If you’re a fan of Samus Aran and her adventures across the galaxy, you’ve been having quite the renaissance over the last few years. After all, in 2023 alone, we had the shadow drop of one of the best games in the franchise, and then in late 2021, we got the latest entry in the series that was Game of the Year material. So with a certain other game possibly looming in the future, you might wonder how things can get any better. The answer is that Metroid Fusion will arrive on Switch next week via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.
To give you some history on the title and why this is such a big deal, Metroid Fusion came out in November 2002. That was a key time in Samus Aran’s history because that was the same month and literally a day before the release of Metroid Prime. The former came out on the Game Boy Advance, with the latter coming out on the Gamecube. The intent was to give the franchise a revitalizing shot in the arm after it had been dormant during the N64 era.
The reason that the handheld game is equally as beloved as the console title is that the title was dang good. In it, Samus goes to a mysterious planet known as S388. It’s there that she meets the X-Parasite. These parasites were something that the Metroids she wiped out were known to eat. With the Metroids gone, they started to spread.
One infects Samus and corrupts her Varia Suit, even creating a replica that the X-Parasites control. As a result, Samus gets a new suit with DNA from the baby Metroid she once saved and must go through S388 to stop the X-Parasites from taking over and expanding throughout the galaxy.
The game was praised for its visuals, tight gameplay, and fun story. Here, we learn about Adam and how he’s become a part of Samus’ ship through its AI. The story was so impactful that it directly influenced Metroid Dread, as that game also had the X-Parasites in it.
The title sold well on the Game Boy Advance and was given many awards. We all know how the Gamecube game did, so the “double barrel shotgun approach” to saving the franchise clearly worked.
But just as fun, for those who haven’t played the game or haven’t gotten to play it in some time, having it available on Switch on March 9th will be a welcome thing.
