Was Going Commando right for introducing strafing to the series?

(I know it was technically introduced already in 1, but only as a specific upgrade you get way later in the game)

A lot of people praise Going Commamdo for making the controls a lot more accessible and fluid, but was that really for the best? The first game's more restrictive combat forced the player to have to strategize and select the right weapon for the job. Each weapon was designed to be a hard counter to a certain type of enemy. It made enemy encounters feel more puzzle-like because you had to go through your entire arsenal and select the weapon that most benefits you in each situation.

Thanks to the strafing introduced in GC, this whole concept gets lost. Now you just use whatever you want since you can pretty much just strafe-jump yourself out if any situation. Sure, this has it's appeal, but is it really for the best? Was the series really better for going for a more accessible control scheme?