With Metroid Ravenous now announced, I thought it worth looking at the two 2D Metroid games on the Game Boy Advance, Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission .

One of the early games for the Game Boy Advance, it was a direct sequel to the superlatively brilliant Super Metroid on the SNES. Samus has her suit infected by the resurgent X Parasite , and the remains of the last Metroid are used to create a vaccine to save her.

This, in turn, changes Samus on a genetic level, making her effectively the last Metroid-type being in existence.

Fusion’s layout is also a bit different from other 2D Metroid games, as you infiltrate a giant space station infected with the X Parasite, something that Samus is now uniquely immune to on account of her new Metroid DNA.

Each section of the space station is siloed and acts as a recreation of the planet SR388 . Each of Samus’s upgrades has previously been absorbed by defeating large X Parasite bosses, which killing nets you said upgrade.

You also have the problem of the X Parasite having copied Samus at her full strength from Super Metroid , hunting Samus in her new weaker form, as she is now susceptible to the cold like all other Metroids.

It’s a fun game and definitely very well made, but it was understandably compared to Super Metroid at launch, which didn’t exactly help its initial reputation.

Over the years, it has garnered more respect and is generally regarded as one of the best games in the series.

I recently went back and did a new 100% item completion run on both the original cartridge and via the Game Boy Advance app for Nintendo Switch Online. It was a very enjoyable playthrough, and it made me appreciate the game even more than when I first played it over 20 years ago.

One thing that is worth noting is that Fusion leaned into a more technical type of shooter gameplay, something that was compared to the Contra games at the time, but it also impacted item collection. A few of these used the Shinespark mechanic in increasingly technical ways, and it’s this that I found somewhat irksome.

Metroid: Zero Mission (2004)

Ostensibly a remake of the first Metroid on the NES, hence Zero Mission , the game expands the original quite considerably, both in terms of additional content and functionality, and is arguably one of the best Metroid games ever made.

It was clear that after Fusion , the team had learned a lot about what made a Metroid game tick, and Zero Mission was a masterclass on what a Metroid game could be.

For the most part, the first half of the game follows the original Metroid , but when you think you’ve finished the game, Samus’s ship is shot down, and you have to infiltrate Chozo ruins filled with trigger happy Space Pirates to find a new power suit.

This wasn’t in the original game, but the new stealth sections and the eventual activation of the Gravity Suit make for some of the best parts in the Metroid series.

Again, I went back and did a new 100% item completion on both the cartridge version and the Game Boy Advance app for Nintendo Switch Online, and I think this game is easily as good as Super Metroid .

For one, the art direction is incredibly precise and very well-defined and just looks cleaner than Fusion . It really helps to sell each new area and the monsters you encounter.

The new stealth section is also a lot more fun than I remember, and it really helps to change up the pace of the game. Not to mention, finally acquiring the Gravity Suit and your full weapon complement is hugely satisfying after having to avoid the Space Pirates during the stealth section.

Unfortunately, some of the later items you collect rely heavily on very technical Shinespark usage, and what was a fun and unique aspect of Super Metroid became somewhat overused.

It Goes Without Saying You Need To Play Metroid Dread

These two Game Boy Advance games are noteworthy because they both act as the narrative backdrop to Metroid Dread , but also provide much of the functionality that game relies upon.

Like with Fusion , Dread really goes all in on the Contra -esque combat and also goes further with parrying mechanics and boss fights that are much more technical than in games like Super Metroid .

Zero Mission’s stealth section is also the clear inspiration for the E.M.M.I. -patrolled areas in Dread , where you have to avoid very powerful enemies that can kill you outright before you unlock weapons that can destroy them.

However, before playing Metroid Dread , I would strongly recommend playing through both Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission .

Metroid Ravenous is released for the Switch 2 on January 28.

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