Hey, at least you know where you're going.

I thought secrets like that were good thing?

This I strongly disagree with: I played through it just recently and I can't think of any time when I found a boss to be "cheap", except maybe SA-X, which is counter-balanced by an exploit that lets you beat it without getting hit, provided you can keep up with it.

Really, I don't understand your reasoning, here. Those, coupled with the intense Alien-like atmosphere and the fact that it nails the story telling aspect (unlike Other M) should make it as good as any other Metroid game, and certainly better than Other M.

I am not a 3DS ambassador but I do have the game. I have been playing it alot recently and it's as tough as nails. The bosses are relentless not to mention extremely powerful, and the parts where you have to figure stuff out are just mind boggling. However this game is awesome. I just wish it was a bit easier.

I never had troubles with Fusion. Well... almost never. Had to try Nightmare 3 times before killing it. Other bosses were pretty easy for me.

Nightmare gave me hell for the longest time. That second form was brutal. And That Security bot was tough, too. And SA-X was impossible until I figured out that trick.

Hmm, nightmare wan't too hard, probably one of the easiest bosses. The hardest bosses I have come across so far are (spoilers)

this big spider thing that tries to pick you up in it's pincers and suck your energy away in huge amounts, and some wierd plant thing that doesn't attack you, but if you fall into one of the flower things in the water below it slowly kills you and you can't get out.

http://images.wikia.com/metroid/images/4/4a/Yakuza.png
http://images.wikia.com/metroid/images/3/3d/Nettori.png

I remember having trouble with that thing too. And only that... if I remember. This is the first game where Metroid finally "clicked" for me.

Fusion is my 7th favorite Metroid game, out of the 11. It's not a bad game, by any means, but it doesn't fit well into the rest of the series. Besides, it's like impossible to sequence break at all. I much prefer Zero Mission. It's my 2nd favorite.

Do I have to play Metroid 1 and 2 to understand Fusion?

I agree with mickeymac here. I'm not sure why people find the bosses cheap. Only that spider gave me trouble. SA-X is relatively easy once you figure out how to beat her. My only complaint were the pointless computer lockouts. They make the game more linear than it needs to be, but it's still not as linear as Other M.

Fusion is a masterpiece in game design and story telling and they are so well intergraded here. It's far better than Zero Mission which is just a rehash of the original game anyway, which got a rehash in Super Metroid.

I disagree. Super Metroid wasn't a rehash of Metroid 1, for starters. And while yes, Zero Mission was a remake of Metroid 1, that doesn't automatically make it bad. It added so much to the game that if Nintendo hadn't said that it was a remake, it probably wouldn't even be recognized as one. I enjoy Zero Mission more than Fusion because of Fusion's previously mentioned linearity. It just doesn't have the same Metroid-y feel that such games as Super, Zero Mission, and Prime 1 have. And I'll reiterate Fusion's lack of the extensive sequence breaking that gave the Metroid series much of its charm.

I've just played Fusion for an hour, my first encounter with it, and I'm utterly engrossed. On the presentation side of things there's some gorgeous sprites to gawk at, and the sound just has to be enjoyed with headphones.

I've not found it too hard so far, though I'm obviously only just getting started. I actually died on the first boss, and realised that I needed to wake up and concentrate. I actually like the fact that, so far, I haven't become utterly, utterly lost. I found Super Metroid slightly frustrating because of that, so I don't mind the more linear structure. I never got lost, incidentally, in any of the Metroid Primes.

[Awaits angry Super Metroid fans reaction]

How could you guys even say this game is bad? It's WONDERFUL. From the design down to the game mechanics and the layout, it's superb! It takes elements of the Metroid games before it and it updates the whole gameplay. I love how the areas are so detailed and how the adventure takes place on a space station (at least in the beginning, I am still playing it for the first time here.) So wonderful and in depth. I am loving it more than any other Metroid so far. (And Metroid II is hard to beat, imho.) I am a huge fan of the original, too. Super Metroid was cool for it's time, but never beat the original (for me) I am a retro kid. However, this game so far even blows the original and Metroid II out of the water for me. Wonderful wonderful game!

It's worth noting that I never said that this game was bad. It's just not as good as some of the others. And it may take a couple of elements here and there, but the most important element in any Metroid game is not included: exploration. This is one of two games in the series in which you're told where to go, and it removes most of the exploration that made the rest of the series so great.

True. It does seem very linear. But I like that, too. I like how they tried to make this game more different than the others. Sometimes random exploring and trying to blow up walls everywhere gets annoying. I am loving the attention to detail on the levels of this game!

You can sequence break Fusion, pretty sure. Check Metroid2002.com.

There is like one thing you can do in Fusion, compared to nearly a dozen in Zero Mission and Super. It's a trivial thing, too. I'm just saying that Metroid Fusion is too different and linear for my tastes.I much prefer fighting Mother Brain with only 5 missiles, no Super Missiles, and no screw attack, high-jump, or wave beam. 8D

yeah, I'm not one who cares TOO much if a Metroid game is suddenly linear but I do agree it would have been better if they could have made it less linear. But it's still a great game, and has a surprisingly really good story despite being less subtle(unlike that other game (we will not get off topic by talking about it so don't)). Music could have been better but GBA. The twist towards the end is one of the best I've seen in a game honestly.

I think the linearity is better suited to a handheld game. I would get stuck so bad in Metroid 2 as a kid because I would play a little while, pick it up later and forget entirely where I was going earlier.

Given Other M's direction though, I don't think that was their reasoning.

Metroid 2 was also quite linear. Not as linear as Fusion, nor as obviously so, but if you look at a map, it's more obvious.

I agree with you completely. Super Metroid could be frusturating (i'm still stuck ) finding out where to go and what doors you can open and whatnot; didnt have any problems beating Metroid Prime however. I personally like the linear style and more focus on action for Metroid Fusion. I played this the most today out of all the gba games too.