Metroid Fusion

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File:Metroid Fusion.jpg
North American box art.

Metroid Fusion is an action adventure platformer (Metroidvania) developed and published by Nintendo in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance. It is the 4th game in the Metroid canon. This Metroid has a much stronger script than the previous games--you are regularly given orders from an AI. While this certainly adds mood to the game and lets you know what to do next, it also seems a bit unusual. Samus is supposed to be a lone bounty hunter, not a soldier in the military. I almost missed the feeling of loneliness I had from the other Metroid games.

I was drawn to this game due to my love of the series. I was very pleased with the game because, while the earlier games can be a bit creepy, this was the first to instill in me an intense feeling of dread at several points.

Status

I do not own the game, but I have beaten it in 4 hours, 22 minutes with 55% completion.

Review

  • Overall: 8/10
  • Best Version: Game Boy Advance

Good

  • I love the idea of a fully-power Samus (SA-X) hunting you. It adds a feeling of dread to the game that is constantly lingering over your shoulder.
  • Wall jumping is mercifully at a minimum.
  • The engine is based off the SNES engine, so it's incredibly solid.

Bad

  • The SA-X doesn't show up enough. I would have preferred numerous showdowns with her throughout the game, or maybe even have her as an AI that walks around the ship causing random encounters. Instead each encounter is scripted which takes away the fear in the replay.
  • Bomb jumping uses the original Metroid form where it's nearly impossible to jump high off of bombs. This was probably added to keep the player out of areas before they were supposed to get there, but I like the idea of getting something early if you're persistent enough.
  • The game is far too linear. For the most part, each area is quarantined off from you, which forces you to have to follow (very closely) to a script. Each replay is nearly identical to the last, but since the story is so good, it's worth it.

Ugly

  • Nothing.

Media

Documentation

Videos

Links