Metroid fans keep winning this year, as the Game Boy Advance title Metroid Fusion is coming to Nintendo Switch Online on March 9. This comes hot on the heels of a Switch release of a remastered version of Metroid Prime and the addition of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to Nintendo Switch Online, both of which arrived in February.
Originally released in 2002, Metroid Fusion is the direct sequel to the genre-defining Super Metroid. Until the release of Metroid Dread in 2021 it was the last entry in the series chronologically, and until the 2017 release of Metroid: Samus Returns was the last two-dimensional sidescroller in the series. It was once the black sheep of the franchise due to its increased focus on storytelling and more linear map design compared to its predecessors, but fans have warmed up to it over the years. It was previously rereleased on the 3DS in 2011 and the Wii U in 2014, and with the Switch’s large install base will surely be discovered by many players for the first time.
With the sudden spotlight on Metroid after this recent string of rereleases, one has to wonder if any news regarding the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 will materialize soon. That game was originally announced at E3 2017, but we’ve heard little about it since 2019, when development was shifted from Bandai Namco to Retro Studios, who made the original Prime series. As great as it is to have Fusion and the original Prime on the Switch, we’d still love to see Samus Aran return in a new adventure.
Fusion isn’t the only Nintendo classic to be exhumed on the Switch. Other GBA games coming to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service include Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Golden Sun, Fire Emblem and F-Zero Maximum Velocity.