_______ .-` | . `-. / . | \ S U P E R M E T R O I D .-. .-+-. .-. | | +-.| |.-+ | | Speed Guide and FAQ `;O '. '---' .' O;` by `;O -_ _- O;` rs1n `Oo. [=] .oO` \\___// version 2.12 DISCLAIMER: This guide is copyrighted by rs1n 1996-2000. Neither the author nor any third party mentioned in this guide take any responsibility for the misuse of this guide, including but not limited to: lack of sleep (from too much gaming), lack of friends, anti-social behavior, personal injury, fire, lightning strikes, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, avalanches, meteor strikes, plagues, death, or any apocolyptic events. This guide may only exist in electronic form. However, it may be printed out for personal use. This guide may not be used for any commerical purposes unless you have the written permission to do so from the author. All names and trademarks are copyrighted by their respective companies. The author is not affiliated, is not endorsed by, and does not endorse Nintendo or any other company related to Super Metroid and any of the Metroid series games. ---------- END OF DISCLAIMER ---------- **************************** NOTICE TO READERS **************************** If you use this guide and by doing so improve your game time, please let me know at rs1n@hotmail.com. Those who wish to have their times posted will be added to this guide upon the next update. Thanks, and have fun! *************************************************************************** CHANGELOG MM-DD-YY: Description of Changes --------- --------------------------------------------------------------- 05-17-01: - Made a small note in the Ultimate Challenge section - Added question 27 to the FAQ 04-15-01: - Updated one of the links 03-16-01: - Added advanced methods against bosses 02-19-01: - Added more boss info (stats and attacks) - The Ultimate Challenge - Added contact info in the CHANGELOG (rs1n@hotmail.com) 01-27-01: - Few minor updates to the special moves section 01-18-01: - Updated the Boss Guide and FAQ section. - Fixed mismatch version numbers. 01-16-01: - Added BOMBS into the items section (woops!) 01-15-01: - Added a detailed tip on getting the power bombs after defeating Crocomire - Revamped the items section and fixed some major errors - Added another tip in the MISC section - New section: web links to cool Super Metroid sites 01-10-01: - Doh! Fixed an error and added more credits/thanks 01-08-01: - Made additions to FAQ section - Better method of getting reserve tank in bubble room in Norfair without using grapple beam - New tip on getting the two missles in northwest Crateria (where the floor disintegrates upon touch) - Added more details to the Boss Guide 01-02-01: - Made some name corrections and corrected a few spelling errors - Updated Ridley's section in the boss guide (part one) 12-25-00: - Initial release; merry Christmas! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS v2.12 (04-17-01) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Metroid Trilogy Metroid The Return of Samus Aran Super Metroid II. Planet Zebes Creatures Environment III. Items and Power-Ups Canon/Beam Uprages Suit Enhancements IV. Gameplay Basic Movement Using Items Special Moves V. Speed Run VI. Boss Guide VII. Frequently Asked Questions VIII. Miscelllaneous Tricks IX. Utimate Challenge Credits and Web Links --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER I: THE METROID TRILOGY For quite some time the galaxy lived in peace. Unfortunately the advances in technology brought about a new collection of problems. With interstellar travel and exchange becoming more frequent, space pirates started to appear and caused a bit of problems. One incident, however, marked the end of this long period of peace. A science vessel had found a new life form. They were bringing it back for futher study when space pirates attacked them. The new life form was called "Metroid" and had the ability to drain energy from any living being. The galactic federation had a call for bounty hunters to hunt down the pirates and retrieve the Metroid specimen. Many were sent off, but none ever came back. Finally, the federation beseeched the help of a famous bounty hunter: Samus Aran. Samus was sent after the pirates. Samus Aran infiltrated pirates' base in search of the Metroid. Surprisingly, Samus found that the pirates had plans to breed these creatures and use them as weapons! After much searching, and exterminating, the bounty hunter finally met up with the mastermind: Mother Brain. After a long battle, our famous bounty hunter prevailed. Despite the success, the federation still feared these Metroids. They wanted a complete extermination of the species so no one could use them as weapons like those space pirates had planned. So Samus was sent to the Metroid home planet. On the planet's surface, Samus found a few Metroids similar to that found by the science vessel. But as the bounty hunter continued the search, these creatures became increasingly more difficult to fight. The Metroids somehow had molted and grown stronger and much larger. When Samus finally found the last Metroid, the Omega queen, the creature had evolved so much that it was more than 10 times the size of our hero with an extremely mean bite! A long and arduous battle ensued, and fortunately Samus Aran was the winner. While returning to the surface to report back to the federation, Samus Aran found a newly hatched Metroid larva. The creature, mistaking Samus as its mother, began to fly about Samus and also helped lead Samus up toward the surface. The Metroid larva was placed into a capsule. Samus left the creature with the care of scientists on the Space Colony. Thinking that everything was in order and peace had returned to the galaxy, Samus left the colony. Suddenly a distress signal from the Space Colony was received! It was being attacked by space pirates. You now play the role of Samus Aran. The final chapter of the Metroid Trilogy is told through you. The fate of the galaxy now lies in your hands! ---------- I ---------- CHAPTER II: PLANET ZEBES AND ITS INHABITANTS Planet Zebes' creatures have all gone into hiding as you will notice when you land. The only visible creatures resemble trilobites, however they will scatter as soon as motion is detected. A security eye in Brinstar will wake up the creatures on this planet, both enemies and allies. In general, it is best to avoid any enemy creature unless they are the "key" to certain doors in a particular area. There are several types of doors and gates throughout the planet. Most of them are blue doors, which upon when shot. The red doors require 5 missles, or a single super missle. Orange doors are opened with power bombs. If they are opened, they will become blue for the remainder of the game. The fourth type of door is metallic. This door will flash when a trigger is set. These triggers can range from killing all enemies in the local area to the defeat of a boss or mini-boss. Once you open a flashing door, it too turns blue. The gates on Planet Zebes are metallic and will have either a green block or blue block at the top. Shoot the blue blocks with your cannon, and super missles on the green gates. Blue gates can be opened from the opposite side when the wave beam is equipped (this "secret" is used to get to Crocomire). Also scattered throughout the planet are save points where you can record your progress. You may also come upon map downloading stations, or stations that refill your energy (yellow) and regular missles (red). Since it can be time consuming to use save points and recharge stations, a good number will be skipped for the speed guide. ---------- II ---------- CHAPTER III: COLLECTIBLE ITEMS AND POWER-UPS There are many items that can be obtained while journeying through Zebes. Some are crucial to completing the mission. Others make exploration of some areas much easier. While many items are quick easy to find (those which are crucial to completing your mission won't require too much searching), there are many which are hidden throughout the planet. Listed below are the items in the game. They are listed in the order which they can be obtained if you follow the speed run. 01 MORPH BALL ................................................ Brinstar The Morph Ball allows Samus to morph into a rolling ball. You must have this item in order to finish the game. Press down twice to morph into a ball. You can roll while in this form. Upon getting the BOMBS item, you can set off bombs with the fire button. 02 MISSLES ................................................. Everywhere Missles are much stronger than your regular arm cannon. Use them to get through red doors, or when fighting bosses. Upon obtaining a missle set your missle capacity will increase by 5. The first set of missles is in Brinstar, just east of the elevator. 03 BOMBS ..................................................... Crateria Bombs allow Samus to destroy certain blocks and walls. You must collect this item, otherwise your game will be limitid to Crateria. With a good amount of practice, you can learn to bomb climb and reach high places. 04 ENERGY TANK ............................................. Everywhere Energy tanks increase your energy meter by 100 hit points. Once you get an energy tank, your energy meter will also be restored to 100%. In the Craterian diagonal tunnel is the first energy tank, and it's guarded by two blue Wavers. 05 SUPER MISSLES ........................................... Everywhere Super missles do as much damage as 5 normal missles. They are needed to open green doors and green gates. You can also use them to kill the eye creatures on various doors. The first set of super missles can be found just after the Spore Spawn's location. 06 CHARGE BEAM ............................................... Brinstar This cannon upgrade allows Samus to store energy in her cannon and then release it in a large pulse. She flashes once the cannon reaches max. A spin jump while flashing will act like a Screw Attack and can kill some of the weaker enemies. While in a spin jump and flashing, no enemy fire will hit. Damage is variable. 07 SPAZER BEAM ............................................... Brinstar The Spazer Beam sends out three lasers if not coupled with other beams. When coupled with other beam item, it triples the number of beams. This item is just above the room with water, a Yapping Maw, and a Cacatac. 08 VARIA ..................................................... Brinstar The Varia is an orange suit of armor which reduces the amount of damage from enemies and environmental hazards. It is guarded by Kraid. Without the Varia, much of Norfair is too hazardous to explore -- the heat will do too much damage. 09 HIGH JUMP BOOTS ............................................ Norfair The High Jump Boots do just what their name says: your jumps will reach a higher peak. 10 SPEED BOOSTER .............................................. Norfair The Speed Booster will increase your dashing speed. Samus will flash at maximum speed. During this stage, dashing becomes power dashing and all enemies in the path of the dash will be killed. Certain types of walls, barriers, and floors will also melt from the heat from th kinetics. 11 WAVE BEAM .................................................. Norfair The Wave Beam can pierce through metal and Zebesian rock. When the beam is not coupled with any other beams, it produces a wave pattern. It's a handy item to have since it allows you to get the power bombs extremely early in the game. 12 POWER BOMBS ............................................. Everywhere Power Bombs are the only thing that can open the orange doors. They are also very powerfull and can take out an entire room of enemies. People, including myself, underestimate the power of these bombs, and often use it rather rarely. THe first set of power bombs can be found in Norfair. 13 GRAPPLE BEAM ............................................... Norfair Now you can grab onto those blocks shaped liek [o]. The Grapple Beam is also usefull against Draygon. You can also grapple onto Rippers and use them as grapple points. 14 ICE BEAM ................................................... Norfair The Ice Beam is really not an essentail item, though it helps to have a freezing beam. Your enemies will be frozen when hit with this beam. The Metroids are easier to kill if you have the Ice Beam. 15 X-RAY SCOPE ............................................... Brinstar The X-Ray Scope allows you to see through fake or special barriers such as fake walls and dash-blocks. This item is not used every in the speed run and is a nuisance if you want to get it. However, beginners who are adamant about finding all the hidden areas on their own will like it. 16 GRAVITY SUIT .......................................... Wrecked Ship Most of Maridia is unreachable without the Gravity Suit. This suit will not only reduce enemy damage but allow "fluid" motion in viscous medium such as water and lava. In some areas, the suit can withstand lava. You cannot finish the game without this suit enhancement. 17 RESERVE TANK ............... Brinstar, Wrecked Ship, Mariai, Norfair The four Reserve Tanks allow Samus to store extra energy. At low levels the reserve tank (if in auto mode) will kick in and replenish (400 max) some of Samus' energy. 18 SPACE JUMP ................................................. Maridia With this item, you can jump midair. While spinning, press jump to make a midair jump. Climb up to places you couldn't reach before. 19 SPRING BALL ................................................ Maridia Morphing jumps are now no longer needed. Just turn into a ball and jump while in this form. A nice item to have, but not particularly usefull. 20 PLASMA BEAM ................................................ Maridia The strongest beam of the game, plasma shots will kill almost any enemy creature on Planet Zebes. Coupled with the Wave Beam, you should have a very easy speed run equipping this item. 21 SCREW ATTACK ............................................... Norfair The Screw Attack will take out EVERY enemy creature. No damage from any enemy fire will occur if you are in the middle of a Screw Attack. Space Jump Boots and the Screw Attack are a deadly combo. There is one last item which is an upgrade to Samus' cannon. It is called the Hyper Beam. Since it is given to Samus and is used only very briefly in the game, it is not listed among the other items. The most number of Energy Tanks is 14, 230 Missles, 50 Super Missles, and 50 Power Bombs. There are 4 Reserve Tanks, one in each major area of Planet Zebes (excluding Cateria). ---------- III ---------- CHAPTER IV: CONTROLLER SETUP AND GAME PLAY There are certain basic moves in the game that are rather simple to learn and master. The techniques are listed below, along with the gamepad buttons for each move. The default setup IS NOT USED because it does not facilitate dashing throughout the game. The preferred setup is: [ L ] [ R ] L - Dash R - Aim Up ^ Y - Shoot | (Y) (X) X - Select Item <-- + --> B - Jump | (B) (A) A - Cancel Item V START - Map and Console The reason for choosing such a setup is that you can continually press down on the dash button without too much effort. You lose the "Aim Down" button, however this is not often used anyway. The dash button increases the length and height of a jump. There are instances where you need to hold down dash, jump, and shoot all at the same time. You cannot normally do this using the default layout. So practice with this particular setup. The four directions left, right, up and down will be represented by (l), (r), (u), and (d). [ Basic Movement ] The names of the basic movements below are not official names. These were chosen to best describe the movement. They are, however, often used and are (most of them) considered common Super Metroid terms. Static Jump - (B), optionally (l) or (r) The static jump allows for more control over where Samus will land, and reaches a higher max height. Simply press jump first before any directional button. Spin Jump - (l) or (r), (B) The spin jump is usefull because it is needed for wall jumping. And with teh Charge Beam, it becomes somewhat like the Screw Attack. It is less accurate since attempts to adjust a spin jump may result in over-compensation. You can break a spin jump by shooting, aiming up or diagonally up, or morphing. Morph Jump - (d), (d) while the Morph Ball is equipped Mroph jumps will allow Samus to morph midair. They are used in this speed run, and can be quite usefull when you do not have the Spring Ball. Dashing - hold (L) and (l) or (r) Dashing simply increases the speed at which Samus runs. It can make a big difference in low game time. Power Dashing - with Speed Booster equipped, hold (L) and (l) or (r) This is an automatic ability with the Speed Boosters. Barriers that have the [>], [^], or [>] symbols will be pulverized. Samus flashes when she reaches maximum speed. [ Using Items ] To use an item, press (X) until the item you wish to use is selected. The regular bombs do not need to be selected. Regular bombs can only be used in morphed form. Set bombs off by pressing the shoot (Y) button. The item that is currently in use is highlighted in green at the top of the screen. It is recommended that you become familiar with the maps and pre-equip items; the time saved will add up considerably. [ Special Moves ] Certain special moves can be executed upon obtaining various items. These are moves which you definitely need to master in order to successfully make it through the speed run. Practice with an emulator or a saved game if your console is all you have. Wall Jumping - (l), (B), (r), (B), repeat or (r), (B), (l), (B) Wall jumping consists of spin jumping onto a wall, and then jumping off the wall in the other direction. This is an extremely important technique and comes in two flavors: two-wall and single-wall. First start with a spin jump. Brush up against the wall, and while in the spin, press away from the wall. Immediately press and hold the jump button. In a two-wall situation, you should be spinning against the other wall. Just repeat the process. The single-wall situation will be a tad bit more difficult. You will have to maneuver back towards the wall while spinning, and repeat the wall jump. Timing is really critical. Imagine saying "Ta-da" after a successfull trick. At "ta" you should press away from the wall, and press jump at "da." (Don't forget the dash button for more height!) Super Jump - hold (L) and (l) or (r), (d), (B), <varies> There are three types of super jumps, one of which is in the intro, near your ship. Start with a power dash, and press down at any time during the flashing stage. Samus will then flash yellow/white which means you can now do a super jump. First press jump and immediately press (u) for a vertical jump, (R) for a diagonal jump, and (l)/(r) for a horizontal jump. (Use the "ta-da" technique.) NOTE: With the horizontal super jump, you can actually execute this jump at a slightly higher height. Use a spin jump and break off the spin. While midair, press jump and immediately follow with right or left. (Use the "ta-da" technique.) Samus will lose some energy when super jumping. The amount lost is proportional to the distance that traveled. Also, damage is taken upon impact with any indestructible barrier. Enemies in the path of flight will be killed instantly. If a door is opened in the same screen as Samus' super jump then Samus will drop down. And if her energy level is too low (29 hit points), the jump will also stop. Charged Spin Jump - hold (Y) until flashing, (l) or (r), (B) Hold down the shoot button until Samus begins flashing. Continue to hold the shoot button and spin jump. If Samus comes in contact with and enemy, it will take a bit of damage (most of the creatures from Brinstar can be killed with the charged spin jump). Bomb Spread - hold (Y) until flashing, (d), (d) The bomb spread uses regular bombs. Charge up with the charge beam, and morph into a ball. Five bombs will disperse. This is often used to eleminate any parasitic enemies when your super missles are gone and your power bombs are too precious to waste. Bomb Climbing - while morphed, (Y), wait a moment, repeat Bomb climbing is not used in the speed run. However, there are many instances where wall jumping might prove far more difficult. Timing is critical. Count by "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand," etc. to time your bombs. Set one, and just before it explodes, set off your second bomb. While falling from the explosion, keep your ears tuned for a small clicking sound. This will tell you when to set the next bomb. Also, the quick flashing of a bomb is a sign of detonation in a split second. You might want to use this flash and set several of your bombs to better insure that you will continue your bomb climb. There is a second method of bomb climbing and it is much faster but also much more difficult. Just before the first bomb goes, off, set off two or three (one of them should send you back up). Set more of your bombs while you are going up, the faster the better. With good timing you can bomb climb three times as fast as the normal method. It is also possible to start out by morph jumping and setting bombs before you reach the peak of your morph jump. When you descend from your morph jump, the bombs you set will send you up. Just make sure to set a bomb just before the very first one explodes. Continue the bomb climb as normal. Beam Shields - select power bombs and hold (Y) Equipping the charge beam and one (only one) other beam, charge the arm cannon with power bombs selected. A beam shield will appear. To add some special effects, quickly add and remove various beams. Now keep in mind that while a beam shield is up, you cannot shoot. This means power dashing and the grapple beams are the only attacks that will work. Energy Crystal Recharge - hold (L), hold (R), (d), hold (d), hold (Y) If you have 10 super missles, 10 power bombs, and are extremely low in health, select the power bombs and hold down (all four) the dash button, aim up, and shoot button while in morphed form. Your energy meter will be replenished. The speed guide below should not require this move, but for those who are extremely wreckless with health... Be very familiar with wall jumping and super jumping since they are crucial to speed running the game. Remember that the typical path is not being used and that you will need quick gaming fingers to pull off all the tricks. ---------- IV ---------- CHAPTER V: THE SUPER METROID SPEED RUN This speed run does not follow the typical sequence of areas that typical games would explore. Rather, many tricks to obtain items early in the game, ingenious shortcuts, and difficult paths are taken. (The guide was intended for those who wish to have 100% item collection with extremely low recorded game times.) The author recommends practicing certain sections with an SNES emulator in order to perfect various tricks. Each mini-section is titled in a way that describes the main goal of that mini-section. The numbers on the far right denote, in order, the maximum capacity of missles, super missles, power bombs, energy tanks, and reserve tanks. Just below these numbers is a list of items that can be found in that section. You should have the listed items, and have a maximum capacity of items as just described. From here on it is assumed that you can do wall jumps on a whim. We will shoot for a log time of about 1 hour 20 minutes. So let's cut to the chase... The Space Colony (000;00;00;00;0) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items The game begins with a sequence of screens showing a brief history of the Metroid story. Actual gameplay begins once Samus lands on the Space Colony. Immediately head east until you enter a large room with the Metroid capsule on the floor. Wait for Ridley to appear, and either defeat him or allow him to take your energy meter down to 29 hit points. Once Ridley takes off with the Metroid capsule, you have two minutes to exit the colony. Simply return to the starting point of the Space Colony, and watch the animation sequence as your ship takes off. Planet Zebes (005;00;00;00;0) ------------------------------------------------------- Morph Ball, Bombs Your ship will then land on Planet Zebes. Travel west through a blue door and drop down until you see another blue door on the ground. Go through and hug the east wall until you finally reach lower Crateria (this is, in fact, old Tourian). Go through the blue door and continue east. Take the elevator down to Brinstar, and head west. Pick up the MORPH BALL. The inhabitants of Planet Zebes have been alerted by the motion sensor, so be carefull. Now go east of the elevator and past the first blue door. You'll need to shoot the blocks in order to drop down. Use your morph ball and collect the first set of MISSLES (005) behind the blue door. Now return to Crateria's surface and look for the small crawling space. Do not use any of your missles. Use your morph ball near the Skrees and go through that crawl space. Drop down; take the blue door and head east. Run past the flying swarm, and use all missles on the red door. Shoot the disc in the Chozo statue's hand to obtain BOMBS. The statue will then come alive, and you must defeat the Torizo in order to continue. Once the Torizo is defeated, return to the Skrees' area. You will need to bomb a few blocks in order to leave. Head west, and hop over the small hole down which you went to get to lower Crateria. Bomb the wall that blocks the west side, and continue traveling west. At the end of the sloping tunnel is an ENERGY TANK (01). In the next area are green Zebesians; use your missles on them since nothing else will kill them. If they do not leave you refills for missles, then shoot the spore-like creature in the next area and charge up your missle reserve (you'll need them soon). Take the elevator and go to Brinstar. Brinstar and the Spore Spawn (015;05;00;01;0) ------------------------------------------------------------- Charge Beam After the Crateria-Brinstar elevator stops, drop as far down as possible, and avoid all enemies. Use all five missles on the red eastern door. Save a bit of time by running in, and jumping over the floor crawlers, and landing slightly back toward the door (to avoid the Reo). Run and ignore the second Reo. Bomb the barrier blocking the tunnel, and avoid the diving enemies. In the next section, jump up and try to grab 2 missles from a refill from that pipe. Head east, up, and the west; use the missles on the Side Hoppers, and try to avoid being hit. Go up to another pipe, and refill on missles. (Note that if your energy meter is closer to 100%, the probability of getting the missle refills increases. This goes for most non-health refill items.) Open the red door to your right and return to the pipe for 4 more missles. These will quickly take out the Kihunters in the next area. They must all be dead in order to open the door up in the ceiling at the end. Go up and fight the Spore Spawn. After you take out the Spore Spawn, head up and east. Jump over the first pipe, and on top of the second pipe. Drop all the way down and collect some SUPER MISSLES (05) from the Chozo statue. Now continue west and use a super missle on the green door. In the room behind this door, crouch on the small platform and shoot another super missle at the corner. Morph into a ball to crawl through, and bomb your way out. (Watch out for the Reo.) Drop down to the MISSLES (010) in plain view. Look for two outlined blocks and bomb them to drop down to the Chozo statue holding the CHARGE BEAM. Grab the beam and pass through the green door east of those two bombed blocks. A super missle will open the green door. In the next area, avoid the creatures that fly out of the side pipes. The third pipe you see will be dormant. Jump from the platform on the left, and use a wall jump to reach the dormant pipe. Morph and crawl east for another set of MISSLES (015). Continue traveling east and open the blue gate by the side hoppers to open it. In the next area, kill the Cacatac to recharge the super missle reserve. Hop up onto the platform and dash to the right. Again kill the Cacatac for another super missle refill. Use one on the green door and pass through into the Brinstar "vertical pipe." Kraid and Norfair (025;05;00;03;0) -------------------------------- Spazer Beam, Varia Suit, High Jump Boots Drop down as far as you can, and shoot the floor to continue further down until you see a blue door on the right. Try to hug the east wall if you can to avoid the Rippers. In the second room with water in the floor (a Yapping Maw and Cacatac are there), look up and shoot the odd looking block. A wall jump or two will get you up there. Bomb the blocks while pressing the right direction on the gamepad (to avoid falling in the hole). Use a super missle on the green door to get to the SPAZER BEAM. Return to the Yapping Maw area and kill the Cacatac before jumping. Continue east and pass the elevator to Norfair. Instead, crouch down, face east, shoot a super missle to open up a small crawl space. Go through, and drop down to a one-block platform. Use a quick dash and, at the last possible moment, jump (and hold the jump button for extending height and distance). Immediately wall jump off the side once you touch the side of the eastern platform. After going through the door, a shot to the foot of the door will allow you to drop down. Use a bomb on the bottom, right corner. In the next area, watch out for some flying Kihunters and their acid spit. Shoot the crack in the floor and drop down. Three more of those green Zebesians await you, and then a miniature Kraid. Use a super missle on the mini-Kraid (he will give you more than enough to refill those super missles). In the next room, avoid the pipe creatures and carefully go past the spikey floor and ceiling. Use a super missle on the eye door. Boss number one is Kraid. You get the VARIA SUIT for killing Kraid. Now return to the entrance. See the flashing door? Shoot it and prepare your super missles. Allow all those little creatures to cling onto you; then fire a super missle. Use a beam at the ceiling to reveal an ENERGY TANK (02). Now head back to the elevator to Norfair and take it down. Once in Norfair, drop all the way down. There's a red door on the left hand side. If you are quick, jump over the energy tank as soon as you enter the door, and fall through the floor. Shoot toward the left. If you did it correctly, the door you entered should now be flashing; shoot it and continue left. Grab the HIGH JUMP BOOTS and hop up for another set of MISSLES (020). Now grab the ENERGY TANK (03) you jumped over, and go back up toward the elevator. Take the blue door just below and to the right of the elevator. When you pass through a red door, look for yet another set of MISSLES (025) hidden in the lava in the center of this room. Continue to the right until you reach the "bubble room." The Crocomire and Middle Norfair (050;05;05;03;0) ---------------------------------- Speed Booster, Wave Beam, Grapple Beam Now that you are in the bubble room, travel east and shoot the red Waver. Shoot the bubbles at your feet and drop down. Avoid the Ripper and grab the MISSLES (030) in plain view. Return to the entrance of the bubble room, but jump up to the blue door above the entrance. From there, use charged spazer beams to take out the Cacatac and two Wavers in the northeastern section of this room. Once you have done so, dash to the right starting from that same blue door and use 2 wall jumps off the eastern ledge, below the Cacatac you just killed. Take the green door and head northeast. Take the blue door and make sure to dash east. When you reach the red door, look up and shoot. Get the MISSLES (035) that have just been revealed, and then enter the red door to find the SPEED BOOSTER. Use them to dash out of this area as lava begins to rise from the floor. Head back toward the Cacatac in the bubble room and drop down to the blue door just southeast of the Cacatac. Watch out for the enemies that pop out from the ground. Go through the first red door you see while traveling down. Take care not to fall off the ledge in the next room. While jump to the right, shoot a spazer beam to preopen the blue gate. Some MISSLES (040) are sitting on the ledge behind the gate. Use your speed booster and jump at the last moment off the ledge. As soon as you hit the wall on the right hand side, wall jump up. If you timed your jump, you should not have even touched those spikes below. The WAVE BEAM is behind the red door. When you leave, fall in the center of the spike pit to avoid damage. Pass through the spikes and shoot the spore-like creature for some energy refills if you need it. Now return to the bubble room the using the same path you took to get to this room. Shoot at the metal floor that's between two purple heads. Make your way down and west. Do not take the blue door on the floor; travel west and drop down in the next area. Again, shoot the floor and drop further down. Open the blue gate with your wave beam; it should work from the "wrong" side. Continue to travel southwest until there is a green door on the floor. Use a super missle on it and prepare to fight Crocomire. When he is defeated, there are two things which you can do: your first option is to jump onto the first ledge on the left side of this area, and then preopen the blue door (listen for it since you cannot see it). Now use a horizontal super jump through this door and into the next room. Those who are lucky will land in front of a red door. The second option is to get to the next area, and drop down to the floor. Make sure to NOT have 100% of your energy and shoot those creatures that come out of the pipes. They will leave behind energy refills but do not take them. Instead run from the blue door on the right and jump up to the red door in the upper left side of the room. Behind the red door are your first POWER BOMBS (05). Take the blue door in the floor and drop down to yet another blue door in the floor (ignore the red door on the eastern wall). A power bomb should be enough to clear out the blocks on the floor. Use this the cleard out runway to charge for a super jump. First spin jump slightly left of the end of the runway, then super jump up to a set of MISSLES (045). Drop back down (using the crawl space) and now speed jump to the upper left area of this section. Grab the GRAPPLE BEAM and open the door through which you came. Starting as far left as possible, run out of the room. Jump to the right from the ledge at the very last moment. You should soar over a green Ripper and be back at the runway. Crawl through and head up the blue door in the ceiling. The red door we skipped earlier is where you want to go now. When you pass through, turn around and preopen the door. Speed charge to the right, press down for the super jump charge, morph, crawl, then super jump horizontally to obtain some MISSLES (050). Now after crawling through the small crevice again, use a speed dash and press down just before the door for a super jump. Use your super jump after you exit this room. Land on the platform up top. The Return to Crateria (065;05;15;04;0) --------------------------------------------------- Ice Beam, X-Ray Scope Return to Crocomire's lair and charge up for a horizontal super jump. Try to get some height first so that you shoulder tackle an ENERGY TANK (04) on the far eastern side. Now exit the mini-boss area through the ceiling door. Travel up and west. Use your grapple beam to cross over some lava, and take the MISSLES (055) on the ledge by the green gate. Take the green door below and to the left of the elevator. Charge up for a super jump right after you pass the second closing gate. Open the blue door and use super jump through the next room. As soon as you enter the room with the heads on the wall use a morphing jump to land on the small block above your head, just beyond the door. Use a second morphing jump and (ignoring the crawlers), crawl through the hole from which the crawlers came. Grab the ICE BEAM and drop back down to the spot where you used the second morphing jump. Shoot the barrier over your head, and use a wall jump to get up. Use your ice beam to exit. Return to Kraid's Lair. When you reach the room with the Kihunters, use a power bomb near the far right wall. A successfull morph jump means you gain more MISSLES (060). Now go up the Brinstar "vertical pipe" (use wall jumps at the bottom instead of freezing those Rippers). When you see the orange door, open it with a power bomb. Use your grapple beam and collect the X-RAY SCOPE. Resume climbing up the vertical pipe and freeze the Rippers to use as platforms. A shot at the barrier up top will open up more jumping room. Carefully maneuver through a spike filled room (freeze the enemies but don't kill them to make your work a bit easier). Power bomb the orange door through which you exited, and hop down. Behind a green door below are some POWER BOMBS (10) and MISSLES (065) after you power bomb the wall behind the statue. Travel north from here and take the green door shouthwest of the elevator. Use your ice beams on those Giant Side Hoppers and a power bomb on the far left side of the room. Under one of those spikey chewers are more POWER BOMBS (15). Now make your way to the elevator. Refill your super missles with the two Cacatac below. You are The Phantoon and the Wrecked Ship (080;15;15;04;0) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items Travel north and take the elevator up to Crateria. To save your progress, travel west and save at your ship. Otherwise head east and use your grapple beam to cross over the water. Make sure to pick up the MISSLES (070) in the middle. Once you enter the Wrecked Ship area, use the grapple beam again to reach the entrance to the ship. Those with "skillz" might want to save time by getting to the entrance sans grapple beam (speed and timed jumps are all that will be needed). Inside, take two flights of stairs down and set off a bomb in the lower left corner. Crawl through and ignore the spikes (they're harmless without power to the ship) and find more MISSLES (075). Use one of your power bombs to reveal crawl spaces in the floor. Use a super missle on the green door in the floor. (Hopefully you still have 3 left.) Travel east and crawl under the eastern wall. Use a bomb to get through. You can either use a super missle on the eye door, or three charged shots or three regular missles. It is recommended that super missles be saved for the Phantoon. The ship's power will be returned when you defeat the Phantoon. Return to the area where you set off a power bomb, and take the left door. Grab those SUPER MISSLES (10) and then set off a bomb in the lower right corner of the area you previously power bombed. Power bomb the far eastern wall, behind a robot. Morph jump and crawl through the middle opening to collect the SUPER MISSLES (15) on display. Now travel north and shoot the ceiling to continue further up. Once you see a blue door in the ceiling, get ready to set off a power bomb in the next area. The green Kihunters are very strong so quickly make waste of them. Travel east and destroy the orb. Now turn around and go left and kill all the enemies. When you see a flashing door, shoot it. Turn around and travel east again, and go through a second flashing door. Behind some robots are some regular MISSLES (080). Go back and this time avoid the green Kihunters and energy orbs. Take that left door you previoulsy shot to go outside. Finding the Gravity Suit (110;20;15;05;1) ------------------------------------------------------------ Gravity Suit Outside, travel far left until you see three platforms above. Run just to the right of the third platform (from the left) and charge for a super jump above this platform. You will need to spin jump and position yourself above the center of this third platform before super jumping up. While falling, a wave beam to the left will reveal more MISSLES (085); make sure to hug that wall so you grab the missles instead of gliding over them. Now look for two patches of grass below, and shoot a super missle exactly in between them to open a hole that leads to more MISSLES (090). Backtrack to those patches of grass and travel east. Shoot the ground to reveal a small crawl space. Take it east, and prepare to do some grappling in the upcoming area. When you see a standing Chozo statue, morph into a ball. Wait in its palm and watch it take you through the floor. Bomb the floor and travel east and up. When you see the robots in this area, shoot them into the gaps, and use a power bomb near the Chozo statue holding some MISSLES (095). Now that the statue is gone, use the extra running space for a super jump at the of this newly made runway. Be carefull where you step; jump toward the RESERVE TANK (1) on the left. Now head back to the statue and take the blue door. Inside is the GRAVITY SUIT. Quickly return to the Wrecked Ship and take the second blue door on the right hand side. Travel to the right and up while shooting the ceilings to clear out hidden passageways. When you reach a read door in the northeast section of the ship, grapple over toward an ENERGY TANK (05), and then return to the entrance of the wrecked ship. For a cool exit, use a super jump out of the wrecked ship. In the water on the left bank are a set of MISSLES (100). Now return to your space ship and head down the Craterian shaft. Underneath Mother Brain's old life support system are MISSLES (105). Now, go back to the Craterian shaft. Just above the blue door is a platform adjacent to the east wall. Bomb through the wall and power bomb through the orange door. Use the ice, spazer, and wave beam combo to freeze the yellow poppers. A super jump to the top gets you some SUPER MISSLES (20). Use your grapple beam to grapple over a large pit of spikes. Return up to Crateria's surface. You will see a small crawl space leading to a blue door. Grab some MISSLES (110) inside. Now return to your ship and gear up. Save your game if necessary. This is the first official save point if you are shooting for low timestamps. About 40 minutes means you are in good shape. Otherwise, you need more practice. Learning to Fly (120;20;20;06;1) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items Use a diagonal super jump to reach the cliff up in the northeast. A power bomb will be needed to open the door. From the edge of the cliff, charge up for a super jump by pressing down just before entering the door. Super jump to the right for some POWER BOMBS (20). Charge for a second super jump when you reach the end of the cliff again. Drop down and slightly right. A super jump to the left will leave you against a blue door. Open the door and dash back to your ship. Repeat the same sequence of super jumps. The ENERGY TANK (06) in the next room should replenish your health. Set off a power bomb to open up a crawl space. Head west and use power bombs to get through. Do not move after you enter the blue door. Shoot to the left to reveal a path. Now count the blocks, starting with the block you are standing on. Blocks three and four (from the right) disintegrate upon touch. You want to land between them so that they both disintegrate at the same time. When you see the sets of MISSLES (115) on each side (120), shoot left and right. Travel down, and set off a power bomb to drop down to the green Zebesians. Continue down and take the elevator to Brinstar. The Brinstar Scavenger Hunt (155;30;35;10;2) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items Take the first red door below the elevator. Speed dash past those closing gates and enter the red door for a RESERVE TANK (2). Crawl under the statue to find a set of MISSLES (125). Behind these are more MISSLES (130) covered in rock. Exit this room and go up. There are some SUPER MISSLES (25) to the left. Drop down and grab the MISSELS (135) to the right of the pipe. Return to the elevator area and fall all the way down. Use a power bomb to go even futher down. Enter the blue door and travel west. Don't get too exicited if you see an ENERGY TANK (07). Jump to it as the floor in front of it is very fragile. In the room behind the green door are more SUPER MISSLES (30). Now drop down through the fragile floor, and equip your ice beam. Travel east and use wall jumps up to the top of this vertical pipe. Morph into a ball at the top, and find a set of POWER BOMBS (25). Use a bomb when you are leaving to blast you to the other side (from the crawl space). This should make things easier since you won't have to wall jump up again. Go up and east as if you were on your way to the Spore Spawn. After passing those Metarees, go east instead of up. Use either your grapple beam or wall jumps to reach some MISSLES (140) near the Side Hoppers. Set off a power bomb and jump through the fake wall west of the missles. Kill the Giant Side Hoppers and find a blemish in the floor. Use a super missle on it. Find POWER BOMBS (30) below. Now head east and look for an orange door. Use a power bomb and enter. Kill the Side Hoppers and use a wall jump to open the blue gate. Now wall jump over that tall wall and collect an ENERGY TANK (08). Remember how you got the charge beam? Go down there an power bomb the foot of the statue and crawl through the pipe. Power dash westward to find another ENERGY TANK (09). Now head toward the second set of missles in this speed run. Look for an orange door in the northeastern corner. Power bomb through and watch out for Giant Side Hoppers. Bomb underneath the wall on the right. Collect some POWER BOMBS (35) and travel as far east as possible. Power bomb the barrier in front of those MISSLES (145) and super jump up. Hop up onto an invisible platform and find a set of MISSLES (150) in the next room. There is another set of MISSLES (155) hidden at the foot of the platform (left side). Now go back to where you power bombed a barrier near some missles. A hidden ENERGY TANK (10) in the ceiling awaits collection. Backtrack to the Brinstar pipe creatures and travel toward Norfair as you did the very first time. When you reach the glass pipe, power bomb it. Save your game one screen below if you wish. Otherwise, time for some fishing! Swimming in Maridia (180;45;35;11;2) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items Head north and take the red door to the east. When you enter through that door, turn around and preopen it. Kill the crabs, then open the green gate. Charge up for a super jump. You want to return to the previous area and use the super jump once you position Samus by the leftmost seaweed. Collect the MISSLES (160). Head north, taking the blue door. Stick to the left wall and while morphed, crawl through the left wall. A crab will be crawling through the same crevice. Find some SUPER MISSLES (35) to the left (these were seen when you super jumped to those missles earlier). After grabbing those super missles, travel south. Be carefull when entering the blue door in the floor or you will fall too far down. Just try to move to the right while you fall through that door. Hop over that tall and thin wall and go through the wall to the right of that purple Zebesian. Open the red door run through. Charge up for a super jump. In the turtle room, super jump up just slightly to the left of the center of the room. Collect the ENERGY TANK (11) perched atop a grappling block. Run and jump from this perch to the east wall. A wave beam

downward should reveal some MISSLES (165). Quickly drop down and be sure to hug the wall to grab the missles. Backtrack and make your way north. Return to the area with the grappling blocks in the ceiling. (You will be coming out of a blue door on the far east side.) Stand atop the easternmost hill, aim your grapple beam up, and latch onto an electric puffer. Swing on to the ledge just northeast of the puffer. Use the ledge to jump up to that last grapple block by the blue door in the northeast corner. Another way to get up here is to use a diagonal super jump. You will need to clear out the crabs first. This method actually takes a bit more time and health, so it's not recommended. In the next area, travel north and then west to find a set of MISSLES (170) and SUPER MISSLES (40). Backtrack and collect some MISSLES (175) behind a fake sand barrier. Travel south from the spot from which you went north and west and power bomb your way down. Use a vertical super jump over by the east side of the room to grab some MISSLES (180). Carefully hop to the SUPER MISSLES (45) since the floor in front of it disintegrates upon touch. Botwoon and Draygon (190;45;40;12;2) ------------------------------------------------- Space Jump, Spring Ball Use another super jump (or a speed jump followed by a wall jump) to reach a blue door in the northwestern corner of the same area. Travel east, power dashing through the metal barriers. Take out Botwoon, and continue east. Do not go for the energy tank. Instead, just power dash through the blocks and travel as far east as possible. If you charge for a super jump before going through the blue door, you can super jump up to another blue door. Equipped with the grapple beam, continue east. There are MISSLES (185) hidden in the wall in the room with the fake spikes. Drop through the first set of spikes and prepare to do some fish frying. Take out Draygon and get the SPACE JUMP boots. Now return to that ENERGY TANK (12) you skipped. Drop into the sand, just below the energy tank, and go west back to the room where a super jump was used to get missles and super missles. Shoot the southeast corner floor to drop down to some sandpits. Take the first one you encounter. There is a set of MISSLES (190) and POWER BOMBS (40) waiting for you. Fall through the sandy floor (east side of the room) and go east. When you a cracked grapple block, grapple it and space jump through the hole once that block crumbles. When you enter a room with a creature that has spiked discs on its feet use a power bomb so that it can clear away the sandy walls for you. In the room behind this sandy wall is the SPRING BALL. Now backtrack west, and when you reach the area with two blue doors on each side, stop and set a power bomb. Go up and through the green door. Leaving Maridia with the Plasma Beam (195;45;40;12;3) ------------------------------------------------------------- Plasma Beam After the elevator sequence, travel northeast and use a space jump to get to the flashing door. Beating Draygon makes this metal door openable. Go in and ignore the purple Zebesians. Get the PLASMA BEAM at the bottom, and get rid of the Zebesians. Two are on each wall, and one is at the top. You must kill them in order to exit. Drop down into the water and maneuver through a room full of spikes and Cacatacs (kill them for super missle refills). When you find yourself about two rooms before Draygon's area, take the blue door at the bottom. Again, take the sandpit underneath the spot where there used to be an energy tank. You should end up in the pink/purple room. This time, take the second sandpit underneath the metal floor. Grab a RESERVE TANK (3) and some MISSLES (195). Drop through the sandy floor on the left hand side. Travel west and when you get to a room with a green platform near the floor where crabs crawl in and out, crawl underneath it and drop down. Keep going west until you drop down into the room just before the Norfair elevator. The Return to Norfair (200;45;40;12;3) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items Take the Norfair elevator down, and take the first door below and left of the elevator (same way to the ice beam). Use a power bomb to drop down just after the second closing gate. Travel west and when you see a blue door, do not run through. Walk slowly through. In the next room, shoot the west wall and space jump to the MISSLES (200). You could have preopened this door and used a super jump through the door, but it takes more time. Drop down, then take the blue door east. When you power dash down the slanted slope, charge for a super jump just before reaching the door to Crocomire's lair. Use the wave beam to open a blue door to the right (you will have to listen for the sound of the door opening). Quickly execute a horizontal super jump, and in the next area use the energy station to refill your meter. Use your grapple beam to cross over the Yapping Maws and hot magma. You will finally reach a room with blue orbs orbiting some platforms. Use a power bomb on the orange door at the bottom. The Golden Torizo (210;50;45;13;3) ------------------------------------------------------------ Screw Attack Use the space jump in the lava area, and take the elevator down. Go west and space jump over a deep room filled with lava. Use power bombs to reveal a Chozo statue. Morph in its hands to release a trigger that drains the hot lava. Drop down and use another power bomb to clear out a crawl path. There are some MISSLES (205) in plain sight, but make sure to space jump to them. Otherwise you'll fall through the fragile floor. Take out the Golden Torizo and grab the SCREW ATTACK in the next room. Return to the Torizo's room and use the screw attack in the upper right ceiling to find SUPER MISSLES (50). Continue east until you have no choice but to go up. At the very top, shoot the ceiling to reveal a passage leading west. A set of MISSLES (210) inside a room with a heart design are just a few screens down and left. Watch your steps and try not to fall down. Return the way you came and continue moving east. Quickly make your way out of the large room that fills up with lava. You will most likely not have full health after fighting the Gold Torizo, so continue east until you see a rock formation in the shape of the head of Ridley. Power bomb the shooting head and grab the ENERGY TANK (13) slightly southeast. Now go back to the two blue doors and shoot the area between two brown rocks. Travel south and use power bombs to continue east. When in the room with shooting flames, bomb the western wall and crawl through. A power bomb near the statues at the far left will reveal a small crevice. Go under and find some POWER BOMBS (45). Now head down. Ridley and the Escape from Norfair (230;50;50;14;4) ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items Use a super missle on the green door, and be prepared to fight some tough space pirates. There will be two Zebesians. Jump over the first one and use three super missles when it does a diving kick and turns gold. Use the same tactic against the second one. Open the flashing door (the entrance) and go west. When you get to the eye door, open it and equip your power bombs. Set off power bombs while you drop to the platform in Ridley's room. You should be able to set about two or three before you start fighting Ridley. Once he is dead, look for the last ENERGY TANK (14) underneath the blue door. Now return to the rock formation that resembles Ridley and head north. At the top, walk to the left through a fake wall. Go west, north, then east to find some MISSLES (215). Use a power bomb to reveal a path through the maze of metal just east of the missles. Grab the last POWER BOMBS (50). Again go through the fake wall. This time head west, north, and then west again. You will eventually pass a few metal gates. When you cannot travel west, hop on the platform above the ebb of lava. Bomb it and crawl inside this platform. There are some MISSLES (220) just under the room with the wave beam. In the bubble room, grapple over to the green door. Grab the MISSLES (225) perched on the platform in the middle of the room. Hop down to the bottom left (the lava won't do any damage) and shoot the floor. A metal pipe will rise. Bomb the left wall and crawl through. Drop into the lava and run left. Shoot the last green rock above the lava to reveal the last set of MISSLES (230), and then grab the last RESERVE TANK (4). Return to the bubble room. Use a power bomb near the southwestern corner and take the door on the left side. Speed through the speed tunnel. Leave Norfair using a path through Maridia. It is a simple trek up to the grappling room in Maridia. Space jump to the middle and take the blue door in the ceiling. Continue up and left until you crawl into Brinstar. Take the elevator up and return to your ship. Mother Brain (230;50;50;14;4) -------------------------------------------------------------- Hyper Beam Once you save the game at your ship (about 1 hour 15 minutes is good), go down to Tourian. Do not save your game in Tourian if you have intentions of returning to any previously explored section on Planet Zebes. There will be a few Metroids to kill before you reach Mother Brain, and they must all die in order to continue to Mother Brain. Read the boss guide for more details. Once Mother Brain is defeated, you will need to hurry back to your ship. By now you will already have the HYPER BEAM. From Mother Brain's room, go west and then south. Take the blue door at the bottom and speed dash east. Super jump up, and continue north. Once you land up top and are running east, aim diagonally down to the right and shoot an unseen door. Eventually, you will get to this door since lava will start to rise from the floor in this area. Speed dash through the door you preopened, and charge for a super jump. Hug either the left or right wall in the Craterian shaft and super jump up. Now quickly get to your ship before the planet explodes. There should be almost a minute left on the timer. Sit back and watch the ending! Did you beat the game within 1 hour and 20 minutes? ---------- V ---------- CHAPTER VI: THE COMPLETE BOSS AND MINI-BOSS GUIDE The bosses and mini-bosses are normally fought using either normal missle or super missle attacks. Super missles are preferred since they have nearly 5 times as much power as regular missles. However charged beams can also do quite a bit of damage. In fact, the more beams equipped simultaneously, the more damage the shot. You can only charge the cannon while not spinning. So break out of any spin jumps with the aim diagonally up (R) button to charge your cannon. Mother Brain's first form is the only time charged beams won't work. Try fighting Botwoon, the Golden Torizo, Ridley, and Mother Brain (in her second form) using your charged beams. Your chances of hitting with the Spazer Beam equipped triples! (Damage values by hpsolo@my-deja.com) N = NORMAL ARMOR V = VARIA SUIT G = GRAVITY SUIT Ridley (Part One) .......................................... Space Colony Type of Attack Damage (N) --------------------- ------ Fireball 3 Tail Swipe 15 Contact 5 Ridley does not have a consistent attack pattern. Instead he has a number of attack sequences. He may shoot fireballs in rounds of 2, 4, or 6. He may swoop down toward you and attempt to spike you with his tail. Or, hey might try to slam into you. To avoid his heat-seeking fireballs, jump after all 4 fireballs are shot per round. If he begins to spin his tail and skewere you with it, jump on top of the doorway. If he body slams you, then try to take less damage by turning your back to him. It takes a great deal of effort to avoid his body slam, so don't bother (possible, but improbable). If you aim at his eye as he fades in, you can get a good number of shots off. When you defeat Ridley, he will drop the capsule containing the Metroid baby, but he then picks it back up. I have noticed that the probability of Ridley's body slam is related to how much energy you have. If you let one of the fireball rounds hit you once, Ridley will less likely swoop down at you or try to do his body slam. If you are speed running, just touch his tail as often as you can because it deals the most damage. Defeating Ridley will not make future battles any easier, so try to avoid the temptation of fighting him. Torizo Statue .................................................. Crateria Type of Attack Damage (N) --------------------- ------ Fireball 8 Laser Orbs 10 Laser Shield 10 Contact 8 Since your missles are gone, just aim diagonally up. When he jumps to the right, he is about to shoot some fireballs. Aim up and shoot the fireballs; they give refill items including missles. Use any and all missles on him to quickly finish him off. It shouldn't take more than 10-15 seconds before he dies. Advanced method: Once the Torizo rises, jump over him and hug the wall on the right hand side. He will have his back to you and walk toward the door. Use this brief period to quickly fire your cannon. If you are quick enough, you will trigger a jump from him just when he is about to come into contact with you. Once he jumps toward the door, run up to him, aim straight up and shoot the fireballs for refills. Use any missles you have. Spore Spawn .................................... Northern Center Brinstar Type of Attack Damage (N) --------------------- ------ Spores 4 Contact 12 You can avoid being hit by the Spore Spawn by crouching at the bottom, or while morphed in the left corner on the ledge. When the mini-boss opens its mouth, time your missles so that you send in at least two missles. Fire one at the top of its mouth, and a second at the center. It will start to close its mouth after the first shot; the second missle will make it just in time for a second explosion. About 10 missles are needed to kill it. Advanced method: You should time your missle shots depending on the Spore Spawn's height off the ground. Become familiar with his range of motion. At the start, he will make three full revolutions with the final swing leaving his core open. Jump from the ledge on the left, and shoot a missle and then shoot a few more while you continue to increase in height from your jump. I managed to get four missles in. The Spore Spawn closes its core if hit with a missle. By timing your jump and when you shoot your missles, you might be able to squeeze in more than two missles per round. It's possible to defeat the Spore Spawn in three rounds! Kraid ............................................. Southeastern Brinstar Type of Attack Damage (N) --------------------- ------ Rock Shot 2 Ramming Claw 20 Boomerang Claw 10 Abdominal Spike 10 Contact 20 Spike Plants (ground) 16 Kraid takes four super missles to kill or the equivalent thereof. Regular missles or charged shots will also damage him. When you first walk into the room and the debris stops falling, Kraid will either [1] open his mouth and spew out four boulders or [2] do nothing for about 3 seconds. Prepare as if the first will happen. Hopefully you have the Spazer Beam. Point diagonally up and shoot the four boulders if they come out. If it seems Kraid is doing nothing at first, then quickly switch over to the regular missles. Shoot it at his mouth and watch his eyes glow. Now switch over to the super missles, and send it into the opening mouth. If you miss, Kraid will ram you. Otherwise watch him rise completely out of the ground. Quickly jump up to the platform that once was the ceiling. Use missles to get Kraid to open up and super missles if he opens his mouth. Listen for his roars. Shoot at the flying claws for refill items. And the projectiles from Kraid's abdomen are safe to stand on. Just don't get hit by them. Advanced method: Listen to the boss intro music. At the climax, and after Kraid is almost finished rising, notice his claw begining to close up. One missle right before the claw completely closes will make his eye flash. Now quickly switch to your super missles, and jump and hold the jump button. As you fall from the jump, shoot a super missle just before his claw begins to close (again). If you did it correctly he should be momentarily frozen. His mouth will still be open for a few more seconds. Quickly send in a few more super missles (you should be able to get at least three in). This trick is brought to you by MIE. (And thanks to hpsolo for explaining how to do it.) Crocomire ................................................ Middle Norfair Type of Attack Damage (V) --------------------- ------ Triple Claw 20 Fireball 10 Contact 20 Do not use any missles or super missles on this mini-boss. Crocomire will first claw three times and then it will open its mouth. Use a charged beam, preferrably the wave and spazer combined, to shove it back. It will do this about two or three times. Then prepare to send charged shots, one after the next. When he is near the bridge over hot magma, he will repeat his clawing tactic. Just concentrate on shooting his open mouth. Do not worry about the fireballs which he tries to use on you. Soon he will fall into the lave. Go left and wait for his skeleton to break through the spiked wall. On average about 15 charged shots should send Crocomire into the pool of lava. Advanced method: This requires a quick thumb, since you will be switching back and forth between the beam and super missles. At the very start, use a charged beam for your first shot. Crocomire will take a few steps back. His claws will then move up and down three times. Now use a super missle on the second round. From this point on, I recommend using just the wave beam. Why super missles aren't as effective any round after the first one escapes me. And after extensive testing, it seems that you MUST use a charged beam, and follow it up with a super missle. These first two shots are the only ones I found to be more effective than just using the charged wave/spazer beam for the entire battle. Phantoon ............................................... The Wrecked Ship Type of Attack Damage (V) --------------------- ------ Blue Flame 20 Blue Retaliation 20 Contact 20 There are two different approaches to this boss. The Phantoon will drop a number of bouncing, blue balls of fire. Shoot these for refill items. If he solidifies, use missles or super missles on him. You can get about 5 normal missles off if that is all you use. Using a super missle puts him in a very bad mood. He will send out about 8 waves of blue that are extremely hard to avoid if you do not use charged spin jumps. Four super missles and a normal missle will the Phantoon. Otherwise, about 4 or 5 rounds of regular missles are needed. Advanced method: Wait for a circle of blue to eminate from the boss. This means he will solidify soon. Equip your missles and shoot one missle at the Phantoon. Quickly switch over to a super missle and fire one of those. This should reduce the number of rounds down to 4 instead of 5. Botwoon ..................................................... Mid Maridia Type of Attack Damage (VG) --------------------- ------ Acid Spit 24 Contact 20 When you meet Botwoon, you should have a plenty of super missles. Use the stash of super missles on him to take him out. He will either swim from one hole to the next, or peek his head out and shoot green acid (?) at you. Aim for his head. If you run out of super missles, use regular missles and then charged shots. He's movement is too random to try to describe, but it helps if you stand just below one of the holes. That way if he pokes his head out you can shoot about three super missles at him. Draygon ................................................. Eastern Maridia Type of Attack Damage (VG) --------------------- ------ Grey Slime 0 Tail Swipe 40 Contact 40 There are several ways to beat Draygon, and I will only describe the best way -- but you will need the grapple beam. Enter his room, and take out all the cannons on either side of the room. When Draygon spits grey stuff, just let it stick to you and allow the boss to grab you. Use the grapple beam to latch onto one of those cannons and electrocute the boss (you will also get damaged, but don't worry about losing health). Advanced method: (NO GRAPPLE BEAM) You should be able to fire a few super missles at Draygon when he first enters the screen. Just shoot and morph to avoid getting hit. He normally makes two sweeps at the very beginning. Once the first two sweeps are done, the third time will be when he sprays goo to slow you down. (Typically from the right side of the room.) Wait until he's about a third of the way through this sweep and set off a power bomb. DON'T get caught by the grey goo! If you've managed to stay clean, it will all be cleared away, and you have the remaining two-thirds of this sweep to launch super missles into his belly. Just follow him and aim up. If you do come in contact with the grey stuff, Draygon will swim up and out of reach. About 2 or 3 rounds of this is enough to kill the boss. Repeat until it dies. Golden Torizo ............................................. Lower Norfair Type of Attack Damage (VG) --------------------- ------ Fireball 20 Flare Shots 2 Laser Shield 30 Torizo Spawn 25 Super Missle 50 Contact 40 This boss is very tough if you do not have the plasma beam. He will catch your super missle and use it against you. If you want have super missles to waste, shot several more while he's holding the first one. Otherwise, stick with charged plasma beams. The boss has a variety of attacks. It will shoot fireballs, horizontal and vertical beams, and when near death, the boss has the ability to shoot black orbs which do tons of damage. You won't see them if you use charged plasma beams (don't worry too much about health). If you do get low in health, use charged spin jumps to avoid damage. Super missles are not recommended since you need as many as you can find, and since they are difficult to refill. Moreover, you are forced to waste a super missle since the Golden Torizo will grab the first one you shoot. You will be glad to have lots of super missles when you go up against Ridley. Ridley (Part Two) ......................................... Lower Norfair Type of Attack Damage (VG) --------------------- ------ Fireball 5 Fireball Blast 15 Vertial Tail Spike 30 Claw Hold 20 Swooping Tail Swipe 30 Contact 40 When you first drop down into his room, set off about 2 or 3 power bombs, then equip your super missles. Hopefully your energy meter is full. Rushing your shots is not the idea here. Ridley will use fireballs, or try to spike you with his tail. If he shoots fireballs, use the same tactics as outlined before. If he tries to spike you with his tail, quickly dash toward the end of the platform and aim up at him. Be carefull not to let him grab you. His tail will then deal some major damage. Use your screw attack and be patient with your shots. You will save more time by making every super missle a hit instead of a miss. Ridley's color is a guage of the damage you have done. Advanced method: When you enter his lair, equip your super missles. Stand in the center of the platform and wait for his eyes. As soon as you see the rest of Ridley, quickly fire four super missles. Immediately jump (since he will be rising up now) and fire a fifth super missle. Now just wait for the boss to come down. If you see him fly up to one side of the room, go to the opposite side (on the platform). Aim diagonally up and as soon as you see a glimpse of his body, shoot a super missle. If he goes up, jump up with him. Continue to fire super missles as you do so. Towards the end of the battle, he will hover above the platform. Just jump (to avoid any swipes) and shoot your missles. Mother Brain .............................................. Lower Tourian When you make your way down to Mother Brain in Tourian, take off all your suits. Do not worry about losing health -- the more damage the better. Kill the Metroids by freezing them and using five missles on them. Or allow them to latch onto you and use power bombs. When you see the giant Metroid, take some more damage by running into its first victim. After the Metroid starts to drain your energy, travel west. Once it lets you free, put your suits on and look for a red door. Use regular missles on it and then go recharge the missles and energy meter. Use a super missle on the eye door. Then open the red door with five regular missles. Phase One: Use only regular missles on the energy barriers. It takes five per barrier. If the barrier is in the center, hop onto the platform that is connected to it and aim diagonally at it. Don't worry about the distraction from the security system. If the barrier is split into two, crouch down and shoot at it. Make sure to hug the barrier so you don't fall off when hit by the flying energy rings. Once you reach Mother Brain's glass casing, freeze the energy rings, and crouch in the center of the platform and aim up. Send out regular missles (about 40). Don't forget to refreeze those energy rings when they thaw out. (Only missles and super missles will do damage!) Phase Two: Once she takes on her second form, stand a character away from the eastern wall and aim up at her head. Use all remaining 49 super missles and switch to regular missles when you are out. When you have about 40 more missles left, take off all your suits. (Do not get distracted by her attack on you. Jump over any bouncing bombs, but otherwise just ignore her all her attacks.) Once you are down to 2 energy bars (about 300 hit points) put the suits back on. Her charged head beams will do quite a bit of damage! There is a much quicker way to defeat Mother Brain. Equip all your beams, and stand on the second floor tile from the right hand side. Now, charge up your beams and shoot one as soon as you see her head turn dark orange. Upon the fifth hit, she will drop a bomb. You should have managed about eight or nine charged shots before you have to spin jump to avoid the first mine. If she starts using her stronger attacks, then you're almost done. When twenty charged shots have been fired, prepare for the super attack. If you have at least 301 hit points then you will survive (with 1 hit point left). Keep in mind that it takes 20 charge beams when ALL the beams are equipped. It will take longer if you do not have them all. TIP: Once you see the Super Attack beginning, you should reduce your health down to slightly above 300 hit points. (I usually go for about 350.) Having less than 100 hit points means your hatchling will come to the rescue a lot sooner (which also means having the Hyper Beam a bit sooner). Just run into Mother Brain if your health is too high. Type of Attack Damage (VG) --------------------- ------ Bomb (not detonated) 40 Bomb exposion 20 Eye Laser 30 Blue Rings 40 Fire Laser 200 Super Attack 300 Contact 30 Final Phase: After the Metroid recharges you and dies, use the Hyper Beam as if you were shooting the super missles in Phase Two. She should die with a few shots to the head. ---------- VI ---------- CHAPTER VII: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 01. How long did it take you to write this speed guide? If you consider the total number of hours spent on writing this guide then I would say about 2 weeks. Most of the the few free-time hours I had as an undergrad were spent on finding the optimal route. Over the four years, I spent time on perfecting some of the various tricks and special moves (single-wall jumps, bomb climbing, super jumps) and not so much on writing the guide itself. Once it was started, though, not much time was needed for the writeup since I essentially had the game game memorized down to where enemies would be in the next room. 02. Have you read marshmallow's speed guide? Yes, and I believe that it's one of the best guides available. On the other hand, there were a few tricks and shortcuts left out which have not been mentioned by any Super Metroid guide. A few of the shortcuts and tricks were of my own design, while others may have been all very well known but undocumented. And still other cool tricks needed a bit of improvement. Of course, this guide may very well have its own list of shortcomings. Both hpsolo and I tried to contact marshmallow to get the speed guide he wrote updated with our tricks. However, neither hpsolo nor I could get in touch with the author. Hence we worked on this guide together, and I ended up writing the guide. 03. What program did you use to justify the text? None. I just chose words carefully so that everything lined up on the right hand side. Everything was done with an ASCII editor. 04. Why did you chose to have the first save point so far into the game? It's a speed run! Besides, with lots of practice, it's really easy to go this far into the game before saving. The Phantoon is the only big difficulty before saving. 05. Why did you get the speed booster before the wave beam? The speed booster is used to get the wave beam without worrying about the spikes just before the wave beam room. You can run from the ledge with the missle pack, spin jump at the last second to the right wall, and have plenty of time to wall jump up without touching those spikes below. Those spikes take off a lot of energy, and you only have a max of 300 hit points. It would be awefull to mess up and die here. There are no refill stations until after Crocomore and three super jumps in Middle Norfair (the energy tank by Crocomire will refill your meter). 06. Why didn't you follow the same path as outlined in the speed guide by marshmallow when going on the scavenger hunt in Brinstar? The difference, if you trace out both paths entirely, is that my path requires dropping down the Craterian shaft (very quick) and retracing your steps from the Brinstar elevator back through the area just left of the MORPH BALL item. And then it is just the normal run to Norfair from then on. The path outlined by marshmallow takes you east of your ship and through the spikey room and past the Rippers in the vertical pipe of Brinstar. I think the distances are almost the same. However, my path is less difficult (no spikes =). Of course, you can always go for a test run to find out for sure. (Besides, my path does not use a single elevator so there is not much waiting nor any elevator music.) 07. You didn't get the energy tank before meeting Draygon until after you beat him. Isn't more energy better? In general, yes. However, Draygon is very easy to defeat without that energy tank if you use the grapple beam trick. Since this trick takes more energy than the refills (after he dies) provide, the energy tank we skipped will completely fill your energy meter. 08. Is the Spazer Beam needed so early? Why not wait until after the High Jump Boots? It helps to have it when you fight Kraid so early in the game and run out of missles and super missles. With a stronger beam, the exploring of Norfair is much easier. 09. What's with the removal of suits in Tourian? To save time. Avoiding any refills and having low energy means a less wait period as the Metroid drains you. Likewise when Mother Brains is using that crazy head beam. If you think this is kinky, then you have not seen the coolest ending of the game. 10. I've got a tip. Will you include it in your guide? Only if it is cool or will make a difference in timestamps. It should be feasible (can do it within three tries) as well. 11. How did you go about finding these shortcuts and tricks? Did you read about them somewhere? They were mainly the results of curiosity. For example, the wall jump in the bubble room came to me only after numerous failed bomb climbs. It was annoying to bomb climb up and almost make it to the ledge only to fall back down. Even when I did make it, I couldn't do it with any consistency. So then I got creative... Many of the tricks I found, however, were apparently already known by most Super Metroid players. I take no credit for those since it's the guy who finds the trick first that gets the credit. Nonetheless there are still a number of neat tricks in this speed guide that no one has mentioned so far. 12. Hey, you didn't save the friendly creatures in the BOMBS item room! This is a speed run, remember? Besides, the only difference is that a tiny purple dot will fly from the right side of the Planet during the ending. That doesn't quite cut it as a good reason for the detour. 13. What is your opinion of the various endings? Even the coolest of the three endings could have been better. Most of the games I've played show the enemies or list them while the credits are scrolling. Super Metroid's three endings differ very little. If I made the endings, I would have gone with something like the Megaman X series, with Samus doing all her various moves. 14. What are timestamps? My phrase for logged game time. 15. What does "logged game time" mean? It means you are very dumb. 16. I am stuck in <certain area> and can't seem to figure out what to has to be done next. What did I forget? Read the guide, in particular the section in which you are lost. Look for various comments about how a certain event must occur, or various items being required. 17. If the power to the wrecked ship is not turned on, does this mean map units, save points, AND traps won't work? Yes. Nothing will work until you defeat the Phantoon. This will power up the Wrecked Ship. If there is no power, even the spikes will cause no damage. Why spikes need juice to do harm, I haven't a clue. 18. Have you ever successfully reached the green door in the northwestern area in the bubble room the first time you get there? Yes, it requires two nearly impossible wall jumps. Read below for all the details. Or if you have the speed booster, one wall jump will do. 19. What is the point of shooting flashing doors if you don't go through? These doors normally open only when all enemies in the local area are dead. If you open any door, it becomes blue from that point on. So by opening the flashing door, you no longer have to kill all the enemies in the area if you have to return to that room. 20. I found a room with four golden statues. Every now and then one would turn grey. Can you shed some light on this subject matter? Each statue is a main boss in the game. Whenever you defeat one, that boss' statue turns grey. Once all four main bosses are defeated there will be an earthquake that opens up the path to Tourian. 21. What is the point of fighting Kraid early? While the game itself is non-linear, the speed guide is an attempt at a linear path in the sense that backtracking is done as little as can be without too much difficulty. Remember, it was assumed that you had practiced the hard parts, so Kraid should have been easy to kill. MIE (www.metroid3.com) beat Kraid literally in a few blinks of the eye! 22. I'm having trouble getting the first power bombs in Norfair after the battle with Crocomire. Is there an easier way? Perhaps this tip will help. When you defeat Crocomire, jump on one of pillars just left of his bones. Shoot to the left, and listen for the door (you should hear it open). Now, run back to the entrance of this area and speed dash to the pillars. When you are at Crocomire's bones you should be able to press down and charge for a super jump. There's still some room left to run and jump OVER the pillars and land at the door you pre-opened. Quickly walk through. Use a horizontal super and you will shoulder tackle the red door, behind which are power bombs. 23. Why does the guide sometimes recommend killing enemies but not taking the refills left behind? This is normally in reference to pipe enemies. Some pipe enemies have the ability to regenerate quickly. If you are trying to dash past one of these pipes, you will most likely get hit by a pipe enemy. Killing them might leave refills. If you do not pick them up, they do not get regenerated because they now exist in the form of a refill. So if you leave the refills, you can dash over these pipes, pick up the refills and not get hit since you will have already run over the pipes before the enemy gets regenerated. 24. But sometimes I end up shooting forever and no refill is left behind. How can I dash over these pipes without getting hit? Well you MUST NOT have 100% of everything. Refill items are left only if you need them. Whichever you are lacking most (percentage-wise) is what is left behind. For example, if you only have 15% of the maximum number of missles you are able to carry and 20% of your energy, there is a higher probability of getting missle refills. So if no refill is left behind, the chances are you are at 100% of your capacity. So let an enemy do a little damage and that will increase the chance that an item is left behind once you kill something. 25. How often do you use the Ice Beam? The Ice Beam does no extra damage. In a speed run, frozen enemies are generally only going to slow you down (you have to move around them). Of course there will be times when you do need to freeze enemies like those Rippers in the Brinstar pipe. In general, however, the Ice Beam only forces you to fire one extra shot to kill the enemies. So in sum I rarely use the Ice Beam. 26. How quickly did you beat the game? 1 hour 21 minutes with 100%, and 57 minutes with 26%. I am working on an optimal route to beating the game with 30%. My lowest time ever (without any restrictions except for cheating) is 47 minutes (in fact, right before the 2.10 update). 27. What's the point of beating the game with low timestamps? If you're looking for some sort of special ending, then you will be a bit disappointed. There isn't some long movie or anything. The reason I am interested in speed runs is because this is my favorite game. To me, there is nothing cooler than to "perfect" a game. 97. You mispelled something. So what if I cannot spel !?!? I'm a mathematician! 98 Can I post your guide on my website? Sure, but the updated versions will always appear at GameFAQs. 99. Can I be your friend? No. Maybe. Well... ok, but only for a second. ---------- VII ---------- CHAPTER VIII: MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS - When you leave Norfair and return to the Brinstar vertical pipe for the second time try using a super jump to fly through the room with Yapping Maws and a Cacatac. I'll let you figure out how to charge up for such a super jump. The hint is to preopen doors. - The Ice Beam is not needed at the bottom of the Brinstar vertical pipe. You can use wall jumps on the eastern wall to find a little ledge above the blue door. From there, another wall jump off the ledge near door to the X-RAY SCOPE will get you up. - To get the Energy Tank behind the Charge Beam without the Gravity Suit, use the platform at the far west end of the room for running and charge up for a super jump. Use the super jump to travel through the area just underneath that platform. - Use a super jump to cross over the water area with the missle pack atop a pillar in the water when you are going to the Wrecked Ship area. - When you first enter the Wrecked Ship area, you can use a speed jump to the platform after the first grapple section. Just start from the door, dash toward the water, and when you touch the lightblue sand, press and hold jump. Don't hold the jump button down too long or you'll jump will be too high. It is possible to make it to the ship's door without using the Grapple Beam. - Instead of using a super jump to get the missles just before collecting the grapple beam, try using only wall jumps. It is slightly faster, and does not consume energy. - When in the Craterian shaft, in the area where you must freeze three of those yellow poppers, try to freeze them by running and aiming down. If you're fast enough, you'll never have to stop at all. - There is a way to reach the northwestern green door in the bubble room, but you'll need high jump boots. Below the green door is a platform and a blue door. Normal wall jumps will not work since the ledge above will block your jump. However, if you wall jump up and out, then you can use a second wall jump at the very tip of the ledge to get up there. First, look at the bubble blocks above the blue door. You want your first wall jump to start when Samus is one and one-half block above the blue door. As you reach the peak of your jump, quickly spin back toward that upper ledge and use another wall jump. This trick is extremely difficult, but it can be done with lots of practice. Good luck trying to be consistent with this move. There is another way of getting to this door. You must first obtain the Speed Booster (use the trick mentioned in the speed guide). Destroy all the wavers in the bubble room. With the speed booster, run and jump off the small platform in front of the blue door just below the green door. You must hold the dash, jump. and right-arrow direction. Quickly switch right-arrow to left-arrow and spin toward the upper ledge. Make sure to position Samus' feet so that they are just beside the right-most bubble on the second row (in the outcropping). Use a wall jump to get up. This method should be slightly easier. Just make sure when you jump that you do so at the last possible moment. If you do get up to this ledge, you can run and spin jump to the bubble wall below the Cacatac. Then wall jump up. Of course, you might want to pick up the missles and reserve tank first. Oh, take off your high jump boots before jumping, though. Otherwise you might catch the ceiling. - There's an easy way to get the two hard sets of missles in northwestern Crateria (where the floor disintegrates upon touch). When you enter, do not shoot anything. Remove all your beams. Clear out the top row of the destructible blocks. Once you are directly above where blocks three and four (from the blue door) meet. Set off a power bomb. Wen you drop, you will now clear out both columns of breakable blocks. - It is possible to get the X-RAY SCOPE without the grappling beam. Power bombs, high jump boots, and optionally the speed booster the only items needed to get the scope. You will need to use a wall jump to get to the red door. About four energy tanks are needed, if you want to leave with the scope =). - Once you get the MORPH BALL and are going up the Craterian pipe, try to use wall jumps on the eastern wall. Done correctly, you will never have to worry about the Zebesians on the west wall. Also, when dropping down this shaft at the start of the game, hug the east wall until you pass 6 platforms. Then move one character away from the wall to avoid the last platform adjacent to the wall. With good timing, you can drop down this shaft with one continuous fall. - After you defeat Crocomire and he is falling into the lava quickly head west as far as possible and use a running jump to the east. You will be in lava so continue to spin jump to the Energy Tank on the right. Use a wall jump to get up to it. Normally you would just be waiting until the death animation finishes. By getting this tank during the animation you save the time it takes to get it when leaving Crocomire's lair. --------- VIII --------- CHAPTER IX. ULTIMATE CHALLENGE So you beat the game with 100% within 1 hour 20 minutes. But, do you have the mad skills to beat the game UNDER AN HOUR!? That's right, less than one hour (and 30% or less of the items). I will assume that you can bomb climb, wall jump, and know the maps very well. The route in this particular run is pretty much the same as that for the Speed Run. Most of the same tricks are also used. (I'll put in more details if enough people email me for help.) For an even better time (harder challenge) don't pick up the Grapple Beam and use wall jumps to go up the Brinstar shaft. Grab the power bombs in the room just after the "spike room." Once you get to Draygon, use a power bomb to clear out the grey goo (two volleys should take him out if you're quick) and quickly knock him out. [I] = Item [SM] = Super Missles [ET] = Energy Tank [M] = Missles [PB] = Power Bombs [SP] = Save Point [b] = Mini-Boss [B] = Boss 50 Step Summary of the Ultimate Challenge (only 28 items used) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01. [b] Ridley in the Space Colony (hug the east wall) 02. [I] Morph Ball 03. [M] Missles (05) 04. [I] Bombs 05. [b] Torizo Statue 06. [ET] Energy Tank (1) on the way to Brinstar 07. [b] Spore Spawn 08. [SM] Super Missles (05) 09. [M] Missles by Charge Beam 10. [I] Charge Beam 11. [M] Missles in dormant pipe 12. [I] Spazer 13. [B] Kraid 14. [ET] Energy Tank (2) near Kraid's entrance 15. Bomb climb up to red door on way to bubble room 16. [SP] Save Point in bubble room 17. Bomb climb up to green door 18. Use charged spin jump to the right and wall jump to the Cacatac 19. Use a wall jump to get up the ceiling behind the green door 20. [I] Speed Boosters 21. [M] Missles (20) near Wave Beam 22. [I] Wave Beam 23. [b] Crocomire 24. [ET] Energy Tank (3) while Crocomire is melting 25. [PB] Power Bombs (5) via super jump from Cromire's room to red door 26. [I] Grapple Beam 27. [M] Missles (25) after grappling area near green gate 28. [ET] Energy Tank (4) in High Jump Boots area (kill the Geemer first) 29. [I] Ice Beam 30. Brinstar pipe (freeze Rippers and bomb climb) then through spike room 31. [SP] Save Point below elevator to Crateria 32. [M] Missles (30) above water on way to Wrecked Ship 33. [B] Phantoon 34. [SM] Super Missles (10) 35. [I] Gravity Suit 36. Return to Brinstar pipe then go to glass tunnel in Maridia 37. [SP] Power bomb the tunnel and use the Save Point 38. Use wall jumps and take the blue door to the area just below the Maridia grappling room. 39. Freeze the fish and use it to hop up to through the blue door in the ceiling into the Maridia grappling area; use a super jump to the blue door in the northeast corner 40. [b] Botwoon 41. [ET] Energy Tank (5) just above sand 41. [B] Draygon (use grapple trick) 42. [I] Air Jump Boots 43. [I] Plasma Beam (go through the area with the many Cacatacs; a super jump will get you up to the Plasma Beam area. (Use the long sand path to charge up and stand on the right hand side of a platform at the end of the stretch jump from there) 44. Take the green door left of the Plasma Beam room and head down 45. [SP] Save Point in Norfair 46. [M] Missles (35) just before Golden Torizo 47. [b] Golden Torizo 48. [I] Screw Attack 49. [B] Ridley 50. [B] Mother Brain (kill the Zebetites first then return to fight) ---------- IX ---------- CREDITS AND THANKS: - GameFAQs for hosting this guide - marshmallow for a wonderfull and inspiring speed guide - magus for the documentation on the wave beam trick - Daniel Church for documentation on the trick near the ship (I believe magus and Daniel Church were the first to make note of these tricks, so they certainly deserve credit for them. Both of these tricks were credited by marshmallow.) - hpsolo for the trick in the bubble room and tons of other info -- thanks 'cuz - hunnypleez for recognizing a huge naming error - Keyardon for the time saving tip in Crocomire's lair and for bomb climb tip (morph jump first) - MIE for his ZSNES demo on the trick against Kraid - Megaman X (discussion with hpsolo leading to the investigation of super missles against Crocomire).

- fans of Super Metroid for keeping this classic alive - Nintendo and Super Metroid's programmers for an impressive game - thanks to the authors of SNES9X and ZSNES - cheers to those who hang out in the Super Metroid forum at GameFAQs SUPER METROID WEB LINKS: - Super Metroid Speed Run http://www.classicgaming.com/msr If you want to see a speed run, check out hpsolo's website for demos of an entire game with 100% item collection. The recording was done with a Super Nintendo emulator called ZSNES (http://www.zsnes.com) so you need to get that and a Super Metroid ROM first (US/Jap version). (APR 14, 2001; from hpsolo) "The MSR needs your help! We are about to make a revision of the movies for Super Metroid and would like your gaming expertise to help speed up the recording process. Check our website forums for more info!" - Norfair: The Best of Super Metroid http://www.metroid3.com This site was developed by MIE and has EVERY enemy/creature listed with screenshots. There is also a list of all the items of the game and many cool features such as software glitches. - The Metroid Database http://www.classicgaming.com/mdb/metroid.html This is THE site for all there is know about the Metroid series.