A strategy guide / walkthrough for...

 ___                      __  __     _           _    _
/ __|_  _ _ __  ___ _ _  |  \/  |___| |_ _ _ ___(_)__| | ~ SPEED GUIDE ~
\__ \ || | '_ \/ -_) '_| | |\/| / -_)  _| '_/ _ \ / _` |   1:35 W/100%
|___/\_,_| .__/\___|_|   |_|  |_\___|\__|_| \___/_\__,_|
         |_|

         Author: marshmallow <marshmallow@planetn2000.com>
                       Version 3.3

   Long ago, I created a Super Metroid guide. However, I was a young,
aspiring FAQ writer with very little experience. The walkthrough was
short, not very detailed, and made me look bad. On this day, I return to
salvage this guide and attempt to make it the best text-based Metroid
guide on the Internet! If it wasn't one of my favorite games of all
time, I probably wouldn't have done it. But, fortunately, I consider
Super Metroid maybe the second or third best game of ALL TIME. Honestly,
I usually power up my SNES and play this at least once a month, just for
nostalgia's sake. Well, I've rambled on enough, so I think I better get
to work, otherwise I won't get anything done! :p

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*              T A B L E     O F     C O N T E N T S                  *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
               Chapter 1 -- "Revision History/Updates"
               Chapter 2 -- "Legal Disclaimers"
               Chapter 3 -- "The Metroid Legacy"
               Chapter 4 -- "Basics"
               Chapter 5 -- "Items & Power*ups"
               Chapter 6 -- "Speedy Super Metroid Walkthrough"
               Chapter 7 -- "Tricks, Tips, & Secrets"
               Chapter 8 -- "Minor Enemy Characters"
               Chapter 9 -- "Credits & Metroid Links"
               Chapter 10 -- "Contact Information"

========================================================================

CHAPTER 1) REVISION HISTORY / UPDATES

========================================================================

Friday, March 10th, 2000 (Version 3.3):
-----------------------------------------

The third "massive time-saving trick" was added to the chapter titled
"Tips, tricks, & Secrets." I also added the person to the credits
section. Go eat it up! ;)

************************************************************************

Tuesday, January 11th, 2000 (Version 3.2):
--------------------------------------------

Another HUGE time-saving tip was added thanks to Magus (a fellow Super
Metroid walkthrough writer). This tip explains how to get the Wave Beam
before collecting the Speed Booster or Grappling Beams, and was added to
the walkthrough (I also had to change a few things here and there so
everything else would make sense, like the missile counts) as well as
the secret section (right after the walkthrough section, titled "Massive
Time-Saving Trick II".). How I missed this trick is beyond me! :)

And, of course, I added Magus to the credits section.

************************************************************************

Saturday, January 8th, 2000 (Version 3.1):
--------------------------------------------

I added a large, time-saving trick to chapter seven. It was received
from a reader, and I added his name to the credits section.

************************************************************************

Wednesday, December 29th, 1999 (Version 3.0):
---------------------------------------------

Major update, to be blunt. Changed the title, re-did practically every
section, added a few more, etc., etc. I just wanted to do this game
justice, alright? I think I have finally perfected my FAQ set-up, and
I'll be using this for all of my future guides.

************************************************************************

Sunday, March 21st, 1999 (Version 1.0):
----------------------------------------

Minor corrections, spell check, and a few things like that.

************************************************************************

Sunday, February 14th, 1999 (Version 0.8):
--------------------------------------------

First version released.

========================================================================

CHAPTER 2) LEGAL DISCLAIMERS

========================================================================

This FAQ can only appear on the following sites:

- GameFAQs <www.gamefaqs.com>
- Cheat Code Central <www.cheatcc.com>
- GameSages <www.gamesages.com>

Why? Because those are the only three sites that can keep my FAQs
updated. GameFAQs gets away with murder, though, on account of the fact
I send my FAQs there myself. Gamesages is GameFAQs sister site, so they
share information. Cheat Code Central is great, because they always seem
to have the most updated version without me having to tell them. Great
job, guys and gals.

This warning also appears in the legal section. I just hate it when
people have outdated versions of my FAQs, because I get loads (e.g.
100+) of e-mails telling me to "update my FAQ" even though it IS
updated, or they ask a question that has been answered in the new
versions, or make additions that are already there, etc., etc. I've had
problems with this with other FAQs, and I'm taking steps (e.g. this
note) to put an end to it!

Here are a few "do's" and "don'ts". Webmasters! Take note...

WEBMASTERS -- DO NOT:
----------------------

Post this FAQ on your site directly. The only sites that this rule DOES
NOT apply to are GameFAQs, GameSages, and Cheat Code Central, as shown
above.

WEBMASTERS -- DO:
-------------------

If you are a webmaster of a site that wants to post this FAQ, what do
you do? As you read above, you can not post it directly. Instead, link
to the page at www.gamefaqs.com that lists all the FAQs for this game.
Why GameFAQs? Because I said so. To clear up some confusion, you can not
link to the URL if it ends in ".txt" or ".doc", you just can't use that.
If it ends in anything else, such as the page where it lists all the
FAQs for a game, you can link to THAT, but not to the actual FAQ. I'm
only repeating myself, but I had to because some people have to be told
something twice. If you have any questions on linking, notify me. To
answer the most common question I'll get, you can not link to any
GameFAQs URL that ends in ".txt" or ".doc" because it's in GameFAQs'
legal section. So there.

Any characters, names, places, or misc. objects are copyright their
respective companies. I am in no way affiliated with Nintendo nor any
companies that were/are involved with this game.

This document is © 1998-2000 marshmallow
All rights reserved

========================================================================

CHAPTER 3) THE METROID LEGACY

========================================================================

------------------------------------------------------------------------
METROID:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

All was happy in the Galactic Federation of the planets. That is, until
something awful happened. A space pirate vessel discovered the metroid
alien creature on planet SR388. But this wasn't just any
extraterrestrial entity, it was unique in the fact that it could
actually suck the energy out of a lifeform and use it as it's own --
this was how it fed and lived.

The space pirates took one of the specimens, and returned to their home
world, Zebes. They planned to rule the galaxy with them! The Galactic
Federation sent in a special bounty hunter, one that was feared
throughout the cosmos, Samus Aran. No one knew for sure who resided
under the suit. Most agreed that it would have to be a cyborg of
somekind, because of its super-human abilities.

Samus battled its way through Zebes, the homeworld where the pirates
were breeding the metroids. After killing Kraid and Ridly -- two large,
monstrous beasts -- Aran found itself at the Mother Brain, the head of
all the Space Pirates. After a long and furious battle, Samus stood at
the surface victorious, it had destroyed Mother Brain and the space
pirate's headquarters, Tourian.

As the Galactic Federation thanked it, Samus Aran removed its
pressurized helmet...the face of a beautiful woman greeted everyone's
astonished faces.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
METROID II -- RETURN OF SAMUS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the fiasco at Zebes, a special squad was sent into SR388, the
homeplanet of the metroids. Their mission was to kill every metroid on
the planet so something similar to the previous game could never happen
again. The troops were never heard from again. Since Samus knew how to
handle them, she was sent in alone to do the job.

At the end she found that the metroid she knew of was just one species,
one of many! Each new species was more difficult to kill than the last,
and the very last ones were near impossible! But after lots of fights
she came to the final room, the one with the Queen Metroid. A long
battle ensued and Samus once again stood on the brink of death, but she
was victorious.

While traveling back to her ship she noticed that her Metroid Meter was
at "1." She found a single egg, and before her eyes it hatched and a
larva metroid came out. It clung to Samus, but not with its tentacles,
hungry for energy...but as if Samus was its mother...it had imprinted
Samus and was tame. It thought Samus was its mother!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUPER METROID:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aran turned the metroid over to the Galactic Federation, hoping that it
could benefit humanity with it's energy saving abilities. She was right,
the scientists there found that it could hold energy and store it away
for later use. The possibilities for new technology and applications
were practically limitless!

As Samus' ship was pulling away from the Asteroid Field, she heard a
distress signal, from the space station with the metroid! Docking into
it she noticed that no one asked her to identify herself, or even ask
for clearance. The doors opened and she gasped...the bodies of
scientists hung from pipes, and dead doctors lay sprawled against walls!
She looked for the baby metroid, but it was no where to be found. At the
end of a long corridor, she found it...in Ridly's hands.

After a battle with the thought-to-be-dead-dragon, the ship was set to
self destruct and Ridly and Samus flew away. She followed Ridly to a
rebuilt, and larger...Zebes. Home of Ridly, Kraid, the Space-pirates,
and...could it be...Motherbrain? Only a trip to the planet's rotten core
could confirm Samus' predictions. A long, and difficult trip, to be
sure.

========================================================================

CHAPTER 4) BASICS

========================================================================

You may enjoy the default control setting, but I suggest you turn it
like this, it's a lot easier to control in my opinion:

Jump: B button

Dash: A button

Item Cancel: Select

Aim Gun Diagonally Up: R button

Aim Gun Diagonally Down: L button

Item Select: X Button

Pause: Start

Moving: D-pad

Jumping Techniques: Pressing left or right while jumping will cause
                    Samus Aran to perform a spinning jump. It's not as
                    high as a regular jump, but it gains more air time
                    and is more accurate for those platform jumping
                    times

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do The Wall Jump: As the Etecoons will teach you later, jumping on a
                  wall and then pressing jump and the control pad in the
                  opposite direction will result in a wall jump. Use
                  this to climb long shafts with no platforms. It's easy
                  to learn, but difficult to master.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moon Walking: If you have the charge beam, charge it up and then press
              the opposite direction you're facing and fire in the same
              motion! If you did it correctly, you'll move backwards and
              fire. Although, I haven't found this terribly useful.
              Another, easier way to do this is to activate the
              "Moonwalking" option from the Options Menu.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speed Dash: Press the dash button and Samus will run as fast as she's
            capable. This is good for running over disappearing blocks
            and for running away from trouble. This is also the way in
            which you activate the speed booster when you have it,
            although it takes some room to charge up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Screen Items: Here's a tiny explanation of what the icons at the top of
              the screen mean. The number next to the word "energy" is
              the amount of energy units you have in the current energy
              tank -- each tank can hold 99 units. When it hits 0, you
              transfer to the next tank. You can have a total of 14
              tanks.

              When you get a reserve tank, some arrows will appear next
              to the energy tank display. On the "Samus" screen, you can
              either choose manual or automatic. Automatic means that
              when you run out of energy, the reserve tanks will
              automatically kick in and re-fill your energy tanks (the
              amount depending on what is in the reserve). Manual, well,
              that's self-explanatory.

              As you gain weapons and power-ups, icons will appear
              across the top of the screen. From left to right, they
              are: missile, super missile, power bomb, grappling beam,
              and x-ray scope. When you press the item select button,
              the left-most icon will be highlighted in green, and you
              can use it. Press it again, and it goes one item to the
              right. If you want to go back to your regular beam weapon,
              press the item cancel button. You can also do this if the
              right-most item is highlighted and you press the item
              select button.

              Finally, the screen in the upper-right hand corner is a
              close-up of the map screen, and shows your location.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doors And Gates: Doors and gates are all different colors, and it takes
                 something to open them. Find out what in this list:

                  BLUE - anything will open this.
                   RED - five missiles or one super missile
                 GREEN - one super missile
         ORANGE/YELLOW - blast from a power bomb
                  GRAY - you must destroy all creatures in the room, or,
                         the boss of the area.
                 GATES - shoot the colored part of it, determine what
                         to shoot by the color. The only colors you
                         will find are blue and green, however.

========================================================================

CHAPTER 5) ITEMS AND POWER-UPS

========================================================================

Missile: When you find a missile pak, your maximum amount of missiles
         will increase by five. You can replenish missiles by either
         collecting new paks, finding a missile station, or picking up
         missile items which sometimes appear after destroying enemies.
         A missile is rather fast, and causes an adequate amount of
         damage. Shoot them very quickly for the best results. The total
         amount you can have is: 230

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Super Missile: Super Missiles have the power of five missiles. They are
               fast, accurate, and best of all, lethal. Total: 50

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Power Bomb: Everything on the entire screen will be destroyed, unless
            the creatures are too strong for it. Will also destroy
            blocks that normal bombs can't. Total: 50

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Energy Tank: Each tank can hold 99 units, there are 14 tanks in all.
             They are hidden very well!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reserve Tank: When the energy tanks are empty the reserve tanks refuel
              them to a certain extent. These CAN NOT be filled via an
              energy station -- you must collect the purple "energy
              balls" that enemies sometimes leave behind. Total: four.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bomb: Once you find this item you will have infinite bombs. They can
      blow up blocks and weak creatures -- you can only set them when
      you are in ball form. Found in Crateria, after defeating Torizo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morphing Ball: This allows Samus to turn into a small ball. Now you can
               explore tight passageways! This is the first item you can
               collect. It is found in Brinstar, out in the open.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charge Beam: With this you can charge your beam attack into something
             more powerful by holding the shot button until Samus
             flashes. It is found in Brinstar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spazer: Increases the width and power of your beam attack. The main
        weapon for the first 1/2 of the game. This beam is found in
        Brinstar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varia Suit: With this you can go into hot areas, plus it cuts damage
            inflicted by enemies by half. And, thankfully, it gives your
            suit a more polished look, with red overtones. Found after
            defeating Kraid, the boss of Brinstar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

X-Ray Scope: This allows you to see through walls and see potential
             secret passageways or items. Although, some areas are still
             invisible. Unlike other weapons, you must use the dash
             button to use it -- therefore, you can not run with this
             selected. Like most of the important items of the game,
             this is found in Brinstar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi-Jump Boots: Samus can now jump nearly twice as high as before. Locate
               this in Norfair.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speed Booster: With this, and plenty of room to charge it up, Samus can
               run at lightening fast speed. During this time you can
               mow down baddies and blow up special blocks. Found, also,
               in Norfair.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ice Beam: Freeze a creature and then blow it up! Or, maybe you can use
          it as a platform, or just plain ignore it. After a few seconds
          they thaw out. Find this cool item in the molten pits of
          Norfair!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grappling Beam: Using this, you can hook onto certain blocks and swing
                yourself like Tarzan! Very useful. Obtain this tool in
                Norfair, shortly after defeating Crocomire.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wave Beam: Increases the area of the beam, it also goes through walls.
           You can open up gates from the wrong side with this, too!
           Combined with the Spazer, this will be your main weapon until
           shortly after the 1/2 point of the game, to before the
           end. Found in Norfair.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Screw Attack: Once acquired you can spin like a super charged buzzsaw,
              cutting through creatures and unstable rocks. Found in
              Norfair, after defeating the Golden Torizo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gravity Suit: This makes you be able to go into water as if it weren't
              there (otherwise you can not do any special attacks), and
              it increases defense by 75%. It also allows you to go into
              hot areas, just like the Varia. You find this in the
              Wrecked Ship, shortly after defeating Phantoom. It turns
              your suit into a dark purple color, with extra shapes
              added to your arms and legs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring Ball: As a ball you can now jump. Find this useful, but un-
             necessary item in Maridia.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Space Jump: With this, when you perform a spinning jump, you will turn
            into a spinning blur and, with a touch of the jump button,
            be able to leap over and over in mid-air, essentially
            flying. However, this requires timing, and a knowledge of
            the area/enemies around you. Combine this with the Screw
            Attack! Find this in Maridia, after defeating Draygon.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plasma Beam: Firing a beam of concentrated plasma, this weapon can be
             found in Maridia, after defeating Draygon. Until the very
             end of the game, it is the most powerful weapon you can
             find. Combine with the wave beam for more power!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hyper Beam: Beat the game and you'll see, even Mother Brain is cannon
            fodder at the hands of this powerful weapon. Since
            everything is five times as powerful as the last, I'm
            assuming each blast has the power of five super missiles.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Save Point Pod: Take a wild guess what this does.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Map Computer: Gives you all of the maps of the particular level.
              However, some areas are still hidden until you find them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Energy Charge Unit: Refills all energy tanks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Missile Charge Unit: Re-fills all missiles, but NOT super missiles.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: For the beam weapons (charge, spazer, ice, wave, and plasma), you
can mix them together to get different attacks. The best include:

Normal Spacer -- from the end of Brinstar to the start of Norfair
Spazer/Wave -- from Norfair until the end of Maridia
Wave/Plasma -- From the end of Maridia to the Motherbrain

You can ALWAYS have the charge and ice beams equipped, except when you
obtain the Hyper Laser.

========================================================================

CHAPTER 6) SPEEDY SUPER METROID WALKTHROUGH

========================================================================

NOTICE:
---------

This walkthrough was written to assist you in obtaining a 100%
collection rate in roughly 1:35 (one hour and thirty-five minutes). The
best time I have ever achieved was a blazing 1:27, so don't expect to
break it anytime soon. This walkthrough will skip MANY, MANY un-
necessary areas, and will look away from some easy items early on,
because we will be coming back later to get them all. I have divided
this walkthrough into sections, and here is a small table of contents
for you...

                 Section 1 -- "Space Station"

                 Section 2 -- "To the Varia Suit"

                 Section 3 -- "To Crocomire"

                 Section 4 -- "To the Gravity Suit"

                 Section 5 -- "The Great Collect-a-thon"

                 Section 6 -- "Welcome to Maridia"

                 Section 7 -- "The End of Norfair, Anyone?"

                 Section 8 -- "The Last Hurrah"

Other than small underscores telling you when we enter a new area (e.g.
going from Brinstar to Norfair), there won't be anything to really
assist you in terms of beating the game if you are playing the title for
the first time (if you are a first time player and are having trouble,
feel free to e-mail me, and I'll be glad to help you the best I can).
There are a few things you need to know before delving into this
fantastic race against time...

1. Hold the dash button ALL THE TIME. Only in a few select areas will
you want to do otherwise (and I will tell you this beforehand).

2. Ignore most enemies, unless they get in your way, or there is a metal
door to unlock.

3. Read each section a few times before attempting the feat, because it
can get somewhat confusing.

4. Do not go out of your way to save the game, seeing as it will just
waste time.

5. On a similar note, do not go out of your way to reach an
energy/missile reload center, unless you are in a desperate need of
supplies.

6. If you screw something up, reset the game and start from your last
save point.

7. Realize that more time has passed in "real life" than what the game
reads. If you've been playing for an hour, about half-an-hour has passed
game time. Why? A combination of going from room to room and the fanfare
from collecting new items (basically, if you can not control Samus, the
game does not count it as time elapsed).

8. Follow my guide exactly, and have lots of fun playing one of the best
shooters ever!

                  ****************************
******************  SECTION 1: SPACE STATION  **************************
                  ****************************

The Space Station isn't a true level, it is mainly here for story-
telling purposes. Regardless, I must include it.

Space Station
------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the very informative introductory cinema, you find yourself in the
bowls of the space colony where the metroid larva is being kept. Race
through the darkened corridors, until you reach the room with the infant
monster. As Ridly appears, the first boss battle of the game begins!

************************************************************************
Boss: RIDLY

Now, there are two ways to end this fight (1) Keep shooting until he
drops the baby metroid (which takes a mixture of luck and skill) or (2)
Your energy falls to 29. Because this is a speed guide, you'll want to
walk and/or jump directly into the dragon on purpose, to lower your
health as fast as possible. As soon as it clicks onto 29, it's over...

************************************************************************

When you "defeat" Ridly, he will fly away with the metroid larva, and
the ship will be set to self-destruct: you have one minute to escape! Go
back, and avoid all of the explosions, falling ceiling tiles, steam
jets, and all of the insanity, to reach the exit, and watch your ship
fly away just before the space station explodes. Samus' ship then lands
down on the desolate surface of Zebes, and our epic adventure, to put it
lightly, begins.

             ********************************************
*************     SECTION 2: REACHING THE VARIA SUIT     ***************
             ********************************************

Crateria:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: Crateria is comprised mostly of the surface of Zebes, and a
             few tunnels that go below. You won't find many items here,
             at least, not until you get many things late in the game
             that allow you to reach for the sky. The main item here is
             the BOMB, and the boss is the TORIZO.

The first thing you want to do in the game is collect the morphing ball!
To do this, go left from the ship, open the door, and enter. It is
eerily quiet...no monsters...lightening thunders in the distance...nice
effects. Regardless, go down the long, vertical tunnels, and you will
reach an elevator shaft that goes down to Brinstar. Get the MORPHING
BALL that rests on the pedestal to the left.

Run to the right, through the door, and shoot the blocks in the floor
until you reach a small hole -- go through this, open the door, and
acquire the first MISSILE PAK <M:5>, then return to Crateria. Everything
is alive! Space Pirates cling to the walls and shoot lasers at you, as
Geemers scurry along the walls. Jump up the vertical corridor, shooting
Pirates as you go, until you reach the top. Continue climbing, until you
reach the very top. Go to the right...

You will notice a small space where you can use the ball near the door
that leads to your ship -- go in there, open the door, keep going, and
you will find a red door. Through this, is the BOMB ITEM. After
collecting it, you will be forced to fight a monster hiding underneath a
Chozo statue...

************************************************************************
Boss: TORIZO

This bird-like creature will strike quickly, but his attacks do little
damage (considering you only have one energy tank). His hand attacks are
hard to avoid, but his crescent shaped shots can be maneuvered around
with ease (simply jump). When he spits bombs, shoot them one after
another, and collect the items they leave behind.

To defeat Torizo, continually shoot him in the head and chest with your
lasers -- and any missiles you pick up. Even when his head comes off he
doesn't give up!

************************************************************************

Run past the fly-like creatures, open the door, and jump up and over the
platforms to get to the top, where you can find several blocks -- use
your newfound bombs to blow them away. Go all the way to left until you
find a funny looking wall...blow these up with your bombs, and open the
door behind them. Dash down the huge hill, continually shooting down to
rid your path of Geemers. At the end you find your first ENERGY TANK
<ET:1>!

In the next room, you will need to use your small supply of missiles to
blow away the green space pirates. Wait for their explosions to end, and
then collect the missile item they leave behind. At the bottom, ignore
the red door and go through the blue one. Blaze through this small room,
ignoring all the enemies, and use the elevator to go down into...

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: Lying underneath the surface of Zebes, Brinstar is a
             sprawling maze, its walls being flush with exotic
             plantlife, and various, dangerous insectoid creatures fill
             its foliage. Although fairly straightforward, many
             different obstacles block your path, and behind the various
             barriers you will find awesome items, such as the Super
             Missile, Spazer Beam, Charge Beam, Power Bomb, and the
             elusive Varia Suit...

As you enter Brinstar, fall all the way down the vertical shaft,
ignoring the handfuls of doors. At the very bottom, shoot your scant
amount of five missiles at the red door on the RIGHT. Go inside, and
restock your missiles by shooting all the enemies you see. At the end,
bomb the wall, and then run underneath the Metraskees, and through the
door.

In this huge area, you can either go straight or up, and you want to go
up now. Make your way past the leaping side hoppers, hop over the green
pipe, and open the red door. Inside, you find your first encounter with
the dangerous KiHunters -- vicious insects that resemble praying
mantids. Quickly shoot them down to open the metal door, and hop
inside...

***********************************************************************
Boss: SPORE SPAWN

A huge venus fly trap connected to the background, Spore Spawn
predictably goes back and fourth across the screen, releasing smaller
spores that float from the ceiling. While avoiding the massive plant,
shoot the spores to collect more ammunition. When his huge mouth opens,
quickly shoot two or three missiles inside, then watch out, as he will
become faster and faster with each hit. Soon, he will become so rapid
that the only way to avoid him is to curl up into a ball. When he is
defeated, his head serves as a platform, allowing you to reach the door
above his lair.

************************************************************************

In the following corridor, jump onto the green pipe at the end, which
will reveal a huge vertical drop, ending at a chozo statue. Break the
ball, and you have found your first SUPER MISSILE <SM:5>! Go into the
next room, avoid the flying enemies, and shoot the green door with your
first ever super missile shot. Break through the following room by using
bombs and super missiles, and you will be back in the large area before
Spore Spawn. Quickly run to the left, going down, and receiving a very
much needed MISSILE <M:10>. Bomb the nearby blocks to fall into a secret
alcove with another chozo, this time carrying the oft-used CHARGE BEAM!
Return above, use a bomb to bump yourself into the small tunnel, and use
a super missile to blow open the green door.

In this long, stair-case hallway, small insects will fly out of the
pipes embedded in the wall. One in particular, however, is dormant, and
is stuck in a high position. Use a single wall jump to reach it, turn
into a ball, and follow a secret tunnel to a hidden stash of MISSILES
<M:15>. Continue, and you will soon see the power of the charge beam:
the side hoppers once required three shots, but can now be brought down
in _one_ charged shot. Very nice...shoot the gate, and go through the
door at the end. Leap over the cacti enemies, and use your running
abilities to clear the collapsing bridge. Shoot open the green door, and
to a new area we go...

This area is vastly different from any other region of Brinstar. What
used to be lush forest has become dry, red dirt, and the music has
become almost Hellish in nature. Fall down the various platforms, and
you will come upon a yellow door. Shoot the floor to find a hidden path,
and fall even further down. Ignore the green door, and take the blue
one. Leap across the water, shoot the skrees, and into the next room.
Here, shoot the clearly outlined block above the entrance, and do a
tricky walljump to position yourself up there. Bomb the second pair of
blocks, and shoot the green door. Inside you will find the SPAZER BEAM,
which increases both the width and power of your shots. Return to the
main path.

After avoiding several snake like yapping maws and going through many
doors, you will find yourself in an elevator room. Take the platform all
the way down to...

Norfair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: A Hellish place that is located near the center of the
             planet, Norfair's brimstone covered walls flow with molten
             rock, and magma pours into almost every room. The creatures
             here have evolved to actually live inside of the boiling
             acid lakes, so you can be sure they are the most potent of
             all the creatures in the game. The coolest items can be
             found in the hottest places, as you can pick up the Ice
             Beam, Wave Beam, Grappling Beam, Speed Booster, Hi-Jump
             Boots, and the awesome Screw Attack within Norfair.
             Crocomire, the Golden Torizo, Metal Clad Space Pirates, and
             Ridly -- the dragon whom stole the larva metroid at the
             start of the game -- can all be fought here.

Drop down to the very bottom of the vertical shaft, and shoot the red
door on the left, and go inside. Collect the energy tank <ET:2>, and run
over the blocks on the left side of the room to find a false one,
allowing you to go into the tunnels below. Shoot the blue door, shoot
the divider (near the top), and easily collect the HI-JUMP BOOTS, which
will -- obviously -- allow you to jump much higher than normal. Return
to the previous room, shoot the fire creature to open the exit, and
collect the MISSILES on your way out <M:20>. Jump to the top of the
shaft, board the elevator, and return to...

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the elevator room, turn to the right-hand side wall and plaster it
with super missiles to reveal a huge, hidden antechamber with a
horrifying statue of some grotesque monster. Make sure your hi-jump
boots are equipped, and leap up into it, and through the door.

Kraid's Lair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: Constituting the very bottom of the wrecked ship, Kraid's
             Lair is very small, and not much to talk about. From the
             looks of it, some of Kraid's Lair still remains from the
             NES version of Metroid.

Shoot the grating beneath your feet, and bomb the wall across the metal
door to reveal a tunnel that leads to another door. Inside, an armada of
KiHunters are waiting, so make short work of them with a flurry of
missiles. In the middle of the room is a black spot in the floor; shoot
this, and go through the door at the bottom. As the music changes to
"pre-boss" mode, run across the corridor, shooting the space pirates. At
the end is mini-kraid, again returning from the original Metroid. Four
or five missiles and he's gone! Collect the super missiles he leaves
behind, and enter the now flashing door. Jump over the spikes, walk over
the dead body that is crawling with flies (a previous bounty hunter
perhaps?), and shoot a super missile at the Eye Door to open it
immediately. Inside, a huge earthquake occurs, an awesome music score
begins, and a huge, red-eyed, reptilian head arises from the floor...

************************************************************************
Boss: KRAID

At first, you can only see his upper-body (and it still fills the entire
screen!). Quickly shoot him in the face, and he will roar in agony. Time
it right, and you can shoot a super missile directly into his mouth.
After this, another earthquake occurs and Kraid''s ENTIRE body is
released from the ground, and he moves farther into his chamber. Jump
onto the platforms, avoid the spinning projectiles, and continue to
shoot Kraid in the face. Four more super missiles into the mouth will
kill him for sure...

************************************************************************

Run into the next room, shoot the ball, and gleefully collect the VARIA
SUIT! Now you can go deep into Norfair's fire rooms, which would once
fry you almost immediately...

              *************************************
**************     SECTION 3: TO THE CROCOMIRE     *********************
              *************************************

Kraid's Lair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you return back to the elevator room, shoot open the flashing door.
Once inside, five parasitic creatures will immediately leap upon your
body. Shoot a single super missile to destroy them all. Shoot the
ceiling, and you will find a hidden ENERGY TANK <ET:3>. Once back in the
elevator area, take the disc all the way down...

Norfair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drop down to the first door on the right-hand side of the tunnel, and
shoot it to enter your first ever fire room. Run through the blazing
walls, shooting the huge enemies that come at you, until you reach the
red door. In the next room, shelled gerutas will fly at you from the
ceiling. Several thin columns separate different lava pools...in the
lava pool right before the exit door, shoot the wall on the right to
reveal a MISSILE cache <M:25>. You will have to roll up into a ball to
get it.

..........................           Legend:
.                        .           . = Wall or column
E      ..    ..     ..   .           E = Entrance
.      ..    ..     ..   .           ED = Exit Door
.      ..    ..     ..   .           * = Missile (shoot the wall under
.      ..    ..     ..   ED                       the lava to reveal it)
.______..____.._____.......         ___ = Lava pool
....................*

Then, simply exit the chamber.

Now you are in a long, lava filled corridor, with dragons spewing acid,
and small creatures climbing all over the place. Make your way to the
right, avoiding all of these obstacles, to reach the bubble room (as
anyone would call it upon seeing its wall).

Immediately run to the far right-hand side, and you will fall through an
invisible pit. Bomb the floor (or better yet, shoot it) to fall into a
small alcove with a MISSILE PAK in it <M:30>. Climb back out, and go to
the center of the room, with the many blocks. Bomb down, into the small
maze of tunnels, and keep bombing until you reach the area with two blue
doors. Shoot -- and enter -- the one that is located in the ground.

Fall down to the very bottom of the vertical tunnel, and enter the door.
The creatures living in the lava will attempt to spit clumps of acid at
you, but if you are able to fake them out (which is very easy) you
should be able to avoid their blasts with relative ease. Exit into
another chamber that contains blue balls floating around on walls...exit
stage right. Here, run and jump across the platforms, as hot magma
slowly fills the room. Roll into a ball, slide into the tight tunnel,
shoot the ceiling, and jump to the top of the section, as eyeless heads
spit blue fireballs at you.

Wait on the bank of the acid river, and a green ferry will soon arrive.
Squat into a ball to avoid the overhanging spikes, then jump on the
columns, wait for the next ship, get on, and let it carry you to the
exit. Here, shoot the large dragons that leap from their underground
burrows, and carefully dodge the bouncing red balls that rebound
everytime they come in contact with a wall.

************************************************************************
UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!

I received the following letter from a fellow FAQ author...

"Hey Marshmallow, you've got an extremely kickass walkthrough. You've
put in so much effort man, you rock! You do have the best text-based
walkthrough on the net. And personally, your previous walkthrough wasn't
bad at all. Look at mine then....

Also being a fellow Super Metroid walkthrough writer (you can find it at
GameFAQs), I've got a tip for you. When you've got the Varia Suit and
going into that green bubble maze [marsh's note: on your way to the
speed booster], you can get the Wave Beam without the Grappling Beam and
therefore save some more time. Get to that Wave Beam room (the long
shaft which goes upwards, I'm sure you'd know where it is), jump across
to get the missiles, and then jump as far as you can to the right. Yes,
you'll take some damage, but it's worth it. Use the Wall Jump to get up
to the ledge, and the Wave Beam is yours! Pretty early in the game, huh?
And to exit easily, fall into the middle of the spike row, it should
break and let you through.

Hope that was a good tip! And keep up the great work."

- Magus (shinra9@yahoo.com)

That should DEFINITELY cut off some major time...

UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!UPDATE!!!
************************************************************************

Shoot open the red door, and go inside. Here, you must carefully jump on
yellow platforms that sink as you sit on them, all the while avoiding
fireballs being shot at you. If you fall to the ground below, you must
backtrack and try again. On the other side is a gate, so shoot it, and
collect the MISSILES <M:35>. Use the trick described above, go inside,
and collect the all-powerful WAVE BEAM. Now, not only is your fire-power
almost doubled, but you can shoot through walls, and open blue gates
from the wrong-side! Return to the shaft with the dragons that leap from
the ground, and go to the very top, and through the door.

As the screen appears, you realize we have gone in a COMPLETE circle,
arriving back at the bubble room, except at a much higher -- and
previously inaccessible -- area. Climb the stairs, shoot the cacti for a
super missile if need be, and enter through the green door. Though this
seems like a dead-end, you can find another door if you shoot the
ceiling and use the overhead tunnel. In this looooong corridor, run all
the way to the end, crossing collapsing bridges, releasing deadly
enemies, and nearly avoiding a dip in some boiling acid. Before entering
the red door, shoot the ceiling above it to reveal another cache of
MISSILES to plunder <M:40>. Enter the door and steal the SPEED BOOSTER
from the Chozo. Then, suddenly, an earthquake strikes, and lava starts
to seep into the corridor. Uh-oh...

As fast as you can, exit the chamber, and run at full speed. Within
seconds, your newly acquired speed booster kicks in, sending your body
flying at hyper-sonic speeds, your image being blurred so much it
appears as if there are three Samus Arans on screen at once. Just before
the lava fills the entire area, you make it to the end and blast open
the exit. *Whew*

Back inside the bubble region, fall to the bottom, at the start of the
imaginary circle trip. Bomb the blocks, go down the tunnel, and again
find yourself at the two blue doors. This time, however, take the door
that is embedded in the wall, to the left. Speed-dash, and your body
will blow across blocks and several parasitic creatures, ripping
everything to chunks and sending it flying. At the end, blow open the
door, and you will see your first Save Point of the game (yes, I made
you skip about 10 already, but that was to save time).

*  Save your game, then reset your system. Go to the file select screen,
*  and look at your file: if 20 minutes or so have gone by, you're on
*  track for the 1:35 time. Isn't it amazing, though? You've been
*  physically at the TV for almost 40 minutes, yet the game records it
*  as 20. Hmmm...oh well, I'm not complaining! :p

Continue left, and you will enter the shaft at the start of Norfair that
contains the elevator that leads up into Brinstar. Keep going up, and
shoot the green door with a super missile, and head inside. Use the eye
melting speed of the speed boost to blast by the closing gates, and you
will find yourself at a blue door. Enter it, cross the acid pools using
the green platforms, and then you enter a large, metallic room full of
heads that spew hot fireballs. Make your way to the top, but before
exiting through the door, shoot the tube beneath it, curl up into a
ball, and fall down. You will notice several blocks...and a secret
tunnel within them! Fall over and slide inside, go through the door, and
snatch the ICE BEAM from the chozo statue. Return to the metal room and
exit via the top door. Freeze the small creatures that leap from the
acid, and use their frozen bodies as platforms to the other side of the
room. Fall through the various floors, get into a ball, go through the
tunnel, and exit back into the elevator room. Use the platform to go
back up into...

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go through the door on your left, and keep going through various rooms
and chambers until you reach the long vertical shaft with the flying
turtles. Freeze them, and use their bodies as platforms to reach the
top. With your hi-jump boots, you can now reach platforms you could only
see before! Up there, freeze more enemies and keep going up. Shoot the
ceiling, and leap into the door. In this room, spikes, flying insects,
scuttling spider mutants, and man eating flowers are EVERYWHERE, so take
your sweet time going through. Enter the never-before-seen elevator
room, and shoot the huge blocks in the floor. Keep shooting the floor,
and you'll find a green door. Inside, use your ice beam to freeze the
annoying creatures, and you'll find your first clutch of POWER BOMBS
<PB:5> within the chozo's grasp. Lay one, and the entire wall behind the
statue will crumble, revealing a pedestal with some MISSILES <M:45>.
Ignore everything else in the elevator shaft (because we will return
here) and backtrack alllllllllll the way back to the Norfair elevator,
and go down.

Norfair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pretend like you were going to go get the ice beam again. When you use </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
the speed booster, you will blow away some blocks that hide a flooring
that can be blown away using some power bombs -- so do so. Deep inside
the tunnel, blow away the powerful enemies, and carefully walk into the
next room...

This shaft is full of platforms, but they collapse as soon as you stand
on them. From your starting point, shoot the wall across from you to
reveal a clutch of MISSILES <M:50>. A very good way to get them is to
freeze the monsters climbing the walls, and use them as a platform.
After collecting the missiles, fall down to the bottom, go through the
door (you may now de-equip your ice beam, seeing as you won't need it
for awhile) and use your speed booster to BLOW through dozens of
enemies, walls, and collapsing bridges. You find several doors at the
end, but the only one you want to shoot is the green one, on the
floor...

************************************************************************
Boss: CROCOMIRE

Is anyone but myself totally infatuated with this boss music? Well,
er...anyways, this boss truly proves what a messed up mind Nintendo has,
or at least their boss designers. A six eyed, six legged, screaming
monstrosity with skin that oozes off its skeleton...mmmm...yummy.

The idea of the fight is to shoot the Crocomire in the mouth with
weapons, which will drive it back towards a pool of boiling acid. The
more powerful the shot, the faster it goes backwards. Because of your
limited amount of super missiles, I suggest using charged spazer shots
(which are actually more powerful than a single missile). Everytime it
opens it mouth, shoot in. Occasionally, it will spit rocks at you. To
make sure your shot still goes it, try to shoot the nose of the beast,
and your spazer will still go in. At the end, it will fall into the
acid, and you will watch as it screams in agony as its skin literally
boils off of its face. Then, all goes quiet...you return to the spiked
wall, and it is ripped down as the skeleton of the monster runs at you
in a last attempt to kill you, but then collapses. Sweetness...

************************************************************************

And so goes section three...

            ****************************************
************     SECTION 4: TO THE GRAVITY SUIT     ********************
            ****************************************

Norfair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

After defeating Crocomire, head left and through the door. Fall to the
floor before, and through the door in the floor. Fall down the long
shaft, and head into the red door. Carefully make your way through the
rising acid, and find yourself some MISSILES <M:55>. Return to the
tunnel, and fall all the way down, and through the door. Lay a power
bomb to clear all of the blocks, and destroy all the enemies. Power up
your speed booster, and press DOWN on the digital pad when you start
getting echoes. Get out in the acid, and press the jump button to
perform an ultra jump straight up, and receive some more MISSILES
<M:60>.

.........................                       Legend:
                    *    .                 ... = Wall or floor
                ^  .......                 ___ = Acid pool
                ^    .                    < <  = Direction you run
                ^   D  ............         X  = part where you must
                ^  ..  < < < < < <               leap (a few feet
_____._______.__X__. ..............              from the ramp)
....................                         ^ = Part where you leap up
                                             D = press down to charge
                                             * = Missile pak

Then, drop back down and begin another super dash, and as you reach the
edge of the ramp, jump and you will do an INCREDIBLE spinning jump,
sending you hundreds of feet in the air, and to the other side of the
massive chamber. Open the door, and receive the humble GRAPPLING BEAM
from the chozo statue.

Use it to grapple onto the "X" blocks, and swing to the other side of
the large water pools. After several rooms of testing it out, and
opening a green lit gate, you find yourself back at the top of the
vertical shaft. Go through the door in the ceiling, and then jump onto
the yellow platform. When it lifts you up, shoot the flying turtle
creature with the grappling beam, and use it to reach the red door in
the upper left-hand side of the room. Inside, a pak of POWER BOMBS will
be yours <PB:10>. Return to the Crocomire area, and use the grappling
beam on the blocks to transverse the huge lava lake, and get another
ENERGY TANK <ET:4>. Shoot the door in the ceiling, and go up. Keep going
upwards, shoot the cactus, ignore the door, and go through the last
door, on the left-hand side of the room. Keep going north, shoot the
geruta, use the grappling beam to go across the lava, and collect some
MISSILES <M:65>. Shoot the green gate with a super missile, go through
the door, and hey, you're back in the elevator shaft that leads to
Brinstar!

Once you arrive back inside the elevator shaft, take the door on the
bottom (across from where you got the hi-jump boots). Save your game if
you wish (reset the system -- surprisingly, only 28 to 30 minutes should
have elapsed by now in your file. If so, you are on track for 1:35 or
less game time). When you return to the bubble room, go up the path
above and set off a power bomb so you can enter the main chamber. Use
your ice beam to freeze one of the flying creatures, and then jump to
the green door. Shoot it with a super missile, enter, kill the geruta,
and collect the MISSILES <M:70>. Set off another power bomb, and a
secret passage will open, and a large column will raise, allowing you to
get to the passage with ease. At the end is a door, go through it. Use
your ice beam to freeze the ever-so annoying dragons, and use them as
steps to go to the left. Blow open the ball to receive a RESERVE TANK
<R:1>, then shoot the block in the lava (a creature is circling it) to
receive another stock of MISSILES <M:75>. Exit all the way back to the
bubble room.

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Act as if you were going to collect the first batch of power bombs again
(where you freeze the enemies, use them as platforms, and keep going
up...). Along the way, you spot a yellow door -- it is time to blow that
sucker open! Set a power bomb, let is explosion open it up, and go
inside. The room you see is very long, filled with spikes, and several
fire fleas. To prevent any light lose, be sure to freeze the fleas with
your ice beam and go on. Then, use your grappling beam and swing like
Tarzan, avoiding yapping maws that just barely miss you with their
deadly claws, flying enemies, and razor sharp spikes. At the far side of
the corridor is a red door -- inside, you will find the beloved X-RAY
SCOPE! With this, you can see any and all secret passages, and even what
it takes to destroy different blocks. Using this newfound tool, locate
the exit, and bomb through it. Exit back to the main tunnel.

Keep going up, and when you FINALLY reach the elevator that goes up to
Crateria, blow away the green door, go inside, and destroy each of the
giant sidehoppers using your powerful new wave beam. Now, get on the
left-most side of the room, and situate yourself over the man eating
flower. Set a power bomb, and its powerful explosion will rip apart the
metal girder, and you will fall into the flower...but instead of getting
chewed, you fall into a secret pit, and receive some POWER BOMBS
<PB:15>! Now go back to the elevator, and use it...

Crateria:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow! We haven't been here in a LONG time, huh? Blow up the door using a
power bomb, and leap into it. Keep jumping up, and shoot the floor. Now,
go left, through the door, blast through the wall, and TADA!!!! You're
back where you started the entire game, next to your ship. Get on top of
it, tap down, and it will restore EVERY single energy unit (including
reserve), every item (missile, super missile, power bomb), and then give
you the chance to save. Do so, and then re-set your game, and look at
the file: if less than 40 minutes ("00:40") have elapsed, you're in
great shape! You should also have four energy tanks, 75 missiles, five
super missiles, and 15 power bombs, the grappling beam, and the x-ray
scope. Yeah, baby...

*clears throat* Now, we need to reach the wrecked ship, eh? Backtrack to
where you surfaced from the elevator area, except go to the right this
time. Blow open the yellow door using a power bomb, and go right on
inside. Use your grappling beam to collect some easy MISSILES <M:80>,
and continue, stage right, into the wrecked ship area, with new music
and everything.

Keep running to the right, and fall directly into the water. Your
movements will now slow down drastically, but no matter. Keep going,
until you hit the first metallic girder. Fall off the edge, and then go
to the left. Shoot the wall to open a tunnel, and jump up and form into
a ball in mid-air (because your movements have been slowed, you can do
this in much less space then normally), and keep going left to find
another cache of MISSILES <M:85>. Now, get onto the banks of the river,
and use your grappling beam to fly over the water, and you will
eventually reach the entrance to the wrecked ship: a green door. A
single super missile is all it takes...

Wrecked Ship:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: This desolate derelict has been embedded into the planet's
             surface for untold millennia, its owners totally gone, and
             the only thing remaining inside are work robots and the
             ghosts of whomever controlled it. Although it is the
             smallest area in the game, it has one of the most important
             items -- the Gravity Suit. However, the ship may be
             wrecked, but its power cells are still functioning, yet all
             the electricity is being soaked up somewhere...and that
             somewhere, is Phantoom...

Whoohoo! Listen to that creepy music! Nothing in the entire ship works -
- not the map terminal, save units, or even its defense mechanisms. For
now, all you need to worry about are the Koben -- twisted, grotesque
skulls fused to each other that appear at random locations and attempt
to hurt you. At the entrance, run all the way to the right, over the now
useless conveyor belts. When you enter the main part of the ship, keep
going down, and you will be able to bomb through a secret passage near
the wall (use the X-Ray scope to find it). Don't worry about stepping
over the spikes -- they don't hurt you now. At the end is a MISSILE
<M:90>! Backtrack, and go to the very bottom, and use a power bomb to
clear out the wreckage, enabling you to find a green door. Then, at the
very, very bottom of the ship, go to the right and bomb the wall. Shoot
missiles at the eye door, and enter the boss room. After an impressive
introduction, you get to fight...

************************************************************************
Boss: PHANTOOM

Sweetness! A huge, flying octopus, with a gigantic mouth full of pointy,
sharp teeth -- and at the back of this dangerous mouth, a delicate
eyeball. What a nice boss design...

First off, you only have five super missiles, because we skipped so many
side areas in sacrifice of saving time, so this boss is going to be much
more difficult than it should be (whether this is good or bad, depends
on your skill). To start, you can only hurt Phantoom when its evil eye
is revealed, and when it does this, a huge shower of blue fireballs will
rain from the sky. When this happens, take aim and fire a super missile
directly into its eye! Then, it gets REALLY pissed off, and sends wave
after wave of unavoidable blue fire. To not take damage, charge up your
laser beam, and then do a spinning jump. It will mimic the screw attack,
and allow you cut through the balls. Do this over and over, and you will
go unscathed. Rinse and repeat...until you run out of super missiles.
Then switch over to regular missiles. Thankfully, it won't get as mad
when you use them. After tons of shots to the eye, it will violently
explode. With an electric whir, everything on the ship will come to
life...

************************************************************************

Now that the power is back on, every door in the ship can be opened, the
save unit and map terminals work, strange, bio-hazardous creatures have
been released from their glass prisons, and all the work-robots have
begun work after centuries of being dormant.

Return to the main area of the ship, and enter the flashing door, and
collect the easy -- but desperately needed -- SUPER MISSILES <SM:10>.
When you get back to the main shaft, use your X-Ray scope and you'll
find that the wall opposite you is bombable; so do so. Here, kill the
green balls by charging up your laser and blasting them. On the very
right-hand side of the corridor, you'll find a wall -- blast it open
using a power bomb, and then go through the small tunnel to find some
more SUPER MISSILES <SM:15>.

Return to the main area of the ship, and continue upwards, skillfully
maneuvering around the floating balls. When you get to the very top, and
it seems to be a dead end, shoot the ceiling to reveal another path, and
another door. As you reach the top floor of the derelict, you will come
upon a huge family of KiHunters, ones that are much more powerful than
the green ones you faced in Brinstar. Charge up your wave beam and blast
them, avoiding their swooping attacks, and the clots of acid they spit.
When every creature in the area is defeated, both gray doors will become
open-able. Go through the one on the far RIGHT side, shoot the work
robots so they fall into the spiked pits, and grab the MISSILES at the
end <M:96>. Return to the KiHunters, and this time go through the door
on the LEFT.

Crateria:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back outside, continue to the left, using the grass covered platforms as
steps, until you find another of the flying jets. Jump on, and ride
around until you find a large mass of land above your head. When the
craft is going towards the right, and the land above you suddenly goes
vertical, shoot straight up, jump, and grab the tricky MISSILES up there
<M:100>. Mmmm...triple digits.

Fall down the floor below, and go all the way to the left. Use your X-
Ray scope, and you will find a super missile block. Shoot it, and
collect the MISSILES below <M:105>, then get out, back into the ground.
Go through the entrance a few yards to the right, go through the tight
tunnels, and keep going right, avoiding several enemies, and back into
the ship.

Wrecked Ship:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Use your grappling beam to carefully go over the dangerous, sharp spikes
below. Because of your low energy supply, avoiding these is a MUST! When
you get all the way to the end, you see a Chozo statue standing up, with
its hands open. Get in its hands, and morph into a ball. With a flash,
it springs to life and begins to carry you back to the entrance, over
the spikes. Eventually, the floor collapses, and it stops in a passage
below, then releases its grip on you and returns to its eternal sleep.
As you fall, ignore the door and bomb the floor, and go through the
secret tunnel to the right. Use a power bomb to destroy ALL of the
blocks, get up to the hall, and shoot the work robots to keep going, and
grab the MISSILES from the bird statue <M:110>. Lay a power bomb, and
everything -- including the chozo statue -- will vanish, showing you a
conveyor belt. Use your speed booster, hold down at the end, and do an
ultra jump up the vertical corridor. Now all you have to do is go
collect the RESERVE TANK <RT:2>! Just be careful of the invisible pit
before it...

With these items collected, return to the door I told you to ignore, and
go inside. Shoot the ball, and blissfully receive the GRAVITY SUIT! With
this item, all attacks done to you will be cu by 75%, you may now do
anything you wish underwater and not be slowed, and you have a nice,
purple overtone all over your suit. Oh yeah, baby...

           *********************************************
***********     SECTION 5: THE GREAT COLLECT-A-THON     ****************
           *********************************************

Now that we have the Gravity Suit -- along with a myriad of other tools
-- we may now go back to Crateria and Brinstar to collect TONS of stuff,
advancing our strength even further. I think this section was
appropriately named...

Wrecked Ship:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the gravity suit equipped, return to Crateria for a few moments,
then back through the main entrance to the wrecked ship. Go down the
hall, to the main area, and down to the final, flashing room, that
contains a small lake and a green ball. Now that you can move normally
in water, you can finally jump out of the liquid to the above door. Open
it, and go inside. Skillfully leap across the falling platforms,
avoiding every single spike in the room. In the next room, use your
lasers to blast through the wreckage and false sections, moving upwards.
Ignore the blue door and continue upwards, and shoot the red door and go
inside. Use your grappling beam to move across the water, and use the
yellow blocks as steps. At the end is a chozo statue, an ENERGY TANK in
its hands <ET:5>. Now, backtrack alllllllllll the way back to your ship,
on the surface of...

Crateria:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Save your game in the ship, then reset the system and look at your file:
if you have roughly 50 minutes ("00:50") elapsed, you're doing swell.

In the ship area, there is a small hill in the ground to the left of
your vessel. Do a speed booster, then press down when you are on top of
this hill. Hold "R" and tap the jump button, and you will do a mighty,
diagonal ultra jump and end up hundreds of feet in the air, landing on a
piece of land above. Use a power bomb to open the door, and go inside.
Avoid the rising acid and green dragons, and collect the POWER BOMBS at
the end <PB:20>. Return to the ship.

Now, from the door, start a speed boosting run, and at the very tip of
the piece of land, jump, and you will do an incredible spinning jump,
landing on the other side of the region. Jump in the air, morph into a
ball, and set a power bomb to blow away a huge section of the wall (the
same one that Samus blows away in the movie clips if you sit at the
title screen too long). Go through the door, and use power bombs to
clear the blocks, all the while avoiding the snakes, wavers, and boiling
acid that rises and lowers every few seconds. Keep going left, and find
an ENERGY TANK <T:6>. Use another power bomb, and continue to the left.
Keep going...blowing away passages...until you clear the "hot" areas,
and find yourself in a purple block room. Shoot the walls to clear them
away, and jump in the middle, revealing two columns of collapsing floor.
Maneuver yourself so you cause both columns to collapse on the way down,
and shoot the rocks around the approaching missiles. If done correctly,
you can get the first MISSILES <M:115> and the second MISSILES <M:120>
at the same time. If you screw up, restart the save file, as coming all
the way back from the ship will eat up too much time. As you fall, use a
power bomb, and you will be returned to the main path. Make your way to
the elevator room, and go down into...

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ah, re-united to that intoxicating music...

As you go down the vertical shaft, go through the first, red door on
your right-hand side. Inside, use your speed booster to rush past the
closing gates, and open the red door at the end. Inside, collect the
RESERVE TANK <RT:3>. At the bottom of the statue is a "pipe", and there
is no cap on it, so morph into a ball and follow it to a secret room
with MISSILES <M:125>. Bomb the walls behind it to find ANOTHER batch of
MISSILES <M:130>. As you return to the room with the gates, you find
yourself trapped, so blow a hole in the ceiling and kill the dozens of
monsters that rush at you. At the end is a much needed SUPER MISSILE
<SM:20>. Finally, stand on its platform, and it will collapse, sending
you to the entrance of the room. Go back to the closing gates, and
collect the missiles below the fragile flooring <M:135>. Sheesh! We made
out like a bandit here! :p Return to the main shaft...

Fall ALL THE WAY to the bottom, and set off a power bomb to clear out
the flooring, revealing a huge secret area below. Eventually you find a
hallway with a lot of blue blocks...be careful! There is an invisible
pit in front of the energy tank. You'll have to do a running jump to
collect the ENERGY TANK <ET:7>. Shoot the green door, and collect the
SUPER MISSILES inside <SM:25>. Fall through the invisible hole now,
morph into a ball, and slide through the spiked tunnel. Now, you must
shoot all of the parasitic creatures with super missiles while avoiding
the flying insects and spikes! At the end, you find the three Etecoons,
which will "teach" you the wall jump. Do as they do, and leap all the
way to the top of the corridor. At the very top, run full speed towards
the small tunnel, jump in mid-air, form into a ball, and squeeze in,
collecting the POWER BOMBS <PB:25>. The next room will put you back into
the elevator room, so go through the door, as if you were going to see
the Spore Spawn...

After avoiding the metallic creatures that attempt to skewer you, go
through the door, and follow the path straight ahead, and use your
grappling beam on the special blocks to collect some MISSILES <M:140>.
Set a power bomb, and go through the wall, behind the block that just
disappeared. Inside the secret room, destroy the giant sidehoppers, and
shoot a super missile on the funny looking part of the floor (use the X-
Ray scope if necessary). There, collect the POWER BOMBS <PB:30>, then
exit by shooting/bombing the various columns.

When you reappear, go back up, to the yellow door, and open it with a
power bomb. Inside, destroy all the sidehoppers. At the top of the room
is a gate, but the side you have to shoot is on the other side.
Solution? Use the wave beam! When it's open, use the wall jump to get up
there (I think the grappling block takes too long), and collect another
ENERGY TANK <ET:8>. Exit the room.

Go back to where the charge beam is located, and set a power bomb -- the
explosion will blow the cap off of the pipe, so morph into a ball and go
through. Shoot the red door, and enter this water filled hall. Shoot the
enemies, then start a speed boosting run, and blast through all of the
walls, finally collecting ANOTHER ENERGY TANK <ET:9>. Return to the
charge beam room, and continue to the pipe room.

Inside of the green pipe room, jump up near the beginning to find a
yellow door. Open it with a power bomb, go inside, and rush to the end,
avoiding the giant sidehoppers. Blast the wall at the end, and collect
the POWER BOMBS <PB:35>. Place a power bomb to blow away the next wall,
and this next area should look very, very familiar (it's where you got
the morphing ball at the very start of the game. Ignore the elevator for
now, and head into the next room. Avoid the geemers, and open the red
door. Inside, destroy all the enemies.

Now, shoot the ceiling to reveal an ENERGY TANK <ET:10>. Then collect
the MISSILES at the end of the room <M:145>. Lay a power bomb to blow
away the huge piece of rock, and you should be able to make out a
tunnel. Do a speed boost run, and perform an ultra jump, leaping all the
way to the top. Go through the door, and into the water filled room. Use
your X-Ray scope to spy an invisible bridge, and run across as boulders
crash from above. In the dead-end room, collect the MISSILES <M:150>,
then lay a power bomb to reveal even more MISSILES <M:155>. Exit back to
the elevator, and use it go back up into the lower parts of...

Crateria:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

You remember these space pirates, right? Well, blast them all, and when
you get to the door that leads to the huge vertical chamber, set off a
power bomb, and go through the remnants of Motherbrain's old life
support system to collect even more MISSILES <M:160>. Inside the huge
vertical corridor, keep going up, and go to the first step that is
CONNECTED TO THE RIGHT HAND SIDE WALL. Set off a bomb there, and go
through the yellow door that's inside the secret passage. Inside, equip
your ice beam and freeze the tiny enemies for steps (hold "L" and jump
repeatedly to do it really fast), then perform a speed boosting jump
over them, and then do an ultra jump at the end, leaping hundreds of
feet into the air, allowing you to easily collect some SUPER MISSILES
<SM:30>.

Use the grappling blocks to exit over the spikes. You are now at the top
of the vertical tunnel, so go through the door at the very top, and into
the first door on the left-hand side of the grass filled region. Inside,
bomb the blocks, and collect the easy missiles from the chozo statue
<M:165>. Actually, you could have gotten these at the start of the game
immediately following your encounter with the Torizo, but I wanted to
save time :)

Now, return allll the way back to the pipe room in...

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inside the pipe room, continue to the right, until you reach the red
region. Keep going down, past the flying turtles, through the water
filled rooms with snapping maws, and go towards the Norfair
elevator...WAIT! You pass through a fragile glass tube...lay a power
bomb, and with a shatter, the glass breaks into a million pieces,
sucking you into a world full of water. With your gravity suit on, it
seems as if the water isn't even there! If you wish to save (and I do
suggest doing so, after collecting all of the crap), then there is a
save room through the red door at the bottom. Reset the system, and
check your file: you should be only a few minutes over the one hour mark
("01:05" and below is good). Progress up, and you will soon hit...

              ***************************************
**************     SECTION 6: WELCOME TO MARIDIA     *******************
              ***************************************

Maridia:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: Maridia...an aquatic world deep within Zebes, its sand
             filled floors and tricky puzzles will easily confuse any
             explorers, and some of the most awesome items in the game
             await to be collected, such as the Space Jump, Spring Ball,
             and Plasma Beam. However, its gigantic boss, Draygon, may
             have something to say about that...the most bizarre alien
             creatures in the game can also be found here, things that
             simply defy creation.

             Enjoy the creepy music...

As you start off in this underwater realm, shoot the red door and go
inside. Shoot the door as you enter, and kill ALL the crab monsters that
scuttle along the floors and wall. Shoot the green gate. Finally, get on
the opposite side of the room from the entrance, and do a super boost,
and then press down to charge yourself just before you fly through the
entrance. Back in the black-background room, quickly move yourself
towards the largest plant on the ground, and position yourself so its
leaves are on either side of your legs, then perform the most insane
ultra jump in the game, which will send you hundreds of feet into the
air, just BARELY missing dozens of tiny platforms, and slamming into a
stockade of MISSILES <M:170>. If you mess up, try again. If you screw up
more than three times, start from your last save (which was only a few
seconds ago, so it's no big deal really).

Continue up, avoiding the strange creatures that pass by you, and go
into the next room, which is lined with purple metal and grappling
blocks. Morph into a ball, and slide down the purple stairs at the
start, and fall off the green hill, and down the vertical wall. When you
see a crab, hold left, and you will go into a secret tunnel, and collect
the SUPER MISSILES <SM:35> that you could only see before. Now, when you
come out of the hole (no, you perverts...not that kind of hole) you will
fall onto a blue door. Blast this, and fall into a small chamber filled
with purple fish and red space pirates that can not even be killed with
super missiles. Find the secret passage next to the left-most pirate in
the area (use the X-ray scope if need be -- remember, it's on the very
ground level) and blast open the red door. Inside, jump onto the alien
turtle's back, and let it carry you up. When you see the grappling
block, use your grappling beam and swing yourself around until you can
connect your body to the ENERGY TANK sitting above <ET:11>. Now, still
dangling from the block, swing yourself to the RIGHT side of the room,
and you will be able to stand on a small space. Set off a power bomb,
curl into a ball, fall along the wall, and collect the small set of
MISSILES sitting there <M:175>. How could anyone could know those were
there without looking in a strategy guide is beyond me...

Back inside the red pirate room, go all the way to the right (using wall
jumps if need be), and go through the blue door at the top, allowing
yourself back inside the room with purple metal and lots of grappling
blocks. Now...this part is a *REAL* bitch, and very frustrating. You
have to use your grappling beam with the special blocks and make your
way across the entire room, and if you make one mistake, you pretty much
have to start over. Except, at the very end, there is a large green
outcropping of land, and if you fall on that, you can take a running
spin jump and be able to hook into the last block in the room, so don't
fret.
                                   Legend:
.......D..........                D = Door
D  ``    ` ` `   D                . = Part of wall
.  `   ` `       .                S = secret hole that leads to a
.             *...                    super missile
S                .                # = All those doors and little tunnels
. #############  .                    at the bottom
..................                ` = Damned grappling blocks...
                                  * = wedge of land where if you fall,
                                      you can still reach the final
                                      block and don't have to start over

In the next room -- which consists entirely of purple metal and pipes --
take the upper passage, which leads to a sandy area. Go all the way to
the right, ignoring the fact you walk through several false walls, and
collect the MISSILES <M:180>. Return to the entrance door, and jump up,
and free yourself from the water. Take the door on the left-hand side,
and keep going left, avoiding the pesky enemies that fly at you almost
immediately, and the shelled creatures that burrow themselves in the
sand. When you reach what seems like a dead-end, go through, and jump up
to the high platform, through the door, fall to the very bottom of the
corridor, shoot the enemy, fall through another secret hole, and collect
the MISSILES <M:185> and the SUPER MISSILES beside it <SM:40>. Return to
the purple room...

Set a power bomb to open the way forward, and through the green door we
go. Set another power bomb, and fall through the passageway, to another,
more odd purple room, crawling with snail like creatures that bounce
around when you run into them. Do a speed boosting run all the way to
the right-hand side of the room (still on the bottom level), and when
you get to the last vertical shaft above your head, do a vertical ultra
jump, sending you blowing through several speed blocks, arriving in a
secret chamber with MISSILES <M:190> and SUPER MISSILES <SM:45>. Fall
through the collapsing hole (which is before the super missiles -- heh,
watch out for them before collect 'em). Now, perform another speed
boosting run to the left-hand side of the room this time, and stop in
the area before the red door and before the passage you fell from to
enter the area. You will spot a blue door -- enter it.

This entire corridor is full of pipes and bizarre creatures called
Motchroids -- similar to Metroids, but not nearly as powerful. They can
be easily killed with a few laser shoots, or a single grappling beam
blast. Keep shooting the pipes, revealing false floorings and such,
until you've found the blue door. To get to it, perform a speed boost to
break through the final pipe. Into the door...

************************************************************************
Boss: BOTWOON

This eel is just begging to be blown into oblivion. Simply walk up to
his face, hold "R", and shoot super missiles directly into his head.
After he gets deep red and begins to move REALLY fast, shoot missiles
instead, and he'll die very quickly.

Hmmmm...with being roughly 80% through the game, you'd expect a more
spectacular boss...oh well...that's just around the corner.

************************************************************************

In the sand filled room, shoot the worms. Then, do a running spinning
jump, morph into a ball in mid-air, and squeeze into the tight alcove
holding the ENERGY TANK <ET:12>. You CAN NOT, I repeat, CAN NOT get it
anyway else, so don't try. Also, MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT FALL INTO THE
SAND! OK, now use the speed booster to blast through the blocks, and go
into the door. Use your grappling beam on the blocks to get to the top
of the room, and into the final obstacle course that separates you from
Draygon. This place is FILLED to the brink with Motchroids and evil
grappling blocks, so exercise extreme patience here. At the end, blast
the green door (ignore the blue one -- unless you may think you will die
at Draygon -- there's a save inside ya know). This purple room has many
spikes, but they are fake and won't hurt you. The first batch you should
avoid, the second batch you should stand it, and use your X-Ray scope to
find the hidden MISSILES in the wall <M:195>. Return to the first
spikes, fall in, and shoot the Eye Door, and go inside...

************************************************************************
Boss: DRAYGON

Draygon is a twisted, grotesque monstrosity that makes everything else
in Maridia seem normal by comparison. He swims in rapidly and will grab
you, then slam his spined tail against your suit, causing massive
damage.

There are two ways to defeat this beast: (1) Shoot him in the delicate
belly with super missiles and missiles until he dies. This is extremely
difficult and time consuming, so I suggest you try...(2) Shoot out all
of the laser cannons in the room. Then, allow Draygon's gooey spit wads
to hit you. When he picks you up, select your grappling beam, and shoot
it into the sparking remains of the cannons. Although you will lose a
lot of energy, Draygon will be fried almost instantly, the electrical
currents arcing through you both.

The massive creature falls to the floor as explosions surround his body,
and the triumphant boss music...fades...as his minions carry his corpse
away...

************************************************************************

In the next room, the glorious chozo statue holds the oft-used SPACE
JUMP! With this incredibly useful (and original) item, you can jump
again and again in mid-air, essentially flying if you time it right. Use
this to escape Draygon's room, back through the grappling room (as of
now, the grappling beam is completely useless -- just use your space
jump) and return to the vertical room with the three Motchroids.
Although the metal door is flashing DO NOT GO INSIDE OF IT YET! Instead,
go through the door at the bottom. Plow through the blocks...remember
when I told you not to go in the sand? Well, go in the sand now. You
will go through a small, sandy pool with green spheres that try to kill
you, then appear in another region. Keep going left, and you find a door
-- go through, and BOOM! You are back in the huge purple room that
preceded Bowtwoon's fight (the one with the snails). Go to the very
bottom level, all the way to the right-hand side, and shoot out the
floor. Go left, and SINK INTO THE FIRST SAND PIT YOU SEE.

After some crazy green spheres, you end up in a room completely made of
sand, with some more sinking sand near the bottom. Use your space jump
to collect the MISSILES <M:200> and the POWER BOMBS <PB:40>. Sink in the
sand at the bottom...and you end up in a long, horizontal hallway filled
with sand (the kind that sucks you down, but not into another room) and
strange, very bizarre creatures that shoot bullets at you (they look
like mini-Draygons). Go to the RIGHT, through the door, and STOP. Look
up. See that cracked grappling block? Use your grappling beam on it, and
a few seconds later it will disintegrate, revealing a passage above. Use
your space jump to get up there, and keep going up, until you find a
huge swarm of flying enemies. Continue on the other side, falling down
the collapsing floors, until you reach a door. Go in. Immediately set a
power bomb to clear the pipe, and do not hurt or be afraid of the huge
metallic, spider like creature before you, as he will help you by
digging a path through the sand. After forever, you finally reach the
door. Inside, you can retrieve the incredibly useful SPRING BALL, which
allows you to jump while morphed in a ball.

Now, backtrack to the room with the mini-Draygons (called Evirs), and go
left this time. Ignore the blue door, and lay a power bomb to blow away
the girder, go up, and into the green door. After an INCREDIBLY long
door animation (hey, it's a long tube :p) you will be in a sandy area.
Use your space jump to go up into the vertical tunnel, and circle
around, and use your space jump to reach the small ledge with the
flashing door (because you killed Draygon -- otherwise it would be
metallic). Inside, keep going up, until you reach a door. Inside, a
small sac of eggs sit. It takes many shots to kill it with your wave
beam...so ignore it and go into the final room, which contains several
red space pirates, and a chozo statue that holds...oh, yeah baby...the
PLASMA BEAM! With this, you can finally kill those dirty red pirates,
and that egg sac you saw earlier will be killed in a single shot. The
best part of the plasma beam, besides it's obvious power, is the fact it
can shoot through several creatures at once. Now, backtrack to the sandy
room...

There are to blue doors: the one above the water level leads to a room
filled with yapping maws (snake creatures that pull you down), and the
other, the one on the bottom of the sea floor, leads to a flashing door.
Go through the bottom one, and into the flashing door, with leads to the
cactus area. Basically, you use your space jump while killing the cacti,
and each one will give you a super missile power-up! Sweet deal if you
ask me. At the end, you return to the room before Draygon, the one with
the metal door I told you to ignore ages ago. Now, fall to the bottom of
the room, go through the blue door, and fall into the sand, sink, go
left through the blue door, and into the purple room with snails
preceding the fight with Botwoon. Fall to the bottom level, go all the
way to the right, and shoot out the floor. Go inside, and start going
left...EXCEPT THIS TIME, IGNORE THE FIRST SAND PIT, AND SINK IN THE
SECOND ONE. You will find a totally new sand room, where you will need
to use your spring jump if you wish to have even the slightest chance of
collecting the RESERVE TANK <RT:4>, which is the last of the game, and
the MISSILES <M:205>.

Then, you fall into another Evir room as before, except a bit different.
Instead of going right, go left this time, and follow the path until you
find a cracked glass like thing that looks like the pipe we blew away
awhile ago to get into Maridia in the first place. Use your X-Ray scope
to discover the hole in the ground, and go down there. Ignore the red
door, but go through the blue one. Keep going left...shoot the green
gate...and fall back into...

           ************************************************
***********     SECTION 7: THE END OF NORFAIR, ANYONE?     *************
           ************************************************

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whoo! Finally, we're back! Er...this will be short-lived, as we return
to...

Kraid's Lair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go into the room with the half-a-dozen or so KiHunters, all the way to
the right-hand side, and lay a power bomb to reveal a MISSILE PAK. Use
your spring ball to get to it, and boom, more MISSILES <M:110>. Return
to...

Norfair:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm...seems that the gravity suit can also stand up to intense heat...

Go to the very bottom of the elevator shaft, through the door on the
right, and save your game. Re-set the SNES, and look back at your file.
If your file is around or less than one hour and 16 minutes ("01:16")
you are fine, as we have 19 minutes to get a time of "01:35" with 100%.
Continue, and do a super boost to rip through the blocks, and end up in
the bubble room. Shoot the door in the floor, fall through the vertical
shaft, and go to the room with the living magma creatures. Finally, you
end up in the room with blue balls that float around. Go down, set a
power bomb, and through the yellow door we go!

In the infamous Ridly room, you must fall into the boiling acid (the
gravity suit will protect you) and perform many space jumps, ending up
outside the huge stone statue of Ridly's grotesque face. Run inside, and
down the elevator...

Ridly's Hideout:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: Whoa, this music is ****ing awesome!! Gotta love Nintendo.
             Anyway, Ridly's Hideout is near the very center of the
             entire planet, and the heat is so intense that not even the
             gravity suit can protect you from the magma here, and
             each room's very air is set ablaze, moving rapidly. This
             place is much, much larger than Kraid's Lair...

From the entrance, go to your left and fly over the boiling lava,
erupting columns of fire, and dragons that spit acid at you. In the next
room, glide over the lake of magma, and set off a power bomb at the
other end, revealing a chozo statue. Morph into a ball, and jump into
its hands. In similar fashion to Metroid II: Return of Samus, the magma
lake will disappear, allowing you to go deeper into this world.
Eventually, you come upon a "beeping" room. Here, spin jump to get the
MISSILES <M:115>. If you mess up, and fall through the collapsing floor
before getting them, restart from your last save, because going back to
get them takes up WAY too much time. Finally, you get to fight...

************************************************************************
Boss: GOLDEN TORIZO

Missiles do not come into contact with him, he can catch super missiles
with his bare hands, and power bombs do next to nothing. Solution?
Charge up your plasma/wave beam, and kick his bird behind easily!
Because you have on the gravity suit, his huge array of complicated
attacks will barely phase you! Hahaha!

************************************************************************

Inside the next room, shoot the chozo statue. Oh, pinch me...I must be
dreaming...it's the SCREW ATTACK! Yeah, baby, with this you can pretty
much become totally invincible while in a space jump, and you can tear
through blocks, rocks, and practically every enemy there is, regardless
of size or power. Before proceeding, return to the golden torizo room,
and spin jump up to where he fell from, and you can find the last SUPER
MISSILES of the entire game <SM:50>. The next few areas are rather
linear, and allow you to test the immense power of the screw attack.
After the room with rising lava and snakes, you will come upon a large
vertical shaft with yellow space pirates. At the very top, where the
exit is, shoot the ceiling, and a secret passage is revealed. In the
side room, use your X-Ray scope to see where the collapsible floors are,
otherwise you will fall into a previous room, and waste a lot of time
getting back. Regardless, a secret batch of MISSILES can be found
<M:220>. Return to the main path.

This mammoth sized chamber is the largest of the game, and will quickly
fill with boiling acid. Briskly fly out with your space jump, skewing
through the dozens of space pirates that try to block your way. In the
next room, shoot the floor to reveal a side path. Keep going down,
ripping the red KiHunters apart with your screw attack (and these are
the most powerful of the game!). Ignore the blue door, and keep going
down. At the bottom, it seems like a dead-end, but use a power bomb to
see why that is false. Keep going, and down, through the yellow door.

Here, lay another power bomb to reveal the path to the lower-left. Go
through the tunnel, and blast through the MONSTROUS sized beasts that
roam these corridors using your screw attack. At the end, lay yet
another power bomb to blow away the statue. Before going down, however,
go to the left and get the POWER BOMBS <PB:45>. Use the platforms to go
through the spiked shafts, and you end up with...

Metal Clad Space Pirates! I was contemplating giving them a boss
section, but since there is no special music, I decided against it. Use
the Screw Attack to waste time above them and when one of them stops
shooting stuff at you fall down to the ground and take aim, they will
jump at you and turn gold, fire off as many super missiles as possible.
It will only take a few for each one. They are only vulnerable when they
turn gold for a few short seconds, so it takes a bit of patience.

When they are gone, it is relatively smooth sailing all the way to the
eye door. Shoot it with a super missile, and go on inside...

************************************************************************
Boss: RIDLY

Fire your entire complement of super missiles at this prehistoric
monstrosity and he will barely turn red. Jump up and fire them, avoid
his fireballs by spinning with the Screw Attack. While on the ground be
careful of his tail, it has a long range. If he catches you push all the
buttons you can and he'll let go. Continue to pound him with your
missiles until he finally grabs your suit, and then violently explodes,
sending various body parts spiraling through the air. You are now left
with barely any weaponry at all, so be careful from now on...

************************************************************************

Go through the flashing door, and all you see is the smashed glass
container that once held the precious baby metroid. Quite a twist, isn't
it? We came all this way to rescue the metroid, and he's not even
here...

Using your X-Ray scope, quickly find the ENERGY TANK in this room as
well <ET:13>. Return to the vertical hall filled with red KiHunters, and
up through the secret passage, returning to the main path. Go through
the door on the right. Set a power bomb to destroy the skull creature
that shoots fire at you, and go through the passage behind him,
collecting the final ENERGY TANK of the game <ET:14>. Go back to the
main path and go up, flying past the boulders and fire balls. At the
top, ignore the door and go through the wall on the left (curiously, the
X-Ray scope can not see through this wall). Shoot through THIS door, go
to the left, up, ignore that door, and go right, past the dragon
creature that pops up. Collect the MISSILES <M:125>, set off a power
bomb, and go through the large amount of tunnels, then through the blue
door to collect the final POWER BOMBS of the game <PB:50>. Return to the
blue door I told you to ignore earlier, and fly through these corridors,
and you will find several more red KiHunters. Below the first one is a
platform -- set off a bomb here to find the last MISSILES of the game
<M:130>. After much blasting, you will be back in the bubble room of
Norfair. We've done this twice already, so I'll spare you on how to
return to...

Brinstar:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two ways to get back to our ship on Crateria: (1) Through the
corridors filled with flying turtles (2) Through Maridia. I don't know
which is faster, but I always go through Maridia (go up to the room with </pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
the grappling blocks, ad through the door in the ceiling, through the
secret path, shoot the green gate, and you're in the second elevator
room of Brinstar!).

Crateria:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inside of your ship, you will have all of your items filled to capacity,
all energy and reserve tanks filled, and ready to go (M:130, SM:50,
PB:50, ET:14, RT:4). After saving your game, re-set the system and check
your time. If you have more than one hour and 25 minutes ("01:25"), I'm
afraid you have failed, and will not -- or, more realistically, can not
-- earn a time of 1:35. Don't feel bad, however, because the first time
I tried this strategy I didn't get anything close to it. Regardless, let
us continue.

From the ship, go left, through the door, past the green creatures
hanging on the ceiling, rip through the weak wall, super boost down the
hill, bursting through dozens of enemies, into the hallway with green
space pirates. Kill them in one shot, and go down to the red door. Shoot
it with a super missile, run through the empty hall, and into the next
room. Here, we see a beautiful conglomeration of golden statues, all of
which are the major boss characters: Kraid, Phantoom, Draygon, and of
course, Ridly. With all of them destroyed, the statues weaken, and after
a grand cinema, the entire structure sinks, allowing us to reach the
elevator that takes us to the final stage of the game...

                 ************************************
*****************     SECTION 8: THE LAST HURRAH     *******************
                 ************************************

Tourian:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description: Filled with acid and metallic walls, Tourian is the nerve
             center of the space pirate operation, and home to their
             master -- Motherbrain. Who knows what terrible surprises
             lie in wait here...

To no one's surprise, Tourian is crawling with metroids, all the
offspring of the baby metroid we are trying to rescue. The first 1/2 of
Tourian consists of killing these grotesque creatures, and here's how:
freeze them with the ice beam, and shoot a super missile into their
frozen body. That's it. If they latch onto you, lay a bunch of power
bombs. In the acid sections, don't bother with the platforms, just run
right through the boiling liquid. With your gravity suit and 14 energy
tanks, the harm you will be dealt is meaningless. Eventually, you reach
a room with two large, blue sidehoppers. Ignore them, and go into the
next room. Ah! Wha~? It appears that a torizo has turned to sand...in
the next corridor, the bodies of creatures litter the floor and
ceilings, all turned to sand.

Soon, we see a sidehopper appear. Out of nowhere, a titanic-sized
metroid swoops in, snatches the creature, and begins to feed on it
viciously! After its final death cry, the sidehopper is completely
turned to sand, and suddenly disintegrates. Then, the monstrous metroid
turns to you! Though you may run, resistance is futile, as the colossal
beast sucks your energy down at an insane rate. Seconds before death,
the metroid chortles, and then lifts off of you. The sound it's
making...do you recognize it? It's the baby metroid! It has grown to
nearly 10 times its original size! Talk about a growth spurt...

Continue on, and you will have to shoot through a very strange barnacle
like substance, resembling a spider web. Refill your energy with the
energy terminal, and continue to the eye door. Shoot it with a super
missile. In the next room, fall to the bottom, and shoot the red door
with a super missile. Here, you must shoot through the red barriers to
continue. Because we are pressed for time, use super missiles -- it only
takes four, opposed to 20 missiles.

At the end, you confirm your prediction...it is the Motherbrain that has
been behind this entire fiasco.

************************************************************************
Boss: MOTHERBAIN

Some games have great end bosses, some have awesome end bosses -- and
others, like Super Metroid, have SPECTACULAR end bosses.

Motherbrain first appears in her glass casing, just like in Metroid I.
Shoot the casing with missiles, and when it shatters, use super missiles
to pulverize the gray matter. Soon, all of her life support equipment
will blow away, leaving her on the floor. Then, with a shudder, a
monstrous body rises from the floor, connects to the head, and her
single eye opens. With a deafening shriek, the battle of the galaxy is
on!

She now has three attacks: shooting three blue rings, an eye pellet, and
bombs. To avoid the rings, jump up in the air. However, be aware that
she will often shoot you in mid-air again with the lasers. As soon as
she lays a bomb, wait a few seconds, then jump into the air, as fire
will spread across the entire floor. After wasting all of your super
missiles into her, start with your full supply of missiles. Soon, she
gets a new attack: a concentrated blast of fire will rip from her hands.
If you get hit, three (!) energy tanks will be taken off of your life
meter.

Keep blasting away, and before you run out of missiles, Motherbrain will
start to gain energy in her head. With another shudder, a monstrous beam
will fly from her face and slam your body against the wall, making you
totally helpless. Within seconds, half-a-dozen (!!!) of your energy
tanks will be gone, and Motherbrain will begin to charge this insanely-
powerful attack again. When you are on the verge of death, the baby
metroid will once again come out of no where, latch onto Motherbrain,
and suck her energy out like an oil-well, severely weakening her. Within
seconds, the Motherbrain's body becomes twisted, and turns into what
looks like a chozo statue stance. Then, the metroid turns to you, and
begins to refill your energy to the top. However, the Motherbrain is far
from dead. With a drooling cry, she begins to slam attack after attack
into the metroid. The metroid tries one last time to destroy the
Motherbrain, but she is too quick, and the metroid violently explodes
and turns to dust -- this dust, in turn, falls on you. As you stand up,
you flash, and yes, 'tis true, you have the HYPER BEAM!!! With this, you
will turn the Motherbrain into ashes very quickly.

************************************************************************

The Great Escape:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't break out the champagne yet, as the entire planet is going to
explode within three minutes (3:00)! Though you are probably on track
for 1:35, I will tell you great tips on how to escape from the planet
with at least 1:58 remaining on the time bomb clock! In each room, the
time I give should be the time that is on the clock as you ENTER it.

First room -- 3:00

Shoot the columns with your newly acquired hyper laser and run through,
and into the door.

Second room -- 2:57

Fall down the right-hand side, and shoot a laser beam down. Not only
will this open the door, it will kill a pesky space pirate.

Third room -- 2:55

Ignore the path with the space pirates, and take the very bottom path.
Speed boost all the way to the right, and then do an ultra jump straight
up, bursting through the floor beneath the exit door. Next...

Fourth room -- 2:48

This one is tricky, although there are no shortcuts. Jump up and shoot
all the space pirates out of your way in one motion; just keep running
and running, and then acid will start to fill the chamber. Space jump to
the top. Shoot the exit, and RUN into the next room...

Fifth Room -- 2:24

We are now back in the long vertical shaft that is part of Crateria. As
we run in here, you will have a speed boost & their echoes by the time
you reach the shaft. It is very possible to do a very impressive ultra
jump and leap ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP of the shaft, cutting off nearly a
full minute of work.

                             Legend:
    .^ '  .              + = The door from Tourian
    .^  ' .              . = walls/floors
    .^ ' '.              ' = regular ol'e platforms
    .-    .              D = Metal door
    .^ ' '.              X = The area you perform the ultra jump
+....^ '  .              ^ = The path you take
+....X....D              - = Curiously, there is a small platform here,
                             but you seem to burst through it perfectly
                             when you do the ultra jump. If you were to
                             bomb it, you would no speed booster blocks
                             in it. Strange...

With this huge trick, you can shave off nearly a full minute of hard
work. If you can pull this monstrously impressive maneuver off, don't
accidentally cream your pants -- both girls and guys. I know it's hard
to resist, and I almost did as well the first time I did it, but try and
hold back, OK? ;) The rest of the escape should be easy enough. It is
possible to get to the surface of Zebes with 2:00 left on the clock!!

What We Missed of Super Metroid:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Because this is a Speed Guide, we missed many areas (although they
contain no useful items). The largest areas are listed below, where you
can find them, and a small description of them.

# 1 - Areas to the right of Crocomire's area:
When you do the huge speed boosting section, and end up at the door to
his area, there are two doors to the right. One leads to an awesome
grappling area where you go over a lake of acid, spikes, AND yapping
maws. The other is a cool little area with red space pirates and geemer
like creatures, along with more dragons.

# 2 - Crateria to the right of the Wrecked Ship:
When you got the energy tank in the Wrecked Ship after obtaining the
gravity suit, go through the blue door, and you will find a huge area of
Crateria that we skipped over. It has lots of water, some more of those
bee hive enemies, and a small maze that leads down to...

# 3 - Parts of Maridia from the above Crateria Area:
This is my favorite of them all, and coming here brings a huge rush of
nostalgia to my body. Years ago, when I first got the game, I was
puzzled on how to get into Maridia, and when I finally found this area,
I was really excited, especially because of the new, strange creatures
and creepy music (gotta love the Maridia music). However, coming here is
more of a dead-end, as you can not get to Draygon from here. However,
you can get the Spring Ball rather easily...

========================================================================

CHAPTER 7) TRICKS, TIPS, AND SECRETS

========================================================================

------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASSIVE TIME-SAVING TRICK III:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I received the following e-mail message from one of my readers...

"I'll have to agree with you that it's one of the greatest games I've
ever played.. and that's a wonderful FAQ you wrote, too! Just one thing
that I've found out: Well, first, the hyper-boost jump (the one where
you plow through things and eat up massive amounts of energy) is really
cool, because you can go in any of 5 directions... just after you jump,
if you do it from a standstill, you'll hang in the air for a split
second... if you do nothing you'll go straight up, but pressing R will
make you go diagonally, and pressing sideways will send you in that
direction. You don't have to do it from a stop, though... you can dash,
duck, and while you're powered do a spinning jump, then when you let go
of the directional keys you can then press up or R to go in one of the
upward directions."

"Anyway, the cool thing is this: in the ship screen, after you have done
the diagonal jump up, gone and gotten the power bombs, and come back
out, if you dash along the hill, instead of doing a spinning jump, you
can instead duck right on the end, powering yourself up. Drop to the
ledge below and immediately do a power jump to the left; you'll break
through all the blocks that you could have power bombed, and crash into
the door. Open the door, drop back to your ship, and repeat (but don't
leave the ship's room). You'll power jump /through/ the door and simply
bust through the entire first screen of blocks. Eats up LOTS of energy,
but it's cool and it saves time (I think), and your ship's right there,
after all... I checked just now and to do the two diagonal jumps and the
two horizontal jumps takes about 5 energy tanks off. If you thought the
power jump up through the last vertical tunnel was cool... "

"I just tested it out in the sequence, and here's a good way to do it:
After you save, do the R jump to get to the top ledge of the screen. Use
a power bomb to open the door, but do not enter. Instead, go back to the
tip of the ledge and dash towards the door, pressing down the instant
before you enter it. You should finish your duck in the next room. Jump
and immediately press right, and you will dash through all the jumping
dragons and crash into the right wall; jump out of the acid and get the
power bombs. Return to the previous screen, try not to get hit by the
acid. This time, dash out to the left and duck when you reach the tip.
While you're flashing, walk off the ledge to the left, and when you land
below, jump and immediately press left, crashing across the screen and
into a door. Open it, but do not enter. Go to the right and drop back
down to the ship, and do the R jump again to get to the top ledge.
Again, dash from the door to the tip of the ledge, power up, drop off,
and power jump to the left. You will go through the door and crash
through the next screen, making it to the energy tank with about 60
units of energy to spare. "

- Daniel Church <dchurch@vchurch.erols.com>

------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASSIVE TIME-SAVING TRICK II:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I received the following letter from a fellow FAQ author...

"Hey Marshmallow, you've got an extremely kickass walkthrough. You've
put in so much effort man, you rock! You do have the best text-based
walkthrough on the net. And personally, your previous walkthrough wasn't
bad at all. Look at mine then....

Also being a fellow Super Metroid walkthrough writer (you can find it at
GameFAQs), I've got a tip for you. When you've got the Varia Suit and
going into that green bubble maze [marsh's note: on your way to the
speed booster], you can get the Wave Beam without the Grappling Beam and
therefore save some more time. Get to that Wave Beam room (the long
shaft which goes upwards, I'm sure you'd know where it is), jump across
to get the missiles, and then jump as far as you can to the right. Yes,
you'll take some damage, but it's worth it. Use the Wall Jump to get up
to the ledge, and the Wave Beam is yours! Pretty early in the game, huh?
And to exit easily, fall into the middle of the spike row, it should
break and let you through.

Hope that was a good tip! And keep up the great work."

- Magus (shinra9@yahoo.com)

That should DEFINITELY cut off some major time...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASSIVE TIME-SAVING TRICK:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I received the following e-mail from one of my readers...

"For some reason no one else seems to have found this strategy except
me. It saves a TON of time (it eliminates the detour into Norfair just
to get the high-jump boots).

Try this: The first time you get to that looong vertical shaft in
Brinstar (the one with the Rippers above you guarding the passage to the
first cache of power bombs), use super missiles to completely destroy
the Rippers (you will probably need to Triangle Jump to get to the last
one) and then use the Triangle Jump to ascend the shaft to the Power
Bombs. It'll take at least two trips, one to destroy the ceiling (after
which you fall) and another to get up to the top and through before it
regenerates. It's not easy (I practiced my Triangle Jumping long and
hard before I could do it consistently), but it's very possible and if
you pull it off, you now have access to the first power bombs WAY WAY
before you're 'supposed' to get them--before you fight Kraid and before
you even get the high-jump boots!

I'm sure you can understand how much backtracking this eliminates and
time it saves. Initially you will waste more time than you save until
you know the process well enough to do it without falling, but since
you're already tearing through the game in record time I imagine you'll
learn it quickly. Please try it out and let me know how it works for
you. I think you'll want to add it to the walkthrough."

Dave Connoy

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Beam Attacks: There are four secret weapons in the game. Here's
                      how to activate them. Make sure the power bomb
                      icon is highlighted and that you have at least one
                      of them. Equip the charge beam and ONE other beam.
                      Charge the charge beam and the special attack will
                      occur. Here's what you can get.

Ice: You are protected by an ice shield, anything that touches it will
     be damaged.

Plasma: Four balls of plasma circle you and then blow away.

Spazer: Large beams fire away from you like shrapnel.

Wave: Four balls circle you and then blow away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turbo Bomb Technique: If you have the morphing ball and some bombs try
                      this out! Morph and then set bombs, when they blow
                      up you will bounce a few feet up. If you time it
                      just right you can make yourself go several
                      hundred feet up. Using this technique you can get
                      many items earlier than you're supposed to (the
                      Power Bomb, for example).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Five Bombs at Once: Charge up the charge beam and then morph into a
              ball, you will lay five bombs at once, spread out. This is
              useful for taking out lots of blocks at once. It would be
              cool if you could do this with power bombs :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charge Attack: Charge up the charge beam and then do a spin jump, you
               will become a weapon. It's kinda like the Screw Attack,
               just not as powerful. Strong enemies can still hurt you,
               but weaker ones will be sliced to bits. Useful against
               Phantoom.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grappling Energy: If you need some energy and weapons get in front of
                  those pipe creatures and let them come out at you,
                  grapple them with the grappling beam and they will be
                  killed. You can also pick up the stuff they leave
                  behind! Cool, huh?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ultra Jump: Power up the speed booster so you're running at full speed,
            push down and then jump. You will rocket into the air until
            you hit something! Although this uses energy, the longer air
            time means more energy taken away. You can also jump
            diagonally using R and L. This move is critical if you want
            to finish the mission...or at least get 100% items.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crystal Ball Flash: This is top secret! It will refill all of your
                    energy tanks by meeting certain conditions. You MUST
                    have 29 or fewer units of energy remaining, 10 or
                    more missiles, 10 or more super missiles, and 11 or
                    more power bombs. Select the power bomb, turn into a
                    ball, and hold the L, R, and shot buttons down while
                    press down on the pad. Useful if you can't find any
                    energy stations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Better Endings: Finish the game in better time and you will see more and
                more of Samus...kinda like strip poker. Seriously
                though, it is. The best ending (under 3 hours I believe)
                lets you see Samus Aran in a bikini...whoohoo!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Better Endings II: It's pretty stupid, and it really doesn't give you a
                   better ending, it's just a neat thing to do. When
                   you're escaping from Zebes go to where you picked up
                   the Bomb item, you'll find your buddies: The Etecoons
                   and the Dachola. Shoot out the right wall and they
                   can escape. If you haven't noticed, when the planet
                   explodes in all of its mighty glory, you can just
                   make out their ship escaping to the right of the
                   screen. Not very much, but still.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bunch of kick ass glitches:

Go to http://www.classicgaming.com/mdb/met3faq.htm#terms
It's at the Metroid Database, the best metroid site on the net!

========================================================================

CHAPTER 8) MINOR ENEMY CHARACTERS

========================================================================

Geemer
Description: Porcupine like creature
Found in: Crateria/Norfair
Notes: The basic creature, it walks around floors, walls, and ceilings.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

KiHunter (pronounced KEY hunter)
Description: Flying mantises
Found in: All areas
Notes: They will charge at you, shoot them a few times and they will
lose their wings. In this mode they will spit acid at you, try to
destroy them before they have time to take aim.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Space Pirate
Description: Humanoid Aliens with claws
Found in: All Areas
Notes: There are some many variations, it can not be described. Some
shoot lasers, others breathe fire.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Side Hopper
Description: Huge monstrosities that hop side to side
Found in: Brinstar/Tourain
Notes: Their unpredictable movements make them dangerous prey, take
cover and shoot your most powerful weapons.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Small Side Hopper
Description: smaller version of the above
Found in: Brinstar
Notes: Just shoot

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reo
Description: Moth like creatures that swoop down
Found in: Crateria/Brinstar
Notes: Slowly move the screen until you see a small portion of their
body and then shoot!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mellow
Description: Fly like creatures, only a few pixels wide
Found in: Crateria
Notes: Just dash by them, very easy to avoid but a pain if you get
caught.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waver: Bird like monsters that bounce off walls and get in your face
Found in: Crateria/Brinstar/Norfair
Notes: They are hard to shoot because of their erratic patterns.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kago
Description: Green bee hives
Found in: Crateria/Norfair
Notes: Shoot them and then the stuff that comes out, takes a few sots,
Great way to get some ammo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yapping Maw
Description: Worms with big mouths
Found in: Crateria/Brinstar/Norfair/Maridia
Notes: If they get a hold of you they will suck your energy, freeze them
and move by.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boyon
Description: Floating yellow balls
Found in: Crateria/Brinstar/Norfair/Maridia
Notes: Freeze them for steps

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skree
Description: Bat like aliens with big red eyes, hang out on ceilings
Found in: Crateria/Brinstar/Norfair
Notes: Get close and they will dive bomb into the ground, shoot
diagonally and don't ask questions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Metaree
Description: Skrees with metal plating
Found in: Brinstar/Norfair
Notes: These guys are too tough for normal beams, run past them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zebbo
Description: Bees that come out of pipes
Found in: Brinstar/Maridia
Notes: Shoot them for lots of power ups

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fire Flea
Description: Hovering little lightbulbs
Found in: Brinstar/Norfair
Notes: If you shoot them the room will get darker, but if you let them
be they might hurt you. Freeze them and everything will be O.K.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ripper
Description: Flying turtles, basically
Found in: Crateria/Brinstar
Notes: They fly back and fourth, back and fourth...freeze them for steps
in narrow shafts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Red Rocket Ripper
Description: Ripper with rockets!
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Take them out with the screw attack

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cacatac
Description: Walking cacti
Found in: Brinstar/Maridia/Norfair
Notes: Every few seconds they will shoot out a stream of spines.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zero
Description: Worms that cling to walls, resemble slugs
Found in: Brinstar
Notes: Who made this creature? They suck! Too easy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Puyo
Description: Thin worms that bounce
Found in: Norfair/Maridia/Wrecked Ship
Notes: A pain if you're low on energy, shoot from afar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mella
Description: Flying fire balls
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Norfair's version of the mella

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alcoon
Description: Exotic looking dragons that hop out of the ground
Found in: Crateria/Norfair
Notes: Shoot the second you see them, they shoot well aimed fireballs

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scisor
Description: Basically a crab
Found in: Crateria/Maridia
Notes: They're slow, shouldn't be a problem.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Choot
Description: Very thin creatures that sway back and fourth
Found in: Crateria/Maridia
Notes: Not much to say except stand back and blast

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beetom
Description: Squids with a single green eye
Found in: Crateria/Brinstar
Notes: A pain in the neck, among other places. They appear when least
expected, they can jump several yards and will suck your energy before
you even know what's happening. Shoot them as quick as possible!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zeela
Description: Little green bugs that crawl on ceilings and walls
Found in: Brinstar
Notes: Brinstar's version of the Geemer

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geega
Description: Bugs with wings
Found in: Brinstar
Notes: They come out of their pipes and attack, good for replenishing
energy and weaponry.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zeb
Description: Large bettles that fly
Found in: Brinstar
Notes: Read above

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gamet
Description: Huge red insects
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Read above

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mini-Kraid
Description: Guess!
Found in: Brinstar, right before Kraid
Notes: He may be smaller and weaker than the real Kraid, but his
projectiles have more range. Charge with missiles 'a blazin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Multiviola
Description: Balls that bounce off walls
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Not much to say except watch out

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geruta
Description: Monsters with pincers that fly in circular patterns
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Be careful, they have a tendency to charge

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dragon
Description: Horse fish shaped dragons, live in Magma
Found in: Norfair
Notes: They will surface and shoot three fireballs

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magdollite
Description:  Magma with green eyes
Found in: Norfair
Notes: They will launch themselves at you according to where you are,
duck!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Viola
Description: Blue Multiviola, they are like Geemers
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Like I said, like Geemers. According to Nintendo, they are larva
of Multiviolas.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nahime
Descriptions: Skulls in the wall
Found in: Norfair
Notes: They spit fast blue fireballs, find a way past them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fune
Descriptions: Mouths that come out of the wall
Found in: Norfair
Notes: See above

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Desseega
Descriptions: Norfair's version of the Sidehopper
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Very powerful, shoot lots 'o missiles or use the Screw Attack

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bull
Descriptions: Certainly not what it name implies, a green ball with
holes in it
Found in: Wrecked Ship/Maridia
Notes: Charges without warning, shoot a lot

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skultera
Description: Purple fish
Found in: Maridia
Notes: They swim back and fourth, back and fourth...zzzz.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Menu
Description: Small animals with a single eye
Found in: Maridia
Notes: They are like Mellows, small. They will charge in swarms and will
knock you off platforms, very annoying.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Powamp
Description: Large balloon type enemies
Found in: Maridia
Notes: Use them for grapple blocks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tatori
Description: A huge turtle like baddie.
Found in: Maridia
Notes: It tries to slam into you, only one exists

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tatori, Jr.
Description: Really small Tatoris
Found in: Maridia
Notes: They are just for decoration, really.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yard
Descriptions: Snails
Found in: Maridia
Notes: They make up for their size in stealth, they will come out of no
where and charge. They also like to drop in from high places.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holtz
Description: Purple...things, they hover.
Found in: Norfair
Notes: They are one of the most powerful creatures in the game, too bad
they aren't very dangerous.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Squeept
Description: They hop out of the magma
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Ignore

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sova
Description: Red fireball enemies that cling to walls and ceilings
Found in: Norfair
Notes: Basically Norfair's version of the Geemer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kobe
Description: Skull ghosts that disappear and reappear
Found in: Wrecked Ship
Notes: Move around so they don't appear on top of you. They are the
ghosts of the lost crewmembers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Work Robot
Description: Robots silly!
Found in: Wrecked Ship
Notes: Until power is restored they are motionless, when turned on they
will slowly walk. Some even fire lasers when given the chance.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zoa
Description: Purple things that rise from their nests
Found in: Maridia
Notes: Like all of those other pipe creatures

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Owtch
Description: They remind me of Spiny Guys in Mario 3 and Super Mario
World.
Found in: Maridia
Notes: They pop out of the sand to interrupt your path

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oum
Description: Large shrimp like balls, very interesting to just look at
Found in: Maridia
Notes: They block your path, be careful, get too close and they will
attack

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evir
Description: Large spiny creatures, similar to Draygon
Found in: Maridia
Notes: They will sink into the mud while firing shots at you, can be a
pain while trying to get across a room.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motchroid
Description: Look like small Metroids.
Found in: Maridia
Notes: The Space Pirates first attempt at cloning Metroids. A good first
attempt, but needs improving. Kinda weak.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rinka
Description: Red rings of fire
Found in: Tourain
Notes: Freeze one and they will stop coming out to get you until it's
destroyed

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Metroid
Description: Jellyfish like creatures, cool looking
Found in: Tourain
Notes: The only way to kill them is to freeze them and then blast them
with five missiles or one super missile. Another way is to lay a lot of
power bombs, that's what you should do if they get on you, too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shaktool
Description: A huge metal, undulating machine. Similar to a Sidehopper.
Found in: Maridia
Notes: It won't hurt you, it'll dig a path in the sand for you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Etecoons
Description: Little furry green rabbits
Found in: Brinstar
Notes: The trio will teach you the wall jump

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Dachola
Description: Ostrich bird, green too
Found in: Brinstar
Notes: The friendly bird will teach you the ultra jump.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eye Door
Description: Where the door should be is a giant eyeball.
Found in: All areas, except Crateria
Notes: This is the door right before a boss, shoot three missiles into
the eye for it to open. It shoots energy balls at you, hard to avoid.

========================================================================

9) CREDITS & METROID LINKS

========================================================================

Nintendo: Not only did they make the game, they made the official
player's guide. A friend gave it to me a few years ago and I'm using it
for this guide as well, just the info though.

Dave Connoy <connoy@mailcity.com>: Sent in the massive time saving
strategy found at the start of chapter seven. Thanks a lot!

Magus <shinra9@yahoo.com>: Sent in the massive time saving (number II)
strategy found at the start of chapter seven. It explains how to collect
the Wave Beam before the Speed Booster or Grappling Beams, effectively
shaving off a few minutes. How I missed it...I don't know :)

Daniel Church <dchurch@vchurch.erols.com>: For yet ANOTHER massive time
saving trick.

========================================================================

10) CONTACT INFORMATION

========================================================================

Feel free to contact the insane author of this FAQ, marshmallow, with
any e-mail, corrections, adorations, admonitions, praise, damnation,
condemnation, or death threats at: marshmallow@nintendomail.com. I still
accept mail sent to m_mallow@hotmail.com, but I don't check it as
regularly as my primary, Nintendonext account.

Basically, there are five different types of e-mail I will receive on a
daily basis.

QUESTIONS:
------------

I will answer questions to the best of my ability, but not necessarily
immediately. Who knows...you may get an answer hours after sending it,
or maybe even weeks. Do not e-mail me telling me to "answer your
questions", unless you like to be ignored. Also, please realize that I
<prepare for a shocker> do have a real life outside the Internet.
School, friends, what have you. Hey, sometimes I might not even get on
the Internet for a few days if I pick up a hot new game that I enjoy.

If you ask a question that has been answered in the FAQ, I will most
definitely ignore it. If your question is poorly written (e.g. "Hez waz
up, dawg? Got mez uh q!") I will delete it.  Etc., etc...

PRAISE LETTERS:
-----------------

Hey, you mean people actually receive help from me and like to praise my
work? Believe me, though I may not reply to it, I do appreciate your
comments. Though, most people, if they praise me, do it along with a
question, in which I might reply something like, "Yeah, thanks for the
support. As for your problem..."

HATE LETTERS:
---------------

I've received very few of these, but it's happened. Chances are high
that I may not reply, but if you present a valid criticism, I may
acknowledge your critique. As for those less intellectual letters, heh,
they're always good for laughs.

JOB APPLICATIONS:
-------------------

Though I can assure you I will be flattered, I will *not* work for your
site exclusively (or even as a third party). I don't care how much
money, women, or drugs you offer me, either. No means no, okay?

CHAIN LETTERS:
----------------

No, I don't care about what kind of whore house your uncle runs. No, I
don't know who Louie is and why he has a fetish for panties. No, I don't
think a piano is going to mysteriously appear out of thin air and fall
on me if I don't send a piece of sh!t letter to other people. No, I
won't send you cash for a "dying" (yeah, right) kid who is infected with
brain cancer, though sometimes I wonder if YOU'RE the one with brain
cancer. No, I don't care about this new, amazing revelation about weight
loss (my muscle to fat ratio is quite normal, thank you very much). And,
finally, I will *not* make out with you!

I apologize for the aforementioned subjects, because they had some
questionable material. However, considering this is a FAQ for a T rated
game with copious amounts of blood and violence, I assume you will not
be offended by a little sexual innuendo.

Sincerely,
marshmallow

                           ~ End of Document ~