Metroid Fusion Review

Metroid Fusion turned out to be a pretty big surprise. I wasn't the biggest fan of Super Metroid and Zero Mission I found to just be "good". Fusion however turned out to be mostly good time and is one of the better 2D Metroid pre Metroid Dread. It's one of my favorite games in the series even with some of the issues I have with it.

One good thing about Fusion is the story, and it isn't exactly going to be one of the greatest fictional tales ever but at the same time, it gave some much needed context to the gameplay that I felt other 2D Metroids before this one lacked. Samus talks but it's not an overwhelming amount of dialogue and you always hear her speak when given good reason to like during elevator rides or when she needs to strongly oppose her command. I always like it when games figure out a way to include what characters are thinking since a medium like this makes it hard to do since you can't tell read a game character's face or body language during gameplay but the elevator rides are a good enough way. You know more about Samus in this particular game then any Metroid game before and it's nice to see her show doubt and reveal backstory about her past.

However the other characters outside of Samus are just okay. Adam works well enough as an antagonist and guide to Samus and I liked it when he acted surprised whenever the Samus and by extension the player does something he did not expect and when an opposing force in a game reacts to what the player did that is a sign of solid writing and it also goes against the notion that Samus in Fusion and the player is "bossed around" the whole game. However the AI of Adam being based or connected to someone from Samus' past does seem to require a bit of the stars aligning to accept since it was never made clear if the Adam Samus knew was so respected that it was worth replicating him through AI. It just seems to come a little out of left field.

The SA-X is a decent antagonist and does a good job at making the player and Samus feel underpowered whenever she pops up whether it'd be hiding from her when she does pop in the story or running away. You can't even fight the SA-X on even terms until the very end of the game giving her presence as a villain that much more weight. However her scarificing herself for Samus can come a little of nowhere since she went from hunting Samus the whole game to scarificing herself just seemed way too sudden.

Fusion's story is solid for the kind of game it is but the gameplay I also consider good too.

The first and biggest improvement Fusion brings to the 2D Metroid formula is are the improved controls and boy, they are a massive step up over Super's despite the GBA having less buttons to work with.

First of all, no more pressing the start button to select missiles and activating power bombs, now just hold the R button and you can use them. Making combat and moment to moment exploration much less of a game of moving the thumb off the face buttons and switch to a stronger ability.

Platforming and the physics and improved too so now being able to do consistent and precise jumps feels a lot better to do. There is also a ledge grab now which is also a nice addition making platforms you missed by a hair pin something that doesn't feel like a limitation of the game.

Another improvement is that missiles abilties now stack up rather than selecting to choose between regular missiles and super missiles.

As a result, all though the bosses can be challenging especially the power loader, Ridley X and the final SA-X bosses, they never felt as frustrating as Super's bosses since the controls are as tight as they are. Another point to Fusion's favor is that a lot of the bosses don't take that long to die all though however their final X form can be a little on the challenging side and can feel like a cheap shot for first time players since they thought the the boss was dead and you have to fight a fast moving "final form" of the boss with precise missile shots for you to kill it and the boss is dead.

Fusion's level design is mostly good, there are those who criticize the game for being more linear but I don't mind more straightforward level design as long as what the player is doing in between the treks is engaging and there are other metroidvanias like Guacamelee and Prince of Persia Lost Crown gives you a guided option.

There will be moments where the player will have to explore, find a power up and then go back to the marked area Adam told you to go. The various locks require some legwork from the player to get to.

With all that said, there are moments that could stump players since this a 2D Metroid pre Samus Returns so it's not made clear which areas will be destroyed by morph ball bombs and what parts of the map Samus can interact with so these parts can be a massive guessing game especially without a guide since there is no scanning blocks ability at all.

Overall, Fusion held up remarkably well for the most part.