Metroid Fusion

 Game Boy Advance
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 441 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 392 out of 441
  2. Mixed: 40 out of 441
  3. Negative: 9 out of 441
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  1. birdman3
    Sep 16, 2017
    7
    I played this game 6 years ago when I bought a 3DS. I decided to replay it in anticipation of the new Metroid game coming out this weekend. I've not played any Metroid game other than this one, and while I anticipated the plot to be light, I didn't realize it would result in the game being only about 10 hours long (4:45 on my playthrough- I guess I died a lot?). A lot of the game seems toI played this game 6 years ago when I bought a 3DS. I decided to replay it in anticipation of the new Metroid game coming out this weekend. I've not played any Metroid game other than this one, and while I anticipated the plot to be light, I didn't realize it would result in the game being only about 10 hours long (4:45 on my playthrough- I guess I died a lot?). A lot of the game seems to be involved in finding secrets, but I found this to be more tedious than enjoyable- basically, I found myself throwing bombs at every wall and floor in hopes of finding a secret, or a place to advance the level. In fact, it seems that at least once every level you have to bomb an inconspicuous part of the wall in order to advance, or find a secret corridor as a ball. It didn't make me like the game any more, which made me wish it had been more straightforward and less frustrating. I found the combat to be pretty enjoyable, although one-sided. Samus is a killing machine, but she takes a lot of damage when she gets hit. Luckily, most of the enemies don't have ranged attacks, so it's easy to avoid most damage. Boss fights were slightly more challenging- basically, I would spend one life in order to find the bosses weakness, die, load my save, and then abuse the weakness through brute force. Not too difficult, until the final boss, which provided a real challenge. Overall, I enjoyed the game and its mechanics (due to the quick pace of the game, upgrades came fast and furious, which was enjoyable), but I hope that the new 3DS game coming out introduces something a little beyond what we see here.… Expand
  2. GVB
    Dec 21, 2022
    6
    It's not bad, but i played it right after Metroid Zero Mission and i couldn't avoid the comparison. Repetitive, less freedom than in ZM, and the story is not very good. Too cliché. And something that i don't understand is why the levels are so easy but at the same time the bosses are so hard.
  3. BeeSting1
    Jan 24, 2022
    6
    Good

    - good old metroidvania gameplay. The animations are nice. The weapons feel great to shoot. - the progression is more linear, which I personally prefer. - space jumping and wall jumping are easier to execute. The introduction off ledge clinging was also great. Bad - still too many hidden blocks. A few really ambiguous ones that I couldn't be discovered unless I bombed    Good

    - good old metroidvania gameplay. The animations are nice. The weapons feel great to shoot.

    - the progression is more linear, which I personally prefer.

    - space jumping and wall jumping are easier to execute. The introduction off ledge clinging was also great.

    Bad

    - still too many hidden blocks. A few really ambiguous ones that I couldn't be discovered unless I bombed and power bombed every corner of the level. It's not only a waste of resources, but also time.

    - i hate how hitting up during a diagonal jump cancels the momentum of the jump completely. This really threw me off. This made fighting some of the bosses very annoying.    … Expand
  4. mrnice
    Mar 2, 2013
    7
    A good game that might seem like loads of fun but also frustrates with a high difficulty level. Since the save points are rooms that you find throughout the levels, there might be unnecessary travel between a load point and the bosses you will almost invariably fail to beat in first try. You might give up halfway through the five-hour playthrough, and that is a shame for the game. ItA good game that might seem like loads of fun but also frustrates with a high difficulty level. Since the save points are rooms that you find throughout the levels, there might be unnecessary travel between a load point and the bosses you will almost invariably fail to beat in first try. You might give up halfway through the five-hour playthrough, and that is a shame for the game. It offers some variety (timed sections and enemies to hide/flee from) but mostly follows the pattern: standard platforming action with some exploration and then hard boss fights every 20 minutes or so. The series might have pioneered game mechanics 20 years ago, but today most of it is seen before. The GBA cartridge places heavy restrictions technically, so of course you can forgive various shortcomings, but the game could have been more friendly to newbies.… Expand
  5. TBone
    Feb 16, 2008
    7
    Play control, visuals, sound are all outstanding. This is a BEAUTIFUL handheld game. My problem is with the difficulty level. You're weak and the enemies do TOO MUCH DAMAGE. Boss battles can be a major pain as well. On top of this you have to move fast to receive the best ending (I hear.) I sadly had to give it up out of frustration.
  6. wesker2012
    May 28, 2012
    6
    This game was solid. Fun game. Nothing extraordinary tho.
  7. B-Bog
    Mar 10, 2023
    5
    A LOT of stupid trial-and-error where there's one special block somewhere that you have to shoot/bomb to progress and you have to figure out where it is without any real hints. So the game manages to be both restrictive in its linearity, because you always get told where to go and what to do by your bossy computer and you CONSTANTLY run into dead ends and locked hatches (the interconnectedA LOT of stupid trial-and-error where there's one special block somewhere that you have to shoot/bomb to progress and you have to figure out where it is without any real hints. So the game manages to be both restrictive in its linearity, because you always get told where to go and what to do by your bossy computer and you CONSTANTLY run into dead ends and locked hatches (the interconnected world design of other Metroid titles is totally absent); while also being very frustrating and confusing because you often don't know what to do to progress; which almost deserves an award of some kind.

    Enemies and bosses can be pretty stupid sometimes in that it can be nearly impossible to dodge their attacks, unless you have superhuman reflexes or you shoot enemies before they even appear on your screen. The boss arenas are also typically way too small, giving you no room to dodge and you always have approximately one nanosceond to shoot the exact right millimeter where the hitbox of the boss's weak point is, which is kinda BS given the very restrictive controls and aiming.

    To add onto all this, Samus' cringe monologuing and her dynamic with her insanely bossy computer (seriously, who programs an AI like this??) also sets up Other M...    … Expand
  8. DizavidHZ
    Mar 15, 2023
    5
    This is the Metroid that marked the end of the fun in the series, and the game trying instead to go for a high difficulty platformer more than a game of exploration. The Japanese symbol for difficulty *must* be the same one they use for "lazy programming reclassified as intentional". Samus' wall jump is abysmal, and her space jump is somehow even worse. The button for jumping andThis is the Metroid that marked the end of the fun in the series, and the game trying instead to go for a high difficulty platformer more than a game of exploration. The Japanese symbol for difficulty *must* be the same one they use for "lazy programming reclassified as intentional". Samus' wall jump is abysmal, and her space jump is somehow even worse. The button for jumping and shooting are in the exact opposite order they should be. There's a button to make her aim diagonally up but not down. The SA-X looks more like Samus from Super Metroid, almost identically, meanwhile the real Samus looks like an NES cartridge puked out a Samus shaped pile. The game is *decent*, but for me marks the wrong turn at Albuquerque for me; it eventually led to the remake for Samus Returns, which debuted quick time events as something you do to every enemy. They doubled down on this for Dread, and Fusion is squarely to blame. (What happened to y'all hating QTEs? That's all Returns and Dread are.) I'm writing this due to the rerelease on the Switch GBA emulator (let's call it what it is). They could absolutely allow you to rewrite button mapping (people who say it's harder than it looks are covering their own laziness; emulator creators showed just how easy customisable button mapping can be, ESPECIALLY on an emulator). This is just classic Nintendo: when they're good they're amazing, but when they're bad you feel the need to swab yourself for any unwanted used car salesman DNA.… Expand
  9. JustinForgueims
    Jul 3, 2023
    7
    Good aesthetics, story and sound.
    Plenty of gadgets as usual in the franchise but without any innovation.

    The game is quite well balanced. Good difficulty curve with several hard but not frustrating fights.

    As any game of this franchise after a while it fells too much on a "find the hidden block" feature that I personally don't like a lot.

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2002
2
#2 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2002
1
#1 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2002

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 44 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 44
  3. Negative: 0 out of 44
  1. Total Video Games
    90
    Perhaps the only niggle that you can level at Metroid Fusion, is that the focus on strong story telling reduces the exploration aspect, an area that the Metroid series is virtually unrivalled in.
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  2. GMR Magazine
    90
    While the gameplay is faster, and more responsive than ever before, MF manages to feel even more claustophobic than in the past. That's a good thing. [Feb 2003, p.75]
  3. Eurogamer
    90
    My favourite 2D Metroid yet... [and] the best platform adventure the GBA has.
    Read full review
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