___ _ _ _ ___ _ / _ __ ___ ____ _ _ _ _ /__/// ///_\ /__//_\ / / |/ //__//_ _//_\ /_\ ///_\ ·•○ \\ // /////// / //// / //|_/// / // ////////////// ○•· /¯¯/ \¯¯///¯¯/ ¯///\\ / // /// ¯/ // //\\ \¯//// ¯/ ¯¯¯ ¯¯ ¯ ¯¯¯ ¯ ¯/ ¯ ¯ ¯¯¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯¯¯ GUIDE/WALKTHROUGH by INSECTOID (Thomas Keith) v1.1 (2014-03-05) ____________________ / TABLE OF CONTENTS / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 About the Game 1.2 About This Guide SECTION 2: GAME BASICS 2.1 Menus and Settings 2.1.1 Samus Data 2.1.2 Option Mode 2.1.3 Controller Setting Mode 2.1.4 Special Setting Mode 2.1.5 Game Screen 2.1.6 Map Screen 2.1.7 Samus Screen 2.2 Controls 2.3 Abilities 2.4 Environment 2.4.1 Special Blocks 2.4.2 Doors and Gates 2.4.3 Other Hazards 2.4.4 Enemies 2.4.5 Special Rooms 2.4.6 Power-Ups 2.5 Expansions 2.6 Equipment 2.6.1 Secondary Items 2.6.2 Beam Items 2.6.3 Suit Items 2.6.4 Boot Items 2.6.5 Special Items SECTION 3: WALKTHROUGH 3.1 The Story So Far 3.2 Ceres Station Space Colony 3.3 Crateria's Rocky Tunnels 3.4 The Jungles of Brinstar 3.5 The Fiery Depths of Norfair 3.6 Exploring the Wrecked Ship 3.7 Hunting Down Some Items 3.8 The Perilous Waters of Maridia 3.9 Rematch with Ridley 3.10 The Terrors of Tourian 3.11 Ending SECTION 4: WALKTHROUGH CHECKLIST SECTION 5: ZONE GUIDE & ITEM CHECKLIST 5.1 Crateria 5.*.1 Area-Specific Hazards 5.*.2 Special Rooms 5.*.3 Creatures 5.*.4 Equipment 5.*.5 Missile Packs 5.*.6 Super Missile Packs 5.*.7 Power Bomb Packs 5.*.8 Energy & Reserve Tanks 5.2 Brinstar & Kraid's Lair 5.3 Norfair & Ridley's Lair 5.4 Wrecked Ship 5.5 Maridia 5.6 Tourian SECTION 6: HELPFUL HINTS 6.1 Tips and Tricks 6.1.1 Time-Saving Zigs and Zags 6.1.2 General Tips for Fast Games 6.1.3 Time Logs 6.2 Most-Often Forgotten Items 6.3 Replacing the Game Pak Battery SECTION 7: FURTHER INFORMATION 7.1 Legal Stuff 7.2 Acknowledgments 7.3 Web Links 7.4 Version Info „„„„„„„„„„„„/„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ ══════════════════════════/ SECTION 1 / INTRODUCTION /══════════════════════════ ”””””””””””/””””””””””””””” ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ────────────────────────────/ 1.1 / About the Game /──────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ SUPER METROID, a.k.a. METROID 3, was the third game released in the METROID series. (Not the third game in the fictional chronology; the events in the METROID PRIME series of games occur between METROID and METROID II: • METROID (NES, 1986) / METROID: ZERO MISSION (GBA, 2004) • METROID PRIME (GC, 2002) • METROID PRIME HUNTERS (DS, 2006) • METROID PRIME 2: ECHOES (GC, 2004) • METROID PRIME 3: CORRUPTION (Wii, 2007) • METROID II: THE RETURN OF SAMUS (GB, 1991) • SUPER METROID (SNES, 1994) • METROID: OTHER M (Wii, 2010) • METROID FUSION (GBA, 2002) The series follows the adventures of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, often pitting her against the notorious Space Pirates, and the energy-draining lifeforms known as Metroids. The series is noted for its nonlinear gameplay; there are many areas to explore, and not all need be visited to complete the game, but many areas require special items to access. SUPER METROID was released for the Super Nintendo (Super Famicom in Japan) in 1994, and was put on the "Player's Choice" label sometime after. Unlike many other SNES titles such as DONKEY KONG COUNTRY and THE LEGEND OF ZELDA, SUPER METROID was not rereleased for the Game Boy Advance handheld. It was finally rereleased for the Wii Virtual Console in 2007. I first played SUPER METROID in late 2007 (on a SNES, not a Wii), over 13 years since it was released. (I obtained my SNES from a friend in late 2003; my parents wouldn't buy that sort of thing when it was new.) I found it to be quite enjoyable, certainly one of the best for the console, and have played it many times since then, always shooting for a better time. As of this writing my best time with 100% is 1:38. (Not a world record, but not too shabby either.) With this guide I hope to be able to teach my brother well enough to equal or beat my time. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────/ 1.2 / About This Guide /─────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ My experience with guide-writing is limited. This is the first walkthrough that I've completed from start to finish. With other walkthroughs to assist me (thanks to Foxhound3857 and Marshmallow), and the Nintendo Player's Guide for SUPER METROID, I think I've done a decent job. This guide is plain text, but uses the UTF-8 (Unicode) encoding rather than the usual Latin-1 or Windows encodings; this is so I can use symbols to make up the dividers in the guide. I have tested it on 3 different operating systems and 4 different Web browsers, and it seems to be fine. It was written for display in a monospace font (well, the tables and dividers, anyway) with a line length of 80 characters. This guide is copyright ©2014 Thomas Keith (Insectoid). For terms of use and other copyright information, as well as full acknowledgements and version history, please see SECTION 7, "Further Information." „„„„„„„„„„„„/„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ ══════════════════════════/ SECTION 2 / GAME BASICS /══════════════════════════ ”””””””””””/””””””””””””””” ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────────/ 2.1 / Menus and Settings /────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 2.1.1 / Samus Data /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ When you turn on the game, press START on the title screen to reach the "SAMUS DATA" screen. There are three saved game slots to choose from; you can also choose to copy (DATA COPY) or delete (DATA CLEAR) an existing game. To begin, select a game slot and press A to go to the "OPTION MODE" screen. Existing games show the amount of energy Samus has, plus the number of Energy Tanks (and how many are full). The elapsed time of each game is also shown. _______________________ ────────────────────────────/ 2.1.2 / Option Mode /──────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ On the "OPTION MODE" screen, you can begin the game right away (START GAME), change the text language from English to Japanese (ENGLISH TEXT/JAPANESE TEXT), or go to one of the setting sub-menus described below. ___________________________________ ──────────────────────/ 2.1.3 / Controller Setting Mode /────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ On the "CONTROLLER SETTING MODE" screen, you have the choice to reassign the following game controls: SHOT JUMP DASH ITEM SELECT ITEM CANCEL ANGLE UP ANGLE DOWN The default assignments are: X A B Select Y R L The Player's Guide recommends using the following assignments: Y B A Select X R L They claim this is a more "intuitive" setup (I personally don't care for it), but it's ultimately up to you and what you're comfortable with. The controls are described in more detail in SECTION 2.2. _______________________________ ────────────────────────/ 2.1.4 / Special Setting Mode /──────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ On the "SPECIAL SETTING MODE" screen, you have a couple more options: ○ ICON CANCEL — Default is 'MANUAL'. When set to 'AUTO', when you walk \ through a door in the game, any secondary weapon you have selected will │ be deselected automatically. (Helps if you have a habit of forgetting │ to deselect your Missiles after blasting open a door, and then wasting │ them.) It's best to leave on 'MANUAL', though, to encourage you to │ remember. ○ MOON WALK — Default is 'OFF'. When turned on, you can fire your Beam \ while moving in the opposite direction. Fairly useless in most │ situations, but might have a use in boss fights. _______________________ ────────────────────────────/ 2.1.5 / Game Screen /──────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The game screen consists of the following items above the game itself. When you first start, only your current Energy and the Map are displayed, but as you collect items and upgrades the following items are added: ○ Energy Tanks: The number of Energy Tanks you have, and the level of the \ current tank. ○ AUTO: When you have collected one or more Reserve Tanks, this icon will \ appear, and will light when some or all of the Reserve Tank(s) are │ filled. ○ Secondary Weapons: These can be used by selecting them (with Select, of \ course), and pressing the corresponding key. │ │ Missiles, Super Missiles: How many Missiles and Super Missiles you have │ left. These use the regular Fire button when selected. │ │ Power Bombs: How many Power Bombs you have left. These use the regular │ Fire button when selected, but only when Samus has rolled up with the │ Morphing Ball. │ │ Grappling Beam: This uses the regular Fire button when selected, but │ only stays on while you hold the button down. │ │ X-Ray Scope: This uses the Dash button to operate when selected, but │ only stays on while you hold the button down. ○ Map: A portion of your current location on the Map; to see the rest, press \ START to reach the Map Screen. _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 2.1.6 / Map Screen /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The map screen shows the areas that you have visited so far in magenta. If you collect data from a Map Computer (there is one in each area except Tourian), areas that you haven't visited (that are not secret) are marked in blue. (In Tourian, you get the whole map in blue automatically, except for the escape route.) Secret areas are not marked until you visit them. Rooms that contain an item are marked with a small square ■. Special rooms are marked differently; Map Rooms are marked with an 'M', Save Rooms with a 'S'. Energy Recharge Rooms are marked with a yellow energy ball, and Missile Recharge Rooms are marked with a red Missile. Boss rooms are marked with a creature sort of symbol. Elevators are marked with a small line ▬ above or below which is a dashed shaft. _______________________ ────────────────────────────/ 2.1.7 / Samus Screen /──────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Pressing R while on the Map Screen takes you to the Samus Screen. (Pressing L returns you to the Map Screen.) The Samus Screen shows all of Samus's weapons and equipment, and allows you to equip or unequip any of them as you see fit. The one exception to this is the Spazer Beam; once you collect the Plasma Beam, the Spazer is automatically unequipped. They cannot both be selected at the same time. (Except with certain glitches, which I don't go into in this guide, as they're unnecessary.) Of particular note on this screen is the Reserve Tank section. Here, you can switch Reserve Tank fill control from 'AUTO' to 'MANUAL'. When it's set to 'AUTO', energy is taken from Reserve Tanks ONLY when Samus's energy drops to 0. When it's set to 'MANUAL', you must do this energy transfer on this screen. Handy if you need the energy transferred before you get to 0. (Such as when you are attempting a spectacular mile-long horizontal Super-Jump...) ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────────/ 2.2 / Controls /─────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’ The default controls are: ○ Control Pad (AKA D-pad): \ [▲] Up Aim straight up. If you're crouched, hold both L and R to │ aim straight up. │ [▼] Down Press once to crouch; if you have the Morphing Ball, press │ again to roll into a ball (morph). In mid-air, this aims │ straight down. │ [◄] Left Run left. │ [►] Right Run right. │ │ These can also be combined when aiming to aim in all four diagonal │ directions. ○ (A) Jump. If you jump while running, you'll do a Spin-Jump (or Space— \ Jump/Screw Attack, when equipped). ○ (B) Dash. If equipped, this also activates the Speed Booster (or the \ X-Ray Scope if it is selected). ○ (X) Fire. Holding this button will make Samus fire rapidly (or activate \ the Charge Beam, if it's equipped). ○ (Y) Cancel secondary weapon selection. ○ [L] Angle down (aim diagonally down). ○ [R] Angle up (aim diagonally up). ○ (Start) Pause and show Map and Samus Screens. ○ (Select) Cycle through available secondary weapons. All of these (except the Control Pad and Start buttons) can be reassigned on the "CONTROLLER SETTING MODE" screen when you start your game. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────────────/ 2.3 / Abilities /────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Many of these are shown in the demo when you turn on the game and don't press any buttons. ○ Spin-Jump \ To perform a spin-jump, simply jump while running. The spin-jump allows │ you to jump a little higher and farther than a normal jump. Spin-jumps │ are also the only way you can jump while holding onto a super-charge │ without losing it (see "Super-Jump"). Spin-jumping also allows you to │ use the Space Jump and Screw Attack (when equipped), and is essential to │ wall-jumping. ○ Wall-Jump \ AKA Triangle Jump (what kind of name is that?!). It's very simple: │ spin-jump against a wall, push in the opposite direction, then press │ Jump to jump off the wall. Note that this must be done rather quickly, │ and the 'push' and 'jump' must be one right after the other (NOT at the │ same time), otherwise you'll mess up. It is a useful skill to have; │ many areas that call for use of the Space Jump or Grappling Beam can be │ passed by an practiced wall-jumper, and can sometimes save you a little │ time.) ○ Charge Attack \ Charge your Beam, and then spin-jump; Samus will flash green. This │ attack can damage certain enemies; if you destroy an enemy with it, you │ will not take any damage. (Foxhound calls this the "pseudo-Screw │ Attack". The only difference between this and a Screw Attack is that │ the Charge Attack does a fixed amount of damage; whereas the Screw │ Attack is an instant kill.) ○ Bomb tricks \ There are several tricks you can do once you obtain the Bombs, besides │ blow up blocks and damage enemies: │ │ • Bomb-Jump │ When you drop a bomb, it bounces Samus upward about two blocks' │ worth. This basic bomb-jump is used throughout the game, until you │ acquire the Spring Ball. │ │ • Turbo-Jump │ A bomb-jump of two or more jumps, achieved by repeatedly dropping │ bombs. According to the Player's Guide, having a Turbo Controller │ (a SNES controller with a turbo fire option) makes it easier to do │ Turbo-Jumps, but I've never tried it. │ │ Insectoid's Tip: │ • There are more complicated and difficult types of bomb-jumps you │ can try––horizontal and diagonal, for example, as well as several │ glitches––but I'm afraid most of them are beyond my skill, and │ will not be covered in this guide. (None of them are required to │ beat the game.) │ │ • Five-Bomb Drop │ If you charge your Beam and then morph, a spread of five Bombs is │ released. Not particularly useful. ○ Power Bomb Tricks \ You can also do some tricks once you get Power Bombs: │ │ • Special Charge Beam Attacks │ If you have Power Bombs and at least one other Beam besides the │ Charge Beam, you can perform this neat trick. Select your Power │ Bombs, and equip the Charge Beam and ONLY ONE other Beam. Charge │ your Beam, and a Power Bomb will be used to create a special attack. │ The type, range, and damage of the attack depends on the beam you │ select along with the Charge Beam. The Ice Beam has the weakest │ effect (it makes a sort of ice shield around Samus), and the Plasma │ Beam has the strongest (an attack that spirals out from Samus, │ affecting all nearby enemies). │ │ • Crystal Flash │ Here's a neat trick for when you're running low on energy (less │ than 30 units, with empty tanks and no reserves), and have a certain │ number of items (at least 10 Missiles and 10 Super Missiles, and at │ least 11 Power Bombs). Drop a Power Bomb, and while rolled up, │ quickly hold L, R, Fire, and Down before it goes off. If you do it │ right, Samus will suddenly glow brightly (silhouetting her with her │ suit off!), and your energy will be restored to maximum, not │ including Reserve Tanks. ○ Super-Jump \ Foxhound calls this "shinesparking" (which is a cool name). After │ collecting the Speed Booster, you can reach super-speed when holding │ the Dash button and running. If you press Down while at super-speed, │ you'll store the energy (super-charge), allowing you to move freely │ with the charge for several seconds before it dissipates. If you press │ Jump within this timeframe, you will take off at high speed in the │ desired direction: │ │ ► Vertical — Press Jump; no direction needed. │ ► Horizontal — Press Jump and immediately tap Left or Right. │ ► Diagonal — Angle up in either direction, then press Jump. │ │ Take care, though; Super-Jumping drains Samus's energy the longer you │ speed through the air. │ │ Insectoid's Tip: │ • It is possible to reach super-speed in a shorter distance than │ normal; to do this, start running, and THEN press the Dash button │ (instead of the other way around). This is very useful when you │ don't have a lot of room to run (such as the high cliff overlooking │ Samus's ship, or the bottom of the Tourian escape shaft). ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ─────────────────────────────/ 2.4 / Environment /───────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 2.4.1 / Special Blocks /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The terms used for some of these come from METROID PRIME. I have retained them, mostly because it would seem repetitive to call all sandstone and bendezium blocks just 'blastable blocks' or some such (and they are not given an official name in the literature). ○ Sandstone blocks \ Can be destroyed by any of your weapons EXCEPT the Screw Attack. Some │ reappear right away; others do not reappear until you reenter the room. │ They appear as cracked blocks with the X-Ray Scope. ○ Crumble blocks \ These evil, evil blocks crumble instantly when you step on top of them, │ and they cannot be destroyed by ANY other means, not even the Screw │ Attack. They can, however, be jumped off of; your timing has to be JUST │ right, jumping a fraction of a second after the block crumbles. Like │ sandstone, some crumble blocks reappear right away; others do not │ reappear until you reenter the room. They appear as... well, crumbly │ blocks after reappearing or with the X-Ray Scope. ○ Bendezium blocks \ Can only be destroyed by Bombs, Power Bombs, the Speed Booster, and the │ Screw Attack, and do not reappear until you reenter the room. These │ appear as a brick-like material with the X-Ray Scope. ○ Super Missile blocks \ Can only be destroyed with a Super Missile, and seldom reappear until │ you reenter the room. (I know of at least one that reappears, outside │ the upper Wrecked Ship.) These have a Super Missile symbol on them │ viewed under X-Ray. ○ Speed Booster blocks \ AKA Booster blocks, these can only be destroyed by using the Speed │ Booster (this includes Super-Jumping); some reappear right away; others │ do not reappear until you reenter the room. These have a Speed Booster │ symbol on them when viewed under X-Ray. ○ Power Bomb blocks \ Can only be destroyed with a Power Bomb, and do not reappear until you │ reenter the room. These have a Power Bomb symbol on them when viewed │ under X-Ray. ○ Grappling Beam blocks \ AKA grapple blocks, these are a special kind of block with a plus-shaped │ [+] hole in the middle, that you can latch onto with the Grappling Beam │ and swing around on. ○ Crumble Grappling Beam blocks \ These grapple blocks are visibly cracked. If you latch onto them with │ the Grappling Beam, you will only be able to hang on for a few seconds │ before they crumble. They do not always reappear until you reenter the │ room. ○ Invisible blocks \ Solid but invisible blocks, found in only one room /Brinstar/; use the │ X-Ray Scope to find them. ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 2.4.2 / Doors and Gates /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Most rooms in SUPER METROID are separated by doors, and some are further separated by gates. ○ Doors \ There are five major types of doors on Zebes; automatic doors are only │ found on Ceres Station. │ │ Blue Doors │ The most common type of door; simply shoot them with your Beam to open │ them. (Bombs also work, but Missiles and Power Bombs do not.) After │ you blast a red, green, yellow, or Eye door with the correct weapon, │ it becomes a blue door. │ │ Red Doors │ These can be opened with 5 Missiles or 1 Super Missile. │ │ Green Doors │ These can only be opened with a Super Missile. │ │ Yellow Doors │ These can only be opened with a Power Bomb. │ │ Eye Doors │ Eyeball that covers the door leading to a boss. There are 5 in the │ game (one for each of the bosses); shoot the eye when it's open with 3 │ Missiles or one Super Missile to destroy it. │ │ Metal Doors │ These special doors can only be opened by completing a scripted event │ in the game, such as destroying all enemies in the room or defeating a │ boss. They flash blue when they have been unlocked. Note that some │ metal doors can never be opened (and thus are one-way). ○ Gates \ Invariably called shutters or poles in this guide (but called gates in │ the Player's Guide), these are metal poles, sometimes with a colored │ button on one side, that bar Samus's way or act as one-way doors. │ │ Blue Gates │ Gates with a blue button can be opened with your Beam (and if you have │ the Wave Beam, you can open them from either side). │ │ Green Gates │ Gates with a green button can only be opened with a Super Missile, and │ only from the side the button is on. (Unless you use a glitch, which │ I've never been able to manage, and won't go into here.) │ │ Shutters │ These are the special gates that you can shoot or bomb to make them │ rise up, allowing you to pass (often with the Morphing Ball). There │ are also some automatic shutters in various places. │ │ Speed-Shutters │ These are the name I give to the gates that start to close the moment │ you enter the room. As the name implies, passing under them requires │ the Speed Booster. (Unless you use a glitch, which I've never done, │ and do not cover in this guide.) ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 2.4.3 / General Hazards /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Some general obstacles and hazards on Zebes: ○ Water \ Does no damage, but significantly hinders your movement unless you have │ the Gravity Suit. (For example, you can't jump very far out of the │ water, even if it's only ankle-deep.) ○ Lava \ Does gradual damage; has the same movement-hindering properties as │ water. There are two types of lava on Zebes: │ │ Weak │ Mostly opaque, orange-colored, garden variety molten lava. (Actually, │ most people don't have that in their gardens...) The Gravity Suit can │ protect you from this kind of lava. │ │ Boiling │ More of a clear yellow color than weak lava, much hotter, and does │ damage much faster. The lava in Tourian that looks like weak lava is │ of this strength, so be careful. ○ Spikes \ Do a fixed amount of damage every time you come in contact. Area-specific hazards can be found in SECTION 5. ___________________ ──────────────────────────────/ 2.4.4 / Enemies /────────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Being a METROID game, there are lots of enemies; there are 62 ordinary enemies, 2 friendly creatures, 1 semi-friendly creature, 5 mini-boss enemies, and 5 boss enemies. The majority of enemies can be destroyed by at least one of your weapons, though there are a handful of enemies that are indestructible. The complete list of minor enemy creatures is given in SECTION 5 (arranged by zone). Mini-boss and boss characters are given special treatment in the walkthrough; when they're encountered, I list the data for each one, like so: ____________________________________________________________ / BOSS NAME / / HP: Number of hit points the boss has. / / Attacks: Amount of damage the boss's attacks do to / / Samus. / / / / Weapons – Amount of damage your weapons do to the boss, / / followed by a number in parentheses (the number of hits / / required by each weapon to defeat the boss). / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The boss data comes courtesy of Foxhound, because for whatever reason, the data for bosses and most of the mini-bosses isn't in the Player's Guide. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 2.4.5 / Special Rooms /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ There are several types of special rooms on Zebes that are marked on the map when you visit them (or download data from a Map Computer): ○ Save Rooms \ These consist of a Save Pod where you can save your progress; this is │ stored in the battery-backed RAM in the game cartridge. │ │ Insectoid's Tip: │ • If you experience problems such as having saved games disappear, you │ may need to replace the battery in the Game Pak. See SECTION 6.3, │ "Replacing the Game Pak Battery." ○ Map Rooms \ Visiting one of these and hooking up with the Map Computer will download │ map data for the area you're in. Note that it does NOT show EVERYTHING; │ there are secret areas you have to find on your own (or with the help of │ this guide!). ○ Energy Recharge Rooms \ These contain Energy Charge Units which restore your energy to maximum │ (not including Reserve Tanks). ○ Missile Recharge Rooms \ These contain Missile Charge Units which reload your Missile supply to │ maximum. Note that this only fills your MISSILE supply––NOT Super │ Missiles! ○ Dual Recharge Rooms \ These contain an Energy Charge Unit AND a Missile Charge Unit. There │ are only two of these on Zebes; one in Kraid's Lair, and one in Tourian. Locations of the special rooms in each area are provided in SECTION 5. _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 2.4.6 / Power-Ups /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ When you destroy enemies and defeat bosses, they usually drop power-ups. You get one power-up from most enemies, but several from strong enemies and lots from bosses. These are collectively known as "power-ups" or "refills" in the walkthrough. ○ Energy Ball — Gives 5 units of energy. ○ Big Energy Ball — Gives 20 units of energy. ○ Missile — Gives 2 Missiles. ○ Super Missile — Gives 1 Super Missile. ○ Power Bomb — Gives 1 Power Bomb. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────────────/ 2.5 / Expansions /────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’ _______________ ENERGY TANKS\ These increase your available energy by 100 units. When you (14) \ pick up an Energy Tank, it automatically fills all of your \ Tanks to maximum (quite handy in some cases!), and adds a red \ square above your energy total on the screen (it goes dark \ when it's empty). There are 14 Energy Tanks in the game, \ adding up to 1499 total energy. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ RESERVE TANKS\ These tanks act as an emergency energy reservoir if your (4) \ energy drops to 0. When you get one, you have to fill it by \ picking up Energy power-ups. If you have the Supply Mode \ set to 'MANUAL' on the Samus Screen, you must manually \ transfer energy from a Reserve Tank on that screen. Each \ tank holds 100 units of energy; there are 4 Reserve Tanks \ in the game, for a total of 400 energy. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ___________ MISSILES\ Missiles are the first secondary weapon you get in the game, and (46) \ the first weapon that can do a good bit of damage to bosses. They \ can also open red doors with 5 hits. Each pack you pick up adds \ 5 Missiles to your total capacity; there are 46 packs of \ Missiles in the game, for a total of 230 Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________________ SUPER MISSILES\ Super Missiles are 5 times as powerful as regular Missiles, (10) \ and can do some serious damage to bosses. Super Missiles \ can open red and green doors with one hit, and destroy \ Super Missile blocks. Each pack you pick up adds 5 Super \ Missiles to your total capacity; there are 10 packs of \ Super Missiles in the game, for a total of 50 Super \ Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ POWER BOMBS\ These special Bombs affect EVERYTHING on the screen, not just in (10) \ a one-block radius. These can destroy all sandstone, \ bendezium, or Power Bomb blocks on the screen at once. Each \ pack you pick up adds 5 Power Bombs to your total capacity; \ there are 10 packs of Power Bombs in the game, for a total \ of 50 Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Locations of all the expansions in each area are provided in SECTION 5. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────────────/ 2.6 / Equipment /────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’ ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 2.6.1 / Secondary Items /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________________ GRAPPLING BEAM\ This item allows you to fire an energy beam and latch onto (Norfair) \ special Grappling Beam blocks (some enemies can also be \ latched onto). When you're attached, you can use the Up \ and Down keys to shorten or lengthen the beam, and Left \ and Right to swing back and forth; simply release the \ Fire button to let go. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ X-RAY SCOPE\ This item doesn't see much use in the game, but it's still (Brinstar) \ helpful; it allows you to see (by pressing the Dash button) \ hidden passages, invisible blocks, fake floors, and special \ blocks. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 2.6.2 / Beam Items /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ CHARGE BEAM\ Allows you to power up your normal Beam by holding the Fire (Brinstar) \ button, tripling the damage and giving you the capability to \ damage bosses. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ SPAZER BEAM\ Adds spread capability to your Beam, giving it wider coverage (Brinstar) \ with three bolts instead of one. Does double the normal Beam \ damage. Cannot be used at the same time as the Plasma Beam. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ WAVE BEAM\ Makes your Beam to pass through walls, as well as increasing (Norfair) \ damage, allowing you to kill multiple enemies at once as well as \ open blue shutters from the wrong side. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ ICE BEAM \ Adds freezing capability to your Beam, allowing you to freeze (Norfair) \ enemies and stand on them, as well as give you a defense against \ the Metroids in Tourian. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ PLASMA BEAM\ This mighty Beam passes through most enemies, as well as being (Maridia) \ considerably more powerful. Cannot be used at the same time as \ the Spazer Beam. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 2.6.3 / Suit Items /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________________ VARIA SUIT \ This suit reduces damage from attacks by one-half, and is (Kraid's Lair) \ resistant to superheated areas. Once you get this, you can \ explore Norfair. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________________ GRAVITY SUIT \ This suit reduces damage from attacks by half again (for a (Wrecked Ship) \ total of three-quarters damage reduction); it also allows \ you free movement in water and other fluids, and immunity \ to weak lava. Once you get this, you can explore Maridia. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 2.6.4 / Boot Items /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ HI-JUMP BOOTS\ These allow you to jump much higher than normal. These are (Norfair) \ necessary to reach Kraid's Lair. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ SPEED BOOSTER\ This allows you to run very, very fast, reaching what I call (Norfair) \ 'super-speed'. At this speed you can break through Speed \ Booster blocks, kill most enemies, and Super-Jump. (See \ SECTION 2.3, "Abilities.") ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ SPACE JUMP\ This item gives you the ability to spin-jump continuously in mid— (Maridia) \ air, allowing you to reach new heights, with some practice. (I \ am only passably skilled at it.) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 2.6.5 / Special Items /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ MORPHING BALL\ This allows Samus to roll into a ball (morph), so you can roll (Brinstar) \ into narrow tunnels, drop Bombs, etc. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ BOMBS \ The standard Bomb can destroy sandstone, bendezium, and some (Crateria) \ enemies in a one-block radius. You can also do bomb-jumping and \ other neat tricks. (See SECTION 2.3, "Abilities.") ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ SPRING BALL\ This nifty thing allows you to jump normally while in ball form, (Maridia) \ eliminating the need to bomb-jump or morph in mid-air. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ __________________ SCREW ATTACK \ This WONDERFUL item allows you to destroy most enemies and (Ridley's Lair) \ break bendezium and Screw Attack blocks just by spin— \ jumping into them. Combined with the Space Jump, you can \ do this all the time and be effectively invulnerable. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Locations of all the equipment items in each area are provided in SECTION 5. „„„„„„„„„„„„/„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ ══════════════════════════/ SECTION 3 / WALKTHROUGH /══════════════════════════ ”””””””””””/””””””””””””””” NOTE: This walkthrough assumes that you want to collect all 100 items in the game, for a 100% completion. If you're trying for the world-record lowest time (whatever that is), you probably won't make it with this particular walkthrough, though I do try to cut corners whenever possible. For help with a true speed run, I'll refer you to the numerous speed guides which can be found on gamefaqs.com. Also, if this is the first time you've played SUPER METROID: take it easy! You don't need to have a great time to beat the game; the only difference is in the scenes you see at the end of the game. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────/ 3.1 / The Story So Far /─────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ When you begin a new game, you get the message and voice-over: THE LAST METROID IS IN CAPTIVITY. THE GALAXY IS AT PEACE... Bounty hunter Samus Aran, the series' protagonist, then gives you a summary of her previous adventures: I FIRST BATTLED THE METROIDS ON PLANET ZEBES. IT WAS THERE THAT I FOILED THE PLANS OF THE SPACE PIRATE LEADER MOTHER BRAIN TO USE THE CREATURES TO ATTACK GALACTIC CIVILIZATION... (Cutscene of Samus defeating Mother Brain.) I NEXT FOUGHT THE METROIDS ON THEIR HOMEWORLD, SR388. I COMPLETELY ERADICATED THEM, EXCEPT FOR A LARVA WHICH, AFTER HATCHING, FOLLOWED ME LIKE A CONFUSED CHILD... (Cutscene of the Metroid larva hatching.) I PERSONALLY DELIVERED IT TO THE GALACTIC RESEARCH STATION AT CERES SO SCIENTISTS COULD STUDY ITS ENERGY-PRODUCING QUALITIES... (Picture of Samus handing over the Metroid.) THE SCIENTIST'S FINDINGS WERE ASTOUNDING! THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE POWERS OF THE METROID MIGHT BE HARNESSED FOR THE GOOD OF CIVILIZATION! (Picture of scientists studying the Metroid.) SATISFIED THAT ALL WAS WELL, I LEFT THE STATION TO SEEK A NEW BOUNTY TO HUNT. BUT, I HAD HARDLY GONE BEYOND THE ASTEROID BELT WHEN I PICKED UP A DISTRESS SIGNAL! CERES STATION WAS UNDER ATTACK!! ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────/ 3.2 / Ceres Station Space Colony /────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ *** Upon receiving the distress call, Samus immediately heads back to *** *** the Space Colony at Ceres Station, only to find it deserted... *** Once the elevator lands, you have control of Samus. Use this opportunity to test your abilities, and familiarize yourself with the basic controls. In order to proceed, drop down the platforms to the door on the right. All the doors in Ceres Station are automatic, and do not require you to shoot them to open; simply walk up to them. (Just like at the supermarket...) The next room is just as empty as the elevator room; proceed through the door on the far right. Another stairway; head down to the door on the right here to reach the research lab. The lab itself is a shambles––the scientists are dead, and the Metroid larva is gone. Where the heck did it go? Head through the door on the right to enter another empty hallway, and go through the door at the end. Well, there's the Metroid, safe and sound and still in its vial! What the... the door behind you is locked! Something sinister is at work here. Sure enough, out from the shadows Ridley, Samus's old nemesis, appears. __________________________________________ / RIDLEY / / HP: 2000 / / Attacks: fireball 3, body 5, tail 15. / / / / Power Beam – 20 (100) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Grabbing the Metroid vial, Ridley will proceed to attack Samus. There are two things you can do at this point: 1) Fight him. With the super-weak Power Beam you have now, it takes 100 shots to drive him off. Notice that near the end Ridley drops the Metroid; stay back, as he will quickly recover it and fly off. 2) Throw yourself at him. Seriously––let him hit you with his tail a few times. If Samus's energy drops below 30, Ridley will simply fly off as if you had fought him. Takes less time, but it's a little less honorable. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ In either case, as soon as Ridley flies off, the base's self-destruct sequence will engage, and the door unlocks. You have one minute to get off the station before it explodes! Simply backtrack the way you came, avoiding debris and steam as best you can (they will stun you for a moment if you come into contact with them, but won't hurt you). By the time you reach the elevator room, the station is tilting, making it difficult to jump up the platforms. Once you reach the elevator platform, though, you're safe. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────/ 3.3 / Crateria's Rocky Tunnels /─────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ *** Samus escapes the station just in time, and follows Ridley to *** *** Planet Zebes, homeworld of the notorious Space Pirates. *** Samus's ship lands on Crateria (the surface area of Zebes). If you have a look around, you'll notice that the way to the right is blocked (don't worry; we won't be back for quite a while). You may also notice that there are no enemies to speak of, which is very strange. Anyway, from the ship head to the left, fire at the door to open it, and go through. Head left some more; you'll see a narrow passage, but don't worry about it right now. At the far left is a shaft with four doors; the one at the bottom, in the floor, is what concerns us now. Go through it. Those who have played the original METROID may recognize this room; it's the shaft Samus escapes from Tourian through after her fight with Mother Brain. (Hereafter known simply as the "Tourian escape shaft.") It is very long, devoid of anything except a multitude of small blue platforms. Since you need to go alllll the way to the bottom, simply hug either side of the shaft and freefall (there is only one small platform on each wall near the bottom). Go through the door at the bottom. This room (as evidenced by the large broken tank and broken Zebetite pods) is where Samus fought Mother Brain in METROID. Hmm... there's still no enemies, but the door behind you just turned metal. The door on the far end, however, is still open. Head through it, and take the elevator down to Brinstar. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This should be just as recognizable; it's similar to the room Samus begins the game at in METROID; the only difference is that it's deserted. Sure enough, if you jump over the obstruction to the left, you should find the MORPHING BALL! Just like old times. At this point an eyeball will shine a light on you... that's odd. Anyway, you'll notice that the obstruction you jumped over is too tall on this side for Samus to clear (without the Hi-Jump Boots, anyway); that's where the Morphing Ball comes in. Shoot the lone block at the bottom, and roll right under the obstruction. Head right, past the elevator, until you reach a door. The next room has a bridge of sandstone blocks, and a red door you can't open without Missiles. Shoot the bridge, drop down, and enter the door here. Shoot the marble in the Chozo Statue's hand to reveal your first pack of MISSILES (5). Head back up to the blue door and go through, all the way back to the elevator, taking it up to Crateria again. (Notice that the statues' eyes are glowing now, and they turn their heads when Samus goes by? Creepy.) Insectoid's Tip: • There is another Missile pack you can collect through the red door, but we'll be picking it up in a later section. _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ One thing you'll notice immediately upon returning to Crateria is that the room is now lit. That can only mean one thing... head through the door to find yourself face-to-face with a gang of Zebesian Space Pirates! These Pirates are rather weak, and take only one shot to destroy. Eliminate all of them, and go through the now-flashing metal door. There are many more Space Pirates in the Tourian escape shaft; these crawl on the walls and occasionally jump to the opposite side, making ascent irritating at best. Climb all the way back up, blasting Pirates on the way, and try not to fall too much. Go through the door at the top. Back in this room, you'll find Geemers crawling around, and Rippers flying back and forth. Ignore them (or blast the Geemers if they get in the way) as you make your way back to the top. If you'd like to save your game on the way, there's a Save Room behind the blue door on the left that can only be reached with the Morphing Ball. Anyway, at the top of the room, head right to that narrow passage I noted earlier (watch out for the Skrees, though), and roll into it. Drop down here (ignore the Rippers) and enter the door on the right. There are a lot of Mellows in this room. Try to ignore them for the moment, running under them to the right to reach another red door. Blast it open, then return to the swarm of Mellows and blast them for energy and Missiles. (You'll see why in a moment.) With 5 Missiles in hand, head through the door you just opened. There's another Chozo Statue here; shoot its marble to reveal the BOMBS! You can now bomb things when you're rolled up... cool. Head back to... oh. The door turned metal. Suddenly, the Chozo Statue falls apart, revealing a Torizo! ________________________________________________________ / TORIZO / / HP: 800 / / Attacks: slash 10, energy wave 10, body 8, bombs 8. / / / / Power Beam – 20 (40) / / Missiles – 100 (8) (limit 5) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ As you can see, with only 5 Missiles, you'll have to use both weapons (if you picked up the other Missile pack in Brinstar, just use Missiles.) In any case, this boss is a piece of cake. The Torizo's weak spot is its chest; shoot your 5 Missiles at it, and it'll fall apart. After that, 10 Beam shots (or two more Missiles) causes its face to fall apart, at which point the Torizo becomes twice as fast as before. Finish it off with 5 more Beam shots (or one more Missile), and collect the refills. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Moving onward, head back through the previous room to the main area. You'll notice that the passage you came down here through is too high up now, so head up and to the right, using Bombs to break the bendezium blocks in the way. Head left, back to the main shaft, and save if you wish. When you're ready, go through the blue door across from the red door on the right (leads to the Map Room). In here is a narrow tunnel; morph and roll through it, bombing each of the blocks that get in your way. Go through the blue door at the end, and shoot the marble the Chozo Statue is holding for a pack of MISSILES (10). Go back through the door, and bomb-jump above the first block to roll into a hidden passage above the narrow tunnel; follow this to the right. After falling through a crumble block, exit this room. Blast the red door across the way open and, after raiding the enemies for refills, visit the Map Room and download the map data for Crateria. When you're done, head back to the main shaft and go to the very top. Insectoid's Tip: • Though I am walking you through the game, picking up Map data from the Map Rooms will help immensely if you find any of my directions confusing. Up here on the left are some bendezium blocks that you can bomb through. Go through the door here, and ignore the Geemers and Wavers as you make your way down the hill, picking up an ENERGY TANK (1) at the bottom before going through the blue door. In this next room, blast each of the green Space Pirates with a Missile (your current Beam can't harm them) as you make your way to the bottom of this shaft. At the bottom, ignore the red door on the right (we won't be coming back till near the end of the game) and go through the blue door on the left. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────/ 3.4 / The Jungles of Brinstar /─────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ At the elevator, pause for a moment to check your status. You should have one Energy Tank (having just picked it up), so you have 199 energy (each tank holds 100 energy), and a whopping 10 Missiles. We'll soon fix that... anyway, take the elevator down to Brinstar. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This main area is crawling with Zeelas (the Brinstar equivalent of Geemers). There are five doors here (all red), and an area through the floor of the shaft that you can't get to yet. Anyhow, the top-left door leads to a Map Room, the middle-left door to a Save Room, and the lower-left to a Missile Recharge Room. Go for the top-left door first; in here, ignore the Zeelas and small Sidehoppers as you make your way left, bombing through two blocks, and go through the door. Collect the map data for Brinstar; to return to the main shaft, destroy all of the Zeelas and Sidehoppers to unlock the metal door. Next, blast open the top-right red door. We'll only be here for a moment, so jump up on the ledge to the right. This bridge is made entirely of crumble blocks; in addition, there are several speed-shutters (those metal poles that lower when you enter the room) that you can't get through yet. The area under the bridge is divided into chambers; the second chamber has a pack of Missiles just sitting there. Drop through the crumbling blocks and grab the MISSILES (15), then roll up and bomb the wall to your left, and exit through the door (watching out for the Zebs that fly up out of the pipe). Back in the main shaft, drop down and enter the second door on the right. There are Zeelas and Reos here (the latter do a fair amount of damage if they hit you), so blast your way to the right, until you reach what looks like a dead end. It's actually a wall of bendezium; lay Bombs to blast your way through. Run under the Metarees (metal Skrees) as you make your way to the door at the end of the tunnel. This large, pink-colored room (hereafter just the "pink room") has many Reos, as well more of those flying Zebs that fly out of pipes. Anyway, make your way right, down, and left to the lower-left corner of this big room to find a pack of MISSILES (20) sitting there. Over to your right, below the obvious narrow gap, is a suspicious-looking block; bomb it and drop down into the passage. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the CHARGE BEAM! Now your Beam shots can damage bosses! Back in the large room, head all the way to the top, past the door you came in, being wary of the Reos and Sidehoppers. If you'd like to save, there is a narrow passage in the left wall that you can bomb and roll into, which leads to a Save Room. To continue, head to the right, picking off Zebs if you need energy or Missile refills. Blast through the red door on the right. Here you'll meet the insect-like Space Pirates called Kihunters. One charged Beam shot or Missile will do for each. Once you've finished them off, the metal door in the ceiling at the far end of the room will unlock. Go on through, and be prepared to face another mini-boss. ________________________________ / SPORE SPAWN / / HP: 960 / / Attacks: spores 4, body 12. / / / / Missiles – 100 (10) / / Charge Beam – 120 (8) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Spore Spawn isn't that tough, if you can manage to stay out of its way. Roll into a ball and stay in one of the corners; there are four to choose from: 1) The lower-left and lower-right corners, adjacent to the door. Less risk of being hit by the boss, but more risk of being hit by spores. 2) The corner of the left platform. This is the safest location, but you might have more difficulty hitting the boss. 3) The corner of the right platform. If you're not too worried about losing energy, this is the best location; on one of the boss's slow passes and one of the fast passes he'll stop VERY close to you, and you'll have to put up with getting hurt bumping into him in order to fire. (But it's very easy to get double Missile hits this way.) Spores will be floating around continuously; if you're in one of the upper corners you shouldn't get hit by them. (You can also shoot them for refills; important if you're low on Missiles or Energy!) Meanwhile, the boss will swing back and forth in a figure-8 pattern; after 6 or 8 swings he'll open his shell and stop momentarily. When he does, unroll, jump up, and fire at his exposed core. (I recommend using Missiles because you can get up to 2 hits in before the shell closes, especially if you're close to him.) After 6 Missiles, the boss will get a lot faster. 4 more Missiles should end the battle. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ After Spore Spawn bites the dust, the shell will harden, allowing you to jump on it and continue upward, collecting leftover power-ups on the way. At the top of this room is a blue door; head through it to find a pipe with Zebs, and a second pipe that is actually made of crumble blocks; jump on it and you'll fall down a LONG shaft. At the very bottom of the shaft, inside a Chozo Statue's marble, is your first pack of SUPER MISSILES (5)! Collect it, and head through the door to the left. Lots of Zeb pipes are in this room; now would be a good time to fill up on energy and Missiles. To move on, blast the green door with a Super Missile (notice the Zeelas that fall out of the ceiling?) and go through. There is a narrow tunnel in here with a block that must be destroyed by a Super Missile. Blast it with one, roll in, and bomb your way out the other side, where you'll wind up back in the large pink room. Go back down to the bottom-left of the room, and bomb-jump through the narrow gap above where you bombed through to get to the Charge Beam earlier. Blast open the green door with a Super Missile, and go through. This green room is long and filled with horizontal pipes that obnoxious Geegas fly out of, usually running right into you. You can't reach the upper area yet (and even if you could, you couldn't open the door), so head down and right, until you reach a high pipe on the right side. Jumping normally, this would require the Hi-Jump Boots to reach, but if you wall-jump off the wall, it's easy to make it in. Roll to the right to collect a pack of MISSILES (25). Insectoid's Tip: • My brother had a lot of trouble with wall-jumping in his first game. We'll be revisiting this area later, by which time you'll have the Hi-Jump Boots, so you can skip this if you want. Back in the green room, continue downward until you get to a blue gate; shoot it and keep going (kill the Sidehoppers if they get in the way), then go through the blue door at the end. In this room, jump up on the ledge to the right and dash all the way across, without jumping. (It's another one of those nifty crumble block bridges.) If you'd like to refill your Super Missiles, kill the Cacatacs here after you blast the green door open, and then head into the next room. This long red shaft (and the surrounding tunnels) are still part of Brinstar, but they look nothing like it, and the music has become downbeat. Anyway, drop down (watching out for the Geegas) until you reach what looks like a dead end. Wrong; shoot the floor here to reveal a way down. Be careful not to shoot the lone block on the right; it contains a hidden Beetom, which will undoubtedly latch onto you. (If it does, lay Bombs to kill it.) Drop alllll the way down, past the Rippers, to the bottom of this shaft, and go through the door on the right. (There is an Energy Recharge Room through the green door to the left, if you'd like to indulge.) This next room has some Skrees and a pool of water between you and the next platform. Notice that you can't just jump to the platform from the water; you would need the Gravity Suit to do so. Stand on the edge of the left platform and spin-jump over. Ignore or kill the Skrees and go through the door, then stop. Look at the left corner of the ceiling here, and you'll notice a suspicious block. Shoot it with your Beam, then spin-jump against the left side of the gap, and wall-jump to the right. If you do this successfully, you'll find yourself next to a narrow tunnel leading to the right. Roll up and bomb the entrance, then unroll and shoot the next block. (There is a bendezium block below and left of the sandstone one, and if you laid a Bomb there you might fall through, right into a Yapping Maw in the room below.) Once you're through, blast the green door with a Super Missile and go through. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the SPAZER! (Spazer Beam, that is.) This will widen the range of your normal Beam, as well as increase its power. With the Spazer Beam in hand, go back to the narrow tunnel, bomb the block I mentioned and fall through. Hold right so that you don't fall in the Yapping Maw, and continue right, blasting the Cacatac and avoiding the other Maw. Go through the door at the end. ________ /Maridia/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Though the music hasn't changed, this is actually part of Maridia. (Look at the game map if you want proof.) Go through the next two doors, ignoring the obvious explorable area beyond the glass tube. (You need a Power Bomb to break it, but it would be futile to do so without the Gravity Suit.) _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Back in Brinstar, take the elevator down to Norfair. ________ /Norfair/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ We won't be here for long; most of the doors in the main Norfair shaft lead to superhot areas, which would gradually reduce Samus's energy if you tried to explore them without the Varia Suit. (And one of the doors, the yellow one, can't even be opened yet.) The two lower doors are safe; the lower-right has a Save Room, but to proceed, blast through the lower-left, ignoring the Sovas (Norfair Geemers) for now. Right in front of you in this room is an ENERGY TANK (2). Beyond it, there are several crumble blocks; fall through them, and roll to the left. Go through the door here to find a Chozo Statue waiting behind a wall. Shoot the upper section of it and jump over, then shoot the marble for the HI-JUMP BOOTS! You can jump twice as high now, evidenced by the fact that you can jump over the wall from this side now with ease. Go back through the door, and wait for the single Sova in this room to crawl down toward you, then blast it (this unlocks the metal door at the entrance). Jump up the ledges here to reach a pack of MISSILES (30). Bomb-jump into the tunnel to the right, and fall through to the door, then exit. We're done here for now, so take the elevator back up to Brinstar. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ To the right of the elevator, there are three blocks in the right wall just above the floor that seem out-of-place. Blast one with a Super Missile and roll (or bomb-jump) through. This empty room has what looks like a creature's mouth occupying the upper-right part of it. Now that you have the Hi-Jump Boots, you can reach that platform; go through the door at the end. _____________ /Kraid's Lair/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Though technically we're still in Brinstar, it again looks different, and is somewhat isolated, so I'm going to refer to it as a separate area. There are some Zeelas here; blast them out of the way, and shoot the floor next to the door and drop down. There is a metal door to the left, but it can't be opened yet. Bomb the lower corner of the wall across from it to reveal a narrow tunnel; roll through it, and go through the door in the ceiling. Blast or ignore the four Kihunters here. Now you have two choices: if you want to save, head over to the right and bomb the little nook in the floor to reveal a tunnel that leads to a Save Room; to continue, shoot the cracked floor in the middle of the room and drop down. Go through the door. In here, blast the green Space Pirates (either with charged Beam shots or a Missile each), and continue to the right. Sharp projectiles will be flying at you; try to ignore them, arm your Super Missiles and fire ONE at the Mini-Kraid as soon as you see it. Collect the Super Missile refills and go through the next door. If you'd like, shoot the ceiling here to reveal a passage; jump up and head to the right, blasting the green door with a Super Missile to reach a Dual Recharge Room. To proceed, head to the right, jumping over the spikes and Zeb pipes, to reach an Eye Door. Each time it opens its eye, blast it with a Missile; do this three times to destroy it, and go through the door. (You can also use one Super Missile, but I recommend saving them for the boss.) As soon as you step through the door turns metal behind you. There's no other way out, and the right side of the room is covered in spikes. Out of the spikes rises the first boss, Kraid. ____________________________________________________ / KRAID / / HP: 1000 / / Attacks: claw 10, spine 10, body 20, spikes 16. / / / / Missiles – 100 (10) / / Charged Spazer – 120 (9) / / Super Missiles – 300 (4) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Kraid actually isn't that hard (that is, if you're not a klutz like me who falls off the platforms repeatedly). He starts out only halfway out of the spike pit; jump up and shoot him in the eyes, and he'll open his mouth, which is your cue to arm and fire a Super Missile down his throat. After one super Missile, Kraid rises up all the way, breaking most of the ceiling except for a few small platforms; jump up onto these. Staying on them and not falling into the spikes is the tricky part; Kraid tries to hit you with a sort of boomerang-like claw, as well as firing sharp spines from the holes in his belly. Shoot his eyes to open his mouth (either with Spazer Beam or Missiles) and shoot a Super Missile in his mouth three more times to finish him off. If you run out of Super Missiles, use either Missiles or the charged Spazer (though the latter is more difficult to hit him with). ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ After Kraid is destroyed, the spike pit will disappear, allowing you to cross to the other side of the room; go through the flashing metal door here. A pedestal with a marble awaits you here; shoot it and pick up the VARIA SUIT! Yay. This special suit protects Samus from high temperatures, meaning you can now explore more of Norfair, and gives the Power Suit an orange coloring––neato. Exit this room and head back through the now-flashing metal door. Backtrack all the way to the shaft with the Zeelas (blasting the Mini-Kraid, Pirates, and Kihunters for refills). You'll see that the metal door noted earlier is now flashing; enter it to find a room full of Beetoms, who will all make a beeline for Samus. Roll up and lay Bombs (or fire a Missile if you're at a safe distance) until they're all gone, then shoot the ceiling to reveal an ENERGY TANK (3). Exit the way you came in, and shoot the platform above you to get back to and go through the door in the upper-left. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Finally back here, drop down and jump back up to the Super Missile blocks on your left. Blast one and roll through. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ─────────────────────/ 3.5 / The Fiery Depths of Norfair /───────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Time for another quick supply check. You should have 3 Energy Tanks for 399 energy, as well as 30 Missiles and 5 Super Missiles. Go ahead and take the elevator down to Norfair. ________ /Norfair/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ I recommend saving your progress in the Save Room through the lower-right door of the main shaft. When you're ready, go through the top-right door. In this fiery room are Sovas and a new enemy, the Dessgeega, which is like the Sidehopper but tougher. Shoot the floor below the door and drop through to the bottom, then make your way right and then up to the red door. Blast it open and head through. This next room is cave-like with some exposed areas of lava, which the Varia Suit can't protect against. There is another new enemy here, the Geruta, which is Norfair's version of the Reo, except more damaging. (Most of the enemies here are like that.) There is an item to collect here; go to the third pool of lava from the left, blast the Geruta out of the way, and shoot the lower-right corner of the lava pool. A pack of MISSILES (35) should appear; roll up and quickly collect it before you take too much damage (or it disappears). Then head to the right and blast open the green door to continue. When you enter this room, it will start filling with lava (but it stops at a certain height, so don't panic). Make your way across the small platforms as quickly as you can, doing your best to avoid the Squeepts, Dragons, and Sovas. Head through the door once you get there. This area is made of walls that look like bubbles (thus its popular name, the "bubble room"). Anyway, the room has some Rippers, Wavers, and Sovas. There's one item to collect before moving on; head to the far right, and you'll fall through a false floor and a crumble block (which thankfully doesn't reappear). Jump, aim down and shoot the blocks below you to clear a passage. Once you reach the bottom, avoid the Ripper and jump over the spikes to reach a pack of MISSILES (40). Head back up the same way, then go left toward the middle of the room. Shoot the floor here to reveal a passage leading to a narrow tunnel. Roll up and bomb each block that gets in your way (as well as the two Sovas you'll encounter), until you reach a pair of doors. Go through the one in the floor. Make your way down the platforms here; the first door on the right is empty except for a Gamet nest; you can raid it for refills if you like. At the bottom of the shaft, go through the door on the right. The next room has some more new enemies, Multiviolas and Magdollites (living lava creatures). Head through the door at the end. You can pass through this next room without stopping, ignoring the Violas and going through the door on the right. Insectoid's Tip: • The passage below here ends at a yellow door which leads to Ridley's Lair, but we won't be back for quite a while. There's also a narrow passage with a blue gate, which you can't yet open from this side. (The tunnel it leads to can't be crossed without the Grappling Beam or Space Jump, anyway.) Another room with rising lava. Avoid the lava as you make your way across, and you'll reach a Fune above a narrow tunnel; ignore the Fune and roll through, then unroll and start heading up, shooting the ceilings to get through, and ignoring the Funes. Once you get to the top, go through the door on the left. Here you'll find a peculiar new type of Ripper called a Tripper, which has a platform on its back that you can stand on. Morph and roll onto the first Tripper to avoid the spikes protruding from the ceiling. Once you get to the pillars, unroll and jump across them (watch out for the shutter and spikes), then jump to the next Tripper, which again you should roll onto. This Tripper is weaker, so don't stay on it too long or you'll fall into the lava. Go through the door at the end. There are more Multiviolas in this shaft, along with a different kind of Dragon called an Alcoon, which pops out of the floors. Blast them (a Missile each will do) as you make your way past the first door on the right and up to the second. Blast this red door open and go through. In this room are some small yellow-and-green platforms that move up or down when they sense you. (The Player's Guide calls them "suspensor platforms".) Try to ignore the Funes in this room (though they will try to knock you off the platforms), and jump the first and second platforms. Stand on the third until it lowers, then jump to the fourth (otherwise you'll hit your head on the ceiling and fall). Shoot the blue gate and jump over to collect the pack of MISSILES (45) sitting there. Now, this next item is through the door at the far end of the room, between which is a large spike pit. Normally you would need the Grappling Beam to collect it, but you can actually get there with a well-executed wall-jump, and save a lot of time in the process. From the far left of this platform, run and jump as far to the right as you can; if you fall through the crumble blocks at the bottom, you'll have to exit and reenter the room through the upper door. If you make it close to the wall below the door, try to endure the spikes and spin-jump at the wall, then wall— jump off of it to the platform above. Go through the door and shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the WAVE BEAM! Your beam is stronger, and will also pass through walls! Exit this room, and drop through the crumble blocks in the middle of the spike pit. Ignore the Kago hives and head left to the door. Back in this shaft, head all the way to the top and go through the door on the left. Back here in the bubble room, jump up, ignore the Cacatac, and head to the upper-right, blasting the green door open. Go through, kill the Skrees here, and then shoot the ceiling to open up a passage. Jump up, shooting the ceiling again, and blast through the green door on the right. (There is also a Gamet nest to the left, if you want refills.) Dash all the way through this long tunnel, ignoring the enemies; most of the bridges are made of crumble blocks. At the end, just to the left of the door, shoot the ceiling to reveal a hidden pack of MISSILES (50). Blast open the red door and go through. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble and collect the SPEED BOOSTER! You can now run at high speeds and break Speed Booster blocks. As soon as you pick up the Speed Booster, this room and the tunnel will start filling with lava. So, dash through the long tunnel again, and this time you'll reach what I call "super-speed"; you'll outrun even your own sprites on the screen, not to mention the lava. Go through the door at the end, and backtrack to the bubble room. Back here, head to the left and drop down to the bottom, and then back through the tunnel with Sovas again. This time, enter the door on the left; jump over the gap in the next room, ignoring the Violas, and go through the next door. Insectoid's Tip: • The door below leads to an area with a Gamet nest and a blue gate, which has the button on the other side (which you can open with the Wave Beam). The door behind it leads to an Energy Recharge Room and Crocomire; we'll be returning this way shortly. In this long tunnel, dash all the way to the end, super-speeding through Speed Booster blocks and many Beetoms in the process. Save in the Save Room, then head left back to the main shaft, climb up to the green door on the left, and blast it open, entering at a dash. Keep dashing in this tunnel to make it past all the speed-shutters, as well as breaking two Booster blocks. (As you can see, the blocks underneath are Power Bomb blocks, which you can't break yet.) Go through the door on the left. In this room are some more of those weaker Trippers; use them to cross the lava and enter the door at the other end. This room has many Funes, but avoid them and jump up the platforms to the top. Instead of going through the door, shoot the floor below it; you'll notice many notches in the right wall below. Morph and roll into each of them until you reach the narrow tunnel, then blast through the red door there. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble to reveal the ICE BEAM! In addition to having more power, you can now freeze enemies and stand on them. Exit this room, roll up and fall back to the bottom of the Fune room, then climb back up and enter the door on the right. In this room are three peculiar blobs called Boyons. When you get close to them, they bounce up and down like a rubber ball. Walk up to the first one and, using the Ice Beam, freeze it at the peak of its bounce, then jump on it and repeat with the second and third Boyons. Roll through the opening next to the last one, freeze the red Ripper II and use it to jump across the lava pit to reach the door. Here, you'll fall through many crumble blocks until you're back above the tunnel with the shutters that we ran through earlier. Morph and roll right (ignore the Sova) and you'll fall through another crumble block into the tunnel. Exit this room, and go through the door across from you, then through the three fire rooms back to the bubble room. In the bubble room, jump up to the left where the Save Room is, then look for a Waver nearby. Freeze it about halfway between you and the ledge above, and jump on it, then jump to the green door. (Notice that you would have needed the Grappling Beam otherwise?) Blast it open and go through, shooting the Geruta in here, and jump over to the pack of MISSILES (55). Shoot the lower-left corner of this room (easiest from the right-hand column) to make a hidden shutter rise. Jump onto it, shoot the wall, and roll through the passage to a door; go through it. In here, jump from platform to platform, killing the Sovas and freezing the Dragons on the way to the far left of the room. Shoot the marble there and pick up your first RESERVE TANK (1). Angle down and shoot the little platform closest to you to reveal another pack of MISSILES (60); don't worry about dropping in to get it. Head back to the right, through the door and narrow tunnel again, back to the bubble room, and then down to the doors at the bottom; go through the left one. In this room, drop down and shoot the floor out, go left past the Gamet nest (you can shoot some if you like) to the blue gate. With the Wave Beam, you can open these blue gates from the wrong side; do so now, and go through the door. In the shaft here, make your way down past the silver Geemers and red Space Pirates to the door in the floor. Refill your energy in the Energy Recharge Room to the right if you need to, then head left through the tunnel with Dragons to the next door. In this shaft, blast open the green door below, then climb up and destroy the Cacatacs for Super Missile refills, and save if you want (through the other door on the right). When you're ready, drop through the door you opened and prepare to face the mini-boss Crocomire. ______________________________________ / CROCOMIRE / / HP: n/a / / Attacks: slash 20, fireballs 10. / / / / Missiles – 1 step / / Charged Spazer/Ice/Wave – 2 steps / / Super Missiles – 3 steps / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This four-eyed monster doesn't have a set number of hit points; you must herd him onto the weak bridge to the right by shooting him in the mouth when he opens it. Start the battle with a single Missile, then switch to Super Missiles. (If you start with a Super Missile, it will have no more effect than a regular Missile!) After running out of Super Missiles, I strongly suggest using the charged Spazer Beam combo, not only because it has twice the effect of Missiles, but because it gives Crocomire less opportunity to gain ground. Insectoid's Tips: • You can occasionally get Missile and Super Missile refills shooting Crocomire's fireballs. • Try to fire as often as you have opportunities to, else you'll likely give up ground. • If you went out of your way to get Power Bombs before arriving here, DON'T USE THEM! If you do, Crocomire will get angry and charge you, causing you to lose a LOT of ground. Once you manage to herd Crocomire onto the weak bridge (you'll know it when you see it), it will collapse under his weight and he'll fall in the boiling lava, causing his skin to melt right off his skeleton. (Think "Raiders of the Lost Ark".) It's not quite over yet, though; you'll see some bubbles in the lava moving to the left. Follow them to a wall of spikes blocking your way, and Crocomire's skeleton will crash through and land at your feet. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ After Crocomire croaks, collect the refills and carefully head to the left across the boiling lava pits (boiling lava will damage Samus much faster than ordinary lava) and through the door. In this room, drop down and visit the Save Room to the right, and raid the Gamet nest here for refills if you wish. From the near the Save Room door, angle down and freeze the Gamets at the bottom of their nest, then back up to the door and make a running leap, spin— jumping up to the ledge near the red door (you should just make it). Blast it open, and collect your first pack of POWER BOMBS (5)! Exit this room, drop down, and go through the door on the floor. Insectoid's Tip: • In previous versions of this walkthrough, getting this pack of Power Bombs called for using the Grappling Beam to latch onto the Ripper at the top of the room and swinging across. Getting the Grappling Beam, though, requires Power Bombs, so there was a time-consuming backtrack to red Brinstar for those. (We'll be getting those packs on the way back to the ship.) It also led below the speed-shutter room to a difficult Missile pack; we'll get that one on the way to Ridley's Lair later. Ignore the door on the left (you can't get through that way); drop down this long shaft, until you see a red door on the right. Blast through it, and be wary of the rising and falling lava and Metarees as you make your way right, morphing and rolling through the narrow passage. Watch out for Gamets as you make your way over to the pack of MISSILES (65). Backtrack to the long shaft and go through the door in the floor. Drop a Power Bomb in this long tunnel to blast away all the blocks on the ground, and kill the Mellas on the left. (If you tried normal bombs on the blocks, you'd discover that they're Power Bomb blocks.) Go back to the right until you reach the end, then start running back to the left. You should reach super-speed just before you reach the ramp; press Down to store the energy (what I call a "super-charge"), then fall into the lava pool and position yourself about halfway between the edge of the ramp and the first small platform to the left. Press Jump, and you'll Super-Jump straight up into the ceiling; hold Right to reach a pack of MISSILES (70) on a ledge. Bomb-jump into the narrow tunnel here to fall down some crumble blocks back to the long tunnel. Head back to the right and start another super-speed dash to the left. This time, jump as soon as you hit the ramp; you'll spin-jump a LONG way, and land on a ledge at the other end of the room. Go through the door here. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the GRAPPLING BEAM! This useful tool lets you latch onto special blocks and even some enemies. Climb to the top of this shaft, and you'll see some of those grappling blocks now. Arm the Grappling Beam, angle up, and fire at one, and you'll latch on and start swinging back and forth. Swing in the direction of the door and let go, then go through. Now, why there is clear blue water in the fiery underworld of Norfair I can't explain, but I do know that you need to swing across it. (If you fall, you'll have to climb out and try again.) At the other end, go through the door. In this shaft, freeze the Funes and climb up, jumping to the small platform above. Equip the Grappling Beam, jump while aiming straight up, and at the peak of your jump fire, just latching onto the grappling block above you. Use it to swing over to the door, and go through. One more water room to cross. This room has two pools, with a platform in between. (The first pool has a Gamet nest at the bottom, while the other has some Puyos, the only ones in Norfair.) Swing across each pool, then blast the green shutter with a Super Missile and go through the door. we're back in the long shaft from earlier. Go through the door in the ceiling and head right, using the suspensor platform to jump to the upper door. Exit this room, return to the blue door in the upper-right, and go through. We're back in the long room where we fought Crocomire; head to the right. Remember the weak bridge that he fell through? There are grappling blocks above it, all the way to the other end of the tunnel. Latch on and grapple your way across to reach an ENERGY TANK (4). Insectoid's Tip: • A faster alternative would be to super-charge, then do a horizontal Super— Jump across the room, then just latch onto the blocks above you and swing to the Energy Tank (or wall-jump off the wall), ignoring the negligible damage from the boiling lava. Swing back across, and go through the door in the ceiling. Enter the second door up on the right (the first leads to an Energy Recharge Room and that pair of blue gates I mentioned earlier, but after collecting that Energy Tank you shouldn't need to recharge) and save your game. Exit and go through the door on the left at the top. Kill the Gerutas that get in your way as you climb the platforms here to the upper-right of the room. Arm the Grappling Beam and swing across the room until you reach a platform with a pack of MISSILES (75). (If you fall, jump on the small platforms to the right and try again.) Blast the green shutter with a Super Missile and go through the door. We're back in the main shaft; climb up to the yellow door on the left and blast it open, then pick up the map data for Norfair (what's left of it, anyway). When you're done, take the elevator back up to Brinstar. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ That's it for Norfair, at least for a while. Head to the left, through the three Maridia tunnels, back to the Yapping Maw room. In here, freeze the Maws and use them as stepping stones (or just leap over them). Head through this room and the water room (freeze or kill the Skrees) all the way back to the long red shaft. In here, use your Ice Beam to freeze the Rippers above you, then jump from Ripper to Ripper to get up to the area with the yellow door. Lay a Power Bomb here to cause both the sandstone blocks and a section of the left wall to be blown away, as well as the door behind it (the Beetom that was hidden in the block on the right gets destroyed, too). Go through the now-open door. This dangerous tunnel is filled with spikes, Firefleas, Wavers, and Yapping Maws (avoid the Firefleas as best you can; you don't want the room to get too dark). Jump across the platforms to the left, and latch onto the grappling blocks once you see them. Carefully swing across, timing your swings to avoid the outreaching jaws of the Yapping Maws. At the end of this room is a red door; blast it open and go through. Insectoid's Tip: • I've found it safer to do many short, rapid swings across the chasm; that is, make your Beam as short as possible, and swing rapidly.) You'll stay out of reach of the Yapping Maws this way, but you may be bothered by a Waver or two (hang on tight so that if you get hit, you won't fall). There is a half-visible shutter here; roll onto it and lay a Bomb to make it rise. Head to the left and shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the X-RAY SCOPE! This allows you to scan the area (by equipping it and holding Dash) for hidden passages and special blocks. Use it now to locate a hidden passage behind the Chozo Statue; bomb the opening and bounce in, bombing another block and rolling to the right. Bomb the shutter to raise you up, and roll to the right; you'll eventually fall through a crumble block. Exit the way you came in, and backtrack all the way to the long red shaft. Use another Power Bomb to blast your way out of this niche, then resume climbing, past the blue door on the left, until you find some more Rippers. Repeat the freezing trick to climb the rest of the way up, shooting the ceiling to reach the blue door. Go on through. In this room, be VERY CAREFUL not to fall into the Manflowers (or jump into the ones on the ceiling), for they'll hold on to you for several seconds, as well as draining a bit of your energy. Jump from ledge to ledge, shooting the Zebbos and Zeelas that get in the way. Go through the door on the right to reach another red shaft. Insectoid's Tip: • I've found it useful to freeze the Zebbos behind me so they don't bump me from behind into the Manflowers. Alternatively, you can angle down and freeze or destroy them while they're still down in the Manflowers. • Another alternative is to drop Power Bombs as you go. (Saves you the trouble of aiming...) Shoot through the floor here to reveal a passage leading down. Ignore or shoot the worms crawling on the walls (I believe they're called Zeros), and blast open the green door at the bottom. In here, freeze the Boyons to safely cross the spiky, Manflower-filled pit. At the far end is a Chozo Statue; shoot its marble and collect the pack of POWER BOMBS (10). Lay a Power Bomb right now; it will blast away the wall behind the statue. Go to the left and get the pack of MISSILES (80) on the pedestal. Head back the same way you entered, and climb back up the shaft (you can shoot the Zeros for Power Bomb refills). Go past the door you got here through (notice it's now yellow?), and continue going up. The blue door on the right is a Save Room; you won't need it, as we'll be going to the ship right after this next item. Continue climbing until you reach the green door on the left; blast it and go through. In this room, there are three large Sidehoppers, as well as a bridge running over Manflowers with Yapping Maws in them. Kill the Sidehoppers to unlock the door, and head to the left of the room, where you'll see one Manflower without a Maw in it. Lay a Power Bomb, and the entire floor will be blown away; you'll fall through the Manflower (which is fake) into a small room with a pack of POWER BOMBS (15). Exit this room, being careful not to fall in the Manflowers and Yapping Maws on the way out the now-flashing metal door. Back in the red shaft, take the elevator up to Crateria. _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Been a while, hasn't it? Blast open the yellow door in the ceiling here and jump through. Blast or ignore the green Scisers as you make your way up, shooting the ceiling and jumping into the tunnel above. Kill the Kihunters and enter the door on the left at a dash. Keep running until you super-speed through that barrier I noted when we first landed, and stop at Samus's ship. Jump on top and press Down to enter the ship; your supplies will be refilled and you'll get to save. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────/ 3.6 / Exploring the Wrecked Ship /────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Before we move on, check out what you've collected so far: you should have 4 Energy Tanks for 499 energy, plus 100 energy in 1 Reserve Tank, along with 80 Missiles, 5 Super Missiles, and 15 Power Bombs. You may also unequip your Ice Beam if you wish; you won't be needing it for a while. To continue, super-speed to the right to break through the blocks (if they're still there), and blast open the green door. Keep going right until you're back in the tunnel with the Kihunters; eliminate them and keep going until you reach a yellow door. Blast it open with a Power Bomb and go through. In this room, latch onto the grappling blocks above and swing over the water to the MISSILES (85), trying your best to LAND on the pedestal. Swing the rest of the way across the room, being careful on the crumbling grappling blocks, which will disappear if you hold onto them for too long. Go through the door at the end. We're in another large outdoor area; there's another pack of Missiles down below, but we'll be picking that up later. Arm your Grappling Beam and latch onto the grappling blocks above to swing across each gap. You'll eventually come to a gap without a grappling block, but there is a green Ripper II here; latch onto it and swing across. Jump across the remaining platforms and blast open the green door to enter the Wrecked Ship. Insectoid's Tip: • There IS a faster way across, but it doesn't save much time, and it requires precision. If you're curious, check out SECTION 6.1.1, "Time— Saving Zigs and Zags." _____________ /Wrecked Ship/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This place looks as lifeless as Crateria did before Samus woke it up. Head right across the dead conveyor belt and through the door to reach a long shaft. Across the way is a Save Room; there's no power, so it's as dead as everything else. Start heading down the stairs; by now, you'll probably have seen a Covern or two (those creepy skull things); shoot them if they get in your way. You'll reach a metal door; ignore it and go down the next flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs from the metal door, bomb the bottom of the left wall and roll through the passage. Make your way left, ignoring the spikes (oddly enough, without power they don't hurt you!) and collect the pack of MISSILES (90) at the end. Backtrack to the main shaft, and continue going down the stairs. When you get to another metal door, shoot the floor out, and continue down until you reach a green door in the floor; blast it open and go through. This is another long tunnel; the door on the far left is a Map Room, which is dead as well. Head to the right, until you reach an obstruction; bomb the bottom of it and roll under. Blast the Eye Door here with three Missiles, and prepare to face the boss Phantoon. _________________________________________________ / PHANTOON / / HP: 2500 / / Attacks: flames 20 (each) / / / / Missiles – 100 (25) / / Charged Spazer/Wave – 200 each, up to 3 (13) / / Charged Spazer/Ice/Wave – 300 (9) / / Super Missiles – 600 (5) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Phantoon is a bit tougher than the bosses you've faced so far; the main reason being that he drops fireballs EVERYWHERE. However, you can shoot them for refills, so it's not all bad. Basically, he'll fly around the room in a figure-8 pattern, dropping lots of fireballs as he goes, before finally stopping. On his second pass (if you don't hit him), he will either immediately stop in a different location, or become invisible and drop some more fireballs, and then stop. When Phantoon stops and opens his eye is the signal to attack. You have several options for fighting him: 1) Super Missiles. Though they do more damage than charged shots, it is more dangerous, and takes more time, because it causes Phantoon to do an additional fireball attack between hits: he'll move to the top of the room, and rain down fireballs eight times. These are almost, but not quite, impossible to avoid. If you're not fast enough to morph and roll from corner to corner, alternating between each pass, there is an alternative: the Charge Attack! (What? You don't know what that is? Check SECTION 2.3, "Abilities.") The clever Charge Attack will protect you from Phantoon's fireballs, and unlike when you hit an enemy with it, you won't lose the charge. 2) Charged Spazer/Ice/Wave. This is the slightly safer choice, and takes a bit less time, but hitting the boss is tricky as always. I took another look at Foxhound's guide, and discovered a THIRD option: 3) Charged Spazer/Wave. "But Bug," I can hear you say, "that does less damage than the Spazer/Ice/Wave combo!" If you unequip the Ice Beam, then, yes, it does less damage. However, instead of disappearing, after each Spazer/Wave hit Phantoon will fly back and forth wildly, giving you the opportunity to get up to TWO MORE hits in! This gives you the benefit that using Super Missiles would, while preventing him from doing any additional attacks. I also think it's a little faster than using charged Spazer/Ice/Wave. In any case, Phantoon will change color after a while, and after 5 Super Missiles or 9 Charged Spazer/Ice/Wave shots (or 12-13 Spazer/Wave), he'll flash and dissolve, bringing the ship back to life. Collect the refills and exit through the flashing door. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Well, the power's back, and so are the enemies (not too surprising). The Work Robots are active again, and seem to delight in shooting energy beams at you. There are also tough orb-like creatures called Kobens that can go through walls––shoot them! And since the power's back, there are live electric currents everywhere, dropping sparks occasionally. Take this moment to visit the Map Room noted earlier; when you're ready, go through the door in the ceiling. Shoot out the ceiling and enter the now-flashing metal door on the left. In this small room, avoid the electric currents and grab the pack of SUPER MISSILES (10). (Been a while since we saw one of those, huh?) Exit the way you came in, and go to the wall opposite the door. Bomb the bottom of it to reveal a passage; roll through and go through the door. In here, avoid the spikes and currents as you make your way across the conveyor belt to the first Work Robot. Jump over it, and continue until you find another one; jump over it and drop a Power Bomb to blast away the wall, revealing four tunnels. Bomb-jump into the second from the bottom, roll through and collect another pack of SUPER MISSILES (15). Exit this room. Back in the main shaft, continue climbing (ignore the other flashing door) until you get to the Save Room noted earlier; save if you want. When you're ready, continue climbing the stairs until you reach what looks like a dead end; shoot the ceiling to reveal a passage, and keep going until you get to a door in the ceiling. Jump through it. The door will turn metal below you; the other two doors in this long hallway are metal, as well. The only way to unlock them all is to kill all the enemies in this room––Kobens and tougher yellow Kihunters, some of which are wingless. Insectoid's Tip: • I've decided that the fastest way of eliminating the horde of enemies in this room is to just pelt them all with Missiles, 3 for each Koben, and 4 for each Kihunter. With 90 Missiles, you should have plenty for the task. Our destination is the door on the far right, but start on the right side anyway (you'll see why in a minute). Kill all the enemies, then head to the left, blasting enemies until you reach the door on the far left. When all the enemies are dead, the doors will unlock; shoot open the door on the left NOW! (If you don't, you'll have to kill all the enemies again after exiting the other door, just to unlock it.) Head back to the right and go through the door at the end. There are more conveyor belts and Work Robots in here; shoot at the Robots to make them fall into the pits, and make your way right. Grab the pack of MISSILES (95) and go back to the long hallway, shooting your way past the enemies again as you head toward the far left door. Go through it. _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ We're back out in Crateria for a short while. Head to the left, across the platforms, until you see a Tripper. Jump onto it, and ride it to the left until you see a second Tripper above you; jump up to it. Ride this Tripper to the right, and jump up to the next Tripper you see. Ride this third Tripper to the left until you see a low part of the ceiling; shoot it and spin-jump at the pack of MISSILES (100) to collect it, then drop down. Insectoid's Tip: • A slightly faster way to get this one is to ride the second Tripper until you see the ceiling above you go up; shoot straight up at that point, and Spin-Jump at the Missile pack. Down below, head left until you reach the wall, then scan the floor with your X-Ray Scope until you find a Super Missile block. Blast it and drop in, then drop a Bomb to blast away the block on your left, and roll over to the pack of MISSILES (105). To get back the way you got in (you don't want to drop down, else you'll have to climb alllll the way back up through the Wrecked Ship), jump up and then morph in mid-air and roll into the tunnel (you may have to shoot the sandstone block first; it regenerates). Shoot the Super Missile block again (it regenerates too!) and jump out. Scan the ground with the X-Ray Scope again until you locate another hidden block; shoot this and drop through, then roll to the right, and go through the door (raid the Zebbo nest first, if you need energy). In this next room, kill any Wavers or Choots that get in your way, and go through the next door. In here, you can simply go through the next door (the strangely-colored Geemer above follows you around... weird). _____________ /Wrecked Ship/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Back in the Wrecked Ship, arm your Grappling Beam and swing across this long spike-filled room, until you reach a Chozo Statue with no marble; oddly, this one is standing up. Jump up into its hand and roll... hey, why did it grab Samus?! The Chozo comes to life, and with Samus in hand starts walking across the spikes to the left, eventually descending *right through the floor* down some stairs into a small room below. It will stop and release Samus here. Don't go through the door yet; you'll notice there's a narrow tunnel below you. Bomb the left side, drop down and roll to the right, then when you reach a dead end, drop a Power Bomb to blast open a passage. Go through it, and shoot the Work Robots into the pits. Head right and collect a pack of MISSILES (110) from the Chozo Statue, then drop a Power Bomb. It will blast away both the wall and the Chozo Statue; start dashing to the right across the conveyor belts. Super-charge before you get to the far wall, and Super-Jump straight up the narrow shaft. Go left, and jump over the depression in the floor (it's a false floor) to reach the RESERVE TANK (2). Now fall through the false floor, and backtrack to where the Chozo let us off. Insectoid's Tip: • The passage above the Reserve Tank leads to another door to Crateria, but there's a solid wall between the passage and the little room, with no hidden passages; basically, it's a dead end.) Go through the door here and shoot the marble for the GRAVITY SUIT! Yeah! Now you can move freely in water, lava and acid (and weak lava will not damage you anymore), meaning you can now explore Maridia. Your Power Suit is also now pink. (Or magenta. I liked orange better.) Go through the door here (it's the only way out). _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ You'll drop down into the water in front of the entrance; now that you have the Gravity Suit, you can jump back up to the entrance easily. First, though, let's pick up the pack of Missiles I advised you to skip earlier. Head to the left underwater (watch out for the blue Skulteras) until you reach the far left wall. Shoot the bottom of it to reveal a passage; with the Gravity Suit, you can simply bomb-jump into the tunnel. (Without it, you would have had to jump, morph mid-jump, and roll in which, though easier underwater, would have taken a little more time.) Anyway, roll left to reach the pack of MISSILES (115). Exit the tunnel the same way you came in, bombing the entrance. Head right, back up to the platforms, and go back into the Wrecked Ship through the entrance. _____________ /Wrecked Ship/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Run through this room (notice that the conveyor is active now) and go through the door back into the main shaft. Save; I sometimes have trouble getting this last item, so it's a good idea. When you're ready, go down the stairs to the flashing door on the right we ignored earlier. Open it and go through. Kill the Bull with a charged Beam shot, then jump out of the water onto the platform. (Without the Gravity Suit, you wouldn't be able to jump that high, and it's too deep even to try a wall-jump.) Go through the next door, and make your way across this spiked-filled room, carefully darting across the moving spike platforms to the door. Insectoid's Tip: • The safest way to cross this room is to jump on each spiked platform, morph, then wait until it's safe to jump to the next one. Alternatively, if you think you have enough energy, you can try making small spin-jumps in rapid succession from platform to platform, ignoring the damage from the spikes. Your call. In this shaft, shoot the ceilings as you climb up to the top, ignoring the blue door on the right. At the top, blast open the red door and go inside. I dislike this room, because it's easy to mess up. This is a medium-sized chamber with a pool of water, with Skulteras and spikes at the bottom. The easiest way to reach the first suspensor platform is NOT with the Grappling Beam, but from the topmost of the little ledges in the water here, from which you can simply jump to it. Carefully jump across the suspensor platforms, then arm the Grappling Beam and latch onto the crumbling grappling blocks as soon as you're within reach, and swing over to collect the MUCH-needed ENERGY TANK (5). Make your way back across (if you fall in, just jump up those little ledges I mentioned), and backtrack to the main shaft, again passing up the door on the right. Insectoid's Tip: • The door on the right goes back out into Crateria, eventually leading to an elevator down to the "dark" side of Maridia. Specifically, it leads you to the sandy area near the Plasma Beam, though that can't be collected until you defeat Draygon, who also cannot be reached from this area (as the large room with Cacatacs is locked on both sides). It does, however, offer a short route (through the high-speed tube) to the other entrance of Maridia, and to the Spring Ball, though obtaining the Spring Ball before Draygon is difficult. (See the relevant Tip in SECTION 3.8 for more information.) Go back to the conveyor belt at the entrance to the Wrecked Ship, and dash across it. Super-charge before you reach the door, open it, press Jump and tap Left... _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ...to zip across the entire length of the lake! Neat, huh? Anyway, go through the door at the other end and backtrack all the way to the ship. Resupply and save. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────/ 3.7 / Hunting Down Some Items /─────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Well, the Wrecked Ship was quite a handful, wasn't it? This little item hunt should be a snap by comparison. (Oh, were you expecting a supply check? See if these numbers match: 599, 200, 120, 15, 15.) To start out, from Samus's ship, head to the left, where there is a little hill. Go back to the right and run to the left, super-charging once you get to the hill. Angle up to the right and press Jump to Super-Jump diagonally alllll the way to the upper-right corner of this area, and you'll land on a cliff. Head to the right and blast the yellow door open with a Power Bomb. Go on through. In here, blast the Alcoons with Missiles as you make your way across the boiling lava-filled room (didn't we just leave that stuff?!); eventually you'll reach a pack of POWER BOMBS (20). Exit through the door you came in at a run. You should reach super-speed just before you get to the edge of the cliff; store the charge and fall straight down off the edge to reach another cliff. Press Jump and quickly tap Left to Super-Jump horizontally, just like the demo when you turn the game on. You'll break through a barrier of bendezium blocks in the far wall and smash right into a door. Enter it. Insectoid's Tips: • If you mess up, you can do a diagonal Super-Jump to the left from the little hill near the ship that you used before. If you miss the blocks, you can use a Power Bomb to blow them away. • See SECTION 6.1.1, "Time-Saving Zigs and Zags," for an even faster way through this and the next area. This long series of tunnels has Wavers, Yapping Maws, and boiling lava that rises and falls, as well as many obstructions that you need to bomb through. Equip your Ice Beam, then arm your Power Bombs and blast away each barrier when you come to it, watching your footing around the lava and freezing the Yapping Maws. (Though these are just bendezium blocks, Power Bombs will get rid of them faster.) When you get to a door, go on through and quickly collect the ENERGY TANK (6) before the lava hits you. What a relief! Drop a Power Bomb here to reveal a tunnel; wait for the lava to fall, then morph and quickly roll through the tunnel to the other side. There are more obstructions here, as well as spikes. Make your way across the room, blasting obstacles with Power Bombs until you reach the far end, where a Zebbo nest and Yapping Maw await you. Go through the door here. Shoot the wall in front of you to clear a path. Don't move yet, though––use the X-Ray Scope to reveal a whole mess of crumble blocks in the middle of the room. Optimally, you want to jump on the VERY CENTER of the crumble block patch so that both columns are broken at the same time. (The Player's Guide says that attempting this without the Spring Ball is futile; they are WRONG. However, if you do mess up, you'll have to backtrack and go through the horrible lava rooms again.) Arm your Power Bombs, jump on the middle of the patch, and drop a Power Bomb the instant you see the two alcoves on either side; this will blast away the breakable blocks. Quickly jump into either alcove (hopefully leaving enough room to jump over the crumble blocks to the other alcove) and collect a pack of MISSILES (120), then jump over and collect the other pack of MISSILES (125). Continue dropping down, and when you stop, drop another Power Bomb to blow open the floor (killing two hidden Beetoms in the walls). We're back in the shaft with the green Space Pirates we came through earlier on the way to Brinstar. Head down that way again (continue to ignore the red door on the right), and take the elevator down to Brinstar. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Go through the first door on the right. Remember that the last time you were here, you couldn't get past even the first shutter? Now that you have the Speed Booster, simply run all the way across and you should make it under the speed— shutters without difficulty. Blast open the red door and go through; shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for a RESERVE TANK (3). Morph and roll under the statue to reach a pack of MISSILES (130), then drop a Power Bomb to reveal a second pack of MISSILES (135) hidden deep in the wall. Exit this room. Obviously, you can't get out the same way you got here (the speed-shutters are still closed), so you'll have to go around them. Shoot the ceiling next to the nearest shutter and jump up, being wary of the Wavers and Sidehoppers lurking around up here. Collect the pack of SUPER MISSILES (20), then jump on the block the pack was sitting on to find that it crumbles, dropping you back into the speed-shutter room. Exit through the door. Back in the main room, head down to the bottom; it would be a good idea to save in the Save Room on the way. I mentioned earlier that there was an explorable area down below; drop a Power Bomb to blast away the floor. Drop down this shaft to the bottom, and go through the door. In here, drop another Power Bomb to blast away the Beetoms, then head through the next door. In here, head left until you see the Energy Tank ahead. STOP! Point your X-Ray Scope at the floor in front of it to reveal a fake floor. Go back to the door, and make a running jump over the pit to reach the ENERGY TANK (7), then blast open the green door and go through. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for a pack of SUPER MISSILES (25). Exit the way you came in. Drop down the invisible pit, and roll through the spiked tunnel to the right (the door to the left is a Save Room; you can use it if you want). Kill the Beetoms with Bombs or Missiles (or just freeze them), and blast or freeze any Zebbos that get in the way as you make your way to the door at the end. (You can also drop Power Bombs, just like in the Manflower room in red Brinstar.) Three friendly little creatures called Etecoons await you in the next room, standing next to a shaft. If you wait a moment, they will run over to the shaft and start wall-jumping up it. Follow their example, and wall-jump all the way up. Insectoid's Tip: • By the way, if you happened to miss the Energy Tank and Super Missile pack two paragraphs ago, or want to skip this next tricky item, there is a shortcut back to the long shaft that doesn't involve wall-jumping all the way up the Etecoon shaft. Simply wall-jump to the first ledge on the left-hand side, drop a bomb, then morph and roll/bomb through the tunnel until you reach the long shaft. There are platforms there leading back up to the main area. At the top of the shaft, you'll notice a narrow tunnel in the right wall. Without the Spring Ball, the only way to get inside it is to run full-speed from the left, spin-jump to the right, morph in mid-jump, and roll in the tunnel. This is trickier than it sounds, but it's possible with practice (you have to be FAST on the D-pad!). If you succeed, you'll make it in the tunnel, and can collect the pack of POWER BOMBS (25). Insectoid's Tip: • You can, of course, come back later with the Spring Ball, but this is a bit of an annoying area to backtrack through, as you've seen. Roll back out, and wall-jump back up again. Go through the door at the far left to reach the main shaft again (notice the door is metal? It's one-way). Climb back up and Power Bomb the floor once again, and go through the first door on the right; kill the Reos here. This next part is optional; if you'd like to skip it, simply head right without using the Speed Booster (or, you can Super-Jump to the other end of the tunnel), back to the large pink room. If you're curious as to what's down here, back up and start running right, super-speeding through the bendezium blocks and the bridge of Booster Blocks here, dropping down a LONG shaft. Head left to find a door (leads to an Energy Recharge Room) and a strange bird-like creature called a Dachola, who will show you how to perform a Super-Jump. (Watch as the master runs to the right and Super-Jumps straight up, hitting its head on the Booster Blocks above...) Refill your energy if you want, then follow the Dachola's lead and Super-Jump out of here (hopefully not hitting your head!). Head right, all the way to the large pink room. Head right and down, blast the yellow door open with a Power Bomb, and go through. Kill the three Sidehoppers here (one is larger than the others) to unlock both doors. In this room is a tall wall with a blue gate at the top. One way to get up to it is to latch onto the grappling block directly above you, swing around to get on top of it, shoot open the gate, and swing over to the top of the wall. Insectoid's Tip: • A quicker way to get up the wall is to wall-jump up the left side, shoot open the gate, and then wall-jump back up on top of it if you fall. In any case, once you're over the wall, go through the door on the other side, and collect the ENERGY TANK (8). Go back to the previous room, and bomb the bottom of the tall wall to make a shutter rise; use it to reach the gate above (or, again, just wall-jump up), then open the gate, drop down, and kill the Sidehoppers again to unlock the door. Exit this room. Back in the pink room, climb up a little until you see an area off to the left with some grappling blocks in the ceiling. Latch on and swing across them to reach a pack of MISSILES (140), then drop down into the little pocket. Use a Power Bomb to blast away some blocks, and point the X-Ray Scope at the left wall. You'll see an invisible hole in the wall; jump through it to reach a tunnel with a bunch of large Sidehoppers. Eliminate them (charged shots work best), and head over to the left. There is a single odd block in the floor; blast it away with a Super Missile, drop down, and pick up the pack of POWER BOMBS (30). Shoot the shutter to raise it, then bomb the wall behind it, drop down, and roll to the right. At the end, drop a bomb to make a shutter rise, then go through the door. You'll fall through a crumble block back into the large pink room. Drop down until you reach the narrow tunnel, but ignore it, and instead bomb down to where you got the Charge Beam. Drop a Power Bomb to blast away a block concealing a tunnel, and roll through; head down and blast open the red door. This room is partially filled with water; kill all the Zeros in the room, then go back to the right and dash left, super-speeding through the Booster blocks, Puyos and Skulteras to reach an ENERGY TANK (9). Exit this room. Jump back up to the Charge Beam room, drop a Power Bomb to get back through, and go up and bomb-jump through the narrow gap, then head through the door. In the long green tunnel, jump up to the ledge in the upper-right, and blast open the yellow door with a Power Bomb. We're back in the blue area of Brinstar where you picked up the Morphing Ball. Watch out for the Sidehoppers as you head right, and when you get to a wall blocking your way, bomb the bottom of it, roll under, and bomb out the other side. Collect the pack of POWER BOMBS (35) here, then drop a Power Bomb to blast away the wall to the right. Head right, past the elevator, and go through the next two doors. In this long room, blast the Geemers and watch out for the Skrees as you head toward the large obstruction at the far end. Shoot the ceiling to the left of the obstruction to reveal an ENERGY TANK (10) that you can leap up and grab. Drop a Power Bomb to blow away the bottom of the obstruction, collect the pack of MISSILES (145) that we passed up oh so long ago, then go back to the left. Dash to the right and super-charge, then stand directly under the hole in the bottom of the obstruction and Super-Jump straight up. Hold left to land in the small room above (as the block doesn't reappear), and go through the door. This room has an ankle-deep pool of water. Point your X-Ray Scope up and to the left to reveal an invisible bridge; jump up onto it and make your way left, avoiding the boulders that come out of nowhere. Go through the door at the end. In here, grab the obvious pack of MISSILES (150), then walk to the left of it and drop a Bomb next to the raised platform to reveal another pack of MISSILES (155). Exit this room, bomb through the hole in the floor, then as you drop down the narrow shaft, hold right, and you'll drop through a crumble block and be able to roll out. (Or you could drop another Power Bomb. Your choice.) Head back to the elevator and take it up to Crateria. _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Head left to Mother Brain's room; bomb the middle of the large tank several times (or once with a Power Bomb) to reveal a passage, leading to a hidden pack of MISSILES (160). Go left into the Tourian escape shaft (blasting Pirates as you go), and start climbing up. Insectoid's Tip: • If you're curious (or want to practice that nifty Super-Jump up the shaft for later), use Bombs or a Power Bomb on the bottom of the left wall of the shaft to reveal the exit door from Tourian. It's metal, of course. Remember those single blue ledges along the left and right walls that I mentioned earlier? They're near the bottom of the shaft, not far above door level. Jump up to the one on the right, and bomb the wall there to reveal a passage. Blast open the yellow door with a Power Bomb, and go through. You'll find yourself in a long tunnel with four Boyons in the floor. Freeze each one, and quickly head back to the left, freezing them again as you go (they don't stay frozen for long). From the door, dash to the right, and super-charge before you hit the far wall. Press Jump to Super-Jump straight up, and you'll reach a small room with a pack of SUPER MISSILES (30). Arm your Grappling Beam and swing left across the spike-filled tunnel to the door. The door will turn metal behind you (it's another of those one-way doors); head to the left and bomb your way back into the escape shaft. Go through the door in the ceiling, and backtrack all the way to Samus's ship. Resupply and save your game. From the ship, head right, dashing through the bendezium blocks again, and go through the door, then through the tunnel. In the room with the Kihunters, use the X-Ray Scope to locate the path down to the elevator here; shoot the block, drop down, and blast open the yellow door in the floor with a Power Bomb. Take the elevator down. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Back here in the red section of Brinstar, head down to the door leading to the main red shaft, through the Manflower room, and then all the way down, going through the door at the bottom. Go through the two water rooms, and stop at the glass tube we passed several times earlier. ________ /Maridia/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Drop a Power Bomb and press any button to blast away the glass; now that you have the Gravity Suit, you can explore this area freely. Go to the bottom and through the door; save your game here. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ────────────────────/ 3.8 / The Perilous Waters of Maridia /──────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ There were certainly a lot of items to collect in the last section; you should now have 10 Energy Tanks for 1099 energy, 300 energy in 3 Reserve Tanks, 160 Missiles, 30 Super Missiles, and 35 Power Bombs. Quite a haul, but we're not done yet! Go ahead and unequip your Ice Beam again (you won't be needing it at all in Maridia.) To continue, climb back up above the broken glass tube, and go through the door in the ceiling. Nice peaceful music, eh? Anyway, go through the door on the right, blasting open the green gate and killing any Scisers that get in your way as you head to the door. We'll be back here a bit later, but I like to visit the Map Room now, as Maridia is large and can be a little confusing. To get there, roll under the blocks in the middle of this room (where the Scisers are coming out) to drop down into another room; blast open the red door here and get the map data for Maridia, then head through the blue door on the left. Make your way through this tunnel with Boyons and Zebbos, blasting through another green gate; at the far end, drop down into the tunnel outside Maridia. Go back to the broken-tube room and save *NOW*! Make your way back up to the room with the Scisers and the green gate. Open the door behind you, blast the gate open again, and kill ALL of the Scisers on the ground (a charged Beam shot each will do). Here comes the tricky part. Go to the right, and start a dash to the left. Super-charge JUST before you reach the door, then once through the door quickly run with the charge to the left. On the platform to the left of the floor door is a row of plants, two of which stick out. Stand in the EXACT spot the leftmost one is, and Super-Jump straight up. If you positioned yourself correctly, you should JUST miss hitting the small platforms on the way up, and blast through some Speed Booster Blocks to a tiny alcove with a pack of MISSILES (165). Whew. Insectoid's Tip: • You'll know if you super-charged at about the right time if you can see Samus turn white/yellow on her way out the door. This maneuver requires near-precise timing; if you can't get it on the first few tries, reset and try again. I won't blame you if you don't get it the first 20 tries; it took me about that long to learn how to do it right. I HIGHLY recommend saving afterward, if it took you a while to do. Hold left as you fall out of the alcove to land on the ledge up here. Climb all the way to the top, ignoring the pack of Super Missiles to the right (you'll be getting it shortly). At the top, go through the door. This large room is dotted with grappling blocks, Scisers, and balloon-like enemies called Powamps. Head down and right, and morph before you go over the edge; hug the left wall (don't worry about the Sciser) and you'll roll into a hidden tunnel. Roll to the left, ignoring the Sciser in here, and pick up the pack of SUPER MISSILES (35) we saw a moment ago. Roll back out of this room and back to the large room; drop down here. Head to the right, jump out of the ditch, and go through the door in the floor on the far right. There are Skulteras and a new pink variety of Space Pirate in here; your current weapons have no effect on them, so stay clear. This room is divided into several pits; jump over this one to the left, then over the second one. Drop down into the third pit (there should be no door and a single pink Pirate at the bottom); ignore the Pirate and walk through the wall to the right... a secret passage. Blast open the red door and go through. This room has a peculiar enemy called a Tatori (which looks a little like a giant Ripper), along with several smaller Tatoris. To wake it up, shoot either it or the smaller Tatoris; it will start spinning around and fly back and forth until you step on it. Step on it now while it's still in the middle of the room, and it'll start spinning straight up. Arm your Grappling Beam, and when the Tatori reaches its peak, jump up and latch onto the grappling block up above and slightly to the right. Swing around and land on top of it to collect the ENERGY TANK (11), then drop back down. Lure the Tatori over to the right side of the room, and jump on it to stop it. As it rises, angle up and keep shooting the right wall until you reveal a Missile pack; spin-jump at the wall to collect the MISSILES (170). Insectoid's Tip: • I had the good fortune on one occasion to be standing near the right-hand wall when the Tatori came spinning towards Samus, and did not jump in time; the Tatori somehow picked up Samus and carried her upward as if she was standing on top of the thing. On impulse I started shooting at the wall to reveal the Missile pack, and collected it without even jumping! So that's another way to collect it, I guess. Exit this room at a dash, super-speeding right through the pink Pirate (seems they aren't immune to the Speed Booster...), then backtrack to the large room with the grappling blocks along the ceiling. Now, normally you would need to either go back to the beginning of the room and jump to the grappling blocks, or latch onto one of the balloon-like Powamps and swing up on top of one of the blocks, and then swing across to the door in the upper-right. However, there is a faster way to get there. Insectoid's Tip: • For those who are curious, there is also a door up at the top of the room that leads to the red elevator shaft in Brinstar. Remember this for later! You'll notice that the ditch at the bottom of the room is just long enough to reach super-speed if you dash across it. After killing the two Scisers that are in the way, start at the door in the floor on the left and dash right, storing the super-charge as soon as you get it. Spin-jump to the platform above and right of the gap here, angle up, and Super-Jump diagonally to the right. You should hit the ceiling just to the left of the door. (Full credit goes to Marshmallow for this trick.) Go on through. You'll wind up in a small metallic shaft crawling with Scisers; climb up the right side and go through the door at the top. In this sandy area, avoid the Owtches and head right to what looks like a dead end; run through the wall to find a hidden chamber with a pack of MISSILES (175). Head back to the left, up through the opening, and out of the water to the door on the left; go through it. In this long room, kill any Menus (Maridia Mellows) that get in your way, and avoid the Owtches as you make your way left. At the apparent dead end, jump through the wall and continue, until you end up in a shaft. Watch out for the Menus as you spin-jump up to the platform above, and go through the door there. Keep heading left (past the Zebbo pits) until you fall in a ditch with a Choot. Shoot it, then drop down the center of the ditch to find a small room with a pack of MISSILES (180) and a pack of SUPER MISSILES (40). Jump back out into the ditch, and backtrack all the way back to the metallic shaft. Drop down to the bottom of the shaft and shoot the floor to reveal a tunnel below. Kill the Scisers and blast through the green door on the right. The music suddenly changes to something more depressing than peaceful; I call this "dark" Maridia. This large metallic room is right smack in the middle of Maridia, and we'll be coming back to it several times. Anyway, drop down and set off a Power Bomb to blow away the floor. Drop into the tunnel, and blast open the red door on the left. Save your game in here, then exit and start dashing to the right. Ignore the odd little Yards, and super-charge when you get to a narrow shaft. Super-Jump up it, and collect the pack of MISSILES (185) sitting there. Go to the right, and stop when you see the Super Missile pack. There are crumble blocks here; point the X-Ray Scope at the floor to spot them, then jump over and collect the SUPER MISSILES (45). Fall down the crumble blocks, and head back to the left (ignore the door on the right). Back on the ground level of this room, dash left and super-charge before you reach the door to the Save Room. Back up a bit until you're just outside the tunnel, then Super-Jump straight up, and hold left to land on a platform above. Head left and go through the door in the ceiling. Here you'll meet a new enemy called a Mochtroid. Unlike real Metroids, these clones are far weaker, so you shouldn't have any trouble with them (in fact, the Grappling Beam kills them with one hit; keep this in mind for later). This room is a bit of a maze; make your way up, down through a crumble block, right, and down, shooting out the walls and Mochtroids as you go. When the bottom floor is clear, you should have enough room to super-speed from the left through the Booster blocks on the right. Go through the door here, and prepare to face the mini-boss Botwoon. _______________________________________ / BOTWOON / / HP: 3000 / / Attacks: poison bolts 24, body 32. / / / / Missiles – 100 (30) / / Charged Spazer/Ice/Wave – 300 (10) / / Super Missiles – 300 (10) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ With the number of Super Missiles you have now, this should be a piece of cake. Botwoon is a snake-like creature that darts in and out of holes on the screen. Occasionally he'll stop and spit poison bolts at you; these are nearly impossible to avoid. Only Botwoon's head is vulnerable. The easiest time to shoot him is when he stops to shoot bolts at you, but early on you can also hit him when he's moving. I usually wind up making liberal use of the angle up button here. Aim carefully and shoot Super Missiles at his head when he swims by, and especially when he stops. After 6 Super Missiles, he'll speed up, and he'll get even faster (and VERY hard to hit) after 8. 10 should finish him off. Insectoid's Tip: • You'll notice that the charged Spazer combo does the same amount of damage to Botwoon. Like with previous bosses, hitting Botwoon isn't the problem; it is WHERE you hit him that matters. If you hit part of his body instead of his head, it won't count. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ When Botwoon is down, the right wall collapses, allowing us to proceed. Go through the door on the right. This is the long sandy room; we'll be coming back here several times. DO NOT fall into the left-most sand-pits (yet), as you'll wind up back near the large metallic room, and have to climb back up here again. Anyway, shoot the Puyos, and start dashing to the right from the drop in the floor next to the door. You will super-speed over several sand-pits and through a bunch of blocks; notice that there is an Energy Tank in the tunnel above you? Find a patch of solid ground, and examine the structure with the X-Ray Scope. There are several hidden tunnels in there, and two ways to reach the Energy Tank, marked 'E' in this crude map: [To do: verify passages on map in-game. --TK] ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒ = solid wall ▒▒▒▒ ░░░░░ ░░░▒▒▒▒ ░░░░▒▒▒▒ ░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒░▒░▒▒▒░▒▒░▒▒▒▒░▒▒▒░▒▒▒▒░▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ░░ = fake wall ░░░░▒E▒ ▒▒ ░░░░░▒▒▒ ░░░░░▒ ░░░░░░░ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 1) The narrow passage on the left side. This would require either a Spin— Jump and morph in mid-air, or the Spring Ball (which you don't have just yet). 2) The longer passage on the right side. For a long time, I thought that the right-hand passage was a dead end, but discovered by accident that there IS a way through. You'll have to bomb-jump several times, and there's room to stand and use the X-Ray Scope, so as long as you don't fall through the hole in the bottom (right into a sand pit), you should be able to collect the ENERGY TANK (12). Either way, once you have the Energy Tank, make your way out of the structure, being VERY careful not to fall into the sand-pits. Go through the door at the far right. In this shaft are more Mochtroids and many grappling blocks on the walls. (There is also a passage through the bottom of the right wall, which leads to a Missile Recharge Room.) Arm your Grappling Beam and latch onto the grappling block wall; you'll be able to jump off of the place you latch on, as if you had wall-jumped. Go all the way to the top of the shaft and through the door on the right. Insectoid's Tips: • Grapple-jumping is tricky; when you latch onto the block, make sure your beam isn't too long. When you see Samus crouched up against the wall, you can let go of the Grappling Beam for a moment and jump off the wall, as if you did a wall-jump. If it looks like Samus is just hanging from the wall, you'll have to try again. • If you have trouble grapple-jumping, try wall-jumping instead, wherever possible; it's actually faster. • Did I mention the Grappling Beam kills Mochtroids with one hit? ;) This LONG room is filled with Mochtroids and grappling blocks. Drop down, blasting Mochtroids as you go, and latch onto the first grappling block over the sand. Swing to the right, and keep this up until you reach a wall of grappling blocks. Make your way up it, and when you get to the top, drop down on the other side. Continue right, swinging over sand-pits, until you see some grappling blocks higher up. Latch onto the grappling block over the sand here, and swing up; release and latch onto the high grappling blocks. At the top, drop down once more and head right to another wall. There is a single grappling block VERY high up on this wall, and may take a few tries swinging from the grappling blocks down here to get the necessary height to reach it. When you do, though, jump onto the top of this wall. You're finally at the other end of the room; there are two doors here. The red door goes to a Save Room and an Energy Recharge Room; use these if you wish. To proceed, drop down and blast open the green door. The floors of this next room are covered with fake spikes, so don't panic. Head to the right until you reach the end, then shoot the pipe in the middle of the wall to reveal a pack of MISSILES (190). Go back to the left, and drop through the set of fake spikes nearest the door. You'll fall down and reach an Eye Door; boss time. Blast the Eye Door with a Super Missile and go through to face the boss, Draygon. ___________________________________________________________ / DRAYGON / / HP: 6000 / / Attacks: slime causes lethargy, body 40, tail bash 40, / / turrets 32, electric current 4. / / / / Missiles – 100 (60) / / Charged Spazer/Ice/Wave – 300 (20) / / Super Missiles – 300 (20) / / Grappling Beam – A LOT, if used right... / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ You'll drop down and find no boss to be seen at first, but there are some Evirs. Use the time before the boss appears to destroy the turrets on the walls (use a Super Missile on each; it's faster). Eventually, Draygon will appear. Draygon's attacks are simple: he'll swoop down (you can roll up to dodge these), and eventually he'll stop and start spewing slime all over the place. Shoot these as many of these slime-balls as you can. If the slime hits you, you'll slow down; mash left and right on the Control Pad to break free before Draygon grabs you (at which point he would bash you with his tail). There are two ways to approach this fight: 1) The usual way. Shoot the slime for refills, and when he stops spewing it, arm your Super Missiles and let him have it (aim for his belly). Morph out of the way of his swoops, and repeat. It takes 20 Super Missiles to finish him. 2) The easy way. This is actually quite a time-saver, if you do it right. Make sure you destroy all the turrets; doing so leaves behind an electric current (like in the Wrecked Ship). Hang around the left side of the room, and when Draygon starts spewing slime, let it hit you, and make sure you're facing left when Draygon picks you up. At this point, arm your Grappling Beam (yes, you read that right) and when you're close enough to one of the busted turrets, latch onto it. Samus will lose several tanks worth of energy, but the raw amount of current passing through her to Draygon kills him in only a few seconds! ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Collect the refills, and go through the flashing door on the left. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the SPACE JUMP! You can now continuously spin-jump in mid-air (takes practice), eliminating the need for the Grappling Beam in most cases. Insectoid's Tip: • My brother also had trouble with Space-Jumping on his first game. I still have trouble with it after all these years. The trick is to form a sort of rhythm tapping the Jump button; you'll get it eventually. Exit this room, and use it now to jump back up to the door you came in. Space-Jump up through this shaft, and back through the door on the left. Backtrack through the long room, saving on the way (trust me; you'll be doing a lot of Space-Jumping soon). At the other end of the room, go through the door. Back in the shaft with the Mochtroids, drop to the bottom (ignore the flashing door) and shoot the door open, then from the far right dash through it. Super-speed through the long sandy room to break the blocks, then fall into one of the left-most sand-pits. You'll sink into a sandy pit filled with Bulls (I call these 'Bull-pits.' But perhaps 'Bullpens' would sound better?); you have no choice but to keep falling, down into another tunnel. There are Zoas here; raid their nests if you want refills. Go left through the door, then left back into the large metallic room. Save if you'd like. At the bottom level, go right until you reach a dead end. Not quite; shoot the floor to reveal a tunnel below you; drop down and head left, ignoring the Yards, until you reach the first of two sand-pits; sink into the first one, and you'll fall through another Bull-pit to another chamber. In here, you'll fall to the bottom. Jump up and climb the platforms to the left to reach a pack of MISSILES (195). Drop back down and go to the other side of the room. Jump up the platforms, and morph; roll onto the crumble block below and hug the right wall to roll into the nook, then shoot away the block to reach the pack of POWER BOMBS (40). Drop back down, morph into a ball, and roll as far to the right as you can go. You'll eventually fall down another pit to a tunnel with a bunch of Evirs floating around. Kill them as you make your way to the right, and go through the door at the end. Ignore the door on the right in this room, and latch onto the single crumbled grappling block in the ceiling, then immediately let go; it disappears after a moment. Space-Jump up through the newly-made hole, all the way to the top of this narrow shaft. Insectoid's Tip: • Getting through the hole is tricky, even with the Space Jump. I've determined that it should take only two spins (two presses of the Jump key) from the left-hand platform to get into the hole; you'll just have to practice. • Using the Space Jump is NOT the only way to get through the hole. If you unequip the Space Jump (or if you came here directly from the Wrecked Ship, via Crateria and the high-speed tube), you can attempt a precise spin-jump off the surface of the sand below. While possible, it is very difficult; the one time I managed it was when I made a normal (non-spin) jump from the right-hand platform, and then a spin-jump off the sand. If your timing and aim is right, you'll jump right through the hole. Then, you can either wall-jump or Space-Jump up the long shaft. Watch out for the Menus at the top; if they hit you, you might fall and have to jump all the way back up. Once you get up here safely, go to the right and drop down; find the crumble blocks and fall through them until you get to a door on the right. Arm your Power Bombs *NOW*, and go through. Insectoid's Tip: • If you have "ICON CANCEL" set to 'AUTO', you'll need to select your Power Bombs VERY quickly upon reaching the next room.) When you enter the room, IMMEDIATELY drop a Power Bomb to blast away the bendezium wall on the right. The robotic thing in here is called a Shaktool, and it will break through the solid blocks for you, so don't shoot it! This involves a LOT of patience; it takes a minute or so for it to get to the other side, but it's the ONLY way to get through. Ignore the enemies at the other end, and go through the door. In here, morph and roll under the block, then roll left, down, and right, bomb-jumping your way over to a Chozo Statue. Shoot its marble and grab the SPRING BALL! Yeah! Now you don't need to bomb-jump anymore. Use your new toy to jump back up the tunnels to the entrance, and backtrack through the Shaktool tunnel. When you reach the room with the crumble blocks, blast the Puyos and go to the left, falling through some more crumble blocks and shooting out some sandstone blocks to drop into the room below. Go through the door on the left, and then through the next door. We're back in the Evir room; Space-Jump to the other side, and go through the door. Drop a Power Bomb to blast away part of the ceiling; climb up and blast open the green door in the ceiling, and jump in. You'll shoot through a LONG tube, all the way to a large sandy room high above the large metallic room. In here, head up and right, blasting enemies as you go, until you reach a pit. There is a flashing door below you; it was locked until you defeated Draygon. Getting to it involves Space-Jumping DOWN and then over to the ledge (a tricky affair that I often mess up; if you fall, you'll just have to Space-Jump back up). Go through the door. In this long shaft, Space-Jump up to the top, avoiding or shooting the Puyos and Choots that get in the way. At the top, go through the door. In front of you here is a pile of Puyos just sitting there. Blast them out of the way, and go through the next door. Oh no... the door turned metal. And this room is full of those pink Space Pirates you can't destroy! Drop down to the very bottom and head to the right; shoot the Chozo Statue's marble to uncover the PLASMA BEAM! YEAH!! This mighty green Beam is three times as strong as the Spazer (which is now unequipped; it can't be used at the same time as the Plasma). Opening that metal door above is a cinch now. Blast all of the stupid pink Pirates into nothing, and the door will unlock. Go through it, and notice how the Plasma Beam blasts through ALL of the Puyos here in one shot! Backtrack to the large sandy room, and fall to the very bottom, into the water. (The door on the right, above water level, leads to an elevator to east Crateria and the Wrecked Ship.) Head right, and go through the door at the end of this tunnel, and then through the flashing door (which was also locked until you defeated Draygon). It's been a while since you saw a Cacatac, hasn't it? These blue ones are basically the same as their Brinstar counterparts. But with the Plasma Beam, you can blast them away in one shot. Blast the Cacatacs and go up and through the door on the right. In this room, drop down and kill the Cacatac, then morph and spring through the narrow gap on the right. Space-Jump to the right until you see some more Cacatacs; blast them and Space-Jump up and over the wall here, and go through the door at the bottom. We're back in the shaft with the grappling blocks and Mochtroids. Drop down, shoot open the door, and from the far right dash through once again. Back in the long sandy room (last time!), super-speed through the blocks, and sink into one of the left-most sand-pits again. Notice as you fall through the Bull-pit that the Plasma Beam wipes out even the Bulls in one shot! Anyway, once you're back in this tunnel, go left through the door, back into the large metallic room. Go back down into the secret tunnel again, only this time super-speed (from the far right) over the first sand-pit to reach the second; go ahead and sink in. You'll reach another small chamber with two items; they're both on the left side this time. Jump up to the platform, and shoot the blocks out of the way. Morph, then jump up and right into the tunnel above without falling through the crumble block (tricky!). Spring to the right and bomb the marble for the final RESERVE TANK (4), then head to the left and collect the pack of MISSILES (200). Drop down through the crumble block, then morph and roll around near the left side of the room to find the pit out. We're done collecting items in Maridia, so head to the left, Space-Jumping past the Evirs to the door, and go through this door and the next as well. We're back in the room above where the Map Room is. Backtrack from here to the tunnel below Maridia, and head right, back into Brinstar. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Blast the Super Missile block to the right of the elevator, and reenter Kraid's Lair. _____________ /Kraid's Lair/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Go down, bombing through the tunnel, and through the door in the ceiling. Head right, blasting the Kihunters out of the way, all the way to the far wall. Drop a Power Bomb to reveal a tunnel leading to a Missile pack; spring up into it and drop down to collect the MISSILES (205). You'll fall through some crumble blocks into the little tunnel leading to the Save Room. Bounce out, and return to the elevator room. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Blast away the Super Missile block, then roll through and take the elevator down to Norfair. ________ /Norfair/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Back here after quite a while; I recommend that you reequip your Ice Beam now. Go down through the lower-right door and save your game; there is a tricky item we need to collect before going to Ridley's Lair. When you're ready, climb up to the upper-left door, and enter at a dash, super-speeding past the shutters and through the Booster blocks. Drop a Power Bomb to blast away the blocks and drop down, and begin heading left, shooting the Dessgeegas and Mellas (Norfair Mellows). (You could have gone this way when we were in Norfair last, but it would have been out of the way.) Go through the door at the end *SLOWLY*! If you go in too fast, you'll notice right away why I said slowly; all the platforms (save the single block you're standing on) are crumble blocks, and it is tricky to get back up again if you fall. From where you're standing, shoot the wall opposite you to reveal a Missile pack; it will disappear after a moment. Before you got the Space Jump, the easiest way to get the pack was to freeze and use the Sova on the platform below you as a stepping-stone to reach it. You can still do it that way, but you can also simply shoot the block and Space-Jump all the way over to collect the MISSILES (210). Insectoid's Tips (for the old way): • You won't be able to see the platform below you when you walk in. Morph and bounce up; when you land, the screen will be showing several blocks lower than before. • On freeze location: Your best bet is to freeze the Sova when it is on the left side of the platform, just to the right of the left edge. • In rapid succession: freeze the Sova, shoot the block hiding the Missile Tank, Space-Jump to the frozen Sova, then hang-ten off the Sova and Space— Jump at the wall, collecting the Missiles. After collecting the Missiles, drop down to the bottom of the shaft, and go through the door at the bottom. Start dashing now, and you'll super-speed through Multiviolas, red Space Pirates, Speed Booster blocks, across a crumbling bridge, and some more Booster blocks before winding up in the vertical shaft we were in just before Crocomire earlier. Go through the lower door on the right, through the room with the Dragons and the Energy Recharge Room. In this room with lava and Yapping Maws, simply Space-Jump all the way across, then go through the door at the end. Open the blue gate and roll through the passage into the shaft with Violas we visited earlier on the way to the Wave Beam. Drop down to the bottom, then blast open the yellow door and go through. This is a large room filled mostly with lava. The narrow tunnel straight ahead is a dead end, so don't bother with it. Now that you have the Gravity Suit and Space Jump, you can traverse the lava lake. Drop down into the lake, and when you get to the bottom, head left a little and then Space-Jump up and out. (Try to avoid the Namihes as you go; their fireballs are more damaging than those from Funes.) Go through what looks like Ridley's mouth and into the door. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ─────────────────────────/ 3.9 / Rematch with Ridley /───────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Before going down the elevator, go through the door on the left and SAVE! Time to go over the numbers once more: you should have 12 Energy Tanks for 1299 energy, plus 4 Reserve Tanks (if you have them all filled by now, great!), as well as 210 Missiles, 45 Super Missiles, and 40 Power Bombs. We'll be getting the last remaining items down here, so don't worry. When you're ready, take the elevator down. ______________ /Ridley's Lair/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Once again, this is technically still part of Norfair... but you just went down an ELEVATOR, so I say it's Ridley's Lair! Dig that awesome music... one of the catchiest in the whole game. (So catchy, in fact, that it was reused in METROID PRIME.) Anyway, head to the left, Space-Jumping across the lava pit and avoiding the Dragons and the spouts of lava that occasionally shoot up. At the far end, go through the door. In here, Space-Jump over the lake of lava until you reach the other side, which appears to be a dead end. Drop a Power Bomb to blast away part of the wall, partially revealing a Chozo. Morph and jump into its hand; it will grab Samus, and the lava will be drained from the lake through a hole in the bottom. When the Chozo releases you, drop down to the bottom of the now-empty lake and lay another Power Bomb to blast away the blocks. Roll through the tunnel and kill the Holtzes, then go through the door. Watch out––the narrow bridge here is made entirely of crumble blocks. Carefully Space-Jump over to the pack of MISSILES (215) (if you fall through and miss it, restart your game and try again), then fall through to the large area below. Walk a bit over to the right... to find a metal door. A Torizo will then fall on you out of nowhere... prepare for battle! _____________________________________________________ / GOLDEN TORIZO / / HP: 13500 / / Attacks: energy wave 30, body 40, eye rings 2, / / bombs 20, super missile rebound 50. / / / / Super Missiles – 600 (23), IF you can hit him... / / Charged Plasma/Ice/Wave – 900 (15) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ As you can see, using Super Missiles against this Torizo is risky, because he's likely to throw them back at you without taking any damage. (Unless you fire at him point-blank, which isn't recommended.) Using the Plasma Beam combo is thus the way to go. Unlike the first Torizo, this one doesn't have a single weak spot (and is also immune to regular Missiles); just blast away at him. This Golden Torizo's attacks are similar to the ones the Torizo in Crateria used. Don't worry too much about avoiding them; you'll get a refill of energy fairly soon, so just keep hammering away at the Torizo with your charged Plasma combo. The Torizo will change color as you hit him; 15 charged Plasma shots will end the battle. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ There is another item in this room; you can either Spring Ball up to the upper-right corner of the room and lay a Power Bomb (blasting away the walls and revealing the pack of Super Missiles), or get the Screw Attack in the next room and come back; your choice. I like to use a Power Bomb, because I usually mess up with the Screw Attack (being bad at Space-Jumping as I am). Either way, collect the final pack of SUPER MISSILES (50), and move into the next room. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for one of the best items in the game, the SCREW ATTACK!! This GREAT item allows you to break through almost anything–– bendezium blocks, and most enemies––and with the Space Jump, you can do it all day and be nearly invincible! Test out your new toy by Screw-Attacking through the ceiling here. A little ways up the shaft on the right is an Energy Recharge Room; USE IT! You'll need it for the battle ahead, trust me. When you're ready, Space-Jump to the top of this shaft (through another ceiling) and go through the door. Space-Jump to the right, Screw-Attacking right through the squad of what I call "Hyper Ripper IIs"; is this thing great or what? Collect the Super Missile refills if you need them, then blast open the green gate and go through the door. In this room, you could blast open the passage in the ceiling with a Power Bomb, but the two doors up there lead back to the elevator or to a dead end, so just ignore it and go through the next door. This room will start filling with lava; simply Screw-Attack through the columns to the other side before it gets too high. Go through the door at the end. In this shaft, ignore or freeze the Namihes, and Screw-Attack through the new yellow Space Pirates (which are immune to your Plasma Beam) as you make your way to the top, Screw-Attacking through the ceiling. When you reach the door on the right, ignore it and shoot out the ceiling, then keep climbing until you reach a door; go through. In this room, shoot the middle of the platform below you, then go over to the left side of the next platform and drop a Bomb (DO NOT use a Power Bomb; it makes it harder to get out). Roll through the tunnel to the left and collect the pack of MISSILES (220), then return to the previous room, stopping on the FIRST block of the platform below you (or you'll fall through the crumble blocks, and would have to backtrack to that Power Bomb blockade I noted in the last paragraph). JUMP back up to the door (do NOT Space Jump, because if you fall, the Screw Attack will break the floor below), then go through and drop down, shooting through the floor, to reach the door on the right. Space-Jump through this door! Insectoid's Tip: • When I say to Space-Jump THROUGH the door, I mean keep tapping the Jump button while the screen changes, as if you were still moving. This seems to be the trick to not falling upon entering the next room. (Of course, I usually fall anyway, but your mileage may vary.) You'll soon notice why: there's nothing to land on––you would fall down into the rising lake of lava, and it would take a bit of time to get back up. Instead, Space-Jump down a bit, right, and up (tricky!!), taking out yellow Pirates as you go, until you reach the door in the upper-right of this huge room. Whew! Go through the door. If you shoot the floor here, you'll notice a passage leading down; drop down to reach a zig-zagging shaft with red Kihunters. Insectoid's Tip: • If you're missing more than 3 or 4 tanks of energy, go through the next door first, blast the Fune with a Super Missile, and follow the path behind it down to an Energy Tank. Otherwise, we'll be collecting it after fighting Ridley. Don't bother to charge your Beam; simply hop down and Screw-Attack right through the tough red Kihunters one by one as you make your way down to the door on the right. (They would be tougher against just the Plasma Beam, but the Screw Attack shows no mercy...) In the Save Room here, SAVE YOUR GAME! Not far to Ridley now. Exit and continue down, blasting another Kihunter, and when you reach the bottom, drop a Power Bomb to blast away some bendezium blocking a tunnel leading right. Roll through, and drop another Power Bomb at the other end, blasting away both the statue and the yellow door in the floor at once. Drop through, and lay yet another Power Bomb to reveal a tunnel in the lower-left (as well as a shutter to safely reach it). Morph and roll through it, then Screw-Attack through the large Dessgeegas to reach three large statues. Drop a Power Bomb to blast away the middle statue, as well as reveal a narrow tunnel in the lower part of the left wall. Roll through it and pick up the pack of POWER BOMBS (45), then drop down through the hole between the statues. You'll land on a spike platform, which will drop down; step off it when it reaches the bottom, then drop below it onto another spike platform. Repeat, and blast through the green door on the left. There are two silver Space Pirates in this room, the strongest Pirates by far. Since they're immune to all of your attacks while they're silver, Screw Attack around the first one until it turns yellow; quickly attack it with the Plasma Beam (it takes 2 charged shots to destroy each). Repeat this process until both silver Pirates are gone, and go through the now-flashing metal door on the left. Take your time going through the next two rooms, blasting the Gamets, Violas, and Holtzes to stock up your weapons and energy to maximum. When you're ready, blast away the Eye Door and go through. You'll fall onto a platform below, where Ridley will promptly appear. _____________________________________________ / RIDLEY / / HP: 18000 / / Attacks: body 40, fireballs 15, tail 30. / / / / Missiles – 100 (180) / / Power Bombs – 200 each (may hit twice) / / Super Missiles – 600 (30) / / Charged Plasma/Ice/Wave – 900 (20) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ As soon as Ridley appears, the gap beneath the platform will be submerged in lava. Ridley himself is one tough cookie, but his attacks actually aren't all that damaging––unless he grabs onto you. If that happens, he'll lash you with his tail repeatedly (much like Draygon). Angle up and unload your complement of Super Missiles at Ridley. He won't stay put, of course; he'll retreat to the middle of this tall room. Simply jump up after him, and keep pelting him. If Ridley grabs you, fire Missiles in his gut until he lets go. When you run out of Super Missiles, use charged Plasma shots (they do more damage anyways). After 6 Super Missiles (14500 HP), Ridley will start swooping in a U-shape, down one side of the room and up the other. Space-Jump to avoid him if you can. At 9000 HP (15 Supers), he'll change color and get a bit faster; this happens again at 4500 HP (23 Supers). At 0 HP, Ridley will go wild and will probably grab you; let him, as he'll die soon after. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ After Ridley is gone, collect the power-ups and go through the flashing door on the left. There's the Metroid larva's vial, or what's left of it, broken on the floor. But where's the Metroid?? Anyway, shoot or bomb underneath the door to reveal a much-needed ENERGY TANK (13)! Exit this room, and Space-Jump up through Ridley's room and go through the door. From here, backtrack all the way to the Save Room (I assume you know where it is). Save, then climb back up to the passage above (trashing the red Kihunters with the Screw Attack, then shooting the ceiling), and go through the door on the right. You could have gotten these items earlier, but this saves you a backtrack. In this long shaft, blast the Fune directly across from you with a Super Missile, then run through where it was; you'll go through a fake wall. Head down and left across the strange claw-shaped platform, and drop down to the small ledge here, avoiding the Firefleas. Space-Jump to the right and collect the final ENERGY TANK (14), then return to where you blasted the Fune, and start climbing, freezing the Funes and dodging or ignoring the metal boulders that roll down. When you reach the door at the top, ignore it (it's a dead end) and run through the wall on the left; another fake wall. Go through the door here. In here, Screw-Attack to the left, right through the Alcoons, and climb up the platforms at the other end, then head right (ignore the door on the left for now) and Screw-Attack through another Alcoon before picking up another pack of MISSILES (225). Drop a Power Bomb to reveal a series of tunnels; morph and bounce into the top tunnel. Hold right and keep bouncing, and you'll eventually reach a block you need to bomb out of the way; do so, and go through the door in the floor. Shoot the statue head on the right and jump where it was to break the crumble blocks and collect the last pack of POWER BOMBS (50). Repeat with the statue on the left, and go through the door. Back in the long shaft, go through the same fake wall to the left again; go through the door, across the pit, and up the platforms. This time, go through the door on the left. In here, carefully Space-Jump across the rising and falling lava until you reach a narrow tunnel at the bottom of the screen. Morph and roll through it, bearing the lava just long enough to jump up to the first platform here. Below you is a dark spot in the platform; morph and drop a bomb one block to the right of that spot to reveal a tunnel. Drop in and roll to the left, collecting the last expansion of the game (if you followed this walkthrough), a pack of MISSILES (230). Exit the way you came in, and climb up the platforms here, blasting or Screw-Attacking the red Kihunters that get in the way. When you get to the top, shoot out the ceiling and go through the door on the left. ________ /Norfair/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Well, that was fun while it lasted, wasn't it? Say farewell to the cool music, and head left, then drop through the crumble blocks. Screw-Attack through the block columns, and roll into the passage at the far end. You'll wind up back in the shaft on the east side of the bubble room, near where you picked up the Wave Beam earlier. Go through the door on the left to get to the bubble room, then backtrack to the elevator and take it up to Brinstar. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Go left from the elevator and through the next door to Maridia. ________ /Maridia/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Now, I recently decided that the easiest (and possibly fastest) way up to Crateria from Norfair is to go through Maridia; you won't have to fuss with freezing Rippers, turning off the Screw Attack (destroys platforms in the long red shaft), or jumping over Manflowers. Instead, jump up from the broken tube room and go through the door in the ceiling. Climb all the way to the top (Screw-Attacking through any enemies that get in the way), and go through the door to the grapple block/Powamp room. You might recall I mentioned there being a door in the ceiling here; Space— Jump over to it, and jump through. Space-Jump your way out of the water and up to the top of this room, which looks like a dead-end. Wrong; morph and bounce through the hidden tunnel in the left wall. Jump over the Zebbo pit (notice that more than one comes out?), and go through the door. _________ /Brinstar/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Blast the green gate open, then jump up and roll through the narrow tunnel to wind up in the red elevator shaft of Brinstar. (Wasn't that easy?) Take the elevator up to Crateria. _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Climb up, shoot the ceiling, head left, and return to Samus's ship; resupply and save there. ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────/ 3.10 / The Terrors of Tourian /─────────────────────── ’’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Remember that red door near the west-most Brinstar elevator that we've been avoiding? (It's at the bottom of the shaft with green Space Pirates.) Now is the time to pay it a visit. You'll find yourself in a misty hallway that is completely deserted. Go all the way right and through the door at the end. Eerie music is playing in this small room, which is dominated by a large golden statue of the four bosses you fought. One by one, the glowing eyes go out and each boss turns gray. When all four are gray, the statue will start to sink into the floor. As soon as the commotion stops, fall through the false floor to reach an elevator. Take it down. ________ /Tourian/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ It's eerily quiet down here. Don't fall into the lava––it may look like weak lava, but it's as strong as the boiling kind. There are two doors; the one on the right is a Save Room. This is the last place you can save your game and still go back up to look for items (or explore, or whatever). Save, then go through the other door. Be on your guard, and make sure your Ice Beam is equipped––this place is full of Metroids! Unlike the Mochtroids you saw in Maridia, if one of these gets a hold of you, the only way to free yourself is with Power Bombs––not one or two, but three of them. To kill them, freeze them with the Ice Beam and quickly follow with a Super Missile or 5 Missiles. Take it slow and steady! Anyhow, in the first room, eliminate each Metroid as you make your way left to the other end of this room; when all the Metroids are gone, go through the now-flashing door. In the next room, watch out below for more Metroids; you can shoot down through the platforms to freeze them, then hop down and take them out. Go through the door at the bottom. Watch out for the Rinkas (those fiery rings) in this room, as you head right. Take out the Metroid, and continue carefully hopping from platform to platform, looking out for two more Metroids. After they've all been destroyed, go through the flashing door. In the next room, freeze the Metroid below you and missile it, then proceed carefully down the platforms, taking out each of the Metroids and doing your best to avoid the Rinkas. Once the last Metroid is gone, you can rest easy, as that was the last of them. Go through the door in the floor. In this room, you may as well ignore the giant blue Sidehoppers; the only way to kill them is with Missiles or Super Missiles, and they seldom leave refills. Just Screw Attack past them and go through the door on the left. The door turns metal behind you; the only thing in here is an odd-looking Chozo Statue... but if you touch or shoot it, it turns to dust, as if the life has been drained out of it! Go through the next door; this door also turns metal, and this room appears as deserted as the last one. There are more creatures in here, drained as dry as the Chozo. Eventually you'll find a living creature (another of those blue Sidehoppers), except this one looks to be in bad shape. Suddenly an enormous Metroid flies in from offscreen and proceeds to drain the life out of the Sidehopper. The screen has stopped scrolling and there's nowhere for you to run. You can try to fight the Metroid, but none of your weapons have any effect on it, and it will eventually latch on to you. It drains nearly all of your energy in less than a minute! Just when Samus is about to die, at 1 unit of energy the Metroid suddenly stops and lets go of Samus. Those sounds... that sounds like the Metroid larva! There must have been an enormous amount of energy down here for the little fella to get so darn big! It recognized Samus only at the last second... Confused, the giant Metroid flies off to the left; follow it, and you'll encounter some sort of cobweb-like stuff blocking the way. Shoot it, and make your way down this short shaft, then go through the door on the left. Waste no time in refilling your energy (and your Missiles if you need them), then go back out and blast the red door open. This next room is devoid of anything except an Eye Door at the other end; blast it with 3 Missiles and go through. This shaft has the last Save Room you'll ever see through the middle door on the left. However, if you do save here (and if you think you'll have trouble with the final boss and escape, you probably should), you won't be able to return to anyplace else in the game at a later time. It's up to you. Anyway, when you're ready for the showdown, blast open the red door at the bottom and go through. This room resembles the old Mother Brain room we saw before; gun turrets and Rinkas are all over the place, as well as Zebetites, a sort of red substance in glass tubes, which can only be destroyed with Missiles or Super Missiles. Since you want to save your Supers for the big fight, use Missiles; it takes 10-15 depending on how fast you are (the Zebetites regenerate fairly quickly). After it's gone, jump through; the next Zebetite is in 2 parts, but if you shoot one, you damage both. After destroying it, bomb-jump through the hole it left. The next two Zebetites are similar to the first two. All the while, watch out for the turret-fire and Rinkas; you may not be able to avoid all of them, but you can avoid some. Finally, you should reach the tank containing the Space Pirate leader, Mother Brain. ________________________________________ / MOTHER BRAIN / / HP: 3000 / / Attacks: glass 15. / / / / Missiles – 100 (30) / / Super Missiles – 300 (10) / / Glass requires 6 Missiles to break. / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This battle is easy... too easy. However, the Rinkas and turret-fire in the room will not stop, so you still need to watch out for that. Otherwise, simply stand a safe distance away (as the glass can hurt you), and blast the glass with 6 Missiles to make a hole in it. Switch to Super Missiles and fire in the hole; it takes 10 direct hits with Supers to finish the brain off. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ The container holding the brain explodes, and the brain falls to the floor, apparently dead. The screen has locked again, though––you can't leave! Not good at all. Suddenly, the brain starts to rise up... on a huge biomechanical body that towers over Samus! Mother Brain survived after all. Time for the REAL fight! ________________________________________________________________ / MOTHER BRAIN / / HP: 18000 / / Attacks: eye beam 30, body 30, blue rings 20 each, bomb 40, / / bomb explosion 20, fire beam 200 (under 4500HP), / / Laser Brain 300 and paralysis (0 HP) / / / / Missiles – 100 (180) / / Super Missiles – 300 (max 50) / / Charged Plasma/Ice/Wave – 900 (30) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Mother Brain has a number of damaging attacks, which get more dangerous the longer you last. To start out, angle up and unload the remainder of your Super Missiles at Mother Brain's head (you should have 30 to 40 left). When you run out of Supers, you have a choice of using Missiles or charged Plasma shots. While the charged Plasma does more damage, it also takes more time; whereas you can fire 3-4 Missiles rapid-fire in the same amount of time it would take to charge your Beam. It's your call; I personally prefer using the charged Beam. When Mother Brain gets to 4500 HP, she starts using a terrible fiery beam that makes the room shake with each hit, and if it hits you, you lose 200 units of energy! It's tough to avoid, but you can usually jump or dodge it and keep firing at Mother Brain. At this point, it shouldn't take more than a half-dozen or so hits from the charged Plasma Beam to bring her energy down to 0. But Mother Brain isn't through with you yet. At 0 HP, she will bend her head forward, her brain will start glowing, and she'll let loose with her final attack: the Laser Brain. This devastating attack cannot be avoided, and in addition to the 300 units of energy it drains from Samus, it drains 75 Missiles and all of your remaining Super Missiles and Power Bombs, as well as paralyzing you. Now, if you have over 300 units of energy left after that horrible attack (not including reserves), you can get back up (mash the Control Pad a bit) and continue fighting, but there is little point in doing so; it won't be long before Mother Brain unleashes another Laser Brain attack. Sooner or later, you will have insufficient energy to withstand another attack, and will be unable to get up. Mother Brain will use her standard attacks to bring Samus's energy down below 100, then she'll cry in triumph, lean forward, and charge up another Laser Brain attack. It looks hopeless. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Just before Mother Brain lets loose with the killing blow, the giant Metroid flies in and latches on to Mother Brain's brain, draining the Laser Brain energy, and then some. It's obvious that the Metroid does not intend to let go until Mother Brain is drained dry. And indeed, it appears that way––she crouches down like a Chozo Statue and fades to the same color as those other drained creatures. Good ol' Metroid! The Metroid is sympathetic, and grabs on to Samus, feeding her the energy it took from Mother Brain. Even as the Metroid is topping off Samus's Energy Tanks, Mother Brain is STILL not dead! Purple smoke and drool starts to seep from her mouth, and she comes back to life! NO! That's not the way it's supposed to end... Mother Brain promptly hobbles over to the Metroid, retaliating with with her blue ring attack, even as the Metroid is feeding Samus energy. After about 10 of these attacks, the Metroid takes off, before realizing that it left Samus still paralyzed and defenseless on the floor. The Metroid flies back into the room, and Mother Brain fires one last round of blue rings at the Metroid, killing it. With a cry, the Metroid disintegrates before your eyes... and the remains fall on Samus, making her glow brightly. The reason for that? Whatever was left of the Metroid (the Laser Brain energy from Mother Brain, perhaps?) was absorbed by the Power Suit, causing it to fuse all of the Beams into one all-powerful HYPER BEAM. This weapon can do a serious amount of damage to Mother Brain, and kills everything else with one shot. Samus leaps up, ready to finish the job and avenge the Metroid. ____________________________________________ / MOTHER BRAIN / / HP: 36000 / / Attacks: same as before, except no fire / / beam or Laser Brain / / / / Hyper Beam – 1000 (36) / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Because the Metroid just topped off Samus's energy, and because Samus now has a weapon of unbelievable power, there is really no way that you can lose this fight now. Simply angle up and hold down the Fire button, letting loose with the Hyper Beam and ignoring Mother Brain's futile attacks. After 20 shots or so, Mother Brain starts to change color; 36 shots will destroy her for good. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ Mother Brain's body will collapse, and the brain falls to the floor once again, where it finally disintegrates. But the party's not over––as soon as Mother Brain dies, a time bomb is set, and a countdown begins. You have 3 minutes to get off the planet before it blows! A path to the left will blow open as the 3 minute countdown begins. Head that way, blasting any shutters that get in the way with the Hyper Beam. There is no turning back; all the doors you go through will turn metal behind you. Go through the door in the floor, and fall to the bottom of the next room, going through the next door. In this large room filled with Space Pirates, you have two options: 1) Climb up. This takes longer, and there will be lots of Pirates; even as wimpy as they are against the Hyper Beam, they'll still slow you down. 2) Super-speed. Drop to the bottom of this room and dash right until you reach super-speed. Super-charge before you hit the wall (better sooner than later; otherwise, you may hit the wall and have to start over, taking even more time), and Super-Jump straight up. You'll go through some Speed Booster blocks in the floor right next to the door. Either way, go through the door in the upper-right. This next room is tricky to navigate under duress; start by holding right when you come in, so you don't fall, and then make your way up to the top. Head right, then down and left, then drop down the narrow shaft to the bottom (to make things a little easier, shoot the Pirates on your right on the way down). You need to make your way to the top, outrunning the lava that is now starting to fill the room. The opening to the way out of here will be on the left, so start jumping up in that direction, blasting or Screw Attacking any Pirates that get in the way. When you reach the top, blast the Pirate and the door, take a few paces back, and DASH through the door. _________ /Crateria/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Come out the door FIRING (important!); you should reach super-speed, blasting right through the bendezium wall. Super-charge *NOW*! Position Samus right next to the left wall and Super-Jump straight up. If you do this correctly, you'll zip alllll the way up to the top of the shaft, saving you almost a whole minute of escape time!! (A BIG thanks to Marshmallow for this trick!) Insectoid's Tip: • If you don't think you can pull off this Super-Jump, you can certainly jump up. Don't bother Space-Jumping––it's too far to go, and you may mess up and fall, and be hip-deep in lava or worse. (Trust me; I've tried...) However you get to the top, go through the door in the ceiling, and make your way up to the top of this room. As you go, the planet is clearly showing signs of falling apart. Now, you can go straight to the ship from here, but if you pulled off that mighty Super-Jump, you should have plenty of time to rescue some old friends. Morph, go through the narrow passage, and head for the room where you got the Bombs near the beginning of the game. When you get there, you'll find that the Dachola and Etecoons are trapped! Simply blast the far wall with the Hyper Beam and they'll be freed. NOW you can go to the ship (I assume you know the way), and press Down once you're on it as if you're saving. Samus will take off. ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────────/ 3.11 / Ending /─────────────────────────────── ’’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’ *** Before long, Planet Zebes explodes in a blinding flash, leaving a *** *** bright explosion behind. Samus escapes the planet in the nick of *** *** time. *** (If you took the time to save the Dachola and Etecoons, there'll be a subtle change in this scene: look closely to the right of the explosion when Samus's ship starts flying toward the screen, and you'll see a little dot fly away from the explosion to the right. I guess the critters had an escape ship, huh?) Samus's ship will fly toward the screen, and you'll get the message: THE OPERATION WAS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY CLEAR TIME nn:nn (Where nn:nn is the time it took you to beat the game.) Wait for the game credits to end (around 2 minutes), and you will see one of three slightly different endings, depending on your clear time (NOT your item percentage): ○ 10:01 or more: Samus will appear in her suit, and give you a thumbs-up. ○ 3:01 to 10:00: Same as above, except Samus's visor disappears. ○ 3:00 or less: Samus's entire suit vanishes, letting you see her as she really is (in a revealing jumpsuit), after which she lets her hair down. Pretty, ain't she? In any case, Samus will then jump up and land further back (in her suit), then will shoot the screen. The Screw Attack symbol appears on the screen, and you get the message: SEE YOU NEXT MISSION YOUR RATE FOR COLLECTING ITEMS IS nnn% (Where nnn% is the percentage of items you collected.) „„„„„„„„„„„„/„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ ═════════════════════/ SECTION 4 / WALKTHROUGH CHECKLIST /═════════════════════ ”””””””””””/””””””””””””””””””””””””” 4.1 Ceres Station Space Colony 4.6 Hunting Down Some Items ○ BOSS RIDLEY CERES STN ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (20) CRATERIA ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (6) CRATERIA 4.2 Crateria's Rocky Tunnels ○ ITEM MISSILES (120) CRATERIA ○ UPGD MORPHING BALL BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (125) CRATERIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (5) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM RESERVE TANK (3) BRINSTAR ○ UPGD BOMBS CRATERIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (130) BRINSTAR ○ BOSS TORIZO CRATERIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (135) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (10) CRATERIA ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (20) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (1) CRATERIA ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (7) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (25) BRINSTAR 4.3 The Jungles of Brinstar ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (25) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (15) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (8) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (20) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (140) BRINSTAR ○ UPGD CHARGE BEAM BRINSTAR ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (30) BRINSTAR ○ BOSS SPORE SPAWN BRINSTAR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (9) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (5) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (35) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (25) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (10) BRINSTAR ○ UPGD SPAZER BEAM BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (145) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (2) NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (150) BRINSTAR ○ UPGD HI-JUMP BOOTS NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (155) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (30) NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (160) CRATERIA ○ BOSS KRAID KRAIDS LR ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (30) CRATERIA ○ UPGD VARIA SUIT KRAIDS LR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (3) KRAIDS LR 4.7 The Perilous Waters of Maridia ○ ITEM MISSILES (165) MARIDIA 4.4 The Fiery Depths of Norfair ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (35) MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (35) NORFAIR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (11) MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (40) NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (170) MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (45) NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (175) MARIDIA ○ UPGD WAVE BEAM NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (180) MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (50) NORFAIR ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (40) MARIDIA ○ UPGD SPEED BOOSTER NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (185) MARIDIA ○ UPGD ICE BEAM NORFAIR ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (45) MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (55) NORFAIR ○ BOSS BOTWOON MARIDIA ○ ITEM RESERVE TANK (1) NORFAIR ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (12) MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (60) NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (190) MARIDIA ○ BOSS CROCOMIRE NORFAIR ○ BOSS DRAYGON MARIDIA ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (5) NORFAIR ○ UPGD SPACE JUMP MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (65) NORFAIR ○ ITEM MISSILES (195) MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (70) NORFAIR ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (40) MARIDIA ○ UPGD GRAPPLING BEAM NORFAIR ○ UPGD SPRING BALL MARIDIA ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (4) NORFAIR ○ UPGD PLASMA BEAM MARIDIA ○ ITEM MISSILES (75) NORFAIR ○ ITEM RESERVE TANK (4) MARIDIA ○ UPGD X-RAY SCOPE BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (200) MARIDIA ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (10) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (205) KRAIDS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (80) BRINSTAR ○ ITEM MISSILES (210) NORFAIR ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (15) BRINSTAR 4.8 Rematch with Ridley 4.5 Exploring the Wrecked Ship ○ ITEM MISSILES (215) RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (85) CRATERIA ○ BOSS GOLDEN TORIZO RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (90) WRECKD SHP ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (50) RIDLEYS LR ○ BOSS PHANTOON WRECKD SHP ○ UPGD SCREW ATTACK RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (10) WRECKD SHP ○ ITEM MISSILES (220) RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM SUPER MISSILES (15) WRECKD SHP ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (45) RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (95) WRECKD SHP ○ BOSS RIDLEY RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (100) CRATERIA ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (13) RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (105) CRATERIA ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (14) RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (110) WRECKD SHP ○ ITEM MISSILES (225) RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM RESERVE TANK (2) WRECKD SHP ○ ITEM POWER BOMBS (50) RIDLEYS LR ○ UPGD GRAVITY SUIT WRECKD SHP ○ ITEM MISSILES (230) RIDLEYS LR ○ ITEM MISSILES (115) CRATERIA ○ ITEM ENERGY TANK (5) WRECKD SHP 4.9 The Terrors of Tourian ○ BOSS MOTHER BRAIN TOURIAN „„„„„„„„„„„„/„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ ══════════════════/ SECTION 5 / ZONE GUIDE & ITEM CHECKLIST /══════════════════ ”””””””””””/””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””” ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────────/ 5.1 / Crateria /─────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’ _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.1.1 / Area-Specific Hazards /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ None. (Though the presence of boiling lava in the two areas above the ship is a little odd.) _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.1.2 / Special Rooms /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SAMUS ARAN'S SPACESHIP — Restores all weapons and energy (including Reserve Tanks) to maximum, and allows you to save. SAVE ROOM — First door on the left in the main shaft (blue); roll through with the Morphing Ball. MAP ROOM — First door on the right in the main shaft (red); fight through Mellows and Reos to reach it. STATUE ROOM — Through the red door opposite the path to the west-most Brinstar elevator is a long misty hall; it leads to a room with golden statues of the four main bosses in the game: Kraid, Phantoon, Draygon, and Ridley. You must defeat them all to pass through the floor there and enter Tourian. (Oddly enough, the room has a metal door that is always unlocked and flashing.) _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.1.3 / Creatures /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ ALCOON \ Variety of DRAGON that pops out of floors instead of living in Green [200] \ lava. They are green in Crateria. Often drops Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ BEETOM\ Toad-like creature with one big eye; it will leap at and latch onto [60] \ Samus when it sees her, and start draining energy. Use Missiles to \ kill them, or if they latch onto you, drop Bombs or a Power Bomb. \ Often drops Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ BOYON \ Strange yellow blob-like creature that bounces like a rubber ball [1000] \ when you come near it. Don't bother trying to destroy them; just \ freeze them. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ CHOOT\ A very strange creature that leaps up, and then floats back down like [100] \ a leaf. Found in several areas in Crateria outside the Wrecked Ship. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ GEEMER \ Spiky critters that crawl around on platforms and walls. The Normal [15] \ tougher silver ones (which are susceptible to Power Bombs) are Silver [15] \ only in one room (the room to the right of the western \ Brinstar elevator). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ KAGO\ Small bugs that come out of a large hive that sits on the ground. [15] \ Stand back and shoot the hive, and then shoot the Kagos that come out \ of it. If you're careful, you can get quite a few refills this way. \ It usually takes about 10-12 hits to destroy the hive. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ KIHUNTER \ These large winged insects are Space Pirates from another part of Green [60] \ the galaxy. Most have wings, though some do not. When you \ blast their wings off, they hop on the ground and spit acid at \ you. Green Kihunters are the weakest; a charged Beam shot or \ Missile will kill them. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ MELLOW\ Small insects that like to dive down at you when you come near. [9] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ REO \ Moth-like creature that flies around diagonally. Acts a lot like the [45] \ SIDEHOPPER. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ RIPPER\ Turtle-like creatures that fly back and forth. They can be frozen [200] \ and used as stepping stones, but they can't be destroyed by any \ weapon save the Screw Attack. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ RIPPER II \ RIPPERs with visible rocket exhaust. Not much different, aside Green [200] \ from being slightly faster (green ones are immune to the Ice \ Beam). Usually drops Super Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ SCISER \ These crablike creatures are similar to the GEEMER, but a Green/Yellow [200] \ lot stronger. The green and yellow ones are only found \ in Crateria. Often drop Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ SKREE\ Bat-like enemies that divebomb you when you approach them. (Called [15] \ Shriekbats in METROID PRIME.) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ SKULTERA \ Spiny fish. In Crateria, they are found in the water areas Blue [300] \ outside the Wrecked Ship. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ SPACE PIRATE\ Samus's chief foes, the Zebesian Space Pirates resemble bipedal Dull [20] \ humanoids. They shoot lasers from their hands, and come in a Green [90] \ variety of strengths. The dull variety is found in old \ Tourian and the escape shaft; the green variety in many \ places. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ __________ TRIPPER\ While not indestructible (they can be with Power Bombs), these \ special RIPPERs are actually helpful; you can stand on them without \ freezing them. All of the Trippers in Crateria can support \ Samus's weight. They can also be frozen if necessary. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ WAVER \ Enemies that fly back and forth in a wavelike pattern. Blue [30] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ YAPPING MAW\ Obnoxious snakelike creatures that leap out of pits and try to [20] \ grab you. You can freeze them, or kill them with a Super \ Missile. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______ ZEB\ Similar to ZEBBOs, except they're red and three times as pathetic. [9] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ ZEBBO\ Little green hornets that fly out of pits or pipes continuously. [30] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.1.4 / Equipment /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] BOMBS — In the room with the Torizo, through the narrow tunnel near the main Crateria shaft. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.1.5 / Missile Packs /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] MISSILE #1 — Through the door above the Save Room, after rolling up and bombing through some blocks. [ ] MISSILE #2 — In the middle of the first water room, in plain sight. [ ] MISSILE #3 — Outside the Wrecked Ship, hidden in the rock at the far left end of the topmost Tripper's path. [ ] MISSILE #4 — In a series of narrow tunnels below #3; find the entrance with the X-Ray Scope and blast it open with a Super Missile. [ ] MISSILE #5 — Through a hidden tunnel in the far left of the water area outside the Wrecked Ship. (You could get this after #2, but it's easier to wait until you have the Gravity Suit and can bomb-jump underwater.) [ ] MISSILE #6 — In an alcove to the left of the crumble block shaft (above the shaft with green Space Pirates). [ ] MISSILE #7 — In an alcove on the opposite side of the same shaft. To get both on the same trip, you have to land on BOTH columns of crumble blocks at once, then lay a Power Bomb once you're near to blast away the walls. [ ] MISSILE #8 — Below Mother Brain's tank in old Tourian; drop Bombs to get down to it. (You can get this right after #1, but I like to save one backtrack through the escape shaft.) _______________________________ ────────────────────────/ 5.1.6 / Super Missile Packs /──────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] SUPER MISSILE — Found in a corridor to the right of the Tourian escape shaft, reached by Super-Jumping up a LONG shaft after freezing some Boyons. ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 5.1.7 / Power Bomb Packs /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] POWER BOMB — In a room in the upper-right of the area with Samus's ship; reach it by Super-Jumping diagonally to the right from the little hill to the left of the ship. (Or by Turbo-Jumping, but the Super-Jump is easier.) _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.1.8 / Energy & Reserve Tanks /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] ENERGY TANK #1 — At the bottom of a sloped tunnel to the left of the main shaft. [ ] ENERGY TANK #2 — In the room after the first boiling lava room (above and left of the ship; reached by Super-Jumping diagonally to the left from the little hill next to the ship, or horizontally from the hill opposite the passage, as seen in the demo). ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────/ 5.2 / Brinstar & Kraid's Lair /─────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.2.1 / Area-Specific Hazards /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Manflowers — Man-eating red flowers. (They have no official name that I know of; but Foxhound's name "Manflower" works well enough.) If you fall in one of these (hint: DON'T), it will hold you for a few seconds, draining a bit of your energy and likely causing you to hit nearby spikes as well. Metal Boulders — These indestructible boulders come out of nowhere and attempt to flatten you. Only in one room in Brinstar (the room with the invisible bridge). _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.2.2 / Special Rooms /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SAVE ROOM #1 — Through the second door on the left (red) in the west elevator shaft. SAVE ROOM #2 — Through a narrow tunnel opposite the red door leading to Spore Spawn. SAVE ROOM #3 — Through a hidden tunnel in the room with the Kihunters; bomb the nook in the floor to get to it. SAVE ROOM #4 — Through the only door on the right in the east elevator shaft. SAVE ROOM #5 — Through a door at the bottom of the pit just before reaching the Etecoons. MAP ROOM — Through the first door on the left (red) in the west elevator shaft, after defeating a Hopper and some Zeelas, and bombing through the tunnel. ENERGY RECHARGE ROOM #1 — Through the green door at the bottom of the long red shaft. ENERGY RECHARGE ROOM #2 — Just to the left of the Dachola. MISSILE RECHARGE ROOM — Through the third door on the left (red) in the west elevator shaft, through a room with Firefleas and spikes. DUAL RECHARGE ROOM — Through the green door above the room just before Kraid (shoot the ceiling next to the left door to reach it). _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.2.3 / Creatures /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ BEETOM\ Toad-like creature with one big eye; it will leap at and latch onto [60] \ Samus when it sees her, and start draining energy. Use Missiles to \ kill them, or if they latch onto you, drop Bombs or a Power Bomb. \ Often drops Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ BOYON \ Strange yellow blob-like creature that bounces like a rubber ball [1000] \ when you come near it. Don't bother trying to destroy them; just \ freeze them. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ CACATAC \ Cactus-like creature that occasionally shoots spines in all Green [60] \ directions. Often drops Super Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ DACHOLA \ Ostrich-like bird that shows you how to Super-Jump. Usually hits (friendly) \ its head on the Speed Booster blocks above. (Unless you manage \ to Super-Jump JUST before it does in the exact same place. \ Even if it does make it through, it will still keep trying to \ Super-Jump...) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ ETECOON \ There are three of these cute little creatures standing in a row (friendly) \ when you find them. If you stop to watch for a moment, one by \ one they will show you how to wall-jump up the long shaft. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ___________ FIREFLEA\ Possibly the most pathetic enemy in the game. They are only found [20] \ in two areas here, and provide a flickering light to those areas, \ so long as they aren't destroyed. What's pathetic is that they \ can be destroyed by merely bumping into them! Often drop Power \ Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ GEEGA\ Odd yellow bug that flies out of horizontal pipes continuously. [10] \ Really annoying. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ GEEMER \ Spiky critters that crawl around on platforms and walls. Only Normal [15] \ found in the blue section of Brinstar. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ KIHUNTER \ These large winged insects are Space Pirates from another part Green [60] \ of the galaxy. Most have wings, though some do not. When you \ blast their wings off, they hop on the ground and spit acid at \ you. Green Kihunters are the weakest; a charged Beam shot or \ Missile will kill them. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ __________ METAREE\ Basically a metallic SKREE. Dodge underneath them, unless you have [50] \ the Screw Attack (in which case, let fly!). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ MINI-KRAID\ The only one of its kind in the game, you run into it two rooms [400] \ before Kraid. It shoots spines which fly halfway across the \ long room; charge it and take it out with a single Super \ Missile (it usually leaves behind several). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ PUYO \ Odd little springy worm creatures that dart around. Only in Yellow [100] \ one room in Brinstar (the water area with the Energy Tank, \ below and left of the Charge Beam room). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ REO \ Moth-like creature that flies around diagonally. Acts a lot like the [45] \ SIDEHOPPER. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ RIPPER\ Turtle-like creatures that fly back and forth. They can be frozen [200] \ and used as stepping stones, but they can't be destroyed by any \ weapon save the Screw Attack. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ RIPPER II\ RIPPERs with visible rocket exhaust. Not much different, aside Red [200] \ from being slightly faster. Red ones can be frozen. Usually \ drops Super Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ SIDEHOPPER \ Two-legged hopping enemies. Usually leaves behind Missile Small [60] \ power-ups. Obviously, the larger variety is much more Large [320] \ dangerous. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ SKREE\ Bat-like enemies that divebomb you when you approach them. [15] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ SKULTERA \ Spiny fish. Only found in one room in Brinstar (the water area Blue [300] \ with the Energy Tank, below and left of the Charge Beam room). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ SPACE PIRATE\ Samus's chief nemesis, the Zebesian Space Pirates resemble Green [90] \ bipedal humanoids. They shoot lasers from their hands, and \ come in a variety of strengths. You'll run into the green \ variety on your way to Kraid. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ WAVER \ Enemies that fly back and forth in a wavelike pattern. Blue [30] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ YAPPING MAW\ Obnoxious snakelike creatures that leap out of pits and try to [20] \ grab you. Either freeze them or kill them with a Super \ Missile (not really worth it, as they don't leave refills). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______ ZEB\ Similar to ZEBBOs, except they're red and three times as pathetic. [9] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ ZEBBO\ Little hornets that fly out of pits or pipes continuously. [30] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ ZEELA\ Basically the Brinstar equivalent of the GEEMER, except twice as [30] \ strong. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ ZERO\ Slug-like enemy that comes out of its shell and crawls on walls. [50] \ Very. Slowly. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.2.4 / Equipment /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] MORPHING BALL — Found just to the left of the elevator from old Tourian. [ ] CHARGE BEAM — At the bottom of the large pink room; bomb through the block below the narrow gap to reach it. [ ] SPAZER BEAM — In the red section of Brinstar, above the water room with Yapping Maws. [ ] VARIA SUIT — Obtained after defeating Kraid. [ ] X-RAY SCOPE — In the red section of Brinstar, through the yellow door in the long shaft and across the room with spikes, Firefleas, Wavers, and Yapping Maws. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.2.5 / Missile Packs /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] MISSILE #1 — Through the door accessed with the Morph Ball shortly after collecting that item. [ ] MISSILE #2 — In the room above and right of #1, past a large obstruction. [ ] MISSILE #3 — Below some crumble blocks in the first room on the right from the main shaft in the green area of Brinstar. [ ] MISSILE #4 — In the pink room, sitting in plain sight near the bottom left. [ ] MISSILE #5 — Accessed via a high pipe in the right wall of the long green tunnel. [ ] MISSILE #6 — After collecting your first pack of Power Bombs, use one to blast away the wall revealing a Chozo with a Missile pack. [ ] MISSILE #7 — Through a narrow tunnel to the right of the Reserve Tank (see below). [ ] MISSILE #8 — Drop bombs or a Power Bomb behind #7 to reveal another pack. [ ] MISSILE #9 — Accessed by grappling across a pit with Sidehoppers in the pink room. [ ] MISSILE #10 — Found after Super-Jumping up through a hole in the large obstruction #2 was behind, then jumping onto an invisible bridge from a watery room. [ ] MISSILE #11 — Hidden in the left part of the raised platform #10 sat on. [ ] MISSILE #12 — In Kraid's Lair, in the room with the Kihunters. At the far right of the room, morph and drop a Power Bomb, then use the Spring Ball to bounce into the tunnel revealed containing this pack. _______________________________ ────────────────────────/ 5.2.6 / Super Missile Packs /──────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] SUPER MISSILE #1 — Found after falling down a LONG shaft shortly after fighting Spore Spawn. [ ] SUPER MISSILE #2 — In a tunnel above the room with shutters where you got Missile #3; once past the shutters, shoot through the ceiling to get there. [ ] SUPER MISSILE #3 — In a small room just past the Energy Tank collected by jumping over an hidden pit. ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 5.2.7 / Power Bomb Packs /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] POWER BOMB #1 — Found after shooting through the floor of the red elevator shaft, then freezing the Boyons to get across the next room. [ ] POWER BOMB #2 — In the room with Manflowers farther up the red elevator shaft; drop a Power Bomb above the far left Manflower to blast away the floor, and fall through the (fake) Manflower to find this pack. [ ] POWER BOMB #3 — In the shaft with the Etecoons, at the top, is a narrow passage in the right wall. To reach it, go all the way to the left, then dash right and spin-jump then quickly morph to squeeze into the hole. (Or come back with the Spring Ball; and I won't rule out Turbo-Jump, either.) [ ] POWER BOMB #4 — After collecting Missile #9 (grappling across the pink room), drop a Power Bomb to reveal a hidden passage; follow it to a room with some Sidehoppers, and find and shoot the Super Missile block in the floor to reach this pack. [ ] POWER BOMB #5 — To the left of where the Morphing Ball was; you can get here either from the long green tunnel, by Power Bombing through the top door, or from the other side (by Power Bombing through the wall). _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.2.8 / Energy & Reserve Tanks /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] ENERGY TANK #1 — Just inside Kraid's Lair, there is a metal door that is unlocked when you defeat Kraid. Inside are several Beetoms and this Energy Tank hidden in the ceiling. [ ] ENERGY TANK #2 — Sitting in plain sight, but on the other side of a hidden pit that you can only see with the X-Ray Scope. [ ] ENERGY TANK #3 — In a room past a tall wall with a shutter at the top, guarded by some Sidehoppers. [ ] ENERGY TANK #4 — In the room the Charge Beam was in, drop a Power Bomb to reveal a hidden tunnel leading to a watery room. Kill the Zeros and super-speed to the left, breaking through more enemies and walls to reach this tank. [ ] ENERGY TANK #5 — Hidden in the ceiling to the left of the large obstruction where you collected Missile #2. [ ] RESERVE TANK — Get past the shutters with the Speed Booster in the first door of west Brinstar. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────/ 5.3 / Norfair & Ridley's Lair /─────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.3.1 / Area-Specific Hazards /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Fire Snakes — Found in the column room in Ridley's Lair; they curve slowly over the lava. Lava Columns — These columns gush lava up every couple of seconds. Only found in Ridley's Lair. Metal Boulders — These indestructible boulders come out of nowhere and attempt to flatten you. I only recall seeing them in Ridley's Lair, in the long shaft with Funes. Volcanoes — Found in several rooms; they spit fire at you every couple of seconds. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.3.2 / Special Rooms /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SAVE ROOM #1 — Through the second door on the right in the elevator shaft. SAVE ROOM #2 — Through the second door on the left from the top of the bubble room. SAVE ROOM #3 — Through the top door on the right in the shaft just above Crocomire's room. SAVE ROOM #4 — Through the bottom-right door in the room to the left of Crocomire's room. SAVE ROOM #5 — Through the door on the left at the top of the elevator to Ridley's Lair. SAVE ROOM #6 — Through the only door in the long shaft with red Kihunters in Ridley's Lair (reached by shooting through the floor from the room above). MAP ROOM — Second door on the left in the main shaft (yellow). ENERGY RECHARGE ROOM #1 — Through the bottom door on the right in the shaft just above Crocomire's room, then through another room. ENERGY RECHARGE ROOM #2 — Through the door just above where you collect the Screw Attack in Ridley's Lair. _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.3.3 / Creatures /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ ALCOON \ Variety of DRAGON that pops out of floors instead of living in Red [200] \ lava. Often drops Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ BEETOM\ Toad-like creature with one big eye; it will leap at and latch onto [60] \ Samus when it sees her, and start draining energy. Use Missiles to \ kill them, or if they latch onto you, drop Bombs or a Power Bomb. \ Often drops Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ BOYON \ Strange yellow blob-like creature that bounces like a rubber ball [1000] \ when you come near it. Don't bother trying to destroy them; just \ freeze them. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ CACATAC \ Cactus-like creature that occasionally shoots spines in all Green [60] \ directions. Often drops Super Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ DESSGEEGA \ Large spiked creature similar to a SIDEHOPPER, except much Small [120] \ stronger. The large variety is only found in Ridley's Lair Large [800] \ IIRC. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ DRAGON\ Enemy that lives in the lava, occasionally surfacing to shoot balls [300] \ of fire at you. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ___________ FIREFLEA\ Possibly the most pathetic enemy in the game. They are only found [20] \ in one area here, and provide a flickering light to that area, so \ long as they aren't destroyed. What's pathetic is that they can \ be destroyed by merely bumping into them! Often drop Power \ Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ FUNE\ Wall-hugging enemy made of mostly teeth. Periodically shoots balls of [20] \ blue fire at you. Can be frozen or destroyed with a Super Missile. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ GAMET\ Bugs similar to ZEBs that rise out of nests continuously. Unlike [20] \ Zebs, though, they always come out in sets of five. (Saves time on \ getting refills!) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ GEEMER \ Spiky critters that crawl around on platforms and walls. The Silver [15] \ tough silver ones (which are susceptible to Power Bombs) are \ only in one room in Norfair (the shaft above the Energy \ Charge Room near Crocomire's room). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ GERUTA\ Red moth-like creatures similar to REOs, except a lot stronger. [120] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ HOLTZ\ One-eyed blue creature that acts like a MELLOW, swooping down at you. [900] \ These are rather strong, and only found in Ridley's Lair. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ KAGO\ Small bugs that come out of a large hive that sits on the ground. [15] \ Stand back and shoot the hive, and then shoot the Kagos that come out \ of it. If you're careful, you can get quite a few refills this way. \ It usually takes about 10-12 hits to destroy the hive. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ KIHUNTER \ These large winged insects are Space Pirates from another part Red [1800] \ of the galaxy. Most have wings, though some do not. When you \ blast their wings off, they hop on the ground and spit acid at \ you. Red Kihunters are very strong; it takes several charged \ charged Plasma shots to kill them (or the Screw Attack). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ MAGDOLLITE\ A living part of the lava, these creatures rise in columns, then [20] \ shoot part of themselves at you (these can be destroyed for \ refills). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ MELLA\ The Norfair equivalent of the MELLOW. [30] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ __________ METAREE\ Basically a metallic SKREE. Dodge underneath them, unless you have [50] \ the Screw Attack (in which case, let fly!). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ MULTIVIOLA\ Red orb-like enemy that bounces around. Some are faster than [90] \ others, so watch out. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ NAMIHE\ Wall-hugging enemy similar to FUNEs, except they have a big red eye, [20] \ and their fireballs are stronger. Can be frozen, but cannot be \ destroyed. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ PUYO \ Odd little springy worm creatures that dart around. Here in Yellow [100] \ Norfair they live only at the bottom of one of the pools \ crossed with the Grappling Beam. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ __________________ RIPPER II \ RIPPERs with visible rocket exhaust. Not much different, Green/Red [200] \ aside from being slightly faster (green ones are immune to Hyper [200] \ the Ice Beam). The red ones in Ridley's Lair (I call \ them Hyper Ripper IIs) are MUCH faster, and difficult to \ avoid without the Screw Attack. Usually drops Super \ Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ SKREE\ Bat-like enemies that divebomb you when you approach them. [15] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ SOVA\ Basically the orange, Norfair equivalent of the GEEMER. [40] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ SPACE PIRATE \ Samus's chief nemesis, the Zebesian Space Pirates resemble Red [200] \ bipedal humanoids. They shoot lasers from their hands, and Yellow [900] \ come in a variety of strengths. The red kind is only found Silver [1800] \ in two areas (in the long tunnel leading to Crocomire's \ room, and the shaft above the Energy Charge Room near \ there); the yellow ones show up almost immediately after \ you collect the Screw Attack in Ridley's Lair. Silver \ Pirates are immune to all weapons until they change \ color; charged or normal Plasma shots are your best \ bet. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ __________ SQUEEPT\ Creature with a large jaw that jumps out of the lava. [300] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ TRIPPER \ While not indestructible (they can be with Power Bombs), these Normal/Weak \ special RIPPERs are actually helpful; you can stand on them \ without freezing them. Not all of the Trippers in Norfair can \ support Samus's weight; some of them will sink (usually into \ lava). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ VIOLA\ The blue-colored variety of the MULTIVIOLA. Usually drops Power [30] \ Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ___________ WAVER \ Enemies that fly back and forth in a wavelike pattern. Yes, they Red [30] \ are red here. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ YAPPING MAW\ Obnoxious snakelike creatures that leap out of pits and try to [20] \ grab you. Either freeze them or kill them with a Super \ Missile (not really worth it, as they don't leave refills). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.3.4 / Equipment /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] HI-JUMP BOOTS — Through the bottom-left door (red) in the main elevator shaft; drop through the crumble block to the left of the Energy Tank and roll left, down, and left to reach a door. In this room, shoot the top of the wall blocking your way to reach the Hi-Jump Boots. [ ] WAVE BEAM — Through the far door in the large chamber with Missile #4; it can be reached with the Grappling Beam (safer) or by leaping from the Missile platform and wall-jumping up to the door. [ ] SPEED BOOSTER — Through a door at the end of a long tunnel with crumble block floors in the upper-right part of Norfair, accessed via the bubble room; picking it up causes the two rooms to start filling with lava. [ ] ICE BEAM — In a small room reached by super-speeding past the shutters in the tunnel in the upper-left of the elevator shaft, then getting past the Funes, shooting the floor at the top of the room, morphing, and rolling through the passage in the wall. [ ] GRAPPLING BEAM — Reached by making a super-speed jump to the left in the large chamber in the lower-left part of Norfair. [ ] SCREW ATTACK — Your reward for defeating the Golden Torizo in Ridley's Lair. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.3.5 / Missile Packs /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] MISSILE #1 — Right after collecting the Hi-Jump Boots, jump up to collect this pack. [ ] MISSILE #2 — In the second lava room from the elevator shaft, hidden at the bottom of a lava pool. [ ] MISSILE #3 — In the lower-right part of the bubble room. [ ] MISSILE #4 — On a platform in the large chamber near the bubble room, past a blue shutter. [ ] MISSILE #5 — Hidden in the ceiling just to the left of the door leading to the Speed Booster. [ ] MISSILE #6 — Through the upper-left door of the bubble room. [ ] MISSILE #7 — Past #6 is a passage in the left wall leading to a lava room with a Reserve Tank. Below the Reserve Tank is a Sova on a block; shoot the block to reveal this Missile pack. [ ] MISSILE #8 — One of the harder missiles to get in the game. After speeding through the shutters from the top-left door of the elevator shaft, drop a Power Bomb to reach a tunnel with some Dessgeegas and Mellas, at the end of which is a door. Go through SLOWLY! All of the platforms (save the single block you're standing on) are crumble blocks, and it's very difficult to get back up again if you fall. The easiest way to collect this pack: from the door, shoot the far wall to locate it. Morph and drop a Bomb; this will shift the screen so you can see the crumble platform and Sova below you. When the Sova gets to the top-left of the platform, freeze it with the Ice Beam, shoot the wall to reveal the Missile, spin-jump to the frozen Sova, then spin-jump at the Missile to collect it. (You can also use the Space Jump, if you come back later.) [ ] MISSILE #9 — At the far end of a room with rising and falling lava just before the large chamber with #10 below. [ ] MISSILE #10 — In the upper-right of the large chamber leading to the Grappling Beam; reached with a Super-Jump from the right side of the lava lake below. [ ] MISSILE #11 — Collected just before shooting the green shutter on the way back to the elevator shaft; reached with the Grappling Beam. [ ] MISSILE #12 — In the upper-left of the Golden Torizo room in Ridley's Lair; don't fall through the crumble blocks, or you'll have to go all the way around to try again! [ ] MISSILE #13 — Found shortly after collecting the Screw Attack in Ridley's Lair; after Space-Jumping up the shaft with yellow Space Pirates, shoot the ceiling to reach a door on the left. In this room, DO NOT USE THE SCREW ATTACK. Shoot the middle of the platform below you, then lay a bomb (NOT a Power Bomb) on the left side of the next platform down. Roll to the left to collect the Missile pack, then roll back out and CAREFULLY jump back up to the door. [ ] MISSILE #14 — At the top of the room in Ridley's Lair with many Alcoons. [ ] MISSILE #15 — Through the left door across from #14, get past the rising and falling lava, shutters, and narrow passage until you get to a platform. Bomb the top of it one block to the right of the dark spot you see to reveal a tunnel leading to this pack. _______________________________ ────────────────────────/ 5.3.6 / Super Missile Packs /──────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] SUPER MISSILE — In the same room as the Golden Torizo in Ridley's Lair. Either use the Spring Ball to bounce up and drop a Power Bomb near the upper-right of the room, or collect the Screw Attack from the next room and come back. The Power Bomb is more useful because it reveals the Super Missile pack right away. ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 5.3.7 / Power Bomb Packs /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] POWER BOMB #1 — Through a red door in the room just past Crocomire; reach the door by using the Grappling Beam to latch onto the Ripper in this room. [ ] POWER BOMB #2 — In Ridley's Lair, shortly after collecting Missile #14 and Spring Ball-jumping and bombing through several tunnels; shoot the statue in the next room and break the crumble blocks to reach it. [ ] POWER BOMB #3 — At the top of the last vertical shaft before Ridley in Ridley's Lair; drop a Power Bomb to destroy the statues and at the same time reveal a tunnel in the left wall leading to this pack. _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.3.8 / Energy & Reserve Tanks /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] ENERGY TANK #1 — Through the red door at the bottom of the elevator shaft. [ ] ENERGY TANK #2 — At the far right end of Crocomire's room, reached either by grappling across or with a horizontal Super-Jump and quick jump out of the lava. [ ] ENERGY TANK #3 — In Ridley's Lair, at the bottom of the dark shaft with Funes; destroy the bottom Fune with a Super Missile and follow the hidden tunnel down and left, then Space-Jump right to find the tank. [ ] ENERGY TANK #4 — In Ridley's Lair, in the small room to the left of Ridley; shoot the wall under the door to reveal the tank. [ ] RESERVE TANK — Through a secret tunnel in the room in the upper-left of the bubble room. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.4 / Wrecked Ship /───────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.4.1 / Area-Specific Hazards /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Electric Currents — Damage you on contact; drop sparks, which also damage you. Obviously this only applies when the power is on. Spikes — Most of the spikes in this area have no effect while the power is off. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.4.2 / Special Rooms /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SAVE ROOM — Through the door opposite the entrance. Only functions when the power is on. MAP ROOM — Through the door opposite the door to Phantoon. Only functions when the power is on. _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.4.3 / Creatures /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ BULL \ Strange creature that charges straight at you like a bull. Immune to [100] \ normal Beam shots (except for Plasma); use the Charge Beam or \ Missiles. Often drops Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ COVERN\ These creepy skull things are basically ghosts; just blast them out [?] \ of the way. They only appear when the power is still off. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ KIHUNTER \ These large winged insects are Space Pirates from another part Yellow [360] \ of the galaxy. Most have wings, though some do not. When \ you blast their wings off, they hop on the ground and spit \ acid at you. Yellow Kihunters are six times stronger than \ the green ones, and are often wingless. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ KOBEN\ Name next to the picture of the COVERN in the Enemy Data of the [300] \ Player's Guide. (Most likely in error; that creature is named as \ Covern in the rest of the book, and in the Instruction Booklet.) \ These orb-like creatures (called Bombus in METROID PRIME) can pass \ through walls, and are fairly strong. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ SKULTERA \ Spiny fish. Only found in one area of the Wrecked Ship (the Blue [300] \ large water-filled room with the Energy Tank). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________ WORK ROBOT\ Indestructible robot left behind with the Wrecked Ship; shoots \ energy beams at you occasionally. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.4.4 / Equipment /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] GRAVITY SUIT — In the room to the left of where the Chozo drops you off. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.4.5 / Missile Packs /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] MISSILE #1 — Collected just after entering the Wrecked Ship, while the power is still off; it's past the bombable block in the bottom of the left wall down the stairs from the first metal door, past some non— functional spikes. [ ] MISSILE #2 — Through the right-hand door after killing all the enemies in the long room at the top of the Wrecked Ship. [ ] MISSILE #3 — Just after the Chozo drops you off, bomb the floor to reveal a tunnel leading right; drop a Power Bomb to reveal a path up, then shoot the Work Robots into the pits to reach this pack. _______________________________ ────────────────────────/ 5.4.6 / Super Missile Packs /──────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] SUPER MISSILE #1 — Through the flashing door at the bottom of the main shaft after Phantoon is defeated. [ ] SUPER MISSILE #2 — Opposite the door to Super Missile #1 is a wall with a block you can bomb to reveal a short tunnel to another door. Avoid the Bulls and shoot the Work Robots out of the way, then drop a Power Bomb to reveal some tunnels; roll through the second from the bottom to reach this pack. ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 5.4.7 / Power Bomb Packs /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ (none) _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.4.8 / Energy & Reserve Tanks /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] ENERGY TANK — At the far end of the large room filled with water; use the sinking platforms and Grappling Beam to get to it. [ ] RESERVE TANK — In a small room after Super-Jumping from the room where Missile #3 is; watch out for the false floor! ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────────/ 5.5 / Maridia /─────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’ _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.5.1 / Area-Specific Hazards /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Bull Pits — Sinking into some pools of quicksand takes you, literally, to a pit full of Bulls. The Gravity Suit has no effect in these pits; you can only keep sinking down. (You can shoot the Bulls, and catch a Power Bomb or Energy refill if you're lucky.) Metal Boulders — These indestructible boulders come out of nowhere and attempt to flatten you. Only in two rooms in Maridia (the two rooms with expansions on either side of the LONG pipe). Quicksand — Does no damage, but you'll sink into it; occasionally conceals spikes. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.5.2 / Special Rooms /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SAVE ROOM #1 — Through the door below the glass tube you break to enter. SAVE ROOM #2 — Through the door in the lower-left of the large metallic room in "dark" Maridia, just before Botwoon. SAVE ROOM #3 — Through the red door in the elevator shaft to east Crateria. It can be reached from this side from the large sandy room, through the door below the one that leads to the Plasma Beam. SAVE ROOM #4 — In the upper-right of the large room with Mochtroids and Grappling Beam blocks, just before Draygon. MAP ROOM — Past the room with the green shutter near the entrance, there is a room with Scisers crawling out of the floor; roll through the bottom to reach another room; the Map Room is through the red door on the right. ENERGY RECHARGE ROOM — Through the other door in Save Room #4. MISSILE RECHARGE ROOM — Through a hidden narrow passage in the bottom of the right wall of the shaft with Mochtroids just after the long room with the Speed Booster blocks. _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.5.3 / Creatures /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ BOYON \ Strange yellow blob-like creature that bounces like a rubber ball [1000] \ when you come near it. Don't bother trying to destroy them; just \ freeze them. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ BULL \ Strange creature that charges straight at you like a bull. Immune to [100] \ normal Beam shots (except for Plasma); use the Charge Beam or \ Missiles. Often drops Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ CACATAC \ Cactus-like creature that occasionally shoots spines in all Blue [60] \ directions. The blue ones are only found in Maridia. Often \ drops Super Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ CHOOT\ A very strange creature that leaps up, and then floats back down like [100] \ a leaf. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ EVIR \ Basically a miniature version of Draygon; shoots spikes at you. [300] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ MENU \ The one-eyed Maridia equivalent of the MELLOW. [100] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ MOCHTROID\ The Mochtroid is the Space Pirates' failed attempt at cloning [100] \ Metroids. They are much weaker, and drain less energy if they \ touch you. They can't hold onto you very well, either. The \ Grappling Beam kills them in one hit. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______ OUM\ A peculiar creature that you'll find in only one room in Maridia––the \ corridor between the shaft with the Mochtroids and the hidden Missile \ Recharge Room. They look like a rolled-up armadillo, and will try \ to push you off ledges. They are indestructible. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ OWTCH\ Creature with 3 spikes on its hard shell. Pops in and out of the [20] \ sand. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ POWAMP\ Strange balloon-like enemy that inflates itself, rising up a bit, [10] \ then slowly descending again. Can be latched onto with the \ Grappling Beam. Often drops Super Missiles. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ PUYO \ Odd little springy worm creatures that dart around. Yellow/Green/ \ Orange [100] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ RIPPER\ Turtle-like creatures that fly back and forth. They can be frozen [200] \ and used as stepping stones, but they can't be destroyed by any \ weapon save the Screw Attack. Only found in the Crateria elevator \ shaft. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ SCISER \ These crablike creatures are similar to the GEEMER, but a lot Orange [200] \ stronger. These orange ones are found only in Maridia. \ Often drop Power Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ___________ SHAKTOOL\ This robotic contraption can break through blocks that Samus [300] \ cannot. Though it moves rather slowly, it is a necessary (but \ irritating) wait. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________________ SKULTERA \ Spiny fish patrolling the waters of Maridia. Blue/Orange [300] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ SPACE PIRATE\ Samus's chief nemesis, the Zebesian Space Pirates resemble Pink [300] \ bipedal humanoids. They shoot lasers from their hands, and \ come in a variety of strengths. The pink variety is only \ found in Maridia, and is immune to all weapons until you \ get the Plasma Beam. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ TATORI\ Looks like a giant RIPPER. If you shoot it, it will come alive, \ spinning and floating back and forth across the room. Like the \ TRIPPER, you can stand on it, and it will rise up to a certain \ height and then fall back down. It is indestructible. Needed \ to reach several items. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ TATORI, JR.\ These smaller TATORIs slowly crawl around near the larger one. \ They are also indestructible. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ YAPPING MAW\ Obnoxious snakelike creatures that leap out of pits and try to [20] \ grab you. Either freeze them or kill them with a Super \ Missile (not really worth it, as they don't leave refills). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ YARD\ Strange little snail-like enemy. If Samus is running, she'll kick the [10] \ things out of the way like a little spiked soccer ball. Can be \ destroyed by Bombs. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______ ZEB\ Similar to ZEBBOs, except they're red and three times as pathetic. [9] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ ZEBBO\ Little hornets that fly out of pits or pipes continuously. [30] \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______ ZOA \ Little fish that fly out of sand pits continuously, in groups of [40] \ three. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.5.4 / Equipment /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] SPACE JUMP — In the locked room to the left after defeating Draygon. [ ] SPRING BALL — In the room to the right of the long tunnel with the Shaktool. [ ] PLASMA BEAM — In the topmost room of Maridia filled with pink Space Pirates, at the bottom of the room. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.5.5 / Missile Packs /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] MISSILE #1 — The most difficult Missile pack to collect in the game. In the room with the green shutter just to the right of the entrance, open the door behind you, blast the shutter open, and kill all of the Scisers on the ground. Go to the right, and start a dash to the left. Super— charge JUST before you reach the door, then quickly head through and to the left. On the platform to the left of the floor door is a row of plants, two of which stick out. Stand in the EXACT spot the leftmost one is, and Super-Jump straight up. If you did it right, you should JUST miss the small platforms on the way up, and blast through some Booster Blocks to the Missile pack. The difficulty is all in the timing of the super-charge; you'll know if you did it at the right time if you can see Samus turn yellow or white on her way out the door. Keep running after you super-charge to make it over to the jump point in time. [ ] MISSILE #2 — In the Tatori room, about 2 screens-worth up, hidden in the far right wall; use the giant Tatori to reach it. [ ] MISSILE #3 — In the first sandy area, through a fake wall. [ ] MISSILE #4 — In the left-most sandy area, through a hidden pit at the bottom. [ ] MISSILE #5 — In the large metallic room, reached by Super-Jumping up a narrow shaft on the right side of the room. [ ] MISSILE #6 — Hidden in the far right wall in the room just before Draygon; jump over the fake spikes to reach it. [ ] MISSILE #7 — In the room reached by sinking into the right-hand sand pit in the large metallic room; the pack is up some ledges on the left. [ ] MISSILE #8 — In the room reached by sinking into the left-hand sand pit in the large metallic room; it's on the left side of the room, near a Reserve Tank, and can be reached with the Spring Ball. _______________________________ ────────────────────────/ 5.5.6 / Super Missile Packs /──────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] SUPER MISSILE #1 — In a small alcove of the first room, accessed by a narrow passage from the adjacent room. [ ] SUPER MISSILE #2 — In the left-most sandy area, right next to Missile #4. [ ] SUPER MISSILE #3 — In the large metallic room, after Super-Jumping up to Missile #5, to the right (don't step on the crumble blocks). ___________________________ ──────────────────────────/ 5.5.7 / Power Bomb Packs /────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] POWER BOMB — In the room reached by sinking into the right-hand sand pit in the large metallic room; it's in the midst of some tunnels on the other side of the room from Missile #7. _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.5.8 / Energy & Reserve Tanks /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ [ ] ENERGY TANK #1 — In the Tatori room, about 3 screens-worth up. sitting on top of some Grappling Beam blocks; use the giant Tatori to reach the blocks and then swing up on top of them. [ ] ENERGY TANK #2 — In the structure in the long sandy room just after Botwoon; it can be reached from the right-hand side with bomb-jumps. [ ] RESERVE TANK — In the room reached by sinking into the left-hand sand pit in the large metallic room; it's on the left side of the room, near Missile #8, and can be reached with the Spring Ball. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────────/ 5.6 / Tourian /─────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’ _________________________________ ───────────────────────/ 5.6.1 / Area-Specific Hazards /─────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Boiling lava — The lava looks like ordinary lava, but trust me, it's not! The Gravity Suit offers no protection against it. Residue — This weird cobweb-like stuff is merely a harmless obstacle left by some creature (the giant Metroid, perhaps?); shoot it out of the way. Turrets — If the Rinkas weren't bad enough, in Mother Brain's room there are also turrets that shoot at you. Can't be destroyed. _________________________ ───────────────────────────/ 5.6.2 / Special Rooms /─────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SAVE ROOM #1 — Just below the elevator to Crateria. This is the LAST Save Room you can return to Zebes from! SAVE ROOM #2 — Through the middle door of the shaft just before Mother Brain's room. If you save here, you will not be able to return and explore Zebes any more. DUAL RECHARGE ROOM — Through a door just after nearly getting killed by the giant Metroid. _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.6.3 / Creatures /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ GIANT METROID\ This is the Metroid larva! Down in Tourian it has absorbed \ so much energy that it does not recognize Samus until it has \ nearly killed her. It does not forget her again... ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ __________ METROID\ Energy-manipulating life form native to planet SR388, believed all [500] \ but extinct thanks to the efforts of Samus Aran. Metroids are \ are highly susceptible to cold; fire your Ice Beam at them, then \ follow with 5 Missiles or 1 Super Missile for the kill. Usually \ leaves plenty of Energy and Missile power-ups. If it attaches \ to you, quickly drop Power Bombs to kill it. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________ RINKA\ Small turrets in Tourian spit these rings of fire at intruders. They [10] \ can be destroyed fairly easily, but never leave refills. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ SIDEHOPPER \ Two-legged hopping enemies. Usually leaves behind Missile Blue [1500] \ power-ups. The blue variety only found here in Tourian is a \ LOT stronger, and can only be damaged by Missiles. (Don't \ bother; they seldom leave refills. Just Screw-Attack past \ them.) However, they don't seem to be immune to giant \ Metroids... ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _______________ SPACE PIRATE\ Samus's chief nemesis, the Zebesian Space Pirates resemble Dull [15] \ bipedal humanoids. They shoot lasers from their hands, and \ come in a variety of strengths. You'll find the dull kind \ on your way out of Tourian; with the Hyper Beam, they're a \ real pushover. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ ZEBETITES\ Part of Mother Brain's life-support system. They look like glass \ tubes filled with red goop. They regenerate pretty fast, so \ quickly blast them with Missiles (it takes 10-12). ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 5.6.4 / Equipment /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ HYPER BEAM — When the giant Metroid larva is killed by Mother Brain after saving Samus's life, the energy it collected from Mother Brain's Laser Brain attack is absorbed by her suit. It fuses all of Samus's beams into the all-powerful Hyper Beam. It can destroy all enemies with one shot, as well as shutter gates and a certain wall in Crateria. „„„„„„„„„„„„/„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ ═════════════════════════/ SECTION 6 / HELPFUL HINTS /═════════════════════════ ”””””””””””/””””””””””””””””” ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────/ 6.1 / Tips and Tricks /─────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ _____________________________________ ─────────────────────/ 6.1.1 / Time-Saving Zigs and Zags /───────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Here are some of the time-saving shortcuts I used in the making of the walkthrough, from my most recent games. In descending order of time saved: ○ NORFAIR: Faster way to the Grappling Beam. \ Time saved: At least 6 minutes. │ │ This was a real gem I discovered on my own. If you go through the left │ door in the lower part of the bubble room, you'll be in a small room │ with a door at the other end (leads to the long Booster block/Beetom │ tunnel and the elevator shaft), and a passage leading down. Drop down │ and shoot out the floor to reach a Gamet nest, a Fune (on the far │ right), and a blue gate with the switch on the other side. At this │ point in the walkthrough, you should have the Wave Beam, so open the │ gate and go through the door. Make your way down past the red Pirates │ and silver Geemers, and go through the door in the floor. The door on │ the right is an Energy Recharge Room, while the tunnel to the left leads │ to Crocomire. │ │ Battle Crocomire, and make your way to the Save Room in the medium-size │ room with the suspensor platform and the Ripper. Ordinarily, you'd have │ to use the Grappling Beam to latch onto the Ripper and swing across to │ the red door in the upper-left, but that's NOT the only way, as I │ discovered. From the Save Room door, freeze the nearby Gamets at the │ bottom of their nest so they won't get in the way, then from the door │ make a running leap up to the ledge near the red door; you should JUST │ make it. Ta-da! Power Bombs! Now you can go get the Grappling Beam. │ │ This shortcut saves you a costly 6 minute trip to the top of red │ Brinstar for Power Bombs and back again; you can collect those items on │ the way back to the ship. Only one item is omitted from the original │ sequence with this shortcut: the difficult Missile pack in the shaft │ with the crumble blocks and Sovas. I moved that item in the walkthrough │ to just before Ridley's Lair. ○ RED BRINSTAR: Faster way to the ship after Ridley's Lair. \ Time saved: 1-2 minutes. │ │ From the Norfair elevator in red Brinstar, head left to Maridia, and go │ through the door in the ceiling. Make your way up this room, Screw— │ Attacking any enemies that get in the way. Go through the door at the │ top. In the large room with Grappling Beam blocks and Powamps, Space— │ Jump to the right, and you'll see a door in the ceiling; shoot it and │ jump through. Space-Jump out of the water and to the top of the next │ room, then bounce through the hidden narrow passage in the left wall to │ reach a Zebbo pit and a door. Go through the door and blast the green │ gate open, then bounce into the narrow passage and roll out into red │ Brinstar again, in the elevator shaft. │ │ The benefit of this shortcut is that you eliminate having to freeze │ Rippers or Space-Jump up the main red shaft; if you went that way, you'd │ notice that many of the platforms above the door to green Brinstar are │ bendezium, and thus are destroyed by the Screw Attack, making it more │ difficult to ascend. Finally, you don't have to go through the │ Manflower room, which isn't as big a problem with the Screw Attack, but │ still. ○ UPPER CRATERIA: Long Super-Jump through the long lava room. \ Time saved: At least a minute. │ │ You'll recall that we did a horizontal Super-Jump from the lower cliff │ overlooking Samus's ship all the way to the door on the opposite side, │ as shown in the demo when you turn the game on and don't press any │ buttons. With the knowledge that you hit the door squarely using this │ method, you can pull off a remarkable feat with a little planning. │ However, if you followed the walkthrough to this point, you won't have │ enough Energy Tanks to pull off FOUR Super-Jumps; therefore, when you │ come out the right-hand door the first time, when you reach super-speed, │ simply do a running jump, like you did in Norfair to reach the room with │ the Grappling Beam. You should hit the far wall at or near the │ bendezium block passage; if you missed them, get as close as you can and │ use a Power Bomb. After you reach the left-hand door, open it but DO │ NOT ENTER. │ │ Drop back down to the ship, and repeat the diagonal Super-Jump to the │ upper cliff that you did before. Go over to the door, turn around, dash │ back up the hill, super-charging before you reach the edge, drop down, │ and perform a horizontal Super-Jump to the left. You'll zip THROUGH the │ door on the other side, and bust through ALL of the bendezium blocks in │ that room, saving a good bit of time. Of course, you'll still use a bit │ of energy, but there's an Energy Tank waiting in there. │ │ (Thanks to Marshmallow's guide for this trick.) ○ CRATERIA: Super-Jump up the Tourian escape shaft. \ Time saved: About a minute. │ │ When escaping from Tourian after defeating Mother Brain, you'll reach │ Crateria at the old Tourian escape shaft. In the previous room, there │ is a long platform with a Space Pirate; blast the Pirate, open the door, │ take a few steps back, and DASH through the door. Come out the door │ FIRING (important!); you should reach super-speed, busting through the │ bendezium wall. Super-charge *NOW*! Position yourself right next to │ the left wall of the shaft, and press Jump to zip straight up, alllll │ the way to the top! │ │ (Full credit goes to Marshmallow for this trick.) ○ CRATERIA: Super-Jump across the lake TO the Wrecked Ship. \ Time saved: Minimal. │ │ While it's fairly easy to Super-Jump across the lake FROM the Wrecked │ Ship (see below), going the other direction on the way TO the Wrecked │ Ship is a little tougher. From the room prior to the lake (the one with │ the Missile pack and Grapple blocks on the ceiling), open the door and │ stand on the left edge of the platform. Start running, then before you │ get through the door hold down the Dash button and don't let go! Just │ before you reach the water outside, you should reach super-speed: store │ the charge *NOW*! If you timed it right, you can spin-jump with the │ charge to the first platform, then press Jump and immediately tap Right │ to zip across the lake all the way to the green door. Takes some │ practice to get right, and it doesn't save much time. ○ CRATERIA: Super-Jump across the lake FROM the Wrecked Ship. \ Time saved: Minimal. │ │ From the Save Room of the Wrecked Ship, go through the door opposite at │ a dash. You'll reach super-speed before you get to the far door; super— │ charge, open the door, then press Jump and immediately tap left to zip │ across the lake all the way to the far door. ○ CRATERIA: Super-Jump through the tunnel and Kihunter room. \ Time saved: Minimal. │ │ From the ship, get a head start and dash to the right, speeding through │ the bendezium blocks, and when you get to the door, super-charge. Blast │ the door open, then press Jump and immediately tap Right to zip through │ the empty tunnel and (usually) most of the way through the Kihunter │ room. _______________________________________ ────────────────────/ 6.1.2 / General Tips for Fast Games /──────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Here are some general tips for cutting down on your game time: ○ Make time logs, in order to work on improving your time in certain areas. (See the next section for details.) ○ Avoid spending too much time with enemies. Unless killing a group of enemies is required to unlock a door or doors, try to avoid the enemies altogether, running right past or through them. You'll sacrifice some energy, but as long as you keep an eye on it, it should be fine. ○ As a corollary to the previous point: know the fastest ways to kill your enemies. If one or two Missiles takes out an enemy in less time than many shots with your Beam or a charged shot, use Missiles! ○ Corollary to the corollary: if you must use your Beam, unequip the Ice Beam when not needed. Though Spazer/Wave (and Plasma/Wave) do less damage without the Ice Beam, turning it off eliminates the extra shot needed after freezing an enemy. ○ Avoid going out of your way to stock up on energy and weapon refills. This includes Energy and Missile Recharge Rooms. Use them only as a last resort. ○ Avoid Map Rooms. Once you've played often enough to know where things are, the walkthrough or checklist should be sufficient to navigate the game. ○ Practice! Wall-jumping and Space-Jumping are especially good to practice, as they can cut down on the time needed to get through an area that would otherwise call for the Grappling Beam. _____________________ ─────────────────────────────/ 6.1.3 / Time Logs /───────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ For the second game I played shortly after restarting work on this guide, I made a "time log", a breakdown of times between locations in the walkthrough, to see if there were areas I could improve on. Because I was using the older walkthrough sequence, the clear time was still over 2 hours. The log looked like this: SUPER METROID TIME LOG DATES: 1/29-1/30 SHIP TO VARIA SUIT: 00:22 VARIA SUIT TO SPEED BOOSTER: 00:07 (00:29) SPEED BOOSTER TO HARD MISSILE #1: 00:09 (00:38) CROCOMIRE TO SHIP: 00:11 (00:49) UPPER CRATERIA TO BRINSTAR: 00:03 (00:52) BRINSTAR TO SHIP: 00:08 (01:00) SHIP TO PHANTOON (SPAZER/WAVE): 00:05 (01:05) WRECKED SHIP TO SHIP: 00:08 (01:13) SHIP TO MARIDIA: 00:05 (01:18) HARD MISSILE #2 TO SPACE JUMP: 00:13 (01:31) SPACE JUMP TO RIDLEY ELEV: 00:13 (01:44) RIDLEY'S LAIR TO TOURIAN ELEV: 00:21 (02:05) TOURIAN ELEV TO MOTHER BRAIN: 00:03 (02:08) CLEAR TIME: 00:08 (02:16) The two "hard Missiles", of course, are: 1) the one right before Crocomire; and 2) the one in Maridia that requires a precise Super Jump. Notice that I made the distinction as to what weapon I used to beat Phantoon; I used to use Spazer/Ice/Wave, but tried Spazer/Wave in this game. (This is explained in that section of the walkthrough.) As you can see, I spent the most time overall in Maridia and in Ridley's Lair. The only thing I can do to improve that very much is to practice Space— Jumping till I've got blisters on my thumb... Thanks to the Super Jump trick in the Tourian escape shaft (courtesy of Marshmallow), I was able to escape AND rescue the critters with a little over a minute left on the countdown. (This didn't appear to improve my clear time.) ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ On the next game (1/31), I tried something different, borrowing again from Marshmallow's guide. This time, I did the Wrecked Ship FIRST, in order to eliminate one backtrack to Brinstar for items; I also worked on better avoiding enemy engagements. I had added additional points in Brinstar, Maridia, and Ridley's Lair to see if I could improve my times there, and made 3-4 minute improvements in Maridia and Ridley's Lair. That game resulted in a clear time of 2:03, nearly 15 minutes better than before. For the following game (2/6-2/7), I moved one Missile pack from the beginning of the game to the item hunt (this only made a 1 minute difference), and again worked on spending less time with enemies. To get from the ship to Maridia I returned to red Brinstar via the elevator east of the ship. The result was a clear time of 1:55, 8 minutes better. I rescued the critters and escaped the planet with about 1:25 left on the countdown, much better than before. On my 2/13-2/15 game, I made some more sequence changes: I moved Hard Missile #1 to just before entering Ridley's Lair, reaching that elevator via the Energy Recharge Room near Crocomire's room. Secondly, I moved the Power Bombs and Missile pack in red Brinstar to after Crocomire, instead going to Crocomire directly from the bubble room, through a blue gate opened from the other side. The required Power Bombs were obtained with a leap from the Save Room left of Crocomire's room; this eliminated a costly 6 minute backtrack through red Brinstar. In addition, I moved some of the items prior to Ridley to afterward (this included the Energy Tank in the Fune room and all items above that), saving a couple of minutes. The results of that game: SUPER METROID TIME LOG DATES: 2/13-2/15 SHIP TO SPORE SPAWN: 00:08 SPORE SPAWN TO VARIA SUIT: 00:10 (00:18) VARIA SUIT TO SPEED BOOSTER: 00:04 (00:22) SPEED BOOSTER TO CROCOMIRE: 00:04 (00:26) CROCOMIRE TO SHIP: 00:10 (00:36) SHIP TO PHANTOON TO WRECKED SAVE: 00:05 (00:41) WRECKED SAVE TO SHIP: 00:08 (00:49) UPPER CRATERIA TO ETECOONS: 00:04 (00:53) ETECOONS TO SHIP TO MARIDIA: 00:09 (01:02) HARD MISSILE TO DARK MARIDIA: 00:04 (01:06) DARK MARIDIA TO SPACE JUMP: 00:06 (01:12) SPACE JUMP TO RIDLEY ELEV: 00:10 (01:22) RIDLEY ELEV TO SAVE POINT: 00:04 (01:26) SAVE POINT TO RIDLEY TO SHIP: 00:09 (01:35) SHIP TO TOURIAN SAVE ROOM #2: 00:05 (01:40) CLEAR TIME: 00:06 (01:46) "Dark" Maridia begins at the large room shortly before Botwoon, where the music changes to something darker and not quite as peaceful. On this game I rescued the critters and had about 1:30 left on the countdown. ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ On my most recent game (2/19-2/24), I omitted the Map Rooms and again worked on speed, gaining a minute in several areas. The resulting time was 1:38, my best to date. So, try making time logs if you want to improve your speed––it really does help! Here's the template I've been using: ___ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ S U P E R │ │ │\/│ │_ │ / \/ _ START DATE _______ M E T R O I D │ │ │ │ │ │ \ /\ │ END DATE ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ AREAS TRAVELED ∆ TIME TOTAL TIME ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ SHIP TO SPORE SPAWN: ________ SPORE SPAWN TO VARIA SUIT: ________ ________ VARIA SUIT TO SPEED BOOSTER: ________ ________ SPEED BOOSTER TO CROCOMIRE: ________ ________ CROCOMIRE TO SHIP: ________ ________ SHIP TO PHANTOON TO WRECKED SAVE: ________ ________ WRECKED SAVE TO SHIP: ________ ________ UPPER CRATERIA TO ETECOONS: ________ ________ ETECOONS TO SHIP TO MARIDIA: ________ ________ HARD MISSILE TO DARK MARIDIA: ________ ________ DARK MARIDIA TO SPACE JUMP: ________ ________ SPACE JUMP TO RIDLEY ELEV: ________ ________ RIDLEY ELEV TO SAVE POINT: ________ ________ SAVE POINT TO RIDLEY TO SHIP: ________ ________ SHIP TO TOURIAN SAVE ROOM #2: ________ ________ CLEAR TIME: ________ ________ ______________________________________________________________________ (where "∆ TIME" is the change in time between entries, and "TOTAL TIME" is the total game time (displayed on the SAMUS DATA screen). ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────/ 6.2 / Most-Often Forgotten Items /────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ I have a habit of forgetting items when I don't have the checklist right in front of me––and it usually winds up being ONE Missile pack, which bugs the heck out of me when I get to the last Missile pack in Ridley's Lair and realize my count is short ("Where the heck did I miss a Missile??"). So here's a list of the ones I forget most often: ○ WRECKED SHIP: Missile pack. \ │ This is the pack of Missiles you get just after entering the Wrecked │ Ship, while the power is still off. It's past the bombable block in the │ bottom of the left wall down the stairs from the first metal door. Jump │ over the non-functional spikes to reach the Missile pack. ○ KRAID'S LAIR: Missile pack. \ │ This Missile pack is gotten right after you get out of Maridia. It's │ at the far end of the room with the green Kihunters. Lay a Power Bomb │ and use the Spring Ball to bounce into the passage that's revealed │ containing the Missile pack, then bounce back out (or drop through the │ crumble blocks to the hidden tunnel below). ○ RIDLEY'S LAIR: Missile pack. \ │ This one is found shortly after collecting the Screw Attack; after │ Space-Jumping up the shaft with yellow Space Pirates, shoot through the │ ceiling to reach another door. In this room, DO NOT USE THE SCREW │ ATTACK. Shoot the middle of the platform below you, then lay a bomb │ (NOT a Power Bomb) on the left side of the next platform down. Roll to │ the left to collect the Missile pack, then roll back out and CAREFULLY │ jump back up to the door. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ────────────────────/ 6.3 / Replacing the Game Pak Battery /──────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Nintendo used hard-wired coin cell batteries in their early Game Paks (NES, SNES, original GameBoy, and N64) to power the volatile memory chip containing saved game data. (This was long before nonvolatile flash memory became affordable.) While these coin cells last quite a long time, if you experience problems (such as having saved games disappear), you may need to replace the battery. Doing this requires a few things; to open the Game Pak, you need: ► a 3.8mm security screwdriver or bit (AKA "#6 Nintendo security bit"; NOT a Tri-Wing), sold many places online. To do the actual replacement, you need: ► basic soldering skills, as well as a soldering iron and supplies (solder, sponge, purified water, and a desoldering tool); ► a small drill bit (may be necessary if you use a coin cell holder). There are two choices for a new battery. You can use: ► a CR2032-size coin cell holder, through-hole (pins) or solder-tab (the tabs can be bent to fit); these can be found at Radio Shack, Fry's, and other electronics stores. And, of course, a new CR2032 3V lithium coin cell. *OR* ► a preassembled CR2032 battery with tabs designed for this purpose (available from nintendorepairshop.com and others). This is the easier solution, and is probably cheaper; though you would have to desolder it again for future replacements. After opening the Game Pak and removing the board, you have to desolder the old tabbed battery. Then, solder in the new battery; make sure you get the polarity correct! (If you use a coin cell holder, and one of the pins or tabs doesn't fit, you may have to bend it, or possibly drill a new hole, making sure you can still solder to the pad!) Finally, put the board back in and the Game Pak back together. (If you used a coin cell holder, make sure it's not too tall, preventing you from putting the case together.) I used this procedure to replace the battery in another of my SNES Game Paks, which had a dead battery when I bought it (secondhand). „„„„„„„„„„„„/„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ ══════════════════════/ SECTION 7 / FURTHER INFORMATION /══════════════════════ ”””””””””””/””””””””””””””””””””””” ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ─────────────────────────────/ 7.1 / Legal Stuff /───────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Most FAQ writers post their work on GameFAQs.com or similar websites; I have not chosen to do so at this time. Until such time as I decide to post this guide elsewhere, I submit the following provisos for my work: ► You MAY NOT post this on GameFAQs or any other public website. This guide is to remain at this website (insectoid.budwin.net); no exceptions! ► You MAY NOT change or otherwise alter the content of this guide without written permission. ► The ONLY exception to the previous rule is downloading and/or printing out a copy, or even go to the trouble of formatting, font-shrinking, highlighting, and duplexing, FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE USE. (I do this quite often.) Use for profit or public distribution is prohibited by international copyright laws. Insectoid's Tip: • If you do decide to format the guide, my recommendation is to use a word processor (Word, OpenOffice Writer, etc.) to make pages with 2 columns, and use a monospace font (Lucida Console, Consolas, Courier New, etc.) at a point size and/or condensed enough to fit the 80 character lines in each column. (My personal printed copy uses Lucida Console 7 pt, condensed by 1 pt, with 2 columns and a 0.5" margin on all sides (actually 0.48" on top/bottom), printed on both sides to save paper. It also has important items in the walkthrough highlighted in different colors.) ► If you quote any part of this guide or use this as a basis for your own, you must give me credit, as I did below. (I scratch your back, you scratch mine. Get it?) This guide is copyright ©2014 Thomas Keith (Insectoid). Questions, comments, and suggestions may be sent to insectoid (at) budwin (dot) net. No spam please! NINTENDO, SUPER NINTENDO, SNES, GAME BOY ADVANCE, GBA, METROID, SUPER METROID, METROID PRIME, and all other names, game concepts, etc. are trademarked ™ and copyright © Nintendo of America, Inc. All rights reserved, etc., yadda yadda. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ───────────────────────────/ 7.2 / Acknowledgments /─────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ I admit in all honesty that I could not have done this on my own. Besides reading the FAQs by the authors below, early on I used the SUPER METROID Instruction Booklet for reference. Later on, I was able to obtain a copy of the SUPER METROID Nintendo Player's Guide (for a whopping $40!), which I used to work quite a few more details in, especially about the enemies. Thanks to the following people, in no particular order: Foxhound3857: For writing an awesome FAQ of his own, which I used to beat the game the first time. Credit for the original sequence of events in the Walkthrough (since changed in many places) goes to him, as well as boss data (which strangely isn't included in the Player's Guide). Marshmallow: For another great FAQ, a sequence change that improved my time greatly, and some time-saving tricks I hadn't known about. Nintendo: For making this game, and for publishing the SUPER METROID Nintendo Player's Guide, which is an AWESOME reference book. ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ──────────────────────────────/ 7.3 / Web Links /────────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’ ○ Super Metroid FAQs, Walkthroughs, and Guides on GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/588741-super-metroid/faqs ○ The rest of my Nintendo game guides. http://insectoid.budwin.net/nintendo/nintendo.html ○ Metroid 2002: a collection of videos of various speed runs, glitches, and tricks from the Metroid series. (This link is the Super Metroid section.) Requires a QuickTime plug-in. http://www.metroid2002.com/3/ ‚‚‚‚‚‚/‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ ─────────────────────────────/ 7.4 / Version Info /───────────────────────────── ’’’’’/’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ 0.92 (27 Oct 2010): ○ "Intro", "Story", "Game Basics," and the first 8 subsections of the Walkthrough complete. My best time with 100% at this point was 2:18. ○ "Crateria" and "Tourian" sections of the Zone Guide, and the "Creatures" subsections of the other 4 zones complete. 0.93 (16-26 Jan 2014): ○ First work I've done on the guide in over 3 years. Changed encoding to UTF-8, and changed some wording and a few names in the first few sections. • Started a read-through of the Walkthrough, making small changes along the way. • Created an additional section following the Zone Guide, "Miscellany." Moved the Game Pak battery replacement instructions to a subsection of that, "Replacing the Game Pak Battery." • Changed the text indents from 4 to 2, then changed my mind and settled on 3. Renumbered the sections, making sure that none start with 0 (which is silly), and made a new section between the Walkthrough and Zone Guide, "Walkthrough Checklist." 0.94 (27-29 Jan 2014) ○ Completed the Walkthrough at long last. Got a new best time with 100%, 2:16. • Added 3 new sections to Miscellany, "Tips and Tricks," "Time Logs," and "Most-Often Forgotten Items." Moved the battery replacement instructions to the end of that section. • Completed the Checklist. Added some tidbits to the Walkthrough. 0.95 (30 Jan-01 Feb 2014) ○ Renamed "Controls and Settings" to "Menus and Settings," and divided it into 7 subsections. Completed "Menus and Settings," "Time Logs," and "Most—Often Forgotten Items." • Swapped the "Hunting Items" and "Wrecked Ship" sections of the Walkthrough as part of a sequence change, updating the Walkthrough text and Checklist accordingly; this change helped me beat my previous time significantly–– 2:03 with 100%, almost 15 minutes faster! 0.96 (02 Feb 2014) ○ Revised the "Crateria" section of the Zone Guide, and completed the "Brinstar" and "Norfair" sections. 0.97 (03-08 Feb 2014) ○ Completed the Zone Guide. • Revised parts of the "Environment" subsection of Game Basics. • Revised "Time Logs," adding a time log template. • Got a new best time with 100%, 1:55, and revised "Time Logs" accordingly. • Moved a Missile pack from the "Crateria" to the "Hunting Items" section of the Walkthrough, and revised the Checklist accordingly. 0.98 (09-16 Feb 2014) ○ Read through and revised the "Ceres Station" through "Norfair" sections of the Walkthrough. • Read through and revised the "Wrecked Ship" and "Hunting Items" sections of the Walkthrough. • Got a new best time with 100%, 1:46, using a new sequence change in the "Norfair" section of the Walkthrough, as well as some changes in the "Ridley" section. • Revised the "Norfair" through "Ridley" sections, as well as the Checklist and "Time Logs," to reflect the new sequence changes. 0.99 (24-27 Feb 2014) ○ Got a new best time with 100%, 1:38. • Revised the Spore Spawn battle in the "Brinstar" section of the Walkthrough. Began work on "Tips and Tricks," splitting it into two sections, "Time-Saving Zigs and Zags" and "General Tips for Fast Games." • Revised "Time Logs" for my latest game. • Read through and revised the "Maridia" and "Ridley" sections of the Walkthrough. • Finished read-through of the Walkthrough, revising the "Tourian" section. Did a typographical and spell check through the document. 1.0 (28 Feb-03 Mar 2014) ○ First major release. Minor typo/wording changes as I prepare for a print copy. • Still making small changes as I work on the printed copy. Created a title graphic. • Changed the section titles to match the style of the new title graphic. • Added an additional subsection to Game Basics, "Enemies," with an explanation of boss data. 1.1 (04-05 Mar 2014) ○ Major revision, including: a) moving the legal, acknowledgement, and version sections to a new Section 8; b) making Section 2 the first subsection of Section 4 (because it makes more sense that way). This means that I had to once again renumber the sections; Sections 3-8 are now 2-7, and Sections 4.1-4.10 are now 3.2-3.11; and c) a major revision of this section, eliminating most references to section numbers (which, given all the renumberings I've done, were incredibly confusing). • Added a "Web Links" section just above this one. Still to do: ○ Do a complete play-through of the Walkthrough, and make sure everything is correct. ______________ ────────────────────────────────/ END OF TEXT /───────────────────────────────── ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯