The spiritual successor to Super Metroid.

The game begins.

Unaware of the X, Samus and a science team descend to SR388 to collect specimens of the planet's indigenous life-forms. While there, Samus is infected by the X, which invades both her power suit and her body. In a rush to save her life, doctors devise a vaccine from metroid DNA and administer it to Samus' dying form. The X infection is neutralized by the introduction of its predator, but Samus' body and power suit are permanently fused with and altered by the metroid biological material. Samus gains the ability to absorb free-floating X parasites, but she's also cursed with a metroid's hypersensitivity to cold temperatures.

Samus has a new ship in Fusion, and it contains her computer CO, Adam.

Not long after Samus is saved, a distress call comes from the research company's orbital station. Samus speeds to the station to investigate, and she finds that the X were somehow brought aboard the station and have overrun it. She then begins a frantic mission to look for survivors and neutralize the X before they destroy the research platform entirely. Samus is aided by a remote supercomputer, which she dubs Adam, who gives her mission objectives and supplies her with new weaponry. Adam guides Samus through the various areas of the station as she battles the X in its various incarnations.

Metroid Fusion features tons of hidden areas to discover.

Once her mission begins, Samus learns of the X's horrifying ability to mimic any organism that it has infected, including her. Predictably, she soon encounters an X that has taken the form of the preinfection Samus, complete with all her former weapons and abilities. Adam calls Samus' nemesis the SA-X, and this doppelganger haunts her steps throughout the mission. In addition to the SA-X, Samus fights all manner of other infected creatures in the various sections of the station.

Samus' weapon loadout is impressive in Fusion.

As Samus gains the upper hand against the X, she stumbles upon a shocking secret--a research lab containing metroids is hidden inside the station. She finds the SA-X fighting a host of juvenile metroids as the lab area begins to self-destruct. Samus barely escapes the lab section before it detaches, destroying the SA-X and metroids, but then Adam informs her that there are even more replicas of the SA-X on board, and worse, the Federation has been using her mission to study them and their application as a bioweapon. Samus knows that when the Federation comes for the X, it will infect them and spread throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in its path. She resolves to destroy the station, SR388, and even herself, if necessary, to end this menace.

The space-station setting in Metroid Fusion is a departure for the usually planet-bound series.

Adam advises Samus to start the station's self-destruct sequence after altering its orbital trajectory. This will capture SR388 in the radius of the station's explosion, destroying the planet as well. Samus does this, then encounters another SA-X as she tries to escape the explosion. After defeating it, she approaches her ship to find none other than the Omega Metroid. Amazingly, the essence of the SA-X she destroyed arrives and merges with Samus, enhancing her powers and allowing her to destroy the Omega Metroid and escape the station just before it destroys both itself and SR388. Finally, it seems the threat of the X and the metroids has come an end. But of course, such things always have a way of coming back to haunt Samus...

Fusion features frequent, impressively rendered cinema scenes with narration from Samus--a first in the Metroid series.

The Game
For all practical purposes, Metroid Fusion was a direct sequel to Super Metroid. The game is even referred to as "Metroid 4" during the introduction, just as Super Metroid is called "Metroid 3." Apparently, Nintendo considers Metroid Prime to exist outside of the main series. Fusion plays exactly like Super Metroid, returning the series to its 2D, side-scrolling roots. Of course, a few changes were made to the gameplay, but Fusion is in every way a continuation of the classic Metroid experience.

As in Super Metroid, the power bomb is an important part of Samus' arsenal.

The most noticeable change in Fusion's gameplay is the way you collect power-ups. The purple energy orbs and missile refills of past games are no more--with Samus' new fusion suit, she now gains boosts from free-floating X parasites. Every enemy that you kill releases an X, so there are ample opportunities to keep yourself alive. The downside of this system is that if an X floats around for too long, it will often re-form into a new enemy. Also, to offset the abundance of power-ups, Samus sustains a lot of damage from enemy attacks.

Thanks to her fusion with metroid DNA, Samus now requires an upgrade to tolerate cold areas.

The famous chozo statues are also gone from Metroid Fusion, replaced by giant X blobs that are released from bosses. These restore functionality to Samus' suit and weapons just like the old item statues did, but the change is there all the same. Samus can gain other upgrades by downloading programs from data rooms scattered around the station. Further, she has to visit navigation rooms to receive instructions from her computer CO, Adam. This marks a major change in the flow of the game from previous Metroid titles, in that you're guided along a set path with mission objectives rather than being left to discover everything on your own. Prime shares this attribute, which makes one wonder if the exploratory spirit of Metroid has diminished a little. Is the series being dumbed down, or is it simply evolving? That's for gamers to decide.

Are the metroids and the X really gone for good?

Alas, as good as Metroid Fusion is, it suffers from one nearly tragic flaw--it's entirely too brief. The game can be finished by an average player in around five hours, and although there are still tons of hidden items to go back and find, there's little incentive to do so when you can complete the game with a lesser armament. Since most of the Metroid games clock in at 10 to 15 hours, Fusion's brevity is pretty disappointing. Despite this weakness, though, Fusion is entirely worth playing through, and all Metroid fans should check it out.