Dec 11th 1-2-3: Short, Sweet, Scary - Metroid Fusion
Hi! It has been a slow, lesson-filled life this past two weeks.
For one, this newsletter is supposed to be on Metroid Prime 4, but I have yet to finish it.
In lieu of that, I have decided to go bite-sized in every way (this is a shorter entry for sure!)
I decided to talk about the Story Behind Metroid Fusion on Nintendo’s handheld Game Boy Advance.
1: The Story Behind The Story ( 3 minute read )
I’m ten years old, sitting outside in the warm air after swim team, still wrapped in a towel and smelling like chlorine.
The sun is setting.
Everything is peaceful in that very specific summer-evening way.
And yet my hands are shaking slightly.
Because on my white Game Boy Advance, the SA-X , a perfect, soulless copy of Samus, is hunting me.
It’s funny looking back now.
I’m sitting in total safety, surrounded by light and heat and childhood, and at the same time, I’m terrified of something made of pixels on a tiny screen.
That contrast is the heart of Metroid Fusion.
It’s a game where peace exists right next to fear.
Where growth exists right next to limitation.
And where the past version of yourself won’t stop chasing you.
A Girl Against Herself
When Fusion released in 2002, it did something the series had never done before: it turned inward.
Samus is weakened, infected, slowed down, changed. The game is less about power and more about identity.
And then there’s the SA-X .
Samus at full strength, without humanity, emotion, or restraint. It walks the same halls as you. It hears you. It hunts you.
Fusion quietly asks a question most of us avoid:
Who are you when you’re no longer who you used to be?
Constraint as Creative Fuel
Fusion was born from limitations:
a small screen, limited hardware, slower movement, tighter spaces.
Instead of fighting those limits, Sakamoto leaned into them. He made vulnerability the point. He made claustrophobia the atmosphere. He made the player feel every restriction Samus feels.
And strangely enough, that’s where the brilliance emerges:
Sometimes creativity doesn’t grow when you have more — it grows when you have less.
Fusion only feels the way it does because it’s constrained.
Because you’re not as strong as you remember being.
Because you can’t outrun everything.
Sometimes limitation is what gives a story its shape.
Sometimes limitation is what gives you your shape.
Being Hunted by Who You Were
The SA-X is one of the most meaningful metaphors in gaming.
It is you.
Or rather, the version of you you’re trying to grow beyond.
Faster.
Stronger.
More certain.
More dangerous precisely because it doesn’t hesitate.
Fusion’s message is simple:
Growth means facing your past self, not fleeing from it.
And sometimes that past self feels closer than you want it to.
Even on a peaceful summer night.
2: Creative Prompts From Us (ex. Write a short story, a poem, a song, or draw a quick illustration of these! Let your imagination run free.)
I. What are you running from in you art? How is that holding you back from growing?
II. To grow, you need to limit yourself. In keeping with our theme, how is one way you can restrict your art practice?
3: Quotes From The Team
I. “Fusion was about Samus confronting herself, literally and emotionally. That was the idea from the very beginning.” - Yoshio Sakamoto, Director
II. “Fusion’s horror came from limitation — smaller screen, tighter spaces, less light, less freedom. Those boundaries created tension.” - Takehiko Hosokawa, Art Director
III. “Fusion should feel like something is always watching you. That was the sensation we built the game around.” - Yoshio Sakamoto, Director
Thank you so much for reading!