Of the 2D Metroids, Fusion was always the one I knew the least about despite it being the only one whose release I remember. I was aware of Samus through Smash Bros, and the ads showing her in the alien fusion suit were unnerving yet cool. Beyond that, I knew nothing about the game for years. I'd heard grumblings about it being the most linear, that it had more of a story than the others, but that was it.
Like AM2R, Fusion's world is comprised of fairly self-contained zones that can each be completed in single sessions. Yet its zones are more claustrophobic, which at first feels limiting but over time acquires purpose. The X and SA-X are hunting you, and will use the environment and/or destruction of it to their advantage. The touch could be lighter with more room to backtrack over, but the repetitiveness of checking navigation rooms early on is subverted around the midway point.
Mark Brown described acquiring the power bomb in Super Metroid as the moment the game lets go of your hand. Fusion's midway point--in which the SA-X cuts the power--is more like the hand you are holding transforms into a claw you must wrest free from. You spend much longer navigating on your own, with fewer save points and opportunities to recover health and resources, and face a murderer's row of bosses (the most engaging of the 2D games). You feel like you're fighting for survival and outsmarting your foes. Right as the atmosphere tenses and darkens, the story drops its bombshells and sets up an incredible climax. I inhaled the back half of this game in one sitting, and for the first time kept coming back from setbacks more resourceful and strategic rather than just getting upgrades to tank an encounter.
All of this is enhanced by a great central story hook, but I think it sticking the landing is owed to the series as a whole. Samus breaks her silence outside of a prologue or epilogue for the first time, and speaks about the one thing we have never seen her have or mention: a friend. She fights a doppelganger that can only be beaten by superior technique, not superior firepower. The final string of fights from Neo-Ridley to the SA-X to the Omega Metroid is cathartic and for my money the most satisfying challenge in the series; not only does it harken back to previous installments, but it feels the fairest relative to its difficulty (I also was seemingly underprepared at 44% upgrades). These breaks from convention would not be meaningful without the conventions in the first place, and had this remained the conclusion of Samus's journey I would deem it an outstandingly resonant finale.
It has its rough edges for sure; level design can be repetitive, the control scheme bristles against the GBA's limits, the brushes with the SA-X in the first half are fairly simple. But as a whole it cements my respect for this series: every installment is of high quality and has its own flavour of gameplay and structure. That said, none quite feel like they tie together everything I like about the series in one package. Which gives me optimism for Dread to thread that needle, though it may not be enough to unseat Prime as my overall favourite.
Like AM2R, Fusion's world is comprised of fairly self-contained zones that can each be completed in single sessions. Yet its zones are more claustrophobic, which at first feels limiting but over time acquires purpose. The X and SA-X are hunting you, and will use the environment and/or destruction of it to their advantage. The touch could be lighter with more room to backtrack over, but the repetitiveness of checking navigation rooms early on is subverted around the midway point.
Mark Brown described acquiring the power bomb in Super Metroid as the moment the game lets go of your hand. Fusion's midway point--in which the SA-X cuts the power--is more like the hand you are holding transforms into a claw you must wrest free from. You spend much longer navigating on your own, with fewer save points and opportunities to recover health and resources, and face a murderer's row of bosses (the most engaging of the 2D games). You feel like you're fighting for survival and outsmarting your foes. Right as the atmosphere tenses and darkens, the story drops its bombshells and sets up an incredible climax. I inhaled the back half of this game in one sitting, and for the first time kept coming back from setbacks more resourceful and strategic rather than just getting upgrades to tank an encounter.
All of this is enhanced by a great central story hook, but I think it sticking the landing is owed to the series as a whole. Samus breaks her silence outside of a prologue or epilogue for the first time, and speaks about the one thing we have never seen her have or mention: a friend. She fights a doppelganger that can only be beaten by superior technique, not superior firepower. The final string of fights from Neo-Ridley to the SA-X to the Omega Metroid is cathartic and for my money the most satisfying challenge in the series; not only does it harken back to previous installments, but it feels the fairest relative to its difficulty (I also was seemingly underprepared at 44% upgrades). These breaks from convention would not be meaningful without the conventions in the first place, and had this remained the conclusion of Samus's journey I would deem it an outstandingly resonant finale.
It has its rough edges for sure; level design can be repetitive, the control scheme bristles against the GBA's limits, the brushes with the SA-X in the first half are fairly simple. But as a whole it cements my respect for this series: every installment is of high quality and has its own flavour of gameplay and structure. That said, none quite feel like they tie together everything I like about the series in one package. Which gives me optimism for Dread to thread that needle, though it may not be enough to unseat Prime as my overall favourite.