This morning I beat Metroid Fusion, and I must say it would be my favorite Metroid game so far, if it weren't for some minor annoyances. Anyway, as is my tradition so far in this blog, I will now write a review on this old GBA game from five years ago.

The controls were typical: A to jump, B to shoot. You hold R to shoot missiles (or drop a power bomb when in morphball), tap Down twice to go into morphball, and use the control pad to move and aim. They became second nature quite quickly. No problems there.

The battle music was excellent--every boss had different music. The music in general was good, but the battle music especially. The sound effects were awesome, from Ridley-X screaming his head off when I was bombarding him with ice missiles to the sound of a power bomb blowing up. The sound was one of the game's highest points.

I can safely say that Metroid Fusion was probably the hardest game I've ever played. Even minor enemies did around 40-50 damage from just touching you, and some bosses could wipe out multiple energy tanks in a matter of seconds if you weren't careful. Of course, that got annoying, because there were several bosses I was stuck on for hours, as you might have picked up from some recent entries. The SA-X, a creature mimicking Samus Aran, appears in certain areas and you have to run and hide because you're too weak to fight it. By the end of the game, you've collected enough upgrades to fight it (though really all you needed was the Screw Attack and the Plasma Beam, two of the last upgrades you get), but it is still one of the most difficult battles in the game, as beating it requires masterful dodging and aim.

But Metroid Fusion was not only difficult due to battles--the puzzles became mind-boggling at times, at least until the power bomb upgrade was received, fairly late in the game. You would have to instinctively know where hidden morphball tunnels were, and what parts of the wall could be destroyed if shot until you got the power bomb, which would automatically reveal every hidden area on the screen and destroy most of the enemies, too. There was a long time shortly before the third boss that I almost gave up on the game, totally lost and with no idea of what to do.

The game had an excellent storyline as well, including a rather interesting plot twist near the end. It was more linear than most Metroid games, but the story made up for it, along with the creative idea of the X-Parasites, which acted as health but could turn into enemies if not absorbed quickly enough. In the final battle against an Omega Metroid, the SA-X actually helps you--it hates Metroids, as they are the natural predator of the X-Parasites. The Omega Metroid, with powers I could only dream about having, kills the SA-X in one swipe of its claw (well, I had weakened it earlier), and Samus absorbs it, allowing her to regain the Ice Beam and finally defeat the Omega Metroid.

While the game is old, anyone who has a DS is able to play it, if you find it used. The game isn't exactly long, but the difficulty makes up for it, and it has a little bit of replay value as well. If you're a fan of the Metroid series and don't have this game yet, I would suggest getting it used for cheap to keep you entertained for a few days.

And now I have a question for anyone who regularly reads my blog: do you like these reviews, or should I stop? Other than the "other" category, reviews on average get the most comments, and it's the only category where every entry has comments, so it appears to be pretty popular. I enjoy doing it as well, and while it's only been Metroid games so far, once I beat a non-Metroid game, I'll review it. If I keep doing these, you can expect either Metroid Prime 2 or Super Mario Galaxy next.