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Long before Lara Croft appeared on the videogame scene and ‘captured’ the ‘imaginations’ of leering Dominic Diamond worshipers around the world, another gun-toting female powerhouse was single-handedly bringing an alien race to its knees – first on the NES, then the Game Boy and, in her most acclaimed title, on the SNES. Now she's back for more.
The Game Boy Advance is becoming something of a haven for nostalgic fans of the 16-bit gaming era. Metroid Fusion is the latest in a line of 32-bit portable updates of Nintendo’s most popular franchises, following the release of such titles as Mario Kart: Super Circuit, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Advance Wars (all of which are thoroughly recommended). In Metroid Fusion you play Samus, a female bounty hunter who, in great Bounty Hunter Tradition (think Boba Fett) wears a ‘Power Suit’ equipped with all sorts of fancy guns and robotically-enhanced abilities. This is a good thing, because the hundreds of enemies she faces are no pushover. Samus, guided by her HQ via a series of communications consoles, must navigate her way through a labyrinthine space station stuffed to the ventricles with glutinous, near-indestructible evil blobs known as X-parasites. The nature of X-parasites is one of the things that stands Fusion out from other side-scrolling shooting games. Upon entering a new area, the parasites will float into the room and materialise into enemies. Once the enemies are destroyed, Samus must act quickly to absorb them before they reform, sometimes more powerful than before. Absorbing the parasites by touching them replenishes Samus’ health and, somewhat dubiously, her supplies of ammunition. Samus begins the game armed only with a weak laser gun and an infinite supply of ammo, but regains her abilities as she explores the Biologic Space Labs’ many areas. By downloading new weapons from ‘Data Rooms’ and absorbing X-parasites contained within fiendishly aggressive bosses, Samus can upgrade her lasers, missiles, her suit (so that it can withstand extreme temperatures), bombs and a lot more besides. The bombs are a key feature of the game – early on, Samus regains the ability to curl up into a ball (much like a pill woodlouse) and drop an infinite supply of explosives. These allow her to blast her way through certain walls, making searching for and exploring hidden passageways an integral part of gameplay. The structure and pacing of Metroid make it a joy to play. The relentless nature of enemies (that respawn every time you return to an area) mean that the game often appears very tough – but the satisfaction of going back and facing them again with considerably better firepower makes it worth the effort. But above all, like previous instalments, Metroid Fusion is about exploration, not just shooting things. Massive sections of the play environment can only be accessed by clever thinking and the liberal application of large quantities of explosives, causing every out-of-place sprite to appear suspicious. In fact, after an extended play session, even completely NORMAL looking sections of level can appear a little TOO inconspicuous, almost as if they’re trying to hide something. Very occasionally, they are. Metroid Fusion isn’t without its’ flaws. Seasoned or ‘intensive’ gamers may find the game a little too short, while some may be put off by the heinously uncompromising later bosses. But these menial grievances do nothing to distract from the fact that Fusion is a compelling, well-rounded and beautifully executed game. A must-have for any self-respecting Game Boy Advance owner. Collective Metroid Prime (GameCube) review: A1030447
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