Super Metroid

Super Metroid is the third installment and only 16-bit game in the Metroid series of video games. It was developed by Nintendo's R&D1 team, and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. With its 24-megabit cartridge size, it was the largest game available for the console at the time.

Super Metroid is a 2D platform game with action and adventure elements. Game progression revolves around sequentially gathering power-ups that allow Samus to overcome obstacles in order to access new parts of the world. The world has a non-linear layout and features plentiful hidden areas, making exploration a central concept.

Gameplay

Special abilities

The first two abilities do not require any special items to perform.

Wall Jump : A technique that allows Samus to jump off vertical surfaces by hitting a wall or edge at the correct angle and pressing the jump button at the right moment. The technique is mastered by a group of friendly aliens who demonstrate it to the player, although it should be noted that Samus carries this ability from the start. The wall jump was very useful in certain sections of Maridia.
Moon Walk : If activated from the main options menu before beginning play, Samus can fire her arm cannon while walking backwards.
Crystal Flash : This ability replenishes Samus's energy by reconstructing her Power Suit within an orb of light. It requires that her energy be less than 50, including reserve tanks. In addition, she must carry a minimum of 10 missiles, 10 super missiles and 11 power bombs, which will be expended during the regeneration process.
Charge Bomb : This ability uses a power bomb in conjunction with the charge beam to unleash a devastating area attack. Select the Charge beam and exactly one other beam, (Ice, Wave, Spazer, or Plasma), then select power bombs and hold the fire button to charge the beam. Despite not even destroying corresponding blocks, the attack will be performed automatically, and will use one power bomb.
Charge Attack : Samus can imitate the effects of the Screw Attack by spin jumping after powering up the charge beam. This will do heavy damage to the first enemy she touches during her jump, but it is not as powerful as the Screw Attack and does not affect some enemies. If the enemy is not destroyed, Samus may also take damage. The charge beam must be reactivated after each time this technique is used.
Bomb Spread : If Samus morphs while her Charge Beam is fully charged, she will drop five Bombs at once, which spread out and bounce off walls and floors.
Bomb Jump : By carefully timing her placement of bombs, Samus can propel herself upwards indefinitely. This way, Samus can reach places normally only accessible with the hi-jump or space jump. With some focus, it is possible to Bomb Jump horizontally.

Items

All of the items available in the previous two games except for the Spider Ball exist in Super Metroid along with many new ones. For weapons, see the weapon-section below.

Morphing Ball : This item gives Samus the ability to morph into a ball, allowing access to narrow tunnels.
Spring Ball : (Optional) Gives Samus the ability to jump while she's morphed into a ball.
High Jump Boots : Doubles the height of Samus's jump.
Speed Booster : Grants Samus the ability to run incredibly fast and break through dash blocks. Also enables the techniques known as the Super Jump and Shoulder Dash, wherein Samus stores the energy of the Speed Booster to perform a powerful, long-distance charge. The Super Jump is now known as the Shinespark. The Shinespark is done by activating the Speed Booster, then jump into the air at a standstill, selecting whichever direction you want Samus to Shoulder Dash to. This name was verified as official in Metroid Fusion after the player completes a difficult "obstacle course" using this technique.
Space Jump : Allows Samus to repeatedly jump in midair.
Grapple Beam : Used with grapple blocks, this electromagnetic beam allows Samus to swing over chasms she could not jump over. It can also be used as a low-power weapon, or to grab faraway items.
X-Ray Visor : When used, Samus can see hidden passages and what type of destructible blocks are in the field of vision.

Weapons

The use of weapons in Super Metroid is twofold: to defeat enemies and to overcome obstacles found in the environment.

Power beam : Samus's starting weapon, which is relatively weak and therefore useless against some enemies and most bosses. There are five upgrades, however, which increase the abilities of the power beam somehow. Ammunition is unlimited for the power beam as well as for all the other beam weapons.
Charge beam : An upgrade to the power beam that lets the player fire much more powerful shots.
Ice beam : The Ice beam is capable of freezing enemies, effectively making them harmless and additionally making them as a sort of "stepping stone".
Wave beam : Enables shots to pass through walls and other solid objects.
Spazer beam : (Optional) Makes shots larger and more powerful.
Plasma beam : Greatly enhances beam power. Allows beams to pass through multiple enemies. Cannot be combined with Spazer.
Hyper beam : The strongest beam available, able to destroy normally unpassable obstacles. Replaces all other equipped beams.
Missiles : Missiles are used to open locked doors and to defeat enemies that are invulnerable to regular beams. Samus is not equipped with any missiles from the start so she has to collect them on her way.
Super missiles : Super missiles are similar to missiles, but carry three times the power against enemies, five times against pink doors and Metroids, fly much faster, and can dislodge enemies hanging on the walls. They are capable of opening doors that missiles can't, and, in addition, there are many enemies that cannot be destroyed with any other weapon in Samus's arsenal.
Bombs : Primarily needed for destroying objects that block Samus's path. Bombs can be used to defeat enemies, but are usually not very effective for that purpose.
Power bombs : A single detonation of a power bomb destroys all regular enemies and bomb-destructible obstacles on the screen. There are some blocks and doors that can only be cleared with Power Bombs.
Screw attack : A jumping technique that transforms Samus's jump into a whirling sawblade of energy. Virtually any enemy she contacts while in this state will be instantly destroyed.

Areas

Ceres Space Colony: Ceres Space Colony is where the game begins and is the scene of the discovery that the Metroids could be used for the good of mankind.

Crateria: The surface area of planet Zebes. The surface of the planet is plagued by acid rain, thus the living creatures are mostly found below surface level.

Brinstar: The jungle area of Zebes, teeming with life. The area of Brinstar explored in this game is mostly different from that of the original mission. It appears that parts of old Brinstar have been absorbed into Maridia. Kraid's hideout is located in this area. Also the songs for the jungle area and second area were remixed in Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. "Red Brinstar" is used for the caverns of Torvus bog, while the Jungle area is used in multiplayer mode.(song is titled "Hunters" in MP2)

Norfair

It lies deep below the surface and thus requires that its visitors carry sufficient protection from the incredible heat. Ancient Chozo ruins can be found in the deepest parts of lower Norfair, where the space-dragon Ridley rules supreme. Also, in the Lower Norfair lair: the "music" was remixed in Metroid Prime's Magmoor Caverns.

The Wrecked Ship: A long time ago, astronauts belonging to an ancient civilization crashed on Zebes. This is what remains of their space ship. The ghost Phantoon has shut down the Wrecked Ship, making most of it unaccessible at first. Due to the location of the Space Pirate Mother Ship in Zero Mission, fans have speculated that it is intended to be the Wrecked Ship depicted in Super Metroid. However, Zero Mission director Yoshio Sakamoto has dismissed this possibility, saying that the two ships are separateQuestion 2 of the "Metroid FAQ", Metroid Zero Mission Official Site, accessed September 14, 2005..

Maridia: The water world of Zebes. Most of Maridia occupies territory that was once part of Brinstar. The area contains an aquatic Pirate laboratory where they have bred a mostly unsuccessful Metroid clone called the Mochtroid. The giant crustacean creature Draygon is the guardian of this area. Some creative players discovered that large shorcuts could be taken using the wall jump.

Tourian: The control center of the Zebesian Space Pirates and the Mother Brain. The location has shifted to a more secure area since the first Metroid game, when Samus wreaked havoc on the Space Pirates' plans.

Enemies

Bosses

The bosses are listed in the order in which Samus encounters each one of them.

Kraid: Kraid, who was part of the miniboss duo (the other one being Ridley) of the original NES game, makes its comeback, but is considerably larger, taking up the space of two vertical screens. Although many players speculated that Kraid somehow grew since the first game, Zero Mission has since retconned Kraid to have a consistent size between games. Outside Kraid's chamber, a seemingly fresh carcass is found, which some claim to be the body of Adam Malkovich referred to by Samus in Metroid Fusion, or Armstrong Houston from the Super Metroid comics. The only way to defeat him is to hit him in the eye then launch missles into his throat.

Phantoon: Phantoon is a ghostly flying skull who taps into Mother Brain's brainwaves and feeds off the Wrecked Ship's energy supply. He can only be defeated by hitting him with Missles/Charged Shots whilst he's solid.

Draygon: Draygon is an enormous sea creature that resides in Maridia. Her hard armour-like shell provides her with a great amount of defensive strength. There is a trick to defeating her that involves the grappling beam. The trick is peformed by destroying the 3 turrets then allowing Draygon to grab you before using the Grappling Beam onto an electric node the turrets left behind. It will kill Draygon in seconds.

Ridley: Ridley, the dragon whom Samus fought in the original NES game, makes his comeback as one of the hardest bosses in the game. He is responsible for the bloodbath at Ceres Space Station and the kidnapping of the Metroid larva. Using the same attack patterns as in other games, Ridley hits you with fireballs, tail bounces, swoops and will pick you up.

Mother Brain: The final boss, this entity is a disembodied brain in a tank protected by deadly Rinka laser rings, automated defense cannons, and self-regenerating organic life support conduits known as Zeebetites. Once damaged sufficiently, the Mother Brain attaches itself to a powerful cybernetic body, which allows it to attack intruders directly. After Mother Brain performs the "Mind Laser" the Super Metroid will drain her energy and give it to you. After the Super Metroid is destroyed you will gain the Hyper Beam. There's a glitch that enables the Metroid to come early and you can bring Mother Brain down to 1HP whilst the Metroid is attached if peformed correctly.

Mini-bosses

Torizo: The Torizo appears to be a simple Chozo statue which possesses the Bomb item, until Samus takes the item from it. A Chozo-like creature then bursts out of the statue and attacks using its claws, energy waves, and fake item spheres.

Spore Spawn: The Spore Spawn is a native inhabitant of the subterranean jungles of Brinstar. It consists of an entire room of plant biomatter connected to a large, head-like pod. The pod can swing throughout most of the room, limiting Samus's range of movement severely. Spores also drop from the ceiling during the entire battle. These cause damage, but they can be destroyed for energy or missile refills. The main pod opens occasionally to reveal a vulnerable core which must be struck with charge beam shots or missiles. After its defeat, Samus picks up her first pack of super missiles.

Crocomire: This denizen of Norfair is a red, thick-skinned beast with eight eyes which can tolerate even the hottest temperatures. It is massive, and its primary mode of attack consists of rushing toward Samus in an attempt to push her back into a spiked wall. It can also strike her with its long arms and spit energy orbs from its mouth. Like Kraid, its mouth is its weak point. Shooting it here will drive it back toward an acidic lava pit, which proves deadly to the beast when it falls in. Just prior to its death, it jumps at Samus for one final attack as a skeleton, but the attempt is in vain as it simply collapses into a pile of bones.

Botwoon: Botwoon is a serpent-like creature with a crocodile's head. Its main attack simply consists of rushing between the various burrows in its chamber in wide arcs. It will occasionally reveal only its head from one of the burrows and will shoot energy beams at Samus. Target its head to destroy it.

Golden Torizo: Another incarnation of the Torizo, fought in lower Norfair. This opponent is very powerful, possessing all the attacks of the normal Torizo along with some new ones. It is immune to normal Missiles, and can catch Super Missiles fired at it, throwing them back at Samus and causing significant damage. It holds no item, but defeating it earns Samus the Screw Attack.

Friends

Not all inhabitants of Zebes are hostile towards Samus; many do not actively attack her and some are harmless altogether. In Brinstar, Samus may also encounter the following helpful creatures:

Etecoons: A wall-jumping trio of small, four-limbed creatures that demonstrate the difficult wall-jumping technique with considerable ease. They are encountered in an area that can only be exited through the use of wall-jumping, bomb-jumping, or space jumping. These creatures are green in Super Metroid, but appear blue in Metroid Fusion and other artwork.

Dachora: A green alien that resembles an ostrich. The Dachora demonstrates the Shinespark technique, which is required to escape from the area in which it is found.

After defeating Mother Brain and starting the self-destruction of Zebes, the player may choose to save these friendly creatures. A flashing metal door appears in Crateria, the one that originally led the player to acquire the bomb ability. In this chamber the creatures appear to be trapped. Samus can destroy the opposite facing wall so that the aliens may escape. This causes a slight change in the ending cutscene, in which a flash of light can be seen escaping from the planet. This ending is presumably canon, as the creatures show up alive and well in Metroid Fusion.

Story

After managing to extinguish the Metroids on SR-388 (the planet from which the species originated) in Return of Samus, bounty hunter Samus Aran brings the last surviving Metroid larva to the Ceres Space Colony. There, scientists conduct research on the larva and reach the conclusion that the powers of Metroids could be harnessed for the benefit of mankind. Confident that things are in order, Samus leaves Ceres in search of a new bounty to hunt. However, shortly after leaving, Samus picks up a distress call from Ceres and returns to investigate.

As Samus explores the space colony, she is attacked by the dragon-like Ridley, one of the Space Pirate leaders. Samus and Ridley engage in battle, but Ridley soon flies off with the larva in his talons. At the same time, a countdown sets off for the self-destruction of the space colony and the player has 60 seconds to return to Samus's gunship. After reaching the exit, the first playable sequence ends and a cut scene shows Samus trailing Ridley to the planet Zebes, the home of the Space Pirates that was destroyed in the first Metroid game but has now been rebuilt. She sets out to locate the Metroid larva and prevent the Pirates from gaining use of its powers.

Samus follows Ridley to Zebes. As in the previous games, Samus is forced to delve into the planet through its complex cavities in order to hunt down the Space Pirates. As Samus first enters the tunnel system of Crateria, the area is completely desolate with no sign of Space Pirate activity. She makes her way to the ruins of Tourian, the Pirates' headquarters and lair of Mother Brain, which she destroyed on her last visit. As she moves into Brinstar, she triggers the alarm, and the Space Pirates awaken.

After crawling her way through Crateria (and finding new upgrades along the way), Samus encounters the next incarnation of the Tourian base, which is guarded by a conglomeration of four statues. In order to unlock the gate into Tourian, Samus must defeat the four Space Pirate leaders that these statues represent.

Samus finds another route into Brinstar and slowly makes her way through the underground jungle until she reaches the entrance to Norfair. When she realizes that the path to the first leader, Kraid, is blocked by a high cliff, Samus searches for High Jump boots in Norfair. After obtaining them, Samus defeats Kraid and moves on to Norfair, but she soon realizes that the path to Ridley's Lair is blocked by a lava-filled chasm. Thus, she travels to the Wrecked Ship located in the eastern edge of Crateria to defeat the second leader, Phantoon, and obtain the lava-resistant Gravity Suit. In addition, this suit allowed her to move through the water as if she were on land. Samus also needs the Space Jump boots in order to traverse the chasm. She discovers these in the subterranean caverns of Maridia, and after vanquishing its guardian and the third leader, Draygon, she is now fully equipped to take on Ridley and his underground fortress in the center of Zebes.

Once there, Samus fights hoards of monsters, including elite Space Pirates skilled in hand-to-hand combat, fire-breathing demons, and another showdown with the mysterious species of belligerent Chozo, the Torizo. She finally encounters and vanquishes Ridley, bringing an end to the fourth and final leader. Samus finds the container from the Space Colony shattered and empty as well as a hidden energy tank. With no trace of the hatchling in sight, Samus returns to the rebuilt Tourian, now unlocked from defeating the four leaders.

Samus battles her way through New Tourian, encountering the newly bred Metroids and the traditional Pirates. As she explores deeper, she ancounters a Metroid of incredible size, which is sucking the life energy of the Pirates themselves. Before Samus can even move to escape, the giant creature drains her of her life until the Metroid realizes who she is. It appears that this huge Metroid is the larva from SR388, and it has recognized Samus just in time. According to the Nintendo Power Player's Guide, the huge Metroid is aptly named "Super Metroid".

After the metroid leaves, Samus comes upon the chamber of the mother brain. After destroying the brain's casing, it rises out of the floor and reveals its true form. After Samus battles with it for some time, the Mother Brain uses a powerful attack that knocks Samus to the floor. Before Mother Brain uses this attack again, the Metroid hatchling flies into the chamber, grasps onto the brain, and begins to drain its energy. After this is done, the Metroid grips onto Samus, and begins to replenish her energy tanks. However, while this is occurring, Mother Brain (who wasn't really dead) stands up and begins to attack the Metroid. Watching this, helpless on her knees, Samus watches in horror. With one last shriek, the Metroid is destroyed, and Mother Brain victoriously begins to step forward toward Samus. All at once, however, Samus begins to pulsate with a green and blue light, and she finds that she can now stand. Her beam weapons have been replaced with a new weapon- the Hyper Beam. With this massively powerful beam, Samus obliterates Mother Brain, and she crumbles into dust.

In a manner similar to the original Metroid (and many subsequent games), Mother Brain's destruction activates a time bomb, leaving the player with 3 minutes to escape the planet. Samus leaves Tourian and escapes through the emergency evacuation shaft from the original base. Just seconds before the blast, players may encounter a group of the animals that assisted them throughout the adventure. Shooting the wall to their right provides them with an escape.

Unlike the original Metroid and Zero mission, Zebes is completely destroyed by the explosion. Despite this, both Samus and the animals if they are rescued escape in time.

Development

Reception

Super Metroid remains one of the most popular and critically praised games for the Super NES. It has sold 1.4 million units(780.000 in Japan and 460.000 in North America), becoming a Player's Choice. It frequently appears in "best games of all time" lists; Electronic Gaming Monthly has named Super Metroid the best game of all time ^*, and IGN ranked it the third best game of all time in its 2003 "top 100" list, and tenth best game of all time in its most recent 2005 list, with the motivation:

"Hailed as one of the best 2D adventures ever, Nintendo's sci-fi epic still provides one of the most thought out and intriguing gameplay experiences around. Ranging from extensive platform challenges to gigantic boss battles to a comprehensive power-up system, Super Metroid has attained a divine place in the hearts of longtime gamers. Certainly, it stands as something players and developers can idolize for years to come." ^* Swedish game publication Super PLAY ranked Super Metroid number 6 in the "top 100" list its March 2003 issue, commenting on its atmosphere (the following is a translation from Swedish):

The graphics and sound form a wonderful symbiosis, creating an almost tangible atmosphere. Concerning the looks, there is no individual part that sticks out; the game maintains an even, stable, and thoroughly crafted graphical style. The music mostly consists of reserved, dark and mystical melodies that lurk in the background. After a while they consume you, fully immersing you in the Samus role. And the role is indeed an exciting one to play. The pure joy of exploration is on top and makes you thirst for more constantly.

In a Metroid feature in its December 2002 issue, Super PLAY also noted the game's care to detail. Super Metroid remains one of the most well made adventures ever produced. Every detail, from the echoing ice shafts to the statue that shifts color to illustrate which of the game's four bosses have been defeated, is indicative of an almost manic dedication among the developers at R&D1.

In the July 2006 issue of GamePro, Super Metroid was listed as one of the "15 Retro Games For The Nintendo Wii You Must Play".

Pushing the limits

In recent times, players have pushed the game to its limits. Sequence breaking is so popular that it has become a staple of the Metroid saga, but the large map and non-linear nature of Super Metroid started the trend. By using advanced techniques such as wall jumping, bomb jumping, and shinesparking, players can reach certain parts of the map before having the items normally required to do so. This concept is referred to as sequence breaking because it defies the developers' intended path of natural progression through the game. For example, many players skip the Grappling Beam because areas that normally require it can be passed with skillful trick jumping, and after the Space Jump is acquired the Grappling Beam becomes all but obsolete.

Sequence breaking has also allowed players to reach the end with extremely fast times. Players have been able to finish 100% of the game in under one hour, or in less than 40 minutes without 100%. Other players attempt to complete the game with as little or as much as possible within certain boundaries. Some players have been able to complete the game with only 14%, and others are able to obtain up to 81% of items without fighting any boss or mini-boss beyond the Torizo fight for bombs. Additionally, a glitch called the Space-Time Beam has been found that resets most of the game to its initial state, allowing players to play through the game again with all of their current weapons except missiles.

Speed Demos Archive contains videos of world record speedruns for Super Metroid in three categories. The fastest completion time with 100% items is 55 minutes, set by "Red Scarlet." The fastest completion time without collecting all items ("any%") is 36 minutes by "Smokey", recorded in four segments. Smokey also holds the record for a single-segment run, with 38 minutes.The best any% time recognized by Twin Galaxies, whose rules disallow exploitation of many undocumented features in the game's physics, is 42 minutes, set by Brian Hodge. [http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=32&gi=516&vi=545 The tool-assisted records are 39 minutes for a 100% completion, and 27 minutes for any%.

References

External links

1994 computer and video games | Metroid games | Super NES games

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