         _______
      .-`   | . `-.
     /  .   |      \           S U P E R   M E T R O I D
   .-.    .-+-.    .-.
   | | +-.|   |.-+ | |            Speed Guide and FAQ
   `;O '. '---' .' O;`                    by
    `;O  -_   _-  O;`                    rs1n
      `Oo. [=] .oO`
         \\___//                     version  2.12

DISCLAIMER: This guide is copyrighted by rs1n 1996-2000. Neither the author
nor any third party mentioned in this guide take any responsibility for the
misuse of this guide, including but not limited to: lack of sleep (from too
much gaming), lack of friends, anti-social behavior, personal injury, fire,
lightning strikes, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards,
avalanches, meteor strikes, plagues, death, or any apocolyptic events. This
guide may only exist in electronic form. However, it may be printed out for
personal use. This guide may not be used for any commerical purposes unless
you have the written permission to do so from the author.

All names and trademarks are copyrighted by their respective companies. The
author is not affiliated, is not endorsed by, and does not endorse Nintendo
or any other company related to Super Metroid and any of the Metroid series
games.

                  ---------- END OF DISCLAIMER ----------

**************************** NOTICE TO READERS ****************************
If you use this guide and by doing so improve your game time, please let me
know at rs1n@hotmail.com. Those who wish to have their times posted will be
added to this guide upon the next update. Thanks, and have fun!
***************************************************************************

CHANGELOG

MM-DD-YY:   Description of Changes
---------   ---------------------------------------------------------------
05-17-01: - Made a small note in the Ultimate Challenge section
          - Added question 27 to the FAQ

04-15-01: - Updated one of the links

03-16-01: - Added advanced methods against bosses

02-19-01: - Added more boss info (stats and attacks)
	  - The Ultimate Challenge
	  - Added contact info in the CHANGELOG (rs1n@hotmail.com)

01-27-01: - Few minor updates to the special moves section

01-18-01: - Updated the Boss Guide and FAQ section.
          - Fixed mismatch version numbers.

01-16-01: - Added BOMBS into the items section (woops!)

01-15-01: - Added a detailed tip on getting the power bombs after defeating
            Crocomire
          - Revamped the items section and fixed some major errors
          - Added another tip in the MISC section
          - New section: web links to cool Super Metroid sites

01-10-01: - Doh! Fixed an error and added more credits/thanks

01-08-01: - Made additions to FAQ section
          - Better method of getting reserve tank in bubble room in Norfair
            without using grapple beam
          - New tip on getting the two missles in northwest Crateria (where
            the floor disintegrates upon touch)
	  - Added more details to the Boss Guide

01-02-01: - Made some name corrections and corrected a few spelling errors
          - Updated Ridley's section in the boss guide (part one)

12-25-00: - Initial release; merry Christmas!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS                                          v2.12 (04-17-01)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

   I. The Metroid Trilogy
      Metroid
      The Return of Samus Aran
      Super Metroid

  II. Planet Zebes
      Creatures
      Environment

 III. Items and Power-Ups
      Canon/Beam Uprages
      Suit Enhancements

  IV. Gameplay
      Basic Movement
      Using Items
      Special Moves

   V. Speed Run

  VI. Boss Guide

 VII. Frequently Asked Questions

VIII. Miscelllaneous Tricks

  IX. Utimate Challenge

      Credits and Web Links

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

CHAPTER I: THE METROID TRILOGY

  For quite some time the galaxy lived in peace. Unfortunately the advances
in technology brought about a new collection of problems. With interstellar
travel and exchange becoming more frequent, space pirates started to appear
and caused a bit of problems. One incident, however, marked the end of this
long period of peace. A science vessel had found a new life form. They were
bringing it back for futher study when space pirates attacked them. The new
life form was called "Metroid" and had the ability to drain energy from any
living being. The galactic federation had a call for bounty hunters to hunt
down the pirates and retrieve the Metroid specimen. Many were sent off, but
none ever came back. Finally, the federation beseeched the help of a famous
bounty hunter: Samus Aran.

  Samus was sent after the pirates. Samus Aran infiltrated pirates' base in
search of the Metroid. Surprisingly, Samus found that the pirates had plans
to breed these creatures and use them as weapons! After much searching, and
exterminating, the bounty hunter finally met up with the mastermind: Mother
Brain. After a long battle, our famous bounty hunter prevailed. Despite the
success, the federation still feared these Metroids. They wanted a complete
extermination of the species so no one could use them as weapons like those
space pirates had planned. So Samus was sent to the Metroid home planet.

  On the planet's surface, Samus found a few Metroids similar to that found
by the science vessel. But as the bounty hunter continued the search, these
creatures became increasingly more difficult to fight. The Metroids somehow
had molted and grown stronger and much larger. When Samus finally found the
last Metroid, the Omega queen, the creature had evolved so much that it was
more than 10 times the size of our hero with an extremely mean bite! A long
and arduous battle ensued, and fortunately Samus Aran was the winner. While
returning to the surface to report back to the federation, Samus Aran found
a newly hatched Metroid larva. The creature, mistaking Samus as its mother,
began to fly about Samus and also helped lead Samus up toward the surface.

  The Metroid larva was placed into a capsule. Samus left the creature with
the care of scientists on the Space Colony. Thinking that everything was in
order and peace had returned to the galaxy, Samus left the colony. Suddenly
a distress signal from the Space Colony was received! It was being attacked
by space pirates. You now play the role of Samus Aran. The final chapter of
the Metroid Trilogy is told through you. The fate of the galaxy now lies in
your hands!

                          ---------- I ----------

CHAPTER II: PLANET ZEBES AND ITS INHABITANTS

  Planet Zebes' creatures have all gone into hiding as you will notice when
you land. The only visible creatures resemble trilobites, however they will
scatter as soon as motion is detected. A security eye in Brinstar will wake
up the creatures on this planet, both enemies and allies. In general, it is
best to avoid any enemy creature unless they are the "key" to certain doors
in a particular area.

  There are several types of doors and gates throughout the planet. Most of
them are blue doors, which upon when shot. The red doors require 5 missles,
or a single super missle. Orange doors are opened with power bombs. If they
are opened, they will become blue for the remainder of the game. The fourth
type of door is metallic. This door will flash when a trigger is set. These
triggers can range from killing all enemies in the local area to the defeat
of a boss or mini-boss. Once you open a flashing door, it too turns blue.

  The gates on Planet Zebes are metallic and will have either a green block
or blue block at the top. Shoot the blue blocks with your cannon, and super
missles on the green gates. Blue gates can be opened from the opposite side
when the wave beam is equipped (this "secret" is used to get to Crocomire).

  Also scattered throughout the planet are save points where you can record
your progress. You may also come upon map downloading stations, or stations
that refill your energy (yellow) and regular missles (red). Since it can be
time consuming to use save points and recharge stations, a good number will
be skipped for the speed guide.

                          ---------- II ----------

CHAPTER III: COLLECTIBLE ITEMS AND POWER-UPS

  There are many items that can be obtained while journeying through Zebes.
Some are crucial to completing the mission. Others make exploration of some
areas much easier. While many items are quick easy to find (those which are
crucial to completing your mission won't require too much searching), there
are many which are hidden throughout the planet. Listed below are the items
in the game. They are listed in the order which they can be obtained if you
follow the speed run.

  01 MORPH BALL ................................................ Brinstar

  The Morph Ball allows Samus to morph into a rolling ball. You must have
  this item in order to finish the game. Press down twice to morph into a
  ball. You can roll while in this form. Upon getting the BOMBS item, you
  can set off bombs with the fire button.

  02 MISSLES ................................................. Everywhere

  Missles are much stronger than your regular arm cannon. Use them to get
  through red doors, or when fighting bosses. Upon obtaining a missle set
  your missle capacity will increase by 5. The first set of missles is in
  Brinstar, just east of the elevator.

  03 BOMBS ..................................................... Crateria

  Bombs allow Samus to destroy certain blocks and walls. You must collect
  this item, otherwise your game will be limitid to Crateria. With a good
  amount of practice, you can learn to bomb climb and reach high places.

  04 ENERGY TANK ............................................. Everywhere

  Energy tanks increase your energy meter by 100 hit points. Once you get
  an energy tank, your energy meter will also be restored to 100%. In the
  Craterian diagonal tunnel is the first energy tank, and it's guarded by
  two blue Wavers.

  05 SUPER MISSLES ........................................... Everywhere

  Super missles do as much damage as 5 normal missles. They are needed to
  open green doors and green gates. You can also use them to kill the eye
  creatures on various doors. The first set of super missles can be found
  just after the Spore Spawn's location.

  06 CHARGE BEAM ............................................... Brinstar

  This cannon upgrade allows Samus to store energy in her cannon and then
  release it in a large pulse. She flashes once the cannon reaches max. A
  spin jump while flashing will act like a Screw Attack and can kill some
  of the weaker enemies. While in a spin jump and flashing, no enemy fire
  will hit. Damage is variable.

  07 SPAZER BEAM ............................................... Brinstar

  The Spazer Beam sends out three lasers if not coupled with other beams.
  When coupled with other beam item, it triples the number of beams. This
  item is just above the room with water, a Yapping Maw, and a Cacatac.

  08 VARIA ..................................................... Brinstar

  The Varia is an orange suit of armor which reduces the amount of damage
  from enemies and environmental hazards. It is guarded by Kraid. Without
  the Varia, much of Norfair is too hazardous to explore -- the heat will
  do too much damage.

  09 HIGH JUMP BOOTS ............................................ Norfair

  The High Jump Boots do just what their name says: your jumps will reach
  a higher peak.

  10 SPEED BOOSTER .............................................. Norfair

  The Speed Booster will increase your dashing speed. Samus will flash at
  maximum speed. During this stage, dashing becomes power dashing and all
  enemies in the path of the dash will be killed. Certain types of walls,
  barriers, and floors will also melt from the heat from th kinetics.

  11 WAVE BEAM .................................................. Norfair

  The Wave Beam can pierce through metal and Zebesian rock. When the beam
  is not coupled with any other beams, it produces a wave pattern. It's a
  handy item to have since it allows you to get the power bombs extremely
  early in the game.

  12 POWER BOMBS ............................................. Everywhere

  Power Bombs are the only thing that can open the orange doors. They are
  also very powerfull and can take out an entire room of enemies. People,
  including myself, underestimate the power of these bombs, and often use
  it rather rarely. THe first set of power bombs can be found in Norfair.

  13 GRAPPLE BEAM ............................................... Norfair

  Now you can grab onto those blocks shaped liek [o]. The Grapple Beam is
  also usefull against Draygon. You can also grapple onto Rippers and use
  them as grapple points.

  14 ICE BEAM ................................................... Norfair

  The Ice Beam is really not an essentail item, though it helps to have a
  freezing beam. Your enemies will be frozen when hit with this beam. The
  Metroids are easier to kill if you have the Ice Beam.

  15 X-RAY SCOPE ............................................... Brinstar

  The X-Ray Scope allows you to see through fake or special barriers such
  as fake walls and dash-blocks. This item is not used every in the speed
  run and is a nuisance if you want to get it. However, beginners who are
  adamant about finding all the hidden areas on their own will like it.

  16 GRAVITY SUIT .......................................... Wrecked Ship

  Most of Maridia is unreachable without the Gravity Suit. This suit will
  not only reduce enemy damage but allow "fluid" motion in viscous medium
  such as water and lava. In some areas, the suit can withstand lava. You
  cannot finish the game without this suit enhancement.

  17 RESERVE TANK ............... Brinstar, Wrecked Ship, Mariai, Norfair

  The four Reserve Tanks allow Samus to store extra energy. At low levels
  the reserve tank (if in auto mode) will kick in and replenish (400 max)
  some of Samus' energy.

  18 SPACE JUMP ................................................. Maridia

  With this item, you can jump midair. While spinning, press jump to make
  a midair jump. Climb up to places you couldn't reach before.

  19 SPRING BALL ................................................ Maridia

  Morphing jumps are now no longer needed. Just turn into a ball and jump
  while in this form. A nice item to have, but not particularly usefull.

  20 PLASMA BEAM ................................................ Maridia

  The strongest beam of the game, plasma shots will kill almost any enemy
  creature on Planet Zebes. Coupled with the Wave Beam, you should have a
  very easy speed run equipping this item.

  21 SCREW ATTACK ............................................... Norfair

  The Screw Attack will take out EVERY enemy creature. No damage from any
  enemy fire will occur if you are in the middle of a Screw Attack. Space
  Jump Boots and the Screw Attack are a deadly combo.

  There is one last item which is an upgrade to Samus' cannon. It is called
the Hyper Beam. Since it is given to Samus and is used only very briefly in
the game, it is not listed among the other items. The most number of Energy
Tanks is 14, 230 Missles, 50 Super Missles, and 50 Power Bombs. There are 4
Reserve Tanks, one in each major area of Planet Zebes (excluding Cateria).

                          ---------- III ----------

CHAPTER IV: CONTROLLER SETUP AND GAME PLAY

  There are certain basic moves in the game that are rather simple to learn
and master. The techniques are listed below, along with the gamepad buttons
for each move. The default setup IS NOT USED because it does not facilitate
dashing throughout the game. The preferred setup is:

          [ L ]          [ R ]                  L - Dash
                                                R - Aim Up
              ^                                 Y - Shoot
              |       (Y)  (X)                  X - Select Item
          <-- + -->                             B - Jump
              |       (B)  (A)                  A - Cancel Item
              V                             START - Map and Console

The reason for choosing such a setup is that you can continually press down
on the dash button without too much effort. You lose the "Aim Down" button,
however this is not often used anyway. The dash button increases the length
and height of a jump. There are instances where you need to hold down dash,
jump, and shoot all at the same time. You cannot normally do this using the
default layout. So practice with this particular setup. The four directions
left, right, up and down will be represented by (l), (r), (u), and (d).

  [ Basic Movement ]

  The names of the basic movements below are not official names. These were
chosen to best describe the movement. They are, however, often used and are
(most of them) considered common Super Metroid terms.

  Static Jump - (B), optionally (l) or (r)
    The static jump allows for more control over where Samus will land,
    and reaches a higher max height. Simply press jump first before any
    directional button.

  Spin Jump - (l) or (r), (B)
    The spin jump is usefull because it is needed for wall jumping. And
    with teh Charge Beam, it becomes somewhat like the Screw Attack. It
    is less accurate since attempts to adjust a spin jump may result in
    over-compensation. You can break a spin jump by shooting, aiming up
    or diagonally up, or morphing.

  Morph Jump - (d), (d) while the Morph Ball is equipped
    Mroph jumps will allow Samus to morph midair. They are used in this
    speed run, and can be quite usefull when you do not have the Spring
    Ball.

  Dashing - hold (L) and (l) or (r)
    Dashing simply increases the speed at which Samus runs. It can make
    a big difference in low game time.

  Power Dashing - with Speed Booster equipped, hold (L) and (l) or (r)
    This is an automatic ability with the Speed Boosters. Barriers that
    have the [>], [^], or [>] symbols will be pulverized. Samus flashes
    when she reaches maximum speed.

  [ Using Items ]

  To use an item, press (X) until the item you wish to use is selected. The
regular bombs do not need to be selected. Regular bombs can only be used in
morphed form. Set bombs off by pressing the shoot (Y) button. The item that
is currently in use is highlighted in green at the top of the screen. It is
recommended that you become familiar with the maps and pre-equip items; the
time saved will add up considerably.

  [ Special Moves ]

  Certain special moves can be executed upon obtaining various items. These
are moves which you definitely need to master in order to successfully make
it through the speed run. Practice with an emulator or a saved game if your
console is all you have.

  Wall Jumping - (l), (B), (r), (B), repeat or (r), (B), (l), (B)
    Wall jumping consists of spin jumping onto a wall, and then jumping
    off the wall in the other direction. This is an extremely important
    technique and comes in two flavors: two-wall and single-wall. First
    start with a spin jump. Brush up against the wall, and while in the
    spin, press away from the wall. Immediately press and hold the jump
    button. In a two-wall situation, you should be spinning against the
    other wall. Just repeat the process. The single-wall situation will
    be a tad bit more difficult. You will have to maneuver back towards
    the wall while spinning, and repeat the wall jump. Timing is really
    critical. Imagine saying "Ta-da" after a successfull trick. At "ta"
    you should press away from the wall, and press jump at "da." (Don't
    forget the dash button for more height!)

  Super Jump - hold (L) and (l) or (r), (d), (B), <varies>
    There are three types of super jumps, one of which is in the intro,
    near your ship. Start with a power dash, and press down at any time
    during the flashing stage. Samus will then flash yellow/white which
    means you can now do a super jump. First press jump and immediately
    press (u) for a vertical jump, (R) for a diagonal jump, and (l)/(r)
    for a horizontal jump. (Use the "ta-da" technique.)

    NOTE: With the horizontal super jump, you can actually execute this
    jump at a slightly higher height. Use a spin jump and break off the
    spin. While midair, press jump and immediately follow with right or
    left. (Use the "ta-da" technique.) Samus will lose some energy when
    super jumping. The amount lost is proportional to the distance that
    traveled. Also, damage is taken upon impact with any indestructible
    barrier. Enemies in the path of flight will be killed instantly. If
    a door is opened in the same screen as Samus' super jump then Samus
    will drop down. And if her energy level is too low (29 hit points),
    the jump will also stop.

  Charged Spin Jump - hold (Y) until flashing, (l) or (r), (B)
    Hold down the shoot button until Samus begins flashing. Continue to
    hold the shoot button and spin jump. If Samus comes in contact with
    and enemy, it will take a bit of damage (most of the creatures from
    Brinstar can be killed with the charged spin jump).

  Bomb Spread - hold (Y) until flashing, (d), (d)
    The bomb spread uses regular bombs. Charge up with the charge beam,
    and morph into a ball. Five bombs will disperse. This is often used
    to eleminate any parasitic enemies when your super missles are gone
    and your power bombs are too precious to waste.

  Bomb Climbing - while morphed, (Y), wait a moment, repeat
    Bomb climbing is not used in the speed run. However, there are many
    instances where wall jumping might prove far more difficult. Timing
    is critical. Count by "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand," etc. to
    time your bombs. Set one, and just before it explodes, set off your
    second bomb. While falling from the explosion, keep your ears tuned
    for a small clicking sound. This will tell you when to set the next
    bomb. Also, the quick flashing of a bomb is a sign of detonation in
    a split second. You might want to use this flash and set several of
    your bombs to better insure that you will continue your bomb climb.

    There is a second method of bomb climbing and it is much faster but
    also much more difficult. Just before the first bomb goes, off, set
    off two or three (one of them should send you back up). Set more of
    your bombs while you are going up, the faster the better. With good
    timing you can bomb climb three times as fast as the normal method.

    It is also possible to start out by morph jumping and setting bombs
    before you reach the peak of your morph jump. When you descend from
    your morph jump, the bombs you set will send you up. Just make sure
    to set a bomb just before the very first one explodes. Continue the
    bomb climb as normal.

  Beam Shields - select power bombs and hold (Y)
    Equipping the charge beam and one (only one) other beam, charge the
    arm cannon with power bombs selected. A beam shield will appear. To
    add some special effects, quickly add and remove various beams. Now
    keep in mind that while a beam shield is up, you cannot shoot. This
    means power dashing and the grapple beams are the only attacks that
    will work.

  Energy Crystal Recharge - hold (L), hold (R), (d), hold (d), hold (Y)
    If you have 10 super missles, 10 power bombs, and are extremely low
    in health, select the power bombs and hold down (all four) the dash
    button, aim up, and shoot button while in morphed form. Your energy
    meter will be replenished. The speed guide below should not require
    this move, but for those who are extremely wreckless with health...

Be very familiar with wall jumping and super jumping since they are crucial
to speed running the game. Remember that the typical path is not being used
and that you will need quick gaming fingers to pull off all the tricks.

                          ---------- IV ----------

CHAPTER V: THE SUPER METROID SPEED RUN

  This speed run does not follow the typical sequence of areas that typical
games would explore. Rather, many tricks to obtain items early in the game,
ingenious shortcuts, and difficult paths are taken. (The guide was intended
for those who wish to have 100% item collection with extremely low recorded
game times.) The author recommends practicing certain sections with an SNES
emulator in order to perfect various tricks. Each mini-section is titled in
a way that describes the main goal of that mini-section. The numbers on the
far right denote, in order, the maximum capacity of missles, super missles,
power bombs, energy tanks, and reserve tanks. Just below these numbers is a
list of items that can be found in that section. You should have the listed
items, and have a maximum capacity of items as just described. From here on
it is assumed that you can do wall jumps on a whim. We will shoot for a log
time of about 1 hour 20 minutes. So let's cut to the chase...

  The Space Colony                                         (000;00;00;00;0)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items

  The game begins with a sequence of screens showing a brief history of the
Metroid story. Actual gameplay begins once Samus lands on the Space Colony.
Immediately head east until you enter a large room with the Metroid capsule
on the floor. Wait for Ridley to appear, and either defeat him or allow him
to take your energy meter down to 29 hit points. Once Ridley takes off with
the Metroid capsule, you have two minutes to exit the colony. Simply return
to the starting point of the Space Colony, and watch the animation sequence
as your ship takes off.

  Planet Zebes                                             (005;00;00;00;0)
  ------------------------------------------------------- Morph Ball, Bombs

  Your ship will then land on Planet Zebes. Travel west through a blue door
and drop down until you see another blue door on the ground. Go through and
hug the east wall until you finally reach lower Crateria (this is, in fact,
old Tourian). Go through the blue door and continue east. Take the elevator
down to Brinstar, and head west. Pick up the MORPH BALL. The inhabitants of
Planet Zebes have been alerted by the motion sensor, so be carefull. Now go
east of the elevator and past the first blue door. You'll need to shoot the
blocks in order to drop down. Use your morph ball and collect the first set
of MISSLES (005) behind the blue door. Now return to Crateria's surface and
look for the small crawling space. Do not use any of your missles. Use your
morph ball near the Skrees and go through that crawl space. Drop down; take
the blue door and head east. Run past the flying swarm, and use all missles
on the red door. Shoot the disc in the Chozo statue's hand to obtain BOMBS.
The statue will then come alive, and you must defeat the Torizo in order to
continue.

  Once the Torizo is defeated, return to the Skrees' area. You will need to
bomb a few blocks in order to leave. Head west, and hop over the small hole
down which you went to get to lower Crateria. Bomb the wall that blocks the
west side, and continue traveling west. At the end of the sloping tunnel is
an ENERGY TANK (01). In the next area are green Zebesians; use your missles
on them since nothing else will kill them. If they do not leave you refills
for missles, then shoot the spore-like creature in the next area and charge
up your missle reserve (you'll need them soon). Take the elevator and go to
Brinstar.

  Brinstar and the Spore Spawn                             (015;05;00;01;0)
  ------------------------------------------------------------- Charge Beam

  After the Crateria-Brinstar elevator stops, drop as far down as possible,
and avoid all enemies. Use all five missles on the red eastern door. Save a
bit of time by running in, and jumping over the floor crawlers, and landing
slightly back toward the door (to avoid the Reo). Run and ignore the second
Reo. Bomb the barrier blocking the tunnel, and avoid the diving enemies. In
the next section, jump up and try to grab 2 missles from a refill from that
pipe. Head east, up, and the west; use the missles on the Side Hoppers, and
try to avoid being hit. Go up to another pipe, and refill on missles. (Note
that if your energy meter is closer to 100%, the probability of getting the
missle refills increases. This goes for most non-health refill items.) Open
the red door to your right and return to the pipe for 4 more missles. These
will quickly take out the Kihunters in the next area. They must all be dead
in order to open the door up in the ceiling at the end. Go up and fight the
Spore Spawn.

  After you take out the Spore Spawn, head up and east. Jump over the first
pipe, and on top of the second pipe. Drop all the way down and collect some
SUPER MISSLES (05) from the Chozo statue. Now continue west and use a super
missle on the green door. In the room behind this door, crouch on the small
platform and shoot another super missle at the corner. Morph into a ball to
crawl through, and bomb your way out. (Watch out for the Reo.) Drop down to
the MISSLES (010) in plain view. Look for two outlined blocks and bomb them
to drop down to the Chozo statue holding the CHARGE BEAM. Grab the beam and
pass through the green door east of those two bombed blocks. A super missle
will open the green door.

  In the next area, avoid the creatures that fly out of the side pipes. The
third pipe you see will be dormant. Jump from the platform on the left, and
use a wall jump to reach the dormant pipe. Morph and crawl east for another
set of MISSLES (015). Continue traveling east and open the blue gate by the
side hoppers to open it. In the next area, kill the Cacatac to recharge the
super missle reserve. Hop up onto the platform and dash to the right. Again
kill the Cacatac for another super missle refill. Use one on the green door
and pass through into the Brinstar "vertical pipe."

  Kraid and Norfair                                        (025;05;00;03;0)
  -------------------------------- Spazer Beam, Varia Suit, High Jump Boots

  Drop down as far as you can, and shoot the floor to continue further down
until you see a blue door on the right. Try to hug the east wall if you can
to avoid the Rippers. In the second room with water in the floor (a Yapping
Maw and Cacatac are there), look up and shoot the odd looking block. A wall
jump or two will get you up there. Bomb the blocks while pressing the right
direction on the gamepad (to avoid falling in the hole). Use a super missle
on the green door to get to the SPAZER BEAM. Return to the Yapping Maw area
and kill the Cacatac before jumping. Continue east and pass the elevator to
Norfair. Instead, crouch down, face east, shoot a super missle to open up a
small crawl space. Go through, and drop down to a one-block platform. Use a
quick dash and, at the last possible moment, jump (and hold the jump button
for extending height and distance). Immediately wall jump off the side once
you touch the side of the eastern platform. After going through the door, a
shot to the foot of the door will allow you to drop down. Use a bomb on the
bottom, right corner. In the next area, watch out for some flying Kihunters
and their acid spit. Shoot the crack in the floor and drop down. Three more
of those green Zebesians await you, and then a miniature Kraid. Use a super
missle on the mini-Kraid (he will give you more than enough to refill those
super missles). In the next room, avoid the pipe creatures and carefully go
past the spikey floor and ceiling. Use a super missle on the eye door. Boss
number one is Kraid.

  You get the VARIA SUIT for killing Kraid. Now return to the entrance. See
the flashing door? Shoot it and prepare your super missles. Allow all those
little creatures to cling onto you; then fire a super missle. Use a beam at
the ceiling to reveal an ENERGY TANK (02). Now head back to the elevator to
Norfair and take it down. Once in Norfair, drop all the way down. There's a
red door on the left hand side. If you are quick, jump over the energy tank
as soon as you enter the door, and fall through the floor. Shoot toward the
left. If you did it correctly, the door you entered should now be flashing;
shoot it and continue left. Grab the HIGH JUMP BOOTS and hop up for another
set of MISSLES (020). Now grab the ENERGY TANK (03) you jumped over, and go
back up toward the elevator. Take the blue door just below and to the right
of the elevator. When you pass through a red door, look for yet another set
of MISSLES (025) hidden in the lava in the center of this room. Continue to
the right until you reach the "bubble room."

  The Crocomire and Middle Norfair                         (050;05;05;03;0)
  ---------------------------------- Speed Booster, Wave Beam, Grapple Beam

  Now that you are in the bubble room, travel east and shoot the red Waver.
Shoot the bubbles at your feet and drop down. Avoid the Ripper and grab the
MISSLES (030) in plain view. Return to the entrance of the bubble room, but
jump up to the blue door above the entrance. From there, use charged spazer
beams to take out the Cacatac and two Wavers in the northeastern section of
this room. Once you have done so, dash to the right starting from that same
blue door and use 2 wall jumps off the eastern ledge, below the Cacatac you
just killed. Take the green door and head northeast. Take the blue door and
make sure to dash east. When you reach the red door, look up and shoot. Get
the MISSLES (035) that have just been revealed, and then enter the red door
to find the SPEED BOOSTER. Use them to dash out of this area as lava begins
to rise from the floor. Head back toward the Cacatac in the bubble room and
drop down to the blue door just southeast of the Cacatac. Watch out for the
enemies that pop out from the ground. Go through the first red door you see
while traveling down. Take care not to fall off the ledge in the next room.
While jump to the right, shoot a spazer beam to preopen the blue gate. Some
MISSLES (040) are sitting on the ledge behind the gate.

  Use your speed booster and jump at the last moment off the ledge. As soon
as you hit the wall on the right hand side, wall jump up. If you timed your
jump, you should not have even touched those spikes below. The WAVE BEAM is
behind the red door. When you leave, fall in the center of the spike pit to
avoid damage. Pass through the spikes and shoot the spore-like creature for
some energy refills if you need it. Now return to the bubble room the using
the same path you took to get to this room. Shoot at the metal floor that's
between two purple heads. Make your way down and west. Do not take the blue
door on the floor; travel west and drop down in the next area. Again, shoot
the floor and drop further down. Open the blue gate with your wave beam; it
should work from the "wrong" side. Continue to travel southwest until there
is a green door on the floor. Use a super missle on it and prepare to fight
Crocomire. When he is defeated, there are two things which you can do: your
first option is to jump onto the first ledge on the left side of this area,
and then preopen the blue door (listen for it since you cannot see it). Now
use a horizontal super jump through this door and into the next room. Those
who are lucky will land in front of a red door. The second option is to get
to the next area, and drop down to the floor. Make sure to NOT have 100% of
your energy and shoot those creatures that come out of the pipes. They will
leave behind energy refills but do not take them. Instead run from the blue
door on the right and jump up to the red door in the upper left side of the
room. Behind the red door are your first POWER BOMBS (05).

  Take the blue door in the floor and drop down to yet another blue door in
the floor (ignore the red door on the eastern wall). A power bomb should be
enough to clear out the blocks on the floor. Use this the cleard out runway
to charge for a super jump. First spin jump slightly left of the end of the
runway, then super jump up to a set of MISSLES (045). Drop back down (using
the crawl space) and now speed jump to the upper left area of this section.
Grab the GRAPPLE BEAM and open the door through which you came. Starting as
far left as possible, run out of the room. Jump to the right from the ledge
at the very last moment. You should soar over a green Ripper and be back at
the runway. Crawl through and head up the blue door in the ceiling. The red
door we skipped earlier is where you want to go now. When you pass through,
turn around and preopen the door. Speed charge to the right, press down for
the super jump charge, morph, crawl, then super jump horizontally to obtain
some MISSLES (050). Now after crawling through the small crevice again, use
a speed dash and press down just before the door for a super jump. Use your
super jump after you exit this room. Land on the platform up top.

  The Return to Crateria                                   (065;05;15;04;0)
  --------------------------------------------------- Ice Beam, X-Ray Scope

  Return to Crocomire's lair and charge up for a horizontal super jump. Try
to get some height first so that you shoulder tackle an ENERGY TANK (04) on
the far eastern side. Now exit the mini-boss area through the ceiling door.
Travel up and west. Use your grapple beam to cross over some lava, and take
the MISSLES (055) on the ledge by the green gate. Take the green door below
and to the left of the elevator. Charge up for a super jump right after you
pass the second closing gate. Open the blue door and use super jump through
the next room. As soon as you enter the room with the heads on the wall use
a morphing jump to land on the small block above your head, just beyond the
door. Use a second morphing jump and (ignoring the crawlers), crawl through
the hole from which the crawlers came. Grab the ICE BEAM and drop back down
to the spot where you used the second morphing jump. Shoot the barrier over
your head, and use a wall jump to get up. Use your ice beam to exit. Return
to Kraid's Lair.

  When you reach the room with the Kihunters, use a power bomb near the far
right wall. A successfull morph jump means you gain more MISSLES (060). Now
go up the Brinstar "vertical pipe" (use wall jumps at the bottom instead of
freezing those Rippers). When you see the orange door, open it with a power
bomb. Use your grapple beam and collect the X-RAY SCOPE. Resume climbing up
the vertical pipe and freeze the Rippers to use as platforms. A shot at the
barrier up top will open up more jumping room. Carefully maneuver through a
spike filled room (freeze the enemies but don't kill them to make your work
a bit easier). Power bomb the orange door through which you exited, and hop
down. Behind a green door below are some POWER BOMBS (10) and MISSLES (065)
after you power bomb the wall behind the statue. Travel north from here and
take the green door shouthwest of the elevator. Use your ice beams on those
Giant Side Hoppers and a power bomb on the far left side of the room. Under
one of those spikey chewers are more POWER BOMBS (15). Now make your way to
the elevator. Refill your super missles with the two Cacatac below. You are

  The Phantoon and the Wrecked Ship                        (080;15;15;04;0)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items

  Travel north and take the elevator up to Crateria. To save your progress,
travel west and save at your ship. Otherwise head east and use your grapple
beam to cross over the water. Make sure to pick up the MISSLES (070) in the
middle. Once you enter the Wrecked Ship area, use the grapple beam again to
reach the entrance to the ship. Those with "skillz" might want to save time
by getting to the entrance sans grapple beam (speed and timed jumps are all
that will be needed). Inside, take two flights of stairs down and set off a
bomb in the lower left corner. Crawl through and ignore the spikes (they're
harmless without power to the ship) and find more MISSLES (075). Use one of
your power bombs to reveal crawl spaces in the floor. Use a super missle on
the green door in the floor. (Hopefully you still have 3 left.) Travel east
and crawl under the eastern wall. Use a bomb to get through. You can either
use a super missle on the eye door, or three charged shots or three regular
missles. It is recommended that super missles be saved for the Phantoon.

  The ship's power will be returned when you defeat the Phantoon. Return to
the area where you set off a power bomb, and take the left door. Grab those
SUPER MISSLES (10) and then set off a bomb in the lower right corner of the
area you previously power bombed. Power bomb the far eastern wall, behind a
robot. Morph jump and crawl through the middle opening to collect the SUPER
MISSLES (15) on display. Now travel north and shoot the ceiling to continue
further up. Once you see a blue door in the ceiling, get ready to set off a
power bomb in the next area. The green Kihunters are very strong so quickly
make waste of them. Travel east and destroy the orb. Now turn around and go
left and kill all the enemies. When you see a flashing door, shoot it. Turn
around and travel east again, and go through a second flashing door. Behind
some robots are some regular MISSLES (080). Go back and this time avoid the
green Kihunters and energy orbs. Take that left door you previoulsy shot to
go outside.

  Finding the Gravity Suit                                 (110;20;15;05;1)
  ------------------------------------------------------------ Gravity Suit

  Outside, travel far left until you see three platforms above. Run just to
the right of the third platform (from the left) and charge for a super jump
above this platform. You will need to spin jump and position yourself above
the center of this third platform before super jumping up. While falling, a
wave beam to the left will reveal more MISSLES (085); make sure to hug that
wall so you grab the missles instead of gliding over them. Now look for two
patches of grass below, and shoot a super missle exactly in between them to
open a hole that leads to more MISSLES (090). Backtrack to those patches of
grass and travel east. Shoot the ground to reveal a small crawl space. Take
it east, and prepare to do some grappling in the upcoming area.

  When you see a standing Chozo statue, morph into a ball. Wait in its palm
and watch it take you through the floor. Bomb the floor and travel east and
up. When you see the robots in this area, shoot them into the gaps, and use
a power bomb near the Chozo statue holding some MISSLES (095). Now that the
statue is gone, use the extra running space for a super jump at the of this
newly made runway. Be carefull where you step; jump toward the RESERVE TANK
(1) on the left. Now head back to the statue and take the blue door. Inside
is the GRAVITY SUIT. Quickly return to the Wrecked Ship and take the second
blue door on the right hand side. Travel to the right and up while shooting
the ceilings to clear out hidden passageways. When you reach a read door in
the northeast section of the ship, grapple over toward an ENERGY TANK (05),
and then return to the entrance of the wrecked ship. For a cool exit, use a
super jump out of the wrecked ship. In the water on the left bank are a set
of MISSLES (100). Now return to your space ship and head down the Craterian
shaft. Underneath Mother Brain's old life support system are MISSLES (105).
Now, go back to the Craterian shaft. Just above the blue door is a platform
adjacent to the east wall. Bomb through the wall and power bomb through the
orange door. Use the ice, spazer, and  wave beam combo to freeze the yellow
poppers. A super jump to the top gets you some SUPER MISSLES (20). Use your
grapple beam to grapple over a large pit of spikes. Return up to Crateria's
surface. You will see a small crawl space leading to a blue door. Grab some
MISSLES (110) inside.

  Now return to your ship and gear up. Save your game if necessary. This is
the first official save point if you are shooting for low timestamps. About
40 minutes means you are in good shape. Otherwise, you need more practice.

  Learning to Fly                                          (120;20;20;06;1)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items

  Use a diagonal super jump to reach the cliff up in the northeast. A power
bomb will be needed to open the door. From the edge of the cliff, charge up
for a super jump by pressing down just before entering the door. Super jump
to the right for some POWER BOMBS (20). Charge for a second super jump when
you reach the end of the cliff again. Drop down and slightly right. A super
jump to the left will leave you against a blue door. Open the door and dash
back to your ship. Repeat the same sequence of super jumps. The ENERGY TANK
(06) in the next room should replenish your health. Set off a power bomb to
open up a crawl space. Head west and use power bombs to get through. Do not
move after you enter the blue door. Shoot to the left to reveal a path. Now
count the blocks, starting with the block you are standing on. Blocks three
and four (from the right) disintegrate upon touch. You want to land between
them so that they both disintegrate at the same time. When you see the sets
of MISSLES (115) on each side (120), shoot left and right. Travel down, and
set off a power bomb to drop down to the green Zebesians. Continue down and
take the elevator to Brinstar.

  The Brinstar Scavenger Hunt                              (155;30;35;10;2)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items

  Take the first red door below the elevator. Speed dash past those closing
gates and enter the red door for a RESERVE TANK (2). Crawl under the statue
to find a set of MISSLES (125). Behind these are more MISSLES (130) covered
in rock. Exit this room and go up. There are some SUPER MISSLES (25) to the
left. Drop down and grab the MISSELS (135) to the right of the pipe. Return
to the elevator area and fall all the way down. Use a power bomb to go even
futher down. Enter the blue door and travel west. Don't get too exicited if
you see an ENERGY TANK (07). Jump to it as the floor in front of it is very
fragile. In the room behind the green door are more SUPER MISSLES (30). Now
drop down through the fragile floor, and equip your ice beam.

  Travel east and use wall jumps up to the top of this vertical pipe. Morph
into a ball at the top, and find a set of POWER BOMBS (25). Use a bomb when
you are leaving to blast you to the other side (from the crawl space). This
should make things easier since you won't have to wall jump up again. Go up
and east as if you were on your way to the Spore Spawn. After passing those
Metarees, go east instead of up. Use either your grapple beam or wall jumps
to reach some MISSLES (140) near the Side Hoppers. Set off a power bomb and
jump through the fake wall west of the missles. Kill the Giant Side Hoppers
and find a blemish in the floor. Use a super missle on it. Find POWER BOMBS
(30) below. Now head east and look for an orange door. Use a power bomb and
enter. Kill the Side Hoppers and use a wall jump to open the blue gate. Now
wall jump over that tall wall and collect an ENERGY TANK (08). Remember how
you got the charge beam? Go down there an power bomb the foot of the statue
and crawl through the pipe. Power dash westward to find another ENERGY TANK
(09). Now head toward the second set of missles in this speed run. Look for
an orange door in the northeastern corner. Power bomb through and watch out
for Giant Side Hoppers. Bomb underneath the wall on the right. Collect some
POWER BOMBS (35) and travel as far east as possible. Power bomb the barrier
in front of those MISSLES (145) and super jump up. Hop up onto an invisible
platform and find a set of MISSLES (150) in the next room. There is another
set of MISSLES (155) hidden at the foot of the platform (left side). Now go
back to where you power bombed a barrier near some missles. A hidden ENERGY
TANK (10) in the ceiling awaits collection.

  Backtrack to the Brinstar pipe creatures and travel toward Norfair as you
did the very first time. When you reach the glass pipe, power bomb it. Save
your game one screen below if you wish. Otherwise, time for some fishing!

  Swimming in Maridia                                      (180;45;35;11;2)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items

  Head north and take the red door to the east. When you enter through that
door, turn around and preopen it. Kill the crabs, then open the green gate.
Charge up for a super jump. You want to return to the previous area and use
the super jump once you position Samus by the leftmost seaweed. Collect the
MISSLES (160). Head north, taking the blue door. Stick to the left wall and
while morphed, crawl through the left wall. A crab will be crawling through
the same crevice. Find some SUPER MISSLES (35) to the left (these were seen
when you super jumped to those missles earlier). After grabbing those super
missles, travel south. Be carefull when entering the blue door in the floor
or you will fall too far down. Just try to move to the right while you fall
through that door. Hop over that tall and thin wall and go through the wall
to the right of that purple Zebesian. Open the red door run through. Charge
up for a super jump. In the turtle room, super jump up just slightly to the
left of the center of the room. Collect the ENERGY TANK (11) perched atop a
grappling block. Run and jump from this perch to the east wall. A wave beam</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
downward should reveal some MISSLES (165). Quickly drop down and be sure to
hug the wall to grab the missles. Backtrack and make your way north.

  Return to the area with the grappling blocks in the ceiling. (You will be
coming out of a blue door on the far east side.) Stand atop the easternmost
hill, aim your grapple beam up, and latch onto an electric puffer. Swing on
to the ledge just northeast of the puffer. Use the ledge to jump up to that
last grapple block by the blue door in the northeast corner. Another way to
get up here is to use a diagonal super jump. You will need to clear out the
crabs first. This method actually takes a bit more time and health, so it's
not recommended. In the next area, travel north and then west to find a set
of MISSLES (170) and SUPER MISSLES (40). Backtrack and collect some MISSLES
(175) behind a fake sand barrier. Travel south from the spot from which you
went north and west and power bomb your way down. Use a vertical super jump
over by the east side of the room to grab some MISSLES (180). Carefully hop
to the SUPER MISSLES (45) since the floor in front of it disintegrates upon
touch.

  Botwoon and Draygon                                      (190;45;40;12;2)
  ------------------------------------------------- Space Jump, Spring Ball

  Use another super jump (or a speed jump followed by a wall jump) to reach
a blue door in the northwestern corner of the same area. Travel east, power
dashing through the metal barriers. Take out Botwoon, and continue east. Do
not go for the energy tank. Instead, just power dash through the blocks and
travel as far east as possible. If you charge for a super jump before going
through the blue door, you can super jump up to another blue door. Equipped
with the grapple beam, continue east. There are MISSLES (185) hidden in the
wall in the room with the fake spikes. Drop through the first set of spikes
and prepare to do some fish frying. Take out Draygon and get the SPACE JUMP
boots. Now return to that ENERGY TANK (12) you skipped. Drop into the sand,
just below the energy tank, and go west back to the room where a super jump
was used to get missles and super missles. Shoot the southeast corner floor
to drop down to some sandpits. Take the first one you encounter. There is a
set of MISSLES (190) and POWER BOMBS (40) waiting for you. Fall through the
sandy floor (east side of the room) and go east. When you a cracked grapple
block, grapple it and space jump through the hole once that block crumbles.
When you enter a room with a creature that has spiked discs on its feet use
a power bomb so that it can clear away the sandy walls for you. In the room
behind this sandy wall is the SPRING BALL. Now backtrack west, and when you
reach the area with two blue doors on each side, stop and set a power bomb.
Go up and through the green door.

  Leaving Maridia with the Plasma Beam                     (195;45;40;12;3)
  ------------------------------------------------------------- Plasma Beam

  After the elevator sequence, travel northeast and use a space jump to get
to the flashing door. Beating Draygon makes this metal door openable. Go in
and ignore the purple Zebesians. Get the PLASMA BEAM at the bottom, and get
rid of the Zebesians. Two are on each wall, and one is at the top. You must
kill them in order to exit. Drop down into the water and maneuver through a
room full of spikes and Cacatacs (kill them for super missle refills). When
you find yourself about two rooms before Draygon's area, take the blue door
at the bottom. Again, take the sandpit underneath the spot where there used
to be an energy tank. You should end up in the pink/purple room. This time,
take the second sandpit underneath the metal floor. Grab a RESERVE TANK (3)
and some MISSLES (195). Drop through the sandy floor on the left hand side.
Travel west and when you get to a room with a green platform near the floor
where crabs crawl in and out, crawl underneath it and drop down. Keep going
west until you drop down into the room just before the Norfair elevator.

  The Return to Norfair                                    (200;45;40;12;3)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items

  Take the Norfair elevator down, and take the first door below and left of
the elevator (same way to the ice beam). Use a power bomb to drop down just
after the second closing gate. Travel west and when you see a blue door, do
not run through. Walk slowly through. In the next room, shoot the west wall
and space jump to the MISSLES (200). You could have preopened this door and
used a super jump through the door, but it takes more time. Drop down, then
take the blue door east. When you power dash down the slanted slope, charge
for a super jump just before reaching the door to Crocomire's lair. Use the
wave beam to open a blue door to the right (you will have to listen for the
sound of the door opening). Quickly execute a horizontal super jump, and in
the next area use the energy station to refill your meter. Use your grapple
beam to cross over the Yapping Maws and hot magma. You will finally reach a
room with blue orbs orbiting some platforms. Use a power bomb on the orange
door at the bottom.

  The Golden Torizo                                        (210;50;45;13;3)
  ------------------------------------------------------------ Screw Attack

  Use the space jump in the lava area, and take the elevator down.  Go west
and space jump over a deep room filled with lava. Use power bombs to reveal
a Chozo statue. Morph in its hands to release a trigger that drains the hot
lava. Drop down and use another power bomb to clear out a crawl path. There
are some MISSLES (205) in plain sight, but make sure to space jump to them.
Otherwise you'll fall through the fragile floor. Take out the Golden Torizo
and grab the SCREW ATTACK in the next room. Return to the Torizo's room and
use the screw attack in the upper right ceiling to find SUPER MISSLES (50).
Continue east until you have no choice but to go up. At the very top, shoot
the ceiling to reveal a passage leading west. A set of MISSLES (210) inside
a room with a heart design are just a few screens down and left. Watch your
steps and try not to fall down. Return the way you came and continue moving
east. Quickly make your way out of the large room that fills up with lava.

  You will most likely not have full health after fighting the Gold Torizo,
so continue east until you see a rock formation in the shape of the head of
Ridley. Power bomb the shooting head and grab the ENERGY TANK (13) slightly
southeast. Now go back to the two blue doors and shoot the area between two
brown rocks. Travel south and use power bombs to continue east. When in the
room with shooting flames, bomb the western wall and crawl through. A power
bomb near the statues at the far left will reveal a small crevice. Go under
and find some POWER BOMBS (45). Now head down.

  Ridley and the Escape from Norfair                       (230;50;50;14;4)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------- No Items

  Use a super missle on the green door, and be prepared to fight some tough
space pirates. There will be two Zebesians. Jump over the first one and use
three super missles when it does a diving kick and turns gold. Use the same
tactic against the second one. Open the flashing door (the entrance) and go
west. When you get to the eye door, open it and equip your power bombs. Set
off power bombs while you drop to the platform in Ridley's room. You should
be able to set about two or three before you start fighting Ridley. Once he
is dead, look for the last ENERGY TANK (14) underneath the blue door.

  Now return to the rock formation that resembles Ridley and head north. At
the top, walk to the left through a fake wall. Go west, north, then east to
find some MISSLES (215). Use a power bomb to reveal a path through the maze
of metal just east of the missles. Grab the last POWER BOMBS (50). Again go
through the fake wall. This time head west, north, and then west again. You
will eventually pass a few metal gates. When you cannot travel west, hop on
the platform above the ebb of lava. Bomb it and crawl inside this platform.
There are some MISSLES (220) just under the room with the wave beam. In the
bubble room, grapple over to the green door. Grab the MISSLES (225) perched
on the platform in the middle of the room. Hop down to the bottom left (the
lava won't do any damage) and shoot the floor. A metal pipe will rise. Bomb
the left wall and crawl through. Drop into the lava and run left. Shoot the
last green rock above the lava to reveal the last set of MISSLES (230), and
then grab the last RESERVE TANK (4). Return to the bubble room. Use a power
bomb near the southwestern corner and take the door on the left side. Speed
through the speed tunnel. Leave Norfair using a path through Maridia. It is
a simple trek up to the grappling room in Maridia. Space jump to the middle
and take the blue door in the ceiling. Continue up and left until you crawl
into Brinstar. Take the elevator up and return to your ship.

  Mother Brain                                             (230;50;50;14;4)
  -------------------------------------------------------------- Hyper Beam

  Once you save the game at your ship (about 1 hour 15 minutes is good), go
down to Tourian. Do not save your game in Tourian if you have intentions of
returning to any previously explored section on Planet Zebes. There will be
a few Metroids to kill before you reach Mother Brain, and they must all die
in order to continue to Mother Brain. Read the boss guide for more details.
Once Mother Brain is defeated, you will need to hurry back to your ship. By
now you will already have the HYPER BEAM. From Mother Brain's room, go west
and then south. Take the blue door at the bottom and speed dash east. Super
jump up, and continue north. Once you land up top and are running east, aim
diagonally down to the right and shoot an unseen door. Eventually, you will
get to this door since lava will start to rise from the floor in this area.
Speed dash through the door you preopened, and charge for a super jump. Hug
either the left or right wall in the Craterian shaft and super jump up. Now
quickly get to your ship before the planet explodes. There should be almost
a minute left on the timer. Sit back and watch the ending! Did you beat the
game within 1 hour and 20 minutes?

                          ---------- V ----------

CHAPTER VI: THE COMPLETE BOSS AND MINI-BOSS GUIDE

  The bosses and mini-bosses are normally fought using either normal missle
or super missle attacks. Super missles are preferred since they have nearly
5 times as much power as regular missles. However charged beams can also do
quite a bit of damage. In fact, the more beams equipped simultaneously, the
more damage the shot. You can only charge the cannon while not spinning. So
break out of any spin jumps with the aim diagonally up (R) button to charge
your cannon. Mother Brain's first form is the only time charged beams won't
work. Try fighting Botwoon, the Golden Torizo, Ridley, and Mother Brain (in
her second form) using your charged beams. Your chances of hitting with the
Spazer Beam equipped triples! (Damage values by hpsolo@my-deja.com)

	   N = NORMAL ARMOR   V = VARIA SUIT   G = GRAVITY SUIT

  Ridley (Part One) .......................................... Space Colony

  Type of Attack          Damage (N)
  ---------------------   ------
  Fireball		     3
  Tail Swipe		    15
  Contact		     5

  Ridley does not have a consistent attack pattern. Instead he has a number
of attack sequences. He may shoot fireballs in rounds of 2, 4, or 6. He may
swoop down toward you and attempt to spike you with his tail. Or, hey might
try to slam into you. To avoid his heat-seeking fireballs, jump after all 4
fireballs are shot per round. If he begins to spin his tail and skewere you
with it, jump on top of the doorway. If he body slams you, then try to take
less damage by turning your back to him. It takes a great deal of effort to
avoid his body slam, so don't bother (possible, but improbable). If you aim
at his eye as he fades in, you can get a good number of shots off. When you
defeat Ridley, he will drop the capsule containing the Metroid baby, but he
then picks it back up. I have noticed that the probability of Ridley's body
slam is related to how much energy you have. If you let one of the fireball
rounds hit you once, Ridley will less likely swoop down at you or try to do
his body slam.

  If you are speed running, just touch his tail as often as you can because
it deals the most damage. Defeating Ridley will not make future battles any
easier, so try to avoid the temptation of fighting him.

  Torizo Statue .................................................. Crateria

  Type of Attack          Damage (N)
  ---------------------   ------
  Fireball		     8
  Laser Orbs		    10
  Laser Shield		    10
  Contact		     8

  Since your missles are gone, just aim diagonally up. When he jumps to the
right, he is about to shoot some fireballs. Aim up and shoot the fireballs;
they give refill items including missles. Use any and all missles on him to
quickly finish him off. It shouldn't take more than 10-15 seconds before he
dies.

  Advanced method: Once the Torizo rises, jump over him and hug the wall on
the right hand side. He will have his back to you and walk toward the door.
Use this brief period to quickly fire your cannon. If you are quick enough,
you will trigger a jump from him just when he is about to come into contact
with you. Once he jumps toward the door, run up to him, aim straight up and
shoot the fireballs for refills. Use any missles you have.

  Spore Spawn .................................... Northern Center Brinstar

  Type of Attack          Damage (N)
  ---------------------   ------
  Spores		     4
  Contact		    12

  You can avoid being hit by the Spore Spawn by crouching at the bottom, or
while morphed in the left corner on the ledge. When the mini-boss opens its
mouth, time your missles so that you send in at least two missles. Fire one
at the top of its mouth, and a second at the center. It will start to close
its mouth after the first shot; the second missle will make it just in time
for a second explosion. About 10 missles are needed to kill it.

  Advanced method: You should time your missle shots depending on the Spore
Spawn's height off the ground. Become familiar with his range of motion. At
the start, he will make three full revolutions with the final swing leaving
his core open. Jump from the ledge on the left, and shoot a missle and then
shoot a few more while you continue to increase in height from your jump. I
managed to get four missles in. The Spore Spawn closes its core if hit with
a missle. By timing your jump and when you shoot your missles, you might be
able to squeeze in more than two missles per round. It's possible to defeat
the Spore Spawn in three rounds!

  Kraid ............................................. Southeastern Brinstar

  Type of Attack          Damage (N)
  ---------------------   ------
  Rock Shot		     2
  Ramming Claw		    20
  Boomerang Claw	    10
  Abdominal Spike	    10
  Contact		    20
  Spike Plants (ground)	    16

  Kraid takes four super missles to kill or the equivalent thereof. Regular
missles or charged shots will also damage him. When you first walk into the
room and the debris stops falling, Kraid will either [1] open his mouth and
spew out four boulders or [2] do nothing for about 3 seconds. Prepare as if
the first will happen. Hopefully you have the Spazer Beam. Point diagonally
up and shoot the four boulders if they come out. If it seems Kraid is doing
nothing at first, then quickly switch over to the regular missles. Shoot it
at his mouth and watch his eyes glow. Now switch over to the super missles,
and send it into the opening mouth. If you miss, Kraid will ram you.

  Otherwise watch him rise completely out of the ground. Quickly jump up to
the platform that once was the ceiling. Use missles to get Kraid to open up
and super missles if he opens his mouth. Listen for his roars. Shoot at the
flying claws for refill items. And the projectiles from Kraid's abdomen are
safe to stand on. Just don't get hit by them.

  Advanced method: Listen to the boss intro music. At the climax, and after
Kraid is almost finished rising,  notice his claw begining to close up. One
missle right before the claw completely closes will make his eye flash. Now
quickly switch to your super missles, and jump and hold the jump button. As
you fall from the jump, shoot a super missle just before his claw begins to
close (again). If you did it correctly he should be momentarily frozen. His
mouth will still be open for a few more seconds. Quickly send in a few more
super missles (you should be able to get at least three in).  This trick is
brought to you by MIE. (And thanks to hpsolo for explaining how to do it.)

  Crocomire ................................................ Middle Norfair

  Type of Attack          Damage (V)
  ---------------------   ------
  Triple Claw		    20
  Fireball		    10
  Contact		    20

  Do not use any missles or super missles on this mini-boss. Crocomire will
first claw three times and then it will open its mouth. Use a charged beam,
preferrably the wave and spazer combined, to shove it back. It will do this
about two or three times. Then prepare to send charged shots, one after the
next. When he is near the bridge over hot magma, he will repeat his clawing
tactic. Just concentrate on shooting his open mouth. Do not worry about the
fireballs which he tries to use on you. Soon he will fall into the lave. Go
left and wait for his skeleton to break through the spiked wall. On average
about 15 charged shots should send Crocomire into the pool of lava.

  Advanced method: This requires a quick thumb, since you will be switching
back and forth between the beam and super missles. At the very start, use a
charged beam for your first shot. Crocomire will take a few steps back. His
claws will then move up and down three times. Now use a super missle on the
second round. From this point on, I recommend using just the wave beam. Why
super missles aren't as effective any round after the first one escapes me.
And after extensive testing, it seems that you MUST use a charged beam, and
follow it up with a super missle. These first two shots are the only ones I
found to be more effective than just using the charged wave/spazer beam for
the entire battle.

  Phantoon ............................................... The Wrecked Ship

  Type of Attack          Damage (V)
  ---------------------   ------
  Blue Flame		    20
  Blue Retaliation	    20
  Contact		    20

  There are two different approaches to this boss. The Phantoon will drop a
number of bouncing, blue balls of fire. Shoot these for refill items. If he
solidifies, use missles or super missles on him. You can get about 5 normal
missles off if that is all you use. Using a super missle puts him in a very
bad mood. He will send out about 8 waves of blue that are extremely hard to
avoid if you do not use charged spin jumps. Four super missles and a normal
missle will the Phantoon. Otherwise, about 4 or 5 rounds of regular missles
are needed.

  Advanced method: Wait for a circle of blue to eminate from the boss. This
means he will solidify soon. Equip your missles and shoot one missle at the
Phantoon. Quickly switch over to a super missle and fire one of those. This
should reduce the number of rounds down to 4 instead of 5.

  Botwoon ..................................................... Mid Maridia

  Type of Attack          Damage (VG)
  ---------------------   ------
  Acid Spit		    24
  Contact		    20

  When you meet Botwoon, you should have a plenty of super missles. Use the
stash of super missles on him to take him out. He will either swim from one
hole to the next, or peek his head out and shoot green acid (?) at you. Aim
for his head. If you run out of super missles, use regular missles and then
charged shots. He's movement is too random to try to describe, but it helps
if you stand just below one of the holes. That way if he pokes his head out
you can shoot about three super missles at him.

  Draygon ................................................. Eastern Maridia

  Type of Attack          Damage (VG)
  ---------------------   ------
  Grey Slime		     0
  Tail Swipe		    40
  Contact		    40

  There are several ways to beat Draygon, and I will only describe the best
way -- but you will need the grapple beam. Enter his room, and take out all
the cannons on either side of the room. When Draygon spits grey stuff, just
let it stick to you and allow the boss to grab you. Use the grapple beam to
latch onto one of those cannons and electrocute the boss (you will also get
damaged, but don't worry about losing health).

  Advanced method: (NO GRAPPLE BEAM) You should be able to fire a few super
missles at Draygon when he first enters the screen. Just shoot and morph to
avoid getting hit. He normally makes two sweeps at the very beginning. Once
the first two sweeps are done, the third time will be when he sprays goo to
slow you down. (Typically from the right side of the room.) Wait until he's
about a third of the way through this sweep and set off a power bomb. DON'T
get caught by the grey goo! If you've managed to stay clean, it will all be
cleared away, and you have the remaining two-thirds of this sweep to launch
super missles into his belly. Just follow him and aim up. If you do come in
contact with the grey stuff, Draygon will swim up and out of reach. About 2
or 3 rounds of this is enough to kill the boss. Repeat until it dies.

  Golden Torizo ............................................. Lower Norfair

  Type of Attack          Damage (VG)
  ---------------------   ------
  Fireball		    20
  Flare Shots		     2
  Laser Shield		    30
  Torizo Spawn		    25
  Super Missle		    50
  Contact		    40

  This boss is very tough if you do not have the plasma beam. He will catch
your super missle and use it against you. If you want have super missles to
waste, shot several more while he's holding the first one. Otherwise, stick
with charged plasma beams. The boss has a variety of attacks. It will shoot
fireballs, horizontal and vertical beams, and when near death, the boss has
the ability to shoot black orbs which do tons of damage. You won't see them
if you use charged plasma beams (don't worry too much about health). If you
do get low in health, use charged spin jumps to avoid damage.

  Super missles are not recommended since you need as many as you can find,
and since they are difficult to refill. Moreover, you are forced to waste a
super missle since the Golden Torizo will grab the first one you shoot. You
will be glad to have lots of super missles when you go up against Ridley.

  Ridley (Part Two) ......................................... Lower Norfair

  Type of Attack          Damage (VG)
  ---------------------   ------
  Fireball		     5
  Fireball Blast	    15
  Vertial Tail Spike	    30
  Claw Hold		    20
  Swooping Tail Swipe	    30
  Contact		    40

  When you first drop down into his room, set off about 2 or 3 power bombs,
then equip your super missles. Hopefully your energy meter is full. Rushing
your shots is not the idea here. Ridley will use fireballs, or try to spike
you with his tail. If he shoots fireballs, use the same tactics as outlined
before. If he tries to spike you with his tail, quickly dash toward the end
of the platform and aim up at him. Be carefull not to let him grab you. His
tail will then deal some major damage. Use your screw attack and be patient
with your shots. You will save more time by making every super missle a hit
instead of a miss. Ridley's color is a guage of the damage you have done.

  Advanced method: When you enter his lair, equip your super missles. Stand
in the center of the platform and wait for his eyes. As soon as you see the
rest of Ridley, quickly fire four super missles. Immediately jump (since he
will be rising up now) and fire a fifth super missle. Now just wait for the
boss to come down. If you see him fly up to one side of the room, go to the
opposite side (on the platform). Aim diagonally up and as soon as you see a
glimpse of his body, shoot a super missle. If he goes up, jump up with him.
Continue to fire super missles as you do so. Towards the end of the battle,
he will hover above the platform. Just jump (to avoid any swipes) and shoot
your missles.

  Mother Brain .............................................. Lower Tourian

  When you make your way down to Mother Brain in Tourian, take off all your
suits. Do not worry about losing health -- the more damage the better. Kill
the Metroids by freezing them and using five missles on them. Or allow them
to latch onto you and use power bombs. When you see the giant Metroid, take
some more damage by running into its first victim. After the Metroid starts
to drain your energy, travel west. Once it lets you free, put your suits on
and look for a red door. Use regular missles on it and then go recharge the
missles and energy meter. Use a super missle on the eye door. Then open the
red door with five regular missles.

  Phase One: Use only regular missles on the energy barriers. It takes five
per barrier. If the barrier is in the center, hop onto the platform that is
connected to it and aim diagonally at it. Don't worry about the distraction
from the security system. If the barrier is split into two, crouch down and
shoot at it. Make sure to hug the barrier so you don't fall off when hit by
the flying energy rings. Once you reach Mother Brain's glass casing, freeze
the energy rings, and crouch in the center of the platform and aim up. Send
out regular missles (about 40). Don't forget to refreeze those energy rings
when they thaw out. (Only missles and super missles will do damage!)

  Phase Two: Once she takes on her second form, stand a character away from
the eastern wall and aim up at her head. Use all remaining 49 super missles
and switch to regular missles when you are out. When you have about 40 more
missles left, take off all your suits. (Do not get distracted by her attack
on you. Jump over any bouncing bombs, but otherwise just ignore her all her
attacks.) Once you are down to 2 energy bars (about 300 hit points) put the
suits back on. Her charged head beams will do quite a bit of damage!

  There is a much quicker way to defeat Mother Brain. Equip all your beams,
and stand on the second floor tile from the right hand side. Now, charge up
your beams and shoot one as soon as you see her head turn dark orange. Upon
the fifth hit, she will drop a bomb. You should have managed about eight or
nine charged shots before you have to spin jump to avoid the first mine. If
she starts using her stronger attacks, then you're almost done. When twenty
charged shots have been fired, prepare for the super attack. If you have at
least 301 hit points then you will survive (with 1 hit point left). Keep in
mind that it takes 20 charge beams when ALL the beams are equipped. It will
take longer if you do not have them all.

TIP: Once you see the Super Attack beginning, you should reduce your health
down to slightly above 300 hit points. (I usually go for about 350.) Having
less than 100 hit points means your hatchling will come to the rescue a lot
sooner (which also means having the Hyper Beam a bit sooner). Just run into
Mother Brain if your health is too high.

  Type of Attack          Damage (VG)
  ---------------------   ------
  Bomb (not detonated)      40
  Bomb exposion             20
  Eye Laser                 30
  Blue Rings                40
  Fire Laser               200
  Super Attack             300
  Contact		    30

  Final Phase: After the Metroid recharges you and dies, use the Hyper Beam
as if you were shooting the super missles in Phase Two. She should die with
a few shots to the head.

                          ---------- VI ----------

CHAPTER VII: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  01. How long did it take you to write this speed guide?

      If you consider the total number of hours spent on writing this guide
      then I would say about 2 weeks. Most of the the few free-time hours I
      had as an undergrad were spent on finding the optimal route. Over the
      four years, I spent time on perfecting some of the various tricks and
      special moves (single-wall jumps, bomb climbing, super jumps) and not
      so much on writing the guide itself. Once it was started, though, not
      much time was needed for the writeup since I essentially had the game
      game memorized down to where enemies would be in the next room.

  02. Have you read marshmallow's speed guide?

      Yes, and I believe that it's one of the best guides available. On the
      other hand, there were a few tricks and shortcuts left out which have
      not been mentioned by any Super Metroid guide. A few of the shortcuts
      and tricks were of my own design, while others may have been all very
      well known but undocumented. And still other cool tricks needed a bit
      of improvement. Of course, this guide may very well have its own list
      of shortcomings.

      Both hpsolo and I tried to contact marshmallow to get the speed guide
      he wrote updated with our tricks. However, neither hpsolo nor I could
      get in touch with the author. Hence we worked on this guide together,
      and I ended up writing the guide.

  03. What program did you use to justify the text?

      None. I just chose words carefully so that everything lined up on the
      right hand side. Everything was done with an ASCII editor.

  04. Why did you chose to have the first save point so far into the game?

      It's a speed run! Besides, with lots of practice, it's really easy to
      go this far into the game before saving. The Phantoon is the only big
      difficulty before saving.

  05. Why did you get the speed booster before the wave beam?

      The speed booster is used to get the wave beam without worrying about
      the spikes just before the wave beam room. You can run from the ledge
      with the missle pack, spin jump at the last second to the right wall,
      and have plenty of time to wall jump up without touching those spikes
      below. Those spikes take off a lot of energy, and you only have a max
      of 300 hit points. It would be awefull to mess up and die here. There
      are no refill stations until after Crocomore and three super jumps in
      Middle Norfair (the energy tank by Crocomire will refill your meter).

  06. Why didn't you follow the same path as outlined in the speed guide by
      marshmallow when going on the scavenger hunt in Brinstar?

      The difference, if you trace out both paths entirely, is that my path
      requires dropping down the Craterian shaft (very quick) and retracing
      your steps from the Brinstar elevator back through the area just left
      of the MORPH BALL item. And then it is just the normal run to Norfair
      from then on. The path outlined by marshmallow takes you east of your
      ship and through the spikey room and past the Rippers in the vertical
      pipe of Brinstar. I think the distances are almost the same. However,
      my path is less difficult (no spikes =). Of course, you can always go
      for a test run to find out for sure. (Besides, my path does not use a
      single elevator so there is not much waiting nor any elevator music.)

  07. You didn't get the energy tank before meeting Draygon until after you
      beat him. Isn't more energy better?

      In general, yes. However, Draygon is very easy to defeat without that
      energy tank if you use the grapple beam trick. Since this trick takes
      more energy than the refills (after he dies) provide, the energy tank
      we skipped will completely fill your energy meter.

  08. Is the Spazer Beam needed so early? Why not wait until after the High
      Jump Boots?

      It helps to have it when you fight Kraid so early in the game and run
      out of missles and super missles. With a stronger beam, the exploring
      of Norfair is much easier.

  09. What's with the removal of suits in Tourian?

      To save time. Avoiding any refills and having low energy means a less
      wait period as the Metroid drains you. Likewise when Mother Brains is
      using that crazy head beam. If you think this is kinky, then you have
      not seen the coolest ending of the game.

  10. I've got a tip. Will you include it in your guide?

      Only if it is cool or will make a difference in timestamps. It should
      be feasible (can do it within three tries) as well.

  11. How did you go about finding these shortcuts and tricks? Did you read
      about them somewhere?

      They were mainly the results of curiosity. For example, the wall jump
      in the bubble room came to me only after numerous failed bomb climbs.
      It was annoying to bomb climb up and almost make it to the ledge only
      to fall back down. Even when I did make it, I couldn't do it with any
      consistency. So then I got creative...

      Many of the tricks I found, however, were apparently already known by
      most Super Metroid players. I take no credit for those since it's the
      guy who finds the trick first that gets the credit. Nonetheless there
      are still a number of neat tricks in this speed guide that no one has
      mentioned so far.

  12. Hey, you didn't save the friendly creatures in the BOMBS item room!

      This is a speed run, remember? Besides, the only difference is that a
      tiny purple dot will fly from the right side of the Planet during the
      ending. That doesn't quite cut it as a good reason for the detour.

  13. What is your opinion of the various endings?

      Even the coolest of the three endings could have been better. Most of
      the games I've played show the enemies or list them while the credits
      are scrolling. Super Metroid's three endings differ very little. If I
      made the endings, I would have gone with something like the Megaman X
      series, with Samus doing all her various moves.

  14. What are timestamps?

      My phrase for logged game time.

  15. What does "logged game time" mean?

      It means you are very dumb.

  16. I am stuck in <certain area> and can't seem to figure out what to has
      to be done next. What did I forget?

      Read the guide, in particular the section in which you are lost. Look
      for various comments about how a certain event must occur, or various
      items being required.

  17. If the power to the wrecked ship is not turned on, does this mean map
      units, save points, AND traps won't work?

      Yes. Nothing will work until you defeat the Phantoon. This will power
      up the Wrecked Ship. If there is no power, even the spikes will cause
      no damage. Why spikes need juice to do harm, I haven't a clue.

  18. Have you ever successfully reached the green door in the northwestern
      area in the bubble room the first time you get there?

      Yes, it requires two nearly impossible wall jumps. Read below for all
      the details. Or if you have the speed booster, one wall jump will do.

  19. What is the point of shooting flashing doors if you don't go through?

      These doors normally open only when all enemies in the local area are
      dead. If you open any door, it becomes blue from that point on. So by
      opening the flashing door, you no longer have to kill all the enemies
      in the area if you have to return to that room.

  20. I found a room with four golden statues. Every now and then one would
      turn grey. Can you shed some light on this subject matter?

      Each statue is a main boss in the game. Whenever you defeat one, that
      boss' statue turns grey. Once all four main bosses are defeated there
      will be an earthquake that opens up the path to Tourian.

  21. What is the point of fighting Kraid early?

      While the game itself is non-linear, the speed guide is an attempt at
      a linear path in the sense that backtracking is done as little as can
      be without too much difficulty. Remember, it was assumed that you had
      practiced the hard parts, so Kraid should have been easy to kill. MIE
      (www.metroid3.com) beat Kraid literally in a few blinks of the eye!

  22. I'm having trouble getting the first power bombs in Norfair after the
      battle with Crocomire. Is there an easier way?

      Perhaps this tip will help. When you defeat Crocomire, jump on one of
      pillars just left of his bones. Shoot to the left, and listen for the
      door (you should hear it open). Now, run back to the entrance of this
      area and speed dash to the pillars. When you are at Crocomire's bones
      you should be able to press down and charge for a super jump. There's
      still some room left to run and jump OVER the pillars and land at the
      door you pre-opened. Quickly walk through. Use a horizontal super and
      you will shoulder tackle the red door, behind which are power bombs.

  23. Why does the guide sometimes recommend killing enemies but not taking
      the refills left behind?

      This is normally in reference to pipe enemies. Some pipe enemies have
      the ability to regenerate quickly. If you are trying to dash past one
      of these pipes, you will most likely get hit by a pipe enemy. Killing
      them might leave refills. If you do not pick them up, they do not get
      regenerated because they now exist in the form of a refill. So if you
      leave the refills, you can dash over these pipes, pick up the refills
      and not get hit since you will have already run over the pipes before
      the enemy gets regenerated.

  24. But sometimes I end up shooting forever and no refill is left behind.
      How can I dash over these pipes without getting hit?

      Well you MUST NOT have 100% of everything. Refill items are left only
      if you need them. Whichever you are lacking most (percentage-wise) is
      what is left behind. For example, if you only have 15% of the maximum
      number of missles you are able to carry and 20% of your energy, there
      is a higher probability of getting missle refills. So if no refill is
      left behind, the chances are you are at 100% of your capacity. So let
      an enemy do a little damage and that will increase the chance that an
      item is left behind once you kill something.

  25. How often do you use the Ice Beam?

      The Ice Beam does no extra damage. In a speed run, frozen enemies are
      generally only going to slow you down (you have to move around them).
      Of course there will be times when you do need to freeze enemies like
      those Rippers in the Brinstar pipe. In general, however, the Ice Beam
      only forces you to fire one extra shot to kill the enemies. So in sum
      I rarely use the Ice Beam.

  26. How quickly did you beat the game?

      1 hour 21 minutes with 100%, and 57 minutes with 26%. I am working on
      an optimal route to beating the game with 30%.

      My lowest time ever (without any restrictions except for cheating) is
      47 minutes (in fact, right before the 2.10 update).

  27. What's the point of beating the game with low timestamps?

      If you're looking for some sort of special ending, then you will be a
      bit disappointed. There isn't some long movie or anything. The reason
      I am interested in speed runs is because this is my favorite game. To
      me, there is nothing cooler than to "perfect" a game.

  97. You mispelled something.

      So what if I cannot spel !?!? I'm a mathematician!

  98  Can I post your guide on my website?

      Sure, but the updated versions will always appear at GameFAQs.

  99. Can I be your friend?

      No. Maybe. Well... ok, but only for a second.

                          ---------- VII ----------

CHAPTER VIII: MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS

  - When you leave Norfair and return to the Brinstar vertical pipe for the
    second time try using a super jump to fly through the room with Yapping
    Maws and a Cacatac. I'll let you figure out how to charge up for such a
    super jump. The hint is to preopen doors.

  - The Ice Beam is not needed at the bottom of the Brinstar vertical pipe.
    You can use wall jumps on the eastern wall to find a little ledge above
    the blue door. From there, another wall jump off the ledge near door to
    the X-RAY SCOPE will get you up.

  - To get the Energy Tank behind the Charge Beam without the Gravity Suit,
    use the platform at the far west end of the room for running and charge
    up for a super jump. Use the super jump to travel through the area just
    underneath that platform.

  - Use a super jump to cross over the water area with the missle pack atop
    a pillar in the water when you are going to the Wrecked Ship area.

  - When you first enter the Wrecked Ship area, you can use a speed jump to
    the platform after the first grapple section. Just start from the door,
    dash toward the water, and when you touch the lightblue sand, press and
    hold jump. Don't hold the jump button down too long or you'll jump will
    be too high. It is possible to make it to the ship's door without using
    the Grapple Beam.

  - Instead of using a super jump to get the missles just before collecting
    the grapple beam, try using only wall jumps. It is slightly faster, and
    does not consume energy.

  - When in the Craterian shaft, in the area where you must freeze three of
    those yellow poppers, try to freeze them by running and aiming down. If
    you're fast enough, you'll never have to stop at all.

  - There is a way to reach the northwestern green door in the bubble room,
    but you'll need high jump boots. Below the green door is a platform and
    a blue door. Normal wall jumps will not work since the ledge above will
    block your jump. However, if you wall jump up and out, then you can use
    a second wall jump at the very tip of the ledge to get up there. First,
    look at the bubble blocks above the blue door. You want your first wall
    jump to start when Samus is one and one-half block above the blue door.
    As you reach the peak of your jump, quickly spin back toward that upper
    ledge and use another wall jump. This trick is extremely difficult, but
    it can be done with lots of practice. Good luck trying to be consistent
    with this move.

    There is another way of getting to this door. You must first obtain the
    Speed Booster (use the trick mentioned in the speed guide). Destroy all
    the wavers in the bubble room. With the speed booster, run and jump off
    the small platform in front of the blue door just below the green door.
    You must hold the dash, jump. and right-arrow direction. Quickly switch
    right-arrow to left-arrow and spin toward the upper ledge. Make sure to
    position Samus' feet so that they are just beside the right-most bubble
    on the second row (in the outcropping). Use a wall jump to get up. This
    method should be slightly easier. Just make sure when you jump that you
    do so at the last possible moment.

    If you do get up to this ledge, you can run and spin jump to the bubble
    wall below the Cacatac. Then wall jump up. Of course, you might want to
    pick up the missles and reserve tank first. Oh, take off your high jump
    boots before jumping, though. Otherwise you might catch the ceiling.

  - There's an easy way to get the two hard sets of missles in northwestern
    Crateria (where the floor disintegrates upon touch). When you enter, do
    not shoot anything. Remove all your beams. Clear out the top row of the
    destructible blocks. Once you are directly above where blocks three and
    four (from the blue door) meet. Set off a power bomb. Wen you drop, you
    will now clear out both columns of breakable blocks.

  - It is possible to get the X-RAY SCOPE without the grappling beam. Power
    bombs, high jump boots, and optionally the speed booster the only items
    needed to get the scope. You will need to use a wall jump to get to the
    red door. About four energy tanks are needed, if you want to leave with
    the scope =).

  - Once you get the MORPH BALL and are going up the Craterian pipe, try to
    use wall jumps on the eastern wall. Done correctly, you will never have
    to worry about the Zebesians on the west wall. Also, when dropping down
    this shaft at the start of the game, hug the east wall until you pass 6
    platforms. Then move one character away from the wall to avoid the last
    platform adjacent to the wall. With good timing, you can drop down this
    shaft with one continuous fall.

  - After you defeat Crocomire and he is falling into the lava quickly head
    west as far as possible and use a running jump to the east. You will be
    in lava so continue to spin jump to the Energy Tank on the right. Use a
    wall jump to get up to it. Normally you would just be waiting until the
    death animation finishes. By getting this tank during the animation you
    save the time it takes to get it when leaving Crocomire's lair.

                          --------- VIII ---------

CHAPTER IX. ULTIMATE CHALLENGE

  So you beat the game with 100% within 1 hour 20 minutes. But, do you have
the mad skills to beat the game UNDER AN HOUR!? That's right, less than one
hour (and 30% or less of the items). I will assume that you can bomb climb,
wall jump, and know the maps very well. The route in this particular run is
pretty much the same as that for the Speed Run. Most of the same tricks are
also used. (I'll put in more details if enough people email me for help.)

  For an even better time (harder challenge) don't pick up the Grapple Beam
and use wall jumps to go up the Brinstar shaft. Grab the power bombs in the
room just after the "spike room." Once you get to Draygon, use a power bomb
to clear out the grey goo (two volleys should take him out if you're quick)
and quickly knock him out.

        [I] = Item         [SM] = Super Missles    [ET] = Energy Tank
        [M] = Missles      [PB] = Power Bombs      [SP] = Save Point

        [b] = Mini-Boss
        [B] = Boss

  50 Step Summary of the Ultimate Challenge (only 28 items used)
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  01. [b]  Ridley in the Space Colony (hug the east wall)
  02. [I]  Morph Ball
  03. [M]  Missles (05)
  04. [I]  Bombs
  05. [b]  Torizo Statue
  06. [ET] Energy Tank (1) on the way to Brinstar
  07. [b]  Spore Spawn
  08. [SM] Super Missles (05)
  09. [M]  Missles by Charge Beam
  10. [I]  Charge Beam
  11. [M]  Missles in dormant pipe
  12. [I]  Spazer
  13. [B]  Kraid
  14. [ET] Energy Tank (2) near Kraid's entrance
  15.      Bomb climb up to red door on way to bubble room
  16. [SP] Save Point in bubble room
  17.      Bomb climb up to green door
  18.      Use charged spin jump to the right and wall jump to the Cacatac
  19.	   Use a wall jump to get up the ceiling behind the green door
  20. [I]  Speed Boosters
  21. [M]  Missles (20) near Wave Beam
  22. [I]  Wave Beam
  23. [b]  Crocomire
  24. [ET] Energy Tank (3) while Crocomire is melting
  25. [PB] Power Bombs (5) via super jump from Cromire's room to red door
  26. [I]  Grapple Beam
  27. [M]  Missles (25) after grappling area near green gate
  28. [ET] Energy Tank (4) in High Jump Boots area (kill the Geemer first)
  29. [I]  Ice Beam
  30.      Brinstar pipe (freeze Rippers and bomb climb) then through spike
	   room
  31. [SP] Save Point below elevator to Crateria
  32. [M]  Missles (30) above water on way to Wrecked Ship
  33. [B]  Phantoon
  34. [SM] Super Missles (10)
  35. [I]  Gravity Suit
  36.      Return to Brinstar pipe then go to glass tunnel in Maridia
  37. [SP] Power bomb the tunnel and use the Save Point
  38.      Use wall jumps and take the blue door to the area just below the
           Maridia grappling room.
  39.      Freeze the fish and use it to hop up to through the blue door in
	   the ceiling into the Maridia grappling area; use a super jump to
	   the blue door in the northeast corner
  40. [b]  Botwoon
  41. [ET] Energy Tank (5) just above sand
  41. [B]  Draygon (use grapple trick)
  42. [I]  Air Jump Boots
  43. [I]  Plasma Beam (go through the area with the many Cacatacs; a super
           jump will get you up to the Plasma Beam area. (Use the long sand
	   path to charge up and stand on the right hand side of a platform
	   at the end of the stretch jump from there)
  44.      Take the green door left of the Plasma Beam room and head down
  45. [SP] Save Point in Norfair
  46. [M]  Missles (35) just before Golden Torizo
  47. [b]  Golden Torizo
  48. [I]  Screw Attack
  49. [B]  Ridley
  50. [B]  Mother Brain (kill the Zebetites first then return to fight)

                          ---------- IX ----------

CREDITS AND THANKS:

  - GameFAQs for hosting this guide

  - marshmallow for a wonderfull and inspiring speed guide

  - magus for the documentation on the wave beam trick

  - Daniel Church for documentation on the trick near the ship

    (I believe magus and Daniel Church were the first to make note of these
    tricks, so they certainly deserve credit for them. Both of these tricks
    were credited by marshmallow.)

  - hpsolo for the trick in the bubble room and tons of other info -- thanks
    'cuz

  - hunnypleez for recognizing a huge naming error

  - Keyardon for the time saving tip in Crocomire's lair and for bomb climb
    tip (morph jump first)

  - MIE for his ZSNES demo on the trick against Kraid

  - Megaman X (discussion with hpsolo leading to the investigation of super
    missles against Crocomire).
</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
  - fans of Super Metroid for keeping this classic alive

  - Nintendo and Super Metroid's programmers for an impressive game

  - thanks to the authors of SNES9X and ZSNES

  - cheers to those who hang out in the Super Metroid forum at GameFAQs

SUPER METROID WEB LINKS:

  - Super Metroid Speed Run
    http://www.classicgaming.com/msr

    If you want to see a speed run, check out hpsolo's website for demos of
    an entire game with 100% item collection. The recording was done with a
    Super Nintendo emulator called ZSNES (http://www.zsnes.com) so you need
    to get that and a Super Metroid ROM first (US/Jap version).

    (APR 14, 2001; from hpsolo)
    "The MSR needs your help! We are about to make a revision of the movies
    for Super Metroid and would like your gaming expertise to help speed up
    the recording process. Check our website forums for more info!"

  - Norfair: The Best of Super Metroid
    http://www.metroid3.com

    This site was developed by MIE and has EVERY enemy/creature listed with
    screenshots. There is also a list of all the items of the game and many
    cool features such as software glitches.

  - The Metroid Database
    http://www.classicgaming.com/mdb/metroid.html

    This is THE site for all there is know about the Metroid series.