Metroid Fusion

"Now introducing Samus. The hulking, cavelike, Neanderthal."

Well here it is. The supposable reason for owning a GBA. Hype alone cannot make a game good, and Metroid Fusion had a lot of hype to live up to, so naturally some people were bound to be left disappointed. When Metroid Fusion and Prime were announced, gamers eagerly awaited the release of these 2 games. Some where afraid that Metroid Prime’s change from a side-scroller to the first-person genre would be for the worse, opted to play Metroid Fusion instead. Metroid Fusion holds true to the classic Metroid gameplay; but would the overall finished product still be good? After 8 years of nothing people would think the makers could create some new, innovating concepts to add to the classic Metroid gameplay. For the most part they didnt, as there are few relatively new concepts to the game play. It took Nintendo 8 years before they realized they should make another Metroid game. Unfortunately, it seems Nintendo has forgotten what a Metroid game is made of. As Metroid Fusion was a quick and unfulfilling experience.

Gameplay – 6.5/10
Where the 1st 3 Metroid’s excelled, Metroid Fusion fails miserably. 1st things 1st, this game is very, very linear. You basically have your hand held as you battle your way to your destination. You must check in with a computer after every task you complete, where you are told what has happened and what must be done. Basically, Samus is told, “do this”, “this needs to be done, so this could happen”, or “this enemy must be killed”. You complete the mission the computer tells you to do, then check in with it, only to be given another mission. This is very lame and nothing like the others. Also, the areas you are in are more compact. No wide-open areas, long corridors, etc. Just one small room after another. Gone are executing precision jumps and all that good stuff. Now you run into a room shoot whatever moves, and walk on the ground to the next room, maybe jumping a little along the ways. No constant open exploration as in the others. The game, in itself is not difficult, but rather cheap. The bosses are stupid and their mind frame during combat, is basically, find Samus and run into her, similar to the good ol’ NES days. The only problem with this is that every enemy and their grandmother can kill you in a couple of hits. In other words the baddies do a lot of damage. There are still a countless amount of items hidden, but just completing the necessary requirements to finish the game, provides you with enough missiles and bombs to easily finish the game. You may want to get all the goodies, but it certainly isn’t necessary. Another disappointing aspect was the fact that there are only 2 new weapons. An ice missile (really a substitute for the ice beam, since you don’t get it till the last fight) and a diffusion missile (a missile, that when shot, explodes, shattering enemies with shrappenel). 2 years pass and we are only given 2 new weapons to work with. Gee thanks Nintendo! The last problem I have here is that Samus, once a thing of beauty, has been demoted to a hulking Neanderthal, stalking from room to room. Just turn the game on and you will see what I’m talking about instantly. There are some new abilities: climbing on walls, ceilings, climbing up ledges, etc., but these new additions hardy are anything worth getting excited about. Also when enemies die they no longer leave missiles, power bombs, or life. Now they leave parts of the X-virus (ill explain what this is later on in the review). If the virus is yellow it will give Samus life when she touches is, and when it is green it will give missiles. One of the problems is that you cannot refill power bombs, unless you visit a Replenish Room. These Replenish Rooms are lying around just about everywhere too, which is appreciated since the bad guys can take all your life away in couple hits now. I was also disappointed that they excluded the Grappling Hook from this game. All in all, if looked at, without regards to its predecessors, Metroid Fusion is a good game. However, no matter what, sequels will always be instantly compared to their predecessors, and this is where Metroid Fusion was doomed from the get-go.

Funfactor – 7/10
Simply, above average. The thing that hurts Metroid Fusion is that there is a limited amount of open exploration. This is the concept that made Metroid what it is today, and this same concept has been, for reasons, non-be-knowest to me, excluded. Also you will have to take breaks from this game. The amount of damage enemies do is insane and will probably frustrate most people. Less emphasis is also placed on getting as many of the hidden goodies as possible.

Control – 10/10
Control is good, as has it always been. The space jump is easier to pull off, as is the wall hop, and super-jump. Nintendo did a good job of keeping all the controls from Super Metroid, despite losing a couple of buttons.

Graphics – 7/10
Err, not great graphics here. Backgrounds look nice and characters do have detail, it’s just hard to see.

Replayability – 5/10
Once the game is beaten you can replay it and attempt to get 100% of the items. I’m only speaking for myself here, but replaying the same linear game, to only try and discover where every item is, is not fun. This is a tedious task that will take forever and then some. “Hey what do you like to do for fun?” I know what I like to do for fun and it isn’t play a game I’ve already completed, and bomb every dead-end, hole, and crevice known to mankind just to add 2 missiles to my collection. If you have nothing better to do, then this extra feature may excite you. I however, do; therefore, I won’t be playing this game more than once.

Music/Sound – 4/10
Some classic Metroid tunes return, but the new ones aren’t anything to download and “bump” on your way home from school. Themes are repetitive and annoying.

Story – 7/10
Story is all right, decent for a non-rpg game. It goes: Samus must escort some scientists through, the once infested Metroid planet Zebes, for scientific research. On this planet there is a virus named, the X-virus, which appears to be running rampant since the extinction of the Metroid’s. This virus is what the researchers appear to be studying. While on the planet Samus becomes infected with it and is nearly killed. She is brought back to a space station and is nearly dead, until one of the scientists recommends using Metroid cells to kill the virus that is taking up residence in her body. Samus is cured and all appears well. The pieces of Samus’ suit that were infected with the X-virus are sent to a research station, to undergo tests. Somehow the X-virus escapes from Samus’ suit and causes an explosion on the space station it was sent to. Well, who better to investigate than Samus? Needless to say she is sent to determine what caused the explosion. Upon arriving she discovers the station is eerily quite, and in fact the only thing around is the virus. The virus has the ability to take shape of creatures it infects, which is what makes it such a dangerous substance. The virus spreads throughout the space station and Samus must neutralize the threat. While I was playing I felt like there were a lot of similarities between the story here and the one in Aliens. Reading my description of the story doesn’t back of my belief, but as you progress through the game you might feel this way too. Scientists doing research on alien life forms, someone with knowledge about the alien life forms acting as a guide, back stabbing scientists, research not what it seems, aimlessly running around on a space station accompanied with aliens, etc. Maybe, maybe not…

Conclusion – 7/10

Pros
- Finally we get another Metroid title
- Fun for some people

Cons
- Too linear
- Too easy
- Boring music that will put you to sleep

This game will leave some fans disappointed, and fill up the empty part of others stomachs. In other words, some will like it, some will not. I did not. I thought it was a letdown, and is the worse game of the Metroid series. Metroid Fusion is just too easy to navigate, too linear, too short, and doesn’t bring into light any new innovating ideas, other than the ability to climb up ledges. When judged as just another video game, separate of the previous Metroid’s, Metroid Fusion may be a good game. However, judged as a Metroid game it isn’t. The game was an unfulfilling experience that offers long time fans of the series little new to work with. After Metroid’s 8-year absence, Nintendo should deliver something more filling. On a similar note, I haven’t played Metroid Prime, which I hear is a wonderful game that may make up for Metroid Fusion.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/04/04