Metroid Fusion is a great game. It’s fantastic and a staple for the GBA. Every time I talk to someone about Fusion they have nothing but good things to say about it. So why is it a game that haunts me? Well I’ll tell you why, it’s because, like Mega Man 8, I’ve never beaten it. However the reasons for why I never beat the game aren’t because of a total rage quit, but it’s still a reason I personally don’t like and aim to rectify when I get the chance.
I first got Metroid Fusion Christmas of 2002. I kept seeing the ads for the game, I liked the trailer and thought, “Hey, I should probably give this game a shot.” It was also my intro into the Metroid universe. The only thing I knew of Samus Aran was that she was a character in Smash Bros. Heck I didn’t even know she was a woman until I was reading the instruction manual for Fusion. At first I wasn’t sure about the game, but the more I played it and the more I explored I was loving it. It took a while, but eventually I figured out what I needed to do to progress through the game. Also for a 12 year old, the game was spooky. Not hard core Resident Evil scary, but scary where I wouldn’t be expecting a monster in the next screen and all of a sudden jumping when said monster attacks me. Also the infected suit chasing you throughout the whole station you’re in is just nerve-racking.
So what happened that drove me to not beat it? Well I got stuck. It wasn’t like Mega Man where I couldn’t make a certain jump but I beat this boss and couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out where I needed to go next. I kept exploring, kept searching, and got somewhere where I think I destroyed a thing I wasn’t supposed to destroy and I couldn’t get past a certain obstacle. After that frustrating moment I would put the game away and play something else for a while, then try again, but eventually I just stopped entirely. The internet was in its infancy back then so I didn’t know I could look up strategy guides or walkthroughs online yet. The final nail in the coffin came when I was in high school. A buddy of mine wanted to get a GBA and since I already had a GBA SP, I didn’t need my original Arctic White one anymore. So I sold the system and gave him a game to play with it. Of course the game I gave him was Metroid Fusion and ever since I’ve been wanting to play that game again.
So where am I going to go from here? Well luckily I can find a copy of Metroid Fusion for a decent price at my local collectible show yet when I do I don’t have the money for it. I will eventually get the game again and beat it in earnest, it’s one of those things where I’ve been bummed out at my younger self because I gave up after a while. Thankfully the game went to a good home where I hope it was beaten, but soon I will go back and beat it.
Ben is a man of many hobbies. Aside from his deep love of video games, he also does 2 podcasts (The Fake Nerd Podcast and Basement Arcade: Pause Menu), reads comics, loves films, and studying up on video game history. His favorite eras in gaming are the Console Wars between SEGA and Nintendo, the early 2000’s, and the mid 80’s when he wasn’t even born yet.
