History Nightmarefuel / MetroidFusion

*** Even worse: if you played too much Metroid Fusion, you can hear SA-X coming just by listening to the theme. Its presence invades your subconscious.

* The Galactic Federation's motives... [[spoiler: they denied Samus from blowing up the space station so they could capture a live specimen of SA-X to use as a controlled biological weapon, despite the 100% risk of it killing them all, then raising them as mutant zombies, and then multiplying, spreading across the galaxy, eventually the universe, destroying all civilization. The [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Umbrella Corporation]] has nothing on these guys.]]

* Something that doesn't get brought up enough with regards to ''Fusion'' is thr overall sound design. The game's soundtrack and ambient sounds ratchet up the dread like no other ''Metroid'' game before it. The music has a much more dramatic and heart-pounding tone that constantly makes your heart tense up as you navigate the desolate station while creature sounds and ''[[HellIsThatNoise definitely]]'' the sounds the bosses make can induce rampant panic attacks that numb your focus and make you react instinctively instead of tactically because you ''just want it to go away''. Play this game with your headphones on and in the dark and it is grade-A ParanoiaFuel.

** Even worse is if you consider why it was even created. It was made as a military weapon. Now imagine, you're fighting the Federation, and they suddenly unleash this... THING that immediately begins increasing gravity, making it impossible to move, and ripping your fellow soldiers apart (all while "crying" green ooze, and the last thing you see is that GODDAMN FACE. YIKES.

** Even worse is if you consider why it was even created. It was made as a military weapon. Now imagine, you're fighting the Federation, and they suddenly unleash this... THING that immediately begins increasing gravity, making it impossible to move, and ripping your fellow soldiers apart, and the last thing you see is that GODDAMN FACE. YIKES.

* Something that doesn't get brought up enough with regards to ''Fusion'' is thr overall sound design. The game's soundtrack and ambient sounds ratchet up the dread like no other ''Metroid'' game before it. The music has a much more dramatic and heart-pounding tone that constantly makes your heart tense up as you navigate the desolate station while creature sounds and ''[[HellIsThatNoise definitely]]'' the sounds the bosses make can induce rampant panic attacks that numb your focus and make you react instinctively instead of tactically because you ''just want it to go away''. Play this game with your headphones on and in the dark and it is grade-A ParanoiaFuel.

* At the very beginning of the game, you can enter a cold storage room where you can see the frozen remains of none other than Ridley. After the power goes out, you have to pass through this room again and come face-to-face with the long-dead monster. Then he crumbles into pieces as a Core-X floats away, having stolen Ridley's DNA. Then, almost at the very end of the game, you find Ridley again at the bottom of a tall room, only now he looks like he's been dipped in molten metal and left out to dry. Then, [[RedEyesTakeWarning his eyes start to glow]]. The characteristic "pixelization" of the X parasites covers his entire body, and we meet Neo-Ridley, giving maybe the biggest roar of any enemy up to that point as he suddenly becomes twice the size that he was before. OhCrap.

* Serris, the boss of Sector 4, can be pretty scary all on his own, basically being a super-fast water snake-dragon-centipede thing. Seeing what happened to the ''real'' Serris is just plain unsettling, though. You're informed by Adam that Serris is contained in a breeding tank located just before the actual boss room. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zUv8jdGvjM "Environmental Disquiet"]] starts as soon as you enter the room and you see that Serris, this big nasty monster that Adam warned you about, has been reduced to nothing more than the skeleton now lying at the bottom of the tank.

* Also, the SA-X's face. Need to say more?

** SA-X IS a Nightmare Fuel itself. It mimics a full-power Samus, can kill her easily, and the theme for when SA-X is around is...unsettling, to say the least. It speaks volumes when [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds Samus]] even lampshades it herself when discussing it-

** SA-X IS a Nightmare Fuel itself. It mimics a full-power Samus, can kill her easily, and the theme for when SA-X is around is...unsettling, to say the least. It speaks volumes when [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds Sa]][[{{Badass}} mus]] even lampshades it herself when discussing it-

** SA-X IS a Nightmare Fuel itself. It mimics a full-power Samus, can kill her easily, and the theme for when SA-X is around is...unsettling, to say the least. It speaks volumes when [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds Sa]][[BadAss mus]] even lampshades it herself when discussing it-

* The Galactic Federation's motives... [[spoiler: they denied Samus from blowing up the space station so they could capture a live specimen of SA-X to use as a controlled biological weapon, despite the 100% risk of it killing them all, then raising them as mutant zombies, and then multiplying, spreading across the galaxy, eventually the universe, destroying all civilization. The [[ResidentEvil Umbrella Corporation]] has nothing on these guys.]]

* Considering how much your AI companion holds your hand through the first ~2/3 of the game, it is actually quite unsettling when you start doing in-universe SequenceBreaking that leaves him surprised. Shortly after the aforementioned power outage, it suddenly becomes very clear that you have entirely jumped the rails; the sense of exposure that realisation grants is surprisingly jarring.

** Nightmare also gets much more of an introduction than most of the other bosses, giving the player sufficient time to build up their own unease. During Samus's first trip to Sector 5, the player enters an enormous windowed room near the start of the Sector and every few seconds a huge silhouette flies past, causing the entire room to shake every time it does so ([[GenreSavvy which you just know you're going to wind up face-to-face with eventually]]). Much later in the game, there's an explosion in Sector 5 and when Samus goes to investigate, all the windows in the room are shattered and [[NothingIsScarier Nightmare is nowhere to be found.]]

* The fact that because the X parasites can obtain the knowledge of their victims, they can potencially build spaceships and infect the whole galaxy at an exponential rate. Yikes.

** SA-X IS a Nightmare Fuel itself. It mimics a full-power Samus, can kill her easily, and the theme for when SA-X is around is...unsettling, to say the least. It speaks volumes when Samus even lampshades it herself when discussing it-

** When you finally fight the SA-X as the penultimate boss, it does not disappoint, dishing out attacks just like yours and flying through the air with horizontal Screw Attacks. When you take out enough of its health, the SA-X falls to one knee and it looks like it might be over. Then it turns into [[EldritchAbomination something that Lovecraft would've been proud to come up with]].

** SA-X IS a Nightmare Fuel itself. It mimics a full-power Samus, can kill her easily, and the theme for when SA-X is around is... Unsettling.
** It's footsteps invoke the worst kind of terror. This thing can, and will, kill you easily. The only way to survive is to ''run.'' Very fast.

* Pretty much the entire sequence after the power goes out.

* At the very beginning of the game, you can enter a cold storage room where you can see the frozen remains of none other than Ridley. After the power goes out, you have to pass through this room again and come face-to-face with the long-dead monster. Then he crumbles into pieces as a Core-X floats away, having stolen Ridley's DNA. Then, almost at the very end of the game, you find Ridley again at the bottom of a tall room, only now he looks like he's been dipped in molten metal and left out to dry. Then, [[RedEyesTakeWarning his eyes start to glow]]. The characteristic "pixelization" of the X parasites covers his entire body, and we meet X-Ridley, giving maybe the biggest roar of any enemy up to that point as he suddenly becomes twice the size that he was before. OhCrap.

* Serris, the boss of Sector 4, can be pretty scary all on his own, basically being a super-fast water snake-dragon-centipede thing. Seeing what happened to the ''real'' Serris is just plain unsettling, though. You're informed by Adam that Serris is contained in a breeding tank located just before the actual boss room. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zUv8jdGvjM "Environmental Disquiet"]] starts as soon as you enter the room and you see that Serris, this big nasty monster that Adam warned you about, has been reduced to nothing more than the skeleton now lying at the bottom of the tank.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGmdZgGYSVQ EMERGENCY IN SECTOR 3! EMERGENCY IN SECTOR 3!]]

* Considering how much your AI companion holds your hand through the first ~2/3 of the game, it is actually quite unsettling when you start doing in-universe SequenceBreaking that leaves him surprised. Shortly after the aforementioned power outage, it suddenly becomes very clear that you have entirely jumped the rails; the sense of exposure that realisation grants is surprisingly jarring.

* The Galactic Federation's motives... [[spoiler: they denied Samus from blowing up the space station so they could capture a live specimen of SA-X to use as a controlled biological weapon, despite the 100% risk of it killing them all, then raising them as mutant zombies, and then multiplying, spreading across the galaxy, eventually the universe, destroying all civilization. The [[ResidentEvil Umbrella Corporation]] has nothing on these guys.]]

* The Galactic Federation's motives... [[spoiler: they denied Samus from blowing up the space station so they could capture a live specimen of SA-X to use as a controlled biological weapon, despite the 100% risk of it killing them all, then raising them as mutant zombies, and then multiplying, spreading across the galaxy (eventually) universe destroying all civilization. The [[ResidentEvil Umbrella Corporation]] has nothing on these guys.]]

** Even worse is if you consider why it was even created. It was made as a military weapon. Now imagine, you're fighting the Federation, and they suddenly unleash this... THING that immediately begins increasing gravity, making it impossible to move, and ripping your fellow soldiers apart, and the last thing you see is that GODDAMN FACE. YIKES.

* The Nightmare boss has the face of pure nightmare fuel. Then, again, justified by name.

* Also, the SA-X's face. Need to say more?