The Anatomy of Metroid Fusion | 16 | Old friends

Metroids are the first of many returning friends in this segment of the adventure. Well, the game’s name is Metroid, after all. It just wouldn’t do if the actual last metroid had been in captivity last time around. Two things really stand out here: One, whoops, the Federation is just as rotten as the Space Pirates! Two, wow, […]

The Anatomy of Metroid Fusion | 15 | Round two

Even after linking up again with Adam, and despite the continued linearity of this section of the game, Fusion continues to allow you to feel like you’re basically free-wheeling. It manages to hit the same sweet spot that certain parts of Super Metroid did, giving you a nudge toward your objectives but leaving you to sort […]

The Anatomy of Metroid Fusion | 14 | Ahh, memories

With the Gravity Suit in hand (not literally), unsurprisingly the next phase of the game takes you back to all the underwater areas you couldn’t proper explore last time. This comes much later in the game than Maridia did in Super Metroid, where you acquired the Gravity Suit at the midpoint. Here, you have only a […]

The Anatomy of Metroid Fusion | 13 | Bad dreams

A few housekeeping notes following up on the previous entry. First, I forgot (or maybe never realized) that you can temporarily freeze the SA-X to give yourself a moment’s respite during the big chase scene. This doesn’t do that much to help, but some help is better than none whatsoever in such a deadly sequence. […]

The Anatomy of Metroid Fusion | 12 | Twisted mettle

When last we left Samus, she was dying horribly at her own hands. This latest encounter with SA-X is a particularly difficult one for a few reasons. For starters, it happens in the midst of the sector’s power outage; while you need to restore basic power to reach this point, that’s amounts to a save point and door […]