I still had an appetite for 2D, so I decided to go for Fusion before Prime. It's an odd entry compared to what I played before. Its linearity of including rooms where you receive objectives is an odd design choice, it does allow for a stronger story but it still feels out of place with older game elements that were passed on through multiple release.

Gameplay and map design had also received a substantial change. As now you use a hub elevator to go between areas until late game where you open shortcuts, however a lot of these shortcuts are part of closed sequences so it feels restricting, and I missed this sense of freedom.

Boss designs are either basic or rehashed, meeting a version of ridley here didn't feel as fun as it should. However being chased by the mimic was fun and I hoped to see more of it.

It's sometimes obtuse even regarding main objective progression, and there are the changes above. It's still a Metroid game above all else, and that itself means a lot.