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| A FAQ/Walkthrough for METROID PRIME (GameCube) |
| Version 1.1 updated as of 12/03/02 |
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| Written by marshmallow |
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* Check the last section to see what has been added! *
Hello everyone, it is marsh again. I haven't fallen off the planet yet, I have
simply tired of writing walkthroughs and found other things to do. Yet when I
play through Metroid Prime I just get an urge to write and help people with
it. Especially as I scan the GameFAQs message boards and see the same
questions asked over and over again and, currently, few guides available.
I don't plan to make this a super intensive walkthrough by any means. In fact,
I wasn't even going to make a FAQ because I thought there'd be dozens by the
time I even finished the game. I was actually going to work on speed files to
see how low you could push the game's designs, but this seems like a good
opportunity to help people. Maybe as the boards die down we can all work on
getting fast strategies. This all feels like Super Metroid again...
Q: What are the areas of the game and what are they like?
A:
Tallon IV Overworld - Surface of the planet, think Crateria
Chozo Ruins - Ruins of ancient Chozo cities
Magmoor Caverns - Bowels of the planet, think Norfair II
Phendrana Drifts - Icy world of death; Space Pirate facilities
Phazon Mines - Space Pirate hideout; little shop of horrors
Impact Crater - Site of the Phazon leak; small but last area of the game (AND
HARD!!)
Q: What time does Metroid Prime take place?
A: Metroid Prime takes place shortly after Metroid 1 (NES) but before Metroid
II: Return of Samus (Gameboy). We know this because Zebes still exists and the
pirates are "rebuilding after a great loss."
Q: Are there actual Metroids in the game?
A: You meet your first Metroid about 1/3 of the way through. From there on
they get nastier and more common. They make their big appearance at the very
end though...
Q: How is this game similar to other Metroid titles?
A: The basic concept is the same: find items to earn new abilities to find new
areas, more items, and kick Space Pirate/Metroid ass. Also, most of the
enemies will be VERY familiar to Super Metroid fans. Think, literally, Super
Metroid in 3D.
Q: How is the game different?
A: The most obvious are the vast hardware, graphics, and sound gaps. The
entire scope of the game is also enormous. Gameplay wise there are more
firefights and some situations seem to have been integrated from a Zelda or
other action-RPG type game (items disappearing until you get a boss, walls
moving, and some of the puzzles).
Q: What items are there?
A: Same as always. In fact, just about every item from every Metroid game
makes an appearance (save for the screw attack). Missiles, super missiles,
power bombs, morph ball, spider ball grapple, space jump, all the beams, etc.
There are also some new surprises waiting in store.
Q: What kind of doors/barriers are there?
A:
Blue = any beam, any bomb
Red = missile
Purple = wave beam
White = ice beam
Dark red = plasma beam
Sandstone = regular bomb
Radeon = missile
Cordite = super missile
Bendzeium = power bomb
Missiles, super missiles, bombs, and power bombs all destroy other types of
barriers, ranging from different types of rocks to grating.
Q: Why first person?
A: Third person would not work for this game in its entirety. In fact, it'd be
terrible. First person in this game works much better than any critics thought
it'd ever do. The immersion, style, etc. is unprecedented.
Q: Is the game ever third person?
A: When using the morph ball; and cinemas of course.
Q: What's up with the strafing?
A: The controls are difficult to get used to at first. However, after getting
used to them they are a dream and you realize how much thought has been put
into them. After awhile you will be jumping around looking in all directions
and shooting the pirates to dust.
Q: How do I evade better?
A: Tap B while locked on to perform a sideways dash.
A: Ahhh, I hate the helmet! It blocks so much. Anyway to change it?
A: Yeah, I hate the helmet too. So go to the options menu (pause, L) and turn
down the opacities on the helmet. The visor should be at 100% so you can see
the stats but the helmet is the main culprit of the blockage.
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MY SET UP STYLE:
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Like all Metroid titles, Metroid Prime is fairly open ended. The purpose of
this FAQ is to SET YOU STRAIGHT! From the beginning to the end I will tell you
where you're supposed to be going and your goals to complete. I could take
your hand and you lead you through as a child to bed but I feel that for this
game that would be too over the top, especially considering the VAST majority
of people reading this document will either be: 1) reading for fun or 2)
looking for tips because they don't want to ruin the game.
Basically, if you don't know what to do after you get an item, collect what I
tell you. It's all in order. A -> B -> C etc. all the way to Z.
I will not tell you all the missile/energy tank places. Find these in their
appropriate section (or more likely another guide). Throughout the walkthrough
I will point out some easy missile locations just to keep your thirst low. I
believe more in E-Tanks, so I'll definitely point the majority of those
(especially early on).
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a. SPACE PIRATE STATION (Low Orbit over Tallon IV):
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Bring back any memories yet?
Q: What sort of level is this?
----------------------------------
A: Mainly a tutorial for the newbies. For experienced players, a short romp to
get to the meat of the game.
Q: How do I get past the force shields?
------------------------------------------
A: Shoot the glowing red buttons using the R button to aim. For the second
set, scan (L) the red button to activate the main switches. Shoot the switches
and it'll open.
Q: Do I have to scan all of this stuff?
--------------------------------------------
A: No. But the first time through it sure does make the experience that much
more satisfying.
Q: What do I HAVE to scan?
------------------------------
A: Mainly elevator switches. You'll recognize them by the floating blue icons.
Scan them and the lift becomes active. Go through the glowing, orange elevator
icon that appears to use it.
Q: Where did those little enemies run off to?
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A: Stand in front of the hole, tap X to become a ball, and chase them. All
that is at the end is a map station though.
Q: How do I destroy the Parasite Queen?
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A: By reading the boss section.
Q: How do I escape the ship?
-------------------------------
A: Run. It's all very linear. Shoot missiles at the automated machine guns and
run past the space pirates.
Q: Is that who I think it is at the end?
---------------------------------------------
A: Oh yeah, the Big Ridely has returned. This time he has cybernetic
attachments and extra bits and pieces.
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b. COLLECTING THE MISSILES:
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Q: Woah, woah, woah...where did all my items go?
---------------------------------------------------
A: Remember the little "accident" in the elevator? They were all fried on the
escape from the station. We'll be recollecting them for the rest of the game.
Step 1: missiles.
Q: Where do I get the missiles?
-----------------------------------
A: From the starting point of Samus's ship on the Tallon Overworld...
Jump down and climb the rock platforms to the first blue door. Continue along
the path, killing and examining the enemies if you want. Go along the coast of
the small waterfall/lake, through the blue door, and straight ahead lies the
CHOZO RUINS main elevator.
Open the blue door to enter the Chozo Ruins. Go through the next door behind
the beetles. This is the main plaza of the Ruins, all other areas branch off
here (and eventually form a huge circle that ends at an elevator to Magmoor).
Run ahead, killing the mass of beetles that ambush you if you want and run to
the half pipe structure. Jump up the steep edge cut into the cliff. Turn left
and blast through the blue door, entering a long, winding corridor. A large
pack of Scarabs live here: tap L and fire continuously until they're all dead.
With only an energy tank, running through isn't a smart idea.
The next hallway contains Eyons, which shoot laser beams from a fixed point.
Shoot them and they stop for a short period...or you could simply time your
jumps and get through, whichever you prefer.
This room is called the ruined nursery and the game will notify you of a save
point. Jump up the stairs and get to the side platform for easy access. After
saving, go through the other blue door on the second level. After a twisty
corridor with a swarm of weak fly like enemies you'll be in a large room
filled with acid and some wasp enemies. The only other doors are a red missile
door and a blue one across the way.
Eventually you'll reach a large room filled with acid and a central platform
(on map: "Hive Totem."). Jump to the platform and a large robot will make an
appearance (see BOSS section). After its defeat the path to the missile is
laid bare. Ahhh...classic Metroid collection theme. Gotta love it.
Missiles, of course, can open all red doors and also kick the stuffing out of
the alien scum.
Behind the red door nearby is an energy tank also.
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c. ACCESSING THE CHOZO RUINS MAP:
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Q: Where do I get the Chozo Ruins Map?
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A: After collecting the first missiles, turn around and backtrack to the room
with the wasps and acid. Fall to the lower path and scan the wall: in the acid
is a weak radeon wall. Use a missile on to get another missile pack. Now blow
open the red door using the newfound technology and the map station will be
located in a dead end room.
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d. COLLECTING THE MORPH BALL:
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Q: How do I get the morph ball?
----------------------------------
A: After getting the missiles or the map beacon (map = optional but useful),
backtrack all the way to the main plaza (large outside area). Jump down the
steps, evade the mass of beetles that pop up, and shoot open the red door.
Enter the long hallway, being wary of the huge swarm of scarabs (L shoot, L
shoot in rapid succession, then collect the goodies). The next door leads to
the Ruined Shrine. As you enter the pit several DOZEN beetles will burrow out
of the sand. As long as you focus on one beetle at a time and jump constantly
you shouldn't take much damage. Hopefully they will refill your missiles for
the MINI boss that comes out (check boss section).
After the plated beetle is reduced to cinders the wall slides back to reveal
the glowing MORPHING BALL.
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e. COLLECTING THE BOMBS:
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Q: How do I get the bombs?
-----------------------------
From the room with the morphing ball, use the small pipe to exit and go back
to the main plaza. Go through the half pipe, climb the steps, go straight
ahead and jump on top of the steps to reach a second level. Jump over the gap
in the path, cross the bridge (shoot wasps if necessary) and enter the blue
door at the end. Morph into ball mode to get under the logs that block the
path and you will end up in a large room filled with acid ("Ruined Fountain").
Jump along the outside to the central fountain (which is spewing acid, so step
away). Go to the blue door that requires you to jump on a platform in acid.
The other one leads to a hot area, which we can not enter until much later in
the game.
You are now standing in the "Arboretum", a huge room with a central tree,
platforms, and a LOT of acid. We will be coming back here to kill a boss, but
for now we must tread on. Turn left and dispose of the two reaper vines (jump
where they were guarding very quickly because they regenerate within seconds).
Jump up the spiral platforms, leap to the leaf covered bridge, and go to the
next path, heading downward. Destroy the reaper vines and blow open the red
door using a missile.
After a small transition corridor (that requires the morphing ball) you will
be in the "gathering hall." To the right up the hill is a save point through a
red door, use it if you must.
Step away from the entrance and look up: there is an edge above it. Jump up
there using the nearby platforms. Destroy the poison mushrooms inhabiting the
next platform and then leap. Destroy the skrees and the other mushrooms until
you reach a hole that requires the morph ball. After this you will be returned
to the same room, only higher. Kill the skrees across the way then leap across
the gap. Enter the door.
After a tunnel filled with skrees and then another tunnel filled with eyons
you will be in the "Energy Core," a large complex filled with acid and skrees.
Kill the skrees, then turn left into the corridor. Kill the skrees, hop over
the acid, and you'll be at a dead end with a stone toad (large, stationary
monster) and a tunnel large enough for the morph ball...so slip on in there,
baby.
After a small roller coaster ride you will be in the "Burn Dome" and you get
to fight a new mini boss: the incinerator drone (see BOSS section)! After it
is made into spare parts the BOMB will be yours.
For an extra set of missiles, bomb the weak wall at the end of one of the acid
creeks.
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ee. ENERGY SPIKE DETECTED (OPTIONAL BUT DO IT):
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Q: Energy spike detected? What in the blazes does that mean?
----------------------------------------------------------------
This means it wants you to get this energy tank. You can either get this early
or later -- early is better in this case since you have to do this puzzle
anyway and it's nice for when you face off against the next wave of bosses.
It's also not off the beaten path too much.
After getting the bombs from the incinerator drone, roll up into a ball and
blow up the stone toad blocking the hole. Bomb the device to lower the water.
Drop down and go to the second device and perform the same duty. This raises
some platforms to a third machine. The third and final machine raises more
platforms...open the door and morph through the hole. The tank is at the end.
Remember this later, after you get the spiderball. You come back here to get
some other goodies.
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f. COLLECTING THE CHARGE BEAM:
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Q: How do I get the charge beam?
-------------------------------------
Go to the "gathering" hall after collecting the bombs and leap down. Use the
door we haven't used yet (ground level). In the transition tunnel with skrees
you'll hear that little "missile" music playing -- turn to the weak wall on
the left and blow it open for some missiles. You will be in the "watery hall"
after the next door. For now it is filled with reapers, platforms, and acid.
At the end is a huge grate with four icons on it. Find the matching icons in
the room, scan them, and the gate will swing open.
All of these appear as bright red when you use the scan visor...
Icon 1: Jump to the first platform, turn around and scan the wall next to the
entrance door.
Icon 2: On the platforms that are floating in acid is a group of poison
mushrooms. Kill them all, then scan the ground they were on: an icon is in the
small hole.
Icon 3: Below the gate, nearest the acid. If you know where it is you can scan
it from above too.
Icon 4: Next to the gate.
After all four icons are scanned, scan the main gate to open it. The CHARGE
BEAM is open for the taking.
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g. COLLECTING THE VARIA SUIT:
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Q: How do I get the Varia Suit?:
-----------------------------------
From the charge beam, return to the gathering hall and use the save point
again. Backtrack to the arboretum and jump in the acid, slosh over to the
entrance you used to get here originally (blue door, of course). Nearby, in
the acid, is an island that has poison weed on it, shoot them and examine the
icon they were hiding (1).
Now climb up the platforms around the central tree. When you jump on the
wooden bridge covered in leaves, examine the location where the tree and
bridge meet for the second icon (2).
Turn right, jump, and use the morph ball and bombs to clear the path of the
rocks. Turn your attention to the tree: kill the wasps and use a missile to
take down their hive. Now look at the circles in the wall, one of them is the
third icon that can be scanned (3). Shoot the poison weed and use the ball to
get through the next ball path (hurry, the poison weed regrows very fast).
Destroy the second wasp hive, else they could push you all the way to the
bottom (NOT cool). Jump to the gate at the very top of the room (same type as
when getting the charge beam). Turn around and face the opposite direction and
on the tree is the last icon (4). The gate opens, revealing a rock. Bomb it
and go through using the morph ball.
After some hallways filled with dense poison weed and reapers (go crazy with
that beam to clear the path) you will enter the enormous "Sun Chamber." This
is the lair of Flaahgra, the master of the Chozo Ruins (see: BOSS section for
details). After melting this freak the Varia Suit will be yours.
Super heated areas are now fully accessible and you take less damage from your
foes.
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h. COLLECTING THE BOOST BALL:
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How do I get the Boost Ball?:
----------------------------------
First, we must go through Magmoor Caverns and enter the frost bitten world of
Phendrana.
Step a: Magmoor Time
----------------------
After collecting the Varia Suit simply continue ahead. You will enter the
elevator shaft that leads to Magmoor Caverns (aka NORFAIR II with sweet
renditioned Super Metroid Ridely Hideout Music...baby!). Before doing that you
can enter the sidehall, follow it to the end, and get an easy energy tank and
a puzzle oriented missile pack.
Fall down the vertical shaft after the elevator, go through the corridor that
has steam shooting out the walls (well...the only choice, really). Blow open
the red door with a missile for a convenient save point. After jumping across
several platforms with armored foes and flamethrowers you will enter the main
part of Magmoor...
After the small intro, you get to see why it's called Magmoor Caverns: a
Magmoor dragon raises out of the magma to greet you. Two charged bolts later
it will be decapitated and you can move on, jumping from platform to platform.
Suffice to say, taking a dip in the magma is NOT a good idea, even with the
varia suit you will lose an e-tank every couple seconds. Shoot the puffers
(aka Bulls in Super Metroid) but wait until the acid gas dissipates, unless
you want some nasty damage (it also pushes you into the magma usually).
The other side of the room contains a supposed dead end covered in boxes.
Shoot the boxes and bomb the light colored rocks: morph ball tunnel time. This
next cavern is filled to the brim with puffers, just wait until the gas goes
away and then you can jump across easily.
The "Pit Tunnel" has a large grate, the only way to get across for now is to
morph into a ball and go under the small recess beneath the gate. However,
several Triclops will make sure that doesn't go smooth. Bomb them if you must
and continue to the "Triclops Pit." Do the same routine, moving on up the
platforms to the "Monitor Tunnel" where you will face piston-like platforms
surrounded by puffers.
The glorious finale of this run is the "Monitor Station", a simply monstrous
cavern with lots of machinery and auto guns. Target the guns and shoot volleys
of missiles to kill them, otherwise they will really mess you up when you try
to jump on platforms (often sending you to your death in the magma). Make sure
to shoot all the boxes, you'll need some missiles for later. At this point you
can only go one direction: up. It leads to an elevator to Phendrana.
Step b: Getting the Boost Ball
----------------------------------
Shoot out the ice barriers by using your charge beam and you will be lead to
the main area of Phendrana: "Shorelines."
Follow the left wall and you will find a sewer grating: shoot it out with a
missile, roll up into a ball and get in there. Activate the console using your
scan and you will unlock a door you must go through in a second. The game will
also tell you the location of a nearby save station, I'd suggest using it.
After saving, exit and turn to the extreme left and use the snowy ledges to go
up, up, and away, eventually leading to the unlocked door. Shoot out the ice
barrier with a charged beam, roll into a ball roly-poly style and duck the
energy beams of the bombus. At the end are the "ice ruins east," which shall
be your first encounter with Baby Sheegoths...which are rather fearsome, I
must say. Easier to avoid them totally, so concentrate on going up the
platforms that lead out of these icy ruins.
After a short tunnel you will end up right in front of a cliff and if you're
not careful you'll fall down, making you go all the way to square 1 again.
Instead, turn left and go through the next blue door. Ahh...lots of bombus
here. Zig-zag through the carnage of the energy bombs and you'll enter "Ice
Ruins West" which is almost a copy of the east version, except the door you
want is on ground level. Sheegoths will probably hurt you a little but don't
try to stop and kill them since there's no point.
Use the morph ball to get through the next set of bombus, eventually leading
to your goal: Phendrana Canyon. Jump down, run past the Sheegoth, up the hill,
and kill the Crystal enemy (missile). Scan the computer to activate the gas
powered platforms. They all form a nice stair step pattern that leads to...the
BOOST BALL! I love the view after you collect it, seems so angelic.
The Boost Ball enables you to use the half pipe structures to leap to new
heights.
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i. COLLECTING THE SPACE JUMP BOOTS:
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Q: How do I get the Space Jump Boots?
-------------------------------------------
A: From the Boost Ball...
Step a: Getting to Tallon Overworld
-------------------------------------
This involves a trip to the Tallon Overworld. Wait! Don't cry, come
back...there's a shortcut. We don't have to go all the way through Magmoor and
Chozo Ruins. Just a short little trip through Magmoor is all.
Use the boost ball to get out of the boost ball canyon and as they say, going
back down is easier than going up...so backtrack to the Phendrana elevator
entrance, saving of course.
Down in Magmoor you'll be in the ball maze. Since you saved, try to get the
energy tank up there via the bomb jump (for more detail, go to #4 energy tank
in the tank section). Now go ahead to the Monitor Station. Kill the auto guns
and then jump down...way down. Get to land, of course. Remember the blue door
we ignored? There's some boxes nearby...go through this door, you'll end up in
the "Shore Tunnel." Kill the Magmoor and leap from platform to platform. Use a
bomb boost to get inside the morph tunnel which is an easier way to get to the
other side of the room. Evade the flame throwers that are on the ceiling
(don't try to jump through them...you'll get stuck in the magma until they
stop, which is not good on your e-tanks). Roll up in the next room and race
through the metal tracks (you can't fall off). The West Talon lift is here.
Step b: Getting the Space Jump
---------------------------------
Run up the steep path (missiles under the foggy bridge), blow open the door
and you'll be at the bottom of a tall vertical room. Use the logs and
platforms to reach the door at the top. After a short tunnel with lots of
tangle weed and a blood flower you will back in familiar territory: Tallon
canyon, from the very start of the game.
Drop down to the bottom, kill the beetles, and get ready for fun. This could
take some practice...you want to boost up the left side of the halfpipe using
the boost ball. So roll up and tilt the control stick in that direction while
holding B to charge up. When you have a full charge release it AS you go up
the incline...as such...
\ 4 2 /
\ /
\ /
\ 3 1 /
\ ____________________/
1. Boost here
2. Start charging again, you will roll back down
3. Boost again
4. Charge
continue this process until you reach the top. At this point the rest is
clear: cross the bridge, bomb the wall (you'll appear at a much higher point
in the Landing Site), make two jumps, go through the door, and the Space Jumps
sit in a nice little pedestal in a ray of happy sunshine.
The space jump allows you to do a double jump. It doesn't let you fly as in
older games...however, it is still EXTREMELY useful here. We need it anyway.
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j. COLLECTING THE WAVE BEAM:
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Q: Where the heck do I go after getting the Space Jump?
-----------------------------------------------------------
A: In short, we must go back to Phendrana land and get the Wavebeam.
a. Phendrana Time
----------------------
Save at your ship and then jump down to ground level. Explore with the morph
ball for an easy container of missiles. Go through the blue door to Tallon
Canyon. Jump up the platforms by the waterfall, circling around to the door
that leads to the Magmoor elevator (know you're on the right track when you
see the blood flower). Go down...
Basically backtrack to the Monitor Station and climb back up to the Phendrana
elevator. Oh and right before would be a good chance to try to get the e-tank
up there...if not, oh well.
b. Getting the Wave Beam
-----------------------------
We now stand at the entrance to Phendrana. Save if you wish and jump up the
platforms, except instead of going through the blue door turn around and
you'll see a platform floating in midair. Jump on and then use the space jump
to just barely reach the platform beyond that, then you'll be in front of a
grand doorway adorned with pillars and fancy smancy artwork. Must be something
nice through here.
As the door opens shoot a missile at the barrier, roll up, and dodge the
bombu's energy tentacles. You now are in the Chozo Ice Temple, which is
inhabited by a single baby Sheegoth and lots of enemies that require missiles
to kill, although these are only minor annoyances and can be ignored (time
your jumps). This is good practice with the space jump.
At the top is a large Chozo statue with ice in its hands. Scan the nearby
faces and find the Shaman bust...bust the bust with a missile and then use a
bomb jump to get in the bomb machine. Bomb machines are activated by bombs.
Lay a bomb and it will unlock the next door.
Use the morph bombs to destroy the pillars. Fairly straightforward. The path
leads to a huge room, which should tip you off to a boss fight. Especially
since the WAVE BEAM is right there. See the Sheegoth section in the boss
chapter.
The Wave Beam allows you to open purple doors and kill the annoying bombus.
However, the charged wave beam is weaker than the charged power beam. It makes
this up by homing in on its target, however.
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k. COLLECTING THE SUPER MISSILES + THERMAL VISOR + MAP COMPUTER:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What do I do after the Wave Beam?
----------------------------------------
A: This is gonna be a long trip into Pirate held territory.
Go to the Phendrana shorelines and jump up the platforms on the side and go to
ice ruins west -- the room right before where you got the boost ball before.
Turn right as soon as you enter and jump up the platform and use the space
jump to move on up, being careful to not let a crystal knock you off. Target
the icicle hanging off the ceiling and shoot a missile at it -- boom! Now you
can jump on top of that to get to the area with the purple door. You'll need
to jump some more, but it'll be easy once you get over the icicle problem.
After a short tunnel filled with scarabs and a bombu you arrive at the Ruined
Courtyard, a large yet easy puzzle room. I bring to your attention a new
device -- the spinner machine. Morph into the slot and tap B to use the boost
ball. The machine converts your mechanical energy into electricity which is
used to power machines. You can tell your progress by how far down the top
is...when it connects to the bottom you're done and something happens. In this
case it activates the next spinner device across the way. Use this and it
activates the bomb switch above. Use the space jump on the nearby platform to
get up there. Bomb the slot and water will fill the area and raise the
platforms.
Jump from platform to platform, your goal is the hole in the wall on the other
side. Morph down there for an energy tank. When you get back out the water
will be back down...it's possible to jump back to the center but if you fall
you'll need to go to the bomb slot and refill the room with water. Anyway, as
soon as you get to the center you'll have access to three doors: a broken gray
door, a purple door, and a missile door. Go to the missile door for a save
point. Now enter the purple door.
Get used to this scene: space pirates en masse and that lovely yet slightly
odd action music. Pump them with charged wave beams and use missiles on the
auto drones and everyone will be happy. In the Research Entrance room, the
first of its kind, the map computer can be found through a blue door on the
far side. Your next route is through the purple door up top.
Research Lab Hydra is filled to the brim with scanning material; it's rather
obscene, really. Fill up those notebooks boys! You'll also need to scan two
buttons to deactivate a force field and access an elevator, but those are
clearly marked. The next door is in the ceiling, truly Metroid style. Jump on
up and use charged beams + jumping + strafe action to kill the trio of machine
guns that guard the Observatory, a large dome shaped room.
After clearing the room of Pirates the main computer console will be
activated. Scan it to activate two bomb slots. Jump and bomb them, which in
turn activates the four spinner devices on the ground level. Spin all four and
you'll get a pretty lightshow and more platforms. Work your way to the top
(there's only one semi difficult jump that is easily managed with practice)
and you'll be at a red missile door. Blast it open for a save point.
Otherwise, turn around and jump to the central platform to collect the coveted
SUPER MISSILES. No green doors to open I'm afraid, although they destroy lots
of obstacles and are uber powerful.
Continue through the purple door and you'll end up in a large outside area
filled with boxes and pirates. After dispatching the ground based forces about
6 fliers will come in and they're not too nice. After death they tend to
kamikaze themselves right into you, dealing some nice damage. After they're
all slain (charge + missile + charge works well) the next door will be
unlocked. Scan the lift and continue.
A Metroid in a tube? Yeah we know from the Metroid saga that tubes can always
contain those suckers. After scanning it the glass will shatter and it will
lunge at you!...actually it just sort of floats around, chirping as you shoot
it to death with charged power beam blasts. The Metroids around here are very
weak as you don't even have to use missiles to kill them. Don't worry, by the
end of the game you'll be getting raped by Metroids regularly. As for now...
After the Metroid dies a pirate will break the glass, leap into the fray and
slay them all. Down here in a tube is an energy tank (shatter the glass with a
missile) and a missile expansion that you can use by jumping on a platform and
then using the morph ball to carefully go across a thin line (dumb camera
angle pisses me off).
The exit to Lab Aether is a purple door under some boxes. It all leads to our
goal: the Research Core, which houses the Thermal Goggles. However, before
that we must kill the pirates (flying ones too) and then activate three red
switches in the room. This is easily accomplished, since there are three
levels to the room and a switch is on a computer on every level. Ta da, the
force field is down and the THERMAL VISOR IS YOURS!
Now you can see any heat traces that would escape the naked human eye.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
l. COLLECTING THE SPIDER BALL:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: How do I get the spider ball? / What do I do after the Thermal Visor?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Well...first we get to backtrack. We need to go all the way back to the
Ruined Courtyard, before all of this Space Pirate jazz. And since all the
lights get turned off, Metroids burst loose, and cloaked Shadow Pirates come
in, we'll need the Visor (You'll also need to shoot the power conduit next to
the door to get out of the Visor room).
Well, from here on out all the doors are unlocked and there's nothing else to
collect...so just RUN. You fool, run! Although in Lab Hydra, at the top, as
soon as you enter be sure to blow open the cordite tube with a super missile.
Inside is a pack of missiles.
Eventually we'll get back to the peaceful Ruined Courtyard. Relax at the save
point and then go to the "broken door." Use the Thermal Visor to find the
power conduit. It is covered in a cap of rock which the Super Missile (to use
it charge the power beam and then hit Y). Now hit the conduit with the wave
beam. Ta da! Walk right in, blow away some bombus, morph ball through the
crazy tunnel and you'll find yourself in Quarantine Cave, a MONSTROUSLY
insanely overpriced and overflashy room. You know what this means...?
Boss fight baby. Boss section of course...Thardus, in fact. After he crumbles
to dust you receive the sexy sleek SPIDER BALL, which allows you to use the
metallic tracks thrown haphazardly around the planet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
m. COLLECTING THE ICE BEAM:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where do I go after the Spiderball?
---------------------------------------------
A: Yes, after the Spider Ball we must fetch the Ice Beam so we can open those
annoying white doors. The Ice Beam is located in the Chozo Ruins. We are in
Phendrana...so it is approximately one hell of a long way aways.
Fortunately, I know a good route after Thardus is sawdust that can put us in a
good position for some items on the way to the beam. Go to the spiderball
track that requires a bomb boost to get up and follow it to a door. This leads
to an elevator to Magmoor.
Magmoor Route
---------------
Turn around and get in the missile door for a very convenient save point. Now
continue to the Magmoor Workstation, a large room filled with flying pirates.
After they are all gone jump to the bottom and use heat vision to find three
conduits, use the wave beam to power them up. Blow up the triclops under the
grating and solve the puzzle for the energy tank (more detail in energy tank
section).
After that jump up the steps and continue. The rest of this route is VERY
linear at this point in the game. You only need to know two things: (1) shoot
the large rock creatures in the mouth so you can jump on them as platforms and
(2) when you get to the north core tunnel you will start shooting missiles at
stalagmites (look up, use L to target them). When they fall they will kill the
Magmoor dragons and server as a platform in the absence of the grapple beam.
After a lot of platforming action you will end up at a metallic trackway which
will spit you out at the western Tallon Overworld lift - this should be
familiar. Goooooing up!
Tallon Overworld
---------------------
We've been here before when we came back for the space jump. Work your way up
back to your ship to save, then enter the Chozo Ruins.
Chozo Ruins - Missiles and IceBeam Fun
-----------------------------------------
Go straight ahead from the main entrance and use the boost ball on the half
pipe for some missiles. Go up the platforms, across the bridge, through the
door, and use the morph ball to duck under the logs. In the ruined fountain go
to the fixed fountain and it'll boost you to a metallic track that leads to
more missiles. Continue along to the arboretum, skip across and go to the
gathering hall. Go to where the charge beam was (Watery Hall) and bomb the
wall near its pedestal. Inside, blow the gate open with a missile for another
missile pack. Then use the metallic track for another pack. Not bad for one
room.
Back in the Gathering Hall, use the platforms (space jump makes this way
faster than before) to get inside the Energy Core. Remember this place? You
got the bombs here at the start of the game. You also probably found an energy
tank here...if not, we're gonna get it now and open a new path. If the path is
already open skip the next paragraph.
Turn left as if going for the bombs. Roll up into a ball so the stone toad
will swallow you, then kill it by laying bombs inside its stomach. The room
behind it has a bomb device which will lower the water. At the bottom is
another such device which will raise some platforms. The platforms lead to the
third bomb device which will raise two more platforms to the blue door. Inside
the door is a metallic track and a hole. The hole leads to an easy energy
tank, the track leads to the Furnace, which is where we're heading.
Inside the furnace you can ignore the big group of beetles. Go under the hole
beneath the Chozo lore on the wall. Keep on trucking through scarabs and
pretty empty tunnels...eventually leading to a halfpipe. Boost ball up and
examine the hanging: cordite? Super missile it. Boost to the magnetic tracks,
bomb the machine, roll to the next set of tracks and another missile pack
comes under your control. Drop back down and boost to the exit. After several
hallways you'll find the Hall of the Elders and your first encounter with a
CHOZO GHOST. Lock on when it appears...only power beam weapons can hurt it.
One super missile and one charged beam will kill it. After he dies a second
time the room will light up.
From here you can see the huge Chozo statue in the center of the room with its
hands palm up, as if holding something. You knew this was gonna come
eventually, didn't you? Roll up into a ball in his hands and the statue will
come to life and throw you at the ceiling. Hold R as it does this so you latch
onto the tracks there. Bomb the device and three special color coded circles
will appear on the second level - purple, white, red. Purple = wave beam,
white = ice beam, red = plasma. All we have now is the wave beam, so blast
that Tinky Winky wannabe orb to reveal another bomb device. Once activated a
new path will open up...so form up rolly polly style in the Chozo's hands
again to get tossed to a new path.
The reflecting pool...lots of stone toads and a big ass pool (makes sense).
Leap into the pool and drain it by bombing the rusty plug. I find it comical
how the fish also get sucked down after trying to escape. After it's dry use
the boost ball to get to the second level (if a toad swallows you simply bomb
its stomach to death). Up here are two missiles doors and a white door. The
ICE BEAM is behind one of the doors.
The Ice Beam is simply devastating against Pirates. One shot -- doesn't even
have to be charged -- will freeze the pirate. One missile to a frozen pirate =
instant death (and lots and lots of pirate pieces all over the floor...get out
the trash can, Susy). Charged ice bolts kill everything else that is annoying
pretty well also.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
n. COLLECTING THE GRAVITY SUIT:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What do I do after the Ice Beam?
---------------------------------------
A: I tend to shudder because I don't like the next leg of the game. Why did
they put the Gravity Suit ALLLLLL the way back in Phendrana in a STUPID place?
They should have put it in Magmoor and made a killer boss for it (It is a
suit, after all, and Magmoor has no boss darn it. That is just friggin' weird
to have an area without a boss. It's almost blasphemy to the Metroid series.
Plus Magmoor is rather lacking in important upgrades).
After Ice Beam
-------------------
*grumble* *grumble OK, the Gravity suit then. After the Ice Beam you can go
back to the Hall of Elders and use the white switch to get an energy tank. Or
you can save it for later, we'll be back after we get the plasma beam and
going back now opens more ghosts and is a hassle. Anyway, back near the ice
beam (reflecting pool) open the other red door that has a save room. Save and
go through the morph ball tunnel which leads to a Tallon Overworld elevator.
There is another lift too but we can't do anything there yet. You want the
lift by the SAVE STATION ROOM!
Tallon Overworld
------------------
You'll get spit out in some side tunnels. At least you get a free missile
pack. Then you see it -- the wrecked ship! Well, the "Wrecked Frigate"
officially. It's the wreckage of the pirate craft you were on at the very
start of the game. It's under water and we'll be coming back here shortly. In
the meantime, own the pirates with ice + missiles and then jump into the
water, run across the bottom, and go into the door after surfacing. It leads
back to the landing ship. Save and then go to the Tallon Canyon.
Hop up the platforms by the waterfall, blow open the door, go down to Magmoor
and make your way to Phendrana. This is like the third time we've done this so
if you don't know where to go it's not my fault.
Magmoor Route
-----------------
Remember where we went after Thardus? We're going back there, to his elevator
that went to Magmoor. Except the opposite way. To make it easier for you, when
you come down from Tallon go through the door that has magnetic spiderball
rails -- then follow that to the lift up to Phendrana.
Phendrana And Gravity Time
-------------------------------
If you did everything correctly you will be in "Transport to Magmoor Caverns
South." It is the lift after Thardus that taunted you with its white door. Now
we can open that bastard.
Ugh, ugh, play that funky music. It's catchy but it tends to wear thin after 2
minutes of mindless frustration trying to get the damned Gravity Suit (which
by now is highlighted on your map as the "gravity chamber." How coy.)!
You will find yourself at the top of a large vertical chamber called the
"Frozen Pike." Jump all the way down into the water. The purple door under
there is an exit, NOT an entrance. I don't want to even think how long I tried
to find a way in there on my first file. Instead, climb out of the water using
the steps and go through the first door you find on your climb back up (the
only other option, really).
After a short transitional tunnel you should be in "Frost Cave." Freeze the
mature Metroid and kill it with a missile. Look up and scan the icicles -- you
should find two. Lock on and use missiles to bring them down. Is this getting
to be second nature yet? We've surely done it enough down in Magmoor. Anyway,
the nearest door is a save, the one across the ice lake is where we're heading
to. It has an unnecessarily long morph tunnel to show off reflections on ice
(tm Nintendo and Retro Studios, apparently).
We end up in another vertical room named "Phendrana's Edge." How quaint. Some
flying pirates come in but you can ignore them by leaping off the edge into
the water. There is only one other door and it's under the drink -- head on
in. After a tunnel filled with a lot of bombus (love those explosions) you'll
end up in "Hunter Cave." Do the icicle dropping tactic again. The easiest way
to get on the pillars in the water is to look down, hold L, then jump. Or if
you miss, jump on the pillar from the beach. Regardless, the door we are
jumping to leads to...could it be? GRAVITY CHAMBER! We're under water and
really slugish, so use the boost ball to speed up a little.
After two sets of aqua reapers you will see a large alcove in the side of a
rock face. And inside that is a glorious, silver and blue shining, spinning
GRAVITY SUIT OF ORGASMIC FUN! This allows you to move in fluids as if they
weren't there, see better underwater, and you also take way less damage. Feel
free to walk around in magma like a fool, etc.
Exiting the Gravity Area
-----------------------------
An easy way to get out is to use the gravity suit's newfound abilities to get
out of the water and onto dry land. Exit the gravity chamber from the top and
you will be in a higher portion of Hunter Cave, except now there's flying
pirates in them. Ignore them and run across the ledge and through the next
purple door. Kill the drone, go through the next door, and we're in a tunnel
filled with lots of enemies but eventually spills us back into the Frozen
Pike. Now climb all the way to the very top and you will be back to the
Magmoor lift after Thardus.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
o. COLLECTING THE POWER BOMBS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where do I go after the Gravity Suit?
---------------------------------------------
A: We get to open up a brand new area -- Phazon Mines, the source of the
Pirate's powerful new technological upgrades that use that nasty blue stuff.
First we have to go through the wreckage of the pirate ship. What a
coincidence -- it landed right on top of the Phazon elevator.
Reaching Phazon Mines
-------------------------
The sunken derelict is located in the Tallon Overworld, of course, we've been
here before. With the gravity suit we can also nab a missile pack under the
water. To get to the ship's front door you simply jump up the platforms
(underwater) that leads to a seemingly dead end. Roll into a ball, go through
the tunnel (to the right) and it'll lead on up. Blow open the ice door and
we're in.
This entire level is VERY linear. It also has two nice energy tanks. Same set
up as the start of the game, we just need to use the heat visor to find
electrical conduits to shoot with the wave beam so we can power up the failed
systems. You do that about 5000 times. The first energy tank will find you --
it'll be behind a grate that is right in front of you, so it's hard to miss.
Blow it open and grab it. The second one is in the morph ball maze. Go to the
long vertical shaft and do bomb jumps until you get high enough to get it.
Bomb jumps send you higher underwater, so this is arguably easier than the one
you get like this in Magmoor. The only other thing of interest here is a
missile pack at the bottom of Biohazard containment -- use a super missile to
blow up the tube you can scan. Easy snatch.
After lots more thermal scanning + wave beam using you'll be dumped into the
Phazon elevator shaft.
As you step into the main quarry you need to switch to the ice beam and lay
waste to any pirates that get in your way (charged shot kills them, they're
weak). When you find the mega turrets use two charged power beams to kill
each. Near them is a magnetic track for the spiderball which leads to the save
point. YOU NEED THIS SAVE POINT TRUST ME!
Q: Duh huh, why do I need this save point?
---------------------------------------------
A: Well Charlie, you'll go about a mile through advanced pirate hordes and
ultra turrets and a boss. This is the last save point until after the power
bombs. Things get a little rocky, so use this. Or die and lose all your
progress until after the gravity suit...whatever you feel like doing there,
bub.
Continuing to Power Bombs
------------------------------
Jump down to the dead turrets and examine the two consoles to open the force
field. The Space Pirates are tired of you getting in the way of things and
have found a way to reverse engineer several of your weapons and incorporate
them into their own body suits...your first tango is with Wave Pirates. The
only way to kill them is with wave beams, preferably charged (4-5 charged per
pirate will put it down). After the first encounter the door will be in the
ceiling, which leads to a large lab.
In Elite Research you get to see another twisted part of their plan: injecting
Phazon into their own kind to make "Elite" pirates. Loads of data here to scan
for story. Don't worry about the thing in the tube, it won't come out to
dance. Activate the computer to get to the next level and meet your first
Power Pirate (use the power beam to kill it -- one super missile also works,
since it uses the beam to fire). Activate the console up here and you'll find
a large, industrial sized plasma beam. Get into the spinner device and spin
until it is pointing straight ahead of you. Activate the computer to fire and
the doorway will be laid bare. Another missile pack can be found here also by
blowing away the wall to the left of its starting position.
Fall down the vertical shaft and enter Ore Processing, which is an interesting
puzzle room. More akin to Zelda than Metroid, really. Slay the Power Pirates
and go to the machine. The hologram shows the tracks in the central pillar.
When you bomb the machine the bottom part of the pillar turns, shifting the
magnetic tracks. Keep an eye on the upper left hand corner of the screen and
stop when you see the BLUE track stop there.
Use the blue track to reach the second story and find the center bomb device.
Again, keep an eye on the upper left hand and stop when the RED lines up over
there. Now drop to the bottom and start bombing until the RED track is lined
up (you won't be able to see it, you'll need to use the hologram). Now with
the red lined up you can use the spiderball to roll right up to the third
story. You need power bombs to use the third computer so go through the ice
door instead. Fall down the vertical shaft and enter the elevator that goes
down to Lvl. 2 of the Phazon mines.
Lvl 2. Phazon Mines
-----------------------
In Elite Control Access look at the ceiling (but not straight up) and you will
see a vent. Not the pipes -- a vent -- spewing green gas is right next to an
explosive box. Shoot the box and the vent will be destroyed, revealing an easy
missile pack.
Here in Elite Control you meet your first Elite Pirate, which is really a
pushover. Get out the power beam, charge up a super missile and let it fly.
Three supers will kill it. Then Ice Pirates descend upon you but they are, of
course, vulnerable to the ice beam (charged ice + missile works here for an
instant kill). After possibly scanning roughly thirty two thousand different
lores and data banks you can move on (up the ramp, NOT through the ice door on
the bottom).
The Ventilation shaft is interesting, but you'll see why later when we come
back. Quickly run through to avoid the poison and puffers that fill the room.
Omega Research is more pirate shooting to death, etc. Although it is a waste
to shoot them, since they will be replaced by something tastier when we come
back and there is no lock on the exit. Speaking of which, the exit is in the
floor in a corner.
The Central Dynamo is where've been heading this entire time. It is guarded by
a cloaked autogun of some sort. I don't even think you can scan it, but no
matter. It does relatively little damage, although you may be low on tanks. To
kill it simply hold R and when you see it stop to shoot you shoot a charged
bolt of some sort at it. After a couple shots it dies. For an even easier time
use a well aimed super missile. You may miss with the delay but it will die if
one super connects with it.
After it's dead a hole will be blown in the floor. Go in and navigate through
the electrical maze. When you get in the mass of water use a bomb to clear the
area. Generally, go where the arcing off/on yellow electricity is located. At
the end are the POWER BOMBS! W00t! Now you can blow that annoying BENDEZIUM TO
HELL! DIE BENDEZIUM, DIE!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
p. I NEED A SAVE POINT HERE BOB:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: I need a save point after the power bombs, halp!
------------------------------------------------------
A: After collecting the power bombs there are two white doors on the ground
level. One is a save point. "Thanks, Bob."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
q. COLLECTING THE GRAPPLE BEAM AND MAP:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where do I go after getting the Power Bombs?
---------------------------------------------------
A:
We're gonna backtrack to the Ore Processing puzzle to get the grapple beam.
We'll also pick up an energy tank on the way.
To get back to the entrance to the Central Dynamo look up: you'll see
platforms that seem to be on fire. Blue fire. Oooh, purdy. Climb all the way
back up there and you'll be back in Omega Research. All the beam pirates are
gone...No wonder why, an Elite will break out of a tube -- a couple super
missiles later and it's taking a seat. This also unlocks the doors. Jump to
the central platform and use the power bombs to blow away the pile of rocks
and twisted steel to reveal a door to the map computer.
Now backtrack to the next room, the Ventilation Shaft. Scan for the gate that
is made of BENDEZIUM...lay a power bomb to reveal a large hole. Go in and
activate the computer. After an amusing sequence showing a group of puffers
getting sliced through fan blades an energy tank will be revealed and the
poison is cleared.
Now if you'll notice this entire room is one large half pipe. Use the boost
ball to get up to the door you originally used to get in here. "Elite Control"
room is now filled with cloaked Pirates, blow them to hell using the ice beam
or ignore them. Fall down to the bottom and go up the lift (ignore, once
again, the white door).
Lvl. 1 Phazon Mines
--------------------------
Use the magnetic tracks to carefully slip between the bombu energy tentacles.
Back in Ore Processing, go to the third computer and use a power bomb to clear
the junk (you should now have 0 power bombs). Watch the hologram and keep
bombing until the YELLOW track stops on the OPPOSITE SIDE (so you can't see
it). If you look on the map it will be right in front of a white door. Now
jump to the second level and line up the yellow. Do the same on the ground
floor. If you mess this up you'll need to do the dealie with the blue/red
tracks again...but it's not that hard. When the yellow line goes all the way
up the central pillar you can receive the glorious GRAPPLING BEAM.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
r. COLLECTING THE X-RAY VISOR:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What do I do after the Grappling Beam?
-----------------------------------------------
A: Time to leave the Phazon Mines, I'm afraid.
Use the grapple beam in the Ore Processing room to grapple across the gap and
go through the door. After an underwater morph ball maze We'll be all the way
back in the first area of the mines. Save and then use the lift to return to
the Tallon Overworld.
Tallon Overworld
---------------------
After the short tunnel you will be in the Great Tree Hall. Kill all the
enemies so you can get replacement power bombs because we'll need one in a
minute. Jump on the platforms and use the spinner device to open the grating.
From now on, you can acess the Phazon mine via the elevator in the reflecting
pool in the Chozo Ruins that doesn't have a save point in it. If that doesn't
make sense now you'll learn why it does after you explore a bit. The two areas
are connected now that the gate is open.
Continuing on up, freeze the blood flowers using the ice beam so they don't
knock you down here. Roll up the vertical/winding magnetic tracks and blast
open the white door. Examine the seemingly dead end -- traces of BENDEZIUM
found? Lay a power bomb my friend and watch as it DIES A VIOLENT BLOODY DEATH.
Well, it is only metal, but it is so retarded. Anyway, use the boost ball to
get through a series of half pipes (get a missile pack at the top of the
second one, use a bomb when you get up there) and then you will literally fall
on the X-RAY VISOR.
Obviously, this lets you see through all sorts of things.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
s. COLLECTING THE ARTIFACT OF CHOZO:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: How do I escape the X-ray area / Where's the Artifact of Chozo?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Might as well do this now. If you missed it when you got the X-ray visor
then come back and get it, big boy.
Lay a power bomb in the Life Grove and the walls will melt in every direction.
Go to the center of the pond and bomb the drain to reveal a pillar. Inside the
pillar is a spinner device. Spin away, baby. An artifact is revealed -- the
Artifact of Chozo. Easy to get too.
Now to get out of this place simply climb the platforms. As the Chozo Ghosts
come out to play you can use the X-ray visor to never lose track of them and
then own them badly with super missiles. I love it! After they're all dead the
exit is revealed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t. COLLECTING THE PLASMA BEAM:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: It's obvious I need the Plasma Beam. Where is it, Mommy?
---------------------------------------------------------------
A: It's in Magmoor. Wow, an actual reason to go to Magmoor OTHER than a way to
Phendrana...amazing.
From the Great Tree Hall you can access an elevator to the Chozo Ruins. It
dumps you in the reflecting pool, where we got the Ice Beam earlier. Go
through the other door that has the save point, save, and use the tunnel there
to find another lift to the Tallon Overworld. Take it and you will appear near
the wrecked pirate vessel again. Use the grapple to get across (or the water,
whichever) and you'll find yourself back to your ship eventually. Now go to
Tallon Canyon, jump up the waterfall platforms, past the bloodflower, and it's
Magmoor time.
Magmoor
-----------
By now you should be getting the data about the "unusual seismic activity."
It's only a couple rooms over in the Geothermal Core. You should be in the
Transport to Tallon Overworld West lift now. So get over there. You can use
the pillars we sank a long time ago or the new, shiny grapple beam -- whatever
you like, you sick freak.
Speaking of sick freaks, the process to get the Plasma Beam is rather
involved. No fighting, just one twisted puzzle/obstacle course.
First, find the side of the room that has platforms by the door. Climb up and
use the grapple beam to get onto the metal pillars that are floating in the
magma. Roll up into a ball and use the spinner devices on all the pillars to
send the top half of the platform spinning up like a top. When these all go
higher they make a nice stair step to the final pillar where you can activate
a bomb machine that literally raises the roof (biznitch?).
Before you stands a nasty obstacle course made entirely of spiderball magnetic
tracks, it spans around the entire room and leads to a white door that
angelically houses the plasma beam in all of its glory. As for the course
itself it's not too bad after you get used to it. Hitting an enemy isn't a
huge cause for concern because you can just keep holding R to stay on the
track anyway. If they're that annoying feel free to use power bombs on them
(they usually leave one as a refill anyway).
The PLASMA BEAM is now yours! It can melt ice, unlock deep red doors, and owns
hardcore. ONE SHOT will kill a flying pirate (he will burst into flames and
flail for a moment but he will die within seconds). The only downfall of a gun
that shoots out liquid sun is that it has a shorter range compared to the
other beam weapons (not too bad though) and it can't fire while underwater.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
u. THE GRAND COLLECT-A-THON
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What do I do after I have the plasma beam and x-ray visor?
----------------------------------------------------------------
A: Every Metroid game has a magic point where you have everything in the game
that you really need and you can run around and scour the planet of all items
that taunted you before. Now you can do that. Run through Chozo ruins,
Magmoor, Phendrana, etc. and just collect missiles, power bombs, any missing
energy tanks (not much more). You can collect the Wavebuster and Ice Spreader.
Go hog wild.
In fact, you could get all the Chozo Artifacts here too. But in the end we
must return to the Phazon Mines...which is two sections down. The next two
sections are optional but highly recommended!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
v. COLLECTING THE ICE SPREADER (OPTIONAL BUT DO IT!):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where is the Ice Spreader?
---------------------------------
A: In Magmoor. We can get this fairly soon after the plasma beam. Yay, another
reason to listen to that music for a few more minutes...
The Lake Shore Tunnel is a clear glass tube that connects to the Monitor
Station at the bottom level (blue door next to the boxes, has a ramp to the
center structure). Remember Super Metroid? Lay a power bomb and the glass will
blow out. Drop down into the magma and the beam combo will be on a pedestal.
Mmm...frosty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
w. COLLECTING THE WAVEBUSTER (OPTIONAL BUT DO IT!):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where is the Wavebuster and why do I need it?
---------------------------------------------------
A: The Wave Buster is located in the Tower of Light room in the Chozo Ruins.
It can be accessed fairly rapidly by going to the room that held the morph
ball. You need to go there to get an artifact, anyway. But as you step in go
up instead of down. Eventually you won't be able to go any higher. This is
where you examine the pillars holding up the tower itself; they look weak.
Five missiles for each will make it crumble, sending the tower one level lower
(Drop the roof, Cletus!). A bunch of plated puffers will be released so jump
to the next level rapidly to avoid them (look for platforms behind you).
Continue this process. Armored foes will try to block your missile shots but
it's not too hard to time the shot so they miss (just aim at the enemy and by
the time the missile gets there it'll be gone). At the top lies the WAVEBUSTER
BEAM COMBO, a missile combo for the wave beam. The wavebuster sends a huge arc
of electricity that fries opponents. We will mainly use it during the last
boss, however, where it will prove invaluable. It is not required to beat the
game.
Q: What am I doing back here?
---------------------------------
A: By now you should be receiving transmissions about an "unusual form of
mobile Phazon." This is your next boss, time to get to him!
Save in the main plaza area and head down as you did the first trip. Lay a
power bomb on the bendzeium wall (first room after the quarry) to find a
missile pack. Continue as usual, except this time we will open that red door
behind the force field. To deactivate the force field continue until you see a
large pile of computers behind some grating/glass. BENDEZIUM you say? Powah
pomb it! Oh yeah. Turn the field off and go in the door to collect the PLASMA
BEAM MISSILE COMBO...which actually is fairly useless.
Continue along the path until you reach the ELITE RESEARCH room. Examine the
main tube that contains an elite pirate. Oh now...you know what to do. Power
bomb the glass and do battle. Two or three super missiles will destroy the
genetic freak and award you with the ARTIFACT OF WARRIOR.
Continue to the Central Dynamo where you collected the power bombs. Before you
will have to do battle with another Elite but he is a pushover with super
missiles. Kill the ice pirates in the dynamo and use the save point. Go to the
debris in front of the door and power bomb it. Around the corner is a large
battery of super turrets. You can either use charged plasma shots to kill them
(1 shot each) or you can roll into a ball, go down the hole under the glass,
and deactivate them all using a console at the end. Whatever melts your
butter.
At the end is the Metroid Quarantine, which is basically a zoo with Metroids.
We can turn this into a fun-for-the-kids petting zoo by unlocking the
forcefield (scan the console). The Metroids and Pirates get along so well that
the Metroids decide to show their affection by turning the pirate children
into goo. Awww...he's melting. How cute.
Freeze the Metroids, missile them, etc. You know the drill. The huge pit of
black and blue jello with electricity shooting through it is the Phazon. It
looks tasty to me...ahhh, it burns! Jump on the mutated mushrooms and use the
X-ray visor to see the moving invisible platforms. Make like Mario and away we
go.
At this point everything is fairly linear. Freeze the metroids and splatter
their innards across the walls. At the end, with the spiderball tracks, bomb
the wall using the power bombs, then the same with the next wall, then use the
spiderball track to get to an invisible elevator platform. Grab your missiles
and run to the exit with the spiderball tracks we ignored earlier.
Phazon Mines Lvl. 3
--------------------------
As you exit the elevator shaft and see the delicious looking phazon, fall down
to the bottom and morph to find a missile pack under the mutated Super Mario
mushroom. Continue to Fungal Hall B, which houses a missile recharge silo
through the left door and the exit to the right. Fall beneathe the exit and
power bomb the circle of mushrooms to get another missile pack.
Metroid Quarantine B is filled to the brim with Plasma Pirates -- rip them a
new one with charged up plasma beams, naturally. I enjoy seeing the ones
across the pit roll around in agony, then fall over the edge into the phazon.
That's gotta sting. TO get across, roll up the spiderball tracks, jumpto the
next platform, and locate the grapple point. To get it you'll either have to
hug the edge or jump to get a lock. Across the way are more troopers and a
missile pack inside a cordite tube.
Obviously, the save point through the plasma door on the bottom level is
REQUIRED practically. The exit is through the top. Feel free to ingore the
masses of chattering Metroids that break loose from their containment tubes.
Melt the ice to unlock the door and be prepared for a duel with the mighty
OMEGA PIRATE, which seems to be a huge problem to most people on the boards.
Check the boss section.
PHAZON SUIT ACQUIRED. Now not only do you look hip in your new threads (black
+ gray + orange visor and sooo sleek and sexy) but you are almost invincible
in the "normal" worlds, sporting an obscene amount of defensive shielding (I'm
not sure about Prime, but Super Metroid it went...Varia = 50%, Grav = 75%, so
who knows what Phazon could bump it up to).
Before departing, however, we must get the ARTIFACT OF NEWBORN. If you recall
there was a morph ball tunnel that had phazon and disappearing blocks. Go here
and with the new skin you can bomb through all the blocks and obtain the
artifact at the end. Hooray!
Oh yes, the room after the Elite Omega's chamber has a free energy tank. It
may well be your very last.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
y. COLLECTING THE 12 CHOZO ARTIFACTS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What do I do after the Phazon mines? Where are the artifacts? Aiee!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Tallon Overworld, by your ship, is a series of platforms by the
waterfalls that go to a huge conglomeration of structures that the Chozo made
to keep the powers of the meteor trapped forever. Ignore the fact that the
pirates have already found a way to get and examine the things inside.
Anyway, being the smart girl we are we're gonna open it up and see what's in
there. Makes sense, right? Uh huh...but to do that we need the 12 Chozo
Artifacts (cue legendary collecting jingle). Hey Samus, maybe they locked it
up FOR A REASON.
This is the list of them all as shown in the LOG BOOK. If you are missing one,
check where the "???" is located against this list. Then follow the
walkthroughs below to acquire them.
TRUTH
STRENGTH
ELDER
WILD
LIFEGIVER
WARRIOR
CHOZO
NATURE
SUN
WORLD
SPIRIT
NEWBORN
I will now list their walkthroughs by area instead of the game's pre-
determined order.
Tallon Overworld
---------------------
1. ARTIFACT OF TRUTH
Exact room: Artifact Chamber
Best Time to Get: Save it for the end. There's no real need to come here other
than at the end of the game UNLESS you want to scan the statues for clues. But
yeah, this is the most brainless artifact to get. Pretty much a freebie.
2. ARTIFACT OF CHOZO
Exact room: Life Grove -- you got the X-ray visor here
Best Time to Get: Obviously when you collect the X-ray, since it's kind of
pointless to get the X-ray, leave, and come get it later. Especially since
it's right there as you escape the X-ray room.
To collect it, lay a power bomb after earning the X-ray. The nearby stream of
enemies usually leave power bomb pick ups if you need one. The walls collapse,
revealing a large outdoor secret area (doesn't appear on map but still counts
as the Life Grove chamber). Now simply go to the lake and bomb the drain. A
large pillar will shoot out of the drain. Simply use the spinner device in its
base and the machine will unfold, revealing the Artifact.
Chozo Ruins
------------------
3. ARTIFACT OF THE WILD
Exact room: Sunchamber -- you got the varia suit here
Best Time to Get: After the plasma beam and you run around the world getting
all those items you can get now.
The sunchamber can't be accessed via the vertical room with the tree because
vines cover the door (how lame). Instead we must go to the main Magmoor lift
(go to where you got the first missiles and energy tank, roll up through the
hole, follow the path). One of the doors leads to the Sun Tower. Blow up the
wasp hives using missiles, kill the wasps, and start scanning for icons. Two
are behind cordite rock coverings (use a super missile on each). The other two
are on the pillars that support the roof (check the back and look HIGH).
When this is done the door will slide away, revealing a spiderball obstacle
course. Use bombs to propel yourself up, careful of the armored enemies. At
the top you can go to the Sun Chamber and you must fight three Chozo Ghosts. A
super missile and one charged power beam each will kill them a second time.
The Artifact appears on the old dead boss's flower.
4. ARTIFACT OF THE WORLD
Exact room: Hall of Elders -- go to the area with the Ice Beam
Best Time to Get: After Plasma Beam
Remember the three colored circles? Now it's time to activate the red switch.
The tunnel that opens leads to the Artifact. Might as well do Ice and get an
energy tank also (but do ice before this, since plasma cancels the other
switches until you leave the area).
5. ARTIFACT OF LIVEGIVER
Exact room: Tower of Light
Best Time to Get: While getting the Wavebuster
This is the same tower as the Wavebuster. It is accessed by going to the room
where you got the morph ball originally. You'll need the spiderball and boost
ball to get to the door, then the gravity suit to make the underwater leap to
the door. Grab the easy Artifact.
Magmoor Caverns
-------------------
6. ARTIFACT OF STRENGTH
Exact room: Monitor Station -- tall room that originally had auto guns
Best Time to Get: After the space jump and while you're going back to
Phendrana OR after the power bomb since you can get an easy power bomb expo
then also.
Before going to Phendrana, you can see a platform to the side of the door (the
door leads to the ball course, which leads to the snowy world's elevator) that
you can only get to by the space jump. Climb up and you'll find a spinner
device at the peak of the central platform. Spin until the nearby bridge rises
and locks in place. Make a mighty leap to the far ridge, follow the path, and
enter the door at the end. The Artifact lies in the hands of the Chozo Statue
(how Metroidy). You can also power bomb the floor to get a power bomb
expansion (get the artifact first though, you'll see why when you try to get
out of the bomb's room).
7. ARTIFACT OF NATURE
Exact room: Lava Lake
Best Time to Get: Whenever you're passing on through from Phendrana to Chozo
or Tallon.
It's easy to find with the X-ray visor. The pillar in the center of the room
is hollow and can be blown wide open using a super missile. There's your
Artifact.
Phendrana
--------------
You need the plasma beam for all of these, so wait until then.
8. ARTIFACT OF THE SUN
Exact room: Chozo Ice Temple
Remember the Chozo statue that had ice in its hands? It is directly before the
Sheegoth boss, where you obtained the wave beam. Use the plasma beam on the
ice, morph into a ball in his hands, go through the passage, and voila. You
have earned the sun.
The Chozo Ice Temple itself can be accessed by using the space jump to cross
the platforms in the main plaza area and going through the temple like area.
It's at the end.
9. ARTIFACT OF ELDER
Exact room: Control Tower
Where the hell is this? Well it's in pirate territory, I'm afraid. Rather deep
too. If you're like me you'll just run through, ignoring the pirates until you
get to it.
Now you'll notice that above each door is a slit you can jump into it. One of
them has a window that can be melted using the plasma beam. You'll also notice
a strange object (it's a fuel cell -- someone little space pirate child is
gonna be in big trouble for misplacing that!) about 10 feet away; blast it
with a missile and the tower will collapse, opening the way to the Artifact.
10. ARTIFACT OF SPIRIT
Exact room: Phendrana's Edge
OK, this is the lamest artifact in existence. Does anyone else simply HATE the
entire gravity suit section of Phendrana? And this room, of course, is in the
middle of it all. At least you can grab a bounty of missiles and a spare
energy tank while you put up with the music (dun dun de de dun arghhhh rip out
my ear drum, someone!).
Yeah ANYWAY...once you're in Phendrana's Edge, kill the pirates and start
moving on up (the ladder of life, baby). Grapple and when you reach the top it
seems like a dead end. Use the X-ray visor to find a door behind a sheet of
snow. Gee, I wonder how we destroy it...power bomb anyone? The door is deep
red, so you need the plasma beam. The Artifact of Lame Backtracking Fun lays
beyond.
Phazon Mines
-----------------
11. ARTIFACT OF THE WARRIOR
Exact room: Elite Research (near start)
Best Time to Get: Second trip through (on way to Omega)
The Phazon Elite Pirate in the glass tube is getting very claustrophobic and
wants out. To satisfy him lay a power bomb and watch out because he hasn't had
his coffee yet. Satisfy his need to be wormfood by a salvo of super missiles
to the face. The Artifact of Warrior will teleport in out of nowhere. I was
waiting for Samus to give the V for victory sign after this endeavor.
12. ARTIFACT OF THE NEWLY BORN
Exact room: Phazon Mining Tunnel (level 3)
Best Time to Get: Conventional wisdom says after the Omega Pirate is
vanquished and you have the Phazon suit. It's possible on normal to get it
with full energy and tanks without the Phazon suit but it's hard to get there
with full energy...and if you go go the save point and then come back before
Omega it's about the same anyway. So just wait until you get the Phazon Suit,
ok Billy? :p
Anyway, for those of you who have no clue where the artifact is hiding, wait
until after you get the Phazon Suit. Then, instead of going on after the Omega
Pirate, go back. The Phazon Mining Tunnel is a short little jaunt through
phazon with disappearing blocks, about three rooms back. There's also some
blocks in actual phazon that you can blow up...like 10 blocks or so. With the
black suit of sweetness on you can touch the blue jello without taking
damage...ding ding. The Artifact is at the end.
Q: Hyuk, now what?
-----------------------------------------------------
A: Go to the temple and watch the lightshow. Then an OLD friend comes by for
tea and crumpets (check the Boss Section you old English bastard).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
z. FINAL IMPACT:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Yo, yo, yo, I be humpin' it up in the hood...yo?
------------------------------------------------------
A: Well bling bling because look at the orange Phazon...it hurts you. It looks
like tang to me. There's also a save point after Ridley, if you want to save
or something....
Q: Halp, halp! The Fission Metroid owns me.
------------------------------------------------
A: OK, when I heard about Fission Metroids being a bastard to get past I
envisioned a colossal vertical chamber filled with like 300 invincible
Metroids of death and destruction. I burst out laughing when ONE METROID came
at me. Come on, people. If you shoot the Fission Metroid he will split into
two Metroids, each one immune to all weaponry but its color (same as the doors
and the beam pirates). Then could you shoot those and move on...
..
OR we can exploit the designer's oversight and lay a power bomb when the
chirping freak of nature comes close. It will die. Sure, another one will
spawn but we'll get an extra 15-20 second window to jump the platforms without
resistance. Only two or three power bombs are required to reach the top and
that's if you're insanely paranoid. You can get all the way to the middle
without even using a single bomb. Don't miss the missile reloader halfway,
either.
Q: Help I'm stuck on the last boss. It looks at me and I shrivel!
------------------------------------------------------------------
A: This is why Viagra was made.
Check the boss section. Check the secrets section for endings.
Over and out.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have saved the planet!!
Well...not really. All the Chozo are dead, the planet's ecosystem has been
ruined forever, the pirates have Phazon technology, and Metroids are all over
the freaking place and killing people left and right. But good job.
Now do it again on hard. With 100%. Then do it on normal super fast. Kthxbye.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
zz. HARD MODE STRATEGIES:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: So, is hard mode uh...hard?
-----------------------------------
A: Yeah, it's a significant step up from normal. If you thought normal was a
little easy then definitely try this. Getting 100% is almost required to just
survive through the Phazon Mines and the last couple of bosses. Heck, Thardus
is one helluva challenge way before that even.
Hard mode = all the enemies have double the life and do double damage to you.
Also, the AI is tweaked slightly. E.g. Metroids and bombus will follow you to
no end, the earlier bosses hit you much more often, etc. You will lust after
energy tanks, believe me: you will need to get them all.
Q: Holy moly, the space pirates own me. HALP!
-------------------------------------------------
Space Pirates are the most dangerous foes in this mode, no doubt about it.
There's three main areas where you must deal with them:
a. Space Pirate HQ -- Phendrana
Use a charged WAVE BEAM -- the elecricity will stun them for several seconds.
By the time they get out of it you will be shooting them again. So keep using
charged wave beam pulses to kill most of the pirates.
When you get to the flying pirates...use super missiles. Seriously, at this
point in the game there's no other alternative that kills them before they
take off SEVERAL energy tanks.
b. Phazon Mines First Time
The Shadow Pirates are cake. Use a charged ice blast to chill them, then
follow up with a missile for some sexy shattering pirate pieces (please).
The Wave Pirates are bad but manageable, due to the wave beam's inherent stun
effect. It just takes so many pulses...and the wavebuster will eat through
your missile stockpile, so don't even think about it.
The Ice Pirates are insanely strong in terms of attack -- two or three shots
and a tank is gone! Thankfully, they are easy to kill if you can get off a
good charged ice shot. One missile will still kill them like in normal.
Power Pirates kick your ass. Accept it but live through it. On hard they take
two super missiles to kill and sometimes they take another charged shot to
take down!! And while you're charging up to release the super missile they
will be just taking a huge steak knife and chopping your energy tanks off
every second or so. Another good strategy is to ingore them...where possible.
The only place you can really do this without fatal injury is in the room that
has the map station. You can jump down to the bottom (or make your way to the
top) and only get shot a couple times.
c. Phazon Mines Last Time
Plasma Pirates are easy to kill but a large group of them will often times
leave you near death if they can get a shot in or two on your seemingly
weakass suit. Their motto seems to be: we're gonna die but we're taking her
down with us! I recommend hopping around like a rabbit and seeking cover
behind pillars if possible. Do not use the flamethrower unless you want to be
playful and tickle them.
The plasma beam, when charged, kills normal and shadow pirates super fast.
General Phazon Help
----------------------
Those groups of boxes are there for a reason -- blow them open for copious
amounts of energy pickups.
Skip rooms of normal and shadow pirates whenever you can. Shadows tend to drop
in after your first run and all the beam pirates are dead. Generally, you must
kill all the beam pirates EXCEPT the ones in the map room. These can and
should be ignored (kill the waves, run screaming like a girl past the trio of
power pirates and shoot the door in the floor).
Ahhh, energy tanks. My friends...especially in hard. These are in fairly good
locations and some require the solution to a puzzle or two. Acquiring all of
these is very important for the last bosses, ESPECIALLY on hard mode.
I also pointed out most of these in the walkthrough because my philosophy is
yeah, you can always have extra missiles but there's only so much energy...and
you can live WITHOUT missiles. Try living without energy.
1. CHOZO RUINS, Hive Totem area
This is a freebie. After the first pair of missiles blow open the door
directly in front of you. Cue the collection theme...
2. CHOZO RUINS, Furnace area
You can either get this early or later -- early is better in this case since
you have to do this puzzle anyway and it's nice for when you face off against
Thardus. It's also not off the beaten path too much.
After getting the bombs from the incinerator drone, roll up into a ball and
blow up the stone toad blocking the hole. Bomb the device to lower the water.
Drop down and go to the second device and perform the same duty. This raises
some platforms to a third machine. The third and final machine raises more
platforms...open the door and morph through the hole. The tank is at the end.
Remember this later, after you get the spiderball. You come back here to get
the ice beam. So you could save the tank for then if you wanted.
3. CHOZO RUINS, Main Plaza
You can see the tank on a ledge but to get to it you need to access the
Magmoor elevator after the Sun chamber (where you got the Varia Suit). Then go
through the door and follow the hallway, you'll appear directly on top of the
tank.
4. MAGMOOR CAVERNS, Transport Tunnel A
You could theoretically get this on your first trip to Phendrana but it's
pretty dangerous. To get the tank you need to do a double bomb jump up the
vertical platform...if you watch the demo at the title screen long enough
you'll see it performed. The problem with this though is that if you miss you
get a dunk in the magma and at this point in the game you will lose health
rapidly, especially as you try to bombjump out of it. So I'd suggest coming
back to this after you have the gravity suit and other tanks. But hey, if
you're good at bomb jumping...the extra 100 points can be INVALUABLE against
Thardus.
The best way to get this timing thing down, for me anyway, is graphically. Lay
the first bomb. Notice that the energy swirling around it first expands, then
contracts, then the bomb explodes. Just when the bomb is sucking the energy in
and is about to go off you lay another bomb, then almost immediately lay
another bomb as you go up. The slight delay puts it at the perfect height and
you will end up at the top of the shaft -- up left on the stick to get up
there. Now do this two more times for the tank. =)
5. PHENDRANA, Ruined Courtyard
This is the area that has the broken door, access to the pirate labs, and lots
of Chozo statues that release water. You can get this tank on your first
visit. As you raise the water for the first time, jump across the ice
platforms to the opposite side of the chamber and you'll notice a hole in the
side of the wall and a smell ledge. Use the space jump to position yourself
(careful of the overhang, falling would be a waste of time). Now just bombjump
to the hole and the tank is yours.
6. PHENDRANA, Research Lab Aether
This you can also get on your first run through. Drop to the bottom level and
one of the tubes has an e-tank inside. One missile blast later will send the
collecting chime should be blasting out the speakers.
--- cuttoff point for tanks before Thardus ---
7. MAGMOOR CAVERNS, Magmoor Workstation
This is a nice subquest to achieve after collecting the spiderball from
Thardus. Go down the elevator after the quarantine cave (use the track that
requires a bomb jump) and you'll be nearby the workstation.
Kill the pirates if need be and then drop to the bottom. Use the thermal visor
and next to each closed gate is a power conduit -- power them using the wave
beam. One section of magma in the morph tunnels will be solidified with
nitrogen, so ball up in the middle (bomb the Triclops, else be annoyed to high
heaven). Go to that path and scan the computer, which opens another path.
Repeat the process one more time -- the final chamber has a glowing, orgasmic
e-tank.
8. TALLON OVERWORLD -- Wrecked Frigate -- cargo freight lift to deck gamma
An easy tank after a drought of energy. This one is in the wide open, behind a
grate. Blow it open with a missile.
9. TALLON OVERWORLD -- Wrecked Frigate -- hydro access tunnel
Not so easy, that. This is the morph ball maze where one bomb sends you flying
high. Due to this, the e-tank here is probably easier than the one in Magmoor
that requires the same strategy. Remember to set the bomb on the way up so
when you reach the peak and fall you will be boosted. You must do this 2 times
-- the tank is to the left when you reach the top, so be ready to hit a hard
left on the stick. No room to rest unfortunately.
10. PHAZON MINES, Ventilation Shaft
After acquiring the power bombs and going back to get the grapple you'll stop
by on here. Lay a power bomb on the grating, roll through, scan the computer,
and watch the comical scene where the puffers get shredded by the fan blades.
The energy tank will then be available.
11. CHOZO RUINS, Magma Pool --> training room
Go to the ruined fountain after you have the grappling beam (which should be
now if you followed my order). Finally! We can cross that cursed magma river!
Of course, a little bit more work is involved for the tank. You'll need to
kill the ghosts (yes, Virginia, a second time...grumble, grumble) and go into
the half pipe and use the boost ball move to reach the bomb switches near the
ceiling. One will make an elevator...which yes, leads to the tank.
12. CHOZO RUINS, Hall of Elders
We could have gotten this directly after the ice beam but personally I see no
reason since there's no bosses we need it for and it'd be more annoying to
fight the ghosts then. So I would save it for when you come back with the
plasma beam. That way you can fight the ghosts only one more time and get the
artifact AND an easy energy tank. Life is good.
For you slow people, yes, this requires shooting the white circle with the ice
beam. The rest should be fairly obvious.
13. PHENDRANA, Transport access (where the Magmoor lift
Quarantine/Thardus/Gravity suit section mix together)
Remember the energy tank that was taunting you behind the thick ice? Now it's
time to make it all hot and bothered with the gun that shoots the stuff of
stars (plasma beam, dolt). This is rather convenient since we're going this
way to get the Artifact of Spirit anyway...accursed music...argh!
14. PHAZON MINES, Elite Quarters --> Processing Center Access
After the tango with the elite of elites (Omega Pirate) you will get the last
energy tank of the game as a reward. As if the spiffy looking suit with godly
armor wasn't enough.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POWER BOMB EXPANSION LOCATIONS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There aren't a lot of power bombs in this game, since you earn the actual
upgrade fairly late in the game compared to Super Metroid. Each expansion only
adds one to the grand total, although they are very useful on the second run
through Phazon maze (many missiles require a power; then the artifact does,
etc.).
Start: 4
Expansions: 4
Grand total of Power Bombs: 8
Magmoor Caverns
---------------------
1. (Monitor Station --> Chamber of Strength): Make your way to the top of the
monitor station using the space jump and the ball device. Go to the chamber of
strength, where the Artifact of Strength is being held. Bomb the front of the
chozo statue using a power bomb to fall into a secret room with...a power bomb
expansion. A decent trade.
Phendrana Drifts
----------------------
2. (Phendrana's Edge): After collecting the Artifact of Spirit continue on up
using the platforms and eventually the grapple. Use the morph ball and go
through the tiny tunnel. Cakewalk.
3. (Ice Ruins West): On one of the structures on the way tothe purple door on
the top level is a large ice sheet. Melt it with the plasma beam.
Chozo Ruins
-------------------
4. (Magma Pool): Go to the Ruined Fountain (top level of main plaza) and then
through the door that leads to the Magma Pool. Grapple across, scan the wall
(BENDEZIUM! Uh oh!) and lay a power bomb. Then you get a uh...power bomb
expansion. Seems right.
I am surprised at the huge amount of missiles in this game, exceeding even
that of Super Metroid. There are 50 total expansions in this game, totaling to
250 missiles (Super Metroid max was 230).
These are listed by area. If you're going for 100% it's best to not try to get
everything until after the plasma beam -- then you have everything and can do
huge sweeps through all the major areas, getting power bombs, artifacts,
missiles, etc. in one orgy of orgasmic item collection sounding fun.
The room set off in parenthesis is usually the room the missile is found in OR
the location. E.g. go to that room but the missile may be in a small room that
branches off.
They are numbered not because this is the order you should get them. Just to
show you that yes, Virginia, all 50 missiles are there. I didn't miss one.
1. (Hive Totem): First expansion is one you receive for beating the Chozo
statue boss that spits out wasps. Kind of hard to complete the game without
these...
2. (Ruined Gallery): Fall into the water and look at the wall below the door
that leads to the first missiles. Scan for the weak wall -- radeon means
missile. Shoot your missile at it to reveal a secret alcove. These can be
gotten right after coming back from the hive mecha.
3. (Ruined Gallery): There's a hole in the wall on the bottom level, across
from the map room. Use a bomb to boost yourself in, then roll through to get
the expansion.
4. (Ruined Nursery): You'll notice this pack on a ledge above. There is a ball
maze in the wall but a stone blocks it. To get around that, use the other
entrance on the ground level to bomb it from below. Then use the entrance on
the top. Roll on through to the missile.
5. (Ruined Shrine): This is where you get the morph ball. Bomb the light
colored circle in the wall to reveal a path to the missiles.
6. (Ruined Shrine): Use the half pipe to boost to the ledge opposite the
spider rack. It has a passage to these missiles.
7. (Main Plaza): Use the boost ball in the half pipe. Easy.
8. (Main Plaza): Look at the large tree; it has a metallic cap on one of the
branches. Use a super missile to blow it off and reveal the missile, then
climb to the second level and space jump to it.
9. (Ruined Fountain): Go to the center, look up, and kill the firefly enemies.
Jump into the fountain and morph ball. The water will spray you to the ceiling
where a spiderball track awaits. It leads to a cage with the expansion.
10. (Training Chamber Access): Go to the Ruined Fountain and then through the
door that leads to the Magma Pool. Grapple across and go through the door. At
the end of this transition tunnel is a huge pile of leaves. If you listen
carefully you can just barely hear the hum of a missile expansion...morph into
ball form and roll into the leaves. Ta da! Secret passage!
11. (Main Plaza): Follow the steps for the missile above and then enter the
Training Chamber where you get to fight Chozo Ghosts. Then use the half pipe
to reach one of the bomb switches in the Chozo statues. One leads to an energy
tank while the other reveals the exit to the main plaza, although in a very
high area. You can see the missile across the room; the only way to get there
is via the grapple point. You need to get a running jump to use it, though.
Don't miss or you have to go around again. :)
12. (Vault): This is the room before the energy tank that's out on the ledge
in the main plaza, it has a missile tank in a huge cage. You can come here
right after getting the Varia suit, then nab the energy tank, then go to
Magmoor. To get the missile requires a bit of a puzzle. First blow off the
caps on the bomb devices (the third one requires a bomb jump) then use bomb
jumps to get into each one, lay a bomb in all three to get the missile. If you
need help on bomb jumping refer to energy tank #4 for tips.
13. (Watery Hall Access): Get these on the way to the charged beam. The left
wall is radeon, so missile it for some easy missiles. You can hear the hum
from it as you pass through.
14. (Watery Hall): This requires the Gravity Suit. There's a large cliff
underwater that you need to jump up to, which leads to a door, which leads to
these missiles.
15. (Watery Hall --> Dynamo): The Dynamo is accessed by going to the pedestal
that held the charge beam and bombing the rock on the wall (it's lighter than
the rest of the wall, very obvious). After a transition tunnel you enter the
dynamo, which is a dead end and very small room. Missile the cage for...a
missile expansion. Good trade!
16. (Watery Hall --> Dynamo): Use the spiderball track to reach the top of the
room. Watch out for the firefly enemy though, it'll knock you off.
17. (Gathering Hall): The charge beam area and the energy core branches off
from here. It's the place with the save and lots of skrees and mushrooms. At
the top, near the energy core path, are red tubes. Jump on the tube and then
use the space jump to jump to the ledge above the blue door. Bomb the vent for
these missiles.
18. (Burn Dome): This is where you get the morph ball bombs. Put them to get
use by bombing the light colored part of the wall at the end of the water
trail. Secret path anyone?
19. (Furnace): Kill the Chozo ghosts and then go to the part of the floor that
looks weak and rubbled (or just scan and see it). Power bomb to reveal a
large, hidden half pipe. Use the half pipe to be boosted to a spiderball track
on the ceiling. This obstacle course is rather complex, you have to drop down
(use the shadow to gauge where you are) and evade the path of shelled enemies
(blow them up with bombs). The end of the course nets you a missile pack.
20. (Crossway): Get these on the way to the ice beam (it's a large room by the
Hall of Elders). Use the halfpipe to get to the other side and notice the
cordite wall hanging. Super missile it to reveal a switch; scan it to reveal a
spiderball track and a bomb device on the wall above the half pipe. Boost ball
to the track, bomb the device, and another set up occurs across the wall. This
device opens up a piston which lifts you to a secret crosswalk and the
missile. Yay!
Someone stole all the missiles from Magmoor...only three missile packs here,
LOL! I blame the Chozo Ruins. Such a thief those ghosts....
21. (Triclops Pit): Drop down to the grating below and search for a seemingly
dead end alcove with red 'mist' lights (it will be on your map). Jump in there
and turn around: a morph ball tunnel that leads under the grating. Bomb the
triclops so they don't spit you back out the tunnel and make your way around
to the other side. Through the blue door and a small tunnel lies a huge cage
with a missile expansion.
22. (Triclops Pit): Go to the entrance that has a pile of boxes by it (this is
where we came in the first time, from Chozo Ruins). Blow away the boxes and
use the X-ray visor to see the moving, invisible platforms. Make like Mario
and away we go! At the end is a hollow pillar, one super missile will blow it
away and allow you to take the missile pack.
23. (Fiery Shores): You'll get this one after the space jump and you're going
back to Phendrana, most likely. It involves shooting boxes, morphing into a
ball, bombing up some small steps, and then going across a very narrow walkway
above magma. You need to go up there to get across without the grapple anyway.
24. (Phendrana Shorelines): Go to the save room and turn around. You'll see
this missile trapped in a wall of ice on the back of a wall. Use the plasma
beam to thaw it out.
25. (Phendrana Shorelines): Use the spacejump and floating platforms to get to
the temple structure that leads to the wave beam and Chozo temple. Before
going in, scan the wall structure: cordite? Super missile it! Examine the
switch and then go up the spiderball tracks. Missile is at the top.
26. (Ice Ruins East): Use the spiderball tracks on the top level.
27. (Ice Ruins East): This is on the ground level, nearby the exit (which is
at the top level). It's in a thick sheet of ice, in a corner. Heat it up baby!
28. (Research Lab Aether): Get this on your first trip through the labs. It's
very easy: jump on the platform, morph, follow the thin walkway, snag it.
29. (Research Lab Hydra): Get this on the way back to the courtyard, after
getting the Thermal Visor. It's at the top level, in a solid cordite tube.
Super missile it.
--- The best time to get the rest is during the trip to the Artifact of Spirit
--- We'll basically do a loop-de-loop through the gravity section again ---
30. (Quarantine Cave): This is where we fought Thardus. Use the spiderball
tracks to go to the door that leads to the Magmoor elevator and use the
grapple points there to get to a seemingly empty ledge. Ahh, a morph ball
tunnel. Missile is at the end.
31. (Frost Cave): Use the grapple beam when the glider is going away so you
can get maximum distance on your swing. Use it to get across the chamber. Go
to the boxes at the top and look above: an icicle! Missile it and it will fall
and shatter the glass, enabling you to get into the water below and hence the
missile.
32. (Gravity Chamber): Make your way to dry land. Kill the bombus with the
wave beam and then melt the giant icicle on the ceiling using the plasma beam;
this reveals a grapple point. Swing to the missile up top.
33. (Landing Site): Near you ship is a large hole that has tangle weed in it.
Roll on through!
34. (Root Cave): This is the large, vertical room that leads to the Magmoor
lift and has like 12 Beetles at the bottom. Use a combination of the grapple
beam and the x-ray visor (to see invisible platforms) to reach the top, where
you will find a hidden alcove in the side of the wall. The missile is right
there.
35. (Root Cave): Shortly after the above missile is a red plasma door, at the
very tip of the room. Guess what's inside?
36. (Transport Tunnel B): This is the short hall that leads to the Magmoor
elevator. The missile is under the bridge. Slap yourself if you missed this
one.
37. (Frigate Crash Site): This requires the Gravity Suit. In the lake below
the ship is an alcove that houses the missile. Jump from the dead trees under
the water. Easy.
38. (Overgrown Cavern): You can only get this if you came from the Reflecting
Pool area in the Chozo Ruins. It ends up spilling you to the crash site and is
the most obvious exit from the Ice Beam area. Again, slap yourself if you
missed this one.
39. (Biohazard Containment): This is one of the rooms deep within the crashed
Space Pirate vessel (it has a name in one of the Pirate logs yet my laziness
compels me not to look. I think it's one of those Greek god names...). Get
this on the way to the Phazon Mines. It's in my walkthrough: blow open the
containment door using a super missile.
40. (Great Tree Hall): This is the area by the main Phazon elevator and the X-
ray. I'm assuming you've already connected the two parts (go through the
frigate, use the boost ball device to lower the gate). Go to the very top,
where the blood flowers are nesting, and you'll notice the rain hitting an
invisible object. Use the x-ray visor to see the platform, then jump to the
blue door that seemed out of reach. Thar she blows.
41. (Life Grove Tunnel): This is the morph ball course that separates the
Great Tree Hall from the Life Grove (where you got the X-ray). Get this on
your way to the X-ray. To get it, go to the half pipe and fling yourself to
the top. Bomb the floor and you'll fall into an unforeseen chamber and get the
missiles, then fall out the ceiling below. How Metroidy.
42. (Main Quarry): This is fairly involved. Kill all the pirates using
whatever method you enjoy as you make your way to the top of this huge room.
Get out the thermals and scan the backside of the tower to reveal a power
conduit. Use the wavebeam on it to power up the crane controls, which are over
in the blue tube. Scan them and the crane will move and reveal a missile pack
in the wall. Use the spiderball track to get to the missiles.
43. (Security Access A): The name doesn't tell you anything. It's the small
tunnel where you first go to after the Main Quarry...you know, when you first
came in and blew up the mega turrets and deactivated the force field. Yeah. To
the left as you enter is a large bendezium gate. Power bomb that sucker and
there we go. Get this on the second trip through.
44. (Elite Research): This is the room with the first Phazon Elite in the tube
(where you receive the Artifact of Warrior) and it has the turbo laser on the
top level. We can get this missile on our first trip through. Use the spinner
device until the gun is pointing to the left of its starting position and then
fire: kaboomsies! There's your missile.
45. (Elite Control Access): This is on level 2 of the Phazon mines. Use the
elevator after Ore Processing (grapple beam puzzle room with the spiderball
tracks) and you'll be in Elite Control Access. We can get this missile on our
first trip through, thankfully. Look on the ceiling, though no straight up,
and you'll see a vent spewing green gas. Ignore the pipes, we need a vent.
Then you'll see an explosive box next to it...shoot the box and the missile
will be revealed after the smoke clears. :)
--- The rest of these can be found on the way to the Omega Pirate ---
46. (Metroid Quarantine A): At the end, with the spiderball tracks, bomb the
wall using the power bombs, then the same with the next wall, then use the
spiderball track to get to an invisible elevator platform. Grab your missiles
at the top.
47. (Fungal Hall Access): Right as you step out of the elevator to level 3 of
the phazon mines is this vertical room. Waste the pirate and fall down into
the yummy blue & black jello (it stings). Morph under the mushroom at the
bottom to find these easy missiles.
48. (Fungal Hall B): Run along the bottom level and go below the exit. You'll
see a circle of tiny mushrooms. Awwww, how cute. Now turn them to dust with a
power bomb and the missile will be revealed (plus about a dozen metroids that
have been following you will erupt in flames and die. Burn Metroids, burn in
hell!).
49. (Metroid Quarantine B): This is the room with the save point before the
big O (wait, that sounds so wrong) and a big pit of phazon that you grapple
over. There is a tube of cordite. Blow that sucker open with a super missile.
50. (Phazon Processing Center): This is the huge chamber after the Omega
Pirate that has lots of beam pirates, a pit of phazon, a mega turret, and lots
of platforms and spiderball tracks. It all leads up to the exit elevator to
Magmoor. As you make your way up -- before the spiderball tracks -- use the x-
ray visor to see a couple of invisible platforms. These lead to a ledge where
you can see the missile in a hollowed out section of the wall. Use the powah!
The power bombs, specifically.
A 'somewhat' larger variant of the peasized variant that makes its 15 seconds
of fame at the beginning of the game. The special strategy is: lock on, fire
all the missiles until the gun goes click, then follow up with charged beam
shots. This is mostly training for the lock on and strafing from its green
beam. Generally, after the missiles are used up is about the time the shields
around the Queen begin rotating. You'll need to wait for them to stop and
present an opening. It's no fair that she can shoot through and we can't...but
that's life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHOZO WASP MACHINE (mini boss):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This robot sentry halts your access to the game's first missile pack. The
fight consists of three phases, each about the same. The wasps circle you but
they only stop to attack directly in front of you and 45 degrees to the left
or right, so just look at the Chozo machine and the wasps will stop in front
of you. L, tap until dead, L, tap until dead -- when all the enemies are dead
the Chozo machine will rotate and the process begins anew, only with more
wasps. Repeat until well done. As the wasps come out you can kill about half
of them with manual aiming.
Be sure to scan the special wasps that this machine shoots out, they're
different than normal ones.
Basically a rotating pillar with giant flames shooting out the sides. And
snazzy music! They can't go wrong with that...after a short period of spinning
he'll get dizzy and a smaller pillar with a target will rise out of the top.
Shoot the circle to death and the flames will fry a wasp's nest, bringing out
a new, special kind of wasp that shoots barbed stingers from a distance. Don't
worry about them though, focus on the drone and circle strafe well so the fire
doesn't make a fried Samus. If the flames go high you can walk under it and if
the flames go low you can jump over. Shoot the wasps in-between phases, as the
fire goes out. A couple more shots to the sensitive tip (...) will make it go
down and out. The morph ball bombs are yours!
This is the game's way of teaching you how to dash. Simply shove the stick to
the side and double tap B and you'll fly to the left or right, allowing you to
get at the bumpy beetle bump. A couple of missiles to the red rump will send
him to beetle hell. After getting the Varia Suit these guys will patrol the
main plaza area.
The leader of the Chozo Ruins, Flaahgra is a giant praying mantis/plant
creature that relies on large focusing arrays for energy (the satellite
looking thingies). You can not directly harm him, only stun him with so many
shots, for only so many seconds.
Phase 1: Shoot the dish back and Flaahgra will pass out. At this point his
tentacles (which can also be scanned for another log) will retreat and you can
bomb his exposed roots (roll down the short tunnel).
Phase 2: This is riskier with two dishes. Shoot the first dish out and then
move to stun Flaahgra before he resets it. As he is stunned use the sidestep
move (double tap b while moving to the side) to quickly get to the other side
and knock back the remaining dish. Now morph and bomb his roots.
Phase 3: Same as phase two, except with three dishes. At this point you need
to plan out what root system to bomb because there's only two left and when
all the dishes are disabled you'll have to move fast to get to one of them.
Phase 4: All four dishes are activated. Find the last root and start knocking
down dishes in such a fashion that you move around the room and come back to
it. What a tragedy it would be to knock all dishes down and not be able to
find the last root in time. The basic rhythm is: stun Flaahgra, knock out
dish, sidejump to next dish, knock out dish, stun Flaahgra as he wakes
up...rinse, lather, repeat, and don't forget to brush and floss after meals.
Your prize for being a TERRIBLE satellite repairman is the Varia Suit. At
least we got rid of that horrid looking power suit...
Large and in charge, mama Sheegoth is NOT happy that you beat up her 'little'
Sheegoth children (they have no eyes but she has six? Freak!). You COULD wait
until she shoots her ice ray and then shoot her in the face with missiles and
charge beam shots but that's no fun at all...and it actually requires effort.
For lazy people like me it's much more satisfying to simply roll into a ball
and lay bombs around her. After about 20 bombs she'll pass out and die. If you
get frozen lay a bomb inside the case to get out. The wave beam is yours after
she melts away into nothingness.
Just be careful, you haven't seen your last Sheegoth. After this fight they'll
appear in certain rooms, especially after Thardus (see below). Later on a
single power bomb will kill them. Plasma shots also tear them a new one.
Thardus is a godzilla sized rock golem that could hold you in the palm of his
hand. This brute is just plain nasty, especially in hard. You definitely need
just about every energy tank up until now, which would be six dots up top.
Less is OK for normal, but for hard you need every point you can get (check
the energy tank section).
The basic premise of the fight is to use the heat visor to find the
radioactive part of him, which happens to be his weakness. Shoot the glowing
part until it blows up, wherein your visor will be too irradiated to see. So
go back to the regular visor and that part will now be fully exposed in
glowing blue (pha-ph-phazon!). Shoot that until it blows up. Continue ad
naseaum.
Most people complain about his rock roll, wherein he rolls around the arena
like a bowling ball, taking off 1/3 of a tank per hit. To avoid it you must
morph into a ball and use the boost to get out of the way. This doesn't seem
very reliable, however, because often times the problem is that he starts the
roll so suddenly that it catches you unaware. To fix this, if he ever stops
throwing rocks or doing the ice river, morph. :p This is when he will most
often do it. If you play it safe you'll find yourself taking almost no damage.
As for how to attack him, I'd suggest the charged wave beam for the first two
phases (each phase is divided by him screaming in a flash of electricity, etc.
Good time to scan him). Save your missiles for later. The wave beam is fairly
powerful and it seeks its target, so often times the beam curls around the arm
or shoulder whereas the power beam instead hits the obstruction.
I say to save the missiles until the last phase because this is when the
largest parts of him become available: shoulder blades, head, and stomach.
It's almost impossible for a super missile to miss these! Whereas in the first
phases the targets are smaller and more often than not the super hits the
shoulder or some other piece. Supers are really good for the last phase since
they're the strongest and the super can sometimes take them out in one fell
swoop.
If you get desperate, shoot the rocks he summons. Sometimes they drop health
or missiles. Learn to sidestep the ice rivers he throws. All else I could say
is that practice makes perverts. Or was that perfect...one of those. You get
the idea.
I was thinking of leaving these out but then I thought yeah, they probably are
mini bosses since they have that special music. :)
Chozo Ghosts first appear in the Hall of the Elders, then after that they are
sprinkled all over the Ruins. Most of the time they can be avoided entirely,
just run for the exit. However in some places they must be dealt with. During
these times (Hall of Elders, Artifact of the Wild, and X-ray room) they will
warp in and out of our reality. Only power beams and its combo the Super
Missile can harm it -- so use super missiles, silly. On normal one super and
one charged power beam shot will kill a ghost (or send it back to hell for
being naughty. I forget.)
With the X-ray Visor you can track them permanently. Apparently ghosts don't
have bones, though.
Pirates infused with Phazon and special beam absorbing armor, these guys would
be impossible to defeat...except you have super missiles and they need to get
on Jenny Craig. The only thinking required is to time it so you don't shoot
when they put their energy shield up. That would be kind of a waste.
Shoot them with beams enough and they can power up their special bomb throwing
rocket. That's not very nice on your energy tanks. Though the beam will kill
them, eventually.
There are three Elites in the entire game, plus one unique "Phazon Elite" that
guards the Artifact of the Warrior. Instead of the bomb weapon he totes a
purple quake attack, similar to that of the Omega Pirate (below). Jump up and
use the space jump to evade.
Omega Pirate is the cream of the crop for the Pirates working on Tallon IV.
This is the prototype for a long line of new footsoldier, one capable of
cloaking, healing, and dealing massive damage while sustaining enough
firepower to kill dozens of regular pirates. This is also the beast that most
people on the GameFAQs message board are stuck on. Well, I'll lay it all out
nice and easy for you and show you how this guy is a pushover and the Pirates
need to go back to the drawing board.
First off, stay close. I know it's intimidating because you barely reach his
kneecap but if you stray too far he'll launch missiles using the tubes on his
back and they're night impossible to avoid and you CAN'T shoot them down. So
stay close. The only thing he'll do here is the purple quake slam, which sends
a wave of energy in all directions. This is fairly easy to avoid, simply fly
up using the space jump. He can also punch you if you get stuck in a corner or
if you stop moving, so do neither of those and you'll be fine.
As for him, most of the time he has his energy shield up, which sends
everything you can throw at him bouncing back. The goal is to blow off the
four pieces of his armor (two shoulderblades and two thigh plates). In normal,
one super missile will bust each piece. When to shoot off the missile? The
BEST opening is right after he does his quake move. So as he punches the
ground jump, shoot the super missile, then jump in midair to stay airborne and
avoid the attack. If your angle is right the missile will slam into his armor
and blow it off, sending him reeling.
When all four pieces are gone he will crumple to the ground and call for
backup, then vanish into nothingness. The beam pirates that come are totally
random, hopefully you'll get ice and plasma pirates because they are easy to
kill. Spend about 10 seconds fighting pirates, then ignore them and put up
your X-ray visor, get out the power beam and charge up. Look around and you'll
hear a very distinctive roar and a strange sound effect as Omega Man appears
in one of the pits of Phazon to recharge and put his armor plating back on.
You know where to aim because you can see his heart, brain, and all of his
arteries branching out (cool effect). Lock on and let off a super -- kaboom!
He'll vanish again but keep looking, he'll come back within five seconds. One
more super and he'll then be done welding on his armor. Finish up any beam
pirates (you could ignore them in normal but in hard they rape you too badly),
then focus on the big mutated freak.
For normal, four supers to the chest kill him; in hard, eight. So, you need to
knock off his armor 2x in normal and 4x in hard. Although in hard each plate
takes two supers to blow off. Good luck!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
META RIDLEY (boss):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our old pal Ridley drops by as we try to access the last level. Why he wasn't
the leader for Magmoor beats me -- perhaps the rain and lightning effects were
worth it though. :) Gotta love that music.
Dispensing with actual strategy, we're gonna be using super missiles. Lots and
lots of super missiles. I think the minimum amount of missiles you could use
here for normal would be about 100 or so. Moreso for hard. Obviously, his weak
point is his chest.
--- Phase 1 ---
Ridley has two phases. The first phase is fairly easy, it involves him flying
all over the place. Within this phase is a pattern, however long. First off he
will hover around the arena and either a) fire his plasma ray b) shoot quad
rockets that sound really cool but aren't cool when they hit you or c) scream
a lot. During this time you can get in three or four supers on him (careful
when he goes through the rocket animation, his wings act as temporary
shields). After taking off almost 1/4 of his life he will begin the next mini
phase, where he does bombing raids on the platform. He also enjoys the plasma
beam as he does this, so don't stand still unless you like napalm.
The next miniphase is to land on the platform for about five seconds, growl,
swipe you, but mainly show off how shiny and cool looking he tries to be for
you. Meanwhile, you shoot him. After you take off another 1/4 of his life he
will start roaming the platform and using the missile attack. In this period
you can again shoot him with easy supers, eventually knocking him to about 2/5
of his total health.
--- Phase 2 ---
This is where the main challenge is for the fight and where most people start
dying en masse. Then they flock to the message board, complain, get the strat,
then complain more after they beat him. Oh well.
Ridley, the use of his wings gone, will now go into melee combat mode,
basically running you over. He will do a main charge, then pauses for about
half a second. If you are far away he'll turn and charge again whereas if
you're within a certain distance he swings his head to his right (also
swinging his tail high) and then swing his tail back down low. All in all, you
can get hit three times per charge (charge, head, tail), which is a tank and a
half or so of damage on hard. Not pretty.
The trick here is to use dodgeball skills. Yes, you remember dodgeball, don't
you? I'm sure you were the fat kid that, upon seeing a ball coming DIRECTLY at
him, ran away from the ball, only to get nailed in the back of the head. Then
I would laugh at the easy score. Well, Ridley is the same principal. It's
coming RIGHT AT YOU! You step to the SIDE...it's impossible to outrun Ridley
directly. He's faster than you. I mean, look at him. He's a homicidal dragon
monster with robotic implants. You're barbie with a penis for a gun. It's not
gonna happen! But thankfully you can step to the side and avoid him. Just like
dodgeball, right?
Well the best way to that, of course, is to use the dash liberally. For you
cretins that forgot the move (even though it's useful throughout the entire
game) it's holding the stick in one direction and then tapping B. You'll
barely get out of the way as the dragon rushes past.
But we're STILL not out of hot water. That was his initial charge! Depending
on where we are in relation to him we have to do way more dodging. If you're
by his tail sit tight, his tail will go over you. If you're by his head try to
jump away. Either way, you'll need to do a high space jump to get over his
tail when it comes through. However, if you are close to the base of his tail
you won't be able to dodge it (it's too big). Get out where his tail is
thinner.
All of this dodging takes place in about five seconds. After practice it
comes, although that tail is obscenely long. It seems like it's about two
times his body length when you include that wicked spike at the end.
Dodging Neo style is all fun and games but we still have to slay the dragon.
After every couple of charges he will open his mouth wide to either taunt you
or two use his plasma ray (different than when he shrieks and charges) -- let
him have it with a regular missile and he will be stunned, allowing you to hit
his exposed chest with a single super. Randomly he will open his mouth
again...maybe a third time...maybe a fourth time...one time Ridley came down
and did one charge, then I kept stunning him and he died right then and there.
Other times he seems to never stop charging. Just keep a stiff upper lip and
he'll go down eventually.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
METROID PRIME EXOSKELETON (boss):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Queen Alien, anyone? This hulking genetic freak of nature is the final boss,
as if the copious amounts of pirate data logs talking about it weren't clue
enough. Her massive exoskeleton shell is invulnerable to all weaponry, the
only spot that phases her are the eyes (you can lock onto it).
--- General Fighting --
Prime has absorbed all the weapons the pirates used on her so she has the same
beam armor that the beam pirates used. Her armor will constantly flash
different colors -- yellow, purple, blue, red -- which can only be hurt by the
corresponding beam and its beam charge.
Prime has four basic attacks: mouth beam, claw swipe (only if you get real
close) multi missile (same as Ridley), and homing bombs. Later she will also
charge and use a tractor beam. Don't get too far away from her or she will
abuse the multi missile and hammer you into the dirt. The homing bombs are
extremely powerful and slowly track you wherever you go, even after she
switches armor. The only way to stop them is to shoot them repeatedly. Charged
plasma shots will kill them in one shot in normal.
When she opens her mouth and sucks in energy prepare to space jump out of the
way of her mouth beam.
--- Specific Armor Info ---
Power armor: Use super missiles, of course. It seems harder to aim the
missiles right here than in any other armor. The best time is when she pauses
for a moment after launching an attack. The only other thing to note of this
armor is that the homing bombs, if they hit you, will disable your weapon
system for about five seconds. You'll be a sitting duck.
Wave armor: This is the most confusing armor, since the mouth beam makes you
lose lthe lock on while the homing bombs act like ultra bombu and make your
entire field of vision static for about four seconds. Early on, when she
doesn't use the bomb or tractor beam moves, use charged wave beam blasts to
take her down. Later on when, she uses all of her attacks, I would definitely
use the wavebuster beam combo. It eats missiles like hell but we won't need
them after this fight anyway so go all out!
Ice armor: This could be the most annoying armor if you don't have the ice
spreader since the Ice Beam is slow and all of her attacks freeze you. She
even has an extra attack -- she summons an ice river, similar to Thardus. With
the ice spreader, however, this is a nice and easy armor because the spreader
freezes her for about four seconds and one shot ends the armor on normal while
it takes just two on hard.
Plasma armor: This is by far the most deadly armor. Red = strength. The twin
sun bombs take off SEVERAL tanks due to the fact that you continue to burn
after the initial impact. Same with the mouth beam, you'll take massive damage
because the magma sticks to your suit for awhile. Just tap your plasma beam
button like crazy, it's powerful enough to take this form down. The only time
to use charged plasma shots is after she finishes an attack and is wide open.
--- Room Info ---
First: She'll use power and wave armor only. After her first armor switches
she will charge forward, so move back behind the pillars.
Second: Power, wave, and ice. She will also begin charging between armors. To
avoid this morph into a ball and slide into the ditches in the floor. The view
will turn to the Prime on auto. She'll also begin using poison bombs, similar
to that of the puffer enemies when they die.
Third: Plasma is added into the fray and so is the tractor beam. There's no
reliable way I know of to get out of it other than to shoot her like crazy and
pray that she doesn't launch homing bombs.
Fourth: Final chamber. She will now use the ice river and poison bomb attacks
regularly, along with everything we've done so far. Sometimes she will charge
when you're not finished with her armor; othertimes she will change armors
several times within a short period of time. Sometimes she will e.g. change
armors so fast that you'll have attacks from another armor attacking you.
Patience is the key. Wait for the good shot. Go crazy with the wavebuster
here; you need no more missiles after this point.
--- Evading Her Attacks ---
Shoot the homing bombs, especially in hard. A couple of those and you're dead,
even if you have max e-tanks. Abuse the dash move and space jump constantly to
avoid her mouth beam and ice river attacks. If she starts using the multi
missile then move in super close and easily avoid them.
--- On Hard Mode ---
14 energy tanks and 250 missiles...yeah you pretty much need 100% to have a
chance with this girl.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEART OF METROID PRIME (boss):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The core essence of Prime has only three moves, unlike the shelled version
which seemed to have every attack in the game. They are a) trying to kiss you
b) spawning Metroids and c) a fiery quake move, similar to the Elite and Omega
Pirates.
This fight takes place directly after the shelled version, no energy or
missile refills for you. Although the pillars she blows up do drop items and
so do the Metroids when you kill them.
When she spawns Metroids (first she does regular, then hunter, and finally
fission) she also creates a puddle of pure Phazon. Lay a power bomb to kill
the Metroids then quickly go to the pool of the blue goo. Take out the power
beam and it will change to the Phazon Beam -- it will say "Hyper mode." Now
target Prime and shoot it like crazy, it will be stunned so no worries about
dodging. After the pool is used up simply dodge the attacks until she makes
another pool. Continue until well done.
NOTE: Hold *down* the trigger when you shoot her with the phazon beam. I
tapped it at first, thinking it was the like the other beams. But holding it
down kills her rouhgly 2x faster than tapping so it makes a huge difference!
The only other thing to say is that every time she makes a pool she phases out
between different spectrums. The cycle is normal --> x-ray --> heat --> normal
--> etc.
The only thing hard about this fight, for me, is that when I go to the pool
she seems to enjoy smacking me with those long tentacles. Maybe stay away
until she floats away a bit more....It's not that hard, really. It's just
you're weak after the shelled form. Good luck and watch the spiffy ending
(especially if you have 100%).
The ending is based on item collection instead of time.
The breakpoints are:
Below 75% = worst
75%-99% = average
100% = best (twist ending)
Gallery 1
----------------
Scan 50% of the game's logs (e.g. orange bits do not count, only what you can
see on the pause menu).
Gallery 2
--------------
Scan 100% (see above about what to scan).
Gallery 3
-------------
Beat the game on hard mode.
Gallery 4
---------------
Beat the game with 100% item collection.
Stats Glitch
----------------
There is definitely a technical flaw in Metroid Prime's stats for percentage
of game completed (items earned). If you're not aware, every item in the game
counts as 1%. I've seen people claim scans, time played, or even the amount of
rooms you've entered count into it but that is false. Get the first missiles,
save, quit: 1%. Get the ball, save, quit, etc.: 2%. To prove that there are
enough items to add up to 100...
50 missiles (or 49 and 1 "missile launcher" for you weirdos)
14 energy tanks
12 artifacts
5 ball upgrades (ball, bombs, boost, spider, power bomb)
4 beams (charge, wave, ice, plasma)
4 beam combos
4 power bomb expansions
3 suits
2 visors
1 grapple
1 spacejump
Total: 100
However...there is a glitch. For whatever reason 1% of SOMETHING is not
counted. It is counted internally (otherwise we couldn't get 100%) but it is
not displayed. I don't know whether it's an actual item or it happens
throughout the normal course of collecting but if you have one more item to
collect you will be displayed with 98%. It's impossible to have it show 99% on
the stats screen to my knowledge. The last item is always worth 2%, it seems.
It has happened on both of my 100% files and I have seen others mystified with
this phenomena as well.
Well, at least it fixes itself in the end. Imagine the outcry if the highest
you could attain was a 99%...ouch.
I definitely got interested in this with the low percentage run. Mainly
because the lowest that is possible to beat the game (5 missiles, original
tank) is 30%. Then someone claimed a 29%...then I looked at my file. 32%. But
I had gotten three energy tanks...so I should have 33%? So it seems somewhere
along the line the game falls behind by one percent. Therefore, the 29% is
legit: it's really a 30 internally, just displayed wrong. My 33 is really a
34. Etc.
Now the INTERESTING part would be to find where the game falls behind.
***UPDATE***
The Phazon suit is the culprit. It is not counted. Weird.
I don't know if this game can be tweaked for speed like Super Metroid...I
doubt it anymore. It's entertaining to see how fast you can go compared to
your first go around, though. On normal I got 3:20 (that's three hours -- 20
minutes) with the bare minimum; 4:09 with 100%. Someone on the board claimed a
4:04 and no one believed him, so I can verify this for him since I was
extremely sloppy going for the 100%.
Or 29%, due to the glitch. This assumes you use the starting energy tank which
can be rather annoying. Picking up two or three energy tanks makes it easier
without bumping up the percentage much (1% per tank).
Nintendo and Retro Studios for working together to bring Samus back after
almost a decade of inactivity.
All of the wonderful people on the Metroid Prime message board that provided
useful or entertaining information. There's a lot of gold if you have the time
to dig through the muck and grime.
CJayC for operating such a successful and user friendly site.
The residents of Indianapolis for not caring about video games. I walked into
EB without a reservation and picked up a copy of Prime from an available 20 or
so.
Insomniac for being my bestest bud and telling me about either his experiences
with Prime and a couple of typos.
You, the reader, for reading my crap. I know how difficult it can be.
Note: The newest updates appear toward the top, pushing older updates further
down.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.1 (Tuesday, December 3rd, 2002):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Added info on on the stats glitch to the secret section.
2. Added info to boss sections on Thardus, Ridley, and both Primes (small
things and details; semi large detail on second Prime added).
3. Fixed typo in power bomb list (You start with 4 bombs; 5 + 4 isn't 8
anyway).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.0 (Saturday, November 30th, 2002):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finished the gargantuan sections on missiles + power bombs and bosses. I added
a tips section for the HARD difficulty as the last section of the walkthrough
chapter. I added stuff to secrets and speed. Finally, I went through the main
walkthrough and added where the easy missiles are earlier on.
As of now, this guide is complete.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 0.7 (Tuesday, November 26th, 2002):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got it out with the main walkthrough, energy tanks, and mostly important
things done. I did a basic spell check and no proof reading for the most part
because I needed to get this out BEFORE Thanksgiving. Happy turkey day guys.
This FAQ cannot be used in magazines, guides, books, etc. or in any other form
of printed or electronic media involved in a commercial business, in part or
in whole, in any way, shape, or form, PERIOD. It may not be given away freely,
as a "bonus" or "prize", or given away with the game itself, etc. This FAQ
cannot be used for either profitable or promotional purposes, regardless of
the situation. Breaking any of these rules is in direction violation of U.S.
and international law. Any characters, names, places, or miscellaneous objects
are copyright their respective companies.
I am in no way affiliated with Nintendo, Retro Studios, NOA, nor any companies
that were/are involved with this game.
This document is (c) 2002 marshmallow (David Gibbons)
All rights reserved
