Last year, I jumped head first into the pool Metroidvania titles for the Game Boy Advance. I started with the "Vania," so now it's time to look at the "Metroid" side of things.
As with Castlevania, Metroid is a series that needs absolutely no introduction. In some respect, I'm a little surprised that I haven't touched the franchise in the seven years I've been doing this. While it's far from "unknown," I feel like Metroid has a lot of weird, quirky entries that probably would fit the "off the beaten path" theme. These games may not be quite as popular as the bigger Nintendo IPs, but they have some very, very passionate fans that live and die with them.
And I hope they don't get too mad at me for saying that Metroid isn't really a favorite franchise of mine. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I've ever played a bad Metroid game. I know some people hate Other M for the Wii, but I haven't really played that so I will reserve judgement. At the same time, I've never quite loved the Metroid titles like a lot of people seem to. Super Metroid is definitely great, but I've frequently seen it called the single best game of all time and I just can't see it that way. That said, I still love this whole gameplay loop and it made checking out Metroid Fusion an easy choice.
Released in 2002 for the GBA, I was suprised to learn that Metroid Fusion was only the fourth entry into the franchise. It came out the same day as Metroid Prime in North America, but beat its bigger, first person focused cousin to market by a few months in Japan. Long delays are nothing new for Metroid fans, by the time it came out it had been eight years since Super Metroid was released. In that respect, I am actually a little less surprised how different this game was from the previous titles, both narratively and atmospherically.
Metroid Fusion once again puts you in control of bounty hunter Samus Aran, now working for an organization called Biologic Space Laboratories. She is exploring the surface of a planet when she is attacked by an organism simply called "X." While returning to base, she loses consciousness and crashes her ship. The BSL ships escorting her manage to recover take her to recieve medical care, where it is discovered that X has infested her central nervous system. After recovering, Samus is sent on a mission to investigate an explosion at a BSL station. The culprits? More X parasites have taken over the stations systems and caused them to malfunction. Making matters worse, the X are able to mimick organisms that host them, which has lead to tshe creation of the SA-X. This creature is a carbon copy of Samus operating at full power, and thus a massive threat. It's up to Samus, with the guidance from her ship's computer Adam, to stop the creatures, avoid the SA-X and restore the station to full power.
This was a little bit more in depth of a story than the previous games offered, and it also factored in to the gameplay this time around. As is customary in Metroid, Samus starts the game with minimal powers, gradually obtaining more abilities as the game advances. Most of the abilities here are obtained from bosses, who turn into core-X parasites when absorbed. Smaller enemies will turn into absorbable X parasites, which will give Samus health or restore her weapons if needed. I think it's kind of nice that they managed to tie the upgrade structure to the story here. When you think about it, it never really made sense that Samus would just find random powerups for her suit in the ancient ruins of Zebes. But being able to absorb power to feed the parasite that's infecting her suit kind of does. It may have a different narrative behind it, but it's still the core gameplay of opening up more of the map by gaining more abilities. It's a tried and true formula, though Fusion does have a few very noticable tweaks.
Unlike the previous three games in the series, Metroid Fusion's map is pretty clearly divided into six separate sections, each connected to a central hub. You will eventually discover paths connecting some of them, but that doesn't happen until much later in the game. The areas have the standard Metroid amenities, save rooms and powerup rooms and things like that. However, each area also has a briefing room, where Samus will receive directon from Adam on what to do next. All of these things may not seem like big deals, but they really throw off the Metroid formula and I'm not sure its for the better. While the core gameplay remains the same, the map expands while you explore and acquire items to allow you to progress further, the way it fells is very much different. Fusion is much more linear than the games that came before it and, frankly, more linear than most of the games that came after it. I typically don't mind linearity as much as most people, if anything I think I prefer it in some aspects of games. But it really doesn't fit well in a Metroid title, these games are designed to be some level of open ended and allow for exploration. Even the mission breifings, something that would be commonplace in most other games, feel out of place here. These games are supposed to kind of make you feel like a rat in a maze, forcing you rely on your own wits to find your way around. These things wouldn't be nearly as negative in just about any other type of game, but they are kind of an issue here.
The other major difference here is the atmosphere, which is quite a bit different than that of the previous games. While Super Metroid definitely had an element of spookieness, I'm not sure I would say it had full on horror vibes. There was still the element of feeling lost and being on your own, sure. But even at the beginning of the game, Samus is entirely too powerful for the game to truly feel like straight up horror. She's always going to be stronger than or at least competitive with the enemies she's fighting. This isn't the case in Fusion. As per the storyline, Samus has had much of her power sapped by the X parasites within her. Normally that wouldn't be factored into the gameplay too much, but here we have the SA-X to contend with. The SA-X is both canonically and practically more powerful than Samus, allowing it to server as something of a stalker enemy. It's kind of like the Nemesis or Mr. X from Resident Evil, though not quite as relentless as they are.
This, combined with the linear structure and separate map areas makes the game feel very different than the previous Metroid games in a way I'm not sure I really loved. I know I just finished talking about how I'm not as high on the franchise as some others, but I still certainly have expectations of it. I will say that Fusion did meet a lot of those expectations in terms of objective markers of game quality. It looks incredible, I was as impressed with this game as I was with COTM in that department. It also sounds great which is essential in creating that horror atmosphere. It's got really good controls, it's incredibly responsive just like the rest of the games in the series. At the end of the day, Metroid Fusion is nothing if not well made and at the very least maintained the high level of craftsmanship that the franchise is known for.
While it was well made, I just didn't have that much fun playing Fusion. It wasn't painful to finish or a chore, but at no point was I excited to play either. The survival horror atmosphere and increased focus on story seem like a combination that should be up my alley. But I think the linearity and the very siloed map were offputting for a Metroidvania title. I can't really recommend this game, but I don't really advise you stay away from it either. Metroid fans that may have skipped over Fusion should definitely go back and play it. Metroidvania fans will definitely find some things to like and survival horror fans looking for a bridge into the genre may want to check it out as well. But I think there are better games in the series and the genre as a whole that offer a more in depth and accuracte picture of what said genre is at its core.
7.5/10
As with Castlevania, Metroid is a series that needs absolutely no introduction. In some respect, I'm a little surprised that I haven't touched the franchise in the seven years I've been doing this. While it's far from "unknown," I feel like Metroid has a lot of weird, quirky entries that probably would fit the "off the beaten path" theme. These games may not be quite as popular as the bigger Nintendo IPs, but they have some very, very passionate fans that live and die with them.
And I hope they don't get too mad at me for saying that Metroid isn't really a favorite franchise of mine. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I've ever played a bad Metroid game. I know some people hate Other M for the Wii, but I haven't really played that so I will reserve judgement. At the same time, I've never quite loved the Metroid titles like a lot of people seem to. Super Metroid is definitely great, but I've frequently seen it called the single best game of all time and I just can't see it that way. That said, I still love this whole gameplay loop and it made checking out Metroid Fusion an easy choice.
Released in 2002 for the GBA, I was suprised to learn that Metroid Fusion was only the fourth entry into the franchise. It came out the same day as Metroid Prime in North America, but beat its bigger, first person focused cousin to market by a few months in Japan. Long delays are nothing new for Metroid fans, by the time it came out it had been eight years since Super Metroid was released. In that respect, I am actually a little less surprised how different this game was from the previous titles, both narratively and atmospherically.
Metroid Fusion once again puts you in control of bounty hunter Samus Aran, now working for an organization called Biologic Space Laboratories. She is exploring the surface of a planet when she is attacked by an organism simply called "X." While returning to base, she loses consciousness and crashes her ship. The BSL ships escorting her manage to recover take her to recieve medical care, where it is discovered that X has infested her central nervous system. After recovering, Samus is sent on a mission to investigate an explosion at a BSL station. The culprits? More X parasites have taken over the stations systems and caused them to malfunction. Making matters worse, the X are able to mimick organisms that host them, which has lead to tshe creation of the SA-X. This creature is a carbon copy of Samus operating at full power, and thus a massive threat. It's up to Samus, with the guidance from her ship's computer Adam, to stop the creatures, avoid the SA-X and restore the station to full power.
This was a little bit more in depth of a story than the previous games offered, and it also factored in to the gameplay this time around. As is customary in Metroid, Samus starts the game with minimal powers, gradually obtaining more abilities as the game advances. Most of the abilities here are obtained from bosses, who turn into core-X parasites when absorbed. Smaller enemies will turn into absorbable X parasites, which will give Samus health or restore her weapons if needed. I think it's kind of nice that they managed to tie the upgrade structure to the story here. When you think about it, it never really made sense that Samus would just find random powerups for her suit in the ancient ruins of Zebes. But being able to absorb power to feed the parasite that's infecting her suit kind of does. It may have a different narrative behind it, but it's still the core gameplay of opening up more of the map by gaining more abilities. It's a tried and true formula, though Fusion does have a few very noticable tweaks.
Unlike the previous three games in the series, Metroid Fusion's map is pretty clearly divided into six separate sections, each connected to a central hub. You will eventually discover paths connecting some of them, but that doesn't happen until much later in the game. The areas have the standard Metroid amenities, save rooms and powerup rooms and things like that. However, each area also has a briefing room, where Samus will receive directon from Adam on what to do next. All of these things may not seem like big deals, but they really throw off the Metroid formula and I'm not sure its for the better. While the core gameplay remains the same, the map expands while you explore and acquire items to allow you to progress further, the way it fells is very much different. Fusion is much more linear than the games that came before it and, frankly, more linear than most of the games that came after it. I typically don't mind linearity as much as most people, if anything I think I prefer it in some aspects of games. But it really doesn't fit well in a Metroid title, these games are designed to be some level of open ended and allow for exploration. Even the mission breifings, something that would be commonplace in most other games, feel out of place here. These games are supposed to kind of make you feel like a rat in a maze, forcing you rely on your own wits to find your way around. These things wouldn't be nearly as negative in just about any other type of game, but they are kind of an issue here.
The other major difference here is the atmosphere, which is quite a bit different than that of the previous games. While Super Metroid definitely had an element of spookieness, I'm not sure I would say it had full on horror vibes. There was still the element of feeling lost and being on your own, sure. But even at the beginning of the game, Samus is entirely too powerful for the game to truly feel like straight up horror. She's always going to be stronger than or at least competitive with the enemies she's fighting. This isn't the case in Fusion. As per the storyline, Samus has had much of her power sapped by the X parasites within her. Normally that wouldn't be factored into the gameplay too much, but here we have the SA-X to contend with. The SA-X is both canonically and practically more powerful than Samus, allowing it to server as something of a stalker enemy. It's kind of like the Nemesis or Mr. X from Resident Evil, though not quite as relentless as they are.
This, combined with the linear structure and separate map areas makes the game feel very different than the previous Metroid games in a way I'm not sure I really loved. I know I just finished talking about how I'm not as high on the franchise as some others, but I still certainly have expectations of it. I will say that Fusion did meet a lot of those expectations in terms of objective markers of game quality. It looks incredible, I was as impressed with this game as I was with COTM in that department. It also sounds great which is essential in creating that horror atmosphere. It's got really good controls, it's incredibly responsive just like the rest of the games in the series. At the end of the day, Metroid Fusion is nothing if not well made and at the very least maintained the high level of craftsmanship that the franchise is known for.
While it was well made, I just didn't have that much fun playing Fusion. It wasn't painful to finish or a chore, but at no point was I excited to play either. The survival horror atmosphere and increased focus on story seem like a combination that should be up my alley. But I think the linearity and the very siloed map were offputting for a Metroidvania title. I can't really recommend this game, but I don't really advise you stay away from it either. Metroid fans that may have skipped over Fusion should definitely go back and play it. Metroidvania fans will definitely find some things to like and survival horror fans looking for a bridge into the genre may want to check it out as well. But I think there are better games in the series and the genre as a whole that offer a more in depth and accuracte picture of what said genre is at its core.
7.5/10
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