Riding the Dark Highway With Samus Aran
In 2023, my friend AT Gonzalez was preparing a YouTube video titled The Video Game Moments That Scared Us. The following is my submission to what I hope will be an ongoing series for his Software Agents HQ channel. I also narrated this segment. You can watch his video here, and be sure to give him a subscription.
Here is the video game memory that scared me. Sleep tight.
In Metroid Fusion, you play as bounty hunter Samus Aran, fighting an invasion of parasites onboard a space station. At the start of the game, Samus is recovering from a parasite infection which has left her weakened and without her armor. Meanwhile, the same parasite steals Samus’ armor begins using it to wreak havoc. On a space station where almost every living thing is out to kill you, this parasitic shadow of Samus, the SA-X, is the biggest threat. In the event the SA-X finds you, the in-game advisor suggests only that you run and hide.
Later in the game, you cross a long corridor. There is a small crawlspace beneath the floor, and you transform into Samus’ morph-ball form to fit inside. Just as you’ve wedged yourself into this space, the SA-X enters on the floor above. The shaft you’re inside is a dead end, the SA-X blocks the only way back out. Then, the SA-X drops a Power Bomb, a devastating weapon that vaporizes most of the floor above you, and your hiding spot. You are left with just enough overhang from the shaft to conceal your morph-ball form. Move an inch, and it will see you. This handful of pixels is all that is protecting you from certain death at the hands of your murderous clone.
The SA-X looks around the gutted room, sees nothing, and moves on, leaving through a new exit revealed by the explosion.
On those family road trips, riding to the next hotel in Richfield or Las Vegas, I held my breath and didn’t dare move in the back seat, waiting for the SA-X to leave. As far as I’m concerned, the jump scare is easy; game design that makes you feel truly helpless, that makes you thankful for those few pixels of cover, is rarely achieved.
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