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.
