Introduction
Today we are going to dive back into the past to prepare for the future. Since it has been a while since Metroid 4 was released, also called Metroid Fusion, we are going to review this game to prepare for Metroid 5, Metroid Dread. I have waited almost 20 years for this game to be released! Metroid fusion was released back in 2002. This is a Game Boy Advance game! In this review, we will be looking to see if this game has aged well and if this game still fun to play!
What did I think before playing Metroid Fusion?
It has been awhile since I have played Metroid Fusion, but this time my wife joined me! My wife has actually never played a Metroid game before! She liked the trailer of Metroid Dread a lot, to get in the flow we decided to play Metroid Fusion together to learn the story! She took the wheel for most of the gameplay! However, she let me do the shinesparking to get to some difficult upgrades! For more information, we visited the fandom page!
The Fandom Page
https://metroid.fandom.com/wiki/Metroid_Fusion
This page has a lot of information, including the whole story and background of Metroid Fusion! If you want to get into the game, this page offers all the information that you need!
Rating
I rate Metroid Fusion with a 9.5 before playing.
This game is a lot of fun, even though I know the game has flaws. Metroid Fusion always gets me stoked to replay when I think about it!
Story
The story starts with Samus returning once again to the Planet SRX388 where she also exterminated all the Metroids! However, there seems to be a huge issue, there is a new life form that attacks Samus, this is an X-parasite. Normally the Metroids eat them for lunch, but since they are all dead, they can now roam free! Samus is now infected with this parasite, her life is now in danger, but she gets injected with Metroid DNA from the Metroid that she saved in Metroid 2. Samus is reborn as something new and directly sent on a new mission to investigate the nearby station where an explosion has occurred!
Rating
I rate the story of Metroid Fusion with a 9.0.
The stories of Samus Aran are always amazing and fun! I have been waiting 19 years to see how this story would develop in Metroid 5!
Gameplay
There is one huge flaw in Metroid Fusion, usually you can explore a lot in metroidvania games, this also comes with a lot of sequence breaking. However, Metroid Fusion has you follow a linear path and until the end of the game there is no free exploration available. You can however collect a lot of the upgrades you are while following the story line.
You will need to stop the X parasite from leaving the station, otherwise they will take over the universe! To do so, you will need to gain new and old abilities while battling the X-parasites. These abilities can either be downloaded in data rooms or collected from boss fights! These abilities alone will not help you stop the X-parasite!
On your way you can also collect upgrades, these contain energy tanks, missile tanks and power bomb tanks. These upgrades are scattered all over the station! You will need to check many hidden nooks and crannies to find them all! Some of them are hidden very well by shinesparking puzzles, or maybe they are just hidden in plain sight!
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Metroid Fusion with an 8.2.
I would love to rate this game higher, but this is a metroidvania with a story that is a little too linear for this genre. However, this does not take away that this game is a lot of fun to play!
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The main question of this review, have the graphics aged well in all those years? The answer is yes, the graphics still look very good if you think about how old this game is! The graphics were groundbreaking for a handheld console in 2002!
Sound
The soundtracks are amazing for creating the perfect and creepy atmosphere that Metroid Fusion needs. This game scared me as a little kid! The music that starts to play when the SA-X is near still gives me chills!
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics for Metroid Fusion with a 10.
It is simply amazing that this game was made in 2002, this also means that the standards for Metroid 5 are very high since 19 years of gaming related advancements have gone by.
What did I think after playing Metroid Fusion?
I had a lot of fun when replaying this game, even though I watched most of the time as my wife was playing. She certainly enjoyed playing Metroid more than she expected! Now we are both excited about the new Metroid Dread game! You can prepare yourself for an amazing review for Metroid Dread!
If you enjoy metroidvanias, I advise you to play this classic game on an emulator or maybe even the real version on the Game Boy Advance if you have it. We did own a real copy, but it sadly drowned in the toilet.
Rating
I rate Metroid Fusion after playing with a 9.8.
This game is simply a must-play if you enjoy metroidvanias!
What are my personal thoughts about Metroid Fusion?
I may not be the fastest speed runner out there since I usually like to enjoy my games slowly, but I have played this game enough to know where every secret is hidden! And still I keep enjoying replaying this game!
Rating
My personal Rating of Metroid Fusion is a 10.
Last Words
Pros
- Experience the story of Samus Aran and her battle against the X-parasites
- Amazing graphics and soundtracks for the year 2002
- Metroid Fusion has fun and amazing abilities to collect!
- Fight a lot of bosses and learn their patterns!
- Follow the story line and explore the station!
- Repeat the game a lot of times to see how fast you can clear Metroid Fusion!
- Collect upgrades and hold more energy, missiles and power bombs!
Cons
- This game is very linear for a Metroidvania!
- It took 19 years to get the anticipated sequel to this game
If you are a fan of metroidvanias, you cannot miss this classic before playing Metroid Dread!
Final Rating
9.3
Let me know what you think of Metroid Fusion in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends!
This is a cool game
yeah, it is!
Old metroid
Not even the oldest one!
It smells of nostalgia.
yeah, Nostalgia smells good lol
Congrats for you and your wife for finishing with100% items/secrets.
My wife did amazing! I will be making a video of me doing the randomized version in 40 minutes soon!
Nice, I can’t wait to see it.
Good review. After the last one this came as a breath of fresh 2002 air.
I agree!
Just in time when a sequel was released, good for reminding sweet memories.
The sequel will be reviewed soon!
great review. I miss my Gameboy days :.)
I had a clip-on light for my gameboy advance lol
A real blast from the past. Good review, as usual.
Thanks!
I can see in your gameplay that you’ve spend some time playing it. Nice 100% run mate.
This was mostly my wife playing it, I will make a video of me beating the randomized version of the game in 40 minutes, any %.
Not that bad for such an old and pixel graphics game 🙂
The graphics still hold up!
It’s good review thanks.
Never heard about this game before
Maybe it is time to play!
I love metroidvanias, but for one reason or another I never played any of the titles that gave name to the genre. If I wanted to start, what would be the order to play to follow the story? The Metroids Prime are part of the same canon as the Metroids 2d?
Thanks for the review 🙂
The prime series are a spin off,
The timeline goes like this,
Metroid 1
Metroid Prime series
Metroid 2
Metroid 3
Metroid 4 (this review)
Metroid 5
If you look on google you can find the exact names like Super Metroid, Samus Returns, Zero mission
Metroidvania, thats the genre I like the most recently… have you played Axiom Verge? do you think that it is better than Metroid Fusion? seems like it has the similiar aestetics…
I still have to decide whether i should play Axiom Verge or Guacamelee next…
I am on the verge to try Axiom, pun intended, I think however that Metroid Fusion is better since it is a real classic. I have to determine this correctly though by playing the game first!