Metroid Fusion spoiler-free FAQ/Walkthrough (2/24/4) by Zauron

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
====================================================================

INTRODUCTION
I.   METROID FUSION VS SUPER METROID
       A. Improvements
       B. Negatives
II.  GENERAL GAMEPLAY INFORMATION
       A. Basic Controls
       B. Advanced Techniques
       C. Upgrades
       D. Obstacles
       E. Parasites & Enemies
III. WALKTHROUGH
       A. First mission (main deck)
       B. Second mission (sector 1)
       C. Third mission (sector 2)
       D. Fourth mission (sector 4)
       E. Fifth mission (sector 3)
       F. Sixth mission (sector 6)
       G. Seventh mission (sector 5)
       H. Eighth mission (sector 3)
       I. Ninth mission (main deck)
       J. Tenth mission (sector 5)
       K. Eleventh mission (main deck)
       L. Twelfth mission (sector 2)
       M. Thirteenth mission (sector 5)
       N. Fourteenth mission (sector 4)
       O. Fifteenth mission (sector 6)
       P. Sixteenth mission (sector 1)
       Q. Side mission - getting 100%
       R. Final mission (main deck)
       S. Getting missed items
IV.  SECRETS
V.   CREDITS
VI.  VERSION HISTORY
VII. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
VIII.LEGAL STUFF

====================================================================
  INTRODUCTION
====================================================================

Hi.

Welcome to my Metroid Fusion guide! :)

This guide attempts to be as spoiler-free as possible, however, since it IS a
full walkthrough it probably WILL spoil things for you in terms of gameplay.  It
will not spoil plot, names of enemies and bosses, cutscenes, or anything else of
that nature.

The walkthrough assumes that you are trying to get 100% of the items and pass
the game fairly quickly (not doubling back too much).  However, note that there
are multiple ways you can get through the game, so if you haven't been following
the walkthrough the whole time it is likely you might have missed an item the
guide mentioned, or already have something the guide hasn't yet.  Fortunately,
the game is set up so that if you ignore all the side things like Energy Tanks,
Missile Tanks, and Power Bomb Tanks then you should be able to start using the
guide just fine at any part of the game.

Due to the attempts to make the guide spoiler-free, it may not be very easy to
find a particular part you are stuck on right away.  The walkthrough is
organized by mission.  Note that each mission lists which sector it takes place
in.  Looking through the list of missions in the table of contents, note which
sector you are in and find the mission that pertains to it.  If this is your
second or third visit to this sector, go to the second or third mission that
lists that sector.  Once you find the mission you are stuck on, take a look at
your map screen and just start skim reading from the beginning of that mission.
With the map screen up you can quickly see where the guide is heading (up,
right, down the shaft, through the bottom door, etc.) and follow it up to the
point that you are stuck on.  If you are stuck on a boss, just scan for the
****BOSS FIGHT**** line in the mission you are on.

My personal record on this game is 100% in 1:45 (1 hour 45 minutes).

====================================================================
  I. METROID FUSION VS SUPER METROID
====================================================================

Metroid Fusion is Metroid 4, whereas Super Metroid was Metroid 3 (and Metroid
Prime is before either of them, in case you were wondering).  The question on
every Metroid fan's mind is, does Metroid 4 meet the standards set forth by
Metroid 3?  Below is my opinion on the matter.  If you aren't familiar with
Super Metroid (shame on you!) don't bother reading this.  Even if you are, you
are probably just here for the guide so go ahead and skip on down to the next
section.

-------------------------------------------
     I A. Improvements
-------------------------------------------

These are the things I think are better about Metroid Fusion over Super Metroid.
I will refer to Metroid Fusion as MF and Super Metroid as SM.

- Don't have to hold down a Run button all the time.  Run is on automatically at
all times.  This was the only real complaint I had about SM, you always played
with Run held down at all times so it was just another button to deal with that
wasn't really necessary.
- Quicker weapon swapping - instead of toggling between alternate weapons, in MF
you can switch from beams/bombs to missiles/power bombs by just holding R.
Release R and you are back to normal shots again.  Less fumbling around with the
weapon swap buttons to use your different modes of fire!
- Hanging on ledges - when you hit the edge of a ledge while jumping, Samus will
grab the ledge and pull herself up.  Not only that, but if you pull up into a
small tunnel she will automatically go into morph ball form to get in there.  SM
didn't have this feature, and it is pretty useful (not to mention nifty!).
- It is easier to Space Jump in MF than it was in SM - you can still Space Jump
even after falling a long distance.
- The Speed Booster warp move doesn't drain your energy anymore.
- Can climb certain walls and across certain ceilings, and shoot from them.
Adds to the variety of the gameplay.
- Improved graphics and graphical effects.
- When missiles hit something they can't hurt, they bounce off it and fall down
rather than just exploding - I just think that's a neat effect.
- More in-depth story and characters.
- Improved mini-map - now shows more data than the one in SM.  For example, any
time an item is available in a map square, it will show up as a circle before
you get it, then shrink down to a small dot after getting it.  There is never
more than one item in the same map square, so this makes finding items a bit
easier.  Also there is some color coding to show which areas are unexplored,
explored but known about beforehand, or completely new areas you found yourself
(i.e. "secret" areas).
- It's portable!  Perfect for long plane trips and car rides!

-------------------------------------------
     I B. Negatives
-------------------------------------------

Metroid Fusion is a great game that I suggest everyone play, and Super Metroid
fans will surely enjoy it.  However, there are some ways I feel that Super
Metroid was better.  These are the complaints I had about MF when compared to
SM.

- The game play feels more linear because you are told your basic objective for
the next section.  It's not as bad as some would have you believe, since you
have plenty of opportunity to explore and go off to side areas, and honestly if
you were playing SM "normally" you have to do the same thing - it's just in SM
nothing tells you what you are supposed to be doing which leads to a lot of
aimless wandering around the first time through.  Also you often deviate from
the stated objective in MF, sometimes going against it out of necessity.  Still,
I consider this a negative mostly for how it ruins the atmosphere of the game
for me.  You no longer feel like it's just you in this big, strange, scary
planet trying to figure out how to get to your main goal.  Now there's someone
else with you (a computer that gives you the objectives) and you don't know the
main goal from the beginning but are instead given individual goals one at a
time.  The game still has plenty of atmosphere and mystery, but I think a bit of
it was lost with this change.
- The linear gameplay complaint from above also makes the game take less time
the first time through compared to SM.  This game is just as long, however,
since you generally know what your current goal is you'll spend less time just
aimlessly wandering around trying to figure out what to do next like you would
the first time playing SM, so your play time is lower (but possibly less
frustrating).
- You can't turn off a new ability once you get it.  This means you can't, for
example, see what a Wave Beam looks like by itself, because by the time you get
it you already have other beams that it automatically combines with.  This also
means the trick in SM where you would turn on just the Charge Beam and one other
beam to do the secret shield move is not in this version (not that it was really
used much).
- AFAIK, the secret trick to heal Samus up all the way when she was just about
dead using items (Power Bombs, Missiles, and Super Missiles), called the Crystal
Flash, is not in this version.
- There is no Grappling Beam, X-ray scope or Reserve Tanks in this version.
- The Speed Booster takes longer to activate and doesn't seem as fast to me.  It
is used in a lot more puzzles than it was in SM though (some really difficult
ones too!).
- The wall jump isn't as useful.  You can't wall jump off of just one wall to
make your way up it, because when you wall jump you are sent quite far in the
opposite direction.  This means you can only use it to get up a tunnel with 2
walls that are close enough together to wall jump back and forth between them.
Thus it can't really be used all that much compared to how useful it could be in
SM.
- The smaller GBA screen makes it harder to see than a TV screen, although this
is definitely one of the best looking GBA games yet, and it's not as hard to see
as many other GBA games.
- The small GBA speaker doesn't produce as nice sound as SM on the TV.  However,
if you turn on the Headphones mode on the main menu and use headphones, it
sounds great! It's also better sounding then just about any other GBA game
anyway.
- The game takes place on a huge space station instead of a planet.  This also
isn't as bad as it sounds, since the space station is supposed to simulate the
environments of SR388.  Thus you have all the traditional Metroid environments -
rocky, lava, icy, underwater, technological, plant-covered, etc.  It's just odd
to have a Metroid game that's not on a planet.

====================================================================
  II. GENERAL GAME PLAY INFORMATION
====================================================================

-------------------------------------------
     II A. Basic Controls
-------------------------------------------

NOTE: Not all of these controls can be used at first, many require you to gain
certain abilities by playing through the game.

Anytime:
Start - Goes to map screen
Start then L - Sleep mode
Start then R - Samus status screen

While on the ground:
Left/Right - Run left or right
Down - Duck
Down while ducked - Roll into a morph ball
Up - Aim straight up with gun
B - Fire beam weapon
Hold B - Charge up beam weapon (release to fire)
A - JumpA+left/right - Spin Jump/Screw attack
Hold L - Aim slant up at 45 degrees with gun
Hold L then tap down once - Aim slant down at 45 degrees with gun
Hold L then tap up while aiming slant down - Aim slant up again
Hold R - Switch to Missile mode.  Hold to charge up Diffusion Missile.
Hold R then tap B - Fire current Missile weapon

While in morph ball form:
Left/Right - Roll left or right
Up - Return to normal mode
B - Drop a bomb
A - Ball jump
Hold R then tap B - Power Bomb

While in the air:
Left/Right - control jump
Up - Aim straight up
Down - Aim straight down
Down twice - Roll into a morph ball in mid air
B - Fire beam weapon
Hold B - Charge up beam weapon (release to fire)
A - Space Jump (if spin jumping)
Hold L - Aim slant up at 45 degrees with gun
Hold L then tap down once - Aim slant down at 45 degrees with gun
Hold L then tap up while aiming slant down - Aim slant up again
Hold R - Switch to Missile mode.  Hold to charge up Diffusion Missile.
Hold R then tap B - Fire current Missile weapon
Left/right against climbable wall - Attach to wall
Up while touching grabable ceiling - Attach to ceiling

While on wall:
Up/Down - Climb wall
Left/Right - Aim away from wall
A - Drop off wall
A+left/right - Spin Jump off wall
B - Fire beam weapon
Hold B - Charge up beam weapon (release to fire)
Hold L - Aim slant up at 45 degrees with gun
Hold L then tap down once - Aim slant down at 45 degrees with gun
Hold L then tap up while aiming slant down - Aim slant up again
Hold R - Switch to Missile mode.  Hold to charge up Diffusion Missile.
Hold R then tap B - Fire current Missile weapon

While on ceiling:
Down - Aim straight down
Left/Right - Move along ceiling
A - Drop off ceiling
B - Fire beam weapon
Hold B - Charge up beam weapon (release to fire)
Hold L - Aim slant down at 45 degrees with gun
Hold R - Switch to Missile mode.  Hold to charge up Diffusion Missile.
Hold R then tap B - Fire current Missile weapon

-------------------------------------------
II B. Advanced Techniques
-------------------------------------------

NOTE: You can see most of these in action by watching the demo mode.  Just turn
the game on and wait at the Press Start screen (go ahead and skip the story
sequence whenever it pops up).  It will show you scenes from the game.  Some of
the scenes show off these advanced tricks.

Wall Jump:

To Wall Jump, spin jump into a wall then tap the direction opposite the wall and
press A at the same time.  You have to be actually touching the wall while
spinning when you do this.  You will bounce off the wall and jump in the
opposite direction.  If you touch another wall, you can jump off that one and
keep alternating between walls making your way upwards.  It's all about timing
and finding the right place to do it.

Speed Booster Space Jump:

Run until the Speed Booster activates (you start flashing and trailing ghost
images of yourself) then press A to jump.  Keep pressing A to space jump (if you
have the Space Jump ability).  You will still be moving at Speed Booster speed
and still able to break speed booster blocks until you hit an unbreakable wall
or land on the ground.

Speed Booster Warp:

Run until the speed booster activates (you start flashing and trailing ghost
images of yourself) then press down to duck.  You now have a speed booster warp
charge for a few seconds.  You can move left or right and you can spin jump or
space jump and continue to hold the charge.  However, if at any time before the
charge wears off you are not spinning and you tap A (jump) without pressing any
directions at all, you will begin the warp sequence (NOTE: To do it in mid air,
spin jump then tap up or B to break out of the spin, then tap A again without
pressing any directions).  Samus will hover in the air for a second before
warping.  During this second you can press up, left, right, slant up+left or
slant up+right.  Samus will then fly in the direction you pressed (or straight
up if you didn't press a direction) until she hits an unbreakable surface.  You
will break through any speed booster blocks while doing this warp move.

Speed Booster Warp-then-run trick:

Do the Speed Booster Warp as above going straight left or straight right.  If
Samus hits a sloped edge while doing this, she will drop back into a run but
still be moving at speed booster speed.  This is useful because it allows you to
run at speed booster speed across surfaces that you normally wouldn't have
enough room to get up to speed on.  You run along a surface below it to charge
up, press Down to charge, Spin Jump up to the other surface, then speed booster
warp straight across and when she hits the slope, she's running again.  Then
while running you can do a Speed Booster Space Jump or you can tap down to
charge it up again and do it on another surface.  You have to use this trick to
get a few hard-to-get items.

Charge Beam Screw Attack:

Charge up your charge beam to full power, then do a spin jump.  If you touch an
enemy you will do damage to them just like with the Screw Attack.  However, it
only does damage once, then you have to charge up the beam again before you can
do it again.  You can also protect yourself from damage from certain things
while doing this.  It will not break Screw Attack blocks.  If you touch an enemy
and this move isn't powerful enough to actually kill them, you will take damage
as well.

-------------------------------------------
     II C. Upgrades
-------------------------------------------

These are the various upgrades Samus can gain throughout the game to increase
her power.

Missiles
---
Found in a data room during the first mission (main deck)
Allows you to fire missiles by holding R and pressing B.  Requires you have some
missiles in stock.  Can destroy certain obstacles normal beams and bombs can't.

Super Missiles
---
Found in a data room during the fifth mission (sector 3)
Makes your missiles 3 times as powerful.  Can destroy certain obstacles other
missile types can't.

Ice Missiles
---
Found in a data room during the seventh mission (sector 5)
Missiles will freeze enemies they hit, allowing you to use them as platforms
until they thaw.

Diffusion Missiles
---
Found in a data room during the fourteenth mission (sector 4)
Hold R to charge up energy.  When it gets full, press B to fire a missile.  When
the missile hits, ice power will flow out from it in a wide radius freezing
every enemy and destroying every missile block it touches.

Morph Ball
---
Found from defeating a boss during the first mission (main deck)
Allows you to morph into a small rolling ball form by pressing down twice.  Can
roll through small tunnels.

Bombs
---
Found in a data room during the third mission (sector 2)
Allows you to drop small bombs by tapping B while in Morph Ball form.

Power Bombs
---
Found in a data room during the tenth mission (sector 5)
Allows you to drop a powerful bomb that damages all the enemies on the screen
(and destroys all bomb blocks and reveals any other types of blocks) by holding
R and tapping B while in Morph Ball form.  Requires you have Power Bombs in
stock.  Can destroy certain obstacles.

Varia Suit
---
Found from defeating a boss during the sixth mission (sector 6)
Reduces damage taken and allows you to enter very hot and very cold areas
without taking damage.  Also makes you immune to the damage from blue X
parasites.

Gravity Suit
---
Found from defeating a boss during the thirteenth mission (sector 5)
Allows totally free movement while under water, and further reduces damage
taken.  You'll also be able to move around under lava with this suit without
taking damage.

Charge Beam
---
Found from defeating a boss during the second mission (sector 1)
Increases beam damage and allows you to charge up your beam by holding B, then
release the button to fire a powered-up shot.

Wide Beam
---
Found from defeating a boss during the eighth mission (sector 3)
Makes your beam wider and more powerful by splitting each shot into multiple
beams.

Plasma Beam
---
Found from defeating a boss during the twelfth mission (sector 2)
Greatly increases beam damage, and allows beams to move through many enemies to
hit other enemies behind them.  Also allows you to damage some enemies that
could previously only be hit by missiles.

Wave Beam
---
Found from defeating a boss during the fifteenth mission (sector 6)
Increases beam damage, and allows beams to move through walls and shutters.

High Jump
---
Found from defeating a boss in the third mission (sector 2)
Makes your maximum jump height higher, and allows you to jump while you are in
morph ball mode.

Speed Booster
---
Found from defeating a boss during the fourth mission (sector 4)
When running for a long distance without interruption, you will start to move
super fast, smashing through enemies and certain obstacles.  Also allows you to
do the Speed Booster Warp move (see above section).

Space Jump
---
Found from defeating a boss during the eleventh mission (main deck)
While spin jumping you can continuously jump over and over again in the air,
gaining as much height as you need.

Screw Attack
---
Found from defeating a boss during the sixteenth mission (sector 1)
While spin jumping you are practically invincible, and will destroy any normal
enemy you touch.  Can also smash certain blocks that no other move can.

Energy Tank
---
Found in many different locations.  20 total.
Increases maximum Energy (life) by 100 points.

Missile Tank
---
Found in many different locations.  48 total.
Increases your missile capacity by 5.

Power Bomb Tank
---
Found in many different locations.  32 total.
Increases your Power Bomb capacity by 2.

-------------------------------------------
     II D. Obstacles
-------------------------------------------

There are several types of special blocks in the game that can be destroyed by
various means.  You can reveal what type of block it is by blasting it with a
Bomb or Power Bomb.  Note that most destroy-able blocks in the game will
regenerate if left alone for a while or you leave that section and come back.
Some will stay destroyed forever however.  Which ones regenerate and which ones
don't is just dependant on the individual block, not on what type of block it
is.  Here is information on each of the blocks you will encounter:

Normal block
Appearance when revealed: no change
Destroyed by: nothing
Note: Most of the blocks in the game are like this - just normal floors, walls,
and ceiling that you can't affect.

Illusion block
Appearance when revealed: no change
Destroyed by: nothing
Note: This block looks just like a normal block, but you can move right through
it as if it wasn't there (technically you are moving behind it).  Some hidden
tunnels are like this, and since it doesn't do anything with a Bomb or Power
Bomb it is easy to miss these.  The only way to locate one is to jump against
that wall and hope you catch a ledge.  Sometimes you must use the ball jump in
order to be able to squeeze into a small tunnel made from these blocks.

Pit block
Appearance when revealed: gray box with stones in it
Destroyed by: standing on it
Note: These blocks are completely indestructible unless you stand on them.  When
you do stand on them, they immediately disappear and you will fall through them
quickly.  If they reform once you are beneath them, there is no way to get past
them.  They do take a split second to reform though, so if you are really quick
you can sometimes jump back up before you are trapped.  Also note that enemies
do not fall through these.  If you freeze an enemy and stand on the enemy, you
won't fall through.  You can also run across the top of them without falling if
you are moving at full speed booster speed.

Beam block
Appearance when revealed: looks like weak cracked concrete
Destroyed by: Beam, Missile, Bomb, Power Bomb, Screw Attack, Speed Booster (but
not from running over top it)

Bomb block
Appearance when revealed: gray block with pink circle in the middle of it
Destroyed by: Bomb, Power Bomb, Screw Attack, Speed Booster (but not from
running over top it)

Power Bomb block
Appearance when revealed: gray block with a power bomb icon on it
Destroyed by: Power Bomb

Missile block
Appearance when revealed: gray block with a missile icon on it
Destroyed by: Missile or the blast radius of a diffusion missile

Speed Booster block
Appearance when revealed: gray block with a < icon.
Destroyed by: Touching it while in Speed Booster mode or using a Speed Booster
warp move.

Screw Attack block
Appearance when revealed: gray block with a pink circle in the middle and yellow
lines coming out from the circle.
Destroyed by: Screw Attack

In addition to blocks there are other obstacles blocking your path: doors and X
parasite barriers.

L0 Gray door: Accessed by your ship's computer very soon in the game.  Shoot to
open.

L1 Blue door: Accessed by finding the level 1 security room.  Shoot to open.

L2 Green door: Accessed by finding the level 2 security room.  Shoot to open.

L3 Yellow door: Accessed by finding the level 3 security room.  Shoot to open.

L4 Red door: Accessed by finding the level 4 security room.  Shoot to open.

Locked door: Sometimes a normal gray door will look different and be unopenable.
Usually this means that you need to either destroy a gold colored enemy (formed
from killing an enemy and NOT getting the parasite but instead letting it
reform) or that you need to do a story event of some kind (like talk to the
ship's computer in a navigation room) before it will unlock.

Shutter: You have to shoot the button in the ceiling with your beam to raise
these doors out of your way.  If the button is on the other side of the door you
need to find another way around or use the Wave Beam (since it can go through
walls) to shoot it.

Melted door: This door has been destroyed by some powerful force, and has melted
shut.  You cannot open it, find another way around.

Boss Door: This looks like a huge eye where a door should be.  Wait until it
opens its eye.  It will show either a solid yellow color or an actual eyeball.
If it is solid yellow, you can't harm it and it will shoot you, so just jump out
of the way.  If it is an eyeball, shoot it with a missile.  3 missiles or 1
super missile will destroy it.

Small yellow X Parasite barrier: Use missiles or screw attack to destroy it.

Large blue X Parasite barrier: Use super missiles or screw attack to destroy it.

Large orange X Parasite barrier: Use a power bomb or screw attack to destroy it.

Plant pillar X Parasite barrier: You can either freeze them and jump over them,
smash through them while jumping with a Speed Booster charge, or use a Screw
Attack to kill them.  If you don't have the Screw Attack and they are completely
blocking the path, you'll have to find another way around.  Also sometimes these
don't grow until an X parasite from another enemy touches the smaller form, so
if you are quick you may be able to get past it before this happens.  There are
times when you actually want them to grow, however (to freeze them and use them
as platforms).  In this case you should find a nearby enemy, kill it, and not
collect the parasite but instead wait for it to merge with the small plant thing
so it will grow.

-------------------------------------------
     II E. Parasites & Enemies
-------------------------------------------

When you destroy enemies, X parasites will fly out of them.  If you touch the
parasite you will absorb it.  If you don't, they will either fly off, form into
an enemy again, or possibly combine with other parasites or existing enemies to
make a new type of enemy.  Thus you should try to absorb them quickly (note:
there are certain puzzles in the game where you need to purposefully NOT absorb
the parasite so that it forms into a new enemy that can be used to solve the
puzzle - such as one that makes a better platform for freezing).  If a parasite
is flashing then you can't absorb it, and it is about to form into an enemy.

If you use a Power Bomb to destroy an enemy, the parasite will be drawn to where
the Power Bomb was dropped at the end of the explosion animation.  This means if
you drop a Power Bomb and just wait at the point where you dropped it, a bunch
of parasites will fly into you to be instantly absorbed when the explosion is
done.  How convenient!

These are the parasites you will see:

Yellow parasite - restores some energy (health) when absorbed.

Green parasite - gives you some missiles (up to your current max).

Red parasite - restores large amounts of energy, missiles, and power bombs.

Blue parasite - hurts you when absorbed unless you have the Varia Suit.  Note:
Blue parasites will be stunned momentarily if shot.

Boss parasite - grants a new ability or upgrade when absorbed.  Needs to be
extracted from a Core-X that appears when a boss is defeated.

As for the enemies themselves, I won't go into detail about individual normal
enemies in this guide.  I'll assume you can take care of the enemies yourself,
and instead focus on where you are supposed to be going.  Here's how to kill any
non-boss enemy:

1) Try not to let the enemy or its projectiles touch you.
2) Shoot it with a beam.  If it gets hurt, keep shooting it until it dies.  If
it doesn't, try shooting it in the back instead.
3) If a beam didn't work, try a charged beam if you have them.
4) If a charged beam didn't work, shoot it with a missile.
5) If a missile didn't work, try shooting it in the back with a missile.
6) If a missile still fails, try a power bomb.
7) If it still isn't hurt, try freezing it when you are far away from it with an
ice missile or diffusion missile.  This may allow you to at least get past it or
use it as a platform.
8) If you still can't kill it or use it, you need a Screw Attack or full Speed
Booster speed to kill it.  If you can't manage that, you will just have to avoid
the enemy for now.

There, now you know how to defeat all the normal enemies in the game.  The only
really tricky ones are the ones you have to shoot in the back or freeze from a
distance, but they are rare.

Also note that sometimes you will encounter "gold" enemies.  These are formed
from killing an enemy but not collecting the parasite that comes out.  The
parasite will then usually combine with another enemy or another parasite to
form the gold enemy.  This is important because certain locked doors will only
open after killing a gold enemy in that room, and sometimes you have to make the
gold enemy appear on purpose by letting parasites combine.

====================================================================
  III. WALKTHROUGH
====================================================================

This is probably NOT the fastest path through the game, but it tries to
eliminate backtracking or going way out of your way while still collecting 100%
of the items.  It also focuses on getting items as soon as they are available
(if you happen to be in the area already).  You may actually be able to achieve
a faster total time by saving a lot of them for the last item run before the
end.  There are some items that are very hard to get at the point the
walkthrough mentions them.  These are marked with a >>>>>Side Path>>>>> symbol.
The rest of the really hard ones are in a separate section at the end (because
that's the only time you can get most of them) called "III Q. Side mission -
getting 100%" that you can skip if you don't care about getting 100%.

-------------------------------------------
     III A. First mission (main deck)
-------------------------------------------

From your starting point follow the only path you can really take (ignore that
red door, you can't open it) and head towards the N room marked on your mini-map
(press Start to see the map) - these rooms are called Navigation rooms and from
them you get maps and info on what to do next.  Here you will get further
briefing instructions.  Head left then go up and through the top door.  Then go
down to the bottom door and left again.  You are in the quarantine room now.
Kill the bad guy here and absorb the yellow floating parasite.  Make your way
back to the nav room.

After another briefing you are asked to investigate another room and the gray
doors will now be open to you.  Head right, up to the top of this room, and
right again (shoot blinking doors to open them).  This should be your first save
room.  Stand on the floating platform for a bit to save your game.  Head right,
then up to the top and right to another navigation room.  In this one you are
given another objective, to go get Missiles.  Head right, up, right and push up
to ride the elevator up.  Head straight left and you can check out the Recharge
room.  These things refill your life and weapons.  To the left of that is
another Save Room.  Now use the door above these ones to get to another nav room
(just run on past it) and then your first Data room.  Data rooms usually give
you a new ability of some kind.  In this case, you will be granted the ability
to fire Missiles by holding R and pressing B.

Head back to the nav room to learn that the elevator isn't working any more.  Go
back to the large room.  In the middle of the right side of the room is a red
glowing piece of metal.  Jump on the small platforms until you are next to it,
then blast it open with a missile.  Go all the way right and shoot the X
parasite barrier with some missiles.  Fall down through some pit blocks beyond
it, then shoot the weak section of the wall to your left and drop down.  Keep
dropping down through the weak sections until you hit the bottom and collect the
Missile Tank.  Head left and shoot the left wall until you reveal another
Missile Tank.  Head back right until you pop out into a regular section of the
station again.  If you need to you can head up and use the save room here.  Then
continue right and you will encounter your first Boss Door.  This looks like a
huge eye where a door should be.  Wait until it opens its eye.  It will show
either a solid yellow color or an actual eyeball.  If it is solid yellow, you
can't harm it and it will shoot you, so just jump out of the way.  If it is an
eyeball, shoot it with a missile.  3 missiles will destroy it.  With the
constantly regenerating enemies nearby this can be a bit challenging - go save
at the save room again after you are done if you don't want to have to repeat it
(just in case).

Continue through the eye door.  To make it through here, you need to jump and
push toward the small nooks and you will grab on to them.  Then jump again and
grab the next one up.  Doing this, make your way right snagging the Energy Tank
to increase your maximum energy.  Don't drop down the pit just yet though.
Stand on the left edge of the pit, aim straight up in the air and fire a
missile.  This will open a secret path in the ceiling.  Jump up there and go
right to get another Energy Tank.  Then go back and drop down the pit to face
your first boss.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
To defeat this boss, make use of the 2 nooks on either side of the room.  Blast
him with missiles only when he's facing you - if his back is turned then they
won't hurt him.  You can usually get about 4-5 missiles to hit him before he has
a chance to react if you are quick.  When he fires at you or starts to roll
toward you, jump and grab on to the nook to get out of the way.  Then jump off
the nook and over to the other side of him.  Be sure to jump off before he
actually hits the wall or he'll knock you down into him and hurt you.  When you
have only 3 missiles left start using regular shots instead until he turns into
a big spiked ball called a Core-X.  Shooting the Core-X will make parasites pop
out - yellow ones will heal you a bit and green ones will restore some missiles.
Anyway, shoot it with a missile to damage it.  It will start to flash.  You
can't hurt it while it is flashing, so just dodge it until it stops flashing.
Hit it with another missile and it will flash again.  Repeat until it dies.  A
large parasite will float out of it.  Absorb it to gain a new ability - the
Morph Ball.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Use your new Morph Ball (press down twice) to roll under the tunnel to your
left.  Make your way continuously left.  When you get to a blocked off part, use
the climbable wall to shoot the weak blocks out, then climb on through.  Keep
going until you pop back out into a main section of the station again.  Head up
a little bit to encounter another X parasite barrier.  Blast it with missiles to
access the room behind it, a Recharge room.  Use that then enter the nav room
above it, where you will be asked to head to sector 1.

Go left, down, left through the save room, down, and left through the other nav
room. There's a door straight to your left that you haven't been in, but it
leads to a freezing room where you will take damage and there's nothing to
collect in there right now.  Instead head up and use your Morph Ball to go
through the tunnel on the right and get a Missile Tank.  Go through the upper
left door and use the Morph Ball to roll your way past the wreckage and left.
Use the main elevator here to go down to the sector selection area.  Follow the
arrows to find the elevator for sector 1 and head on down.  Use the nav room to
get a new map and learn your next mission.

-------------------------------------------
     III B. Second mission (sector 1)
-------------------------------------------

Head right, ignore the green and blue doors, you can't open them yet.  Go
through the gray door at the bottom right.  Continue right, blast the X parasite
barrier with missiles, and on to the next room.  Make your way up and around
through this area, and down to the fan thing.  Blast it with missiles until the
air clears.  Continue right - you should see an Energy tank below you.  Just
duck and shoot out the brick in front of the gray tube, then roll in using ball
form to get it.

The next area is a vertical shaft going down.  Ignore it for now and continue
right to the door here.  Shoot the wall out of your way then go right, up, left,
shoot the ceiling, and up.  Before going right, note that the thin line of
blocks are pit blocks.  Be sure to jump over them as you continue going right.
Get under the fan and shoot your missiles up into it until the air clears.  Now
go back to the vertical shaft you skipped earlier and head down.

Take the first door you see on your left and go to the end of this path to
another vertical shaft.  If you go on to the door to the left, you can climb
across the ceiling (jump and hold Up to latch on) then go over and snag a
Missile Tank.  You can't do anything more here though so head back out the way
you came and drop down to the bottom of the vertical shaft, then go right and
through a small room to another chamber.  Use wall climbing or ceiling climbing
to get to the right side of the room.  Climb up the far right wall and from the
wall aim left to fire your missiles into the fan.  Drop down and continue going
right.

Eventually you'll come to another room with a fan.  Use the nooks in the walls
to make your way up, then latch onto the ceiling and head right.  From your
perch on the ceiling you can fire missiles right into the fan.  After it's gone,
head left and go into the upper left door and snag the Missile Tank.  Now go
back out and through the bottom right door.  Use the climbable walls and
platforms to get to the top of this tunnel and go left.  Shoot the button in the
ceiling to open the shutter and continue on.  In this watery tunnel you'll need
to get to the left side while dangling from the ceiling, so you can shoot out a
path in the left wall.  Then jump up in there to continue on.  In the next room
use the bottom door to get to a handy Save point, then go back and face the top
door - another Boss Door.  Defeat it and go through (or go save again if you are
nervous).

Head left and attack the small ball to reveal a Core-X.  This is different than
the previous one though.  You need to wait until it opens an eye thing on its
side then shoot a missile into the eye.  It will also shoot back at you from
this same eye when you hit it, so jump as soon as you release the missile to
jump over its counter-shot.  You'll only get one shot in before the eye closes
again, then you need to wait for it to reopen.  Keep at it and you will earn the
Charge Beam.

Use the upper right door to exit.  Shoot the ceiling then go up to the area
above.  Grab on to the ceiling and face left and fire missiles at the wall to
reveal a hidden tunnel.  Jump and grab the ledge and roll into the tunnel.  In
the room beyond is a hidden Missile Tank.  Now go back and use the door on the
right to get to another fan room.  In this one you need to go right, down, and
roll to the left underneath the fan.  Then go up and shoot at it through the
wall.  When it's taken care of take the bottom right door then head up to the
top and right to the save room.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Shoot the right side of the wall in the save room to reveal a tunnel.  Jump in
the air above the tunnel and while in mid air quickly tap Down twice to roll
into a ball in mid air.  While falling as a ball hold right and you will roll
into the tunnel.  On the other end of the tunnel, use the Wall Jump technique
(see the Advanced Techniques section) to make your way up this shaft to a
Missile Tank.
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

From the save room head left, up to the top of the vertical shaft, then all the
way left until you get back to the nav room.  Here you will get your next
mission.  Head to sector 2 and use the nav room there to get the details.

-------------------------------------------
     III C. Third mission (sector 2)
-------------------------------------------

Okay, head right into the first large room.  Ignore the doors on your left, you
can't accomplish anything in them yet.  Instead, drop to the very bottom (shoot
out the bricks that get in the way) then go right and back up to the top.  Your
goal is the upper right door. Go through it then go all the way right, up
through the shaft, then left and drop down into the level 1 security room.  Use
the console to activate the blue doors.  Go through the one there then back down
and to the left to return to the large area.  Ignore the blue door here for now
and head to the bottom left door.  Go through that to the next large room, then
head for the blue door at the upper left to get into the data room and get
Bombs.

Return to the room you just came from and get to the upper right hand corner of
it.  Bomb the right wall up here (down twice then B) then roll right to get a
Missile Tank.  Drop down to the bottom floor, then head to the bottom left
corner and bomb there to reveal a tunnel going down to a new area.  Go through
the right door here to find a save room.  Go through the left door to reach a
vertical shaft.

Look for a lone brick sticking out of the top of a thin platform up and to your
left.  Drop a bomb on it and a hidden lift will come out of it.  Jump from there
onto the pillar on the right.  Face the left wall then duck and shoot to open a
hole.  Jump to it and catch the ledge it forms then roll up inside.  Drop a bomb
about 3 squares to the left of the small brick on the floor.  This should make a
hidden lift pillar pop out of the ground.  Use it to gain the height you need to
reach the Missile Tank, then head back to the shaft.  Make your way to the
bottom using your new bombs and go through the door.  Drop down and through the
other door to get to a larger room.

Make your way to the bottom right of this area, but don't go through the door
just yet.  Instead bomb the left edge of the slightly raised floor to open a
tunnel to roll through, where you can then drop down for a Missile Tank.  Shoot
the ceiling to get back out then go through the door.  Hoist yourself over the
pillar and drop down.  You are now in between two tall pillars, but don't panic.
Use bombs along the floor.  The spot one square away from the right pillar will
make a hidden lift pop up.  Use it to continue on to the right.  You'll reach
the bottom of another vertical shaft.  Head straight right through a short hall
to get to a save room if you need it, then double back to this shaft.

There are plenty of doors in this shaft but most of them lead to dead ends or
rooms where you can't really do anything yet.  The one you want is the third one
up the right side - the one that's behind a tall block of stone.  Go in there
and go right until you find a save room (note: in the small shaft just before
the save room you can shoot the floor if you want, then go down and right to
reveal more of your map, but this really just leads to a dead end that's there
to confuse you.  There's never a reason to go down there other than having it
show up on your map screen).  Continue right past the save screen 2 screens to a
room with an Energy Tank.  Grab that then bomb the floors until you find an
opening.  Drop down and defeat the Boss Door then go through.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
This boss is fairly simple.  It will just hop around trying to hit you.
Occasionally, it will hop up and start floating slowly down.  When it does this,
you need to get underneath it and fire missiles or charged shots straight up
into it, then get out of the way before it hits you.  If it does get you when
doing this, it will suck you up into itself and start to drain your life - just
rapidly tap B to drop bombs until it lets you back out.  Repeat this until it is
dead, at which point a Core-X will pop out - the kind where you just have to
shoot it with a missile, wait until it stops flashing, then shoot it again until
it releases the parasite that grants you High Jump (and Morph Ball Jump).
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Head back left until you reach a melted door.  Bomb the ground near it to drop
down in the room below.  Wait until the enemy below has left then roll right,
bomb your way down and head left to return to the shaft you were in before.
This time take the second door up on the left.  Jump up to the ceiling and grab
on, then head left to nab a Missile Tank.  Drop down under the water.  Go left
to a big pillar that's under the wall and start bombing the floor around here.
If you bomb the spot 3 squares to the right of the pillar a hidden lift will
come out of the ground.  Use it to get up and over the pillar.  Go through the
door and bomb the floor in this room (about halfway across it) to raise another
lift.  Ball-jump from the lift and drop a bomb in mid air to destroy the block
in the thin pillar.  Then jump from the lift through the gap to get the Missile
Tank.  Go back out and bomb the square poking out of the ground to make another
lift you can use to get back out of here.  Go back to the vertical shaft again.

Make your way to the top using bombs and jumping on the cocooned enemies to get
there.  Go into the door on the right at the very top.  Continue right and up.
Before heading back left again, use a bomb on the small nook on the upper right
to get to a secret room with a Missile Tank in it.

Going left you'll find yourself back in the first big room you started in.  Head
straight up and go through the blue door.  In this small room use the ball jump
(down twice then A) while against the right wall and drop a bomb at the top of
the jump.  This will open a secret passage leading right where you can get
another Missile Tank.  Head back to the main room, drop down, go left and shoot
the bricks out of the way.  Head up and go in the first door on the left.  Jump
over the two X parasite plant pillars (the second one will probably hurt you but
you can still get over it if you jump high enough) and get the Missile Tank.
Then head to the nav room where you'll be sent to sector 4 for your next
mission.

-------------------------------------------
     III D. Fourth mission (sector 4)
-------------------------------------------

After your briefing head left then left again, through a small room into a large
room with a damaging pool beneath.  Head up and use a ball jump + bomb to bomb
the brick near the ceiling, then jump up and grab the ceiling.  Hoist yourself
over, then use the hanging bricks to make your way to the doorway at the top of
the left side.  In the next room, take the top left door.  From here you can go
up and use the save room on your left if needed, but then head right and up and
through the door to get an Energy Tank.

Find your way back to the room with the two small pools and this time take the
bottom left door.  Just after you enter the door, aim straight up and shoot the
white brick above you.  When it's gone, jump into the small crevice, then move
left and use a bomb.  This will reveal a ceiling you can grab onto to climb over
the pool.  Once you are across jump up into the room above.  Climb the left wall
but don't jump off it - if you keep climbing you should grab onto a ledge at the
top of it and roll into a secret tunnel going to the left.  Go in there and grab
the Missile Tank.  Now drop back down to the room with electric pool, and bomb
the wall on your left to get to the door you should go through.  As soon as you
enter this room shoot the ceiling above your head.  Head up, breaking away the
various bricks that get in your way and using the climbable walls and ceilings
to get past obstacles until you get to the top, and head right into the Save
room.  In this save room, shoot the right edges of the room to reveal a hole.
Ball jump in it and bomb your way through to the target room.  Continue going
right, then go up, right, down and defeat the Boss Door to enter the room.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
This boss is tough.  Get out of the water and part of the flooring will break
away.  One way to do this is to attach yourself to the ceiling (I find the right
end of it to be a good spot).  Now the boss will start rushing around in various
patterns, but most shouldn't touch you.  If you see it coming in high, tap A to
drop down and hopefully dodge it.  You will get hit a few times though.  Use
missiles and try to shoot it in the back of the head as it passes beneath you.
It will go faster for a while after you hit it, but will return to normal speed
before long.  You may want to try using the L button to aim slant down at times,
or just stick to shooting straight down by holding down (don't worry, pushing
down doesn't make you drop, it just makes you aim down, you have to tap A to
drop).  You should have plenty of missiles so start shooting a bit early and
often to make sure one hits him.

An alternate strategy is to drop to the bottom of the water and hang out in the
bottom left corner.  From there, you can actually see some rubble coming from
the ground just before the boss pops up.  Using the rubble to time it, hit it
with 3 fully charged shots (charged shots do more damage than a missile) to kill
it.  Either way you do it, hit it with enough missiles or fully charged beam
blasts and it will turn into a Core-X - the flashing kind.  Defeat it like the
others to earn the Speed Booster.</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Now that the boss is dead head through the upper right door to a new area.  In
this long room go across the top, drop down on the right side, bomb the wall to
your left then go as far left as you can, destroying all enemies.  Then run
straight to the right.  You should hit full speed just in time to smash open the
speed booster blocks on the floor.  Be careful not to fall too far here.  Notice
the obvious thin line of blocks to your left.  Use a ball jump and bomb to blast
this tunnel open.  Go to the left wall and bomb again to destroy more bricks,
and left a little bit more to squeeze into a small hole and bomb one more time
to reveal a hidden Missile Tank.  Now use the climbable wall here to get a good
shot at the left wall with some missiles to destroy some missile blocks, then
ball jump into the tunnel they form.  Roll left and drop down, then head right
and jump over the pit.  Shoot the right wall out and grab another Missile Tank.
Now drop all the way down and use the save room through the door on the right.

Drop out of this area back into the room with the hanging blocks from earlier.
Repeat the steps taken before to head back through the path you took to get to
the boss - go left through the upper left door, down through the bottom left
door, use bombs on the ceiling and get across the electrified water.  This time
when you see it go through the blue door on the left.

Run straight left until your Speed Booster lets you smash through the left wall.
Use the device here to drain the water level, removing the threat of damage from
water.  You can now safely drop down the left side and get the Missile Tank.
Head right (use the platforms and shoot through the breakable floors to get back
out) and back into the room that you always had to cross on the ceiling.  This
time drop to the floor.  Starting on the left side of what used to be the pool,
run straight right until you smash through another wall.  Stop in this new room
to go up and get the Missile Tank, then go back to get another running start and
run to the right again.  You should smash through 2 more walls until you are
back to the tiny room from the beginning of this sector.

You can't leave this small room until you defeat an enemy, let the parasite
merge with the other enemy, then defeat this second enemy and absorb its
parasite.  Then the doors will let you go back out to the right towards the
start of the level.  Head for the navigation room for further instructions.
You'll be sent to sector 3 for your next mission, go there to learn your
objective.

-------------------------------------------
     III E. Fifth mission (sector 3)
-------------------------------------------

After your briefing and the save and refill rooms, go to the bottom floor in the
first room and shoot through all the blocks to make a path. Open the door on the
left but don't go through it.  Go all the way to the right, then run all the way
left again and through the door.  You should burst into the next room at full
speed booster speed and smash through the opposite wall.  Now charge again going
left and jump so you hit the blocks in the upper left corner of the screen to
break through them.  Then bomb a hole in the little area you just cleared out
and go through to the security room.  Use it to open up all the green doors.  Go
back into the hallway you just came through.  A little more than halfway across
it is a bombable floor.  Find it to drop down to a secret room.  Shoot the
ceiling in this room to reveal a Missile Tank.  Get it then go right back to the
first room (you'll need to destroy the enemies first then do a speed booster
dash then jump to get back through the wall).

Go through the bottom right door.  You'll see a shutter in front of you but the
button is on the other side.  No problem, just jump up to the platform above it,
kill the enemy and walk to the right wall and you'll fall down through a pit
block to the other side of the door.  Shoot the button to open the door, then
get as close to the left door as you can (but don't go through it).  Start
running right.  Ignore the enemies in this hall and just keep running until your
speed booster breaks some blocks on the floor.  Walk a bit left and fall through
to the room below.  Go right, up to the top of this shaft and left through the
top door.  Bomb the left wall to find a few tunnels.  Use the top one and roll
over to a Missile Tank.  Bomb your way upwards until you are rolling along under
the floor of the room above.  Roll right until you stop and bomb again to make a
hole leading up out of the floor.  Go right and follow the path to the data room
to get your Super Missiles.

Head back left and notice the new hole in the ground in one of the halls.  Drop
down and head right for a save room, refill room, and a room with a Missile Tank
behind a blue X parasite barrier (use super missiles to destroy it).  Go back up
and left until you find a melted door.  Get close to it to trigger an event.
Now go right back to the data room.  A boss will pop out of it.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
Grab the ceiling as soon as you can.  This boss is only vulnerable in its
center, which you can only hit from being straight above it and shooting
downward.  Also, it fires out little balls that form flame pillars.  While it is
firing out these balls it protects its vulnerable spot.  You'll need to hit it
when it isn't doing that.  If you get right above where a ball lands, the flame
pillars that shoot from either side of it will miss you.  Otherwise, just try to
quickly move left or right along the ceiling to avoid the flames.  It's a tough
fight since it is hard to get in position to shoot its vulnerable spot and half
the time it's not even vulnerable.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

When the boss is defeated, it will open a new path for you going upwards.
Follow it up and left through a long corridor and into the next room.  Drop down
and continue left, but keep your eye on the ceiling.  You should notice some
bricks forming an upside down U shape in the ceiling.  Directly below those
begin bombing the floor to make a hidden lift pop up.  Use it to get the height
you need with some ball jumps to bomb the bricks in the ceiling until you reveal
an Energy Tank.  Get that then head left until you are back in the first room.
Proceed to the nav room where you will be asked to go to sector 6 for your next
mission.

-------------------------------------------
     III F. Sixth mission (sector 6)
-------------------------------------------

After the recharge room head right through the next room and into the second
one.  Drop down and bomb the wall on your left until you find a secret tunnel -
follow it for a Missile Tank.  Head through the blue X parasite barrier (use
super missiles) to the right wall and bomb it as well.  There are three small
bombable tunnels in this wall, you need to use the top one to get the Energy
Tank.  Now go through the upper right door to continue.  Pass through this hall
and to the vertical shaft.  There's a few doors along this shaft but they are
too dangerous without the Varia Suit. Drop to the bottom and go through the door
on the right.  Drop to the bottom left of this room and go through that door.
Start running to the left until your speed booster activates to smash through
the wall here.  Down and to the right is a save room.

Head left to a small room with an Energy Tank in it.  Bomb the floor to find a
path leading to the room below.  Head right until you reach a wall, then try to
bomb it and let yourself drop down to the space below.  Roll all the way left
and an enemy will enter the room.  Wait patiently until the enemy removes the
wall, and be sure it is totally gone from the area before proceeding.  Go right,
down, left, bomb the wall, left some more to a save room.  In the room before it
shoot out the floor to drop down.  Blast any bricks out of you way to reach the
very bottom left corner of this room.  Roll into a ball and roll left through an
illusion block to a secret room with a Missile Tank hidden in the small nook in
the upper left corner.  Now head right through the door, defeat the boss door,
through the next room to a boss.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
The only way to harm this boss is with a fully charged Charge Beam blast.  So
just dodge it until your beam is charged then hit it with a charged blast.
Missiles won't hurt it.  It's really a very easy boss if you know to use charged
shots.  Once it is dead a flashing-type Core-X will appear, defeat it to get the
Varia Suit.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Go right out of the boss room to a vertical shaft, but continue past it to the
second shaft (and save room if needed).  Climb to the top of this one then go
left.  You'll see a Missile Tank, but don't grab it just yet!  It is on some pit
bricks.  Jump and land directly on top of it.  As you are falling after getting
it, hold left so that you'll grab the small ledge on the way down, and then roll
left to a secret room with another Missile Tank hidden in the ceiling.  Now
return to the shaft you climbed up a second ago and this time take the top right
door.  Follow the natural path until you are back to the big room you were in
before, and go back to the first shaft through the top left door.

The door on the left leads to nothing you can get yet, but take the door on the
right you skipped over before.  Shoot through the various bricks in your way
until you get to the small room on the right.  An enemy will try to trick you
here.  Destroy it then bomb the bottom right corner to reveal a secret path to
another Missile Tank.  Now head back to the nav room where you'll be sent to
sector 5 for your next mission.  Go to sector 5's nav room for your objective.

-------------------------------------------
     III G. Seventh mission (sector 5)
-------------------------------------------

Exit right from the nav/save/refill rooms and drop down the shaft.  Use the
climbable wall on the left.  Get to the top of it and fire missiles to your
right to open a secret path.  Use it to get to a large room.  Navigate this room
using the climbable walls to get to the right side.  In the next room, drop down
through a bombable floor and find the door on the left that leads to a save
room.  You can't actually get to the save room because a shutter is in the way,
but defeat the enemies here and then run right from the shutter, through the
door, and on until you break some speed booster blocks on the floor in the
previous room.  Continue down and go through the bottom right door.  Head right,
then down and bomb the floor to drop to a secret area.  Keep heading left from
here until you find the security room which will unlock all yellow doors.

Use the yellow door on your left then get to the top of this shaft.  Go right
and you are in the save room you couldn't get to before.  Continue to the large
room from earlier, but this time go through the upper door on the right (the one
just below the locked red door).  This will lead you to a data room where you
will be granted the useful Ice Missiles.  Continue going right and bomb through
the floor.  As you are falling hold right to grab onto a climbable wall.  Shoot
an ice missile at the floating enemy here and jump on him, then jump over to the
door on the left.  Go through and defeat the enemy, then bomb the bottom left
corner to get an Energy Tank.  Drop to the bottom of the shaft.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Before going through the door, roll into a ball and go to the bottom right
corner of this area.  Do a ball hop while holding right to roll into a secret
area through an illusion block.  In this area shoot a hole in the ceiling then
jump on up.  Now there's an enemy here to kill, but be careful - don't collect
the parasite when it dies!  Wait for a second and the parasite will transform
into a jumping enemy.  Use a freeze missile to freeze the enemy at the height of
its jump, then use it as a platform to get to the ledge on the upper left.
Another enemy is on the ceiling here.  Again, kill the enemy but don't collect
the parasite.  It will turn into a flying enemy.  Freeze it with an ice missile
when it is right below the small indentation in the ceiling.  Go and jump on it,
then shoot upwards to reveal a hidden Missile Tank.  Get it then return to the
shaft.
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Go through the yellow door on the left.  In here is an X parasite plant pillar.
Freeze it then jump on it and go through the ceiling, then head left.  Kill the
enemy on the ceiling here but don't collect the parasite.  You might have to
kill it a few times, but eventually the parasite should merge into an X parasite
plant pillar.  Open the door on the left but don't go through it.  Instead,
freeze the plant pillar, then use it and the platforms to form a complete path
and start running to the left to use your speed booster.  Smash through the wall
in the next room then go up and right and you are back in the large room again.
Go up to where the speed booster blocks you broke earlier were, and shoot
through the right wall.  Go up then left to get to the upper part of the large
room.  Return to the first room through the upper left door.

Make your way to the left side of this area but resist the temptation to go in
the bottom left yellow door.  Instead, use your ice missiles on the jumping
enemies to use them as platforms to get to the top left door.  In here is a free
Missile Tank.  Now go back down and through that bottom yellow door.  Directly
above your head when you first enter is a bombable block - use a ball jump to
get a bomb there and then shoot up into it to reveal a hidden Missile Tank.  Get
that then go left.  You can no longer go through any doors, even to backtrack,
so just go up to the navigation room to get your next mission in sector 3.

-------------------------------------------
     III H. Eighth mission (sector 3)
-------------------------------------------

This mission is a bit different.  First, it is your first mission where you are
returning to an area you already cleared, and second you have a time limit of 6
minutes.  If you don't accomplish your goal by then, it's game over.  You also
can't save the game as long as the timer is going.  So let's get a move on shall
we?

Once you get to sector 3 start running right while shooting open the recharge
and save room doors.  When you get to the first main room, just keep holding
right (you should be going at speed booster speed by this point) and you'll
smash through a wall, fly forward through the air for a bit and smash through
the corner of a second wall.  Keep holding right and you'll then drop down
through some pit blocks and land right in front of the door you should go
through.  Through here is the room where you need to go up one level, freeze the
enemy and roll to the right corner to drop through the floor.  Then open the
shutter, go left to the door but not through it, and start running right so you
can destroy the speed booster blocks at the other end of the next room.  Then
walk left and drop through the pit blocks, then go right through the door to a
long vertical shaft you've been in before.

This time instead of going up, head to the bottom of the shaft and go left.
Grab the ceiling to get across the pool of lava (watch the surface of the lava,
if you see bubbles on the surface a jet of fire is about to shoot out, so watch
out for it).  Follow the only path you can up and right.  When you get to the
room where there's no ledges to get high enough, freeze the enemies that come
out of the walls to make platforms and continue.  In the next area the path
should be pretty obvious, although you should watch for a few pit blocks when
you are going across the top floor (they look like a thin layer of blocks) and
jump over them.  Keep going until you get to a Boss Door.  Defeat it and enter
the target room.

Shoot the source of the problem and an eye-beam type Core-X will appear.  Kill
it to get the Wide Beam, then use the device to stop the timer.  Now that you
don't have to worry about the timer anymore, you can grab some items on the way
back to the nav room.  Retrace your steps all the way back to the bottom of the
long vertical shaft.  Go through the right green door this time.  Bomb the
middle of the platform to find a Missile Tank.

Bomb the bottom right hand corner of this room to reveal a path going off to the
right.  Ignore the door and jump up to where the flame enemy is.  Freeze him and
stand on him to get enough height to jump up through the hole in the ceiling and
use the door up here.  The bottom of this room is a big lava pit, with several
platforms leading up and to the right.  The catch is that other than the first
one these platforms are made of pit blocks that will dump you into the lava if
you try to land on them.  Instead, freeze the enemy walking along the top of
each platform and stand on the enemy.  The enemy won't break through the pit
blocks and neither will you if you are standing on it.  Do this until you see a
ledge above you that you can jump up into.  Go there to get an Energy Tank.
Then ball jump up to the path going left and grab the Missile Tank as well.

This is all you can collect down here for now, so go back up to the top of the
tall vertical shaft and use the top left door.  Just like when you were here
before, bomb the left wall and use the upper path to get out into the hall
above.  This time destroy the blue X parasite barrier and go left to return to
the first area.  When you get to the large room, use the second door up on the
left (should lead to the only unexplored gray area on your map now) and use the
ceiling to get across the lava pit to a small room with another Missile Tank.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In this room blow up the left wall to reveal a secret area.  Shoot out all the
bricks on the ground level to make a clear path.  Go back to the right again and
start running left.  Just before you hit the left wall, press down to duck and
store your speed booster energy.  Then tap A without pressing any buttons and
you will rocket straight up through some speed booster blocks and into an area
above.  (see section II B. Advanced Techniques for details on this move).  Jump
and shoot a hole halfway up the right wall and pull yourself through that and
another hole in the next wall.  Drop down and bomb the floor at one square left
from the right wall to make a hidden lift pop up.  Use it to get the height you
need to jump up to the platform above.  Shoot out the ceiling and the left wall
to claim the Energy Tank.  Then head back the way you came.
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Make your way back to the nav room where you will receive your next mission -
back on the main deck!

-------------------------------------------
     III I. Ninth mission (main deck)
-------------------------------------------

Go up the main elevator from the sector selection area to return to the main
deck.  Head all the way right, down through the nav room, then to the top of
this shaft.  Enter the green door on the left then go up the elevator.  There's
a save room on the right if you need it - go left when ready.  Don't go through
any of the doors here, you need to get to the top of this shaft first.  Freeze
the enemy on the wall to get up to the second door.  Jump towards the next enemy
to goad him into sticking his head out all the way then freeze him like that.
Use him as a platform to get up to the top door and go through.

Go all the way to the left of this room and bomb the obvious block in the floor
to drop down.  In this level, open the shutter and shoot open the left wall.  Go
all the way right to the green door but don't go through it.  Instead run all
the way left and your speed booster will break through the floor to another
floor below.  In this floor open the security gate to your right and go get the
Missile Tank.  Then go back to the left wall and spin jump to the left to go
through an illusion black to an unmarked area.  Use the climbable walls and
freeze the enemies to make your way up to the top, then go right and you are in
the first room again.  Use the data device here to open the door and complete
your objective.

Retrace your steps to the nav room you passed through a bit ago.  Here you'll
learn of your new mission in sector 5.  On your way there, run through the
hallways going left and run right past the main elevator.  You will fly into a
secret room and smash through a wall to another Missile Tank.  Now go down the
elevator and get to sector 5's nav room to begin the next mission.

-------------------------------------------
     III J. Tenth mission (sector 5)
-------------------------------------------

After your briefing drop to the bottom of the first shaft and use the yellow
door on the left to get a Missile Tank (ball jump through an illusion block on
the bottom of the square structure to get up to it).  Use your map and memory to
make your way back to the data room shown as your target.  Use it to get Power
Bombs.  Now go through the right door, shoot out the floor, and drop to the
bottom of the shaft.  Go left and then use a power bomb (roll into a ball then
hold R and press B) to open a new hole in the floor.  Go left through the door.
As you start running left through this room you'll hear an invincible enemy come
in behind you.  Just keep going and jump over the pillar and drop down to the
other side.

You are safe for a moment - if you were quick enough the enemy won't know you
are there, but it still won't leave no matter how long you wait.  There's a
solid wall in your way, however, if you use a power bomb to destroy it you will
open the path for your pursuer to get you.  If this happens, you can just flee
to the left and through the door to get away but you'll probably take damage.
You can avoid it altogether by doing a ball jump against the left wall and
dropping a normal bomb at the height of your jump.  This will open a tunnel
leading left without alerting the enemy.  Jump up in there and use normal bombs
to open the rest of the tunnel going left, then go through the door.

Use a power bomb in this room to blow a hole in the ceiling as well as open the
path to a Power Bomb Tank.  Go up and use another power bomb to blow another
hole in the ceiling and go up.  You'll have to use your ice missiles to freeze
the floating enemies and use them as platforms to get up to the door at the top
of this shaft.  In there is another Power Bomb Tank.

Go back down and through the left door to the yellow security room, through that
and back up the shaft, through the save room and the shutter.  Use a power bomb
to destroy the orange X parasite barrier and return to the large room you've
been to a few times already.  This time you can use a power bomb to destroy an
orange X parasite barrier that has been blocking your path to the unexplored
hall that's still gray on your map.  Go in there and jump up to the top tunnel.
Note that in the area where the floating enemy is the floor is made of pit
bricks.  Wait until the enemy is in the middle of the small nook he's in and
freeze him with an ice missile (duck and fire).  Then use a ball jump to hop on
his back and drop down to the other side.  Repeat this with the second flying
enemy.  When you get past him don't drop down yet - the floor just below is made
of pit blocks, try jumping to the left and land as close as possible to the
Power Bomb Tank.  Get it and exit to the right.

There's nothing else to collect right now so go all the way back to the nav room
where you will be told to head to your ship back on the main deck.

-------------------------------------------
     III K. Eleventh mission (main deck)
-------------------------------------------

Go up the main elevator from the sector selection area.  Shoot the right wall
and go through the tunnel.  Follow the obvious path right until you get to a
frozen room.  Roll around the floor here until you drop through some pit blocks.
When you hit the floor use a power bomb to open a secret tunnel off to the left.
Follow it to the end, then use another power bomb to reveal a hidden Power Bomb
Tank.  Head back right and follow the path until you get to a dead end.  Use a
power bomb to reveal the path leading up and nab the Missile Tank that is
revealed.  This path will lead you back to a section you've been in before.
Return to your ship as you were instructed.

After saving at the ship and getting further instructions, go left until you get
to the vertical shaft with the red door.  Use a power bomb on the ground level
to reveal a hidden path to the left.  Go left and drop down through a bombable
floor, then through the door to a very large room.  Your goal here is to get to
the top right door.  Use the platforms and the climbable walls to get there.
Run through the hall beyond and get the free Energy Tank.  In the next room is a
lot of destructible bricks.  Find your way downwards.  About halfway down will
be a small tunnel going left through some destructible blocks that leads to a
Missile Tank.  Eventually (use power bombs if you get stuck to reveal more
destructible blocks) you should be able to get to the Boss Door near the bottom.
Defeat it and go through.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
This boss can really do a lot of damage if it touches you while it is moving
around.  It moves in a slant wise movement pattern and kind of bounces off the
walls and floors (think Pong) so you can guess where it will move next to get
out of the way by just moving left or right (usually if you roll into a ball and
get in the corner you'll be out of the way).  It then stops for a second and
either changes direction or starts to fire some flames to the floor.  While it
is charging up to fire the flames is your opportunity to hurt it.  Get right
underneath it and blast missiles or charged shots right up into it.  You can
also stand to the side and use the L button to fire them slant wise into its
exposed mouth.  Hit it as many times as you can while it is exposed.  The flames
will make it even harder to dodge, but they do less damage then it does if it
catches you so keep that in mind.  Hit it enough times and it will go into a
second form.  In this form it just bounces around and fires projectiles down.
These projectiles can be destroyed with your shots before they hit you.
Honestly you can just stand in one spot, aim straight up the air, and just fire
a constant stream of missiles and it should get hit without hitting you very
often.  Every time a missile hits it it bounces up a little so it can't drop
down enough to hit you.  Or if you prefer you can attempt to dodge and shoot.
Once it's gone a flashing-type Core-X will appear.  Take it out to get the Space
Jump, which allows you to spin jump repeatedly in the air, gaining as much
height as you need.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Use the new Space Jump to go up and through a hatch in the ceiling leading to
the left.  Use the device in this room to complete an objective, then go left to
a nav room to get instructions on your next mission, which will take place in
sector 2.  We need to get to this sector through an alternate route though.  Go
left and back to the large room from before.  Drop down and use the door on the
right for a save room.

Using the Space Jump go to the very top left corner of the very large room.
There is some weeds there, blast them to reveal a small hole up in the top
corner.  Space jump up to it and go on through.  Bomb your way through the
tunnel and you'll find yourself in sector 2.

-------------------------------------------
     III L. Twelfth mission (sector 2)
-------------------------------------------

Go left and prepare for a difficult encounter.  Below you is an invincible enemy
with your only defense being that you can freeze it for a few seconds.  As soon
as you drop down, fire an ice missile to freeze it.  Jump over it and go through
the door on the left.  Plant a power bomb in this room near the wall in your way
and try to freeze your pursuer as soon as it enters the room with more ice
missiles.  After the power bomb is done wait and keep it frozen with ice
missiles until you are ready to make a run for it.  In the next room shoot the
button on the ceiling of the first shutter, then turn around and freeze it
again.  Continue through the other shutters freezing the enemy whenever possible
until you get to the next room.  In this room, as quick as you can jump up onto
the pillar and drop down to the other side of it.  Just hide here for a bit and
the enemy will come in, not see you, and leave.  You are now free to explore
without fear.  If you are too slow and it sees you before you get over there
you'll have to either die and start over or use a bomb at the top of the pillar
to reveal a hidden tunnel.  Then go up in there and roll right drop down and go
out the door.  Wait until it follows you out and freeze it again, then go back
in and try again.

Now that that's over, go right and bomb the floor just outside of the door to
reveal a missile block in the floor.  Jump, aim straight down while in the air
and blast that block with a missile.  Drop down and head left to get to the
bottom of a tall vertical shaft.  Use your space jump to get up to an area with
a bunch of weeds.  Blast them out of your way and shoot out the floor beneath
them.  Drop down to the doorway below and go through.  Continue left and use the
space jump again in the large room to get to the top of it.  While going up the
left wall don't miss out on the Power Bomb Tank found by shooting out the thin
walls to the right.  Exit out the top door and use the Save Room.  Go right,
straight through the next room and through another door.  Look at the ceiling
for some blocks you can shoot, then go up there.  Blast the weeds out of the way
and continue going up and right to the Boss Door.  Defeat it and go through,
then drop down to the boss.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
This boss takes a lot of missiles to kill but isn't all that dangerous.  If you
fall into the plants down below, don't struggle right away, it will just make it
worse.  Wait a second then hold down the A button to float out of it.  Get on
the pillar on the right.  Now start blasting the boss to your right with
missiles as fast as you can.  After a barrage of missiles turn around and use
your regular beam to destroy any of the little yellow things floating around
before any get close enough to hurt you.  You can also just use Power Bombs to
both hurt the boss and clear out the yellow things at the same time.  Either way,
Keep blasting away at the boss until it goes into its second stage.  In this
stage it will fire green lasers at you, either high or low.  Just duck the high
ones and jump over the low ones, but keep blasting it with missiles constantly.
When it is dead one of the eye-beam type Core-Xs will appear, destroy it to get
the Plasma Beam, which is a significant boost to your fire power.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Go right into the next room and have fun using your new beam to easily destroy
the enemies.  Now you're really starting to get powerful.  Drop down and go back
left until you get to the vertical shaft again.  Get to the top of it using your
space jump and go through the right side door.  In this room jump against the
right wall until you grab a hidden ledge and roll right.  Use a power bomb to
reveal the Energy Tank hidden in this room.  Go back left and through the left
door at the top of the shaft.  Roll on through this until you pop out in a large
room from way back when you first came to sector 2.  Use a power bomb to get out
of the tunnel.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
After dropping down out of the tunnel roll right along the floor to return to an
area you've been to before.  Drop down, go left, and drop down this long
vertical shaft.  About half way down go in the door on the left that you
couldn't enter before.  In this room attach yourself to the ceiling then aim
down and freeze one of the flying enemies with an ice missile (do it when he's
just to the right of the wall in your way).  Stand on it then using L+down (to
aim slant down) freeze the other flying enemy when it is on the other side of
that wall.  Roll in ball form from the first frozen enemy to the second, then
jump up onto the ledge to claim the Power Bomb Tank.  If you touch any of these
platforms you'll fall through and have to start over.  It's pretty tricky to get
them frozen in the right positions.  After getting the prize you should drop
down a tunnel along the left wall.  When you hit bottom use a regular bomb to
reveal a second Power Bomb Tank.  Bomb your way out then go up the wall and back
out the door.
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Return to the navigation room that you used when you came to this sector the
first time.  Your next mission starts in sector 5.

-------------------------------------------
     III M. Thirteenth mission (sector 5)
-------------------------------------------

After your briefing, go back to the first large room.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Get to the top of this room using ice missiles on the jumping enemies.  Shoot
open the door on the left but don't go through it.  Go all the way to the right
destroying any enemies in your way.  When you are on the far right wall, start
running left and just before the pit press down to get a speed booster warp
charge.  Tap A once (like a straight up jump, not a spin jump) and then
immediately hold left.  You will begin warping to the left through the door you
already opened, into the small room and through the wall on the other side.
Claim your Power Bomb Tank and return to the large room.
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Continue on using your previous knowledge of this area and the map to get to the
red door leading to the only non-explored area on your map.  The door is open
now so go on through.  Use a power bomb to open the ceiling.  Keep going upwards
using power bombs to find your way up until you get the Power Bomb Tank at the
top.  Go through the doorway here which is a shortcut to sector 3.  In the
second part of the shortcut use a power bomb to reveal another Power Bomb Tank.
Go back to sector 5 and drop down.

Go right, jump over the pit, and continue right until you reach a dead end.
Bomb the floor and drop through.  You are under water now and your movement is
restricted, be careful.  Go through the door and to the right side of this hall,
then jump up onto the ledge above and make your way up and left to another door.
Use the steps on the wall to get up out of the water and go through the door on
top.  In this room shoot out the ceiling then go up and left to a small room
hiding a Power Bomb Tank (use a power bomb to find it if needed).  Go back right
across the upper levels of this room and jump through the hole you see in the
ceiling.  Don't go through the door though, instead drop a power bomb to reveal
a hidden passage going left.  Use that and go through the door on the other end
to find a hidden refill room.  After you are filled up exit the room and
immediately use another power bomb to reveal the tunnel and a Power Bomb Tank.
While you are rolling through the tunnel keep jumping until you find the hole in
the ceiling and roll over to get it.  Now go through the door on the right for a
save room.

Drop down then head right.  Go through the hole in the ceiling of this hallway
and defeat the Boss Door.  Go in and you'll see an Energy Tank but don't get it
yet!  Instead, drop a power bomb to reveal that if you'd gone for it, you'd fall
through some pit blocks.  Instead use the hidden tunnel up above to roll over to
it and get it.  Then drop down through the pit blocks to fight the boss.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
This boss seems to track you more than most do, instead of just moving around in
a pattern.  If you are up on the climbable wall he will come and try to shoot
you, so drop down just before he does.  Then he'll come to get you down there,
so jump back up.  At some point though you need to use L to aim slant up and get
underneath him enough to shoot the spinning thing he has between the two arms.
Use missiles or fully charged beam shots.  Try jumping up on the wall to lure
him up there then quickly drop down to get underneath him.  After a bit he will
make it so you can't jump very high at all and your missiles will just drop to
the floor.  At this point you need to wait until he hovers up a bit and get
directly underneath him.  Then hold up and start blasting missiles (hop up a
little for extra height if needed).  If the dropping behavior of the missiles
makes it too hard for you, use charged shots instead since they will do the
damage but not be affected like the missiles are.  Eventually you will destroy
the spinning device and the boss will go on to another stage of his attack.

In the second stage of this fight, the boss will fly around the room trying to
hit you.  After a bit he will stop and start slowly drifting to the left while
shooting.  This is your time to fight back.  Grab the climbable wall and
position yourself just above where his shots are hitting.  Then aim right at his
head and start firing missiles like there's no tomorrow.  If they are bouncing
off him you are too high or too low.  Repeat this until he finally bursts into a
flashing-type Core-X.  Destroy it to gain the Gravity Suit, which grants free
movement in water and lava (without taking damage from the lava).
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Shoot open the door but don't go through it.  Go all the way to the right side
of the boss room then start running left and through the door.  Keep running to
smash through a wall.  Go through the door and you are back in a room you were
in previously.  Now technically your objective is to get back to the navigation
room, but you'll soon find that the way back is blocked by the pit blocks you
used to come in here.  So you'll have to take a detour through sector 4 and use
the nav room there.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Go all the way back to the shaft where you first fell into the water (use your
map, but remember you have to get there through the lower door, the upper door
is blocked).  There's a small nook about half way up the shaft on the right
side.  Directly opposite it is a missile block on the left side.  Fire a missile
at it while space jumping to open a secret tunnel going left.  When you get in
here use a power bomb to reveal the pit blocks.  However, doing so makes a
hidden lift rise up and block your path.  Memorize where the pit blocks are then
roll out of the room and reenter it to reset the lift.  Jump on the path and
jump over where you saw the pit blocks are.  After jumping the second one you
can jump straight up through an illusion block to the upper platform.  Jump over
the blocks there and get the Energy Tank (note that the blocks on the upper
platform are directly above the ones from the lower platform).
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Look on your map to notice a doorway you never went through (if you were
following the walkthrough).  It's the one on the lower right corner of bottom-
most room.  Follow the map to go there.  Open the door but don't go through it.
Clear out all the enemies along the floor here using missiles and go to the door
on the left.  From there run straight right, through the new door and right
through a few walls.  You will pop out in sector 4.  Here begins your new
mission - to get back to a nav room.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Get to the top of the sloped ramps at the beginning of sector 4, and start
running back to the left the way you came.  When you get back to sector 5 and
smash through the first wall, immediately press down to get a warp charge.  Jump
straight up in between where the two smashable walls are and you will break
through the ceiling to a room containing a Power Bomb Tank.  Then you can go
back to sector 4 again.
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

-------------------------------------------
     III N. Fourteenth mission (sector 4)
-------------------------------------------

This first room sort of ramps upwards gradually.  Get a running start (or just
continue running from when you first burst in here) and when it's about to drop
off into a pit jump and smash through a high wall to a doorway.  Go through the
door to a vertical shaft.  Use the door across from you to get to a save room.
Drop down to the door below but don't go through it.  Instead, start jumping
against the left wall opposite the door until you find an illusion block tunnel
going left.  Use it to get a Power Bomb Tank from the room you were in earlier.
Now go back and take the right side door.  Go to the end of this hall and get
the Missile Tank, then go back to the vertical shaft again.  Drop to the bottom
and go through the left door.

Going left a bit you'll see a tube-like structure.  In the second half of the
tube shoot the ceiling with a missile to blast open a hole (use a power bomb to
find the missile blocks if you need to).  Jump up through the hole you just
made.  Jump along the right wall to get up higher.  There's a bombable tunnel up
in the top right hand corner of this screen, go through it to get a Power Bomb
Tank.  Now go back and shoot out another tunnel up in the top left corner.  Go
all the way to the left and bomb some bricks out of the floor to drop down.  In
the screen below there are 4 bricks on the ground.  Bomb the second brick from
the right and drop down.  Use another bomb to drop down further.  Watch the fish
enemy here and notice how it swims through the wall on your right.  This wall
uses an illusion block, ball-jump right through it.  Drop down and roll left
through another illusion block.  Bomb the floors until you find an opening
leading down to another room.  This is the red security room, use it to unlock
all the red doors.

>>>>>EASTER EGG>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is the point at which you can access the "easter egg" noted in section IV.
SECRETS (an "easter egg" means a hidden secret in a game that most people will
never find and doesn't actually help you in any way).  Soon after this point you
will get a new weapon - once you have that weapon, you can no longer access the
easter egg.  If you want to get it, now is the time - skip down to section IV.
SECRETS for how to do it.  Once you are done, you can easily return to this
point to continue with the main path through the game.  Note, however, that
getting this easter egg is easily the most difficult thing to accomplish in this
game.  Very few players will be able to do it successfully, and you don't get
any big reward, just an odd piece of dialog.  Don't feel as if you have to do
it, it may not be worth the frustration.
>>>>>END EASTER EGG>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Go through the door in this room and space jump up the right wall.  There's a
small nook in the wall.  Go in it and then ball-jump through a hidden tunnel to
a new room.  In this room drop to the bottom.  Drop a power bomb but roll far
away from the explosion so that you don't collect all the parasites.  Let them
combine with some enemies and form gold colored enemies.  Blast open the missile
blocks and destroy the gold enemies.  Collect all the parasites and the door
will activate.  Go through, use a power bomb to make it easy and grab the Energy
Tank.  Then go back and up to the main shaft that you entered when you left the
red security room.  Go up and then go right until you get to a tunnel you
haven't been to yet.

In this tunnel is another tube-like structure.  Use a power bomb to open a hole
in it leading down to a Missile Tank.  Continue on to the right, up the shaft,
through the door and another tube and to a larger area.  If you blow up a chunk
of the wall to the right and stay along the ground level you can get to a save
room here.  Just outside of it is a ledge you can jump up to, go up there and
follow the slope.  Keep going upwards until you get to the top left corner of
this room.  There's an enemy blocking your path that puffs up when you get near.
Stand far away from the enemy and freeze it with an ice missile when it's small,
then quickly roll/ball jump past it.  Go right until you get to the top right
door.

There are two methods you can use for this next part:

Method 1:  Shoot open the door but don't go through it.  Start against the wall
to your left and begin running right while shooting open any doors in your way.
Just before you run into a X parasite plant pillar, jump and you will smash
right through it.  Get the Missile Tank then use a morph ball and roll right -
you'll go through an illusion block and drop to a tunnel below.

Method 2:  Go through the door and head right until your path is blocked by the
X parasite plant pillar.  Get right up next to it and then start running left
while shooting your beams as fast as you can to open any doors in your way.  You
should run all the way back to the large room from a bit ago and break through
the floor if you gain enough speed.  Use the door down there to get to a new
tunnel.  Before going through the door at the right side of this tunnel, notice
the hole in the ceiling.  Space jump up there while holding left and you should
grab a hidden ledge.  Roll left to get to the item on the other side of the X
parasite plant pillar, then go back and drop down.

>>>>>Side Path>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Clear out the enemies on the ground level of the long tunnel.  Starting from the
left side, run right and just before the door tap down to store a warp charge.
Line yourself up under the hole in the ceiling and jump straight up to warp up
through it and break some speed booster blocks.  Hold right and grab the Power
Bomb Tank.
<<<<<End Side Path<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Go through the door to get to a vertical shaft.  Dodge the enemies or freeze
them as platforms and get to the top of the shaft.  You'll have to blast out a
thin line of blocks it the ceiling with missiles to get to a door.  Use a power
bomb in the next room to clear it quickly and head left.  Drop down and enter
the data room to get Diffusion Missiles (hold R to charge then B to fire).

Use the diffusion missiles when far away from the enemies that puff up to freeze
them in a dormant state, then roll left past them.  Go through the hidden tunnel
at the bottom left corner of this room.  Blast the blue X parasite barrier with
some missiles then go to the left end of this room.  There's a Missile Tank
hidden in the left wall.  Get it then go back to the room with the enemies that
puff up.  Take the left door and you should be back in a familiar section of
sector 4.

There's one more item you can grab before returning to the nav room.  You can
probably see it as a circle on your map.  Go to the big room in the middle of
the sector and use power bombs to reveal the path to the last Power Bomb Tank.
If you've been following this walkthrough you should now have every item you can
get in sector 4.  Go use the nav room in this sector to be sent to sector 6 for
your next mission.

-------------------------------------------
     III O. Fifteenth mission (sector 6)
-------------------------------------------

Using your map to navigate, head right to the first vertical shaft.  Take the
door on the left about halfway down the shaft.  Use a power bomb to blast open
the left wall of this corridor, and continue left.  Go down, through the door,
and drop down to the floor (and now you're trapped and unable to get back to the
nav room just like in mission 13).  Take the door on your left when you hit
bottom.  Continue left through another door, drop down and shoot the floor, and
continue following the only available path until you hit a shutter you can't get
through.  Once you do that you need to back track (use the save room on the
right as you head back up) until you get to the room you fell down into.
There's a boss here now.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
As soon as you enter the room, use a power bomb to reveal a climbable ceiling.
The floor is electrified water that will damage you to touch it, so you need
this ceiling for this boss fight.  You've fought a boss just like this one
before.  You need to get above it and fire down into its core with missiles (you</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
can also sometimes get a shot or two in using L to aim slant down).  However,
this time as it hops around it can hop high enough to hit you at the top of its
jump.  This will knock you down into the damaging water.  Try to move left and
right and notice its jumping patterns to avoid getting knocked off.  You are
less likely to get hit if you are on the far left or right side of the ceiling.
When the boss stops hopping around is the best time to blast him, but a second
after that his vulnerable spot will become protected and he will fire a barrage
of homing missiles.  Use your regular beam shots to destroy the missiles
(easiest to do this a bit to the side of the boss and aim left or right and
shoot them, so start moving away from the boss when he gets ready to fire
missiles so you can get in a good position to shoot them down before they hit
you).  Keep hitting the core as often as you can until it becomes an eye-beam
type Core-X.  The water is no longer dangerous at this stage so drop down and
take care of it like you normally would.  You will be granted the Wave Beam,
which allows your shots to go through walls and more importantly, allows you to
open shutters from the wrong side by shooting through them and hitting the
switch on the other side.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Go right out of the boss room and use your new wave beam to open the shutter and
get a Missile Tank.  Since you can't go back the way you came to the nav room
you need to take a detour through the main deck and sector 1.  To that end go
left and follow the path from a bit ago to the shutter that you couldn't get
through before and use your wave beam to get past it.  Roll through the small
tunnel to enter a new area on the main deck map.  Use the red door and go
through the save room.  Go as far left as you can, then jump up and use the red
door on the second level.  You'll come to a dead end but you'll hear some
commotion from down below.  Backtrack to the room below this one.  The ceiling
will collapse and a new path is open to you above you.  Space jump to the very
top of this area and exit through to top right door.  Continue to a nav room
where you'll get your next mission - which is simply to get back to the main
deck.  Of course, you'll have to go through sector 1 to do that.

-------------------------------------------
     III P. Sixteenth mission (sector 1)
-------------------------------------------

You'll start in a new unexplored area of sector 1.  In the first room jump to
the top of a thin pillar and use a power bomb.  This will reveal some missile
blocks in the way of an Energy Tank.  Use a charged diffusion missile to take
out the blocks and get it.  This will also freeze some of the enemies in your
way.  Drop down and follow the path around to get to the top right door and go
through.  Continue going all the way to the right until you reach a save room.
Use that then go back out and use a power bomb to reveal a hole in the floor.
Drop down to the room below.

Use 2 fully charged beam shots to destroy the enemy but don't collect the
parasite.  Stay away from it until it forms into another enemy on the ceiling.
Blast that one with a missile and again don't collect the parasite until it
forms a gold colored enemy.  To defeat this enemy you need to hit it in the back
with a few missiles.  Either jump over it or get close and wait for it to jump
over you to expose its back.  When it is gone quickly collect all the parasites
and the door on the right will unlock.  Go through to get a Power Bomb Tank.
Then go back up through the hole in the ceiling you used to get down here.

Climb up to the top of this shaft and use a power bomb to reveal a tunnel going
up through the ceiling along with a climbable wall to get up there.  Go through
the door.  Use a power bomb to destroy both the walls and the enemies, but let
at least 2 parasites from the enemies form into a gold colored enemy.  Hit the
gold colored enemy in the back with missiles by either jumping over it or
letting it jump over you.  Collect all the parasites you can and destroy all the
enemies in this hallway (you'll probably have to fight a second gold colored one
too).  Once every enemy is defeated and all the parasites are collected the door
on the left will unlock.  Go through it, then go up and through the door above
you to get to a save room you can use.

The bottom right door just leads to a dead end with no purpose at all, but you
might as well explore it just to mark it as explored on your map.  The real goal
is the bottom left door though.  Use regular ice missiles or diffusion missiles
to freeze the enemies in this hall and get to the door on the other end.  It's a
Boss Door.  Defeat it then go through.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
This boss is really easy.  Get into the bottom right hand corner, duck, and hold
down R for your missiles and L to aim slant up.  Then just blast away at the
boss as fast as you can shoot (don't bother charging them up into diffusion
missiles, firing speed is what you need).  If it gets right above you aim up,
and if it gets directly to the side aim sideways.  The key is to ignore the
damage you take and just plug as many missiles into it as you can as fast as you
can.  There's no particular vulnerable spot so no need to aim carefully, just
shoot (the only part you can't hurt is the tail, but big deal it doesn't get in
the way much).  It will eventually knock you away from your corner - don't worry
about it, just keep hitting it with missiles, there's no need to get back in the
corner really.

Occasionally the boss may pick you up, just make sure you are facing it and keep
shooting and it will let you go.  If you run out of missiles (unlikely if you've
been using this walkthrough) you can use charged shots to finish him off.  He'll
become a flashing-type Core-X as usual.  Defeat that to get the all-powerful
Screw Attack.  This thing makes you invincible when spin jumping or space
jumping and destroys ANY non-boss enemy (including gold enemies and X parasite
barriers) instantly if they touch you while you are doing it.  It also takes
care of all the Screw Attack blocks that you haven't been able to get through
before now.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Exit the boss room, use the screw attack to destroy the enemies in this hall as
you fly through with space jumps, then go up in the next room and use the save
room.  Exit through the top right door.  Go all the way right and bomb the floor
to get down.  About halfway down is a climbable wall on the left side.  While on
it aim a charged diffusion missile to the right and shoot it at the wall to open
a passage to the door there.  Go through, use the wave beam to open the shutter,
and continue following the path.  Use the screw attack to destroy any walls or
floors that get in your way, and the wave beam to open any shutters.  Eventually
you'll come to a tall vertical shaft that you can space jump up to get to the
top.  You'll smash through a yellow floor and be back into an explored area of
sector 1.

Go right until you get to the vertical shaft, up all the way then back left.
Stay on the ground level and go all the way left until you fall through some pit
blocks.  Now you have a choice to make.  You can either go on with the plot of
the game and do the final mission, or you can do some of the most difficult
tasks in the game to get 100% of the items.  Before deciding, be sure to read
the below:

IMPORTANT NOTE: After you go to any nav room and are given the final mission,
you can NOT return to any sectors, all the doors will be locked leading back.
This will prevent you from getting any items you've missed.  HOWEVER, if you
then pass the game and load up your saved game, you will be back at the point
you last saved BUT all the doors will be unlocked allowing you to go back and
get all the stuff you missed and then beat it again.  So it's all a matter of
whether or not you want to get the ending you earn for getting 100% now or get a
different ending and then go back and get the 100% one.

If you decide to go for the final mission now, follow your map to get to the nav
room in sector 1.  Then skip down to the final mission section of this
walkthrough.  If you want to go gather up the last bunch of items to get 100%,
then read on.

-------------------------------------------
     III Q. Side mission - getting 100%
-------------------------------------------

NOTE: Normally items that are this hard to obtain using tricks like speed
booster warps and wall jumps, I have put in separate >>>>side path>>>> sections
in the rest of the walkthrough.  However, I consider this entire section to be a
side path, so keep in mind that a lot of these will be VERY hard even with this
guide and will test the limits of your Metroid-playing skills.

You may be wondering, "Why didn't you mention these items when I was already in
these areas?  Why wait until now to get them?"  The items in this section were
not listed earlier for one of two reasons.  1) The item was not obtainable until
you had a certain ability, but once that ability was gained you never returned
to this sector for any of your missions or 2) for most of them, you need the
screw attack to get to it which you just barely obtained.

>>>>>Sector 1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Okay, let's start from where you just fell through some pit bricks in sector 1
(for reference it is 2 rooms to the right of the save room that's in the middle
of the sector 1 map).  There's 2 secrets that start right here.  Power bomb the
room to reveal a path going off to the right.  You can't really do anything with
it yet though, you'll get to that in a minute.  What you need to do is go left
until you get to a save room.  Now starting from the far left wall of the save
room, start running right while firing as fast as you can to both open doors and
destroy the enemies in your path.  When you get to the hole in the wall, press
down to hold a speed warp charge (you should be at speed booster speed by then).
Then do a spin jump to the right and off the edge, and your screw attack should
smash through the enemy as you fall down the pit.  As quick as you can, get up
right against the right wall and tap A to do a speed booster warp straight up.
It will probably take several practice runs to do this, the hard part is getting
down there and in position before the charge for the warp move wears off.  When
you hit the ceiling hold left to grab the ledge.  Bomb around here to find a
Power Bomb Tank.

Okay, now for the other item from this area.  Go back to the save room and
starting from the left wall run to the right while shooting just like before.
As soon as you get to speed booster speed press down to hold the charge.  Now
you need to, very quickly, space jump up the left shaft and land on the small
ledge next to the upper left door.  Tap B once to shoot the door then
immediately tap A with no directions pressed to start the warp.  You need to
hold left after tapping A and you'll start warping to the left.  Keep holding
left because as you are warping through the next room you'll hit a slope which
will make you start running again.  Just before you fall down a very short drop,
tap down to hold the charge again.  Spin-jump to the left and get up against the
left wall, then tap A to warp straight up through some speed booster blocks in
the ceiling of this room.  This leads you to a hidden room with an Energy Tank.

Drop down from the secret room and use the upper right door to get out of this
large room.  Go up through the ceiling.  Go right until you hit the vertical
shaft, then go up and through the top left door.  In this other shaft take the
first door you see on the left leading to a long corridor.  Go all the way
through there and through 2 more doors to a room filled with lava.  Drop to the
bottom of the lava pit then roll through a small tunnel to the right for a
Missile Tank.  Space jump to the top left hand corner of the room for another
Missile Tank.

Drop down under the lava and use the green door to go left, then go up the shaft
and through the blue door on the right.  Above you is the refill room and save
room, you can use those but don't go into the navigation room unless you are
ready to start the final mission.  Now go through the door at the top right of
this room to a small room you've probably not been in before.  Do a space jump
through the ceiling to a hidden room containing an easy-to-get Power Bomb Tank.
Now jump against the right wall of this room until you find a hidden ledge, then
go right until you end up in sector 2.

>>>>>Sector 2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Continue right and use your screw attack to break through the wall and take out
the X parasite plant pillars until you get back to familiar areas of this
sector.  The first thing you need to do in this sector is get to the boss room.
Use your map and look for the boss icon, it's in a 4-square-large room down in
the bottom right corner of your map.  If you've forgotten, remember that to get
to the boss room you have to go to the room above it and drop down.  The door
from the long vertical shaft that you previously used to get there is now melted
shut - you'll have to take the door above that, space jump over the tall wall
and go through the door, then use a power bomb to get down to where the save
room before the boss room is.  Once you get to the actual boss room space jump
to the upper right hand corner where there's a small ledge.  You can use your
screw attack to break through the wall here and go down a hall to another large
room with two items to get.

To get the first item, drop down to the floor level and use a power bomb to
reveal the hidden bricks you are trying to get through.  Now go all the way to
the right side.  Then start running left and just before you hit the wall, tap
down to store up a speed booster warp charge.  Now spin jump to the right then
while in mid air, either tap up or fire with B to break out of the spin then
immediately tap A without pressing any directions to begin the warp.  Hold right
so you'll warp to the right through the speed booster blocks and get the Missile
Tank.  This will probably take a few tries.

Okay now for the other item.  Note that if you leave the game running long
enough on the Press Start screen you'll see a demo of how to get this item.
Starting at the bottom left hand corner, run right and just before you hit the
wall tap down to store a speed booster warp charge.  Spin jump left onto the
platform above.  Tap A to begin the warp but hold left.  When you hit the slope
you'll start running again and run right over the pit blocks.  Just before you
hit the other wall, tap down to store another charge.  Spin jump to the right
then warp right and you'll hit another slope.  Again store another charge before
you hit the wall, spin jump left and warp left, and then again store the charge,
spin jump, and warp to the right.  Now for this last one, store the charge
before you hit the wall and spin jump up onto the ledge.  When you warp left
there's a ledge halfway across that will stop your progress.  Just before you
hit this ledge, press down again to stop and store another charge (there's a few
bricks just before the small ledge that won't collapse so you can do this).
Then spin jump onto the ledge and begin a final warp to the left.  You'll smash
through the speed booster blocks and get the Power Bomb Tank.  If you mess up at
all you'll have to start the whole thing over.  Fun eh?

Okay two more items to go in this sector.  Backtrack all the way back up to the
first large room in this sector (the one you would be in as you first exited the
nav room/save room/refill room chain).  You need to go through the top right
hand door of this room.  Go all the way right, then up and left into the blue
security room.  Space jump up to the top left hand corner of this room and your
screw attack will break away a wall leading to a secret area.  In the large room
beyond use a few power bombs to see the real problem - basically every block in
here is a pit block!  You need to use your best space jumping skills to get to
the Energy Tank up in the top left corner.  There's also a Power Bomb Tank a bit
below it.  Both take very careful space jumping to avoid the pit blocks.  The
best hint I can give is that if you touch the pit blocks keep jumping while
holding the direction you want to go, you may still be able to make it to your
goal.  Don't give up until one closes over your head.

Okay now that we're done there, we need to use a secret exit to get to another
sector.  Go back to the blue security room and exit right, then drop to the
bottom of this room.  The bottom right wall can be broken through with a screw
attack.  This will lead to a secret entrance to sector 4.  Now, if you've been
following the walkthrough you should already have everything in sector 4, but
you're just passing through.  Using the space jump, fly up continuously until
you can't go any higher (you'll go through the ceiling into another shaft but
just keep going up).  Use a diffusion missile to clear out all the missile
blocks here (this is right near where you first got diffusion missiles).  Go up
into the little square area up in the top right hand corner, then roll in to a
ball and start ball jumping while holding right to find an illusion block tunnel
leading to another secret path, this time to sector 6.

>>>>>Sector 6>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Go right, using the screw attack to destroy the walls until you pop out in the
first room of sector 6 (after the nav room/save room/refill room chain).  Go
right as far as you can go, you should end up at the top of a short vertical
shaft.  Drop down and take the first door you see on the left.  In this hallway
is a brick sticking out of the ground which can only be destroyed by a screw
attack.  Destroy it to get a hallway long enough to do a speed booster run (this
brick is why you couldn't do this part earlier).

Clear out the hallway and open the right door leading back to the shaft you just
came from.  Starting from the left side run right and through the door.  As soon
as you exit the door tap down to get a speed booster warp charge.  Hold still
and tap A to begin the warp, but then immediately hold right to begin warping
right. You'll smash through a bunch of speed booster blocks and hit a door.  Go
through.

Now here's a tricky puzzle.  You need to make a complete ramp in order to get
enough speed to not only get the item here but even to get back out!  If you use
some power bombs you'll soon see the problem - bombs activate horizontal
platforms that make the path for you, however, they also activate vertical lifts
that block your path!  Make a note of where every vertical lift is, then exit
the room and go back to reset the puzzle.  What you need to do is drop normal
bombs along the top of each of the platforms to get the horizontal platforms to
pop out, but avoid bombing any spot that a vertical lift came out of.  Also, the
spot you need to bomb to get the horizontal platform to pop out is different for
each platform.  To help you, here is a brief chart.

==H=V=__=V=HH=__H=VH__=V=H=V==

On this chart = means regular block, V means vertical lift (avoid bombing here),
_ is just the pit you are trying to cover, and H is where you should bomb to
make a horizontal platform pop out.  So bomb all the H spots but be careful that
you don't bomb the V spots.  Once you've got a nice full platform with no
vertical lifts blocking your path, run across it to the right and jump at the
last second to get the Energy Tank.  Now be careful not to mess up when trying
to leave this room or you might have to remake the platform.  Open the door
leading out but don't go through it.  Starting from the right side run left and
just before you fall off the platform, press down to get a speed booster warp
charge.  Then tap A to begin the warp and hold left to warp through the doorway
and continue through the speed booster blocks blocking your path.

Now that you are out of there go left through the door back into the room you
used to get the speed booster charge.  Destroy the enemies and the screw attack
blocks like before.  This time, start from the door you entered and run left.
Just before you hit the raised platform press down to get a speed booster warp
charge.  Spin jump up onto the platform, shoot open the door, and warp left
through the open doorway.  You'll fly right through a bunch of speed booster
blocks and hit the opposite wall of a very large puzzle room with two items to
gain.

For the first item, drop down to the bottom of the room and start in either
corner.  Run towards the opposite end and when you get to speed booster speed,
press down to hold the charge.  Aim for about the middle of the platform above
you and warp straight up.  You should see the item you are after above you when
you hit the ceiling.  What you need to look for is the wall just to the left of
the item.  Make note of how far away it is from where you hit the ceiling before
you drop down.  When you get back to the ground, note which block in the
platform was destroyed from you bursting through it.  Use that as a reference
point and repeat the warp move, this time aiming so that you'll hit the wall to
the left of the Power Bomb Tank.  This wall is the only one you can hit from
below and keep on going.

Okay now for the other item.  To do this one, start in the bottom left corner
and run right.  When you are just about to hit the wall, tap down to store a
speed booster warp charge.  Spin jump left onto the platform, tap A to begin the
warp and hold left.  When you hit the slope, immediately start tapping A
repeatedly so that you space jump while still moving at speed booster speed.
Keep this up and try to drop in through the roof of the squared off area
containing the second Power Bomb Tank.  It will probably take a few tries to get
the space jumps just right so that you fall through the ceiling.  Claim your
prize and exit back the way you came.  Jump up and use the tunnel in the ceiling
then drop down through the pit block to get out.

Don't go through the red door, instead drop down and go right.  If you are quick
you can jump over the pit block and use a screw attack to break through the
walls on your right.  If you fall, don't worry.  Just go right and through the
door and then screw attack right up through the ceiling.  Either way use a power
bomb to reveal your goal and the problem you have to get past.  There's 2 ways
you can do it.  You can just go into ball form, get up in the tunnel, and roll
right while repeatedly tapping A.  When you hit the pit block if you tap A
quickly enough you'll be able to jump back up and onto the opposite ledge to get
the Power Bomb Tank.  Alternatively, you can wait until an enemy crawls up in
there and freeze it with a diffusion missile and use it as a platform.

Okay now you've got everything in sector 6, time to use a secret exit to the
next sector.  Use the door on the left, screw attack through the walls and
continue left.  Go up, through the red door, then right until you get back to
that same vertical shaft you've been in several times already.  This time go all
the way up to the top of the shaft and use your screw attack to smash through
the right wall opposite the top door.  This leads to sector 5.  Now just like
sector 4, if you've used the walkthrough and done all the side tasks you should
have all the items in this area already, so you're just passing through.  Go
right staying even with the hallway you just came in through (screw attack
through the wall of course) until you go through the blasted-open door (that
used to be a red door according to your map).  Use a power bomb to destroy the
ceiling then go up and right to connect to sector 3.

>>>>>Sector 3>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Go up then right until you get to the first room of this sector.  Take the
bottom right hand door.  Shoot open the shutter then make a running start from
the left end of this room and through the next one to smash open the blocks in
the floor, then fall through.  Use a power bomb in this room to open a secret
tunnel going left.  Go through there and get a Power Bomb Tank.

Go right and fall down to the very bottom of this tall vertical shaft, then go
left through the door.  Continue left through the lava pit room and in the next
room use a power bomb to open a hole in the floor.  Drop down to the secret room
below.

This is a small under-lava maze filled with plenty of illusion blocks.  Go down
as far as you can, then go right until you hit the wall (and you may fall
through the floor, just jump up back out again and onto the small ledge on the
right).  Jump up through an illusion block ceiling and go right, fall down all
the way then roll left all the way.  Jump up to the ceiling and use the small
tunnel up at the top going right.  Hop over and get your Power Bomb Tank.
Continue rolling right to fall through some pit blocks and then jump up out of
the hole you made to get here.  Head right back through the lava room and to the
bottom of the long vertical shaft, and this time take the other green door.

Blast open the right wall with a power bomb if you haven't been here before,
then go right.  Take the bottom right door and shoot open the shutter in the
lava room beyond.  Go into the lava itself and get to the very bottom right
corner of this room.  Use a screw attack to smash the wall leading to another
secret room.  Don't go in the doorway here, just shoot it open then go back
left.  Starting at the left side of the lava pit, run to the right and through
the doorway.  In the next room tap down before you hit the wall to get a speed
booster charge, then go right until you are against the right wall and warp
straight up.  You'll hit a Power Bomb Tank on the way up.  When you hit the
ceiling, let yourself fall back through the last hole you made then hold left so
that you land on a platform you passed on the way up.  Screw attack through the
ceiling, go left, and screw attack back down through the floor to get a second
Power Bomb Tank.

Space jump back up to the ceiling and go left through the door.  Go through this
hall and into the next one (which you've been in before).  Screw attack through
the wall.  Start shooting the ceiling as you go and halfway down this hall space
jump up the gap in the ceiling.  Jump left until you see an item behind some
speed booster blocks (to the right is a shortcut back to sector 1, if you were
wondering).  Drop back down to the hallway and clear out the enemies.  Go all
the way left to the door, then start running right. Just before you hit the hole
in the floor tap down to hold a speed booster charge.  Start the warp and hold
left+up.  You'll warp slantwise right through the speed booster blocks and get a
Missile Tank.

Drop back down to the hallway below.  This time starting from the right side run
left and tap down just before the door to store a speed booster warp charge.
Shoot open the door, then tap A to start the warp and hold left to fly in that
direction.  When you hit the wall use a power bomb to reveal a tunnel you should
use.  Go through it to get a Power Bomb Tank.  Continue left to drop down
through some pit blocks.  Continue going left and you're back in the first room.

>>>>>Main Deck>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now to get the last item, we need to get back to sector 6 again.  To that end,
take the second door up on the left of this first room then go all the way left
to get to sector 5 (remember you have to screw attack through the floor to get
down to the exit).  Once in sector 5 power bomb the floor then go left.  Use the
map to find your way back to the starting room for this sector then take the
yellow door going left, screw attack the wall, and on through to sector 6 again.
In sector 6 continue left until you hit a wall then screw attack through it.
Drop down to the second door on the left (the one with the hall you kept using
to charge up speed boosts).  Go left through that, through the door, down,
right, and fall through the blocks to the area where you fought a boss
previously.  Then go left, down, left some more, down some more, and left yet
more until you get to the main deck.

Once your map shows you are on the main deck go left and use the save room to
save (trust me, if you screw the next part up you can't go back!).  Starting
from the right wall run left while shooting open the doors in the way.  When you
are about to hit the end of the tube tap down to get a speed booster charge.
Now it is important that you line this up right because you don't get a second
try (unless you load your saved game or come back after beating the game).  Line
yourself up so you are hidden behind a thin green wall that's in the foreground.
Then tap A and warp straight upwards.  If you lined it up right you'll hit a
Power Bomb Tank on the way up.  When you hit the top and go right, you'll be in
a navigation room where you'll be forced to continue to the last mission (this
is why I saved this item for last, you could have done it earlier while you were
in sector 6 but then you'd have to pass the game, load the saved game, and go
back to get the rest of the stuff.  This is the only way to do it to get 100%
before passing the game the first time).

-------------------------------------------
     III R. Final mission (main deck)
-------------------------------------------

You'll have to talk to the computer twice in order to start this mission.  From
whichever navigation room you ended up in you'll need to get back to the sector
selection area then use the main elevator.  At the top of the elevator, now back
on the main deck, start running right until you smash through some bricks then
go through the door.  There's a shortcut hidden in the top right hand corner of
this room, space jump against the wall to find it.  Use the screw attack to get
through.  Then go up to the top of the next room and use a screw attack to
destroy the orange X parasite barrier.  Go through the door.  Jump up onto the
ledge on the right, then roll into ball form and hop up while holding right to
find a hidden tunnel (you can just roll straight right but it won't get you
there, you need to jump and use the higher tunnel).  Once inside the wall go
right, hop up, right some more and fall down, then left to get the Power Bomb
Tank.  If you've done every side path so far in this guide this should be the
last item you get giving you 100%!

Bomb your way out of the tunnel and go out the door, drop down one door and go
right again to a save room you can use (and should).  Then go right, up (use
refill room if needed), through the navigation room and up to the elevator.  Go
up and left, then space jump up to the top left door.  When you touch it a boss
will appear.

********BOSS FIGHT**************************
First you need to get yourself and the boss to be on the ground level.  The only
thing that hurts this boss is fully charged beam shots.  Hit it with one of
those, then space jump over it before it can counter attack (start charging up
another shot while jumping).  Land, make sure it is on the ground too and shoot
it again.  Keep it up until it changes form.  In this form when it is on the
ground and facing you hit it with a fully charged beam in the head (missiles also
hurt it in this form).  When it jumps start space jumping so you go into screw
attack mode.  It can't hurt you while you're doing the screw attack.  Start
charging your beam and when it lands hit it in the head again.  Eventually it
will turn into an eye-beam type Core-X.  If you are low on health, you can screw
attack the Core-X to make it shoot out a lot of health and missile parasites.
Defeat it to continue.
********BOSS FIGHT**************************

Go up to the top left door in the room again and go through.  Use the device on
the far left end to activate a 3 minute countdown timer.  You need to get back
to your ship before the timer runs out.  There are no tricks to this part, just
use the map and the known path and go back to your ship (which is helpfully
shown on your map by a ship icon).  When you get there you will have to fight
the last boss.

I'm not going to explain how to defeat this boss as it may spoil the end for
you.  It should be pretty easy to figure out on your own.  However, I should
warn you that I've been told if you are using cheat codes (pathetic cheating
losers!) than you need to turn those cheat codes off before fighting this boss.
They will mess up this boss fight and you won't be able to beat it.  That's what
you get for cheating!

Defeat the boss and enjoy the ending.  At the end of the credits you'll see how
much time it took and what percent of the items you got.  There are a few
different ending screens you can get for meeting different conditions:

Less than 100% and more than 4 hours
Less than 100% and between 2 to 4 hours
Less than 100% and less than 2 hours
100% and more than 2 hours
100% and less than 2 hours

And that's the end of the game!  If you load up your saved game after beating
it, you can continue or start over from the beginning.  There's a Metroid symbol
next to the save slot to indicate that you've beat the game in that slot.  If
you continue then all the doors will be unlocked and on the map screen you will
see your current play time, how many of each item you have, and a checkmark for
each item type if you've collected every item of that type for the sector you
are in.  If you choose to start over, the game will be exactly the same as the
first time you played except that you'll get the extra information on the map
screen.

-------------------------------------------
     III S. Getting missed items
-------------------------------------------

If you don't have 100% when you beat the game (you started using the walkthrough
part way through) then you can load your saved game after beating it and you'll
be able to go back and get whatever you missed.  The doors will all be unlocked.
Note that every item in the game can be reached after beating it - if you
somehow managed to beat the game with 2% you could still go back and get 100%.

It may help to take a look at a completed map and compare it to your own map
screen.  You can find many completed maps on the internet, and there's probably
a few at www.gamefaqs.com.  Once you know where the item is, note what sector it
is in.  That means information on obtaining it will be in one of the missions
taking place in that sector or in the special section "III Q. Side mission -
getting 100%."  Note that in the guide every hidden item is called a Missile
Tank, Power Bomb Tank, or Energy Tank.  The name of the item is only listed once
in the guide for each item.  So a quick way to find info on the item you are
looking for is doing a search for the word Tank in the missions pertaining to
the sector it is in.

There are a few items that you have to get in a different manner after beating
the game due to the terrain being changed from certain game events.  This is
mostly what this section is for.

The first area that you have to enter in a different way is the hidden rooms
from the beginning of section "III K. Eleventh mission (main deck)."  To get to
these, start from your ship and go left until you hit a wall, then go up to the
top of the short shaft and left through the door.  Use a power bomb or just
shoot the floor until a path opens up leading down.  Use the information in
section "III K. Eleventh mission (main deck)" for tips on getting the items
here.

Another area you have to do differently is the room just above the first boss
which has a few items listed in section "III A. First mission (main deck)."  To
get here, starting from the save room right in the middle of the map go straight
right, through an illusion wall past a dead scientist, and continue going right
until you get to the actual boss room.  Right before the room where you fought
the boss is a big pile of broken bricks.  Just above them and to the right is a
ceiling you can break using the screw attack.  Go up through there to access the
area you missed.  Use the information in section "III A. First mission (main
deck)" to get the item you can access from here.

That's pretty much it, everything else you should be able to get in the same way
as described in the walkthrough (with many of them being much easier with the
space jump and screw attack).

====================================================================
  IV. SECRETS
====================================================================

-------------------------------------------
     EASTER EGG
-------------------------------------------

An "easter egg" is a term used to indicate a hidden secret in a game that most
people will never find and that doesn't actually help you in any way.

NOTE: This is definitely the hardest thing to do in this game.  Thus beyond the
explanation here I will NOT help you with it, so don't ask!  You will most
likely need to repeat this many many times before you can pull it off.  Try to
resist the urge to throw your GBA at the wall in frustration!

There is a hidden dialogue in the game that you can get by returning to a
navigation room before you are really supposed to be able to get there.  You
need to get to the sector 4 navigation room just after opening the red shutters
but before getting the Diffusion Missiles during mission 14.  This is really
tough to do and requires you master all the advanced techniques using the Speed
Booster (see section II B. Advanced Techniques).  Once you have the Diffusion
Missiles you can't activate this easter egg.

NOTE2: The reward for this is not very exciting - what you essentially get is a
"good job, very impressive!" message then a "I wonder how many players will
see this message...?".  That's it, nothing super cool, no programmer's room or
anything like that.  So only do this if you want to be able to say you did one
of the hardest things there is to do EVER in a platform game, don't do it
expecting a cool reward.  I'm not going to post the whole message here, so
those that do do it can use the message as proof of their accomplishment.

WARNING: During this sequence, remember that if you get hit by an enemy while
you have a warp charge ready (but aren't currently warping or running) you will
lose the charge!  You'll have to try to avoid or shoot enemies that get in the
way.

Starting from the room where you opened the red shutters (very bottom left room
on the sector 4 map) go right, up to the top of the shaft, then right again
until you get to the glass tube.  Jump up through the hole in the ceiling then
go up the path on the right side.  Go left through the small tunnel and drop
down to a standing position.  This is where the fun begins.

Standing as far to the right as you can, start running left.  Just before you
hit the wall tap down to get a speed booster warp charge.  Drop a Power Bomb
then do a warp straight to the right into the small slope here.  When you hit
the slope you will start running again, tap down again to hold the charge.  Keep
doing this until the power bomb opens the hole in the floor, so that you still
have your charge charged up by then.

Once the hole is open, while still maintaining the charge, run left and let
yourself fall down the hole and hold right while falling.  You'll bump into a
small square block below, you need to very quickly drop off the right side of it
and as soon as you hit the floor tap A to start a warp and warp right.  It can
be very difficult to get down there fast enough to begin the warp before the
charge wears off, but keep trying.  You'll hit the small hill in the bottom
right corner of this room and start running again then go through to the next
room.  As soon as the screen changes hit down to get another charge.

Space jump right and land next to the red door, shoot it and run through while
still charged up.  In the next room as quick as you can move right a step and
drop down from the grey block.  Begin your warp (hopefully you still have the
charge) and hold right.  When you hit the glass tube you'll drop into a run
again.  Just as you exit the tube but before you fall down press down to get
another charge (you'll probably kill a fish from the speed booster, press down
right about then).  Move right until you see the door, spin jump and shoot it
open, then at ground level start another warp to the right.  You'll hit the
slope just before the door and start running through it.

Now for the hard part.  You'll now be at the bottom of a vertical shaft.  Press
down to hold your charge once you are through the door.  You have to get to the
top of this shaft while still maintaining a speed booster charge.  If you need
to, you can use the same trick as when you did the power bomb and do the warp on
the ground level here into the slope on the right, then tap down again to reset
your charge.

You need to space jump up to the ledge above you, then do a warp to the right on
the small slope and immediately push down to hold the charge again.  Then spin
jump left and land on the small grey block sticking out of the side.  It's hard
to see but there's a small slope hidden to the left of it.  Warp left and
immediately press down to hold the charge again (there's VERY little space from
where you hit the slope to where you'll hit the wall and lose the speed, so you
have to warp then press down again very quickly).

There's an enemy above you that will steal your charge if you hit it.  So, as
soon as you have the charge from that tiny slope drop a Power Bomb.  Then spin
jump back to the right (shoot any fish in your way first) and use the slope you
just used a bit ago to get another charge.  Then go use the tiny slope after the
grey block again.  By this time the bomb should have killed the fish in your way
above.

There's more fish further up you need to kill if you don't want them to spoil
your progress.  Spin jump left onto the small square ledge, then spin jump right
and at the very height of your jump quickly tap down twice to roll into a ball
in mid air and drop another Power Bomb as high as you can, then drop down to the
grey block again.  You should have just enough time to do another warp on this
tiny slope to get another charge.  The power bomb will go off and destroy more
enemies that can get in your way.

Now your way is clear for the hardest part.  As soon as you get a charge from
the tiny slope with the grey block, you need to space jump upwards as fast as
you can.  You are trying to reach a slope on the right that's right before a
grey door.  You probably will not have time to land and warp, you'll have to do
a mid-air warp to the right to hit that slope (mid-air warp by quickly tapping
up then A while in the air.  The up will break you out of the spin and you need
to instantly tap A again to start the warp, then hold right).  This is the part
you are most likely to mess up on, it will require very good skills with space
jumping and good aim with the mid-air warp.  If you make it up there and warp
into that slope, tap down before running into the door to get another charge.

There's some more enemies above you.  Use a Power Bomb (or two if you feel you
need it) to destroy them while maintaining your charge by continuously using the
slope by the door here.  Once the way looks clear, get a fresh charge then space
jump up to the ledge above.  There's another slope here to use to continue
maintaining your charge.  Be careful that you don't run too far on it, it's hard
to see but at the end of the slope there's a ledge that will stop you and make
you lose your speed boost.  Anyway when you are ready shoot the door open and
spin jump left through it.

On the other side are two fish, you need to shoot at least one of them out of
the way (use L to shoot slant up at it) so you can spin jump up and do a mid-air
warp to the left, smashing through the upper wall of speed booster blocks to the
other side.  Be careful you don't get hit before you start actually warping, and
make sure you start the warp high enough to get through the upper section of
bricks - the lower section won't break.  If you think a mid-air warp is too
hard, you can also try standing in the middle of the floor between the door and
the bricks then do a slant left+up warp through the bricks.

Now relax for a minute - the hard part is over.  Getting through that wall of
speed booster blocks was the whole point of this challenge.  When you are ready
go through the red door in the upper left corner of this room.  From there go
up, shoot through the ceiling, and head right.  You should know how to get to
the sector 4 nav room from here, just use your map.  Once you are there you will
get to see the hidden message, which ends with "I wonder how many players will
see this message...?"  Judging from how hard this is, I'm guessing not many
(unless they cheat).  Also, in case you were confused about that part of the
message, a Shinespark is the warp move you had to use so many times to get here.

After viewing the message you can talk to the computer again to get another
brief message as well.  When you are done patting yourself on the back for
accomplishing such a difficult task, head back the way you came and continue on
the main quest to get the Diffusion Missiles.

====================================================================
  V. CREDITS
====================================================================

Sevael - Discovering the hidden easter egg message and figuring out how to get
it (see section IV. Secrects).
BoddahXXX - Tip that the speed booster can be used to kill X Parasite plant
pillars.
Druid232 - Alternate position from which to kill the mission 4 boss.
manofStele - Alternate method to get an item in section III Q.
Fred Smythe - Various game play information tidbits.
Mathew Thompson - Tip that you can screw attack a boss to get health.
Oni Link Master - Tip that power bombs hurt the plant boss in mission 12.

My other guides include the first full Zelda: The Ocarina of Time guide to
appear at www.gamefaqs.com, the complete guide to Moonbase Commander on
www.gamefaqs.com, the only full walkthrough of Oddworld Adventures 2 found on
www.gamefaqs.com, and a helpful FAQ on Drakan 2: The Ancient's Gates (also found
on www.gamefaqs.com).  Just in case you cared.

====================================================================
  VI. VERSION HISTORY
====================================================================

0.1 - Basic layout and structure, laying down the ground work.  Mostly completed
sections I, II, V, VI, VII, and VIII.  Missions 1 through 5 of the walkthrough
done.  The frequently asked questions included so far are based off of topics
seen frequently on the gamefaqs message board.
0.2 - Completed walkthrough for missions 6-9, updated some information in the
Upgrades section, added some questions to the FAQ section.
0.3 - Updated mission 1 (main deck) to include an Energy Tank I missed somehow
(just before fighting the first boss).  Added walkthrough for missions 10-12.
0.4 - Added walkthrough for missions 13-14.
0.5 - Updated mission 2 (sector 1) to include a Missile Tank I somehow missed in
the walkthrough thinking you had to get it at another point (doh!!).  Also
updated mission 3 (sector 2) with a Missile Tank I missed there too.  Added the
rest of the walkthrough.  Removed the frequently asked questions section since
everything in there is easy to find in the walkthrough now.  Updated Upgrades
section and introduction.  Added a marker to boss strategy sections to make them
easier to find.  This guide is now complete, however it is possible it could be
updated later if a secret move is found or I find some errors in it down the
road.  It could probably use a few proofreading cycles as well.
0.6 - Added section III S. Getting missed items, which describes how to get to a
few items you may have missed that you need to get in a different way once
you've beaten the game.
0.7 - Added section IV. Secrets, and added info on how to get a very difficult-
to-reach easter egg.  Modified the method to get an item in section III Q to an
easier method.  Proofread entire guide again.
0.8 - Clarified how to get a Missile Tank in mission 3.  Changed names of
certain obstacles to ones that better describe them.  Added an alternate boss
strategy for the mission 4 boss.  Added an alternate method to get an item in
section III Q.
0.9 - Changed the beginning of section III H to a better method.  Improved
method to get past a difficult encounter in section III J.  Added an alternate
method to get past an X parasite plant pillar in section III N.  Clarified how
to get to the sector 2 boss room during section III Q.
Final - Having completed the game several times using this guide, and even
having beat it with the best ending obtainable (under 2 hours with 100%) I
consider this guide complete!
1/17/3 update - Added a few alternate methods to do things that were sent in,
and added a warning that the easter egg doesn't give you that much.
2/24/4 update - Updated contact info.

====================================================================
  VII. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
====================================================================

Honestly for the most part I'd rather you didn't.  I'm really very busy and may
not have time to answer you.  Especially for questions.

Also don't ask me if you can put this on your site, 'cause I'll just say no.
See the Legal Stuff below for details.
</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
If you have a correction for the guide or a new secret or other addition, or you
want to send compliments, that's great.  I can't guarantee I will actually
respond to these, but I will include your information in the credits section for
any new information I use from your e-mail (be sure to include whatever
information you want in the credits as part of your e-mail, including what name
you want to be known as and whether or not you want your e-mail address included
in the credits listing).  If more than one person sends me the same info, I will
only give credit to the first person that sent it (judging by the date/time
stamp on the e-mail).

That said, you can reach me at zauron (at) zauron (dot) net and you can view my
homepage at http://www.zauron.net/

====================================================================
  VIII. LEGAL STUFF
====================================================================

Copyright 2002 Taron Millet (aka Zauron or Rubikant)

This document is protected by US Copyright Law, and the Berne Copyright
Convention of 1976.  It is for private and personal use only--it cannot be
reprinted in part or in whole, or reproduced in any way or in any form (written
or otherwise).  It is a free document that cannot be used in any sort of
commercial transaction, including selling it or giving it away as a gift.  This
FAQ cannot be referenced, altered, or used by anybody (including webmasters,
publishers, and magazine staff) without my express written permission.  This FAQ
was created and is owned by me, Taron Millet <zauron (at) zauron (dot) net>.
It can be found exclusively at (www.GameFAQs.com) and
(www.zauron.net or whatever my current homepage is).  All
copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged and respected that are not
specifically mentioned herein.

In other words: "No, you may not post this guide on your web site, so don't even
bother asking.  This guide is to be found on my own personal web site and
www.gameFAQs.com ONLY."  If I somehow change my mind I will change this section,
but it is unlikely.

Metroid Fusion is (c) 2002 Nintendo.  All trademarks and copyrights contained in
this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.