Nintendo is bringing the Game Boy Advance classic Metroid Fusion to Nintendo Switch Online, and much sooner than expected. Metroid Fusion will be available to Switch Online subscribers who own the Expansion Pack from March 9, 2023, onward.
Nintendo added Game Boy Advance games to the service after the February Nintendo Direct, and while the Big N teased Metroid Fusion, along with Golden Sun and Metroid Zero Mission, as games they would add to the platform eventually, there was no indication of when or even in what order.
While you can play Metroid Prime on the Switch now, Nintendo didn’t say whether there would be any connectivity between the games as there was when Prime launched on Gamecube and Fusion on Game Boy in the early 2000s.
Metroid Fusion continued space bounty hunter Samus Aran’s story after Super Metroid, when the last of the species was eradicated, and the Space Pirate threat was seemingly at an end. Samus traveled back to the home of the Metroids, only to find that a parasite had taken control after their natural predator – the Metroids, surprise – vanished.
Fans and critics praise Fusion for its blend of Metroid style with horror.
If you played Metroid Dread and thought the E.M.M.I. sections were tense, Fusion goes a step further. One of the parasites assumes Samus’ form and stalks her throughout the ruins of a space station. Some encounters are scripted, though at some points, you never know when your deadly doppelganger might appear
With the inclusion of Fusion, the entire 2D Metroid saga is playable on Nintendo Switch. Meanwhile, Metroid Prime 4 is still in production, four years after Nintendo announced the highly anticipated sequel.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
