awoolcott's Full Review: Metroid Fusion for Game Boy Advance (GBA)
The Metroid franchise has undergone quite the renaissance these past couple of years. With the GameCube seeing the first 3D Metroid adventure in Metroid Prime (and its soon-to-be unveiled follow-up), and the Game Boy Advance seeing traditional 2D editions in Metroid Zero Mission, and this particular title, Metroid Fusion. While not as complex as Metroid Prime, which was released in 2002 the same day as Fusion, Samus Aran's latest 2D adventure hits on all cylinders, blending classic Metroid gameplay with an involved storyline and an un-traditional method of powering up Samus's weapons. While a couple traditional Metroid elements have been tweaked and/or eliminated, Metroid Fusion is one of the best original GBA games, and along with the recently released (and also incredible) Zero Mission, delivers quite the pair of games that are well worth buying a GBA for.
Unlike past entries in the Metroid universe, Metroid Fusion contains an in-depth storyline to tell the tale, as opposed to simply letting you loose on a world and tell you to shoot stuff up (and this is the 'newest' edition, as Prime takes place in between Metroid and Metroid II for Game Boy). In this case, Bounty Hunter extraordinare Samus Aran is leading a team of researchers on planet SR388, home of the menacing Metroid that has been terrorizing the galaxy for some time. However, during their investigation, a strange lifeform enters Samus's body. As she leaves to return to headquarters, the lifeform knocks her unconscious, and nearly dead. It isn't until the Galactic Federation finds a small Metroid cell that Samus can be cured, if in a less than human form. Turns out that this lifeform, known as the X parasite, was a major source of food for Metroids, and without Metroids around anymore, the X parasites are free to wreak havoc on the galaxy and destroy it. Samus's goal is twofold - recover her abilities that were lost trying to save her, and eliminate the X parasite by any means necessary. Along with her computer CO (as in, commanding officer) barking orders, Samus enters a research facility to wipe out the parasite and thwart another threat.
The story unfolds throughout the game, with Samus giving her insight on the many different happenings, such as her relationship with the computer CO and her comparisons to her only other CO, and the appearance of a dangerous enemy known as the SA-X. With a handful of plot twists and turns to be hand, Metroid Fusion contains a storyline not seen in any other Metroid game.
Fusion closely follows traditional Metroid (and now Castlevania) gameplay, with a few exceptions. As usual, you're placed in an area, and in mostly non-linear fashion, your goal is to get through an area, gain access to your abilities and locks to areas that you can't get to yet, fight a boss, and clean up the sector of the research facility in one piece. Along the way, there's a load of hidden areas and secrets, most of which are uncovered through use of precise tactics such as bombing your way to an area or simply firing stuff until you find a gap or a hole.
Along the way, you find different Navigation rooms, where you're told of your next objective, leaving it to you to get there in one piece. This 'holding hand' philosophy isn't really traditional Metroid, where you're pretty much on your own, but seeing that finding the right path isn't always as black & white as the map suggests, there's still plenty of room to explore and discover the numerous secret areas holding important hidden treasures like Missile Expansions and Energy Tanks. This is pretty much the entire scenario for every sector of the research lab, though as you progress, the areas get tougher and tougher until you start facing some (surprising) encounters.
The only really new addition is the presence of the SA-X. As the SA-X is a dangerous clone of Samus at her optimal strength, the real Samus has no chance in hell of defeating it in battle, and since she has some Metroid cells in her body, the SA-X's ice beam would freeze her solid. So, in fashion seen in games like Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Samus must run like hell whenever she spots the SA-X, avoiding certain death, until Samus is strong enough to take it head-on. This adds a monkey wrench into many events, as what might seem like an easy path becomes horrifyingly challenging if you cross paths with the SA-X, and adds a brand new touch to the classic Metroid gameplay.
Gaining powerups is a bit different than before - instead of picking up health and missile icons, you simply collect X parasites roaming around. Since she was shot up with the Metroid cells, Samus is now invulnerable to the parasites, and she can absorb them to regain health and ammunition in different colored forms. And when you encounter a boss fight, you simply collect a mass cluster of X parasites that regains the power it was holding for you.
As always, Fusion is mixed in with some tight, useful controls that make controlling Samus easy. Even with the GBA's small amount of buttons, it works enough, and using the specials like missiles, super missiles, and bombing stuff is easy and intuitive. The new moves like gripping ledges and climbing across chasms works well, though the gripping part takes a few runs to get a grip (bad pun, indeed!) on making a ledge to ledge leap less stressful. And as always, these abilities are actually required in many instances, as unlocking abilities lets Samus access areas that she wasn't able to enter before, be it standard areas within a sector, or hidden areas full of secrets and goodies. Exploring Fusion's world is the key to becoming strong enough to handle the challenging end battles - if you're underpowered, it's that much harder to clear the game.
Purists might complain about the supposed hand-holding that tells you where to go, but in Fusion's case, it's okay due to the story-driven narrative that fills the game up quite often. Still, it does add a bit of linearity that Metroid isn't known for, but doesn't make it any less of a great game. Also, Metroid Fusion is a tad short, clocking in at about 4-5 hours for a first-time player. However, with the immense replay value, be it for getting 100% item completion (or even the 1% completion challenge where you acquire zero items other than what's force-fed you) or just going through the game again to enjoy the action and graceful controls. It's also not quite as hard as old Metroid games, because you're given full health often in Recharge rooms, something that the original Metroid didn't come close to having. It's well worth beating, however, simply to link up with Metroid Prime on the Cube and unlock that original Metroid for play on your GameCube - though with Metroid Zero Mission available, with the original game on the GBA cart, it might not be necessary anymore. Hey, it was cool in 2002. Either way, Fusion is an excellent Metroid game that is, along with Zero Mission, 2 of the best GBA games available today.
Though it's 2D, Fusion is still a beautiful game. Done in traditional hand-drawn fashion, Samus and the simulated worlds she adventures through are detailed and lively, and even carry some pseudo-3D touches in the backgrounds to give a feeling of a huge region she's battling in. Samus herself is also drawn and animated perfectly, allowing for seamless movements and execution of her special tactics. Special tricks like special lighting and the blending with hidden regions (as in, disappearing off the screen) are handled well also. And despite some intense battles with the X-infected enemies, the game has little to no slowdown, though it does happen sometimes, and when it does, it sucks mightily. But when it happens maybe 3% of the time, it's easy to let go of and forget.
Metroid Fusion also contains its usual creepy, moody, atmospheric soundtrack that adds an eerie touch to the game, as you never know what could be around the corner (God forbid you hear creepy music, then the 'skree!!' of a Metroid hunting you down, that'll make you pee your pants as bad as the 2 way mirror room in Silent Hill 3). It's not quite as creepy as perhaps the original Metroid games, but it's ahead of Metroid Prime on the "uh-oh, what's in the next room" feeling. Trademark Metroid themes return (as in, the theme that plays when you first begin, and when you acquire abilities), adding the usual Nintendo touches that live in Zelda and Mario games as well. Rounding it out are a strong set of sound effects for both Samus and the enemies - when you hear the X parasite squeaking around, you know it's time to kick some tail quickly before something bad happens.
The Bottom Line
Whether it's on GBA or whatever, Metroid Fusion is a great action/adventure game, and a great release from Nintendo...perhaps better than Metroid Prime is (which is saying something). It manages to maintain many Metroid trademarks, but at the same time add more storyline and a touch of variety to break up the game a tad. Some will balk at the occasional linear paths and being told where to go, but otherwise, Fusion is a great, great 2D Metroid game that was about 8 years past due, but no worse for wear - it was, and is, worth the wait.
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Metroid Fusion is a side-scrolling action adventure game with an intriguing sci-fi storyline. Controlling a bounty hunter named Samus Aran, players ex...More at eBay
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