Metroid Fusion
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 Sometimes, the only way to defeat a predator, is to become one."
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Metroid Fusion is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the fourth installment in the Metroid series.
Plot
The game's story follows bounty hunter Samus Aran, who is sent by the Galactic Federation to investigate the Biologic Space Laboratories space station, where it is swarming with organisms infected with virions known as the X Parasites.
Why It Rocks
- The story is actually pretty interesting as it focuses on Samus trying to stop a new parasite that has taken over a research station known as the X parasite.
- As part of the linearity, Navigation Rooms are introduced in Metroid Fusion, which tell the players where to go.
- The player is constantly stalked and chased by a murderous creature known as the SA-X, which is an X parasite that mimics Samus and her suit giving it all the same abilities as Samus. It's shown to be a powerful foe that can easily defeat Samus making it very threatening. Some have even compared it to Mr. X in Resident Evil 2.
- Samus can absorb X Parasites that restore health, missiles, and bombs.
- Owners of both Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion can unlock new features in Metroid Prime using the Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable.
- Players can also link Metroid Fusion to Metroid: Zero Mission to unlock a Metroid Fusion picture gallery, which includes additional concept art and extra images from the Japanese version of Metroid Fusion which chronicle Samus' early years.
- Some new gameplay mechanics have been added. Samus is able to grab on to ledges and (in place of the Grapple Beam) can now climb special ladders and "monkey bars" to span large heights and gaps.
- The Japanese version, which was released after other regions, adds Easy and unlockable Hard difficulty levels, a gallery mode to view the ending images you've obtained, and six additional ending images obtained by completing the game on "for Kids" mode without kanji, which reference the Metroid Manga.
- Intense action and slightly high difficulty that offers a good challenge.
- Creepy and tense environments and tone along with an amazing soundtrack that accommodates it especially during the scenes with SA-X.
- Amazing boss battles with each boss requiring a different method to defeat them.
Bad Qualities
- While the SA-X is a formidable threat, its potential is misused. All the encounters with the SA-X are strictly scripted, and its AI was been criticized even by Metroid fans. The SA-X, on the game storyline, is very intelligent, but in gameplay, is very cheap.
- Fans may not like the more linear aspect of the game.
- Difficulty Spike: Roughly halfway into the game the X tries to blow up the station to kill Samus, in an attempt to protect the X on SR388. Up to that point most normal enemies, bosses and even the SA-X encounters were relatively not that aggressive or fast-paced. However, after the boss fight with The Scientist (which itself isn't that tough, though the time limit can make it nerve-wreaking), normal enemies tend to have more tricks up their sleeves such as flight or additional projectiles, all the following bosses are dramatically harder (with the exception of the B.O.X. refight), and the encounters with the SA-X offer Samus next to no hiding spots and are overwhelmingly more frantic and desperate.
Reception
Metroid Fusion received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic with critics like Play describing it as a "magnified, modified, and improved" version of everything great from Metroid and Super Metroid. Fans also highly praised the game with many calling it one of the best Metroid games of all time. Some even went as far as to say that it's better than Super Metroid. Some of the main criticisms came from the game's linear nature in contrast to previous titles, and from the depiction of Samus. The Metascore for the game on Metacritic is 92/100. It received several accolades. It was named Handheld Game of the Year at the 2002 Interactive Achievement Awards. The game was also chosen as Best Game Boy Advance Adventure Game by IGN and Best Action Game on Game Boy Advance by GameSpot, which had named it the handheld's best game of November 2002 earlier in the year. It was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Sound", "Best Graphics", "Best Story" and overall "Game of the Year" awards among Game Boy Advance games. Metroid Fusion sold over 1.6 million units worldwide. In its debut week, Fusion sold more than 100,000 units in North America. It finished the month of November 2002 with 199,723 copies sold in the United States alone, for total revenues of US$5,590,768, making it the third best-selling Game Boy Advance game that month, and the tenth best-selling game across all platforms. The game went on to sell 940,000 copies by August 2006, with revenues of US$27 million. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, in the United States it was the twenty-first highest-selling game for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable. As of November 2004, the game has sold 180,000 units in Japan.