Metroid Fusion

"Can Nintendo pull off a rehash of Super Metroid?"

Metroid Fusion is Metroid's debut on the Gameboy Advanced. The question is, can Nintendo pull off another 2D space romp through endless amounts of doors with scattered power ups for Samus to collect? Even better yet, can they give you the same power ups to collect again and still make it feel new? I personally think Nintendo can and did.

Story: 17/20
I'm no Metroid fanatic and I can't go spouting off details of the Metroid universe, but I can say that I found this game, while lacking a huge story, does pull off story equally or better than most action/adventure titles. It keeps you interested, or at least focused, until the end.

The story telling is told via the frequent visits to the Navigation Room, where you are told to go and what not, as well as Samus' thoughts that are scattered throughout the game. There's not many plot surprises in the game and it follows the typical "You've uncovered an alien species that could wipe out the universe" story with a bit of Metroid mixed into it.

Samus was in an accident on the way to investigate a space station and got infected with an alien species, called X, and somehow got semi-fused with her suit. Unfortunately, Samus has lost all of her original powers. Scientists had found that metroid frequently fed on X and found metroid to be a vaccine for Samus. Samus travels to the X infested space station in attempt to find out more about this species. Here, while she has lost all of her previous ability, she has gained the ability to soak up the X. In doing so she can steal their power in order to regain hers. The story revolves around the discovering of information about the X as well as a few things added in there that I wont spoil.

The story is just about as linear as any other action/adventure title. Some may complain about the way the story is told as well as the ending kind of being a bum and almost like it was an attempt to shove a bunch of new stuff to make the story better down our throat. All in all, I enjoyed the story well enough to keep me playing. After all, the game is only about 5-6 hours long.

Sounds: 7/10

Music: 2/5
The game wont win any awards for music. It's your typical eerie alien space disaster type of music. None of it's memorable and none of it really even catches a positive note. I could have done without music in this game as I don't even remember any of it.

SFX: 5/5
The SFX are great. Just about every enemy has its own screeching cry, each weapon its own sound, and overall, the SFX are varied and well applied.

Graphics: 20/20
This game has superb graphics. Think Super Metroid but smoother and crisper. Everything is detailed and animation is sweet. Bosses are huge and epic. Everything about the graphics feeds your hunger and there's no complaining. Out of all the ugly games that are released for the GBA, it's good to see a quality game being produced in both gameplay and graphics. The only complaint would be that the graphics might be too dark in some areas, but grab a GBSP and get in a spot where the light is nice and you should have no complaints.

Gameplay: 36/40
So what makes Metroid so popular? It's probably what make Castlevania so popular. You're always running through some area, trying to figure out where to and where to get your next power up. Big whoop. I can't really answer why people coming back to this game but I can tell you that Nintendo might need to step it up a notch. While Castlevania has experienced many more failures than Metroid has (though it does have many more games than Metroid), it has also varied its gameplay much more widely than Metroid has.

Now, I'm not complaining. Metroid's formula actually does vary a lot compared to Castlevania, but the difference is so subtle that it's hard to put your finger on. Castlevania pits you in a castle with a whip (and sometimes other weapons) as well as sub-weapons as you fight your way through enemies and bosses while collecting power-ups that affect your stats until you get to the head vampire. Now, Castlevania has varied its gameplay by putting in RPG elements like MP and equipment as well as different magic or combo systems. While you can basically copy and paste my first sentence about Castlevania except maybe change the castle to a planet surface or a space station and what not, but the way the gameplay is carried out makes the gameplay feel vastly different from Castlevania's.

Every Metroid to date has featured the infamous door system. What is it? They are doors that you must shoot with some certain weapon (or in the case of this game, you must unlock them rather than shoot them with a special weapon) so that they will open. Their colors vary and they are what typically limits you to free movement around the maps. Metroid gives you several abilities that you must find that are necessary to progress through the game. This is unlike many Castlevania games (however, some games like CV:Circle of the Moon implement this idea). This makes the way that you go through the game a lot different than some Castlevania games. You do all this while running through rooms upon rooms, shooting whatever enemy gets in your way.

So what makes Fusion any different from old Metroid games? To tell you the truth, there's not much. I believe weapons in this game have even depleted. Rather than a couple of different missiles and what not, in this game your missiles get upgraded rather than giving you a whole new set of missiles. One of the more unique features is the X absorption feature. Like you've read, Samus can now absorb X to make her more powerful. You now have to suck up X to gain health and ammo back as well as sucking up more powerful X (the bosses) in order to gain your old abilities back (and maybe even a few new ones). But how does this really vary from the old system? Well, after you defeat and enemy an X appears (what color it is depends on what it gives you). If you fail to suck up the X, however, then it can reform into an enemy and sometimes even fuse with other X to form an even more powerful enemy. The idea is neat but I don't think it's really used to its full potential. It still creates a unique feel compared to other Metroid games.

This Metroid isn't any longer than previous games. It takes about 5-6 hours to beat, making the journey pretty short. However, if you're a Metroid fan or even just a newcomer, you will probably gobble this game up just about as quick as you bought it. Luckily there's a new Metroid to blow your money on for the GBA, Metroid: Zero Missions.

Control: 6/10
I have a problem with this game's control. It's responsive and all but the way it plays doesn't really attract me. This is true for just about any 2D metroid. However, I think some of the problem lies in the limited buttons that the GBA has (Lord knows why they don't include at least an X and Y). Aiming can be a hassle when it comes to shooting diagonally. Now yes, you do get a button that allows you to aim diagonally up but aiming diagonally down can be a pain. Rather than giving you two buttons to diagonally shoot like in Super Metroid, you are only given one where the other shoulder button is used to shoot secondary weapons rather than the old system where you had to choose your current weapon. I both like and hate this system. There's also a bit of confusion when you're fighting a hard enemy or something. Sometimes you'll accidentally be pressing down a little bit or something making you aim down rather than straight and what not. These are a few problems that I found a bit annoying and sometimes caused me to take unnecessary damage.

Difficulty: Easy
This game is actually pretty easy. It almost seems as if the difficulty lessens as you progress through the game. You gain more abilities and ammo slots which make fighting easier and bosses even seem to get easier as you progress. Bosses tend to fall into a simple pattern to learn and the last boss is simply a joke. There's also the fact that you are typically pointed to exactly where you need to go via the Navigation Room. It always pinpoints to you where you need to go but often times it's not always that easy to get there and sometimes escape from that area. Some may like the hand holding that the Navigation Room offers and some may not. I personally liked it because after putting this game down for months I still knew where to go thanks to the Navigation Room and it made adventuring a lot less blind. Yes, the challenge of how to get to that area as well as enemies in the area still exists, so I don't think the Navigation Room detracted from the difficulty at all.

Replay: Minimum
There is no replay. Once you beat this game you can link it up to the GCN with Metroid Prime and use the Fusion suit in 3D. You can also collect all items in the game and/or try and beat the game with a short time length and try and get a different picture at the end of the game, but I'm not a big fan of small rewards for such efforts.

Overall: 86/100 (Rounded to 9/10)
Nintendo, in my opinion, succeeded in bringing Metroid back to life in 2D. I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. While it tends to lean towards the short and easy side, I thought it was worth every penny and I felt proud to have finished the game. Pick it up if you're a Metroid fan and pick it up if you're new to the series. Metroid seems to be in its prime at the moment and it's been a respected classic for a while.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/04