Super Metroid set the bar incredibly high and may be considered one of the best games of all time. How do you top that? Well, you don't. At least not with the approach this game took...
Metroid Fusion is officially called Metroid 4 in the intro and takes place after Super Metroid. As far as I know it is the last game in the chronological order of the series. Samus returns to SR388 where she already exterminated all metroids but one hatchling. There, she is attacked by a life form now called "X". This parasite puts Samus into a critical condition where her chances of survival were deemed very low.
Scientists were able to create a vaccine that included metroid DNA which was taken from the metroid hatchling thus eliminating the X in Samus. however, parts of her power suit had to be surgically removed due to the infection. yep, powers gone again. While Samus recovers, the removed pieces of her power suit are sent to a research station for analysis. the game starts when she docks with the station investigating an explosion.
being a game for a handheld, Nintendo decided to use a more "accessible" aproach in game design. the station is separated in different zones connected by a hub of elevators, but access is restricted until the necessary security overrides for colored doors are activated. of course the environments set restrictions on accessibility too and you may need specific upgrades as in any other metroid game.
at any time you have a clear objective and you can see the map for every zone as you enter the navigation rooms at the entrance of an area. there, you find a computer that tells you where to go and what to do next in cutscenes that you can't skip. while in metroid II it felt like a natural progression that areas open up, it doesn't feel right how metroid fusion handles this. you get sent to different areas several times and each time you can access a bit more the zone. you are spoonfed and and feels way too linear for a metroid game. yes, you backtrack and there are plenty of hidden items for 100% completion, but the objective based gameplay sucks in my opinion.
Samus has a new trick up her sleeve now. she can grab onto ledges and pull herself up. her arsenal has been a bit streamlined. there is no distinction between regular and super missiles. you just get a missile upgrade which turns them all into super missiles. there is also an ice missile upgrad instead of the ice beam and a diffusion effect for the missile which makes it hit an area of effect if charged up. the grappling hook is gone, but you can now climb on ceilings in specific areas. i think the rest is still there.
well, how does it play? it plays very smoothly. Samus feels more ninja-like than ever. the game is not very hard with recharge rooms in every zone and, as mentioned, you can hardly get lost. however, the difficulty spikes if you go for the best ending which is 100% completion (find all upgrades) and keeping the time under two hours. don't even try if you haven't mastered shinesparking (continuously keep a speed boost active). about five or so upgrades are very tricky to get and you waste many minutes if you haven't gotten it down well. even then you need to take shortcuts and use a really efficient route to stay under two hours. it is not frustratingly difficult, but it is a good challenge.
as mentioned, the game handles flawlessly, but the cutscenes that can't be skipped are annoying. you can just speed up the text. the graphics are good. a bit better than what the SNES could do and much more colorful than super metroid thus losing the claustrophobic and gloomy atmosphere. some people may not like it, but the art style is ok. the audio is also very good, but not as good as super metroid.
is it worth your time? absolutely. sure, it is in my opinion one of the weaker entries in the series and i like zero mission more, but since it doesn't have major flaws, most complaints are just nitpicking.
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