If asked to list the all-time greatest games of the 8-bit era, your response would undoubtedly include The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and Castlevania. Of course, if you're a gamer worth your salt you'd also include the classic adventure game Metroid, one of the most influential games of its time. Released in 1986, the original Metroid was a sprawling science-fiction adventure that placed you in the boots of female bounty hunter Samus Aran. Your goal was to hunt down the parasitic Metroids and the leader of the nefarious space pirates, Mother Brain. Metroid was the definitive action-adventure game for its time, and its Super NES sequel, Super Metroid, is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the side-scrolling action genre. With such a stellar resume to its credit, it's curious that the gaming world has gone without a new Metroid game for over eight years. Samus has made a few cameo appearances here and there (most notably in the Super Smash Bros. games), but a new Metroid adventure has been sorely missing from the gaming landscape for too long.

Until now. The Metroid dearth officially ended on November 18, 2002 with the long-anticipated release of not one, but two new Metroid titles: Metroid Fusion for the GameBoy Advance and Metroid Prime for the GameCube. Although it is highly unusual to see the release of two high-profile games of the same series on the same day, Nintendo has pulled this sort of stunt before with its two Legend of Zelda titles for the GameBoy Color, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. Metroid fans will undoubtedly purchase both games out of sheer delirium, as well as for the connection bonuses that are unlocked when both games are linked with the GC-GBA Link cable. Of course, the good news is that the wait has been well worth it, as both games are of such a fantastically high quality that Metroid fans should be satisfied for a very long time. This review covers Metroid Fusion, but be sure to check out my review of Metroid Prime as well.

Metroid Fusion (or Metroid 4, as the title screen reveals) for the GameBoy Advance puts you back in the well-traveled boots of Samus Aran for more high adventure in deep space. The storyline seems to be a bit jumbled as to where Prime fits in, but Fusion most definitely is the latest game in the timeline and takes place after Super Metroid (Metroid 3). While escorting a research team on SR388, Samus is attacked by an unidentified lifeform that comes to be known as an X Parasite. While piloting her starship, the parasitic infection overwhelms her and causes her to crash into an asteroid field. Gasp! Thankfully, the escape pod ejects in the nick of time and she is saved by the research team from the Biologic Space Labs (BSL). Whew! They patch her up (with a Metroid vaccine, no less), though she unfortunately loses most of her ass-kicking abilities in the process. From here she travels to the BSL space station with a snazzy new purple starship in response to a troubling distress signal.

At this point you take control of Samus, and Metroid fans will no doubt feel right at home with the play mechanics. Running, jumping and shooting are all very intuitive and the game is quite easy to play from the very beginning. Of course, Samus is without most of her famous abilities, which is where the Fusion suit comes into play. Being immune to X Parasite infections, Samus can now absorb free-floating parasites that she encounters, most of which will restore energy or replenish her missile stock. The larger parasites, usually obtained from boss battles, will restore latent abilities like the Morph Ball, Space Jump and Power Bomb. Fusion remains true to the Metroid legacy in that collecting and implementing these abilities is critical to progressing in the game, and you'll have to revisit each area a few times to collect all of its items and complete all of its objectives. Needless backtracking is kept to a minimum thanks to your navigational computer, which I'll discuss in detail further down.

Samus will earn familiar abilities throughout her adventure, including the Morph Ball, High Jump, Charge Beam and Space Jump. You'll also gain new beams and power suits that allow you to access different areas, as well as adding offensive and defensive boosts. Beams cannot be turned off once acquired, so you can never see the Wave Beam by itself. And once you gain the ice missile upgrade you can never turn it off, which is curious because you could selectively turn off abilities in Super Metroid with no problem. Samus can no longer use the Grappling Beam, X-Ray Scope or Ice Beam, but these really have a negligible impact on the game. (Well, it was cool to sniff out hidden passages with the X-Ray Scope.) As a cool bonus, you can hook your GBA up to your GameCube via the Link cable and unlock two features in Metroid Prime: Samus' Fusion suit and the original NES Metroid, which is hard as hell.

Metroid Fusion is set within the spacious confines of the BSL space station, which is split into 3 decks (Main, Habitation and Operations) and 6 research areas, each representing a different habitat (Arctic, Tropical, Nocturnal, etc.). Although it may feel a little strange to play a Metroid game on something other than an alien planet, the space station still manages to retain the familiar Metroid "feel". For instance, you'll need the extra protection of the Varia Suit before you can set foot in the sub-zero environment of Sector 5 (ARC). Although it is a research station, there are still plenty of security doors, one-way gates, false walls and hidden passages for you to navigate. A new twist to the series are story events that will permanently change the layout of some of the sectors. Doors will be melted shut and ceilings will collapse, forcing you to find alternate routes to objectives and items. Nothing becomes completely unattainable, so you won't be screwed if you didn't pick up an item before a particular event.

Finding your way around shouldn't pose too much of a problem even for novice players. The excellent auto-map system from Super Metroid returns with a number of welcome enhancements. The map now tells you if there are hidden items in a room and if you've obtained them or not. You still have to figure out just how to get them, but this feature cuts down on fruitless searching. Fusion is much more story-driven than any other Metroid game (including Prime), and most of the story is revealed through exchanges with Adam, Samus's navigational computer. Adam will always tell you your next objective and where to obtain crucial items, as well as tips on how to succeed. While it's great to know where to go, this has the obvious side effect of making the game feel more restrictive and linear than its predecessors, which some fans might not like. And really, that's just about the only negative thing I can say about the game, apart from its rather short length.

The game is fairly challenging on first play through, mainly because you'll be under-powered and under-supplied much of the time. You'll probably find more secrets on a second trip through the game, as you become more familiar with the layout of each sector and where to look for secrets. There are more boss battles in Fusion than in most of the other Metroid games, and each boss mutates into a Core-X when defeated. You'll have to defeat the Core-X if you wish to extract its ability, but this is fairly easy most of the time. To make life more difficult, you'll occasionally run into the SA-X, an X-infected clone of Samus bent on your destruction. You can tell when it enters the room by its distinctive footsteps, which you'll soon come to fear. It feels a little bit like the Nemesis encounters from Resident Evil 3, except here your only option is to run. And running from the indestructible SA-X makes for some hair-raising action.

The fabulous Metroid gameplay is alive and well in Fusion, but the audiovisual aspects definitely keep pace. The game is definitely a cut above most other GBA titles with regard to sprite detail, color balance, animation and background detail. Though she is a little smaller on the GBA screen, Samus is still very detailed and very well animated, featuring a wide range of stances and positions for every situation. In keeping with tradition, Samus looks different depending on which way she's facing, a small detail that attests to the overall quality of the title. Many areas of the space station feature scrolling parallax backgrounds loaded with tiny details, and the game is at its coolest when you go off the map and enter the station's crawlspaces. A host of subtle sprite effects add an extra layer of polish to the game, along with some cool-looking still frames of Samus. Throw in an attractive sub-menu and navigation screens and you've got the best graphical package available on the GameBoy Advance.

Where most developers struggle to obtain decent sound from the GameBoy Advance hardware, Nintendo has somehow developed the absolute best-sounding GBA game to date. It's not quite the same quality as Super Metroid, but it's pretty close. The music sounds fantastic, from the familiar title melody to the up-tempo boss battle themes. The arrangements are typically moody and understated and vary quite a bit between sectors. Overall the score sounds very much like the classic Metroid games, and its quality absolutely destroys the pathetic offering heard in other top games like Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. Sound effects are similarly excellent all through the game, and there are even a handful of clearly-spoken voice samples that sound better than those in Super Metroid. And with the nifty headphone option (and a pair of headphones, naturally), the game sounds even better and features some effective stereo separation. Metroid Fusion features excellent graphics and top-notch sound, leaving future GBA titles with little excuse for poor performance in either area.

Metroid Fusion is a classic title loaded with stellar gameplay, excellent graphics and sound and a lot of lasting appeal. Three trips through the game hasn't been enough for me. The classic Metroid gameplay is back and better than ever, and fans should appreciate how the additions make the game feel fresh and engaging. The navigational computer eliminates needless wandering and adds some great story progression, but makes the game feel too restrictive and linear for a Metroid game. That is the only real drawback, however, and it shouldn't prevent you from rushing out and buying this game. Metroid Fusion is the best game you can get for the GameBoy Advance, bar none. The wait may have been excruciating, but Metroid fans are in for a well-deserved treat with Metroid Fusion.