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METROID
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Complete Walkthrough/Speed Guide
By
Martacus
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I. LEGAL NOTICE
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This guide is the property of myself, Mark Schmidt (aka Martacus), and is
protected by all applicable copyright laws. You are free to download this guide
onto your computer for private use, as long as this legal notice is intact and
you don't try to pass this document off as your own work. The latest version of
this guide may be found at: http://www.gamefaqs.com
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II. TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I. Legal Notice
II. Table of Contents
III. Introduction
IV. Item List
V. Enemy List
VI. Complete Walkthrough
A. Brinstar
1. Main Area
2. Kraid's Lair
B. Norfair
1. Main Area
2. Ridley's Lair
C. Tourian - Mother Brain's Lair
VII. Speed Walkthrough
VIII. Revision History/ Credits/ Contact Information
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III. INTRODUCTION
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Welcome to my first FAQ/Game Guide at Gamefaqs, for the NES adventure game
Metroid. Why would I want to write a guide for this game? The reasons are
threefold. First, it is a game I am familiar with and enjoy. Second, there are
few guides for the game available at Gamefaqs, and I would like to expand that
number. Finally, it is a simple game for which to write a guide. This being my
first attempt at writing one, it would be wise to do so for a relatively small
game rather than some RPG requiring exhaustive research, would it not? I have
included two walkthroughs for this game: one complete walkthrough, which will
guide the reader through all areas necessary to collect all items (including,
at some point, complete maps of all five areas of the game), and one speed
walkthrough, which will get one through the game in what I hope is the quickest
way possible, omitting the collection of a number of items. In addition to
these walkthroughs, I have also included lists of items and enemies. Not all
information may be complete at this time, so if there is anything I am missing,
please e-mail me and let me know.
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IV. ITEM LIST
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This is a complete list of all items to be found in the game, along with a
brief description of each. As I have no skill with ASCII art, don't expect any
pictures. Items will be listed categorically. Note that once you pick up an
item, its effect is permanent (with the exception of the Ice and Wave beams)
and cannot be turned off, as in Super Metroid.
A. NON-OFFENSIVE ITEMS
In this category is included basically anything you pick up that isn't a
weapon.
1. Maru Mari (Morphing Ball)
This spherical item, which you will get almost immediately at the beginning of
the game, allows Samus to curl up into a ball half her usual height. You will
have to get this item; you literally cannot get anything else without
collecting this first.
2. Energy Tank
At the beginning of the game, Samus' energy is limited to 99 points. Collecting
these tanks will increase her maximum energy capacity by 100 points, and top
off her energy to boot. There are eight energy tanks to be found in the game;
however, Samus can only make use of six of them. Collecting either one of the
other two will simply refill her energy.
3. Varia
Collecting this atomic-looking item will cut in half the amount of damage Samus
recieves from enemy attacks. Collecting this item is not necessary to complete
the game, but it comes in very handy.
4. High Jump Boots
These boots are made for jumping, and that's just what they'll do. Collecting
this item will increase the height of Samus' jumps. These also are not
essential to completing the game, but they will allow you to access a number of
places that you would not be able to get to otherwise.
B. OFFENSIVE ITEMS
Here there be weapons. You'll need to do a lot of killing in this game, so be
sure to pick up some of them.
1. Missiles
Missiles are the single most important weapons in the game; you cannot
physically harm Metroids, Mother Brain, or her Zebetites without them. You also
will need them to open certain doors that block most items, as well as some
other important areas. They also kill any regular enemy in one hit. Samus'
limit on missiles is 255; there are 21 missile tanks (each one increasing
Samus' capacity by five), and beating each of the first two bosses will net you
a whopping 75. Try to collect as many missiles as possible.
2. Bombs
Aside from missiles, these are the second most important weapons in the game;
you need them to access areas that you need to get to in order to beat the
game. They also are very useful against floor-bound enemies that Samus cannot
attack with regular and ice beams. Fortunately, your supply of bombs is
unlimited, though you can only drop three at a time. One additional function,
helpful though not necessary to complete the game, is to propel Samus a small
distance into the air; this can be done repeatedly and is know as "bomb
jumping". It is a difficult trick to master (unlike in Super Metroid, where it
is easy as pie), but is useful in at least three spots in the game for those
with the patience to do so.
3. Long-range Beam
At the beginning of the game, Samus' gun has a limited range, no matter what
beam she uses. Picking up this item will extend her range to the edge of the
screen. You don't need this item to beat the game, but why wouldn't you want to
pick it up? Okay, I can think of one reason, but I'll address that in the
walkthrough.
4. Ice Beam
This handy weapon is half the strength of Samus' starting weapon. Well, not
exactly; but only every second shot that makes contact with a given enemy does
damage. The other shots will freeze an enemy in place. So it goes freeze,
damage, freeze, damage, etc. You will need this weapon in order to defeat
Metroids. Technically, you don't need it to beat the game, but it is so
insanely difficult to do so without it that I will just assume for the sake of
the walkthrough that you do.
5. Wave Beam
This powerful weapon is twice the strength of Samus' starting weapon, but it
cannot freeze enemies. However, as its name suggests, the beam travels in a
wave with an amplitude (ask your math or physics teacher) equal to Samus'
height, enabling her to take out floor-bound enemies without needing to use
bombs. While you can't beat the game with it (Okay, you can, but see above),
its power and range are extremely useful against the powerful enemies in
Norfair and the boss lairs.
6. Screw Attack
The powerful Screw Attack will turn Samus into a virtual flying missile when
she jumps, making her semi-invincible and allowing her to destroy almost any
regular enemy she comes into contact with. It is not needed to beat the game,
and is a very cheap weapon that makes the game exponentially easier; whether or
not to collect it is up to you.
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V. ENEMY LIST
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There are a lot of different enemies to be seen in Metroid, however there are
really only a few different types of enemies "wearing" different sprites. So
here is a partial list of the enemies; most of the names I got from the Super
Metroid instruction booklet (I misplaced my old Metroid booklet), as many
enemies from that game first made their appearance here. All defense figures
are using Samus' starting weapon unless otherwise noted. At some point in time
I may also list the amount of damage enemies do to Samus, but that will be in a
later update.
1. Geemers
Geemers are the first enemy you will see; they are the little yellow (or
magenta) spiky enemies you see crawling along platforms and floors. They are
one of the basic types of enemies, the "crawlers". "Weak" variety crawlers take
two hits from the original beam to kill, "strong" ones take four. Expect to see
a lot of these throughout the game.
2. Skrees
Skrees are found only in Brinstar and Kraid's lair. They hang onto the ceiling
until you walk under them, then they spiral down in your general direction.
Skrees are a unique enemy type. Again, weak ones (green/yellow) take two hits,
strong ones (blue/yellow) take four.
3. Rios
Rios look like gigantic insects; they arc down at you from the ceiling and then
back up again. They may also follow you on the ground. This is an example of
the second major enemy type, the "swoopers". Weak Rios take four hits, strong
ones take eight.
4. Rippers
Rippers come in two varieties: invincible and semi-invincible. Invincible ones
cannot be killed, but can be frozen; semi-invincible ones can only be destroyed
by a missile or screw attack (though it appears they take damage from beams,
they do not). Note that although rippers in Norfair look different, they
function exactly the same (although faster). All they do is fly back and forth
in a straight horizontal line.
5. Wavers
Wavers only appear in Brinstar. They fly left and right in a floaty, wavy
pattern (hence the name) until they hit a wall, at which point they continue in
the opposite direction. Weak ones (green) take four hits, strong ones (blue)
take eight.
6. Geegas
Geegas are the only name I remember from this next enemy group, the "flies",
which appear in every region in the game except Tourian. Although weak (the
strong variety only takes two hits), they are probably the single most annoying
enemies in the game. They pop up out of vents in the floor, and shoot straight
at you. They also often appear in large enough numbers that you may not be able
to avoid them all.
7. Sidehoppers
As thier name suggests, Sidehoppers do a lot of jumping, from both the ceiling
and the floor. They are only found in the boss lairs, and they are quite
strong, both offensively and defensively. Weak ones take eight hits, strong
ones sixteen(!). Although they differ in appearance between the two boss lairs,
they function the same.
8. "Gnats"
These only appear occcasionally; they take various forms, all of which only
take one hit to kill, none of them leaving anything behind when you kill them.
They hover in midair until you get close, then swoop down and back up. More of
a nuisance than a threat. Always appear in small swarms.
9. Gerutas
These inhabitants of Norfair are a second type of swooper. Unlike Rios, they
will not follow you on the ground, and as long as you keep your distance, they
will swoop up and down in a vertical line, making easy pickings for Samus. Good
thing, too, as weak ones take eight hits and strong ones sixteen. Note that in
Kraid's lair, there is a type of enemy that functions exactly the same, but
look totally different. I cannot think of their name, however (does it
matter?).
10. "Squids"
I cannot remember the proper name for these enemies unique to Norfair. Think of
them as rippers, only they hop up and down in and out of the lava. Purple ones
are invincible, red ones semi-invincible.
11. Multiviolas
These flaming balls o' doom bounce along the walls, floors, and ceilings of
Norfair and Ridley's lair. They are either purple or red, taking either eight
or sixteen hits to kill respectively.
12. Dragons
These run a close second to flies for the most annoying enemies in the game.
They are true cowards, only sticking their heads out of the lava in Norfair to
spit fireballs at you, then ducking back down. They are almost never worth
going after, except for the one or two that appear in lava that doesn't hurt
you.
13. Rinkas
As you may have guessed from the name, they are little rings. They only appear
in Tourian, and are just as annoying as flies or dragons. They either pop out
from the middle of nowhere or from little vents, but usually from the middle of
nowhere, and always in large numbers. They do a heck of a lot of damage, too.
At least they only take one hit to kill.
14. Metroids
They're the name of the game, and boy do they deserve it. These fat,
jellyfish-looking things float around, waiting for a chance to latch on to you
and suck all your life away. If they do so, you'll have to bomb them off.
Pretty tough to do, as it takes about five bombs to get them off and you can
only lay three at a time. Of course bombing them off is a pretty worthless
gesture, as they will almost immediately latch right back on to you before you
get a chance to pop up out of your ball. So don't let them do it. The only way
to kill a Metroid is to freeze it, then pump five missiles into it's bloated,
pulsating body. Fortunately, they only appear in Tourian, and in fairly small
numbers. Just be sure you take them out one at a time.
15. Zebetites
These are not so much enemies as obstacles; they are simply big glass tubes
filled with some sort of fleshy substance. Even though they don't do anything,
they are still dangerous, as A) you MUST destroy them to move on, and B) you
have to do this while being fired upon by invincible gun turrets that seldom
miss and swarmed by Rinkas, which often also block your missile shots. So take
them out as soon as possible. Eight missiles minimum is the way to do it. Just
don't let up on the missiles, or they will regenerate their health, making you
waste even more missiles.
16. Kraid
The first boss, this ugly, pudgy yellow blob attacks by throwing boomerang-like
blades from his back and shooting tiny spines from his chest. I will cover
beating Kraid in the walkthrough.
17. Ridley
He's big, he's purple, and he's a dinosaur. But don't expect him to play nice.
As he jumps up and down on his platform, he spits a bunch of bouncy fireballs
at you. Again, I will cover beating him in the walkthrough.
18. Mother Brain
This is what they call a mastermind, har har har. Really, she's just a big
Zebetite in a glass case, and you should treat her as such. Again, the main
threat is the guns and the Rinkas, as well as the big pit of lava right in
front of her. More detail will be given in the walkthrough.
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VI. COMPLETE WALKTHROUGH
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Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for. In this walkthrough, I will
guide you through the planet Zebes, finding all there is to find in a
relatively timely manner (ultimately it depends on your skill as a player). If
you get through fast enough, you just might get to play through a second time
as Samus without her space suit. Take THAT, "Justin Bailey"! Ahem. Anyways, you
may be wondering just what Samus is doing in such a godawful place as this, so
I'll give a brief rundown of the plot up to this point.
On the planet SR388, a peculiar, apparently engineered, lifeform was
discovered, dubbed a "Metroid". These Metroids reproduced asexually (under
exposure to Beta radiation), and could drain an orgamism of its energy within a
matter of seconds. Interesting stuff. So the team of scientists that discovered
them collected some specimens, and went on their way back to their lab. But on
the way, they were attacked by space pirates from the planet Zebes, who killed
the scientists and stole the Metroid samples. Now in possession of a powerful
weapon, the pirates wreaked havoc on galactic civilization. Obviously something
had to be done. So after it's own efforts to crush the pirates failed, the
galactic government called on the aid of ace bounty hunter Samus Aran, a
mysterious figure always shrouded in a mechanical spacesuit (though nowadays it
is a well-known fact that Samus is a woman, it wasn't back in 1986). After
presumably charging a handsome fee, Samus took the case. That's where you, the
player, come in. You take the role of Samus as she enters the planet Zebes and
prepares to kick some major alien ass.
Now that you know the story, let's begin, shall we?
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A. BRINSTAR
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1. MAIN AREA
Items to get:
Maru Mari
Missiles (10)
Energy Tanks (3)
Bombs
Ice Beam
Long-range Beam
Varia
At you begin the game, you'll see Samus materializing, with just her beam
cannon and 30 units of energy. Shoot the geemers off the walls and pick up any
energy balls they might leave behind. Head left over the large rock formation
and grab the Maru Mari, which will be sitting on a pedestal guarded by another
fierce geemer. Now head back to the right and under the rock formation.
Continue on to the door, killing any enemies you see on the way. In this next
room, the floor looks fragile, but it can hold your weight. We'll be coming
back to this room later on. For now, just continue on to the right. In this
next long corridor, skrees will be hanging from the ceiling. Let them come down
after you and blast them out of the air, so you can grab any energy they leave
behind. Near the end, you will see another large rock formation which you will
have to roll under. On the other side, a Rio will atttack. The best way to deal
with it is to shoot it as it comes down and jump over it when it swoops at you.
Continue on into the blue door.
Now you will find yourself in a long vertical corridor. Work your way up the
platforms, killing any geemers you see crawling on them and building up your
energy. Avoid the yellow rippers; they can't be killed. Continue on until you
see a door on the right side of the shaft and go into it. There's nothing to
see in this next room, so just continue on. Another vertical shaft, this one
gold, will greet you. This time, make your way down to the bottom and enter the
door you find there. You should have full energy by now; if not, kill some more
geemers to top it out at 99 points. Go through this corridor until you reach
the missiles; grab them and head back. One more thing about this room: the
flies. They will fly up out of the vents continuously; to stop them from doing
so, kill them until one leaves a missile or energy ball, but don't collect it.
No more will be able to come up until the item fades away, by which time you
should be long gone.
Back in the vertical shaft, go back up to the point where you originally
entered, this time enter the door on the right side. You will find yourself in
a new area, with bubbly-looking rocks, wavers floating about, and yellow sand
on the floor. Don't fall into the stuff; it drains your health and hinders your
jumps. Keep going to the right; through the doors in your path, and eventually
you will reach your first energy tank. Grab it and keep heading right. When you
emerge from the door you will be in another vertical shaft; go up until you
find a door on the left and go in. In this corridor, watch out for rios and
geemers crawling on the floor. At the end, you will encounter your first red
door. These doors cannot be opened with your beam; the way to open them is with
five missiles. To use missiles, hit the select button and fire. In this next
room, you'll see a bird-like chozo statue holding a sphere. shoot the orb and
collect the item that appears, the bombs. This is a useful item that can be
used to break some blocks, and to attack enemies that are on the ground but are
too small to be shot with your beam. To use them, roll into a ball and fire.
Anyways, return to the vertical shaft and go back down (you can't go up at this
point) and back into the rooms with the sand. Continue on past where you got
the energy tank, and in the next room (with a bridge over some sand) bomb the
floor a little left of the center and fall through. You will find yourself in
another vertical shaft; continue down and go into the door on the left. In this
next corridor (hereafter rooms of this type will be referred to as "item
corridors") you will find some gnat-type enemies. Shoot these pests down and
open the red door; it's five missiles, remember. Go in and collect the Ice
Beam.
Now that you have this handy new weapon, return to the sand pit you fell
through. As you probably noticed on your way down, there is a spot in the sand
that you can stand on. From there, fire up at the block you fell through
before. Can't jump out? Just keep trying to jump. On the third or fourth try
the block should re-materialize, doing a little damage and pushing Samus back
up onto the bridge. Now continue back the way you were going, towards the first
gold shaft (On your way there, you'll pass through another "bridge over sand"
room; DO NOT drop into the vertical shaft here; it is a trap that you'll never
be able to get out of at this point. Just move on). Once back into the gold
shaft, head upwards. When you reach the top, enter the door to the right. You
should be in an area with green blocks and some wavers floating around. Make
your way to the right, going through the top pipe when you come to that point
(watch out for geemers and breakable flooring in the pipe). You should emerge
from the pipe coming out on top of a bunch of blocks. Continue right and into
the door.
What you need to do in this next room can be a bit tricky, but you can do it.
Shoot upwards at the "solid" column of blocks near the middle of the ceiling;
jump up to get the rest of them. Now the waver in here should go up through the
gap you just made in one or two passes; if not, go out and come back in for
another try. At any rate, when the waver reaches the top of its "jump", freeze
it and keep jumping until the bottom block re-materializes below you. Now you
and the waver should be stuck in this column. Shoot the waver (make sure you
don't kill it) and the top block(s), causing Samus to take damage and the waver
to pop out of the column into the shaft above. Now freeze the waver again when
it drops down, and use it as a stepping stone to reach the door on the upper
left. This door leads into a rather long item corridor; make your way to the
left, blast the red door open with your missiles, and collect the Varia from
the next room. Go back the way you came, bomb your way through the breakable
blocks, and continue on to the right. Keep heading right, collect the missiles
when you come to them, and continue on to what looks like a dead end. Go right
up against the wall. Shoot upwards at the ceiling, and jump up and to the right
to enter a secret passageway into a small rectangular room. Kill the rio in
here, then use bombs to propel Samus into the small secret passageway that lies
three blocks up. When you emerge from the passageway, you will find another
energy tank. Enter the door to the right,and you will find yourself at the top
of the vertical shaft where we got the bombs earlier. Drop all the way down to
the bottom, and head back across the rooms full of sand. Back in the first gold
shaft, head straight across to the blue shaft.
Back in the blue shaft, head up until you reach the first door on the left. Go
in here. An item corridor. Go through here to the end and pick up the
Long-range Beam. Retrace your steps to the blue shaft and drop down to the
bottom. Go to the left, back towards the beginning of the game. In this next
room (the one with the big formation that you must roll under) get the rio to
follow you through the tiny passageway. Two blocks to the left of the big
formation, there is an energy tank in the ceiling. To get it, freeze the rio
that you lured over, about five blocks up (the one empty block plus four from
the bottom of the formation). Jump on top of the rio, shoot upwards at the
block hiding the energy tank, then jump up and grab it. You can kill the rio
when you're done. Continue on your way to the left. In the next room, bomb
through the breakable floor and fall down to the bottom of the shaft, then go
through the door on the right. Ewww...ignore that ugly face and go down the
elevator.
Now before I move on to the next section, let me explain why you might not want
to get the Long-range Beam, as I had stated in the item list. As any NES-era
veteran can tell you, any video game hero worth his (or her) salt can only have
three shots on-screen at once. This left many players who wanted to blast
everything in sight with a bit of a dilemma: they often found themselves either
firing off lots of three-round bursts, which often led to wasted shots, which
broke up the firing rhythm enough to let the enemy hit and/or kill the player
character, or else they wound up doing irreparable harm to their thumbs as they
squeezed off individual shot after shot. This was back in the day before
turbo-firing controllers, mind you. Now in Metroid, we have a situation that is
slightly different. Samus' shots initially are limited not only in on-screen
quantity, but in range as well. That means her shots don't have to travel as
far before being replenished, giving her a steadier stream of fire, where
missed shots don't mean as much. If you pick up the Long-range Beam, you give
up that slight advantage in firepower for the more familiar model described
above. Seeing as you lose that slight edge, plus the fact that you don't NEED
it anywhere in the game at all (though admittedly it is helpful in some
situations), you just may consider skipping out on it sometime. However, in the
interest of this being a complete walkthrough, I have included it among the
items to get.
Now that that has been said, let us move on to the next area!
2. KRAID'S LAIR
Items to get:
Missiles (20)
Energy Tanks (2)
After descending the elevator into Kraid's lair, you will find yourself at the
top of a large vertical shaft. Go down until you see a red door on the right.
Blast it open and enter. Here you will meet your first sidehopper; you might
just want to freeze it for now and move on past, as there are also flies coming
up out of the sand. Move right until you get the missiles at the top of a
pyramid-shaped set of columns, then turn back. If you continue on, you will
simply emerge into a dead-end set of rooms with nothing in them. So don't go
that way.
Back in the starting shaft, continue down until you find yet another red door
on the right. Go in. In this next room, you will not get very far before you
hit a wall. Standing up, shoot the wall, then bomb jump into the hole you just
created. Continue on, bombing out any solid blocks that get in your way, until
you emerge into another room. Here, defeat the enemies and grab the energy tank
hovering in the middle of the room. To get out the way you came, you will have
to make your way up around the top of the pipe formations and bomb jump back
into the passage from which you came. Head back to the vertical shaft and go
back up.
Back at the first pair of doors, take the door on the left. In this room, when
you head left you will be greeted by blue skrees and another seeming dead end.
Again, bomb jump up into a hidden passage and go through. You will emerge at
the base of another mnissile-bearing pyramid. This tank makes 20 missiles
total. Continue on to the left, and watch out for those sidehoppers. Go through
the next door, and drop down. You will see some sand below you; hop down into
it. Instead of taking damage when you hit the bottom, you will fall through the
false flooring and fall down a very long shaft. Now that you're at the bottom,
you'll find that there's no way back up. So, onwards and rightwards. You will
find yourself in a small corridor with a sidehopper; continue on through the
door on the right. Different room, same thing, only with a red door at the far
end. You know what to do. In the next room, make your way to the right and pick
up another missile tank atop a pyramid. Once again, head back the way you came
instead of moving on.
Back in the blue corridor with the sidehopper, bomb the leftmost block, right
up against the blue door. Fall through the gap into a room with green blocks
and head through the door on the right. In this next room, you will come face
to face with Kraid. Jump over the spikes he shoots out of his chest and blast
him with a missile. Ehhh, okay, so maybe it wasn't Kraid. But it was good
practice. Anyhow, continue on to the right through the hallway. Eventually it
will come to an end. Go into the door, and you will find yourself in a green
corridor. Bomb the blocks in the center, and fall through onto a bridge. Open
the red door on the left, but don't go in yet. Instead, curl up ito a ball
several times until flies start coming up out of the sand pit. At this
juncture, just keep swatting flies until your health and missiles are maxed
out. You should have four full tanks, and 25 missiles. Got them? Good. Freeze
the last fly and go through the door on the left.
Samus, meet the real Kraid. Unlike the other one, this could prove to be a
tough fight. He attacks you in two ways as he walks back and forth on his
platform. First, he shoots a volley of three little spikes at you from his
chest. Seccond, he hurls boomerang-like blades from his back which arc throug
the air. Pretty tough. Conventional wisdom would tell you to hop over the
spikes and blast him with a missile before he reloads. However, you'll get hit
by his bommerang-blades doing so, and you run the risk of missing, as he can
reload pretty fast and if he reloads before you shoot, your missile will
detonate harmlessly on that middle spike which is oh-so-conveniently positioned
at the same level as your gun. And to top it off, you get hit a second time by
the top spike when he fires. Now you can beat him this way, but you'll surely
waste more than a few missiles. If that happens, curl up into a ball and start
bombing like mad. You'll be able to finsih him off.
However, I have devised a better way to beat him. You'll still take a fair
amount of damage, but you won't waste any missiles. When you first enter the
room, immediately hop down to his level. When he fires his spikes, wait until
that top spike is just about to hit you and then fire with your ice beam.
Viola, frozen spike. And guess what? He can't reload that middle spike until it
disappears from the screen (of course, he still got you with that top one, so
bleh). So jump over it, switch to missiles, and run right up to Kraid blasting
away. Just take the hits from the other spikes, and keep firing as many
missiles into him as fast as you can at point-blank range. Eventually that
frozen spike will unfreeze. When that happens, turn off the missiles and freeze
the spike again. Then continue your missile barrage. After all 25 missiles are
spent, Kraid will burst into tiny little pieces. And you will suddenly have 75
missiles in stock. Not bad for your trouble. And there is also another energy
tank in the lower right wall. Unfortuately, you really can't get it (or get out
of the sand) unless you have the High Jump Boots. So take my advice and leave
it there.
Now that that ugly pus-bucket is out of the way, go back to the right. You're
not through yet. You can use the flies to refill your energy and missiles again
if you want, but I personally wouldn't recommend it, as it takes a lot of time,
and you've already done it once. So make your way to the right, through the
short corridor with blue skrees. You will find yourself at the bottom of what I
affectionately call the Vertical Shaft From Hell. This is probably the single
most frustrating part of the game. You will see a column of breakable blocks.
It goes up and up and up. You have to shoot a few, jump where they were, aim up
and shoot. Now keep jumping and shooting, jumping and shooting. The blocks
underneath you will start to rematerialize, and hopefully they won't hit you
and knock you to the right, sending you all the way back down to the bottom to
start over again. Fortunately, there are "breather" blocks occasionally on the
left side of the column; I believe there are three total on the left, and the
last one is on the right side near the top of the column. When you see them,
jump up to them and wait for all the blocks to reappear before continuing on.
This lessens the chances of you getting knocked off and having to start again.
Eventually, you will reach the breather block on the right side of the column.
When you get here, you will also note that there is a blue door on the left,
with a second, small column of breakable blocks in front of it. Make your way
to that door and go in. Go to the left until you reach the missile pyramid and
get the missiles. Now we've gotten everything there is to get in Kraid's lair
(except that one energy tank). But you still haven't gotten out. So go back to
that shaft. Carefully make your way to the top of the long column, and make
your way up the little blocks to the door at the top of the shaft (FOR GOD'S
SAKE, DON'T FALL OFF!). Go to the left through this long corridor, and
eventually you will reach a red door. You've got plenty of missiles, so by all
means, fire away.
When you emerge from the doorway, you will find yourself back in the entrance
shaft, about 2/3 of the way down. However, you can't get back up from here. So
what you will need to do is drop down to the bottom, go to the left side of the
shaft, and start freezing the rippers and using them as platforms to climb your
way back up. Alternately, you could go through the door on the left at the
bottom and go left, up, and back to the right through the hallways to emerge
on the opposite side of the red door through which you just came. At any rate,
you should now easily be able to climb your way back up to the top of the
shaft. Jump on the elevator, and say goodbye to this area.
Back in the main area of Brinstar, make your way back up the shaft and head
through the door on the right. Go right, under the big rock formation, and into
the long blue shaft. Go up and into the bridge to the gold shaft, then drop all
the way down to the bottom. Head right, past where you got your first missile
tank, and keep going, into a room with an elevator. Take this elevator down
into the fiery depths of Norfair.
----------
B. NORFAIR
----------
1. MAIN AREA
Items to get:
Missiles (60)
Energy Tanks (1)
High Jump Boots
Ice Beam
Wave Beam
Screw Attack
When you step off the elevator, say hello to the two Ridley statues (the guy
has quite an ego, doesn't he?), then drop to the bottom of the shaft and go
left. In this next corridor you'll be greeted by your first geruta; prepare
your usual reception. Continue on to the left, and watch out for those red
lumps that appear occasionally--they shoot out a stream of rocks every few
seconds. Anyways, you will come to a new formation; this is the new missile
pyramid. Okay, they don't look like pyramids, but that's what I've been calling
them. Anyways, grab the missiles sitting on top and continue to the left. You
will eventually come to a bubbly wall. Dead end? No. Just stop, drop, and roll.
A few bombs wouldn't hurt either. So go through the wall, and continue to the
left when you emerge. After going through the door at the end of the corridor,
drop to the bottom of the shaft and go into the door to the right you find
there. Another corridor, just like the other one. Almost. Head right until you
get to the missile tank, then head back. It's a dead end this way. So double
back until you reach the elevator shaft. This time, continue on through the
door on the right.
Make your way to the right across the cloudy platforms. eventually you will
emerge into another purple, bubbly shaft. Make your way up. At the first door
you come to (you can't get any higher without High Jump Boots from here), go
in. Now when you reach the wall to the left, it may look like a dead end, but
it isn't. Fire your beam at the wall until you locate the hollow passageway,
then freeze the squid just below it. Get through the passage, and...hello, it's
the new item corridor! Watch out for those dragons in the lava, and open the
red door. Jump as you go in so that the last dragon's final shot misses you (if
you haven't noticed by now, enemies in this game can still damage you as you
pass through doors). In this room, shoot the orb and you'll get...the Ice Beam!
Wow! Too bad you already got it. What to do now...hey, where does that pipe
down there lead to? Bomb your way down to it and roll through. Bomb the red
blocks you come to, and go through the door you find on the other end. Watch
out for the multiviolas. In this new shaft, work your way up the right side as
you did in the "Shaft From Hell". Fortunatley, it isn't as long. Just be
careful of the rippers. When you reach the top, go into the door, blast the
multiviolas, and bomb your way through the red blocks as you did before. You'll
emerge on the left side of a missile pyramid. Grab the loot and head right.
Another one! Score! Okay, continue to the right and through the door. Now,
believe it or not, but you're now at the top of that purple shaft you came up
initially. But you're standing on the floor! I'll tell you what, stand two
blocks to the left of the right wall, drop into a ball, and lay a bomb. You'll
be bombing your way through the floor. Once you get down, you should see a door
on the lower left. Go into it. As you go left, you'll come across not one, not
two, but three, count them, three missile tanks! But you've reached another
dead end. So now, go back to the right, into the shaft, and drop all the way to
the bottom...or is it? Well, go in the door here for now. In this new corridor,
you'll make your way across a long platform with plenty of gerutas and flies
with which to bug you. Whn you reach the end of that, continue on and you'll
come to another wall you can bomb your way through. It's quite long, but
eventually you'll reach the other side. Now freeze either the ripper, the
squid, or the multiviola and use it as a platform to reach the top of that
column of red blocks. Once on the other side, you'll be rewarded with two more
missile tanks, pyramids and all.
Double back to the right through the long corridor and return to the shaft.
Bomb through the floor as before, in the same spot, and you'll come upon
another part of the shaft. Make your way down until you come to another door on
the left, and go in. Hey, what do you know, it's another item corridor! Go
through the red door, and you'll pick up the High Jump Boots. Now before you
get any ideas about heading back to the shaft, I say hold on a minute. Remember
that Ice Beam? You've got it, bomb your way down to the pipe again and roll
through another big wall. But weren't you just here? Oh well, freeze the ripper
or squid again and use it as a platform again. Continue to the left, and do it
again. This is the last time, I swear. Hop across the tiny bubble platforms and
go through the door. Head across this new bridge room and into the next door.
Now you'll see a new room design. But before you stop and gaze in awe at this
new room, might I remind you that you have a mission to accomplish? So continue
on to the left, and enter a new room, filled with pretty green bubbles.
Welcome to the second half of Norfair. There's less to find and it's easy for
beginners to get lost in this area, so stick with me and you'll be fine. First
of all, notice that this room is merely a palette swap of the purple shaft.
That's right, that means you can bomb through the floor on the right side. But
first go up and shoot your way through the ceiling. When you come up, there
will be a door on the left. Inside is an item corridor that leads to the Screw
Attack. With this weapon, life will be a whole lot easier. Now go back and bomb
your way through the floor (to the level at which you first entered), then bomb
through the floor again. You will see doors to both the left and right. Take
the one on the right. In this room, you will be making your way across a field
of small stones. At the end of it, you will come to another bubble wall (aren't
you getting tired of these?). Bomb through the red block against the wall and
start making your way through the wall. On the other side is another field of
stones, and then the door. Dead end, or so it seems. Roll up into a ball and
lay a bomb right up against the door. Now you can get into the small lava field
below. Don't worry, it won't hurt you. Head to the right, shoot the block in
front of you, and fall through. Go through the door on the left. In here, make
your way across the platform, shoot the block wall in front of you, and
roll/bomb jump your way through. On the other side is a series of vertical
pipes, and on the farthest one is an energy tank. Just one more to go! Start
making your way back. When you reach the bubble wall, you will have to bomb
jump from the high stone against the wall into the passage back. Back in the
shaft, go through the door on the left.
After going through another corridor with red bricks, you will find yourself at
the bottom of a shaft with lava at the bottom. Hop into the lava, go as far to
the left as you can, and bomb your way through the floor. Guess you weren't at
the bottom after all. Now make your way down to the real floor and head into
the door on the right. Weird bubbles--they look like they have eyes floating in
them. Forget about it and make your way to the right, over the large formations
of breakable blocks. In the next room, you will be able to bomb through the
floor on the right as you have been; do so and drop down to the bottom. After
going through the door on the right, you will find two missile tanks, and a
dead end. Nothing to do now but make your way back, up to the top of the shaft.
Continue on to the right. In this corridor, be careful not to fall into the
lava between the narrow columns; if you do, you won't be able to get out, even
with the High Jump Boots. Make your way across carefully, and go into the next
room. It's a bridge across lava, with a dragon below. But that's not all.
Again, bomb through against the left door, and you will be able to get down
into the lava, which turns out to be a false bottom. Now you can blast that
dragon with impunity. Anyhow, it's not far to the bottom, where a door is
waiting on the left. Go in, and you will find an item corridor. At the end, you
will find in the statue's hand the Wave Beam, the strongest beam in the game.
Now go back, up, and continue on across the bridge to the right, into another
weird eyeball-bubble room. This one also has big block formations, which will
simply melt away beneath the power of your Wave Beam. Be sure to head across
the top; there is yet another bubble wall where you will need to be at the top
to be able to bomb your way through. On the other side, after continuing a
ways, is a missile tank, the last one in Norfair.
You are now done collecting items here, but first you have to get back. I'll
guide you to where you need to go, but only giving rough directions. Go left as
far as you can go, to the room with a bubble floor beneath a small pit of lava.
Go up through the floor on the left side, then continue up to the top of the
shaft. Go to the right, through the bridge between the two "halves" of Norfair,
over the squid pits, and through the wall back into the room where the High
Jump Boots were. Go back through the item corridor, into the big purple shaft.
This time, instead of going back up, drop down to the bottom of the shaft. Go
through the door on the left. Make your way across another strange
eyeball-bubble room, into another shaft. Fall to the bottom, and go into the
door on the right. It's an elevator room, but with two of those ugly heads
instead of one. Looks like you've found Ridley's lair. Congratulations.
2. RIDLEY'S LAIR
Items to get:
Missiles (15)
Energy Tanks (2)
Again, you will begin this area at the top of a small shaft. At the bottom are
two doors, leading left and right. Take the one on the left. Go through this
next room, a small passageway made of white blocks. Nothing to see here. The
next room looks identical at first glance, but against the right door, you can
shoot up through the ceiling. You will have to jump on the closed door to get
up and through into the area above. In this room, jump to the ledge (you'll
have to have the High Jump Boots to get up here) and enter the door. In this
corridor, watch out for the flies as you make your way to the left (be glad you
have that Wave Beam!) and get the missiles at the end. Make your way back to
the white block room and bomb your way back through the floor. Continue on your
way to the left.
In this next, very long corridor, you will face a horde of sidehoppers, and
small columns of breakable blocks. At the end, you will be faced with a tall
pipe with a one-block gap at the top and a shiny red door waiting for you on
the other side. Now I could be an ass and tell you that the only way to get
there is to bomb jump through the gap, but I'm not nearly that mean. Take my
advice and roll back along the floor, bombing as you go. In the middle of some
of those stretches between the block columns are breakable spots in the floor,
where you can drop down and roll through a passageway in the floor. This
passageway will take you under the pipe, and you can bomb your way up on the
other side, giving you easy access to the red door. Open it and enter. In this
next room, you will find yourself across a narrow corridor from an energy tank.
You may be tempted to just run across and try to get it, but that will only
result in failure. There is a two-block wide invisible pit that you will fall
through if you just keep running. This pit is eight blocks from the right door
(the one you came through). So run seven blocks, then jump to the tank. If you
miss and fall through, don't worry, there's another energy tank, and you need
to fall through that pit anyways. So fall through, whether you got it or not.
When you land, once again there will be doors on either the left or the right.
This time, go right. You will be in a corridor filled with more sidehoppers.
Just fight your way through.
This next room presents a bit of a challenge. There is what looks like an easy
jump through a somewhat narrow gap to the door on the other side, with a pit
below you. However, this jump is probably the single most difficult jump in the
game. There are two ways to get across. First, you can just take a regular
jump; if you time it just right, you can jump through the gap. However, it's
more likely that you will fall doing it this way, so I really don't recommend
it. The other option is to bomb jump across, and even if you're not too good at
bomb jumping, you have a much better chance of pulling it off this way. The
trick is being able to get a second boost into the air. Once you can do that,
roll into a ball, give yourself that double boost, and use the second boost to
propel yourself across the gap. You made it. Go through the door and collect
another missile tank as your reward. Then come back to this room and throw
yourself down the pit anyways.
At the bottom, you once again get to choose between going left or right. I say,
go left. This next long corridor is fairly easy to get through, but try to stay
out of the lava on the bottom. When you see a lone sidehopper, you're just
about at the end. On the other side of the door at the left end is...DUM DUM
DUMMMM! Ridley.
And welcome to the second boss. Unlike Kraid, Ridley is quite easy to beat, no
matter how you decide to do it. First, let's look at how he attacks. Rather
than moving back and forth on his platform, Ridley simply jumps up and down.
Every few seconds, he spits out a bunch of fireballs that travel in a bouncing
pattern. They can be frozen with the Ice Beam (if you happened to keep it), but
are very difficult to dodge if you stay on the platform. Two strategies spring
immediately to mind: first, you can stand in the lava directly beneath him and
fire upwards at him with the Wave Beam. This will drain your health, but you
should only lose about one full energy tank by the time he dies, so that
shouldn't be any problem. Second, you may notice the narrow space between the
pipes on the left side of the room, in front of the purple door. If you stand
there, Ridley's fireballs will not be able to hit Samus--they will simply hit
the pipe above her and disappear. From this safe spot you can shoot at Ridley
with your beam and suffer no damage. Now, I have found another way to beat him,
and you may or may not be able to use it against him. It appears to depend on
how the sidehoppers and squids have been jumping, interestingly enough. If they
have been jumping high, you won't be able to use it. If they haven't, then you
will. You see, when they jump low, for some reason Ridley's fireballs fly
differently. They shoot out farther. So what you can do, if this is the case,
is simply to run up to him the moment you enter the room, taking the hit as you
do so, then stand right there and fire away. Ridley's fireballs will arc
harmlessly right over Samus, and you can sit there firing away until he too
flies apart into tiny little pieces. Again, you will get a bonus of 75
missiles. You rock. Now take those shiny new missiles, if you wish, and shoot
ten of them into that purple door on the left. In this room, you can stand on
the lava, except for a small area. So walk along the lava and at the end of the
corridor you can pick up the last energy tank. But you might not need it, so if
you don't you can just skip it.
Anyways, back in Ridley's room, head back to the right. Keep going, through the
long hallway full of multiviolas, and you will emerge in a red shaft full of
flies. In the interest of getting everything in the game, fall down to the
bottom and go into the door on the left. You will pass through another purple
hallway like you did earlier, filled with flies. Eventually you will come
across the last missile tank (that means you've now got 255 missiles); once
you've got it, turn right back around and go back to the shaft. This time, go
all the way up to the top. Enter the door you see there on the left. Pass
through this last corridor, and you will find yourself back in the elevator
shaft. Take it back up to Norfair.
--------------------------------
C. TOURIAN - MOTHER BRAIN'S LAIR
--------------------------------
Items to get:
Ice Beam
Sure, you're not in Tourian yet, but I'm including this here for the sake of
organization. Back in Norfair proper, go up and then right back to the big
purple shaft. Go up, up, up, through the ceiling, and then up to the next door,
leading to the corridor with the "cloudy" platforms that takes you to the
elevator to Brinstar. Go back up into Brinstar.
In Brinstar, go left until you reach the main gold shaft, then go up and right
into the blue rocky area, with the wavers. Go right until you reach the shaft
where earlier you retrieved the Ice Beam. Go back down there a second time, and
get the Ice Beam again. Go back up, left, across the bridge, and into the big
blue shaft. Ascend to the top and into the door on the left. Make your way
across the area, until you run smack into a red door. Blast it open with
missiles (reloading on the flies if you wish) and enter. On the other side,
you'll see some familiar faces. That's right, it's Kraid and Ridley. Shoot the
statues; they will rise up and a bridge over the lake of sand will materialize.
Roll across into the next room and go down the elevator.
Now you are in Tourian proper. Fortunately, it is the most straightforward part
ofthe game, so there's no chance of you getting lost. Drop down the shaft, and
soon you will see metroids coming right for you. You can either destroy them,
or freeze them and continue on. To kill metroids, freeze them and then hit them
with five missiles. For right now, however, I recommend freezing them and
moving on. At the bottom of this first shaft, you will run into a yellow door.
This door, like the purple one before it, takes ten missiles to open.
As the screen scrolls into the next room, you will see rinkas flying toward
you. You will get hit as you go through the door; there's nothing you can do to
avoid it. Just move on. Go across the top of the pipe structures and freeze the
metroids that attack. Keep going and you will run into a red door. Open it and
move on.
In this next shaft, you're probably going to lose a bit of energy, perhaps as
much as a full tank. Not because of the metroids, but because the rinkas
materialize in places you have to walk on, and tend to do so as you are over
those spots. Just ignore them and freeze the metroids as you drop down to the
bottom. Open the red door and move on.
Now comes the part where you get to take out the metroids. There are a lot of
them in this room, perfect for refilling lost energy and missiles. The reason
why, is because whenever you kill a metroid, they always leave behind an energy
or missile powerup, and these powerups give back a whole lot more that they
usually do. So start blasting those metroids, and go through the blue door on
the left.
Here's the tough part. The zebetites in front of you are guarded by invincible
gun turrets that are always firing at you, and rinkas that are flying at you as
well. It takes eight missiles to destroy a zebetite, but that is only if you
don't miss and if all the missiles hit in rapid succession. You're probably
going to miss a bit, either getting knocked off the platform or hitting a rinka
that gets in your way. But just keep firing at the zebetites, they will start
shrinking and eventually disappear, allowing you to move on to the next one.
There are five zebetites in all. Immediately after the fifth one, you will see
the Mother Brain. The trick is just to treat it as another zebetite, albeit one
that takes quite a few missiles to take out. The best place to stand is in the
place where the last zebetite was; however, you are quite likely to be knocked
either backwards or forwards by the rinkas. If that happens, just jump back up
and continue firing. It takes 30 missiles to destroy Mother Brain.
Once you destroy Mother Brain, you're still not through. A timer will start to
count down from 999, so you had better get out fast. Go through the blue door
that appears and start jumping up the platforms. The platforms are small, so
you will have to make your jumps count. Fortunatley, the pattern of blocks
repeats itself over and over again, so once you get the jumping pattern down,
it should be no problem. Par for getting out is having 600 seconds left when
you reach the elevator at the top. Now you have beaten the game.
Congratulations, and enjoy the ending. When the credits are done, press "Start"
and you can play through a second time, this time starting with everything you
collected, minus the missiles and energy tanks.
Now that you know where everything is in the game, how about trying to get
through as fast as possible?
----------------------
VII. SPEED WALKTHROUGH
----------------------
Unlike in Super Metroid, in this game there are not many shortcuts, and most of
them have already been pointed out in the walkthrough above. But just think for
a moment, how many missiles did you have left after you destroyed Mother Brain?
A hundred or so? That means there are about a hundred missiles that you really
didn't have to go out of your way to find. Not getting them would really cut
down on your time, wouldn't it? That is going to be the key to this speed
walkthrough, skipping a lot of the extra missiles and stuff you don't need, and
just getting through as quick as possible. The order you do things in is also a
bit different, and I expect that you already know your way around the planet
fairly well, so pay attention and try to keep up. Anyhow...
-----------
A. BRINSTAR
-----------
Items to get:
Missiles (5)
Energy Tanks (1)
Maru Mari
Bombs
Ice Beam
Notice that the list of items is shorter. That's reflective of the new
philosophy for this walkthrough. To begin with, go left and get the Maru Mari
right away. Head right, up the blue shaft, across into the gold shaft, and drop
to the bottom. go and get the missile tank, then head back up into the blue
rocky area, with the wavers. Head across and get the energy tank, then go on
and get the Bombs. Head back, getting the Ice Beam as you go. Once back in the
gold shaft, drop to the bottom again and head across to the elevator. Go to
Norfair.
----------
B. NORFAIR
----------
Items to get:
High Jump Boots
Screw Attack (optional)
That's right, we aren't picking up any more missiles in here. Just head
immediately to the right, to the big purple shaft. Drop down, bomb through the
floor, and go down and get the High Jump Boots. At this point, you may wish to
continue on and get the Screw Attack before heading back, but that dows take
some extyra time. Besides, if you're a real hardcore Metroid player, you won't
get the Screw Attack anyways. I would, and I recommend you do so as well, as
we're going to a pretty tough place with just one energy tank. But it's up to
you.
Anyhow, after picking up the High Jump Boots and/or the Screw Attack, head back
into the purple shaft, and drop down to the bottom. Take the door there and
continue on until you reach the elevator to Ridley's lair. Take it down.
----------------
C. RIDLEY'S LAIR
----------------
Items to get:
Missiles (5/10)
Energy Tanks (2)
When you come down off the elevator into Ridley's lair, take the door to the
left as in the first walkthrough. In the second white block room, you may or
may not wish to go up and get the missiles from the coridor; I would as they
can come in pretty handy. Again, it's up to you. After you did or did not get
the missiles, continue on to the left. Bomb through the floor and roll under
the big pipe, opening the red door at the end. Jump across the pit (remember,
seven steps and then jump) and get the energy tank, then fall down the pit. Go
right, to the "tough jump" room, and bomb jump across the little pit. Go and
get the missiles, then come back and fall down the pit. Head left and continue
to Ridley's room.
Now here, I recommend a different strategy than before. Obviously standing in
the lava won't work, as you don't have the Wave Beam. If you got lucky, the
sidehoppers were jumping low and you will be able to do the "belly up"
strategy, but use up your missiles before finishing him off with the Ice Beam.
If you can't use that trick, just freeze as many fireballs as you can, then use
your missiles on him. You may have to use the fireballs as platforms to hit
him.
Anyhow, once that's done, use your newly gained missiles to open the purple
door and get the energy tank behind it. Head back to the right and continue on
to the shaft at the end. Head up to the top, then left to the elevator shaft.
Return to Norfair. Back in Norfair, head up, right, up through the floor and
back to the left to the elevator to Brinstar. Return there.
---------------------
D. BRINSTAR REVISITED
---------------------
Items to get:
Energy Tanks (1)
Varia (optional)
Back in Brinstar, head left to the gold shaft. From this point, you have two
options. First, head all the way to the top, then go right and get the Varia.
With the High Jump Boots, you won't have to lure the Waver to get to it. You
can simply jump up to the door. This takes more time, but halving the damage
will be a big help later on in Tourian, with all the rinkas flying about and
such. But yet again, the choice is yours. Your second option is to just skip
the Varia and move on to the blue shaft. Do this if you're really good at the
game. I don't think I could do it. At any rate, please note that even if you do
get the Varia, I recommend heading back the way you came rather than going on
to get another energy tank and more missiles. It just takes so much longer than
backtracking.
In the blue shaft, head down to the bottom. In the corridor with the big rock
formation, as before lure the rio undr the formation and freeze him (higher up
than I said in the first walkthrough, as you can jump much higher now) to get
the energy tank. Once that is done, continue left and down to the elevator to
Kraid's lair.
---------------
E. KRAID'S LAIR
---------------
Items to get:
Missiles (5)
Energy Tanks (1/2)
Once you get down off the elevator, take the second red door on the right. Go
in and through the wall to get the energy tank. head back to the shaft and go
down to the next red door. Go through, and head right to the Shaft From Hell.
Drop down to the first door, then enter and retrieve the missiles. Head back to
the shaft, then drop all the way down to the bottom. Go left, refill on the
flies when you get to the bridge before Kraid's room, and face the yellow
monstrosity.
With more missiles, Kraid is a bit easier, as you don't have to worry so much
about wasted missiles. Still, try not to waste too many. Use the "freezing
spike" trick I mentioned before to help. Oncee that's done, you may or may not
want to get the energy tank in the wall. I say, if you got the Varia, don't
bother, but do get it if you skipped the Varia.
Now to get out. Head back right to the Shaft From Hell. With the High Jump
Boots, it seems more like the Shaft From Purgatory, but still, it's no picnic
getting back up. At any rate, make your way up the breakable blocks, head to
the top, and go left. In the elevator shaft, go down, then freeze the rippers
as platforms to get back up. Continue to the top and head back to Brinstar.
In Brinstar, go back to the top and to the right, under the rock formation and
into the blue shaft. Head up to the top and head left to the red door leading
to Tourian. Before heading in, take stock of what you've got. If you followed
the walkthrough, you should have:
170 Missiles (150 from beating the bosses, 20 from missile tanks)
5 or 6 Energy Tanks (5 with the Varia, 6 without)
Maru Mari
Bombs
Ice Beam
High Jump Boots
Screw Attack (optional)
Varia (optional)
Refill your missiles and energy tanks on the flies, then head across the bridge
to Tourian.
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F. TOURIAN
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In the interest of speed, I definitely recommend you freeze the metroids and
run rather than killing them, as this saves a lot of time. So go down to the
bottom of the shaft, freezing the metroids as you go, then bast open the yellow
door and enter. Go right, again keeping the metroids frosty, and open the red
door at the end. Drop down, ignore the rinkas (i.e. take the hits) and freeze
the metroids, and once again open the red door.
In this next room, what I recommend is this: kill the metroids you run into
until your energy and especially your missiles are topped off, then freeze the
rest and move on.
Now to finish it up. Once through the blue door, immediately open fire with
your missiles, and don't turn them off again until Mother Brain is toast.
Having the Screw Attack here will help keep the rinkas at bay. Remember, it's
going to take at the very least 70 missiles to get through it all, and very
likely more than 100 due to missed or wasted shots. Anyhow, go through the room
like I told you before, then head up the long shaft to escape once the time
bomb is set.
Congratulations, you got through the game very quickly. Pat yourself on the
back and go grab a beer.
--------------------------------------------------------
VIII. REVISION HISTORY, CREDITS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
A. REVISION HISTORY
-------------------
1.0 - This version, the intitial release. And a damn good one, if I do say so
myself.
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B. CREDITS
----------
1. Me, for gracing the world with this masterful work (you're welcome).
2. Nintendo Power, for printing maps of Norfair and Brinstar many years ago
when I was too young to find my way around on my own.
3. Nintendo, for making the game in the first place.
4. GameFaqs, for making this guide available.
5. God, for obvious reasons.
6. All those Metroid players out there who keep this great game alive!
----------------------
C. CONTACT INFORMATION
----------------------
Any feedback to give me? Tips, corrections, comments, suggestions, praise,
flames? Want to tell me what game I should write about next? Send them to me
at:
IM_Martacus@msn.com
Be sure to put "RE: Metroid Walkthrough" in the subject header, or I'll just
toss it out like so much spam.
In closing, let me just say that I hope this guide has been helpful to you. I
really enjoy this game, and I wrote this to show my support and because I know
others like it. See you next mission...
