Played on Wii U Virtual Console

I’ve been a big fan of the Metroid series for a while now, but I’ve mainly only played the console games at this point, so I wanted to check out Fusion. I’ll admit, I’m a much bigger fan of the 3D Prime games than I am the old-school 2D Metroid games, but regardless I like it all. I’m not the biggest fan of the first two Metroid games, but Super Metroid is undeniably a classic. I wasn’t sure how Metroid Fusion would fit into the mix, but in the end I was really pleasantly surprised.

Surprisingly, there is one thing that Metroid Fusion does that I think it does better than any other Metroid game I’ve played. That thing is its story. Don’t get me wrong, I think other Metroid games do have great stories, but it was always more the presentation that never really resonated with me. In games like Metroid or Super Metroid, the story is basically told through atmosphere and backstory, so it wasn’t really present that much. In the Prime games, you’d get the story through scanning things in the world. This approach always made me more invested in the world than the story itself, since I felt like I was being told instead of shown. Metroid Fusion takes the more direct approach, by having the story played out right in front of you. There’s a pretty dark opening scene, and then throughout the game you’re given the story through a computer terminal that talks to you. Amidst this, you’ll also have scenes where Samus is reflecting to herself while riding up an elevator, or other things similar to this.

I’ll run through the basic story just to give you the general idea. Basically, in the opening scene Samus is attacked by a parasite known simply as the X parasite. The X infects her central nervous system, and so the Galactic Federation develops a vaccine that allows Samus to absorb the X into her body. An explosion then happens at one of their stations, and Samus is sent to investigate. Through the guidance of her computer terminal “Adam,” Samus discovers that the X have taken over the station. It’s her job to stop this, all while being hunted down by a being named SA-X, who is essentially an X parasite mimicking Samus at full power. The story is surprisingly intricate, and I got fully into it. If there’s one thing that I think Metroid Fusion stands out from the series for, it’s the story. There were points where I was genuinely shocked or scared, and I really haven’t had that happen in any other Metroid games.

At this point I need to make it known that I’m basically writing this review for others like me. If you’ve played a Metroid game but haven’t played Fusion, I’m trying to let you know if Fusion will be worth playing for you. If you’ve never played a Metroid game, I don’t recommend having Fusion be your first game, because it’s honestly pretty difficult at times. I’ll always recommend the Prime games the most, but if you want to play a 2D Metroid game, play Super Metroid before this. It feels the most accessible to me. For me, Metroid Fusion is a game for fans of the series, and so if you don’t fall into this camp then I think you can stop reading this now.

Anyway, with that being said, I don’t feel the need to go into what the general gameplay of Metroid Fusion is, because most people will be familiar with a Metroid game. It’s the same here with Fusion, where you explore an open world, defeat enemies/bosses, and gather upgrades so that you can open up previously inaccessible areas. Easy enough, and that formula hasn’t really changed here. One criticism I’ve heard about Fusion is that it’s a bit more linear than past Metroid games have been. This is true since Adam always tells you where you need to go, but I also don’t consider this to be a bad thing. If exploring things on your own is your main draw to the Metroid series, then this might not be as fun for you, but I was perfectly fine with a bit more linearity.

There isn’t really a ton of new additions to Metroid Fusion that make it drastically different from other Metroid games, but the experience is a bit more refined. There isn’t really many new crazy power-ups, although there is one or two that I won’t spoil. However, there’s some basic tweaks to the gameplay that make it easier to play than some of the other games. These include things like Samus having the ability to climb ladders or grab onto ledges that are otherwise hard to get onto, but that’s about it. I found Metroid Fusion to be easier to control than some of the other 2D Metroid games, but I still think some things are frustrating. Examples of this are performing a shinespark or jumping multiple times with a screw attack. There are times where I feel like I’m not doing anything wrong with my button input, yet it just doesn’t register how I want it to. I just think this could be a bit more intuitive.

Everything else in the game is about what you’d expect from it. The game looks and sounds good, but it’s also not the most dazzling entry in the series. Don’t get me wrong, I think the game is pleasant to look at, it runs perfectly fine, and it has the sound that you’d want from a Metroid game, but it isn’t the best looking game in the series, and it also doesn’t have the most memorable music. It’s all good, but it’s not the best.

That’s kind of how I feel about the game in general. I think it’s a really solid entry in the Metroid series, but I also don’t think it’s one of the absolute best. I definitely liked it more than both of the first two games in the series, but it also doesn’t stack up as well against Super Metroid or the Prime games. It surprised me with how good it was, but I doubt that it’s going to be very many people’s favorite game in the franchise.

Still, I definitely enjoyed my time with Metroid Fusion. The game took me about 8 hours to complete, which I think is pretty standard for this kind of game. In that time, I really enjoyed myself though. Without a doubt, the most stand-out thing about Metroid Fusion is the story that it tells. If you’re looking for a Metroid game that leans into its creepy atmosphere, this is the one for you. Other than that, we have a game that makes some tweaks to gameplay to make it a bit more fun, even if it doesn’t ever reinvent the wheel. It’s not the most standout game of the franchise, but it’s still a lot of fun. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of the series, but don’t expect it to be among the best of the best.

4/5