. This suit is nearly perfect in shapes and colors; the only part I don't really like is the weirdly-narrow head. Regardless, this was their way of following up the Fusion Suit (which seemed permanent) by separating the suit from Samus to become its own normal power suit. An interesting thing about this suit is how it starts out resembling musculature / muscle fibers etc, and gains more layers/bulk as Samus finds more upgrades to it.
2. Varia Suit (Metroid 2+) - The most iconic out of all of Samus' suits, and the one most people think of when they think of the Metroid series. There's a reason for that: It's incredibly appealing. The colors are perfect, the form is perfect. Simple is good, and this one hits all the right notes. It's also the reason the Power Suit isn't higher; it holds down the poor Power Suit in two out of the three games the PS appears in. The Power Suit is just the junior version of this one that you put up with until you get to the real suit.
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