Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance) review "First of all, I would like to say I believe this is the best of all the Metroid games, rivaled only by it's prequel Super Metroid. It is entertaining, and has a difficulty that is able to be conquered. It's not the simplest game, and it takes awhile, but once you figure out the bosses weaknesses everything is beatable. I enjoyed my time through Metroid Fusion, collecting items, and shooting up bad guys. While it is anything but a perfect game, it is enjoyable nonetheless. "

First of all, I would like to say I believe this is the best of all the Metroid games, rivaled only by it's prequel Super Metroid. It is entertaining, and has a difficulty that is able to be conquered. It's not the simplest game, and it takes awhile, but once you figure out the bosses weaknesses everything is beatable. I enjoyed my time through Metroid Fusion, collecting items, and shooting up bad guys. While it is anything but a perfect game, it is enjoyable nonetheless.

STORY (8/10): Well, the Metroid series decides to spice it up a bit, giving a true story to the game. While not very complex, and unapparent throughout, you are searching through a laboratory trying to gain back your weapons to take on an SA-X, a clone of you basically... There are many twists along the way, especially near the end, and one that affects how you view the entire Metroid series. I will leave it up to you to find out what that is.

GRAPHICS (12/15): This is another game that shows the power of the Gameboy Advance, compared to the older gameboy versions. The games color is fluent, and entertaining to look at... The enemies are large and intimidating, as they should be, and Samus herself is in while an untypical, but fancy suit... While at times the graphics do get repetitive, each boss battle will MORE than make up for it, for every last one of them is stunning.

SOUND (6/10): The sound is good, but nothing great... It takes the old Metroid music at times, but in my mind not enough. The remix's that apparent at various times are wonderful, but everything else is a notable step down. But not to say that the music is horrible. It is clearly above average, but it still is a plateau down from the greats.

GAMEPLAY (43/50): Metroid Fusion is just like every other Metroid game (discluding Prime), but it most resembles Super Metroid. Once again you have the map feature, which is very useful so you don't get lost as you are running through the labortary. You will need to backtrack too, in all different sectors, to get what you need to find next. The map makes this all easier. Also, there is a new addition in Metroid, that really makes sense. The Navigation rooms. These rooms will tell you your next objective, and where you will need to go to find them. This keeps you from trying to search all six sectors for your next boss; instead you will have an idea because of the computer. This is a very nice addition, cause it speeds gamplay up about.

Just like past Metroids, it is all about regaining the classic weapons. Screw Attack, Plasma Gun, and of course the morph ball return plus much more. They all are need to completely beat the game, and are very useful additions in just regular battles. Energy Tanks, Missile Tanks, and Power Bomb upgrades return, although Power Bomb upgrades aren't needed at all. The other two will grow to be very helpful, especially the Energy Tanks. Don't plan on missing those or you will be in trouble.

The only weakness in gameplay, is at times it is a bit repetitive. You run around shooting enemies and grabbing the ''blobs'' that fly out. You will do this throughout every stage, and while the enemies features change, the same tactics are used. A little variety in regular villain tactics would've been nice, but that is not apparent. However one minor weakness in an otherwise great gameplay is nothing to get overly mad about.

REPLAYABILITY (4/10): As with many great adventure games, no matter how good it was, it just doesn't make sense to really go through it again. You have already seen it all, were you must explore to go next, the brilliant bosses, and just the overall story. There is nothing more to do. You could try to play through for alternate endings, or a 100% completion rate, or a better time, but still, it is just the same game. However, it is a great game, so why not run through it another time in your distant future. I can see it happening, so there is still a bit of replay value.

DIFFICULTY (5/5): This is probably the easiest Metroid game, but what is wrong with that. Most of the earlier Metroid games were insanely difficult, without even saves. You would find yourself getting killed in seconds, and it just wasn't that fun. Metroid Fusion doesn't have that problem. At times there is still sickenly difficult bosses, and such, but once you find their weakness they are a cinch (specially the final bosses. At first they were impossible, then after a few times I figured out how to kill them without suffering a hit). Do not worry about the challenge, cause soon enough you will be cruising through this game.

OVERALL (78/100): Metroid Fusion is an improvement on a series I believe was otherwise extremely overated. I can finally see what many people always saw in the Metroid series, however I also see that it still has a bit to go from being great. They took what was good in Super Metroid and improved upon it, and they should do the same with Metroid Fusion. This game has finally gotten me into the Metroid series, and I can't wait until the next one. Despite it's many flaws, it is still definitely worth being part of any gamers library.

Community review by ratking (May 04, 2003) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.