Metroid Fusion for Game Boy Adv Reviews by Gamers

Ah, Metroid Fusion! The true sequel to the brilliant Super Metroid. It's almost as good as Super Metroid, and that's saying a lot.

Like Super Metroid, they are both action/adventure platformers with a huge emphasis on exploration. The game takes place in a massive, intertwined stage, and finding the next area to progress may not always be clear.

I was reluctant at first to play the game, since the beginning turned me off. The structure is a little different than other Metroid games. It opens with with a few narratives and has a few scattered segments of text box dialogue throughout the game, but thankfully it's a very light read, and it's worth it in the end.

In the game, your character is exploring a space colony and your are given mission orders by a computer AI, who often locks doors leading to areas you're not ready to visit yet. This system is controversial considering the franchise's previous history of exploration and non-linear progression. To the game's benefit, it makes it easier on newbies, since you will not get lost or stuck as often... for the most part. Being in 2D, the solutions are never that obscure, you just have to think inside the game.

As with Super Metroid, one of the best aspects of the game is the rich atmosphere. The graphics, music, and presentation make you very immersed into the eerie and dangerous setting of a space colony overrun with an alien parasite. The encounters with the main villain are unpredictable, and very effective.

Metroid Fusion is just not the most sensible handheld game. The gameplay is pretty heavy and attention-demanding. Although you can put the game in sleep mode from the pause menu, you have to find a save room to shut it off.