:7$77$ $7777 $77777::77777777$:7777777$M 7777777 777$ 7777777$ + :77777777777 777777::777777777:777777777 I77777777 7777 777777I77 + :77777777777 777OO8O888$77788O:77:888I7$ 77:8OOI77 7777 77:8O8I77 :777~777I777 77$ $777 :77~ 777 77: 777 7777 77: 777 . :777:8:87777 $77777: $777 :777$7777N 77: 777 7777 77: 777 . , :777: 8 7777 77$$7$: 7777 :777$7$777 77: 777 7777 77: 777 :777: 7777 777OOO8 7777 :77:88877$ 77: 777 7777 77: 777 :777: 7777 77$ 7777 :77: 777 777$77777 7777 777$77777 :777: $777 777777: $777 :77: $7$ $7777777, 777$ 77777777, 8O8O8 8OO8 8888888 88O8 8O88 888 8888888OO 8888 8888888OO . 8O8O8 8OOO OOOOO88 88OO 8O88 O88 OOOOOOD OO88 O8OOOO88 ______________________________________________ FAQ/Walkthrough by Banjo2553 Copyright 2010 | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Hello! Welcome to my guide for Metroid, the original Nintendo Entertainment System game that started the franchise. The game might not be "perfected" as the later 2D Metroids are, but it's still fun to play. It's also one of the hardest Metroid games to date because of its mechanics. This game used a password system: Die, and you will be given a Game Over screen with a password on it, as well as the option to continue. If you put in this password, the game would start you off at the beginning area with the abilities and capacities you had before. The problem is that you would start with 30 energy regardless of extra Tanks you picked up, so continuing where you left off would mean you'd have a hard game on your hands. So anyway, this game has been re-released so many times it's almost ridiculous. Even if you were born past the NES era, if you're any serious Metroid fan, you would likely have this in some form. They re-released the game as part of the Nintendo Classics series on the GBA. It has also been packaged with Metroid: Zero Mission, also on the GBA, as an unlockable for beating the game. Both versions however, have the view squished to accomodate the GBA's small screen. It also got released as an unlockable in Metroid Prime for the Gamecube, by locking on a GBA with Metroid Fusion to the game. More details on that are talked about on my Metroid Prime guide. Finally, Metroid got released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console for 500 Wii Points, or $5. So any fan can access the game pretty easily. This was one of the first "free-roam" games of the time, and it was unique from The Legend of Zelda. Instead of roaming an overworld to find levels, or dungeons, in this one you are free to explore the entire game's world and find items and other things that make your journey easier. For the most part, the game isn't linear at all. Its huge world consisted of only maze-like caves, and since some rooms were duplicates of others and you had no map, navigating was a bit tough. The most dedicated players would draw themselves a map as they played, so they could figure out how the world drew out. The main goal of the game was to find two bosses and kill them, and you will gain access to the final area, which you still have to find. After finding that final area, it was just a short, but difficult hop to the final boss, and after, an escape sequence. It was a great game for the time, really drew gamers in as they would find hidden passageways while avoiding the deadly denizens of the planet. It really made players feel like explorers. So yeah, this guide will help players who get stuck in this game and maybe want help to get through it. Maps will be provided, as well as short directions on where you should go. _______________________________________________________________________________ --------------------. _________________|__| Table of Contents| | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| --------------------' I. Story II. Gameplay III. Walkthrough a. Exploring Brinstar b. Tackling Norfair c. Defeating Kraid d. Cleaning Up e. Defeating Ridley f. Final Area IV. Items a. Upgrades b. Missiles c. Energy Tanks V. Creatures a. Enemies b. Bosses VI. End a. Legal b. Thanks _______________________________________________________________________________ -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' S T O R Y vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv This is the story of Metroid, as told by the game's instruction manual. Yes, the one packaged with its original NES release! Enjoy. ------------------ In the year 2000 of the history of the cosmos, representatives from the many different planets in the galaxy established a congress called the Galactic Federation, and an age of prosperity began. A successful change of cultures and civilization resulted, and thousands of interstellar spaceships ferried back and forth between planets. But space pirates also appeared to attack the space- ships. The Federation Bureau created the Galactic Federation Police, but the pirates' attacks were powerful and it was not easy to catch them in the vastness of space. The Federation Bureau and the Federation Police called together warriors known for their great courage and sent them to do battle with the pirates. These great warriors were called "space hunters." They received large rewards when they captured pirates, and made their living as space bounty hunters. It is now year 20X5 of the history of the cosmos, and something terrible has happened. Space pirates have attacked a deep-space research spaceship and seized a capsule containing an unknown life-form that had just been discovered on Planet SR388. This life-form is in a state of suspended animation, but can be reactivated and will multiply when exposed to beta rays for 24 hours. It is suspected that the entire civilization of Planet SR388 was destroyed by some unknown person or thing, and there is a strong possibility that the life-form just discovered was the cause of the planet's destruction. To carelessly let it multiply would be extremely dangerous. The Federation researchers had named it "Metroid" and were bringing it back to Earth--when it was stolen by the space pirates! If Metroid is multiplied by the space pirates and then used as a weapon, the entire galactic civilization will be destroyed. After a desperate search, the Federation Police have at last found the pirates' headquarters, the fortress planet Zebes, and have launched a general attack. But the pirates' resistance is strong, and the Police have been unable to take the planet. Meanwhile, in a room hidden deep within the center of the fortress, the preparations for multi- plying the Metroid are progressing steadily. As a last resort, the Federation Police have decided on this strategy: to send a space hunter to penetrate the center of the fortress and destroy the Mother Brain. The space hunter chosen for this mission is Samus Aran. He is the greatest of all the space hunters and has successfully completed numerous missions that everybody thought were absolutely impossible. He is a cyborg: his entire body has been surgically strengthened with robotics, giving him super- powers. Even the space pirates fear his space suit, which can absorb any enemy's power. But his true form is shrouded in mystery. The planet Zebes is a natural fortress. Its sides are covered with a special kind of stone, and its interior is a complicated maze. On top of that, the pirates have planted devices and booby traps in the maze, and the pirates' eery followers lie in wait around every corner. Samus has now succeeded in penetrazing Zebes. But time is running out. Will he be able to destroy the Metroid and save the galaxy? ------------------ And there you go. Quite a lengthy story for a simple NES game, eh? Even still, it set the basic backstory for the Metroid universe, though less so on the mysterious bounty hunter, Samus Aran, who stars in it as the playable character. Speaking of Samus, you noticed that the manual calls Aran a male? Yep, because of this, the very ending, for the good players, became quite a shock when Samus was revealed to be a woman. And not even a cyborg! This was either intentional and Nintendo wanted a plot twist of the century for the game, or the manual was written before they had this whole "Samus is a girl" idea. Either way, it worked really well, and the ending has become a staple for Metroid series: The better you do, the more Samus will strip for you. But uh, obviously she won't go naked. Sorry folks. Future Metroid games expanded on the backstory of Samus Aran as well as the history of the Metroid. But at the time, this was all the players had when it came to story. In-game, there was no story development as you may expect from games nowadays: the "story" was fed to you via the gameplay. Samus explored Zebes, collected items, defeated the denizens of Zebes, and destroyed Mother Brain and Metroid. But as the gameplay was entirely non-linear, what happened in the story was entirely up to the player, except for the end result. But enough about story. On to the gameplay! _______________________________________________________________________________ -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' G A M E P L A Y vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv The gameplay of Metroid is extremely basic. But of course, it's an NES game, right? But I digress. Below will show the controls for the game, and certain specifics. ------------------ D-Pad: Left and Right move Samus, Up makes her aim up. Yep, you could only aim in three directions here! B Button: Fires weapon A Button: Jump Start: Pause Select: Switch to Missiles ------------------ AS you gain Power Items, you'll be able to perform various other abilites, such as pressing down on the D-Pad to morph into a ball, or use your somersault jump to your advantage! To perform the somersault jump, just jump while you're moving. Very simple controls, and all you'll need to beat the game. _______________________________________________________________________________ -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' W A L K T H R O U G H vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv This very simple walkthrough will show you where every item is, every expansion, and stuff. So yeah. This is pretty quick. To see the maps, check out this link: http://metroid.retropixel.net/metroid/metroid_map.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================= Exploring Brinstar ============================== \__________________/ ======================================================= START ________ |? S :>> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - And you start off the game! Samus appears in the middle of a pretty decorated spot. The first thing you'll notice are the two critters crawling around. These are Zoomers, the basic creatures of this game. It takes a couple of shots to kill them, but they're too short to hit if they're on the ground. - So, unlike most other games, we actually have a choice of where to go! Yep, we don't need to just head right. Considering the mini-map above here, go left. You will see a blockade with some room at the top. Easily jumpable. At the other side is an item. What is it? Touch it! - ...So yeah, there's no message on what it was. But, hold the down direction on the D-Pad now. WOAH, you just turned into a ball! Nice. However, you don't have much of an offense while in a ball...for the moment. Use this new Maru Mari (or Morphing Ball) to escape from under that blockade, since it's too high to jump over now. Oh yeah, you can return to normal by holding up. - Continue to the right now. After meeting some Skrees that shoot down towards you from the ceiling, you'll find a blue door. Shoot it to open it, and walk through. ======================================================= CHOICE? ___________ >>: : :>> |¯|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ??? - Well, you're in a room with a weird-looking floor. There appears to be an area below, but you can't destroy the floor there. What could be down there? Well, for now, it's none of our concern. Just head through the next blue door. - Another hall. Just dodge Zoomers and Skrees, and you'll come to a very low overhang. Looks like it's ball time! Squeeze through there and you might be bombarded with Zoomers and a Rio. Take care in avoiding them. You'll come to a door. Enter it. ======================================================= FINDING MISSILES __ _ : | | | - And you'll come to an extremely tall, blue, vertical hall. | | | : You must climb platforms with constant jumps and dexterity, | | | | dodging all the Zoomers and Rippers. : | | | | |_| | - You'll eventually come to a door to the right. Enter it. Cross | : : : the blank room. | |¯| | | | | | - Another of these halls! With a door right across from you! | | | | Don't enter that one though. Start descending. Since you're low | | | :>> on health at the moment, don't drop straight down. Just take it | | ¯¯ slow. Once at the bottom, open the door. | | >>: | -------------------------------------- ¯¯ | __________________ ------------- >>: ? : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | v v - In this adjacent room, walk right, avoiding Skrees, Zebs, and the acid below. Eventually you'll find what looks like a Missile in a tank propped up in some fancy place. Hop over to it and collect it. - So what does this do? Well, this lets you shoot Missiles. Press the Select button to switch. (On GameCube it's Z.) Missiles have a limited ammunition system, but they're much more powerful than the traditional beam. It is advisable to use them on any enemies that require tons of shots to destroy. Save your ammo though. - We could continue right and reach the elevator to a new area, but let's go back and collect some more things in Brinstar to keep us prepared. ======================================================= BETTER BEAM - Refer to the map with the vertical halls above. Backtrack until you're at the left hall, and continue up until you reach a door on the left. Enter that. -------------------- ________ |?: :>> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This really blue hall...has some different, ominous music. Hm. Anyway, dodge the Zoomers and Rios. If you're having trouble with the Rios, just jump and they'll retreat to the ceiling. - At the end, you'll find...a red door. This is unopenable with your beam. However it can open with Missiles! Do you have your 5 max Missiles? Because you need all of them to open this door. Switch to Missiles and blast away the door. Now the good thing about these Missile doors is that once you break the seal, you don't have to use Missiles again to open the door. It'll just stay open. Enter. - Cool little room. There's a statue here holding something as well. Shoot the orb and collect the item. What is this, you may ask? Why this is the Long Beam upgrade! This handy little item permanently upgrades your beam's range to reach much much farther than when you started. Now you can snipe from far away! And your beam sounds much cooler when fired now. ======================================================= BOMBS - Refer to the map with the vertical halls above. We're taking the middle door door that leads right in the east hall. -------------------- _________________________________ >>: : : : : ? :>> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| |¯¯¯¯¯| |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ??? ??? - These halls have acid in the ground. Don't fall in the acid, or your energy will slowly deplete. Move right, dodging the Wavers (they take a lot of damage, but save your Missiles), and open the door at the end. - As you can probably guess from the map, there's a way down there in this room. As you encountered near the beginning though, there's no way to break blocks below you yet. So keep moving, avoiding the Waver. - Hope you're stocking up on Missiles from the enemy drops. Keep going. There's a bit more difficult platforming along with some Zoomers, but nothing too bad. You'll eventually come to a very similar room from the one before. Yes, there is a way down there, but no way TO get down there yet. Keep moving. - This is the last acid hall. We're getting deeper into Brinstar. Just keep moving right. There's even more difficult platforming here, but guess what... there's something else. There's a tank with an E on it. Pick it up! This is an Energy Tank, and when you pick one up, your max energy can be another 99 points to last longer! These are really good items that we should find. Keep going. -------------------- __ : | _________| | |?: : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | >>: | ¯¯ - Looks like a sideways T. Anyway, after those acid halls, you'll come to another vertical hall. It's much shorter than the others and you can't climb up all the way. Just climb to the next door and enter it. - Better have 5 Missiles at this point, we're nearing yet another item. This hall is pretty much the same as the one with the Long Beam. Move along, dodge Zoomers and Rios, and blast open the red door with those 5 Missiles. Inside... - ...Is the Bombs! Now when you're morphed as a ball, you can plant up to three bombs at a time by pressing the fire button. Now you can hit enemies on the floor...as well as blowing apart weak walls. - Now that we have at least three upgrade items and some Missiles, it's time to head to our next area before we're able to fully explore Brinstar. This next area is Norfair, and you can reach it from the hall where you first got Missiles. Remember how to get there? If not, refer to the above maps so you can find your bearings. (By the way, you can head down those rooms between the acid halls now that you have Bombs to blow away the weak spots...but it's preferable to wait before getting down those.) - To go down an elevator, step on it and press down. When you have to go up, just press up while standing on it. This is how every elevator in the 2D games work, so this is knowledge you need to remember. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================== Tackling Norfair =============================== \________________/ ======================================================= STOCKING UP ^ ^ _________________| | | : ! ! ? : : | :¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Welcome to Norfair, the hot place. Sure looks bubbly here for some reason. Yeah. Well, from the elevator, let's go left. It'll lead to a dead-end, but we'll get some items in the process. - In this rocky tunnel with lava below, you'll have to deal with Gerutas dropping down on you; Novas that act just like Zoomers; and Polyps, fireballs that pop out of those red mounds on the ground. Just avoid and/or destroy them. - Eventually the rocks will end and you'll come to some metal structures. A Missile Tank is stored here! Grab it. Each of these increases your max Missile capacity by 5, so now you can carry 10. Continue left and you'll come to a wall. A dead end? - Not according to the map. Turn into a ball and move toward the wall to find that you can move through it a little bit. Use your Bombs to carve your way further into the wall. Now you've reached the rest of the hall! Continue left, being careful of Polyps and Ripper IIs. - You'll eventually come to a door. Open it, then fall down. Enter the other door. Follow this similar rocky hall, taking out Gerutas with Missiles, and avoiding those same Polyps and Ripper IIs. You'll eventually reach another metal structure with a Missile Tank! Be sure to take out the Mellas and Geruta guarding it. - Well, this is a dead-end, but we have 15 Missiles in our reserves. Let's head back to the elevator. -------------------- __ ^ : | ^ : | | |_____________| | - Head right this time. This lava hall has rock >>: : : | platforms scattered around, and destructible ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯: | pillars. There will be Novas, Gerutas, and Squeepts |"| that hop from the lava. If you took a lot of damage <<: | from the first halls we took, then be careful here, | | bomb the Novas, Missile the Gerutas, and avoid the | | Squeepts. | | : | ¯¯ - After this long hall, you'll find yourself in another vertical hall. If you need help staying off the lava, shoot out openings that you can stand in with those pillars. Anyway, when you get there, you can go down, so let's do. You'll see another door. Don't take this one. Rather, Bomb the floors near the right side to find an opening. Fall through, and take the next door you see. -------------------- _______________ : ! !?: :<< ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Pretty short visit here. Head left, avoid the fireballs from the Dragons and the Novas, and blast open the red door with 5 Missiles. Blast the ball the statue is holding and collect that boot item. - This is the High Jump Boots! Now you can jump much higher! Nice. You can continue left from here, but just backtrack to the vertical hall. Climb up until you can't go up anymore. (To get back up, you can shoot the ceiling from where you dropped from. Requires some timing to be able to jump up when part of the ceiling reappears.) -------------------- _____________ | : ! !? ? : | | |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯:"| | :>> ^ ¯¯ ^ - Well, you can keep going up. Shoot out the ceiling again here, then take the door to the left. You'll immediately come upon metal structures. We can find TWO Missile Tanks here! Awesome. Careful of any Gerutas. - Continue left by Bombing through the wall here. Be careful when you come out, you'll see some Multiviolas. They're pretty strong, so destroy them with Missiles. Head through the door. Drop down, be careful of the lava pit at the bottom, and enter the door here. -------------------- ___________ >>: !?: ! ! :>> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Kill the Multiviolas, and Bomb through the wall like you did in the hall above. Huh, an item room? Shoot open the statue's ball and collect the item. You got the Ice Beam! This lets you shoot freezing shots that can freeze any enemy it touches. Nice! Sadly, this is a weaker beam, as two shots do the same damage as your regular beam. Still, it's good as a strategic weapon. - Continue on, bombing through walls, and returning to the vertical hall. Go up and enter the next door. -------------------- ________ |? ? ? :>> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - There must be a lot of something here. Head left, you'll get to some metal structures almost immediately. There's a whopping three Missile Tanks after another! Go hog wild here. Now that you've got a lot of Missiles, backtrack and return to Brinstar. ======================================================= BETTER SUIT _ ^ - The map is pretty self-explanatory. From the | |____________^_ elevator, follow the hall, avoiding Zebs, Skrees, | : : : and Zoomers. | |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | | - Move up when you reach the vertical hall. When you | | find the door at the top, take it. : : | | - Follow this new hall we haven't been to before. | | Avoid or kill the Wavers (freeze, then Missile). | |_________________ Bomb the breakable block on the ground, and take | : : | the top pipe. Be careful, bomb the Zoomers without ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | breaking the cracked blocks. Eventually you'll see v a door. Enter it. v - Before heading into the next door, we can head up. Kill the Waver, then shoot the ceiling until you make a hole. Jump up through like you did in Norfair to reach a room with a door. Jump from where the hole would be to the door, and open it. -------------------- ___________ |?: : |___________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯:": ? ! !? : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | : | | | <<: | ¯¯ - Another item hall! Avoid Zoomers and Rios, and don't die just yet! Break the red door apart with 5 Missiles, then enter. There's the same statue with the ball. Break it open, then collect the item. - Yeah, your suit has a different hue now. Pink-ish to be precise. Well, this is the Varia Suit. With this, any damage you normally take is cut in half! Extremely useful, you can last longer. This'll help when in the Hideouts, because the enemies in the Hideout do a lot more damage than enemies in Brinstar and Norfair. - Backtrack and get out this hall, back into the lower hall. Continue right. Make sure you kill any enemies you come across, because you'll get to a narrow hall that can easily overwhelm you if you don't take care of the enemies early on. After passing that though, you'll have a Missile Tank! - Keep moving right, and it'll appear you'll reach a dead-end. Shoot out the ceiling while hugging the right wall, and jump right. Kill the Rio before you enter the small room, and bomb jump using two explosions against the right wall to reach a hidden hole. (Just rapidly plant your bombs and hold right) Head through to find another Energy Tank! Grab that! - Ohhh yesss. Feels good, man. Anyway, now that you have your energy back (plus even more), keep going right. We're basically just gonna make our way back to the beginning. -------------------- __________________ | : : ? :<< ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|"|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | | | |_ | : | ¯| | v v - Remember this area? Yeah. You'll reach it once you get to the bottom of the western vertical hall. Go under the overhang and stop. Start shooting the ceiling and you'll find an Energy Tank hidden up there! How to get it? Well, freeze a Skree in mid-flight, then jump from it to the Energy Tank. You'll have to have the Skree a fair distance from the ground for this to work. - Now that you have that Tank, it's time to tackle the first Hideout. Head left and enter the door. Now that you have Bombs, you can break through the floor here. Do so, enter the door at the bottom, and go down the elevator. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================== Defeating Kraid =============================== \_______________/ Welcome to Mid-Boss Hideout I. Or Kraid's Lair, whichever you prefer. This place has some nice music anyway. I'll be showing you how to get everything in this place before moving on to defeating Kraid. -------------------- v v ___________| |______ | : ?! ! : : ? : | :¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯: :¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯ | | : : | | : : ¯ - As you can see, there's a LOT of doors to choose from. There's some new enemies as well: Zeelas. They're basically Zoomers though, so nothing new. Take the first red door here. Avoid the Side Hopper, Zeela, and Geegas here, (best bet is to freeze the Geegas) and head right to find a Missile Tank! Don't fall into the acid. You can continue right, but it just takes you to a series of empty rooms. There's nothing in them, so head back. - Take the door to the left now. Take care in destroying the Skrees and Geegas here, and bomb jump against the left wall to find a hole. Bomb your way through it, and go collect the Missile Tank here. If you continue this way, you'll just wrap around back to the central hall, so go back. -------------------- v v _ | | | :_________: :_____ | : : : ! !?| |"|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| |¯¯¯¯¯ | | : : | | | | | | : : | :>> ¯ ¯¯ - Go down until you see another red door. Take that one. Freeze a Zebbo so it doesn't bother you, and move right to a wall. Bomb jump into a secret hole, and bomb through it to find an Energy Tank among the maze of metal. To get it, just get on the platform below it and jump to get it. Get out by going around. To make sure you take the right hole (there are two), bomb jump from the first ledge. Head back to the central hall. - Take the left door. Follow the hall, killing or avoiding Geegas and Side Hoppers, and take the door at the end. Now, fall through the acid. Yeah, it's fake. Enter the door at the bottom. -------------------- __ ______________: |__ >>: : : ? : : : ¯¯|":¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯ - Kill the Side Hopper, head through the door. Do the same thing in the next room, except blow open the red door. (There's a hole near the door you came in that you can bomb open, but we won't do that yet.) - This room looks oddly familiar. Just head on through and collect the Missile Tank. Retreat back to the previous room. Find that hole that I talked about in the above paragraph and bomb down it. Enter the door. -------------------- ^ __ ^______________: | | :X : : : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯'v'¯¯¯ v - Ah! It's Kraid! Actually, it isn't. It's just Fake Kraid. He goes down in one hit. Kill him and continue right, being careful of Geegas. Eventually you'll reach a door. Head through it. - If you head right from here, you'll just loop back from where you were before you dropped down here. Bomb through the floor in the center... -------------------- __ ___: | |? : | ¯¯¯| | v | | __v____| | |X: : : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Blast open the red door to encounter real Kraid! Alright, so, what he does is he flings nails over him, and also shoot spikes from his body. Freeze the spikes as he shoots them out, then get to another place and start blasting him with Missiles. If you need energy, there's an Energy Tank in the right wall at acid level. Shoot out the wall and grab it. - As a reward for defeating Kraid, you get 75 Missiles added to your max ammo! Wow! Head right and exit. (Make sure you picked up that Energy Tank!) Keep moving right. Take your time in this enemy-infested hall, go through the door, and you'll find yourself at a vertical hall. - This is a bit difficult. Practically the only thing in this hall is a destructible pillar. You'll have to be clever and shoot out openings so that you can jump in, curve your jumps to hit a higher area, jump up, and repeat. Enter the first door you come to. - Move along the similar room, jump up and collect the Missile Tank. Head back to the hall, climb up some more, and enter the door at the top. -------------------- ^ ^ | | : : - We're pretty much done with Kraid's Lair. Any other : : pathways lead to nowhere, so follow the hall to a red | |________ door. Blast it open, then enter the central hall. : : :<< | |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Drop down, then climb back up by freezing the Rippers. : : Make sure you end up on the left side so you can climb ¯ up back to the elevator, and take it up out of here. -------------------- __ _ : | | | | | | : | | | | : | | | | |_| | | : : : | |¯| | | | | | | | | |_________________ | | | : : | | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | _________________| | v | : : : | v ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|"|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | | | |_ | : | ¯| | ^ ^ - We're back at Brinstar! Just follow the arrows here, as we're heading back to Norfair. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================= Cleaning Up ================================= \___________/ Before moving on to Ridley, we're gonna be exploring Norfair and collecting everything it has to offer. ======================================================= SCREWY ITEM __ : | ^ :"| ^ : | | |_____________| | - Just head right from the elevator, follow the >>: :_____________: | hall as before, and enter the door to the vertical ¯¯¯ <<: | hall. Drop down, and enter the next door. Just |"| follow the arrows, basically. : | | | | | | | : | ¯¯ -------------------- __ : | :"| : | | | _____________________: | |? ? ! ! ! : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|"| <<: | | | | | | | : | ¯¯ - At first, it seems more of the same, but move left and you'll come to a metal bridge with Gerutas and Gamets. Follow the bridge until you get to some destructible pillars. Shoot out openings, then bomb jump into a hidden hole in the bubbly wall. - Keep bombing out the wall. You'll eventually reach the other side. Now, there is a tall wall you have to jump over. Use either the Multiviola or Squeept, freeze them, and use them to help yourself to jump up there. Head left some more for two Missile Tanks! - As this is a dead-end, just head back. Once you're back at the hall, bomb through the floor and enter the first door you see like before. -------------------- __ : | :"| : | | | : | ^ >>: | _^______________________|"| :": : : ! ! : : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | | | | | : | ¯¯ - You might recognize this hall from before. Yeah, it's where you got the High Jump Boots. Well, get to the statue room, and blast apart the weak wall in the alcove below the statue. Roll through the pipe, bomb the rest of the weak walls, and find yourself at a new area! - You remember how to get through this little part. Freeze an enemy, then use it as a platform. Continue left following the same strategy. After a couple of doors, you'll get into a red rocky area with some Multiviolas and Novas. Nothing too major though. - Keep moving left while fighting off Gamets. Eventually you'll get to a door. Go through, but stop here. Get to the top of this room, and shoot out the ceiling. -------------------- _______ |?: : | ¯¯¯¯¯'^' ^ - Jump through after shooting the ceiling out like you did before, and enter the door. Ignore the Dragons, blast open the red door, and inside, collect the item from the statue. It's the Screw Attack! With this, Samus's somersault jump can now be used as a weapon! It instantly kills almost every enemy. Quite a neat little weapon if I do say so myself. This is a dead-end, so backtrack to where you were before you shot out the ceiling. ======================================================= TO WAVE OR NOT v _v_ : :____________________ :": ! ! :>> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - The floor near the right door is actually weak! Bomb it out, and fall through to the hall below for a little shortcut. Go right. In this new hall, you'll have to jump through a series of rock platforms. They're pretty small, but there's a lot of them. At the end appears to be a wall. Well, you can bomb through this. - Keep bombing through, and jump along the rocks the rest of the way. Open the door. -------------------- __ _ >>: | |?¯¯¯¯:"| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Bomb the floor near the door, then fall through the fake lava on the right side. Enter the door down here. Follow the room until you get to a metal wall. Shoot it out, and bomb jump through. On the other side is a well-deserved Energy Tank! Backtrack now. To help get back up, freeze the Ripper II under where you fell through before, and bomb jump (with rapid bomb planting) to get back up there. At the rock platforms, when you need to go through a wall, there is another hole at the top. Be careful though, the rock platforms break when they're bombed. -------------------- __ | :________ _ | :_______:":<< | |_______¯¯¯ | : : : ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|"|_____ | : ? ?| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Head left, through some more Multiviolas and Gamets, and you'll come to a lava pit after a door. Well guess what? It's fake. Get into it, and bomb out the floor in its left. Head through the door below. - This is a weird hall. It's basically bubbles with lava, but the bubbles look like they have eyes on them. Anyway, you'll have to pass through here by shooting out parts of the squares of blocks, passing over the Dragons and lava. Once you do, enter the door. - Bomb out the floor near the door to the right, fall through, and enter the door below. Kill the Gerutas, and jump to some metal structures. There's two Missile Tanks here! Grab them, then return to where you were before you bombed out the floor. -------------------- ________________________ : : : : ! ! ?| ¯^¯¯¯¯¯¯¯"¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ^ - Head to the right. Do some VERY careful platforming here, because one wrong step could cost you a Game Over. Yeah, this place is kinda stupid, but eh. Once through that hellish room though, continue right. There's a bridge with lava and a Dragon here, but keep going. - You're in another hall with those squares of blocks. Stay on top of them and find the holes of the wall in the way by bombing through them. Eventually, at the end, you'll find a Missile Tank. Return to that room with the bridge. -------------------- ___ _____: :<< |?: : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Now, you can choose to either stick with the Ice Beam, or go ahead and get the Wave Beam, which is below here. Either way, there's a viable strategy for Ridley. If you choose to want the Wave Beam, then bomb through the left part of the bridge right under the left door, fall through the fake lava, and enter the door down there. - Head through the hall here, avoiding the Dragon fireballs, blast open the red door, and grab the Wave Beam inside. This fires a powerful beam in a wave, allowing you to hit enemies on the ground without using the Ice Beam. This can also go through walls. Head back up, and start backtracking through all what you did until you reach the right-most vertical hall. -------------------- __ : | :"| : | | | : | : | - Once you're back here, drop down to the very bottom. |"| Navigate your way through the rest of the enemy >>: | infested halls, and you'll eventually reach an | | elevator. Take it down to Mid-Boss Hideout II, or | | Ridley's Lair. ___________| | | : : | | :¯|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯| | v v ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================== Defeating Ridley =============================== \________________/ Here we are at Mid-Boss Hideout II, Ridley's Lair. The last few items can be found here, so let's get busy. -------------------- v ___________ v |? : |_| | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯:": : : ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Going to the right pretty much leads to nowhere, so take a left. In the second room from the elevator, start shooting through the ceiling right above the door you come in. Jump through there and enter the door in this hidden area. - Kill or avoid the Holtz's here, and continue on through this purple hall, avoiding Zebbos. Eventually, you'll reach a Missile Tank! Grab it, then backtrack to where you were before you went up here. -------------------- v v v __________________v__| | | : :?: :": : : | |¯¯¯|"|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | :¯¯¯: :>> | |¯¯¯¯¯¯ | | | : ¯¯ - Head left now. Once you reach some hopping Dessgeegas, get rid of any of them, and start bombing the floor near where the lava is "hiding." You should blow apart a weak floor and be in a hidden hole. Roll through it all to bypass the whole hall. Pretty neat. Enter through the red door. - There's an Energy Tank here. There's some fall-through blocks in the middle, so try to time your jump. If you fall, just go left and around back to it, as you can see in the map. Once you grab it, you may notice that your "Energy Tank squares" haven't added a new one. Well, that's because you can only carry 6. There are 8 of them in total, so any new Energy Tanks just refill your energy. Still pretty useful. Once you have the Tank, just fall through. -------------------- v |v|_____________ : : : : ?| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| |¯¯¯ <<: : ¯¯¯ - Head right. Dodge the Dessgeegas, and head through the door at the end. Now this is a tricky jump. Normally, you're supposed to time your jump just right, or do a diagonal bomb jump using multiple bombs. Since both of those are hard, here's an easier (glitchy) way to pass. - Morph into a ball, and roll off. Immediately after you roll off, un-morph, then jump. Yep, you can jump out of an un-morph, even in the air. So, once you pass by that, open the door. Dodge the enemies and pick up the Missile Tank. Head back, fall through that gap, and take the door to the left. -------------------- __ : | ___ | | : : : | _____________| |_____________| | |? :X: : :_____________: | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ <<: | ¯¯ - Do some careful platforming around here. There's lots of Holtz's that will try to halt your progress. Not to mention Violas and Dessgeegas. At the end is a door. Go through to face Ridley! If you don't have the Wave Beam, then use the Ice Beam to freeze his fireballs (...seriously) and fire Missiles at him. If you do have the Wave Beam, get under him and shoot upwards constantly, occasionally jumping. - After taking enough damage, Ridley gets destroyed, giving you a 75 Missile reward! Almost at 255! Blast open the purple door here with 10 Missiles. Now, there's a lava pool here. But, there's some blocks disguised as lava! Find these blocks and cross them to an Energy Tank! Collect it then get out of here. One last item to find. Just move right, fighting off Multiviolas, until you can move up or down. Go down and through the next door. -------------------- ^ ^ | |_________ : : : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | : | | | ______________________________: | : ? : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Head through this extremely long, cramped corridor, dodging Zebbos and the like. You will eventually come to the last Missile Tank in the game! Yay. Backtrack to the vertical hall, and start climbing. Enter the door at the top. - Pass through this hall using careful platforming. It's a bit similar to the hall to Ridley's room, so keep that in mind. When you're at the elevator, take it out of here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================= Final Area ================================== \__________/ Well, with both Kraid and Ridley defeated, the way to the last area is unlocked. We also have pretty much everything, so let's get to it. -------------------- __ : | ^ :"| ^ : | | |_____________| | : : : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯: | |"| - Just follow the arrows to get out of Norfair. : | | | | | ___________| | | : : | | :¯|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯| | ^ ^ -------------------- _ | | | : | | | | - Again, follow the arrows. Once you're where you | |__________________ need to be, bomb close to the center of the bridge : : : : : : to break it. Follow the rooms as shown on the map | |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|"|¯¯¯¯¯¯v¯ below to re-acquire the Ice Beam. You'll need it. | | |_| v | |_________________ | : : | v ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | _____|v| ^ |?: : | ^ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ -------------------- _________________ _ | :<: : | | | | |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | | : v | | | | v : | | | | |_| |__________________ | : : : : : : : | |¯| |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|"|¯¯¯¯¯¯^¯ | | | | | | ^ | | | | ¯ | | | : | | ¯¯ | | : | ¯¯ - Follow the arrows to a brand new area of Brinstar you haven't been in before. Follow this rocky hall to come to a red door. Blast it open and head through. There's two statues here, one for both Kraid and Ridley. Shoot both of those statues and a bridge will extend! Morph into a ball and roll on through. Open the door and go down the elevator...it's time for Tourian. ======================================================= ^ ^ v | | v | | | | | | | | | | | |_____________ | | | : : | | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| | | | | | | |_______________| | | :X : : | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Welcome to Tourian. This is it, this map. Fall down carefully, and you'll find...METROIDS! These are the creatures you were ordered to destroy. They're weak to the Ice Beam, so freeze them, and fire 5 Missiles at each to kill them. Once the coast is clear, drop to the bottom and blast open the yellow door with 10 Missiles. - This next hall is mostly the same, except there are also Rinka energy balls trying to hinder your progress. Careful of those, and there are still Metroids around here. You don't really need to destroy the Metroids, so in all actuality you can just freeze them and move on. At the end is a red door. Blast it open with 5 Missiles. - This downward hall is pretty much zig-zag. You'll have to lure Metroids below you so that you can hit them or drop down without them latching on. If they do latch on, your energy will start to deplete, so knock them off by using bombs. At the bottom, get rid of or freeze any Metroids in the way, and blast away the red door. - We're nearing Mother Brain...continue left, dodging the almost countless amount of Metroids, until you reach a blue door. Open it. - Mother Brain's chamber...she is protected by these pillars made of Zebetite, a powerful ore. Blast away the Zebetite with Missiles until it completely disappears, then keep going. You'll have to deal with Rinkas and turrets throughout this though, so use the Screw Attack or work on your dodging. You will eventually reach Mother Brain. - Mother Brain is a boss that...doesn't really do anything. The only thing you will have to dodge are the turret fire and the Rinkas. Mother is protected by a Zebetite case. Stand where the tube of Zebetite used to be and fire a Missile at the case to break open a hole, letting you fire in there. Make yourself ready by freezing any Rinkas in the way, and blast away at Mother. It takes a lot of Missiles to kill her (probably up to 30 or more), so if you're low on Missiles at this point, you're probably screwed. When Mother is almost dead, she'll be pulsating rapidly. - Once Mother is dead, the turrets stop firing, the Rinkas disappear, and Mother explodes...but that doesn't mean that the game is over! A time bomb has been set, and you have 999 seconds to evacuate. It seems like a lot, but you need that for the final platforming challenge ahead. Go through the door to find a series of very thin platforms. Just climb them carefully but swiftly. Eventually you'll reach the top and take the elevator up to escape the base. =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations! You beat the game! This is easily the hardest Metroid out there. The universe has been freed from the threat of the Metroid...for now. After Samus's ending pose, you get the credits. After the credits...well, you can play the game again with all your upgrades, except for Missile and Energy counts. However, there's something special about the ending pose...depending on how fast you finished the game, you'll get a different pose. Here they are. Finish above 10 hours: - Samus's back is turned towards you, with arm covering face in disappointment. Finish above 5 hours: - Samus's left arm is raised in victory. Finish in 3 to 5 hours: - Samus's helmet is removed, revealing...long hair? Is Samus...? Finish under 3 hours: - Samus's suit comes off, showing her in a leotard. Nice. Finish under 1 hour: - Hardest ending yet, Samus sheds off not only her armor, but her leotard, revealing a bikini underneath. 8-bit half-nakedness...nothing like it. So yeah. If you get the "leotard" or "bikini" ending, when you start the game off again, you'll play as her in a leotard with a gun. Yet, she still plays exactly the same and does the same things even when in her suit. Interesting. _______________________________________________________________________________ -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' I T E M S vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv This is a sort of "appendix" to the guide. This lists all the important items in the game and their locations. It will talk about every Missile Tank location, every Energy Tank location, and every Power Item location. -------------------------. ______________________|__| Upgrades | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| -------------------------' These are the big eight upgrades that are either required or extremely helpful to you in the game. It's beneficial to collect them all if you want an easier game. ------------------ Maru Mari ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This required item lets Samus form into a rolling ball. This allows you to pass under low passageways, but increases in usefulness once you have another upgrade. - To get into Morph Ball form, just press down on the D-Pad. To return, press up on the D-Pad. Remember, a mere tap of the button just won't do. - This is found...right to the left of where you start the game. Sounds easy, but consider back then that gamers have always been taught to move right to continue...so that might've stumped some gamers. ------------------ Long Beam ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This very useful item extends the range of Samus's beam weapon. Instead of disappearing shortly after fired, the beam shots only disappear when they fly off-screen. This makes for an extremely useful upgrade, though not really required. - This is found past the first door to the left when you reach the tall, blue, vertical hall in Brinstar. Directions: Go right from start until you reach the vertical hall. You need at least 5 Missiles in order to open the red door blocking this upgrade. ------------------ Bombs ¯¯¯¯¯ - This item allows you to plant bombs that explode shortly afterwards while you're in Morphing Ball mode. This can be used as a weapon and as a tool for finding hidden passageways by blowing apart weak spots in the ground or walls. - This is found in Brinstar. From the starting point, head right until you can't, then head up until the first door. Head right until you can't, then head up until you find another door. Head through the hall past that and open the red door with 5 Missiles. ------------------ High Jump Boots ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This item, once collected, lets you jump much higher than before, letting you reach things you couldn't before. - This is found in Norfair. From the elevator to Brinstar, head right until you can't, then head down, bomb the floor, and enter the first door after falling through. Open the red door with 5 Missiles. ------------------ Ice Beam ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This item changes Samus's beam so that it'll freeze any creature it hits. It retains the Long Beam upgrade if you have gotten that. However, if you pick up another Beam, this will be replaced. So you can only have one beam type. While it is weaker, any frozen creatures can be safely stood on, so you can use them as platforms. This beam is almost necessary to pass through the final area. (It's possible without it, but it's much more difficult.) - There are two Ice Beam artifacts hidden in the game, actually! The first one that is preferable to grab is in Norfair. From the Brinstar elevator, head right, then up. If you have the High Jump Boots, you can reach the doors up there. You can try to reach the Beam from the first door you find, but it's harder to do that. Instead, shoot through the ceiling at the top here, and enter the door past that ceiling. Follow the path, bombing through dead-ends, until you enter the item room from behind. - The second one is in Brinstar. To reach that from the Norfair elevator, head left, up, then right. Follow the rooms until you're at the second room with "acid" below and a bridge of rocks. Blow apart the weak spot of the bridge by using bombs, then fall through the fake acid. Go through the halls here to find it behind a red door. ------------------ Varia Suit ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This extremely useful item increases Samus's defense by 50%! You'll be taking less damage with this. As such, it's probably one of your top priorities once you have what's necessary. - Pretty much all you need is the High Jump Boots. Once you have that, from the Norfair elevator, just head left, then up all the way, then enter the right door. Go right until you enter through another door. Shoot out the ceiling, jump through, then leap toward the high door to the left. Follow the hall, break the red door, and it's yours! ------------------ Screw Attack ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This overpowered weapon, once collected, turns Samus's somersault jump into a lethal weapon. Most every enemy you come into contact with the somersault jump dies with this item. Pretty cool. - This item is found in the middle of Norfair. To get it, go right from the Brinstar elevator to the vertical hall. Go down, bomb through the floor, and enter the first door from there. Follow the halls and bomb through weak walls until you find a green bubbly room. Shoot out the ceiling on the right side, jump through, and enter the door. Through there, and the red door, is this item. ------------------ Wave Beam ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This item changes Samus's beam weapon to fire a powerful shot that flies in a wavelength pattern. This can destroy enemies on the ground and has a better range overall. - This item is found in the depths of Norfair. To get there, go right from the Brinstar elevator, go down when you can, bomb through the floor, and enter the first door from there. Keep going left until you can go down again, bomb through the floor in the fake lava, and move right until you find yourself in a green bridge room with lava below. Bomb through the left side, fall through the fake lava, and go through the door. The Wave Beam is just past that red door back there. -------------------------. ______________________|__| Missiles | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| -------------------------' There are lots of Missile Tanks scattered around Zebes. This will list every one of them. Each Missile Tank upgrades your capacity by 5 units. Counting the 21 Tanks, plus the 75 Missile rewards from beating Kraid and Ridley, that brings the count to 255. "[ ]" will be used to help you mark off which expansions you collected. ------------------ Missile Tank #1 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Likely the very first Missile Tank you'll always acquire, this is found in the hall leading to Norfair, in Brinstar. - From your starting point in the whole game, head right until you find a hall leading up. Follow it, take the first door to the right you see, follow it to a similar vertical hall. Descend from here, enter the door at the bottom, and follow the hall to this. ------------------ Missile Tank #2 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is found in Norfair, to the left of the elevator to Brinstar. ------------------ Missile Tank #3 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is found in Norfair, further along the path past Tank #2. It's at a dead-end. ------------------ Missile Tank #4 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is found in the upper-right halls of Norfair. To get there from the Brinstar elevator, head right until you can't, then head up, blasting through a ceiling (on the right side), and enter the door. You need High Jump Boots to get up here. ------------------ Missile Tank #5 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is almost right beside Tank #4. Can't miss it. ------------------ Missile Tank #6 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is found in the upper-right halls of Norfair. Make sure you have the High Jump Boots, then head right from the Brinstar elevator. Go up when you can't, skip the first door, then enter the next. It's in this hall. ------------------ Missile Tank #7 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is almost right beside Tank #6 and #8. Can't miss it. ------------------ Missile Tank #8 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is almost right beside Tank #6 and #7. Can't miss it. ------------------ Missile Tank #9 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is found in the upper halls of Brinstar. Just take the top right door in one of the tall vertical halls (reachable from Norfair elevator or heading straight right from the beginning) and follow the halls until you get to this. ------------------ Missile Tank #10 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in Kraid's Lair. Take the first red door from the elevator to find this immediately. ------------------ Missile Tank #11 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in Kraid's Lair. Take the first door to the left from the elevator, then bomb through the wall to find this. ------------------ Missile Tank #12 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in Kraid's Lair. Take the second door to the left from the elevator, follow the hall, fall down the fake acid pit, then follow the doors to see this. ------------------ Missile Tank #13 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in Kraid's Lair. From the elevator, head down, and enter the third red door you see. You may have to freeze a Ripper or Zeela to help you reach it. Follow the hall, enter the door, then drop down to the door below. Inside is this Tank. ------------------ Missile Tank #14 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in Norfair. From the Brinstar elevator, head right until you get to the vertical hall. Go down and enter the next door. Follow the hall until you get to a bubbly wall. Bomb through it, and at the other side, freeze one of the enemies to help you over the wall. This is just past there. ------------------ Missile Tank #15 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is almost right beside Tank #14. Can't miss it. ------------------ Missile Tank #16 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in the lower reaches of Norfair. To get there, head right from the Brinstar elevator, then down when you can, bomb through the floor, then go through the first door from there. Head left, bomb through a wall, and follow the halls until you can go down. Do so, bomb through the ground on the left in the fake lava pit, head through the door. Follow the hall until you get to a green room. Bomb out the right floor, then go through the door down there to find this. ------------------ Missile Tank #17 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is almost right beside Tank #16. Can't miss it. ------------------ Missile Tank #18 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is in the lower reaches of Norfair. To get there, head right from the Brinstar elevator, then down when you can, bomb through the floor, then go through the first door from there. Head left, bomb through a wall, and follow the halls until you can go down. Do so, bomb through the ground on the left in the fake lava pit, head through the door. Follow the hall until you get to a green room. Continue, bombing through fake walls when you get to them, and you will eventually find this. ------------------ Missile Tank #19 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is in Ridley's Lair. From the elevator, head left. At the second room, shoot up at the ceiling right above the door you just came out of. Jump through, and enter the door above. Follow this crowded hall to the Tank. ------------------ Missile Tank #20 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This Tank is in Ridley's Lair. From the elevator, head left until you reach a tall metal wall. Bomb the floors along the Dessgeega-lined hall until you find a hidden hole so you can bypass it. Blast through the red door, then fall through the middle. Head right until you get to another gap. Time your jump carefully (or use the un-morphed jump glitch as suggested in the walkthrough) to cross it, and enter the door. This Tank is behind it. ------------------ Missile Tank #21 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This final Tank is at the depths of Ridley's Lair. From the elevator, head right, straight down, and then left at the bottom. Follow that hall until you reach this. -------------------------. ______________________|__| Energy Tanks | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| -------------------------' These precious items can extend the time you can stay alive when taking damage. Each Tank increases your energy by 99 more points, with your acquired Tanks appearing as squares on the screen. If it's filled blue, then you have that in reserve. If empty, it needs to be filled by collecting energy. You can carry up to 6 Energy Tanks, but there are 8 in the whole game. Once you have the six, any Energy Tanks you pick up just replenish your energy. "[ ]" are here to mark which Tanks you've acquired. ------------------ Energy Tank #1 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Likely the first Energy Tank you'll ever come across if you stay in Brinstar, this is found in the eastern-most acid hall. - From your starting point in the whole game, head right until you reach a vertical hall. Climb until you reach a door to the right, then go right until you reach it. ------------------ Energy Tank #2 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in the upper halls of Brinstar. To get there, head left from the Norfair elevator, then up until you can't. Take the door, and head right. After breaking through some walls, you'll reach this. - You can also just take the first door to the right as you climb, follow those halls, then go up again, using your Ice Beam on the Rippers as platforms to reach the topmost door. ------------------ Energy Tank #3 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This one is in the beginning halls of Brinstar. From the beginning, head right until you get to an overhang that you need to Morph Ball under. Stop there and shoot at the ceiling to find this. To reach it, either lure a Rio here and freeze it to use as a platform, or use a Skree. Then jump to it. - You need Ice Beam and High Jump Boots to get this. ------------------ Energy Tank #4 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This one is in Kraid's Lair. From the elevator, go down and take the second red door. Follow the room, bomb through the wall, and grab the Energy Tank from below. ------------------ Energy Tank #5 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is in Kraid's Lair, in the very room you fight Kraid in. It's in the wall below the door, so get down to the acid, shoot out the wall, and grab it. ------------------ Energy Tank #6 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is hidden deep within Norfair. To grab it, go right from the Brinstar elevator, then go down when you can. Bomb out the floor on the right side, and head through the first door from there. Follow the halls to a green bubbly room, bomb out the floor on the right, and head through the halls there to eventually reach this Tank. You'll have to bomb through some walls. ------------------ Energy Tank #7 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in Ridley's Lair. From the elevator, just head left. You'll come to a tall metal wall after the hall of Dessgeegas. You can either try to do some crazy-timed bomb jump up there, or freeze a Dessgeega, get up there, and do a simple bomb jump up there. If you don't have the Ice Beam though, then there is a hole in the floor that will let you bypass the wall. Just bomb the floor until you can find it. After passing that, blast open the red door. Jump to the Energy Tank at the right time since there's a hole in the middle. ------------------ Energy Tank #8 [ ] ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is found in Ridley's Lair. Wanna know where? Behind the room where you fight Ridley. Blast through the purple door using 10 Missiles, and cross the solid lava pit to find this. _______________________________________________________________________________ -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' C R E A T U R E S vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv What's a Metroid game without the various creatures Samus has to fight? This lists both the enemies and the bosses in the game, as well as the areas each enemy is found in. This is in alphabetical order. -------------------------. ______________________|__| Creatures | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| -------------------------' ------------------ Dessgeega ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - A creature that hops around using its two large legs. Native to volcanic areas. It has spikes on its legs to help disable its prey when it pounces. Its skin is resilient enough to protect from most weapons. Some believe the Dessgeega to be related to the Side Hopper, due to similar behavior. - These only seem to be found in Mid-Boss Hideout 2 (Ridley's Lair). ------------------ Dragon ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This snake-like lava enemy pops its head from pools of lava and defends itself by breathing balls of fire at intruders. For Samus, it's best to just leave them alone than to tempt fate with lava. - Dragons are found in the lava pits of Norfair. ------------------ Gamet ¯¯¯¯¯ - These bug-like creatures are covered in a hard shell with a spike pointing forward. They also sport bird-like wings to help them fly around. For whatever reason, they appear to have their moths open and...something floating inside the mouth. Perhaps that's its sensory organ held by invisible veins. - They appear from most air holes down in Norfair. They're weak, with a single shot to kill them. Red Gamets are stronger. ------------------ Geega ¯¯¯¯¯ - Weird worm-like creatures with toothy mouths and wings sometimes appear from air holes to assault you. They act like Zebs, pretty much, and are just as easy to kill. - These enemies appear in Mid-Boss Hideout 1 (Kraid's Lair). ------------------ Geruta ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - These creatures have a thick hide that can generate fire at their limbs. They dive down in an attempt to pierce their prey's heart using their sharp pincers, then retreat to the ceiling if they miss. For Samus, these have a similar attack pattern as Rios. - These roost in the ceilings of Norfair. ------------------ Holtz ¯¯¯¯¯ - This horned, one-eyed creature floats in place or waits in the ceiling, then dive down when they spot Samus, similar to the Geruta. Due to the unnaturally resilient armor these creatures possess, they may be bio-engineered by the space pirates as their answer to the Geruta. - These can only be found in the halls of Mid-Boss Hideout 2 (Ridley's Lair). ------------------ Mella ¯¯¯¯¯ - These fiery bugs fly around in groups much like the Mellow and Memu. They can fit through the cracks in walls and rocks due to their small size. - These enemies appear in rare places throughout Norfair. ------------------ Mellow ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Pesky, fly-like enemies that attempt to chase intruders down. Due to their small size, they are able to fly through cracks in rock walls in order to keep chasing their prey. They're pretty weak, they go down in one shot. They come in groups however. - These are found only in certain areas of Brinstar, usually in a room preceding an item room. ------------------ Memu ¯¯¯¯ - Pronounced "mee-mew" (at least I think), these small creatures fly commonly in groups and act similarly to Mellows and Mellas. They can fly through the cracks of walls and rocks to chase they're prey, but they're insanely weak. - Memus congregate in Mid-Boss Hideout 1 (Kraid's Lair). Careful of those treacherous halls they sometimes appear in! ------------------ METROID ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - The organism you were ordered to find and terminate. These dangerous creatures fly at any creature that isn't their own kind and latches on using its fangs. It then proceeds to drain the life force of its victim, essentially killing it. The process is nearly instantaneous, but this vicious attack is essential to its survival, as the life energy helps feed its nucleus visible within its indestructible skin. - The only way to kill a Metroid is to freeze it--it grows weak to anything cold. Once it is frozen, it is fragile enough to break apart with 5 Missiles. They are only found in Tourian. Be careful...they can surprise attack you from dark corners. If you find one latched on to you, immediately roll into a ball and drop bombs to forcefully detach itself from you. ------------------ Multiviola ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - The flying, adult version of the Viola. These sentient creatures appear as green-ish balls of flame and move around in diagonal directions. They bounce off of walls, so be careful when fighting them! A simple Missile may tear them apart, but beware of the much more resistant red variety. - Multiviolas are found in the halls of Norfair and Mid-Boss Hideout 2. (Ridley's Lair) ------------------ Nova ¯¯¯¯ - These bug-like creatures are always on fire, but what keeps them from getting killed from burns and intense heat is the flame-retardant hair they are covered in, making them perfect for volcanic lairs. They follow a simple pattern much like Zoomers, and the yellow, more common Nova is the stronger cousin. - Novas congregate at the hot lava pits of Norfair. ------------------ Polyp ¯¯¯¯¯ - A ball of lava that shoots through some air holes. They come out in strings, and usually are just an obstacle. They cannot be shot or frozen, so just wait for the Polyps to disappear before continuing. - These are found in select places in Norfair. ------------------ Rinka ¯¯¯¯¯ - Spheres of red energy shot off by the cannons of Tourian as a defense mechanism. They serve only as an annoying obstacle that can harm Samus, and ceaselessly stop. They can somehow be frozen, though. - They appear in...Tourian. I thought the first paragraph explained that, heh. ------------------ Rio ¯¯¯ - These yellow fly-like bugs wait in the ceiling, then dive down towards the floor when Samus approaches, constantly chasing until Aran jumps, in which they retreat back to the ceiling. They take several shots to kill. Watch out for red ones, they're much more resilient and quicker enemies. - Rios are found in certain halls of Brinstar. Most notable is the hall leading to the Long Beam. ------------------ Ripper ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - These brown bugs fly in a predictable left-right pattern and turn around when they hit a wall. It is unknown why they follow this simple pattern, but their hard shells make them indestructible. They're commonly used as platforms after freezing them with the Ice Beam. "Weaker" versions of the Ripper can be seen, and are red in color. They can actually take damage, but it takes about 50 normal shots to kill one. (That's my estimated guess.) - Rippers can be found in both Brinstar and Mid-Boss Hideout 1 (Kraid's Lair), usually in rooms you have to climb up in. ------------------ Ripper II ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - A creature that flies back and forth just like the Ripper. Its evolutionary advances include heat-protectant armor and a self-combustion system to help propel the creature. - Ripper IIs are found in Norfair, usually in vertical halls. They can be frozen and used as platforms just like regular Rippers. ------------------ Side Hopper ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This insectoid creature sports two strong legs with which it uses to hop around. They can also defy gravity, "hopping" along the ceiling at some spots. The red ones are more resilient. - Side Hoppers can be found in Mid-Boss Hideout 1 (Kraid's Lair). Pretty weird creatures. ------------------ Skree ¯¯¯¯¯ - These enemies wait patiently in the ceiling of many rooms and come dive-bombing down to the ground when they spot potential prey. If they miss, they self-destruct, sending shrapnel flying. A vicious life, but anything to hurt Samus. After Samus acquires the Varia Suit, some Skrees turn into the more powerful blue variety. - These are found only in select rooms of Brinstar and Mid-Boss Hideout 1. (Kraid's Lair) ------------------ Squeept ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This creature of the lava periodically jumps from...lava, then dives back down, possibly as an attempt to gain nourishment from above the lava. For Samus, this is just a mere obstacle that can be passed with some timing. Most are invulnerable and can only be frozen; others can be killed, but require a lot of shots. - As you might expect, you find these in Norfair. ------------------ Viola ¯¯¯¯¯ - The larval form of the Multiviola. These creatures appear as flaming heads with sinister smiles (though the NES limitations make it hard to tell) to scare off any potential predators. They move along the ground, but can't crawl on walls or ceilings. They're a bit like the Zoomers. - Violas are only found in Mid-Boss Hideout 2 (Ridley's Lair), usually in vertical halls with lots of platforms. ------------------ Waver ¯¯¯¯¯ - These creatures are hunter-scavengers, flying around in a wavelength pattern using their unique wings. They normally don't attack Samus, but precautions must be taken at times. There are green Wavers and the more powerful blue Wavers. - These fly around in the rooms of Brinstar filled with acid. Be careful, they might knock you in! ------------------ Zeb ¯¯¯ - This enemy flies out of air ducts and attempts to fly into Samus. Has a two- horned helmet on its head, but can actually be taken down easily. Red Zebs are more resilient, taking two shots to kill. - These can be found in the depths of Brinstar. Best place to find them are in the hall leading to Norfair. ------------------ Zebbo ¯¯¯¯¯ - A possible cousin to the Zeb, these creatures are literally giant alien wasps. Yeah, a wasp that is possibly two or three times the size of a regular one...I'd be scared out of my mind if that was a reality. (I have a phobia of bees, wasps, anything that flies and can sting.) - These are found in the depths of Mid-Boss Hideout 2 (Ridley's Lair). ------------------ Zebetite ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - An ore found in Tourian that is used to help power Zebes's mechanical life-form, Mother Brain. These stalks are found in the final hall to guard the Mother Brain. Invulnerable to energy fire, they can only be destroyed with ballistic weaponry, aka Missiles. Shoot them until they finally disappear. - As probably obvious, Zebetites are found in Tourian. ------------------ Zeela ¯¯¯¯¯ - This arthropod with bulging eyes from eye-stalks crawls around on the ground, walls, and ceiling much like the Zoomer. A few shots can take them out. The blue variant is more resilient. - These Zoomer-ish enemies make their home at Mid-Boss Hideout 1 (Kraid's Lair). Watch dem eyes bob up and down! ------------------ Zoomer ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - This is a simple-minded creature that follows the ground in one direction. It is able to crawl along the walls by secreting a sticky fluid on its appendages and crawl along walls and ceilings like a spider. It only takes a couple of shots to kill them, but are too short to shoot at normally. These yellow, spiked creatures also come in a tougher red color. - The Zoomer is usually found in Brinstar. There are rare circumstances where they may appear elsewhere. -------------------------. ______________________|__| Bosses | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| -------------------------' ------------------ Kraid ¯¯¯¯¯ - Kraid is one of the two bosses you'll first meet in the game. Kraid is pretty tough: he walks back and forth while constantly shooting spikes from his body. It's hard to dodge them as they constantly get shot out. The best idea against him is to have the Ice Beam with you. This way, after Kraid shoots out the spikes, you can shoot them to freeze them, then proceed to kick his ass with Missiles. - If you find you need more health, an Energy Tank is hidden inside the wall below the door. Shoot out the wall to find it. - In Kraid's Lair, if you happen to take a weird path, you may encounter Kraid in a different room...but he's purple. Not only that but he goes down with one Missile. Well, this is Fake Kraid. His sole purpose is to trick you. He attacks exactly the same but is much weaker. ------------------ Ridley ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Ridley, the captain of the space pirate gang, awaits Samus in Mid-Boss Hideout 2. Despite becoming an iconic nemesis to Samus in the games, he's one of the easier bosses in the game. He basically jumps up, floats down, and occasionally breathes a flurry of fireballs at you. - There are two tactics you can use. One is to bring the Ice Beam with you, and freeze his fireballs in such a way so that you can freely Missile him to death. Another tactic, one that's a bit more risky but is easier if you have the equipment, is bringing the Wave Beam, your Varia, and a lot of energy. Drop down onto the lava below him, aim up, and constantly shoot the Wave Beam at him, also jumping so you don't take much damage. A cheap but easy way to kill him. ------------------ Mother Brain ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - The mechanical life form of Tourian. This being is the "mother" of everything in Zebes, and sustains the very processes and environments of Zebes using its cerebral tissue. It is surrounded in a case of Zebetite to protect itself from accidental fire, but it is not safe against ballistic weaponry... - When you first reach Mother Brain, you'll find that it's sleeping in a case. Missile the case once to break open a hole, then pump Mother full of Missiles until it explodes. However, you'll have to deal with countless Rinkas during this. A good way to remedy this is to freeze any Rinkas that appear, but don't destroy them. This will give you the extra time needed. _______________________________________________________________________________ -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' E N D vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv -------------------------. ______________________|__| Legal | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| -------------------------' The words in this FAQ are copyrighted. Do not copy this FAQ and claim it as your own, or else you'll meet severe penalties. ONLY GameFAQs, Neoseeker, and Super Cheats are allowed to host/display this FAQ, no exceptions. Nothing personal, it just gets confusing to keep track of which FAQ is up-to-date and which is not, so I will decline any requests to put my FAQ on your site. Again, nothing personal. My e-mail address is gmaster2647@gmail.com . You can email me for questions, comments, or even suggestions, just make sure your emails are coherent. I will not accept spam or hate mail, as they will get deleted. I will also delete any emails that are not coherent. In other words, do not use l33t internet speak or chatroom shortened words. -------------------------. ______________________|__| Thanks | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯| -------------------------' Nintendo - For starting a great series...that never really took off until the 2000 era. Metroid Recon - For providing maps of the game that helped make this guide possible. ======================== Hope to see you on the next guide!