Metroid Fusion

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{{Infobox CVG |title = Metroid Fusion |image = Image:Metroid Fusion box.jpg |developer = Intelligent Systems |publisher = Nintendo |designer = Yoshio Sakamoto |engine = |released = Image:Flag of the United States.svg November 17, 2002
Image:Flag of Canada.svg November 17, 2002
Image:European flag.svg November 22, 2002
Image:Flag of Japan.svg February 14, 2003
Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg March 2 2006 |genre = Action Adventure |modes = Single player |ratings = ESRB: Everyone
ELSPA: 3+ |platforms = Game Boy Advance |media = 64-megabit Cartridge |requirements = |input = }}

Metroid Fusion is the fourth (fifth in North America) video game in the Metroid series, and it is the first game to appear on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance portable video game system. It is the direct sequel to the critically acclaimed Super NES game Super Metroid and set chronologically last in the series's fictional universe.

Metroid Fusion represented somewhat of a departure for the series, as it scrapped the nonlinear adventure formula from earlier games and introduced a non-playable computer character to direct the player where to go and what to do there. It has been regarded as significantly harder to sequence break in this game. After nearly three years, only one "sequence break" has been found, with two extremely difficult methods of accessing it. One of them, the extended shinespark in AQA, is deliberately programmed into the game, while the other (involving a very well-timed ice missile) was accidental and removed in later versions.

Metroid: Zero Mission, the second game to appear on the Game Boy Advance, uses a highly modified version of the Metroid Fusion game engine.

Graphics

The graphics are very similar to those found in Super Metroid for the Super NES/Super Famicom and are rendered in 2D. The poses and colours displayed for both Samus and her enemies are a mark more detailed, however. The game is a side-scroller, so all of the action is displayed from a side-on angle.

Plot and gameplay

Image:Powersuitremoval.JPG The player becomes Samus Aran, a galactic bounty hunter who must spelunk through artificially maintained habitats onboard a space station run by Biologic Space Laboratories, which, along with Samus, has been infected with a parasitoid species known as the X Parasites, or simply the X. She must regather the special abilities and weapons she has lost, as well as some new ones, to neutralize the threat to the station. Along the way she encounters various obstacles and enemies, including a highly dangerous X Parasite, the SA-X, which is mimicking Samus at her strongest.

Unlike other games in the series, Samus is in constant contact with her Galactic Federation "employers" by way of an intelligent computer, her commanding officer. This computer, which she names "Adam" in honor of one of her former COs, gives Samus a series of objectives throughout the game, and is capable of locking and unlocking some doors to ensure she achieves them before she can progress. These range from acquiring a certain powerup to defeating a certain enemy or getting to a specific room. However, these objectives usually require a solution which is not immediately obvious, giving the player room to explore and experiment with the game's environment as in previous titles. But even so, the makers had made it clear that they wanted no wallcrawling or exploitable glitches like in any of the other games in the series. The game had painful controls to big fans of the free flowing gameplay that used to be the Metroid trademark. The walljump was 'fixed' as to prevent the climbing of a single wall and Samus could only use four bombs at a time, which eliminated the ability to infinite bomb jump. Additionally, Samus could only do one bomb jump at a time and could not bomb jump a second time in mid-air. Image:GBA Metroid Fusion.png Metroid Fusion's environment also changes throughout the course of the game in much more radical ways than before. Some corridors can become blocked off permanently by explosions, pupa-like creatures which block some areas off hatch after a certain point, raising and lowering water levels, parts of the research station that are jettisoned into space, and new monsters that appear in previously explored areas.

Samus spends most of the game being stalked by the almost invincible SA-X, which appears unexpectedly in various locations, and Samus must either hide or escape until she is powerful enough to defeat it.

As the monsters in the game are actually the X parasites copying other lifeforms, monsters are reduced to floating X cells when they are destroyed. Samus can absorb these to replenish her lost energy and missiles. However, if Samus does not absorb them, they will eventually re-form into their original host's form, or even an entirely new creature. Some monsters can also absorb additional X parasites, evolving into newer, more powerful forms.

It is stated in a timeline in the Metroid Fusion Instruction Manual that the Metroids were actually created by the Chozo to halt the spread of the X-Parasites and that the name "Metroid" is Chozo speak for 'Ultimate Warrior'. This explains the hatred between Metroids and X-Parasites.

Equipment

Image:Metroid Fusion X-Boss .png

Samus begins her mission stripped of the abilities she acquired in Super Metroid. She must retrieve them through either downloading the data from terminals scattered throughout the station, or through absorbing certain powerful X parasites using her newly acquired Fusion Suit.

She recovers the following items:

Morph Ball, Charge Beam, Missiles, Super Missiles, Plasma Beam, Wave Beam, Wide Beam/Spazer, Bomb, Power Bomb, Speed Booster, High Jump Boots, Spring Ball, Screw Attack, Space Jump, Varia Suit and Gravity Suit.

She also gains the entirely new Ice Missiles and Diffusion Missiles.

Because of the Metroid DNA used to combat the X parasite, Samus now has the Metroids' weakness to cold. Because of this, she can be frozen by the SA-X's Ice Beam. Also, she cannot use her old Ice Beam, and must use Ice Missiles instead, which have essentially the same effect as the beam. These can be further upgraded to Diffusion Missiles, which have the same function but a have an extremely large blast radius which encompasses whole rooms. The Diffusion Missiles must be charged up before firing.

The Spring Ball and High Jump abilities are now combined into one item. Her regular orange suit is now the organic-looking yellow and blue Fusion Suit. Each type of missile will simply replace the last rather than being a separate kind of weapon, and regardless of what kind of missile is being fired - normal, super, ice or diffusion - it will only ever use up 1 missile. Power Bombs now reveal what kind of weaknesses certain blocks have, their larger blast radius making up for the absence of Super Metroid's X-Ray Scope.

Samus does eventually recover her Ice Beam ability, but it is only in effect during the final boss encounter.

Special features

Owners of both Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion can unlock new features in Metroid Prime using the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable. If the player completes Metroid Prime, they can unlock Samus' Fusion Suit for use in Prime; if they complete Metroid Fusion, they can unlock an emulated version of the original NES/Famicom Disk System Metroid. There is also a bonus to be had by linking to Metroid: Zero Mission - the entire Fusion gallery of pictures is unlocked in Zero Mission, as well as bonus pictures used as extra ending images in the Japanese version of Fusion which chronicle Samus' early years along with what's apparently some concept art.

See also

• Gunpei Yokoi

External links

• Metroid Fusion official site
• Metroid Fusion professional review
• GameFAQs entry for Metroid Fusion
• Template:Nintendo.com
• {{{2|{{{title|Metroid Fusion}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
• Template:Moby game
• Template:Musicbrainz album 2

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