Metroid Fusion: Special Edition (Now with hard mode!)

[scm440]

Look forward to more exciting 5.0 :grin:

[MultiKoopa]

Hello. Trying this out. I absolutely love the idea of Sequence Breaking being added to Metroid Fusion, and the other changes seem great too. Enjoying it a lot so far, which is saying something since Fusion is my least favorite game in the series (never played Other M)

But uh... I'm trying out Infinite Bomb Jumping now, right after getting the bombs, and.... the timing is insane. it's practically pixel perfect. Is there any way this could be made a little more lenient? maybe closer to some of the other games? That would be amazing :)

[LurchingRex]

Hey there! I'm just wondering if it's possible to actually kill the SA-X early or if I've been wasting time. In the first encounter with him, I've worked out a system allowing me to hit him with charge attacks and jump away before he hits me. Thanks!

[Nikoshiba]

Like scm440, I'm also looking for a 100% Map of the Special Edition because there's a missile I can't find in Sector 5...  :nope:
@LurchingRex : I tried in Sector 6 but it seems impossible.

I think I found a permastuck in sector 4 (when you enter from sector 6) :


At this moment, I don't have ice missiles so I can't kill the big "root" in the room on the left so I can't go any further on this side.
And as I don't have Gravity Suit, I can't go back either from where I came or "screw attack" the ground.



By the way, is it possible to early kill SA-X ?
I think I found a safe spot in Sector 6 but it's loooooooong !


EDIT : Apparently not !
I chained the Charges Shots for at least 45 minutes and after a while, SA-X stops flashing and seems to no longer take damage...

[Lostglaceon]

Alright, quick update on what's going on with this hack, and responses to what you guys have recently asked.

First things first, what am I doing with this project? Currently, I'm whittling away at making another major update (v5.0). I have some small things I'd like to fix up, a request to address, and some patches to make. Other than that and fixing critical bugs (outside of the suit softlocking bug for now, since I have no idea what actually causes it), this should be the last release I need to make (at the very least for a long while).

Next, I did want to address a few things you've all asked about. No, you can't kill the SA-X. I more just allowed you to attempt it early, so you could see how weak you really are (well, and to trip people up, heh). Now, the last item in Sector 5 is actually in a room towards the start, one that originally only had 1 item. The opposite corner from that item had a random Power Bomb block there for no reason, so I moved the normally-required Missile Tank from Sector 3 into said spot. Last part I gotta ask is: Should I make/rip maps for the hack, since I've changed quite a bit (especially with what v5.0 is changing)?

Back to the topic of the hack's next update, I'm hoping to get the update out by mid-October! We'll see if I accomplish that goal.

[MultiKoopa]

Last part I gotta ask is: Should I make/rip maps for the hack, since I've changed quite a bit (especially with what v5.0 is changing)?

Yes, please!!

[Nikoshiba]

Again, thanks a lot, LostGlaceon, for your work. I'll have a new run on your Special Edition when v5.0 will be out.

[MultiKoopa]

Oh yeah I just did a run yesterday. Fusion is by far my least favorite Metroid game (never played Other M), and it's amazing how much sequence breaking improves it. Like, I had no plans to ever replay it. Special Edition didn't fix ALL my issues with it, but it really was a breath of fresh air. So thanks a lot!

Definitely gonna give it another run once 5.0 comes out

[scm440]

It's much happier to simply hide obvious items if you can

[Paulinho]

Alright, quick update on what's going on with this hack, and responses to what you guys have recently asked.

First things first, what am I doing with this project? Currently, I'm whittling away at making another major update (v5.0). I have some small things I'd like to fix up, a request to address, and some patches to make. Other than that and fixing critical bugs (outside of the suit softlocking bug for now, since I have no idea what actually causes it), this should be the last release I need to make (at the very least for a long while).

Next, I did want to address a few things you've all asked about. No, you can't kill the SA-X. I more just allowed you to attempt it early, so you could see how weak you really are (well, and to trip people up, heh). Now, the last item in Sector 5 is actually in a room towards the start, one that originally only had 1 item. The opposite corner from that item had a random Power Bomb block there for no reason, so I moved the normally-required Missile Tank from Sector 3 into said spot. Last part I gotta ask is: Should I make/rip maps for the hack, since I've changed quite a bit (especially with what v5.0 is changing)?

Back to the topic of the hack's next update, I'm hoping to get the update out by mid-October! We'll see if I accomplish that goal.

Please check the restricted area room (with metroids and SA-X) it's impossible at the moment to escape without space jump so if we attempt to get early wave beam we get stuck forever on that room since its impossible to bombjump between the metroids to escape in 1 minute

[BreadGyarados]

Alright, quick update on what's going on with this hack, and responses to what you guys have recently asked.

First things first, what am I doing with this project? Currently, I'm whittling away at making another major update (v5.0). I have some small things I'd like to fix up, a request to address, and some patches to make. Other than that and fixing critical bugs (outside of the suit softlocking bug for now, since I have no idea what actually causes it), this should be the last release I need to make (at the very least for a long while).

Next, I did want to address a few things you've all asked about. No, you can't kill the SA-X. I more just allowed you to attempt it early, so you could see how weak you really are (well, and to trip people up, heh). Now, the last item in Sector 5 is actually in a room towards the start, one that originally only had 1 item. The opposite corner from that item had a random Power Bomb block there for no reason, so I moved the normally-required Missile Tank from Sector 3 into said spot. Last part I gotta ask is: Should I make/rip maps for the hack, since I've changed quite a bit (especially with what v5.0 is changing)?

Back to the topic of the hack's next update, I'm hoping to get the update out by mid-October! We'll see if I accomplish that goal.

Please check the restricted area room (with metroids and SA-X) it's impossible at the moment to escape without space jump so if we attempt to get early wave beam we get stuck forever on that room since its impossible to bombjump between the metroids to escape in 1 minute

I think I got a softlock the first time I went to sector 6, I accessed the restricted area too early and now stuck with the BOX boss with no way to get out (no space jump)
I guess I'll replay the mods but this time get the space jump

[Azelf89]

Firstly, I want to say that I absolutely love this hack! I've been playing and replaying Fusion ever since I was a kid when I originally got my GBA back in the early 2000s, so to have this hack that pretty much improves the game in almost every way is just amazing to me!

Secondly, I do have some suggestions that I would love to see implemented, if you're still open to them. Most obvious one being incorporating some of the changes made to the Japanese version. Specifically, the updated title logo, Gallery option, the game remembering your sound settings, and the ability to skip the game's intro on subsequent playthroughs. The hard mode, I could take it or leave it. The other thing is that while I do love the new font, I do think the the game's text needs to be reformatted to fit the new constraints, because the existing formatting just leaves so much empty space in text boxes.

The last thing I would love to see, and is much more major, is something to the effect of new events regarding the new sequence breaks. Because one of the things that I love about Fusion and Dread are the acknowledgements the devs put in for people sequence breaking the game, with the special message in Fusion and the shinespark method of beating Kraid in Dread, and I would love to see something like that, but bigger in this romhack. Like, have new cutscenes that reflect which items you've gotten early, adapting the story with what you have. Things like Adam saying "You've obtained Power Bombs, the Plasma Beam and Space Jump already? Fascinating..." and adapting things from there, stuff like that. Hell, typing this out gave me the idea of having an alternate route for the story, you'd be able to fight the SA-X in the room where you'd normally fight the Varia Core-X if you enter through the other door after getting the Wave Beam & Screw Attack, giving you both the Varia Suit and the Ice Beam, skipping the need for the Ice Missiles and Diffusion Missiles, and letting the only things left being to save the animals and get the Gravity Suit. I have no idea if all that is even feasible, but if it is, I would love to have that happen.

[TP10]

This is indeed a special edition, a lot of changes that made the game better than the original:

* I liked the single wall jump, this helped me to fight Netori and some other bosses in random orders, this too helps to skip some areas and skip that tedious backtracking for items.
* I'm glad that Bomb jump came back, however my only "Issue" would be how precise you have to be to coordinate the bomb jump, however, I feel this isn't something to be worried about.
*Sequence break: The fact that I had plasma beam and power bombs almost at the start of the game was awesome, this added a lot of challenge and strategy to some bosses (I was like a whole hour trying to destroy Netori and the security Robot in sector 6) and the game never broke, it was neat the fact that I was able to play just how I wanted (not how the federation wanted me to play lol)
* Some new colors were nice, some colors I didn't notice them, I would like new colors on Samus's beams, however, that's just a thought, HUD colors were cool, I thought I was indeed playing a remake.

Now If I had to do some suggestions...

- Would it be possible to make restricted area... Escapable? I arrived there with strategy and luck, but without space jump... I had to restart the game bc even wall jump was impossible.
- is it possible to be able to turn off some abilities? Since I fought Netori and the Security bot with charged beam, I feel like it would be awesome to face other bosses with just charged beam
- skippable cutscenes: I honestly didn't like the fact that in Fusion, I had to spent the whole day looking at some cutscenes (specially replaying the game) or at least a fast text skipping, sometimes this just killed the mood
- another palette: (this one is just personal) I never liked Samus's varia suit palette, I always thought it just looked awful, but again, this is just a personal thought, I don't know what other people think about it.

Nice hack! I'm literally chewing my nails, waiting for v5.0... I know that it'll have a lot of improvement!

[ShadowOne333]

Just found out about this hack, and it's quite a thrill!
Can't wait to see what else is in store for this!

With that said, and if I may, I'd like to make two suggestions, which I hope could probably make it into a future patch to make this the defacto improvement hack for Fusion. They're basically just features from the Japanese version, really:

• A proper Hard Mode selection within the game's File Selection menu (and the diffculty changes to match the Japanese version's Hard mode)
• The Japanese-exclusive gallery images after certain completion requirements

Really just adding those two things to what this hack already has would make it the perfect version/hack of Fusion to my eyes.

Thanks for the effort put into this hack! It's a joy to experience!

[TLGOY]

I just wanted to thank you so much to the person who made this hack...

For the longest time I wanted to play a hard mode of this game but I never saw any that was similar to Metroid Zero mission.

But I saw the hard mode patch after downloading it and I got around to playing it...

It was everything I ever wanted... Nightmare was actually a nightmare and I loved it!

This is pretty much my first post... but I wanted to make an account just to say thank you for making this. It was fun!

(And for anyone curious, it took me around 2 hours and 44 minutes to beat the game with 44% ...Not a good speed runner, lol)

[Dynarec]

Hello, I just finished my first playthrough of this, and wanted to report a few potential bugs in the hack:

1. If you acquire the Wave Beam and Screw Attack early, it's possible to softlock after killing Nightmare. If you go back through the tall tunnel used to get into Nightmare's area, then go back to the Navigation Room in the Arctic Zone, the doors will close and seal you in for a lock.

The Screw Attack blocks at the top of that tunnel seem to enable this potential lock.

2. If you acquire the Wave Beam and Screw attack early, then try to get into the Aquatic Zone early, via the Screw Attack blocks & glass tube from the Night Zone early, it's possible to softlock. There's a long, deep tunnel in the Aquatic Zone, accessible from that entrance, that if you get into it, will prevent you from ever getting out.

On the western side, one of those purple/green shock plants blocks the way. Above, there are Speed Booster blocks, which can't be broken due to the Speed Booster not working underwater without Gravity Suit. Then, back in the long vertical tunnel, there are Screw Attack blocks on the ground that lead to the Tropical Zone. Those can't be broken either due to the Screw Attack not working underwater.

Finally, you can't get back up the tunnel because you don't have the Ice Missiles to freeze the expanding spike plants.

3. During the giant Core X fight for the Varia Suit, I had one instance where the game locked up and forced a reset because Samus was stuck in a running animation after the "Varia Suit Acquired" message was displayed on screen. 

Overall, I enjoyed the hack! Sequence breaking's my favorite part of the series. Nettori with hardly any items was pretty hard.

[ZebesianScientist]

I literally had to register in order to one, just get this off my chest, and two, finally get to something I've been trying to;
For 5.0, can you restore the scrapped Charge Beam and/or make the beams stackable in some way? I think it'd work a lot better in the game, and be more akin to Super Metroid.
And on one matter of specification, the plasma beam depicted in Super is a zig-zag, and the beam depicted in Fusion is a green straight line. I'd like the one in Super imported.
But all in all, I'm sorry for my incredibly dramatic entrance. I reached out to BioSpark, another YTer who showcased Stackable Beams, and even someone who played Fusion before, and the only choice I had left was this. I hope my request works for you one way or another.  :^_^:

[miraclekorstar]

is it possible to use the randomizer with this? i would really enjoy seeing this overhaul of the graphics with the randomizer

[djcdubz]

Finished it. Really wild. RIDICULOUS sequence breaks and several major map glitches due to events changing order and the area changing unexpectedly upon going in or out of a door. Nothing got in the way of me beating the game though or getting every item (except entering the room with the plasma beam from the rear; you need to lock that door).

Someone reported an issue with Samus running in place after getting the Varia suit. I had the same thing happen when I got the Gravity Suit. Got around it by jumping into the X while morphed rather than upright. Don't know if that matters.

Anyway, really looking forward to v5.0.

Here was my item progression for those interested in possible sequence breaks:

[spoiler]
missiles
morph ball
charge beam
bomb
power bomb
plasma beam
hi jump/jump ball
space jump
super missiles
speed booster
wide beam
wave beam
screw attack
gravity suit
diffusion missiles
varia suit
ice missiles
ice beam
[/spoiler]

[Meinos Belfort]

Hello Lostglaceon and the others member, since i've done / finished the MF : SE Rom hack you made with the others (v4.2) i've wanted to tell that it's was a really well made vanilla + SB hack , however hard mode isn't that hard at all , at least that's my opinion.

i've been also wondering if you know when the famous V5.0 will come out , since it's been a few weeks i didn't heard of a update for that hack like you "promised" , i know that you make it with the others on your free time and you have other and more important stuff to deal with , i'm just hoping we'll see the v5.0 before the end of January 2022 , or in the best case the 1st january / 31th december 2021

hoping everything is alright on your side and for the other too.

[Yoshlord]

This hack is awesome! It has given me ample reason to come back to Fusion which I cannot thank the dev enough for!

For all those who are stuck in the restricted lab during the countdown, there is a "damage boost" you can do off of the metroid at the very top of the room that allows you to escape. The linked clip shows the trick and has details in the description.
https://youtu.be/tnFknhdQBzk

Neo-Ridley is very nigh impossible without both plasma and wide beam, so those come highly recommended. Unfortunately, though, unless I'm missing some other trick, the screw attack blocks in the shaft in sector 1 cannot be reached without space jump, making it impossible to get back to the rest of game. Maybe a tweak to the room itself could make it possible?

Good stuff, though! Love this game!

[Paulinho]

This hack is awesome! It has given me ample reason to come back to Fusion which I cannot thank the dev enough for!

For all those who are stuck in the restricted lab during the countdown, there is a "damage boost" you can do off of the metroid at the very top of the room that allows you to escape. The linked clip shows the trick and has details in the description.
https://youtu.be/tnFknhdQBzk

Neo-Ridley is very nigh impossible without both plasma and wide beam, so those come highly recommended. Unfortunately, though, unless I'm missing some other trick, the screw attack blocks in the shaft in sector 1 cannot be reached without space jump, making it impossible to get back to the rest of game. Maybe a tweak to the room itself could make it possible?

Good stuff, though! Love this game!

Ok, now i know that is possible. When I was playing I've tried a few times to do that, i figured out that it was the only way to pass that part but I wasn't really interested in trying a hundred times to do that.. i really think the mod should change the room to let us do that path more smoothly

[Azelf89]

Firstly, I want to say that I absolutely love this hack! I've been playing and replaying Fusion ever since I was a kid when I originally got my GBA back in the early 2000s, so to have this hack that pretty much improves the game in almost every way is just amazing to me!

Secondly, I do have some suggestions that I would love to see implemented, if you're still open to them. Most obvious one being incorporating some of the changes made to the Japanese version. Specifically, the updated title logo, Gallery option, the game remembering your sound settings, and the ability to skip the game's intro on subsequent playthroughs. The hard mode, I could take it or leave it. The other thing is that while I do love the new font, I do think the the game's text needs to be reformatted to fit the new constraints, because the existing formatting just leaves so much empty space in text boxes.

The last thing I would love to see, and is much more major, is something to the effect of new events regarding the new sequence breaks. Because one of the things that I love about Fusion and Dread are the acknowledgements the devs put in for people sequence breaking the game, with the special message in Fusion and the shinespark method of beating Kraid in Dread, and I would love to see something like that, but bigger in this romhack. Like, have new cutscenes that reflect which items you've gotten early, adapting the story with what you have. Things like Adam saying "You've obtained Power Bombs, the Plasma Beam and Space Jump already? Fascinating..." and adapting things from there, stuff like that. Hell, typing this out gave me the idea of having an alternate route for the story, you'd be able to fight the SA-X in the room where you'd normally fight the Varia Core-X if you enter through the other door after getting the Wave Beam & Screw Attack, giving you both the Varia Suit and the Ice Beam, skipping the need for the Ice Missiles and Diffusion Missiles, and letting the only things left being to save the animals and get the Gravity Suit. I have no idea if all that is even feasible, but if it is, I would love to have that happen.

Okay so after some time, considering that 5.0 hasn't dropped yet, I'mma put down some more suggestions that I've thought of.

[spoiler]
- Alter the event of Adam telling Samus to go to Sector 1, to instead have him tell her to just head down to the sector elevators.

- Allow for early Sector 2, before ever getting Charge Beam.

- Instead of giving you the infinite wall jump immediately from the start, have it be an ability you unlock! Specifically, group it with the Hi-Jump and Jumpball abilities you get from Zazabi. Call it the "Walljump+".

- Keep the requirement of having completed both Sectors 1 & 2, but still allowing players to complete either one first.

- Allow Nettori and Yakuza to be damaged with the normal energy beam. It would take a lot longer to kill them that way, but it could be done.

- Have Serris, the Scientist Core-X, Varia Core-X, Yakuza, the Security Robot, and Ridley-X all be optional fights that you don't need to do.

- Make the Speedbooster be a completely optional power-up, not needed to complete the game, just like in Super Metroid, changing certain blocks to non-speedbooster blocks in order to do so.

- After beating both Sectors 1 & 2, have Adam recommend you go to Sector 4, but says that you are allowed to go to Sector 3 beforehand.

- Have the event where you can rescue the animals available after you obtain Super Missiles, using either space jump or even the walljump to reach them.

- Expanding on my "Early SA-X" idea, I think that, if you do manage to beat it in the Varia Core-X arena, rather than just grant you the Ice Beam & Varia Suit, have it give you all of it's abilities! Wide Beam, Wave Beam, Ice Beam, Varia Suit, Power Bombs, Space Jump and Screw Attack. I think that would be a nice reward for those especially skilled players. The obtained item text could be "Original Suit Abilities Restored". This would also completely skip the operations deck battle with it. I would also recommend needing to have saved the animals in the upper decks before this version of the fight could even trigger.

- Add an event for the ideas above, where you find the door to Sector 6's navigation room blasted open, much like the door above in the main deck. Adam then tells you that the SA-X has already arrived in Sector 6, and that you'll likely encounter it in the sector. He then warns you not to fight it unless you literally have no choice, warning you to take extremely caution.

- An optional event could be added, where you find the Sector 6 elevator not working, with Adam seemingly not knowing the answer as to why. You then later find out, after finding the Metroid tanks, that the federation had Adam turn off all elevators, which he reverses after the last briefing with him before the final fight.
[/spoiler]

[Heretic89]

Amazing. Simply amazing. It is such a major yet subtle improvement. Thank you.
I made a small text addon for this hack, if you are interested: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6876/
Hopefully it brings some consistency considering the ice beam.

[Jordo24]

any update on version 5.0?