Metroid Fusion

Reviewed By: Brandon Barrieault
VOLUNTEER GUEST REVIEWER

GAME TECH INFO

Computer Platform: Game Boy Advance (Nintendo)
Produced by: Nintendo
Price Range: $21-30
Learning curve time: 1-30 min.
Age level: Children (Older)
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Genre: Action/adventure
Christian Rating: 5 of 5
   (nothing offensive)
Gameplay: 5 of 5
   (excelent)
Violence: 3 of 5
   (mild)
Adult Content: 4 of 5
   (barely present)

In this top-notch, side-scrolling adventure, which takes place after the events of the SNES classic "Super Metroid", you play as the renowned bounty hunter, Samus Aran. The game starts out with her being assigned to watch over the Biologic's research team as they study wild life on planet SR388. While she's there, she is infected by a parasite known as “X”. On her way back to the B.S.L, or Biologic Space Lab, the X infests her central nervous system and renders her unconscious, causing her to drift towards an asteroid belt. The ship launches her escape pod just before she impacts the asteroid. The B.S.L recovers her escape pod and transports her to the Galactic Federation HQ, where doctors and scientists race to keep her alive. Unfortunately, during the journey to the HQ, the X parasites multiplied quickly within her, corrupting large areas of her Power Suit, and giving her a very small percentage of survival. The X are so integrated with her body, they can't remove th e X safely. Eventually, a cure is found. The X in her are destroyed and she pulls through, immune to the deadly parasites. You are then sent to the B.S.L to investigate an explosion inside the station. So begins the latest adventure of Samus Aran.

Christian Rating

On the spiritual spectrum, it's a clean game, which is a very good thing to see in games these days.

Gameplay

The controls for this game are smooth and seamless, reminiscent to the older Metroid games. Every button is set perfectly and is very comfortable to use. The hardest ability for me to master was the 'space jump' technique, which allows Samus to jump multiple times in mid-air. This move was challenging to master, but I was surprised at how natural it felt after I had figured out the timing, which only took about five minutes. The graphics are stunning, definitely deserving all the awards it has won. I have seen some of the art books from the design team, and though most of it was in Japanese, you could see they poured serious effort into every corner of the game. This is the game you get when you want to push your GBA to the limit. The sound effects are very well done, adding a sense of feeling to the game. When you fire a charged beam shot, the sound effects make you feel like the power is flowing down your fingers and then released out Samus' arm cannon. You can alm ost feel the recoil at times. The music is as creative as it is ear candy. When your running from one area to another, the music might be somewhat calm and you don't feel rushed at all, but when the station is about to undergo a melt down and you have to turn on the cooling unit before time runs out, the music is fast and frantic and your heart starts racing as you jump, shoot, and roll your way to survival. While playing this game, you'll find yourself running into more than a few dead-ends. If you can't figure out what to do in any given area, check the area more closely, or check the surrounding areas, or wait until you get a new ability and come back later. The storyline is much like a good sci-fi movie, full of twists and turns, uncertainties, mystery, victory, and the occasional life and death situation. Metroid Fusion even has the ability to connect to the Nintendo GameCube to open up cool unlockables in the award-winning GCN game, Metroid Prime. This title has a lot to offer. The only real problem with the game is its length. By many standards, it's too short. The game can be beaten in just a couple of sittings. The first time I beat it, it only took me about four hours, which is about the average time it takes to beat this game. Most GBA games can take weeks, sometimes even months to complete. But the phrase, "Good things come in small packages," couldn't be any truer. The game may be shorter than some of the other titles out there, but it's one of the best Game Boy Advance games available because of all the great stuff I just mentioned.

Violence

Pretty much Saturday morning cartoon style violence. The most objectionable thing in the game is that during the mission you confirm that the entire crew aboard the station was killed by the X parasites. No corpses were found because the X used it for food. You never see a dead body in the entire game. There are, however, X that poorly mimicked the scientists, making them look like zombies. You don't kill any people in this game. Mostly the only thing you “kill” are the creatures the X parasites mimicked before you arrived on the station. The reason I put “kill” in quotation marks is because you don't actually kill them, either. When you shoot them until they “die”, they just disintegrate, leaving behind the live X parasite that you can collect for more health or ammo, depending on the color of the X. All the other enemies are robots, aside from the final boss battle, which when killed, merely flashes, smokes a bit, and then simply disappears.

Adult Content

No swearing at all, which is a good thing. The only questionable content in this category is that when you lose all your energy the suit explodes revealing Samus wearing black leather short-shorts and a black leather tank-top. It somewhat resembles women's workout clothing. The screen fades to white within seconds of the explosion, so it's a short interval. Also, when you beat the game in less than two hours with less than 100% of all pick-up items collected, the clear time screen features a picture of Samus in her leather outfit. A similar effect occurs when you complete the game with 100% in any amount of time. Since the picture can't fit on the screen, no matter what ending you get, the camera pans from her feet and stops at the head, showing the whole image.

Overall Rating: Positive

Tying for best game for GBA and winning best graphics on the GBA, according to the 2002 Nintendo Power Awards, Metroid Fusion is definitely one of the best Game Boy Advance games money can buy. This game far exceeded my anticipations for how far the Game Boy Advance could be pushed. I would recommend Metroid Fusion to anyone, even if they don't like this type of game. If you own a Game Boy Advance, or better yet, a GBA SP, this game should be standard issue.

Year of Release—2002

Positive—The best game I have ever played. Graphics are the coolest! Gamplay is execelent! I could not put this game down for a second, even after beating it seven times. Metroid Fusion is a game that you must get. It's worth your money. My Ratings: [5/5]
—Christopher, age 15

Positive—I loved Metroid fusion although it was rather short. My Ratings: [4 / 5]
—Conner, age 14

Neutral—This is definitely a very good game, but I disagree with the rating, I think that the game, despite being very good, and determining more of the main character's personalty, was just a bit too short for my taste. Despite this there is nothing I find wrong with this game. My Ratings: [5 / 4]
—Urhart Lilamiw Leswan, age 17

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Christian Spotlight review are those of the reviewer (both ratings and recommendations), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Films for Christ or the Christian Answers Network.