Foreword: I suppose it’s only right if I stuck with reviewing a few more platform/adventure games for now. They're my strong suit, so I should definitely keep writing up reviews on these guys as I continue to try and improve.

Metroid Fusion was the first Metroid game I have ever played, alongside Metroid Prime. While it might be the case that I simply don’t remember it, I never saw the commercials for any of the Metroid games and never asked for them. Nonetheless, I got them, and I don’t regret being introduced to this amazing series.


Metroid Fusion is a game for the Gameboy Advance that was developed and published by none other than Nintendo in late 2002. It is a very polarizing title to Metroid fans for several reasons. For one, this addition to the series is far more story-driven than most of the other titles, causing the gameplay to be more linear, much to the dismay of many seasoned fans of the series. At the same time, unlike a certain other game in the series, they use this linearity well, for reasons I will mention soon enough. But what do I think of the game as a whole?


I’ve decided to explain this before the other categories since I’m going to be constantly referring to what I talk about in here through the rest of the review.

Metroid Fusion, as was just previously mentioned, is much more story-driven than its previous counterparts, and 100 percent more talkative. This is one of the games in the series that really has dialogue-driven story, and it shows right from the intro, which is admittedly long, boring, and slightly unnecessary. Would it be too much to ask for faster text scrolling? It requires a prompt to continue, anyways. First Super Metroid, and now this game.

Intro aside, the story is something that I can get behind.

It starts off with Samus being asked by the Federation to assist a survey group as they explore the surface of SR-388, which was the home world of the Metroids (before Samus pretty much mercilessly hunted them all down minus a Metroid hatchling who thought she was its mother). During this visit, she encounters a gelatinous lifeform, the likes of which she had never seen before. It was seemingly absorbed into her body, and she didn’t think of it much. Once the exploration was finished and she was making her return to a Federation ship, she began to lose motor control and consciousness due to the lifeform she absorbed. Unbeknownst to her, it was a very dangerous parasite that infects, kills, and reproduces those it infects.

Samus’s ship crashed into an asteroid belt, but her emergency escape pod activated and was picked up by the Federation. By that point, Samus Aran was in critical condition due to the parasite, which was simply given the name X. Since she was in a comatose state, large portions of her power suit (and abilities along with it) were surgically removed in order to try and save her from her seemingly inevitable fate. That is, until someone found a cure using a culture of the Metroid hatchling she saved, in order to create a vaccine, since Metroids were actually the sole predators of the X parasites. However, this changed most of her genetic makeup permanently, and her suit as well, which was now known as the Fusion Suit. It is a more unburdened suit than her traditional Power Suit, but is more susceptible to damage overall. Moreover, she, like the Metroids, is extra vulnerable to the cold.

After being cured, Samus now goes to investigate a large explosion in the BSL Station in the Quarantine Bay, where all of her removed Power Suit parts were placed. As is soon found out, the mysterious explosion was actually caused by an X mimicking Samus at full power, given the name of SA-X (Samus Aran X…creative, I know). Your ultimate goal in the game, of course, is to eradicate the X parasites, while recovering your abilities in the process.

This story works for a number of reasons. For one, this is the first (and, in my opinion, only) time that a legitimate reason was given for the loss of Samus’s abilities. No “get a purse” jokes here, because this is a serious reason, and not some dinky explosion that somehow made her lose ALL of her gained abilities (yes, I’m looking at you, Metroid Prime). Second off, the story is something that’s easy to follow. Maybe a little too easy to follow at times, but there’s never a point where you’re absolutely clueless of the events that are unfolding, which is a very important thing in plot (not to be confused with the element of surprise, which is a welcome addition to plots).

The biggest reason as to why this story works, though, is because of the main antagonist: the SA-X. You may think I’m joking if you’ve never touched this game, but the SA-X is truly an unnerving creation, and a great take on turning some Metroid conventions on their head. The hunter, for the majority of the game, becomes the hunted, unable to put a dent on the SA-X’s full-powered armor while also being susceptible to being frozen solid if it spots you and shoots, and then eating a Super Missile as you’re frozen. You are now in the position that you have put countless Metroids in, hunted by a merciless killer. This doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves due to the SA-X’s admittedly poor AI, but as a story element, the SA-X is just a masterpiece overall.

If not for the painful amount of exposition that you have to grind through near the beginning of the game, this story would be a perfect 10. It works on so many different facets, and truly deserves more credit than it gets.


Wow, is all I can say.

Much like another GBA game, The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion has plenty of aesthetic quality to it, to the point where I sometimes forget that I’m looking at a GBA game in the first place! They manage to blur a few of the hardware limitations (especially considering its release date, which is over a year earlier than Minish Cap’s release) with very detailed shading, colorful but dark spritework (this is a Metroid game, after all), and identifiable backgrounds.

However, it doesn’t come without its share of flaws (although they are more due to hardware limitations than the game’s design, so they get a pass from deduction). Since Samus’s in-game sprite is so small (most likely in order to give extra screen space for boss battles), many of the details of her power suit are hard to identify, especially important in this game since she dons a newly modified Power Suit called the Fusion Suit. At the very least, it avoids excessive pixelation, showing in rather convincing fashion (although Rayman Advance already did this at launch) that this is not a “16-bit” system people are dealing with, but instead a “32-bit” system (to compare, the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation are “32-bit” systems). This is more powerful than just being a portable Super Nintendo system.

Another really problematic flaw is the stress on the GBA that this aesthetic causes, especially when facing large-scale bosses. It’s hard to give this mistake a pass; it’s up to the developers of a game to try to avoid this sort of issue at all costs. It only just avoids losing a point for it, since most of these slowdowns do not affect your ability to play the game, and don’t last a long time. Overall, the graphics of this game are one of the best overall on this handheld, and fit the mood nicely. Just hope that you’re not playing this game on the original GBA.



This is Nintendo we’re talking about here. Much like Sega in this field, this is one thing that never fails to impress. But…it unfortunately falls just a little bit into generic territory. And by a bit, I mean truly not much; it’s practically negligible. Many of the songs in the OST are some of my favorite Metroid tunes to date, including (but not limited to) the Sector 1 BGM (which was remastered beautifully in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), the SA-X encounter music, and the several different boss battle tracks. However, generic tracks including the Sector 2 BGM and Sector 3 BGM keep this game as a whole from hitting a 10.

The sound effects, though, are very crisp and solid; you can figure what you’re doing by the sounds each action makes alone. The Screw Attack, for once, actually sounds like something formidable and dangerous to those in its path. Each beam type has a unique sound effect, each one sounding more powerful than the last. When you charge up your beam, you can really hear the charge of immense power contained within Samus’s arm cannon, ready to be released at your command. But at the same time, most of the SA-X’s actions have even more powerful sounds than your own, adding on to the fear of being hunted upon by a more powerful being. Its Screw Attack IS more threatening than yours, and you’re made aware of that immediately. Its power beam IS more powerful than yours, and you know to stay out of its way. Its slow, methodical walk knocks at your skull with a chilling sound that comes with every step it makes. Almost every sound is where it needs to be, and that’s how it should be.


Okay, I know what you seasoned Metroid fans are thinking. “How can someone who claims to be a fan of the Metroid series really enjoy all of the hand-holding that goes on in this game? You have no real chance to explore on your own and are told EXACTLY where to go.”

One, you are not told “EXACTLY” where to go in every case. There are still security rooms that are completely hidden from the map and are things you need to find on your own. Moreover, Metroid Zero Mission does exactly the same thing to point you in the right direction, and yet it barely gets any flak for having that system. While it is true that the computer should stop over-explaining what’s happened at times, it doesn’t get too much in the way of the game itself.

Second, while it is rather linear, the game makes up for it. Even as a Metroid fan, there is no reason why linearity should be seen as an objectively bad trait. What this game lacks in non-linearity, it makes up for in fast pace, fun boss battles, and an overall intriguing storyline that wouldn’t work if it stayed non-linear. And that’s why this category takes a nine. No, it’s not traditional, but the people of Nintendo DID know what they were doing with this game, and it shows. It’s designed very well, using the linearity as an advantage rather than a crutch, and continues to be fun over a decade after its release. Non-linearity isn’t always the answer.

Samus also feels very natural to control, and everything is very precise overall. The graphics and sounds do an excellent job to keep you hooked, too, really setting in the ambiance and playing your emotions like a fiddle through some of the key elements in the plot. This game has withstood the test of time for over a decade, still being an incredibly fun game to play, and there’s plenty of reason for that.


Of course you saw this coming.

While non-linearity isn’t always the best way to deal with a game, it IS an undeniable fact that it helps with game depth, and Metroid Fusion’s slightly lacking depth reflects this.

There is still a lot to this game, for a linear game, but it is definitely one of the shallowest games in the main Metroid series due to that very difference. Especially if you’re normally very skilled at Metroid games, this game will go by rather quickly. There are only a couple of places that will really make you wonder what to do, but the Metroid series has been far less forgiving before; these “stumped” moments will be over in even a minute or two if you’re a skilled player, and the game will be finished in a few hours overall, most likely.

Sure, 100 percent completing the game still takes some time, but even that has been slightly reduced, as there are far less secretive areas as a whole through the research station, and many of the items are in plain sight and, in one particular case, unavoidable (while it technically is avoidable, it requires a near TAS-level amount of technique to pull off).


Following up on depth, Metroid Fusion doesn’t exactly lack in difficulty; however, instead of having that difficulty come from having to figure out where to go next, the difficulty comes from the high number of boss battles and their overall difficulty. Sure, there are some easy bosses, but then come the notoriously difficult bosses of the game, some of which really test your skill with the arsenal you have at your disposal.

…Too bad none of those harder bosses make appearances in the endgame.

The game suffers from plenty of spikes and dips in difficulty, due to the difficulty as a whole being controlled by the upcoming boss battle in an area. It doesn’t stay consistent because there is no real threat or source of difficulty outside of those battles. The only exception to this is a revisit to Sector 2, which contains very powerful enemies that will definitely kill you if they hit you a few times. Other than that one small section, however, boss battles are that source of difficulty. So when the final boss comes at you and doesn’t even pose as much of a threat as the first boss, you’ve just created a very anticlimactic end to an otherwise great game. And that is this game’s biggest weakness right there.


Yes, this game is very great. It’s even exceptional in almost every facet.

…But, “almost” is the key word here.

Metroid Fusion’s weaknesses are hard to ignore, and even harder to ignore if you’re familiar with the conventions of a Metroid game to begin with. However, many of these weaknesses can be understood when you realize what it adds in its place. The one thing that keeps this game from really being one of the greats is its problematic lack of consistency in its difficulty. It’s definitely this gem’s Achilles’s Heel, and one I can’t ignore or find reason for.

Despite the big weakness, Metroid Fusion still continues to be a fun, fast-paced, and solid game that deserves to be given a chance by all fans of the series. Don’t overlook this game if you’re a fan of action-adventure; you might be missing out on a very enjoyable experience. Find out for yourself what makes this game so great.

Terrific review. It's definitely the most linear of the Metroid series, but I think it actually works in the game's favor. Each area is really well designed, and feels like belongs as is. Fusion is honestly my favorite Metroid game, followed closely by Zero Mission

Rasenganfan2 : Well, almost the most linear...

Metroid Other M (the game I was hinting at near the beginning of the review) definitely held your hand more than Metroid Fusion.

I'm kind of a tough grader, even with the games I love. Metroid Fusion is easily in my top ten favorite games of all time, and yet I still gave a below-average score (if that average is accurate). I wonder if it's really any problem or not.

But thanks. I'm trying. ^-^

9.1/10 definitely isn't average, man. 7.5 is average. Anything above it is an above average game.

And yeah, you're right about Other M. I tried to push that massive PoS out of my mind. Thanks for reminding me that it exists

Rasenganfan2 : Oh, no, I meant the average user score, which is a 9.5. Actually, I'm pretty sure not a one of my reviews hasn't had a score that isn't under that user average, and I don't know if it's because they score too high, or I score too low...

Also, you're welcome. I couldn't forget that game if I tried, especially since it's my best ammunition against people who say that Metroid Fusion sucks because it holds your hand too much.