0:00 - Introduction
2:49 - Presentation
10:19 - Sound
13:59 - Controls
19:23 - World Design
21:23 - Progression
29:47 - Navigation
37:35 - Level Design
42:03 - Story
55:27 - The Twist
1:09:42 - Examining Story Criticisms
1:16:12 - Combat
1:21:23 - Bosses
1:27:47 - 100 Percent/Expansions
1:32:16 - Speedrun
1:34:32 - New Lore
1:36:37 - Conclusion
The Last Metroid | An Earnest Analysis - • The Last Metroid | An ...
I am really glad that Metroid Fusion isn't just a Super Metroid 2.0. Fusion goes for something completely different for its progression structure and story and still stands up to the likes of Super and Dread in terms of quality because of it.
Metroid Fusion stands alongside Metroid Prime perfectly. Hard to believe they both came out the same day. Imagine that now.
I didn't mind the scene with the Mysterious Suit guy talking to the A.I. Yeah, it's specifically spelled it out for the player, but I think that was obvious by the time you see Ridley's Frozen corpse and the mysterious music plays.
I find Fusion’s legacy particularly interesting considering the intention behind its release in conjunction with Metroid Prime. Prime was supposed to be the riskier departure from tradition, whereas Fusion was going to be the classic-style Metroid and a safer bet. In reality, the risks they took story-wise and streamlining the action made it controversial, but have aged it well.
I’m not sure why but I’m addicted to watching you talk about the Metroid series. I found your Super video like 4 days ago and got caught up last night only to be blessed today. I love the fact that you leave in every burp that happens while you’re recording the script. Subbed.
Same progression here, although I haven’t seen the Metroid II video yet before watching this one. Fusion is my favourite so had to skip. No burps in this video though?
It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I have decided to stop chugging seltzer before and during my voiceover recordings. I enjoy the burps but a lot of people were upset by them.
@@FlatulentFetus tragic. Unsubbed.
@@DavidFowlerMusic😂
On the melodramatic part another thing to consider is that the x would ravage the worlds and she could effectively do nothing but watch and live on as probably the last living thing in her galaxy
Metroid fusion was my first experience with a GBA SP. They had them hooked up at the local Bestbuy, and while my parents were buying a bunch of stuff I was drawn to the SPs and Fusion was on one. I was almost instantly hooked. Games like fusion are why I have fond memories of the GBA-NDS era of handheld gaming.
Metroid Fusion was a huge feat. It’s my #2 on my list 😊
If it had the same freedom of movement it would've been the best in the series. The huge difficulty curve it brought really brought this series forward when it comes to the 2d titles.
15:00 this is a nice point. I've always profoundly preferred Fusion's controls/feel to Super's but I couldn't tell you exactly why. Super's insane vertical jump and lame-duck horizontal movement is probably a big part of it. You've answered one of my bigger latent questions there ❤
I just replayed Fusion (found the cart in an old box), and it was one of the most fun game experiences i've had in forever
I also never equated SA-X second form as Hornoad x Samus! I actuqlly learned somethibg new!!
I'll admit I had a gba-sp so I didn't think it look over-saturated. Especially when it was my first game. I love fusion despite it being on only gba. It'll always have a spot in my heart.
I had it on sp also
Both Paper Mario & Metroid Fusion were my first ever experience with horror elements in video games. Both Tubba Bubba & the Omega Metroid share similarities that I think really shaped my overall perception of what is considered scary to me. The very fact that when they are both introduced you cannot fight them. You cannot hurt them. You cannot beat them. You are hopelessly outmatched & must run away/hide. I would’ve never even noticed how similar they are if I hadn’t watched your video. So I thank you for this experience.
Oh wow, same!
Great Video! I always interpreted the SA-X merging with you as a last desperate act to ensure survival at all cost. It/ They knew they were doomed and maybe clinging to Samus or becoming a part of her was truly the only way left open for them that was some sort of survival.
I accidentally found your video and it is very insightful and informative! I also thought this game’s restrictive nature feels kind of 'a deviation’ in this series, but your interpretation and reasoning about the balance of game design and narrative is persuasive and I really like it. Great job! But I found a tiny error in the section you talk about the Japanese script in 1:03:28. The Japanese script doesn’t say ‘to stop 連邦軍派達’, instead it says ‘to stop 連邦軍派遣’ (there is no word like ‘派達’ in Japanese). ‘派遣’ means ‘to dispatch’, so the script just says ‘tell the HQ to stop to dispatch the Federation Army’. Although we can speculate that there may be a conflict between the HQ white collar guys and the Army or there may be factions or ideologic groups like many organizations, at least the Japanese script doesn’t imply anything by itself. Other than that, this is a very great analysis of the game in one of my favourite franchises!
Another great video from peepeepoopooman.
Never thought I'd say it but you're probably the greatest Italian who ever reviewed Metroid Fusion, Pipi.
Dude, thanks for making all of this metroid reviews. They are awesome! Hope to see the prime trilogy videos some time. The fact that you started with federation force is the best thing you could have done.
Your writing is astonishingly lucid and cogent for a person that goes by "Pipi DaFeces"
It hits hard to remember this came out 22 years ago. Where has the time gone? It feels like we don't get much to show for it compared to all the bangers that would've come out up to this point
I don't recall this getting explicitly mentioned, so: ice beam becoming ice missiles feels so elegant, at once making freeze both a limited resource and trivially optional. Got some issues with the game that I'd probably need to replay more to word better, mostly about how while "expecting Fusion to be Super gets you a bad experience" is an easy claim, I think the game could make itself clearer in that regard - before proceeding to the next sector I usually felt an urge to revisit some of the previous sectors with my new abilities, and I honestly might have had a better time if the game flat out didn't allow you to backtrack this much. The game presents you with the temptation akin to Super by giving you the option, yet it didn't live up to it in payoff, and my mindset when playing could have absolutely used more honestly about how linear the game wishes to be. Fortunately, Zero Mission seems to have been made for me specifically
11:00 - "limited"?! The GBA didn't have LIMITED sound hardware. It had NO sound hardware. Sounds were produced using just the CPU, in a process known as bit-banging. The only ACTUAL pieces of "sound hardware" the GBA had was a speaker and headphone jack.
This was my first Metroid game. Got it when I was 8 or 9 around launch. Samus was cool as hell in Smash Bros and Nintendo Power hyped it up. I'm glad it gave the direction it did cause otherwise I'd have gotten lost and given up at that age. It's a different game than Super, but at the time so was the rest of the series and there were 4 Metroidvania games, it seems weird to have expected it be be something so specific.
I literally had never thought about the angle of Samus hunting down and killing all of the metroids only to then suffer being hunted down by a copy of herself BECAUSE of what she did. You have given me an entirely new perspective on Fusion.
So fun fact. If you play the Metroid Fusion randomizer and get screw attack before space jump, you can do single wall jumps. Why that works? I have no idea. But it’s a cool fun fact. Great video by the way. 😊
Fusion will always remain my favorite Metroid game, it's the first I bought as a child and the first I played start to finish. I have nightmares about the SA-X to this day. This is not a joke! That thing fucked me up and I love it, 10/10 would wake up bathed in sweat again.
I’m loving your Metroid reviews man, your Super Metroid video popped up on my front page and I’ve binged the rest of your videos right after 😂
I just stumbled on this channel and man I know I’ll be going through all your videos! Fusion is one of my favorites in the series, so I quite enjoy this analysis. Super Metroid was my first and my favorite, but I love that Fusion is so different and unique from it while being so captivating and intriguing in its own right.
Holy shit, the thumbnail, the title, the propic, the username, i just instinctively subscribed i didnt even watch the video yet
mkultra initiation complete
Gotta agree on the less is more. There was also a comic in Nintendo Power when Super came out with the backstory of Samus being raised on Zebes with the chozos, which makes Zebes seem really weird when you're playing the games cause the chozo seem like they were around centuries ago, not like a decade ago
Well, they _were_ centuries ago. Old Bird, Grey Voice, etc. are the the dying gasps of the Chozo. Samus got picked up at the tail-end of a slow decline. Also, all the big important Chozo ruins got blown up at the end of Zero Mission, and Tourian, which was originally built by the Chozo to my knowledge, got blown up slightly before.
@zekeram129 her having any direct contact with the chozo has always seemed lame to me. Sometimes things are best left up to the imagination and I think Samus's backstory fits in there. There should be enough for characterization and some vague allusions but I'd prefer nothing super concrete. I guess like how Adam is described as a former Co In fusion and the rest is implied vs other M which spells it all out. I think metroid is best left a with things a bit more implied and subtle all over
Glad someone else remembered that. I have another comment on the matter ready to go at the time of this one, but decided to scan down to see if anyone else pointed this out. It won't change Pipi's opinion on the lore dump, but Fusion's art gallery was NOT the genesis of Samus's canonical backstory.
I clearly watched your Metroid 3 review just in time
Thanks man
How do you not have more subs? Glad to see this video blowing up though should get this channel more attention... got my sub for sure. Looking forward to future videos :D
great video! i always enjoy hearing praise for this game, since imo a lot of fans of the series undervalue how much it plays on its own unique strengths as a side note, since i'm super interested in the galactic federation's story, i'd like to point out that lexiconlookout mistranslated the dialogue where samus talks about the rogue faction-- there's no real mention of factions at all. the word used means "deploy/dispatch" rather than "faction," so instead of "tell HQ to stop the federation army faction," it's "tell HQ to halt the deployment of the federation army"
I’m glad I found this video, it’s definitely insightful and informative. It’s nicely structured and it’s unlocked some really cool memories from ages ago.
Great video, I love getting different takes like this on the less popular games of a series.
I've played Fusion at least a dozen times over, and I never knew about flare damage XD. Thanks for that info.
I don't remember how or why I had Metroid Fusion; I just did. I remember playing it at like 9yrs old and was hooked ever since and it remains among my favorite games and favorite Metroid game of all time. And Fusion remains one of the most popular and influential in the series. Take Dread for example; It's a direct sequel to Fusion and in the end of Dread, an X parasite once again saves her in the end. And (yes...I'm bringing it up..) Other M; The enemies like Nightmare are in there. Everything comes full circle BACK to Metroid Fusion. Also I really enjoy Samus' personality in Fusion. She shows just enough to be very engaging. Samus isn't just some stoiic, robotic woman. She has emotions and passions like anyone else.
I loved it as a kid and dread was a great follow up.
Watched your Super Metroid vid and now this one. These are beyond enjoyable. Sub'd. I can already tell your gonna do great on KZhead
this game was terrifying and so rewarding to play as a kid. One of the all time best gba titles
Nice how this came out right when I beat Metroid Fusion for the first time.
Hell yeah dude, you've earned yourself a sub. I clicked because I just like Fusion, but I ended up staying for thoughtful critique of a game offering perspectives on the story that I hadn't considered before myself.
Enjoying this series, looking forward to seeing you cover the Prime trilogy!
I remember buying a daylight cfl bulb specifically for this game. I would even lay in the middle of my room just to get the optimum light for my original gba.
I literally NEVER knew the vegetable boss was a flora infused Torizo!!!
Legitimately first time I'm hearing about hard mode in fusion. Half resource difficulty is by far the way to go for a Metroid hard mode imo, so awesome that it exists. Many thanks for this video was enjoyable
That point you made about the X being possibly capable of sympathy makes me like that idea for the ending of Metroid dread ( if yk, yk)
Glad you did a shout outbto Transparency. One of the greatest breakdowns of Metroid games I have ever watched. You are very correct in saying every fan should watch it.
You didn’t talk about how cute the Etecoons and Dachoras are. 0 out of 10
Metroid Fusion is still amazing. I'm currently replaying it on an emulator and I think the colors still look brilliant. Dark places still cast a feeling of unease, and well lit areas give you a false sense of security. Not to mention a lot of the base enemies deal massive damage reminding you of how weak you are throughout the game. I would even go as far as to say it's almost got a dark souls feel with the damage the base enemies deal. Yes they are easy to take out but goes to show if you trip up it can be just as threatening as any of the bosses.
Huge Metroid fan here. Fusion was my first and is my favorite Metroid game. Atmosphere, uniqueness, music. Thank you for this awesome video.
These videos kick ass dude I can't wait for the next one. I think they've kinda inspired me to try making a similar video on Xenoblade or some other game I love, I'll see if I ever get the time for it lmao
really cool vid!
The only thing as based as Metroid Fusion is this video
Metroid Fushion is based and zased, I've recently tried it after replaying it 4 times as a kid, and got so invested in it, that I made a 5th completion. It aged like a fine wine, I only wish there were similar kind of pixel art games now, with this kind of atmosphere and dynamic gameplay. When Metroid went 3d it never felt the same for me to be honest.
Curious that i also received mine in a similar way, i was fan of the series but didnt expected it, i think dread its the sweet spot in story and guidance
24:41 this bit is relevant since Dread is somewhere split down the middle in terms of its progression having both event progression and macro scale item progression
I feel like you would enjoy the Fusion Randomizer. It really makes you appreciate the level design of the game when you're actually able to sequence break them.
You're underestimating Luigi fans with your comment at the end of the video 😂
59:54 That’s because you’re pretty insightful. Some gamers need it spelt out for them. In my opinion, people often overlook the finer plot points in video games. I get the feeling it’s like some of them are underestimating the depth of the plot because it’s a game. Or they could be biased against it for the reasons you mentioned in this video.
My first Metroid games were fusion and prime hunters so I will always love these games even if they aren't perfect. I show up for the atmosphere and world.
Damn, this is a fantastic video
Awesome username, instant subscription
Really lovely and thoughtful video. After binging all your metroid reviews, I have to say I'm a really big fan of the way you talk about things in general. Also the second BOX fight is highkey the hardest fight in the game for me i massively struggle to actually hit the guy without having him just jump into me while I get one hit in ;~; what's ur secret............
Not even The Greeks themselves could have written something so arete, bravo
one of the few games i play once per year, and that means something imo.
Loved Metroid 1 and Fusion as a kid, I run 2D Metroid randomizers daily and recently started running some more Fusion. The controls spoil me every time I go back to Super lmao. Honestly it's probably around my 3rd favorite 2D Metroid, but like you said I just love Metroid so it really isn't a slight against it. I'm also biased from a history of speed running Super and Dread since those are my favorites. Shout out to sector 4(AQA), I love sector 4(AQA)!!! Also the entire story of Fusion is a core memory of my childhood. I remember having a recurring dream where I was playing Fusion on a GBC cart.
Hi - I was watching another Metroid video and this one popped up on the right side of the screen. I played Metroid Fusion as a kid and love it. I am now a fan of yours based on premise of this video (haven't watched it yet; will hit play after this comment) + your name (Pipi DaFeces lol) + profile pic. Looking fwd to our relationship xo
@FlatulentFetus LOL
I really appreciate all the work that went into this video. I’ve been playing Metroid fusion for almost the last two decades off and on. The only thing I’d disagree with is the Serris fight. I found the patterns pretty straight-forward. Still, it’s an awesome video, and a much needed analytical dive into the game. Good work.
i've just finished metroid fusion special edition fan hack 100% and i've never been so satisfied. yall have to try it just for the single-wall-jumping alone, the game is sublime by itself and little improvements are just a cherry on top.
Oh hell yeah.
"The Other M That Never Was" screenshot at 1:03:34 is actually a misreading of the text that hurts the point that you (and especially lexiconlookout) are trying to make: that doesn't say 連邦軍派達 (Federation Army Faction), he's misread the last kanji and 派達 is, to my knowledge, not even a word. It actually says 連邦軍派遣 (dispatch of the Federation Army). So in that shot, Samus is not saying "Tell HQ to stop the faction within the Federation Army", she's saying "Tell HQ to cancel the deployment of the Federation Army". I haven't watched the entirety of that lexiconlookout video, only around half of it, but in general he makes a lot of confident assertions that are demonstrably wrong like this.
Interesting to know. I’m curious if there’s a more accurate translation of Fusion available somewhere to examine this situation more closely?
noa’s localization team sucks and fusion is probably the biggest example besides recent fire emblem games
Pretty funny title, watching the video thanks to it lol
Really good video, i think the only point i disagree with is sirrus being unpredictable. Only three attack patterns out of the water, two of which are low, one of which telegraphs when it will be high. Can minimize the chances of getting hit by sitting on the monkey bars above. Even if the movement is out of frame, there's an audio cue to hear how frequent the splashings are so you know when to drop down or fire a charged shot.
I hope you'd cover AM2R sometime in the future
I plan on it, but even finding the time to work even on my next video on ZM has been difficult. AM2R will be one of the last ones I do since I’m mostly going in release order
it's a good ass video. well done.
My favorite part of the sa-x boss is that if you kill it when the hornoad phase is JUST off screen it will sit there coughing forever until you bring it fully on screen.
Also if you're frustrated with Serris there's one spot where it will never hit you so its always free to me >.>
Where? I must know for if I ever get around to trying a second low% run.
@@FlatulentFetusI don't know about never hitting you, but if you hang on the ceiling just above the platform you start on when it appears, the only time he can hit you is just after he zigzags through the platforms. If you let go immediately after he does that move, you can land safely on the platform and jump back up once he finishes his leap. It even works when he's using speed booster, though the timing can be tight. Master it though, and you can kill him without getting hit and make it look easy.
1:06:40 Something that's really interesting about this moment is that... SPOILERS AHEAD FOR METROID DREAD! At the end of Metroid Dread, an X mimicing a chozo named Quiet Robe sacrifices itself to allow a fully Metroid Samus to escape the self-destruction of ZDR. Had the X not done this. Samus would not have been able to escape. Which also completely goes against the X's nature of fighting Metroids. Arguably, you can say that this was due to the X mimicing what Quiet Robe would have done, rather than a conscious thought on the X's part. So twice now, Samus has been saved by both a Metroid (the Baby's sacrifice in Super, and the DNA vaccine in Fusion) and an X (vs the Omega Metroid in Fusion, and at the end of Dread described above.) It really makes me excited and wondering where they can take the story of Samus from here. Hopefully, it doesn't take Nintendo another 19 years to make the next (chronological, Prime 4 is coming at the time of this writing) Metroid game.
These Metroid videos came out of nowhere to my radar but they're super in-depth and refreshingly subjective as well. Do you have plans for making similar videos about other games? Have you played Outer Wilds? Please have played Outer Wilds.
Honestly I’m unsure what’s next after Metroid as of now. I have not played Outer Wilds and I actually really dislike open most world games in general. I only really like Shadow of the Colossus and Minecraft.
@@FlatulentFetus Fascinating. Oh well. Have you played Rain World? Not to keep just throwing stuff out there, but considering your metroid experience I feel like it might be something you'd find fascinating. If you haven't, it's not really a metroidvania like some people say, more like a meditative 2D survival adventure with the kind of an interconnected map layout Metroid might have.
Never even heard of it, but I'll look it up and check it out. @@JanneSala
@@FlatulentFetus Glad to hear that! I think you might especially connect with the world and atmosphere, from what I've heard you talk about in your videos. Excited to see you make more content. Will you be doing videos on any of the 3D Metroids or are you going straight to Zero Mission or Dread?
Also, completely out of pocket, but if you'd be into some game-specific cover/remix music like for an intro or outro background track, I'd be down to do that stuff for fun.
10-12 years old are magical ages where people seem to experience their favorite media. I was 12 when I played Super Metroid and it's a core memory. I'm glad kids who grew up on Fusion enjoyed it... But I can tell you as a Metroid die-hard now entering adulthood, when Fusion came out I was wildly disappointed by its direction. You can say it put a focus on story and tight progression, but what you're really saying is it's more linear like a game below its station. I also think giving her a new suit, and specifically making your old suit hostile, alienated a lot of old players who were expecting to continue the journey of their favorite heroin. It's like the Snake>Raiden effect from MGS2.
Except prime came out the same day lmao...you got best of both worlds
I wish we/Samus knew much earlier, or from the beginning, that the Adam AI was based on the real Adam. The story beat of AI Adam trapping Samus in the room did not land for me, as well as calling the AI Adam, and it just so happens to actually be connected to the Adam she knew. It makes the Galactic Federation feel pretty small, but also feels like a Deus Ex for the plot of Fusion. If it was known that the AI was based off of Adam from the beginning, Samus could of had a grudge (and better reason to be suspicious of a robot impersonating her dead CO) against AI Adam that could have come to a climax in the trapped room. It could have leaned into the anger Samus was feeling and maybe verbally attack Adam with a line like "you're nothing like the real Adam." The conflict of being trapped in the room with Adam in Fusion also ends so briskly, lasting a minute or two. I feel like this story beat would have been more effective if the player was trapped longer, and had to do more to get out (maybe talk to Adam a few times). I know trying to rewrite the story doesn't do much, but I just wanted to express one of my bigger disappointment in an otherwise amazing game and story.
oh, literally a minute after writing this you said the same thing about how we should know it is Adam in the AI
If you're going to talk about the Metroid series, I strongly recommend you check out Wario Land 3 as the missing link between Super and Fusion. A lot of the things Metroid Fusion does I find Wario Land 3 did before. Check it out, along with the video on my channel where I read out an essay on why it's the most unique metroidvania ever made. It's also why I consider Metroid Fusion to be more of a sequel to Wario Land 3 than 4 was. It's my favourite game of all time too. If you do the video I suggest, please mention the essay as well.
Finally some good fucking food. (KZhead has been pretty dry for me lately.)
As much as I overall think Metroid II, the original on Game Boy, is still the best overall Metroid game, I think this one is my favorite.
Althought I don't agree with you 100% of the time, it's still a very good presentation and very interesting to watch! I'll go check your other videos and see what you think of the other Metroid games ^^
The limitation of the sound in Fusion is. not as much a hardware limit but actually software not being used at full potential. You can load in better instruments and samples and apply the many tricks tracker module composers use to do a lot more than most realize.
Amazing video! Will you go for Dread or ZM next?
Prime next, then ZM. Following release order
@@FlatulentFetuscool!
Metroid dread took the Metroid fusion feeling and ran with it. Great series. Do you write a script or go at it with bullet points?
I write and redraft scripts
I think there's a lot of criticism of Fusion's story that aren't organic. A lot of it comes from people retroactively judging it based on Other M while also attempting to turn it into another frontline of the gender wars. Her being "emotional" in Fusion as a criticism is manufactured.
One thing I never see when someone talks about the story of this game is, and I know it may be explained somewhere else but, how does the federation know how to make upgrades for Samus' Power Suit, but they don't know how to replicate it? I mean, they can make the items for the upgrades in some form as the X seems to have those abilities on their DNA, and we've already seen that the X can also absorb the digital upgrades from the Download Stations... Meaning that, maybe, the federation DID send the upgrades, but the X got to them first.
Can you make a playlist for your Metroid vidieos so I can binge them
Thank you
if you were not a small channel that i want to see grow i would have clciked off at the other m comparison nah i get your point tho
I can't hear people say "highly regarded" anymore 😂 - thanks Lolcow YT sphere (Also love the vid, thanks for the show!)
Jesus this video is longer then it takes to beat fusion
Welcome to the world of constructed criticism
My favourite game (or maybe Zero Mission, miss the GBA)
Yes dood, yes
1:13:39 "Ludonarrative synchronicity" is one of the most prententious things I've ever heard.
Have... you not heard the term before?
@@lucassmith3790 I have, it's still one of the most pretentious things I've ever heard.
KZhead algorithm goated for this one
NGL, only about a month and half ago I was able to get a sub-two hour run on Fusion for the very first time using TAS. The tool being Nintendo's rewind feature to try and severely limit rabbit trails and stupid mistakes.