****************************************************************************** _________ _ ,-´\_______ `-,-´/ _____ _____ __________ ___,´___;\ _____`;´ ,`. ______ ______ ________ `. `. ,´ .´ `. ____ || __ __ |\ __ `.´ \´ __ `. `. .´ `. _ `. | . ` . | | |____`''´/ | | `'| | ) | | / \ | | | | | \ | | |`. ,´| | | ____| | | |,-´¯| |,´ ,| | | | | | | | | | | | | ` | | | | | | |`-. | |`. `| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '----´| \ | |_,´ | |,´`. `.\ `--´ / | | | '-´ / ´----` ´----` ´---------' ´.--;´ _;---` ´-,---``------´ ´----` ´-------´ _}´ _,-´\____,\´ ,´ /_,-´-._________\-´ P R I M E Title Art by: bananagirl ****************************************************************************** A FAQ/Walkthrough by CyricZ Version 1.4 E-mail: cyricz42@yahoo.com ****************************************************************************** Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. FAQ 3. Basics 3A. Controls 3B. Menus/Displays 3C. Tips/Tricks 4. The World of Samus 4A. Weapons and Items 4B. Enemies *REVISED* 4C. Bosses 5. Walkthrough 5A. Frigate Orpheon - Distress 5B. Tallon Overworld/Chozo Ruins - Basic Items 5C. Chozo Ruins - Capture the Flaahgra 5D. Magmoor Caverns/Phendrana Drifts - Fire and Ice 5E. Tallon Overworld/Phendrana Drifts - Rocky Research 5F. Chozo Ruins - The Fate of the Chozo 5G. Phendrana Drifts - The Cold is Winter! 5H. Tallon Overworld - Memories 5I. Phazon Mines - The Canary's Dead! 5J. Tallon Overworld/Chozo Ruins - X-Ray-ted 5K. Everywhere - Plasma and Pickups 5L. Phazon Mines - The Pirate Purge 5M. Tallon Overworld - Showdown 5N. Impact Crater - The Newborn Returns 6. Game Collectibles 6A. Missile Expansions 6B. Energy Tanks 6C. Power Bomb Expansions 6D. Chozo Artifacts 6E. Quick Checklist 7. Log Book Entries 7A. Research (Includes locations of Save, Missile, and Map Stations) 7B. Chozo Lore 7C. Pirate Data 7D. List of Enemies 7E. The "One-Shot" List (things you cannot go back for if you miss them) 8. Extras 8A. Original Metroid Mini-FAQ 8B. Endings 9. Standard Guide Stuff 9A. Legal 9B. E-mail Guidelines 9C. Credits 9D. Version Updates 9E. The Final Word ****************************************************************************** 1. INTRODUCTION ****************************************************************************** Heyo, and welcome to my guide on Nintendo and Retro Studios latest masterpiece, Metroid Prime, the latest chapter in the Metroid saga, returning after an eight-year hiatus. In this installment, our heroine, Samus Aran has recently defeated the Metroid menace on the planet Zebes, by destroying the Mother Brain (as depicted in the original Metroid). Before the events of Metroid II, however, Samus is further tailing the exploits of the Space Pirates to the world of Tallon IV. This simple text file will be your guide as you help Samus defeat them once again. ****************************************************************************** 2. FAQ ****************************************************************************** Q: Just what is Metroid Prime? A: The newest action first-person game from Nintendo by Retro Studios. Q: Where does it take place in the Metroid timeline? A: Metroid Prime occurs soon after the events of the original Metroid, and before Metroid II. Q: Why a first-person shooter? Where's my 2D Metroid? A: Quit the bellyaching. In order for the series to move forward, the GCN outing had to be 3D. Changing a game from 2D to 3D is a very tricky process. Given the fact that a lot of the Metroid series invovled shooting, much of the game takes place from inside her helmet, looking out her visor. This allows for excellent precision during combat. The only time you'll be in third-person is when Samus rolls up in her Morph Ball. After hours of playing, I'm happy to say the transition is actually quite smooth and easy to pick up on. And, if you're desparate for 2D Metroid, just get Metroid Fusion. It also rocks. Q: How do I save the game? A: You need to find Save Stations scattered about Tallon, or return to your Gunship. Q: How do I do a Double Bomb Jump? A: The gist of it is that you lay a Bomb, and right before that Bomb explodes, set a second one, then set a third just before you reach the very top of the jump. You should fall and land on the second Bomb, then ride up to the third. An easier way, I feel, is to count out to four at a medium pace: "1, 2, 3, 4". Lay Bombs on counts 1, 3, and 4. Just keep practicing and you should get it down. Q: Where is (insert random item)? Is it hidden well? A: No. None of the major items are hidden all that well in this game. The Missile Expansions, Energy Tanks, Power Bomb Expansions, and Beam Combos are hidden pretty well, but you really shouldn't be asking me about any of the other items. If you have no idea which item to find next, turn on the Hints. Follow where the hint points you and you'll find the next item. Q: What are the Artifacts for? A: Read some Chozo Lores to find out what they are specifically, but if you just want a simple answer, you need all twelve of them to get to the last area of the game. Q: How do I get the different endings? A: It's not the time, as with every other game, but with percentage of items collected. Scans in the Log Book don't count towards that percentage, so you'll still get that good ending even if you missed a scan. Q: What do I need to have for 100%? A: You need to find: The other four beams: Wave, Ice, Plasma, and Phazon The other three suits: Varia, Gravity, and Phazon The five Morph Ball upgrades: Morph Ball, Bombs, Spider Ball, Boost Ball, and Power Bombs The two additional visors: Thermal and X-Ray The Charge Beam The Grapple Beam The Space Jump Boots 250 Missiles (The Missile Launcher and 49 Expansions) 14 Energy Tanks (They will complete the line across the bar) 8 Power Bombs (The original four and 4 Expansions) 4 Beam Combos (Super Missile, Wavebuster, Ice Spreader, Flamethrower) Q: I'm close to 100%, so I counted up the items I have left to get, and if every item counts as 1%, I'm short one item! Which one am I missing? A: Although there are 100 items to pick up in this game, there's a weird glitch involved in the way they're counted up. Somewhere in the game, there's one item that doesn't count for any percent, so if you get to, say 92%, count what you're missing, and only come up with seven things missing, then you're fine, because the last item you get will count for two percent, boosting you to the full 100% when you get them all. Weird glitch, but it works out in the end... ****************************************************************************** 3. BASICS ****************************************************************************** Most of this stuff is available from your manual, but we all know how much some people hang onto those, much less read them, these days... ============== 3A. Controls = ============== Control Stick: Move Samus around. Up moves her forward, Down backward. Left and Right turn her in those directions. A Button: Fires Samus' Beam Weapon. If you're in Morph Ball mode, this will drop Bombs (once you get them). Once you earn the Charge Beam, hold down the A Button to charge it up, then release. B Button: Make Samus jump. If Samus has Space Jump, press again in mid-air to double jump. If Samus is in Morph Ball mode, then this will activate Boost Ball if she has it. Also, if locked-on to an enemy, pressing B will cause Samus to make a quick dodge to the side. X Button: Switches between Morph Ball mode and standard walking mode. Only works after you get the Moprh Ball. Y Button: Fires a Missile, once Samus finds them. There's a small amount of downtime between firing Missiles. If in Morph Ball mode, this will cause Samus to drop a Power Bomb (if she has them). L Button: If an enemy is near Samus' crosshair, holding down L will lock onto it. While locked-on, Left and Right on the Control Stick will allow her to strafe around the enemy. If no enemy is targeted, then holding down L and moving Left or Right will be a standard strafe. If Samus has the Scan Visor up, holding down L will allow her to analyze scannable objects. If Samus has the Grappling Beam, hold down L while pointed at an appropriate object to fire it. Release to drop. R Button: While holding this button, the Control Stick will have Samus look around as opposed to move. If in Morph Ball mode, this will activate the Spider Ball function, if Samus has it. Z Button: Brings up the Map Screen. START Button: Brings up the Pause Menus. Control Pad: Allows Samus to switch visors. See the Visors section under Items for more info. C-Stick: Allows Samus to switch beam weapons. See the Weapons section for more info. ==================== 3B. Menus/Displays = ==================== Main Menu: Pressing START on the Title Screen will bring you to the Main Menu, where you can select a game file to play, or Erase existing game files. Also, you can select Metroid Fusion Connection Bonuses or the Image Gallery, if you've unlocked it. Those are explained in the Extras section of the guide. --- Main Visor Display: Across the top of Samus' display is her Energy Reserve Meter. The long lower bar is the remaining energy in your active Energy Tank, and any squares above that bar are how many reserve Energy Tanks you have. The top left corner of the display is a mini-radar. Orange dots represent enemies, and the cone at the top indicates Samus' forward field of vision. The top right corner has a small, current section of the level map. The left side of the display is the Threat Assessment. As you get near dangerous areas (lava, acid, what have you), the meter will increase. The right side of the display is the Missile Reserves. Your count of Missiles will be tracked here. The lower left corner of the display shows your visors. Use the Control Pad to switch. The lower right corner of the display shows your Beam Weapons. Use the C-Stick to switch. The very center has the Targeting Reticle, if you hold the R button. It's pretty much where you shoot. --- Pause Menu: There are three main screens on the Pause Menu. Inventory: Use this to get a look at items and weapons you've collected. Log Book: Analyzing certain stuff in the game will put entries in your Log Book. Access the entries here. Further information on the entries in the Log Book is available in its own section near the end of the guide. Options: (These are also available when you start a new game.) Visor: You can use this to change the visor opacity, helmet opacity, and the HUD lag time. Display: Change the brightness and dimensions of the game screen. Sound: Adjust volume and switch between sound modes. Controller: Switch look direction on the Y-axis, toggle the rumble feature, or switch Beam and Visor controls. ================= 3C. Tips/Tricks = ================= There are rooms in the game that can help you out. The biggest help is the Save Station rooms. Enter one and you can save your progress and restore your energy. There are also some places with Map Stations, where you can download a map of your current area. There are a few stations that can refill your Missiles, too. If you go to your Gunship, you'll save, restore energy, and all ammo. Whenever entering a new room, it's advisable to bring up your Scan Visor and poke around the room. Sure, you may be chomping at the bit for action, but you can miss very important stuff by not taking a breather and scanning (don't worry about the excessive volume of stuff to scan at the beginning, there's a lot less later on). Combat can become hectic and complicated at first, but it's basically a matter of remembering all your abilities. When fighting a bunch of small, fast enemies (such as War Wasps), hold down the R button to try some manual shots, but keep tapping the L button to lock onto the nearest one. When facing a large or slow enemy, remember your strafing and dodging, because many of the slowest ones can shoot fast and quite straight. You'll have to be the quick, annoying one. Oh, and don't forget your Missiles. ****************************************************************************** 4. THE WORLD OF SAMUS ****************************************************************************** Samus. Miss Aran if you're nasty. Born on an Earth colony called K-2L, she lost her parents when the Space Pirates attacked. The Chozo found her, and trained her in the art of the warrior, including the infusion of Chozo blood. They gave her a Power Suit designed to act as a second skin. She uses the suit in her profession as a bounty huntress. More often than not, her skills are called on to help defend the galaxy. ======================= 4A. Weapons and Items = ======================= Arm Cannon Power Beam: Samus always has this weapon. It fires a straight shot of energy. Not all that special, but it still kills the bad guys. One big advantage this beam has over others is that it has the highest rate of fire. The disadvantage would be the relative lack of stopping power. Wave Beam: Found in Phendrana Drifts after getting the Space Jump Boots. This beam fires three wavy electricity shots. It can momentarily stun some enemies, and others can only be killed with the Wave Beam. There are also purple doors that can only be opened with the Wave Beam. It has the second lowest rate of fire of the four main beams. The charged Wave Beam can momentarily immobilize bad guys. Ice Beam: Found in Chozo Ruins after you get the Spider Ball. This beam can freeze certain enemies, making them immobile before you destroy them. It can also open white doors. The charged Ice Beam has a greater chance of freezing enemies, and it will last for longer. If you freeze something, firing a Missile will shatter them. The drawbacks to this beam are the slowest rate of fire of the four, as well as the slowest travelling shot. Plasma Beam: Found in Magmoor Caverns, in a room near the Geothermal Core. You need the Grapple Beam to get it. Once you get this beam, you should use it as your main beam. It's very powerful and very fast. It can also melt ice and ignite things. Probably the only downside is that it doesn't have a huge reach unless you charge it up. It has the second highest rate of fire of the beams. Phazon Beam: Earned from defeating the Omega Pirate. You can only use this at the very end of the game. You'll find Phazon pools to stand in. Once on the pool, just hold down the button to constantly fire in hyper mode. --- Morph Ball Morph Ball: Found in the Chozo Ruins after you lose it in the opening. Tap X and you'll roll up in a ball and be able to fit in tight spaces. Morph Ball Bomb: Found in the Chozo Ruins after you lose them in the opening. When you roll up in the Morph Ball, press A to drop these unstable energy packets. The blast can damage most enemies, and is effective against certain ones. If you sit on top of a Bomb when it blows, you'll be propelled into the air. You can only drop three at a time, and can even get a "double Bomb jump" going. The most effective way is to count out loud at about a medium pace "1, 2, 3, 4". Lay bombs on counts 1, 3, and 4, and you should get a double boost. Helpful for hard to reach items. Boost Ball: Found in Phendrana Drifts on your first visit there. While in ball form, hold B to charge the boost, then release. This is primarily used for rolling up half-pipes scattered around Tallon. The best way to get enough speed to crest these pipes is to roll back and forth and release a boost as you cross the lowest point. It doesn't really matter that much, but if you release as you're changing direction, you might mess up and flub the boost. Spider Ball: Found in Phendrana Drifts, after beating Thardus. When in ball form, hold R and you'll attach yourself to magnetic tracks in the area, allowing you to crawl around places you couldn't before. Power Bombs: Found in the Phazon Mines, after beating the Shadow Drone. Press Y in ball form to detonate a huge blast. These are good for breaking apart stuff made of Bendezium. --- Suits Power Suit: See the top of the this section. Once you take a beating in the opening area, this is what you'll be left with. You can still survive in space and underwater, but you won't be able to take extreme temperatures. Varia Suit: After you lose it, you'll find this after beating the Flaahgra. With this suit, you can enter areas of high temperature, such as the Magmoor Caverns. Gravity Suit: Found in Phendrana Drifts, in the Gravity Chamber (you must have the Ice Beam to get it). In this suit, you can navigate underwater as easily as if you were in air. Phazon Suit: Earned after defeating the Omega Pirate. This stylish black and red suit will negate the effects of most poisonous Phazon on your system. Good deal. Energy Tanks: Scattered throughout Tallon, these will add an extra 100 units of energy for you to blow. --- Visors Combat Visor: Always with Samus, this is her basic visor for fighting in. Nothing really special about it. Scan Visor: Also always with Samus. You cannot fire while in this mode, although any kind of firing will put you back in the Combat Visor. With the visor up, focus on objects and if you can scan them, you'll see an orange or red square. Red squares are very important, and usually have something to do with moving ahead in the game. Orange is not as important, but you're still encouraged to scan everything. Anyway, hold L to scan the object in view and you'll get a little description, or something will be logged in your Log Book for future reference. Thermal Visor: With this up, you'll be able to detect heat signatures. Anything that gives off warmth (lava, bad guys, plants) will be a brighter color than the background. This can allow you to see enemies that have any kind of cloaking ability. Also, you can use this to see certain targets for your Wave Beam. Be careful when using it in mechanized areas, as mechanical enemies will not show up on thermal scan. You'll find it in the Phendrana Drifts Research Core. X-Ray Visor: This is in the Tallon Overworld Life Grove, which you can only get to after you find Power Bombs. Using this, you can track most any enemy. Also, there are objects concealed with a form of cloaking. Using this will allow you to see those objects. --- Secondary Items Missile Launcher: Samus' secondary weapon is found in the Chozo Ruins after you lose it in the opening. Some enemies are best destroyed using Missiles. By and large, they cause more damage than a standard beam shot. There are several Missile Expansions in the game besides the first one you find, so keep an eye open for hidden paths. Charge Beam: Regained in the Chozo Ruins after the opening. Hold down the A Button to charge up any of your beams. Release to fire. Some enemies can only be destroyed with a charged shot. Also, charge up your beam and point it at nearby floating pickups and they'll be tractored to you if you're close enough. Space Jump Boots: Although it's found in the Tallon Overworld, you won't be able to get to it until after taking a trip to the Phendrana Drifts. Once you earn this, press B a second time after jumping to jump again. Beam Combo: There are four of these in the game, one for each beam, and you have to find them to use them. To use, charge up the Charge Beam, then press Y. Each combo uses a number of Missiles. Here's the lowdown on each: Super Missile: Used with Power Beam and 5 Missiles. Can destroy Cordite. Found in Phendrana Drifts, Observatory. Wavebuster: Used with Wave Beam and 10 Missiles, plus more for holding the A button down for a constant stream. Shoots a stream of electricity. Found in Chozo Ruins, Light Tower. Ice Spreader: Used with the Ice Beam and 10 Missiles. You'll shoot a blast of ice that will freeze up an entire area. It's found in the Shore Tunnel in Magmoor Caverns after you lay a Power Bomb in the glass tunnel there. Flamethrower: Used with Plasma Bema and 10 Missiles, plus more for holding the A button down for a constant stream of flame. Found in the Phazon Mines, Mine Security Station. Grapple Beam: This handy electric beam is found in the Phazon Mines as you head out after earning the Power Bombs. To use it, you must first find a Grapple Point. Once you do, face it and hold L to shoot the beam. Use the Control Stick to manuever yourself in flight and release L to let go. It's pure fun. ============= 4B. Enemies = ============= For the sake of ease, I've arranged these guys in a grouped order, according to their relative danger. If you're looking for a list in the order of the Pause Menu's list, I moved it down to the Log Book area. I put boss enemies in the next section. If an enemy says "*ONE-SHOT*" after it, you should scan it the first time you see it, because there's no (or a limited) chance you'll see it again. --- Swarmers Generally not a huge problem. These guys hide in small nooks in passage-like areas and swarm out in large clusters. Alone, all of them are exceedingly weak. Parasite: A standard lizard-type enemy. They splatter on your visor if you get too close. The Pirates were futzing around with these guys and Phazon when a big one decided not to take their orders anymore. Found: Frigate Orpheon (only in the opening) *ONE-SHOT* Scarab: Standard swarmer types that you'll face in tunnel areas. Found: Chozo Ruins in tunnels Tallon Crab: A native of Tallon, these guys are much like Parasites or Scarabs in their swarm tendencies. Found: Tallon Overworld (Main Ventilation Shaft Section A) Lumigek: These guys look like geckos and are found in the Impact Crater. Found: Impact Crater (Crater Tunnel A) --- Crawlers These guys hug floors, walls, and ceilings. Usually, their body is their only weapon. There are some with ranged attacks, though. They're generally not very strong. Zoomer: A staple of the Metroid universe. This spiked bugger clings to walls and ceilings. He basically walks around, and that's it. A few shots will waste him. Found: Tallon Canyon, in many places Geemer: The tougher brother to the Zoomer. They have red shells, and cannot be killed with the usual beams, but they can be killed with a Missile or the Plasma Beam. Found: Tallon Overworld (Tallon Canyon, Root Cave) Seedling: These are somewhat like Zoomers, except they can, and will, fire their spikes out at you. Found: Tallon Overworld (Temple Lobby) Oculus: Another bad guy that hangs out mostly near Morph Ball areas. He's indestructible, and exists solely to prevent you from where you're going. Found: Chozo Ruins (Sun Tower, Tower of Light) Grizby: Found in Magmoor Caverns. This little guy has a rock-hard shell. He mostly wanders around on small platforms, and can be taken out easily enough with a Missile. Found: Magmoor Caverns (Burning Trail, Lake Tunnel) Triclops: Similar to the Grizby. It likes round stuff a lot. If it sees you rolling around in ball form, it'll try to bite you. If you drop Bombs, it'll go for those instead, with nasty results. Found: Magmoor Caverns, in several locations Crystallite: These crawlers are recognized by the hunk of reflective ice on their backs that reflect beams. A Missile will bust one. A Plasma Beam will also work. Found: Phendrana Drifts, several locations Ice Parasite: Really no more than a wall crawler for the Drifts. A few shots will take out this crystalline lizard-type guy. Found: Phendrana Drifts (Chozo Ice Temple, Frozen Pike) *ONE-SHOT* Plated Parasite: These guys like to hang out near Morph Ball areas. They look like other parasites, only gray. You can bust them up with Bombs. Found: Chozo Ruins (Furnace) --- Predators Definitely too vicious to be considered Crawlers, even though most of them are land-locked. These bad boys will actively attack you, as opposed to passively defending themselves. Beetle: Not your common garden variety. These guys are about a third your size and have a nasty bite. Take them out from afar with several shots. Found: Tallon Overworld and Chozo Ruins in several locations Plated Beetle: A miniboss at first, but more common later on. These guys will get close to you. Shift to one side, shift back, then roar and charge you. As soon as they roar, dodge to the side and open up on their vulnerable red butts. One Charge Beam shot will kill them. Found: Chozo Ruins (Ruined Shrine, Main Plaza after destroying Flaahgra) Ice Beetle: A resident of the Phendrana Drifts. Much like normal Beetles, except it takes several more hits. Found: Phendrana Drifts, in a few places Burrower: An inhabitant of the Magmoor Caverns. They like to hang out underground a lot, but you can follow their movements. When they pop out, peg them. They only take one shot. Found: Magmoor Caverns (Lake Tunnel) Ice Burrower: Seriously just like the Burrower from the Caverns, except he's in the Drifts. Make sure you scan one of these guys before you get the Thermal Visor, otherwise they'll disappear. Found: Phendrana Drifts (Plaza Walkway) Baby Sheegoth: These snowbeasts fire blasts of icy acid. Their only weak spot is their back. To get to it effectively, you'll need some room to do a side dodge (with B). It's a lot easier with the Space Jump, but it can be done without, Keep hammering the back, and the Sheegoth will croak. Found: Phendrana Drifts in several locations --- Fliers As their name suggests, these beings float, flit, flutter, and flap around the area. Some have ranged attacks, and some just charge right at you. War Wasp: You'll learn to hate these guys. Coming out of hives, they buzz and flit about before going in for a sting. They don't take many hits, you just have to hit them. Found: Chozo Ruins, in many places Plazmite: A floating luminescent bug. You'll take damage on contact, but it's generally wise to leave them alive, as they may be the only light source in some rooms. Found: Chozo Ruins (Ruined Fountain, Totem Access) Shriekbat: Another old Metroid alumnus, except they fly horizontally now. From the ceiling they screech down towards you. One shot will waste them, though. Found: Chozo Ruins, in multiple locales Ice Shriekbat: These are just like normal Shriekbats, except they're in Phendrana Drifts. If you get the Thermal Visor before scanning these things, you won't see them again. Found: Phendrana Drifts (Ice Ruins West) *ONE-SHOT* Puffer: These floating green thingies explode into poison gas on contact. It must be corrosive, because Samus has her own oxygen supply, so she shouldn't be technically "inhaling" it. Anyway, one shot kills them, and wait for the cloud to dissapate. Found: Magmoor Caverns, everywhere. Plated Puffer: A tougher cousin of the Puffer. Alike in every way except that the only thing that can burst its shell is a Missile. Found: Chozo Ruins (Tower of Light) Flickerbat: Tiny and annoying best describes these guys. They fly around leaving little blue sonic trails, and they'll bump you off if you're in the middle of jumping. You can track them with the X-Ray Visor, but they're easy enough to see without. Found: Phendrana Drifts, in a few locations Chozo Ghost: Despite the disconcerting appearance of these nasty boys. All you have to do to kill them is just shoot them with your Power Beam. Just the Power Beam or Super Missiles (which derive from the Power Beam). Nothing else will work. Watch out for their dancing around and spectral blasts. Once you find the X-Ray Visor, you can track them even if they disappear. Found: Chozo Ruins (Hall of the Elders, among other places) Glider: A harmless creature, and if you have a Grappling Beam, you can attach to it with it. Found: Phendrana Drifts and Phazon Mines, in a few areas. --- Squatters These guys don't move, period. Most of them have ranged attacks to defend themselves, but some just sit and wait for you to run into them. Eyon: The patented laser eye of the game. Their constant beams will zap you if you get in front of them. Shoot them to have them close their eyes for a second. Use a Charged shot to blow them to pieces. Found: Chozo Ruins, in a few different locations Stone Toad: A weird fella. He likes round stuff and he mostly just sits around. If you get near in ball form, he'll try to eat you, unless you use Bombs to bust him open. Found: Chozo Ruins (Energy Core, Reflecting Pool) Magmoor: These are big fire snakes that live in the Caverns of the same name. They rise out of the lava and breathe fire at you. They can't move around, but they can take a lot of hits before you blow their heads off. Found: Magmoor Caverns, in several lava pools Puddle Spore: This big blobby guy floats around in lava and spits stuff at you. He can pretty easily be flipped over with a few shots to the maw when he opens, after which he can be used as a platform. He isn't killed at that point, and he'll flip back over, so be quick. Found: Magmoor Caverns (South Core Tunnel) Jelzap: A jellyfish-like creature living in the water. If you get close, it'll try to suck you towards it. Respond by blasting its nucleus. Found: Tallon Overworld and Phendrana Drifts, in certain water areas. --- Plants Tallon is home to much vegetation, some of it a little more than nasty. Like Squatters, these enemies don't move, but some try to attack you. Tangle Weed: This gray stuff is harmless. It just slows you down. If you want to make it retreat, just shoot at it. Found: Tallon Overworld and Chozo Ruins, in several locations Venom Weed: This red cousin of the Tangle Weed will hurt you if you touch it, so shoot it to make it retract. Found: Chozo Ruins (Arboretum, and other places before the Flaahgra) Blastcap: One bad shroom. They usually hang in clusters. They won't attack or anything, but if you touch them, they explode. The spores aren't harmful, but the blast is. Shoot the clusters from afar to pop them. Found: Chozo Ruins and Tallon Overworld, in several locations Sap Sac: Not an active enemy, but if you shoot these Overworld dwellers, the sap inside will violently explode. Found: Tallon Overworld (Tallon Canyon, among other places) Aqua Sac: Kinda like a Sap Sac, except underwater. Don't be near it when you blow it up. Found: Tallon Overworld, in the Crashed Frigate Hive: The War Wasp Hive should be taken out if you don't want to be annoyed by the little buggers. A Missile is enough to bust it open. Found: Chozo Ruins, in several places Reaper Vine: An inhabitant of the Chozo Ruins. You cannot kill it, but a shot at its vulnerable spot will make it retract for several seconds. Watch holes in the wall for them. Found: Chozo Ruins (Arboretum, among other places) Aqua Reaper: An aquatic vine thingy. Hit it in the targeted spot to make it retreat. Found: Tallon Overworld, in corridors in the Crashed Frigate Bloodflower: A rare enemy. It spits toxic gunk at you. If there are Sap Sacs nearby, use them to blow it up. Otherwise, shoot its own toxic stuff when it fires to give it a taste of its own medicine. Found: Tallon Overworld (Root Tunnel, Great Tree Hall) --- Pirate Tech Mechanical and energy based bad guys. The Space Pirates use whatever they have at their technological disposal to prevent unwanted hunters from getting to their good stuff. Auto Turret: Kind of a pain. These guys can punch right through your suit if you let them hammer you enough. Try to take them out from afar if you can. Any weapon will work, but Missiles work the best. Found: Frigate Orpheon, Phendrana Drifts, in the Research Center. Mega Turret: A more advanced type of Turret than the first. This one has powerful shielding and a nasty beam. A couple of Missiles can blow it up. Found: Phazon Mines, in several locations Pulse Bombu: A floating nasty. These guys are pure energy. You won't have the Wave Beam when you first meet them, so you'll have to avoid their energy droplets. Be careful not to use your Charge Beam near them, as they'll be attracted to it. Once you find the Wave Beam, a few blasts will kill it. Found: Phendrana Drifts, in several locations Scatter Bombu: This form of Bombu hangs out in tunnels. It trails three strands of energy, but doesn't attack actively. Getting close will mess with your visor, and charging up your beam will make them move faster. Only the Wave Beam can harm them, so if you don't have it, use ball form and quickly time your roll to get safely past them. Found: Phendrana Drifts, in several places Void Bombu: Just like a Pulse Bombu, only invisible, and you can only see them with the X-Ray Visor. Don't worry about scanning them, because you can't. Found: Phazon Mines (Quarantine Access B) Sentry Drone: A nasty mechanical foe. It zips around and fires repeating cannons at you. Use the Wave Beam to disrupt its circuits and take it out down relatively quickly. Getting close to it can disrupt your visor, and it locks doors when it sees you. Found: Phendrana Drifts, all over the Research Center Aqua Drone: Much like Sentry Drones, only underwater. Make sure you scan it before you leave the Frigate and go to the Phazon Mines, because it will disappear afterwards. Found: Tallon Overworld (Biohazard Containment) *ONE-SHOT* --- Space Pirates They came to Tallon looking for the riches of Phazon. They're the most intelligent bad guys you'll face in the game. They move quickly, fire fast, and can dodge your attacks if given enough of a window. Space Pirate: No particular weakness, but the scourge of the galaxy does have decent attack capabilities. It can fire Galvanic Accelerator Cannons from a distance, and has a Scythe on its arm for close combat. Found: Phendrana Drifts, in the Research Center Shadow Pirate: These Pirates rely on their cloaking technology (and can be a total pain to try to scan). They only use their scythes. Use your Thermal Visor to track them, and your strongest weapons to drop them quickly. Found: Phendrana Drifts, in the Research Center Flying Pirate: Space Pirates with jetpacks. In addition to a pulse cannon, they also have missile launchers mounted on their packs. Concentrated fire will cause the pack to malfunction, which is when the Pirate will go for a kamikaze run. Found: Phendrana Drifts, all over the Research Center Aqua Pirate: Flying Pirates, only underwater, and actually quite a bit slower, and thus easier, than their counterparts. Use the Ice Beam, then a Missile to bust them open. Found: Tallon Overworld, several locations in the Crashed Frigate Power Trooper: Space Pirates that use your Power Beam. Only the Power Beam will work against them. Best tactic is to just get rid of them quickly with a Super Missile. All these copying troopers use the same yellow-type beam, but their armors are different colors. Found: Phazon Mines, in several areas Wave Trooper: These purple guys are armed with Wave Beam-type armor, and are only susceptible to them. Use charged up shots for best effect. Found: Phazon Mines, in many places Ice Trooper: These white-armored bad guys are by far the easiest of the copying troopers. Just hit them with a charged Ice Blast and Missile them into pieces... Found: Phazon Mines, several locations Plasma Trooper: These red pirates are using plasma technology. Only your Plasma Beam can defeat them. Found: Phazon Mines, in the lower levels Elite Pirate: A major pain enemy. It has a plasma cannon, a wave attack, and is really strong. Use Thermal Visor to find that the pulse cannon is the weak point, then blow it up with Missiles, then target the Pirate itself and Missile it to kingdom come. Alternatively, you can forego the Plasma Cannon and just try to punch Super Missiles in the Pirate's face, even though it risks return fire from the cannon. Whatever floats your boat. The Pirate can also absorb your shots. Watch for it to hold out its hand in front of it, as that's a sign it'll be absorbing. Found: Phazon Mines (Elite Control, Dynamo Access, Omega Research) *ONE-SHOT* Phazon Elite: This is also known as "Elite Pirate Alpha". This is one of the first Elite Pirates to actively consume and use Phazon on its own. It has a Wave Quake Generator like other Elite Pirates, but no Plasma Cannon. The only thing that really separates it from other Elite Pirates is the massive amount of hits it can take before going down. Found: Phazon Mines (Elite Research) *ONE-SHOT* --- Metroids Created by the Chozo to stabilize the ecosystem of SR388 to prevent a strange parasite from dominating the planet. In Chozo, the word Metroid roughly translates to "ultimate warrior". Although these beings possess no sentience, they are fierce and intelligent predators. They have a near limitless capacity for storing energy, which they obtain from latching onto their prey. Metroid: The larval Metroid is the first kind you'll encounter. Multiple Missiles can kill one, or one Ice Beam shot and one Missile. If you're attacked, quickly roll up in a ball and drop a Bomb to shake the Metroid off. Found: Phendrana Drifts, in the Research Center, as well as Phazon Mines. Hunter Metroid: This evolved Metroid is more of a danger than the larva. It has a tentacle attack for draining energy. Ice it up, then fire a Missile to bust it open. Found: Phendrana Drifts (Frost Cave) and Phazon Mines (Fungal Hall A). Fission Metroid: Found in the Impact Crater, these guys are a total pain. Shoot one enough, and it will split into two different colored Metroids, each only susceptible to the beam of its color. Sounds interesting, until you start zapping one, and the other starts latching onto you. A Power Bomb while it's attached will kill it outright, but it's wasteful. Sometimes it's best just to try to ignore it, and only setting Bombs to shake it off if it attacks. Found: Impact Crater (Phazon Core) ============ 4C. Bosses = ============ Major battles in the game. If you're going for all the entries in the Log Book, you have to scan these guys and all their parts right away, because you won't get another chance. Parasite Queen: This boss is in the Tallon Space Station. It's a huge bug in a stasis field. It shoots "weapon-grade" energy shots at you, so make sure to use your dodging (B while locked-on) to avoid it. To start with, scan it so you know its weak spot, so you can lock onto it. To shoot it, make sure you're not hitting the "panels" on the stasis field. Shoot in between for a clean shot. Stop when the panels go nuts, then fire again when you get an opening. Ram War Wasps and Hive Mecha: Your first minor battle on the surface of Tallon IV will be against these special wasps (DEFINITELY scan them, because they're different than the others). Use a combination of your L and R buttons to take out the circling wasps, then hit the Hive Mecha for all its worth. To document the Hive Mecha, you have to scan below the part you shoot, down in the poisoned water. Incinerator Drone: A mini-boss of sorts. This guy is found in the Chozo Ruins some time after you pick up the Morph Ball. He'll try to roast you with two flame jets. To attack, scan it, then shoot the red eye thing on top (with a Missile, if you've got it). Hit it hard enough, and it will burn the Hives above it, releasing some Barbed War Wasps. BE SURE to SCAN them now because you won't get another chance. Shoot them down, but concentrate on your objective of blasting the Drone. Flaahgra: The official boss of the Chozo Ruins, who hangs out in the Sun Chamber, and with good cause. He loves sun, and it makes him grow. Being half-plant, one can understand this. In addition to scanning him you should also scan his Tentacles. Although shooting him directly won't harm him, a lot of shots will daze him. To defeat him, you must shoot the red button on the backside of the sun panel that's warming him up. Flip it all the way up and he'll collapse to the ground, and his roots will retract from the canals near his bottom. Roll into one of those canals, attach yourself to the socket at the end, and set a Bomb. For the next round, you'll have to flip two sun panels. Be sure to shoot him to keep him dizzy, because he'll flip the panels back down given a few seconds to compose himself. Once both panels are flipped, you'll have to pick a different canal, since you blew up the last one. Then, you know how it goes, you have to do three sun panels, canal, boom. Lastly, all four, and Flaahgra will be but a memory, and the poisoned water will be pure once more. Sheegoth: Another halfway boss. The mama Sheegoth is a larger version of the babies. The trick is to get close to it and try to circle around it so it doesn't run you over, then wait until it tries to breathe on you, which it will only do if you're close. After that, it'll be tired, so you can slam a Missile into it. Just keep doing that over and over again. It takes a lot of Missiles (around 25, I think). You'll find more later on but they're smaller, and they're easier to take out once you earn the Super Missile Beam Combo. Oh, several people tell me they have an easier time taking out a Sheegoth with Bombs. I usually get trampled, but use whichever you like. Thardus: Also known as "The Rock" in some circles. Phazon experiments have produced this moving rock being. It can roll up in a ball to try to run you over, raise some rocks out of the ground to throw at you (which you can shoot for supplies), or shoot an ice beam along the floor, which can freeze you. To destroy Thardus, bring up your Thermal Visor. You'll see a bright spot on the rock monster. Shoot that spot with all you have. Soon, Thardus will overload your visor. That's okay, cause when you switch back to the Combat Visor, the weak spot on Thardus will be bright blue, and targetable. Blow it up to hurt him bad. Then, pull up your Thermal Visor and aim for the next spot. Thardus has seven spots altogether, and some get tough to hit, especially when the battle drags out and a snowstorm makes normal visibiity lousy. Destroy all seven weak spots and Thardus will crumble to a pile of rubble. A really good avoidance tactic that's been pointed out by several people is to hop onto the rocks surrounding the room. You'll have enough distance from the incoming rocks, and the ice beam won't hit you. You're still vulnerable to the rolling attack, though. Shadow Drone: You fight this bad bot in the Central Dynamo of the Phazon Mines. You can't see him or track him. Shots bounce off harmlessly. The only time you can hit him is if you try to get close. When that happens, he'll try to fire, and that's when you should plug him with a Super Missile to drop him. Don't worry about documenting him. You can't. Omega Pirate: This is the boss at the very bottom of the Phazon Mines. Okay, to start with, this is what he can do to you. Get too close and he'll swipe at you with his big claws. At a generally medium distance, he'll employ his Wave Quake Generator, which you should use a double jump to get over. At long range, he'll use his Plasma Incendiary Launchers, which you should just dodge to get out of the way from. If you shoot at him when he's not attacking, he'll use his shield to absorb your attacks. Now, to take him out, you have to shoot him while he's trying to attack (preferably with the Wave Quake). Once you scan him, there are four spots you can target, which are the four Phazon plates on his arms and legs. Hit them with anything you want. Plasma or Super Missiles work the best for me. Once you destroy all four, he'll call for help before fading out of view, using the Chameleon Manta. The lousy thing about the Manta is that he cannot be seen by anything, period. While he's taking five, Troopers of random colors will drop from the catwalks above. You're encouraged to kill them before they kill you. While fighting them, the Omega Pirate will try to recharge itself by standing on one of the Phazon pits. You have the option of fighting off the Pirates first, or ignoring them and pulling up your X-Ray Visor. Well, the Omega Pirate is still largely invisible, except for the pure Phazon running through his veins as he recharges on the pit. You'll see his heart and veins. Open up with your best weapon, like a Super Missile or something. Hurry, because once all four plates are back on, he'll be back in the fight. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Eventually, you'll wear his health down enough that he'll keel over. Meta Ridley: You'll fight your old nemesis in the Artifact Chamber after activating the twelve. For the first part of this battle, he'll fly around the Artifact Chamber. If he halts and folds his wings, he's going to use his Multi-Missile System, which you should dodge. Also up in the air, he'll use his Kinetic Breath Weapon. If he swoops far from the battlefield, he'll come in at bombing angle to release his Meson Bomb System, which you should dodge very quickly and run away from. Scan Ridley to find that his weakest plating is in his chest. When he stops and you have a clean shot, fire either a Charged Plasma shot or a Super Missile at him. Try to stay locked on the whole time, naturally. Sometimes, Ridley will land to spew fire or stuff at you, or slash you, so watch out. Once you wear him down to about a third of his energy, his wings will burn and he'll land on the chamber platform to go toe-to-toe. If you're far off, he'll perform a dashing slash, and afterwards, if he needs to turn to face you, he'll whip his tail, which hurts. If you're close, he'll just plain slash. He'll also use his Kinetic Breath Weapon at times. I've found that if I stand close, but not too close, he'll bend down and roar. When his mouth is open is when you should hit him. Give him one charged Power Beam shot in the open mouth and he'll recoil, leaving his chest open for you to launch a Super Missile at. Keep dodging, waiting for openings, and taking advantage of them, and you'll deplete his energy enough. Metroid Prime: Boy, this thing's nasty. This being came in with the Phazon meteorite that crashed on Tallon, and it's only become nastier over the years. When the Pirates found it, they tried to harness its power. They failed, and the Prime has become immensely stronger and more well-armed after its stint as a Pirate lab monkey, with plenty of armor and armaments. It doesn't even really look like a Metroid, unless you're thinking of those ones from Metroid II that have tons of armor on them. It's got five huge legs, and black carapace covering everything. Only remotely vulnerable point is the head. The only way to damage this monstrosity is to shoot with the beam that's the same color as the little lights on his shell. If he's yellow, use your Super Missiles, if white, use your Ice Spreader if you have it, otherwise use charged Ice shots. If purple, use charged Wave Beam shots, and if red, use regular Plasma shots. You could use the Wavebuster if you have it, but I recommend saving the Missiles that they use for the Super Missiles and Ice Spreader. For his attacks against you, mostly what he uses is a huge colored beam from his mouth. If he's purple, this beam will scramble your visor and you'll lose your lock on him. If he's white, this beam will freeze you solid. Also from the beginning, he'll use Multi- Missiles. Once you knock him down to the second stage, he'll charge you whenever you seriously hurt him. The lights on him, and his eyes, will dim when he's about to do this. To avoid it, roll up into a ball, and into the trenches under him. Once you get down to the third stage, he'll start using a Snare Beam, and will also release orbs that will attack you, which you should destroy. Once down to the fourth stage, he'll charge whenever he feels like it, constantly switch colors, and fire missiles that release a poison gas. This is a tough fight to be sure, but if you stay sharp and aim straight, you can beat him. True Metroid Prime: After destroying the outer shell, the real fight will begin. The True Prime is a floating blue face with six tentacles. As his main attack, he will slam the ground, creating a Wave Quake that you need to double jump over. He also has a Chameleon Manta, which he'll use to change his opacity. First, he'll change so he can only be seen by Thermal, then he'll change so he can only be seen by X-Ray, then he'll be visible, but not to any special visors. After running a few Wave Quakes, it will create a pool of Phazon at its base and summon two Metroids. Stand in the pool and your beam will be powered up to Hyper Mode. Waste the two Metroids with your Phazon Beam, then look around for the Prime. Switch visors to Thermal or X-Ray if he cloaks himself (sometimes only one will work), and hold down the button to deliver the constant pain to your adversary. After draining its health, it will start summoning more powerful Metroids; Hunter, then Fission. Keep hitting it with the Phazon Beam and it will croak. This battle isn't easy, but it's not nearly as painful as fighting the Prime's first form. ****************************************************************************** 5. WALKTHROUGH ****************************************************************************** One big important thing to remember about this walkthrough is that I will be referring to the names of the rooms CONSTANTLY. To find out the name of any room you've visited, bring up the map, and use the C-Stick to move around. The room you center on will have its named displayed. Use it. Live it. Love it. Let's get down to brass tacks... (Oh, I didn't bring any. I drove.) ================================ 5A. Frigate Orpheon - Distress = ================================ Sammy will pull into the space craft, hop out of her snazzy Gunship, and you'll immediately take control to find out why the heck there's so much distress in the world... For the record, in addition to your basic equipment of the Power Suit, Power Beam, Combat Visor, and Scan Visor, you'll also have the Varia Suit, the Morph Ball, Morph Ball Bombs, the Charge Beam, the Grappling Beam, and 15 Missiles. Exterior Docking Hangar: Use L to lock onto the four red lights. Shoot all to turn them green and drop the force field. After passing the field, you'll soon come upon another, but the lights are offline. Use the Scan Visor on the nearby console to activate them. There are six lights for this field, and you'll have to use R to aim up and shoot the higher two. Jump up the ledge and walk up the pathway to the door. Shoot it to open it. Scan some of the data points on the wall if you wish, and shoot the door on the far end to enter the next room. Air Lock: Scan the console to repressurize the air lock. Head through the far door. Deck Alpha Access Hall: Shoot far door to continue. Emergency Evacuation Area: In this room are a couple of Parasites that won't really bother you, but you can practice shooting them. Note all the dead things in the area. Freaky, eh? Watch out, the last Space Pirate in this room is only mostly dead. Finish him off and move on. Deck Alpha Umbilical Hall: Charge up your beam by holding A and bust down the rubble. Continue on. Map Facility: Watch the nearby Parasites run through a little tunnel. Press X to drop into your Morph Ball and follow them in the little pathway. Hop on the map pedestal to download the map of this place. Roll back out and take the other door to the next room. Connection Elevator to Deck Beta: Scan the console to activate the elevator. Step in the hologram and ride down. Leave by the other door. Deck Beta Conduit Hall: Hop into your Morph Ball. Watch out for the fire and electricity and roll through the small path and head to the next room. Biotech Research Area 1: There must have been some kegger last night, because the two Space Pirates in this area are not looking too well. Blast them and head through the next door. Deck Beta Security Hall: Around the left turn is an Auto Turret. Lock on and quickly fire a Missile using Y to blow it to pieces. Head to the next room. Biohazard Containment: Another Auto Turret to bust open here. See what you can scan in this area. Of particular note is one of the consoles that has a red square, which upload a Pirate Data in your Log. Activate the elevator at the other end of the room and ride up. Take out the Space Pirates up here. Use Missiles or Charge Beams on the standing ones, as they're not as bad off. Take the other door out of here. Deck Beta Transit Hall: Scan some of the data points on the wall if you wish, then head through the other door. Cargo Freight Lift to Deck Gamma: Blast the Auto Turret, scan the console and ride the elevator down to the next deck. Take out the Pirate at the bottom, scan the console, roll up into the Morph Ball, and drop into the hologram to open the door. Reactor Core Entrance: Once inside, quickly use Missiles on the Auto Turrets here. Head through the door on your left and use the Save Station. Head back out, scan the console, and roll into the switch to open the door to the Reactor Core. Reactor Core: Walk in and you'll find your first nasty boss person, the Parasite Queen. Check the Bosses section to find out how to defeat her. Once she's down, she'll fall into the core, making it very unstable. Bad. You have seven minutes to evacuate, so get moving. Head to the door you're now facing. Deck Gamma Monitor Hall: Don't mind the monitors flashing near you. Just hop up the ledges and head to the opposite door. Connection Elevator to Deck Beta: Scan the console and quick hop into the hologram to ride up. Scan the next console you see to shut down the Auto Turret in the hallway. Head through the door. Biotech Research Area 1: Back here now. You can't leave by any of the ways that were open before. You'll see some Pirates fighting another huge Parasite, then an explosion will kill them all. Hop up the broken platforms at the far end of the room, then kill the two Pirates up here. A hatch will bust open. Head into it. Subventilation Shaft Section A: Head down the pipes. You may find it quicker if you hop into your ball form and roll the whole way. The path is rather obvious. Watch out for the clusters of Parasites that pop out, but don't fret too much if you get gooped. Head through the door at the end of this shaft. Subventilation Shaft Section B: Roll down more pipes. Eventually, you'll reach the Cargo Freight Lift, but you won't be able to go down anywhere. Just cross into the next room. Main Ventilation Shaft Section A: Run (or roll) up the pipes. Main Ventilation Shaft Section B: Blast the two Auto Turrets here and move on. Main Ventilation Shaft Section C: Move on through the pipes, watching out for Parasites. Main Ventilation Shaft Section D: Keep moving. You're getting close. Main Ventilation Shaft Section E: There's a big piston here. Follow it as it retracts and slip into the exit on the right. Main Ventilation Shaft Section F: Nothing special here. Just move. Biotech Research Area 2: Hey, do we know that guy? After he leaves, face the icons hanging out across from you and hold L to start grappling. Let go and press again to latch onto the next one, then let go and exit the other side. Connection Elevator to Deck Alpha: Scan the console to shut off the Auto Turret, then head through the tunnel. Watch the electricity, then scan the console to activate the elevator. Oh, crap. That hit you took wasn't too good. In fact, it was so bad that you lost all your cool stuff (besides Power Suit, Power Beam, Combat Visor, and Scan Visor). Ride up the elevator. Deck Alpha Mech Shaft: Run through these little tunnels to get back to... Air Lock: Depressurization will happen automatically. Open the door and head out. Exterior Docking Hangar: Just run. You're at the end. As soon as you get outside, Samus will take over. You'll see your friend again, then jump onto your Gunship and give chase. ================================================ 5B. Tallon Overworld/Chozo Ruins - Basic Items = ================================================ You'll make a speedy entry onto the surface of Tallon IV, then hop out and deploy your rugged independence. You lost your target that you were tracking, so you'll have to do the old-fashioned walk-around recon. NOTE: From here on out, if the way out of the room is quite obvious, I won't bother telling you to "leave" or "go into this door". I think you guys will live... ^_^ Landing Site: There five doors in this area, and you can go through three of them. Don't bother with the one up near the waterfall, as you won't get far. There's one tucked away to the back left of your ship, which you don't need to bother with either. So, for now, just head to the right of your ship, hop up the ledges, and through the door there. Canyon Cavern: As you approach the sand, two Beetles will pop out. Proceed to through the next door. Tallon Canyon: Lots of Zoomers, and one Geemer crawling around. Don't bother with any climbing right now. Just walk through the canyon to the other end, taking out more Beetles in the ground. Head through the far door. Transport Tunnel A: A couple of Zoomers. Transport to Chozo Ruins West: Scan the nearby console to get the lift going. Ride up to the Ruins. Ruins Entrance: More Beetles in the sand. Notice that wavy wall above the exit? Scan it, and you'll learn a piece of Chozo Lore... Main Plaza: Still more Beetles, and you'll find some War Wasp Hives if you start climbing up the far end. Don't do so, yet. Head to the far end of the plaza and bear left to the next room. Nursery Access: Scarabs line this corridor. Shoot carefully. Eyon Tunnel: Just like it says. There are several Eyons lining the walls. Shoot them to get them to let up the beams. Ruined Nursery: There's a weird wavy wall across from you. Scan it to get another Chozo Lore. Take out the Beetles in this room. As you hop up the platforms, a couple of War Wasps will get snippy. Stop by the nearby Save Station if you wish, or move on. North Atrium: More Scarabs. Ruined Gallery: Some War Wasps above you, and Blastcaps and Tangle Weed below you. Head for the door on the far side of the room. Totem Access: Some Plazmites. Bask in their glow, then move on. Shoot the nearby crate for some energy. Totem Hive: Watch the water here. It's nasty. Head up to the pedestal and get ready to tango with a bunch of Ram War Wasps. The water will fill, trapping you on the pedestal. Take out the Wasps that come out, being sure to scan them first, then shoot up the Hive Mecha at the far end, making sure to scan it first (the actual scan point is below the part you shoot). Keep doing this until you shoot out three red lights on the Mecha, and you'll be able to get the Missile Launcher. Shoot the Blast Shield off the door at the far end. *** EARNED MISSILE LAUNCHER *** Transport Access North: All there is to do here is collect your first ENERGY TANK. Woohoo! Now, backtrack until you reach the... Ruined Gallery: There's a weak wall right near the floor in the poisoned water. Bust it open with a Missile to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Also, blast open the Missile Door to get the map of the Ruins. Continue on back. Main Plaza: There's a Missile Door on ground level, here. Bust it open. Ruined Shrine Access: Mind the Scarabs. Ruined Shrine: Hop up and over the low wall. In this area, you'll have to take out about twenty Beetles and one Plated Beetle. Once they're dead, you can take the Morph Ball. Yay! Head back to the Main Plaza. *** EARNED MORPH BALL *** ======================================== 5C. Chozo Ruins - Capture the Flaahgra = ======================================== Main Plaza: Now, it's time to climb up those rocks around the outside of the plaza, and cross the root to that door near the War Wasp Hives. Ruined Fountain Access: Curl up in your Morph Ball and just ride on through the whole mess of Scarabs, under the roots, and all the way to the door, unless you feel like taking them out, which is entirely up to you. Ruined Fountain: That doesn't look healthy... Note all the Plazmites floating around. Note that it's also pretty dark in here. If you blow a lot of them up, you won't be able to see, so be careful. Circle the stones around the right side, past the fountain and take the door on the left. Oh, and there's another Chozo Lore on the wall for you to read, behind the fountain. Arboretum Access: Watch out. Incoming Shriekbats. Arboretum: There are Reaper Vines to your left. Shoot their bulbs to make them retreat, then hop across the platforms to the center tree. Climb up the platforms around the tree, then hop onto the little bridge. Take a left at the wall and make your way down to the door, shooting the Reaper Vines in the way. Gathering Hall Access: Just some steam. No big... Gathering Hall: There's a Save Station here (you'll have it marked on the map, already). To the right of where you came in are some platforms leading higher up. Make sure you blow up the Blastcaps sitting on them before you jump. Also, you'll be dive-bombed by Shriekbats. Climb up and roll into a little red tunnel. You'll be across a door, with more Shriekbats on the other side. Take them out, then jump across. East Atrium: A few Shriekbats. Energy Core Access: There are three Eyons. Blast them and move on. Energy Core: You'll be playing more with this place later. For now, just turn left, head down the tunnel. Roll into the little shaft. Burn Dome Access: Just keep rolling. Burn Dome: This is the Incinerator Drone. Scan it to find its weak point, which is the red eye that pops up. Try to avoid the flames as it rotates. Shoot its eye once you get a clean shot. You'll stun it and it will burn the hive on the ceiling. Barbed War Wasps will pop out. Scan them now, because you won't get another chance. Keep shooting the red eye and fending off the Wasps and you'll bust the Drone open, and you'll receive the Morph Ball Bombs. Use them right away to bomb the wall in the little water canal. Roll through and get a MISSILE EXPANSION. To get out of the Burn Dome, just elevate yourself with Bomb blasts to get up to high pipes. Make your way back to... *** EARNED MORPH BALL BOMBS *** Energy Core: Head back through the pipe and have a chat with the Stone Toad. Roll up and have him swallow you and Bomb him from the inside. You'll bust down the wall behind him. Roll and Bomb Jump into the switch, then Bomb it to lower the water. Roll out the little socket into the main room, then into the second Bomb switch. That will raise some platforms. Climb back up to the beginning of this room and hop up the platforms to the passage indicated when you blew the second switch. Run all the way up and blow the third switch. The platforms will rise high enough so you can pass to the next room. West Furnace Access: Next room, please... Furnace: Roll into the little ball course. Bomb Jump into the next room, which has an ENERGY TANK. Yay! Now, you can go back to... Energy Core Access: Nothing huge, but you can blow the box before the ledge for a little shortcut past the Eyons. Gathering Hall: Your next destination is the only remaining door in the room. Watery Hall Access: You can take a scan at some of the orange thingies if you wish. There are a few Shriekbats here, as well. At the bottom, blast a Missile into the brick wall to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Watery Hall: At the other end of this large room is a gate, and you need to find and scan four runes to open it. The first rune is to the right of the entry door, and you can see it if you hop to a platform near the water. The second is under a pile of Blastcaps at water level. The third and fourth are both near the gate itself, one near water level, and the other next to the gate. Once all four are scanned, scan the fifth rune that appears on the gate, and grab yourself the Charge Beam. Don't worry about the Eyons that pop up just yet. There's a small wall that you can Bomb nearby. Blow it and head through to the next room. *** EARNED CHARGE BEAM *** Dynamo Access: Head to the next room. Dynamo: Not much to be done here but bust open the gate across the way with a Missile. Grab the MISSILE EXPANSION and head back out. It's time to backtrack all the way to the Arboretum. Arboretum: There are four more runes to scan in this room. The first is at water level, underneath a bunch of Venom Weed. Shoot to get them to retreat and scan the rune. The second is about halfway up the tree, where you can take the path to the Gathering Hall. Get on the bridge, and look at the tree. The third rune is further along the path. Head higher along the outside of the room. Use Missiles to take out War Wasp Hives so they don't bug you. Roll into the small crevice and Bomb the boxes in your way. After you get out, scan the rune that's right on the near wall. There's another crevice after that has Venom Weed. Shoot it and roll through. The last rune is up at the top near the door, right on the tree in front of it. Once the door opens, Bomb the small wall behind it and roll through to the next room. Sunchamber Lobby: Shoot all the Reaper Vines and Venom Weed in your way and push forth. Sunchamber Access: More Reaper Vines and Venom Weed. Shoot the nearby boxes to refill supplies. Sunchamber: You'll face off against Flaahgra here. If you're going for all the Enemy scans, make sure to scan both him and his Tentacles near the floor. Although shooting him directly won't harm him, a lot of shots will daze him. To defeat him, you must shoot the red button on the sun panel that's warming him up. Flip it all the way up and he'll collapse to the ground, and his roots will retract from the canals near his bottom. Roll into one of those canals, attach yourself to the socket at the end, and set a Bomb. For the next round, you'll have to flip two sun panels. Be sure to shoot him to keep him dizzy, because he'll flip the panels back down given a few seconds to compose himself. Once both panels are flipped, you'll have to pick a different canal, since you blew up the last one. Then, you know how it goes, you have to do three sun panels, canal, boom. Lastly, all four, and Flaahgra will be but a memory. The water will be purified, and you'll be able to take the Varia Suit. Head out the other door. *** EARNED VARIA SUIT *** Sun Tower Access: Cross this room. Shoot the boxes if you're low on supplies. Watch out for the Pulse Bombu... Sun Tower: Hop down and face off against all the War Wasps. Read the Chozo Lore on the wall. You can't do anything else, so proceed to the next room. Transport to Magmoor Caverns North: We don't wanna leave just yet. Take the left door. Vault Access: There's a little lift in here that you can only fit on in ball form. Roll onto it and through the pipes to the next room. Vault: To open the Vault containing the sweet sweet MISSILE EXPANSION, you'll need to blow the lock. The first two locks have little gates in front of them. Blow the first one with a Bomb, then Bomb Jump up to the second one and drop a Bomb in front of it. Enter both these locks and lay Bombs to open them. The last lock is pretty high up, and you'll need to do a Double Bomb Jump to get in (check the Bombs section for my preferred method). Lay a Bomb in the lock and you'll open the vault. Read the Chozo Lore on the wall and head out the other door. Plaza Access: Kill the Beetles. Main Plaza: Hey. Sitting right on top of an ENERGY TANK ain't half bad, eh? Now, there are a couple more things to do in this area... Head to the following places: *Ruined Nursery (near the Missile Launcher area): There's a small ball maze on the wall here. The trick is to go to the bottom first to get the metal box out of your way. Roll, blast, and Bomb Jump your way through to a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Ruined Gallery (near the Missile Launcher area): Bomb Jump up to one of the holes in the wall (either one) and roll through to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. With those out of the way, go back to the Trasport to Magmoor Caverns North and head down to toasty land. To get back to the Transport, you must use the area past the Totem Hive (called Transport Access North) to get there (if you don't remember the Totem Hive, it was the place you found the Missile Launcher), as the other ways are either sealed off or out of reach. ===================================================== 5D. Magmoor Caverns/Phendrana Drifts - Fire and Ice = ===================================================== Burning Trail: Hop down the shaft in front of you and proceed along the path. There's a Save Station behind a Missile Door nearby. Watch out for the Shriekbats out here. There's also a Grizby near the end. Lake Tunnel: Watch out for more Grizbies, some flame jets, and a Burrower in this room. Lava Lake: Ah... Nice music, eh? Take out the Magmoor and all the Puffers in this room. Hop across the platforms (be careful, some of them sink). Near the crates is a bombable wall. Take it out and roll on through and Bomb out the other side. Kill the Puffers and hop across more platforms to the other side. Pit Tunnel: To get through here, you'll have to go down into the area with the Triclopses. Bomb them if they get close. Triclops Pit: Several Puffers in the room, as well as Triclopses under the grating. To get under the grating, drop onto it, then look for a passage to the right and behind you leading down to a small tunnel. Roll through, and look for another little tunnel in the back right section of the Triclops Pit. This will lead to another door. Storage Cavern: Grab the MISSILE EXPANSION in plain sight. Triclops Pit: Hop up the grating platforms up near the entrance of this room to get to the next door. Monitor Tunnel: Take out the Puffers, hop across the platforms. Monitor Station: Careful. There are three nasty Auto Turrets across the way here and one more on a higher up level. There are also plenty of Puffers. For now, just head to your left to the door at ground level. Shore Tunnel: Walk through. Enjoy the view. Fiery Shores: There are Magmoors and Triclopses in here. Cross over to the ball tunnel and Bomb Jump up to it. Once out the other side, blow up the nearby crates and ride up the little ball course here, where you'll have to Bomb Jump up to the top, then carefully roll across the catwalks and grab the MISSILE EXPANSION. That's all there is to do here. Fall off the catwalk onto the ledge and jump back to the platforms and make your way back to... Monitor Station: Take out the Auto Turrets and start climbing along the outside to the second floor of the station. Cross the bridge to the door. Transport Tunnel A: Roll up and head to the little ball course in here. There's an ENERGY TANK in here, but you'll have to do three Double Bomb Jumps to get it. Start at the first metal box and do your first one, then keep pulling to the left and continue with your second and third jumps to get to the Tank. The boxes break apart with two bombs, so be careful. To leave, just roll out the bottom of the course to the left. Transport to Phendrana Drifts North: Time to get out of the frying pan and into the freezer... Shoreline Entrance: Use Charge Beam shots on the ice walls to clear the way. Phendrana Shorelines: Pretty. Lots of Crystallites wandering around. To your left is a gate thing that you can blow with a Missile. Do so and you can scan the console behind it to unlock the door above you. Hop up to that door. Ice Ruins Access: Watch out for the Scatter Bombus. Roll past their currents. Ice Ruins East: Be very careful of the Baby Sheegoths in the area. Cross to the far side of the area and hop up on platforms. Make your way across them back near the entrance, then around some more to the other door. Plaza Walkway: Take out the bunch of Ice Burrowers in here and move on. Phendrana Shorelines: Walk around this top area to the nearby door to your left. Ruins Entryway: There are three Pulse Bombus dropping on here. Be careful and move on. Ice Ruins West: Baby Sheegoths here, too... Duck into ruins for cover when you can and make it to the door low and to the right from your starting point. Canyon Entryway: More Scatter Bombus... Phendrana Canyon: There are several Crystallites and a Baby Sheegoth here. Drop down to the bridge below you and scan the console to your right to raise some platforms. Climb up them and you'll collect the Boost Ball. Use it to get out of the halfpipe like canyon area and climb back up to the exit. *** EARNED BOOST BALL *** Now, it's time for some backtracking. Head all the way back to the Transport area and make your way to the Magmoor Caverns. Head to the... Fiery Shores: Bomb up to the little tunnel again, and this time go left instead of taking the ball course. Hop across the gaps, watching out for flame jets. Kill the Magmoor here and roll up the little ball course along the wall. Roll across the little suspended track and to the door. Transport Tunnel B: Proceed through the Tunnel to... Transport to Tallon Overworld West: Time to head back to base, so to speak... ======================================================== 5E. Tallon Overworld/Phendrana Drifts - Rocky Research = ======================================================== Transport Tunnel B: Move through the cavern, taking out the Zoomers. Drop down below the bridge into the steam for a MISSILE EXPANSION. Root Cave: Watch out for Beetles and Zoomers, and start climbing the path until you reach a door. Root Tunnel: Take out the Bloodflower by blowing the nearby Sap Sacs. Tallon Canyon: Ah, memories... This place has a half-pipe for using your Boost Ball, so boost your way up the side that has a platform at the top, then move across the roots. Bomb the little barriers in your way and head to the next room. Gully: Pass through, shooting the minor enemies. Landing Site: Stay up here on the ledge and walk over to the door to your left that's up here. Alcove: Hop down into the center and grab the Space Jump Boots. Awesome, eh? *** EARNED SPACE JUMP BOOTS *** Landing Site: First, look behind your ship for a hole you can roll into and grab a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, I think it's time to check out the door that's high up next to the waterfall... Temple Hall: Take out the Seedlings on the roof and head through the Tangle Weed to... Temple Security Station: Scan the console here to get some Pirate Data. Temple Lobby: Walk through... Artifact Temple: Read the two Chozo Lores on the walls here, then head down the ramp to the main room. Take the first Artifact and scan the other totems in the area for info on more Artifacts. Now that you have a direction here, it's time to head back to Phendrana Drifts. Go through the Transport back to Magmoor Caverns. On your way... Monitor Station: Use your Space Jump to climb to the top of the platform. Hop in the Spinner and Boost to extend the bridge. Hop over to the far wall and make your way around to the high door. Warrior Shrine: Claim your second Artifact, the Artifact of Strength. Now, it's on to Phendrana, where you'll head to... Phendrana Shorelines: With the Space Jump, you can hop across the floating platforms. Cross them over to that temple-y structure there and head inside. Temple Entryway: Pulse Bombus and Scatter Bombus... Chozo Ice Temple: Crystallites, Ice Parasites, and a Baby Sheegoth hang out here. Climb up the ledges on the right side of the room to eventually reach the top. There will be a iced-over fountain ahead of you and four statues lining the walls. The gate to the right says that you need the Shaman to open it. Scan all the statues and you'll find that the Shaman has Brinstone in it. Bust it with a Missile, then head through the gate. Chapel Tunnel: Roll up and head through this ball course, by bombing the breakable boxes below the pillars so you can move ahead. Chapel of the Elders: There's the Wave Beam, but you'll have to do some work to get it. Four Baby Sheegoths will attack, then a big Sheegoth. The mama Sheegoth is a larger version of the babies. The trick is to get close to it and try to circle around it so it doesn't run you over, then wait until it tries to breathe on you, which it will only do if you're close. After that, it'll be tired, so you can slam a Missile into it. Just keep doing that over and over again. It takes a lot of Missiles (around 25, I think). You'll find more later on, and they're easier to take out once you earn the Super Missile Beam Combo. Oh, several people tell me they have an easier time taking out a Sheegoth with Bombs. I usually get trampled, but use whichever you like. Once they're toast, take the Wave Beam. Now, you can open purple-lined doors. Yay! *** EARNED WAVE BEAM *** All right, now it's time to explore some pirate activity. Head to... Ice Ruins West: Near the entrance to your right is a structure. Start climbing up insdie it. As you reach the highest point, you should see a stalactite hanging relatively low. Slam a Missile into the base of it to make a stepping stone. Cross across the structures and make your way towards the purple door at the far end. Courtyard Entryway: Take out the enemies in your way... Ruined Courtyard: There are two "Spinner" machines in this room. You activate them by rolling into them and Boosting until the flap goes all the way down. Spin both and you'll activate a switch higher up. Jump up and Bomb it to raise the water level for a limited time. Cross the ice floes and roll into the little tunnel to find an ENERGY TANK. Go back out and do it again, only climb around the platforms in the middle to reach the top of the platform. You can reach all three doors up here. One has no power going to it, another is a blue door that has a Save Station, and the last is a purple door. Take that door for now. NOTE: This upcoming complex is chock full of stuff to scan, so whenever you get a moment to breathe, start scanning everything. You'll find a TON of Pirate Data here... Specimen Storage: Careful. The Space Pirates know you're here now, and you'll have to smack one down as soon as you enter. Pass through to... Research Entrance: Start by blowing the Auto Turret near the ceiling, then walk in, where you'll be attacked by several Space Pirates. Use your best combat skills to waste all of them to unlock the doors in the room. On the ground floor is a Map Station for this place. Go up the ramp to the next room. Hydra Lab Entryway: Take out the minor enemies here and be on your way. Research Lab Hydra: Plenty more Space Pirates and some Auto Turrets here. Make your way up the ramps. Observatory Access: Scan the console nearby to drop the force field into the Observatory. Observatory: A few more Space Pirates in here. Your next destination is two ball switches on some ledges. Bomb both of those, then drop down to the floor and activate all four Spinners to fire up the hologram of the planetary systems. Check out all the planets. Of particular note should be Zebes and Tallon IV. Start climbing up the metal ledges to the top of the room and you'll find the Super Missile Beam Combo. There's a Save Station up here, too. Head through the purple door. *** EARNED SUPER MISSILE BEAM COMBO *** West Tower Entrance: Some minor bad guys here. West Tower: Ride up the elevator. Control Tower: You'll face off against both Space Pirates and Flying Pirates (which are a real pain). Fight your best, and you can jump inside the towers above you for some cover if you need it. East Tower: Ride down the elevator. Aether Lab Entryway: There's an Ice Beetle in here. Neat, eh? Research Lab Aether: Whoa... Familiar looking critter in that jar, eh? It'll bust out soon, so plug some Missiles to kill your first Metroid of the game. More Turrets and Pirates in this lab, as well as cool stuff to scan. There's also a containment tank that holds an ENERGY TANK. Just bust it open with a Missile. Also near the top are some catwalks. Bomb Jump up to them and roll around to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Research Core Access: Remove the bad guys in your way and move on. Research Core: More Pirates, some Flying Pirates. Scan three consoles all along this route and you'll open the Thermal Visor containment unit. Better get used to it quick, because the lights will dim, and Shadow Pirates will start attacking. *** EARNED THERMAL VISOR *** Basically, it's time to get out of this crazy place, and the only way out is the same way you got in. Keep the Thermal Visor on for as long as you can and retrace your steps through this place. When you reach the top of the Research Core, look at the door with your Thermal Visor and you'll see a power conduit. Shoot it with the Wave Beam and the door will unlock. Keep moving back through all the areas. You'll face off against more Shadow Pirates, as well as Flying Pirates, some Metroids, and some Auto Turrets. It's a long, hard ride, so keep your chin up and make your way all the way back to... Research Lab Hydra: Examine the nearby pillar, which has Cordite in it. Blast it open with a Super Missile to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Keep moving back and you'll get to... Ruined Courtyard: Some Flying Pirates here, now. Remember that door that wasn't getting any power? Put on your Thermal Visor. See that Power Conduit? There's a Cordite wall hanging in the way. Use a Super Missile and you'll uncover the power conduit. Scan it and the door will get power. Head on through. Quarantine Access: Pass through to... North Quarantine Tunnel: Curl up in your ball form and roll through here. Watch out for the Pulse Bombus. Quarantine Cave: Here you will face off against Thardus, the big ol' rock monster. It can roll up in a ball to try to run you over, raise some rocks out of the ground to throw at you (which you can shoot for supplies), or shoot an ice beam along the floor, which can freeze you. To destroy Thardus, bring up your Thermal Visor. You'll see a bright spot on the rock monster. Shoot that spot with all you have. Soon, Thardus will overload your visor. That's okay, cause when you switch back to the Combat Visor, the weak spot on Thardus will be bright blue, and targetable. Blow it up to hurt him bad. Then, pull up your Thermal Visor and aim for the next spot. Thardus has seven spots altogether, and some get tough to hit, especially when the battle drags out and a snowstorm makes normal visibiity lousy. Destroy all seven weak spots and Thardus will crumble. Once he's rubble (and he gives Samus a parting pebble to the back of the head ^_^), take the Spider Ball and leave. *** EARNED SPIDER BALL *** There are a couple more places in Phendrana now, with stuff for your consumption... Ice Ruins East: There's a magnetic track in the back end here. Spider Ball up and get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Phendrana Shorelines: Go to the outside of the Chozo Temple and use a Super Missile on the structure. Scan it and you'll open a little hatch. Spider Ball up and take another MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, it's time to head back into the Chozo Ruins for a cool time... ========================================= 5F. Chozo Ruins - The Fate of the Chozo = ========================================= There are a few old places to explore here before we do some new stuff: *Main Plaza: Use your Boost Ball in the halfpipe in this area to reach a MISSILE EXPANSION. Also, hop up to the upper level and on a ledge over the door to the Ruined Shrine. Fire a Super Missile at the hexagon on the petrified tree to find another MISSILE EXPANSION. *Ruined Shrine: First, head to the place that had Beetles and bust open the little barrier to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Next, Boost Ball up the halfpipe. The right side has another MISSILE EXPANSION, and the left side has a Spider Ball track that leads to the purple door. Shoot it open. Tower of Light Access: Nothing in this tunnel. Tower of Light: Climb up the platforms and shoot the weakened cracks in the pillars at the top to drop the tower a level. Plated Puffers will pop out, so hop up a level to avoid them. Do the same at the next level, but watch out for the Oculi so that your Missiles don't bounce off. Do the same for the level after that, and you'll be able to jump and reach the Wavebuster Beam Combo. *** EARNED WAVEBUSTER BEAM COMBO *** *Sun Tower: There are four Runes to activate. Two are on the backsides of pillars, and the other are behind Cordite wall hangings that you need to Super Missile open. Once all four are activated, you'll be able to Spider Ball up the tower. To make the jump to the other tracks, you'll have to use Bombs to boost yourself. Make sure you avoid the Oculi. Sun Tower Access: Hmm? What was that? Follow it to the Sunchamber. Sunchamber: Holy choked-up Chozos, Batman! We've got spooks! Batter the three Chozo ghosts to nothing and you'll receive the Artifact of the Wild. *Ruined Fountain: Roll into a Morph Ball inside the fountain and let it boost you up to the ceiling. Attach to it and roll over to a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Gathering Hall: Hop up to the entrance to the Energy Core (highest one), then hop onto one of the side ledges, then to a ledge above the door. Bomb the grate and take the MISSILE EXPANSION *Dynamo: (If you don't remember, this is near the Charge Beam). Short story shorter, use the Spider Ball to climb up and get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Good collection run, but let's get down to business... Furnace: This time, take the high road, using the Spider Ball. When you enter the tunnels, roll quickly to the end and set a Bomb Jump before the boxes disappear. Roll through and take out the bad guys on the other side. At the wall on the left, scan the Chozo Lore and roll through the tunnel. Crossway Access West: Pretty boring in this place, actually. Just proceed... Crossway: Shoot up the halfpipe to the other side and scan the three Chozo Lore scripts up here. Also, blast the Cordite wall hanging with a Super Missile and scan the power conduit to activate a Spider Ball track above you. Boost up to the Spider track using the halfpipe, then Bomb up to the switch and bomb it. Another one will open up on the other side, so do the same. Then, fall onto the ball-a-vator that just dropped and you'll be able to get another MISSILE EXPANSION. Elder Hall Access: Ooo... Scarabs... Hall of the Elders: A Chozo Ghost! Creeepy. Don't fret. Just shoot him with the Power Beam and he'll croak sooner or later. Now, the Chozo Statue here just lit up. First thing is to read the Chozo Lore on the wall behind the statue. Next, roll up in a ball in the statue's hands and you'll be flung up to a Spider track, so hold R as you go up. Hit the Bomb Switch up here and you'll turn some colored stuff on. Climb up the side platforms up to the colors and shoot the purple one with the Wave Beam. Bomb Jump in and Bomb the switch and you'll flip a tube down below. Drop down and into the statue's hands once more to be flung up to a ledge. Roll to the end, and scan the console to shut off the force field window. Reflecting Pool Access: Head on through to the next room. Reflecting Pool: Plenty of Stone Toads in this area. If you'll check the pump mechanism, you'll see that it's maintaining the level. Roll up in your ball and drop down into the pool. Set a Bomb on the plug in the middle to drain it. Now, you'll have to use the Boost Ball to ride up in this halfpipe. More than likely, you'll get swallowed by Stone Toads a couple of times, so just blow them with Bombs. Head to the left first, and you'll find the Ice Beam. Head to the right, and you'll find a Save Station. Forward will take you to a Transport to the Tallon Overworld. There's also a small tunnel in the Save Station that will take you another Transport to the Overworld. For now, head back to... *** EARNED ICE BEAM *** Hall of the Elders: Hey, more Chozo Ghosts. Oh, by the way, a LOT of places are now infested with Chozo Ghosts here in the Ruins. The Ruined Shrine, the Arboretum, the Furnace. Anyway, instead of shooting the purple thing, now shoot the white one, jump into it and Bomb the switch, then hop into the statue's hands again to be boosted to an ENERGY TANK. Cha-ching. Transport to Tallon Overworld East: This is the Transport in the Save Station. Go back up to the Overworld. Transport Tunnel C: Pass through... Overgrown Cavern: Take the MISSILE EXPANSION here. Frigate Crash Site: Hop down the slope into the lake. Bear right and hop up to the door near the broken Phazon crate. Pass through to... Waterfall Cavern: Roll under the big rock and you'll be back at the Landing Site. Next stop on the list is Phendrana Drifts... Head down to the west Magmoor Caverns to get there quickest. ============================================ 5G. Phendrana Drifts - The Cold is Winter! = ============================================ You're gonna want to make your way back to the Quarantine Cave. You could also go through the Pirate Base, if you wanna face a jillion bad guys... Quarantine Cave: Find a Spider Track to take you up and around to the door on the right. South Quarantine Tunnel: Roll through at top speed. Transport to Magmoor Caverns South: Care to take a little detour? Head down the lift. You'll thank me later. Transport to Phendrana Drifts South: One way takes you to a Save Station, the other... Transport Tunnel C: Mind the flame jets here. Magmoor Workstation: Take out the Flying Pirates here. Now, you need to restore power to this area. Each of the three hatches on the ground has a power conduit which you can use your Wave Beam on. Once all are activated, drop down the hole to the cage with the Triclopses. Blow them up, then head where the lava has cooled. Scan the console back here to open another of the hatches and cool more lava. Quickly, go there, then scan another console to open the last hatch. Quickly roll there to get an ENERGY TANK. Now, head back to the Transport to Phendrana Drifts and take the other door out of here (it's up the Spider Ball Track). Transport Access: A few Pulse Bombus up here. Frozen Pike: Lots of little guys flying around. They can make life a mess for you. If you're wondering, the door at the bottom takes you back to the Research Station. Where you want to go is the purple door below your starting point there. Frost Cave Access: There are a couple of Ice Beetles and some Scarabs here. Frost Cave: Watch out for the Hunter Metroid here. Don't worry about the Glider for now. Aim up and to the right and shoot the hanging stalactite with a Missile, then jump onto it and up to the purple door to find a Save Station, then shoot another stalactite to get to the other purple door. Upper Edge Tunnel: Roll through. Phendrana's Edge: Two Flying Pirates to shoot down up here. Drop down into the water and watch out for the Jelzaps. Head through the door down here. Lower Edge Tunnel: Shoot the Scatter Bombus in here. Hunter Cave: There's a Jelzap in the water and a bunch of Buzzers down there. Shoot all three stalactites at the ceiling. Cross the two in the water, and hop up on the third to get to the purple door. Lake Tunnel: Take out the Scatter Bombu and continue on. Gravity Chamber: There are Aqua Reapers and Jelzaps here. Carefully make your way to the other side and grab the all-important Gravity Suit. Hop out of the water with the greatest of ease and climb up to the purple door that's not in the water. *** EARNED GRAVITY SUIT *** Chamber Access: Bust up the Sentry Drone in here. Hunter Cave: Take out the Flying Pirates, or just run along this ledge to the other door. Hunter Cave Access: Three Jelzaps in the water here. Frozen Pike: And we're back here. From this point, your destination is going to be the Frigate Crash Site back on the Overworld. Make your way there. ================================= 5H. Tallon Overworld - Memories = ================================= Frigate Crash Site: Oooo... Phazon... Take out the bad guys in this area, then hop over through the water to the Frigate. Look to your left in the water and you'll see a MISSILE EXPANSION. Hop up there from the roots. There's a small cave at the very end of the pool that you can use to get up there. In case you're wondering, this is the very same Frigate that you were in in the beginning of the game. Frigate Access Tunnel: Head through to... Main Ventilation Shaft Section C: Drop down to the bottom and roll through the collapsed tunnel. Main Ventilation Shaft Section B: Blow up the two Auto Turrets, then use the Thermal Scan to find the power conduit. Shoot it with the Wave Beam and the door will activate. Pass through it and the next door. Main Ventilation Shaft Section A: Run past the Tallon Crabs and to the next room. Reactor Core: There are a couple of Aqua Pirates in here. The only other door out of here is not getting power, so turn on your Thermal Visor and start scanning around. Shoot the four power conduits with the Wave Beam and you'll open the door. Reactor Core Access: To your right is a Save Station. There are two Power Conduits in here that need to be shot with the Wave Beam to open the door. Cargo Freight Lift to Deck Gamma: Use a Missile on the lift's door and get the ENERGY TANK. Put on your Thermal Visor and Wave Beam the conduit down here, then hop up a few platforms, look behind you and Wave Beam conduit #2. Start climbing up the shaft, using the platforms. Watch out for the Aqua Reapers, and don't worry about the Space Pirate that falls into the water above you. He's dead. Wave Beam the last conduit up here at the top to activate the door. Deck Beta Transit Hall: Nothing but lichen and harmless buggies... Biohazard Containment: Looks like things aren't all that well-contained anymore. Take out the two Auto Turrets up here and the Aqua Drone down below. Turn on your Thermal Visor. There are two conduits above the surface, and one below. Also down in the water is a MISSILE EXPANSION. Scan the doors down here and use a Super Missile on the one you can examine. Leave by the door down in the water. Deck Beta Security Hall: Looks like all that doing security now are the Aqua Reapers lining the hall. Biotech Research Area 1: Three Aqua Pirates in here. Once they're toast, there are three power conduits to activate: two down on the lower level, and one on the upper level. Wave Beam to activate the door across the room. Deck Beta Conduit Hall: More Aqua Reapers... Connection Elevator to Deck Beta: Whoa. Another Space Pirate just had his butt kicked off-screen. You won't be going up, so drop down and head through the next door (mind the Aqua Sacs on the way). Hydro Access Tunnel: Roll up into the ball course. In here, Bomb Jumps send you a lot higher, so use those to navigate. If you're feeling lucky, try for the ENERGY TANK at the top of a relatively long shaft. You'll need to do a multiple Bomb Jump. The time to drop the next Bomb after you've launched is just before you reach your apex. Do it three times and you should have enough flight to reach the Tank. Head out to the right by Bomb Jumping up. Great Tree Hall: Out of the frigate now. Take out the Jelzaps and climb up out of the water. You can go exploring, but it's not all that necessary. Up above are a wall you can't blow up and a Transport taking you to Chozo Ruins South. Head through the white door at water level here. Transport Tunnel E: Don't mind the radiation warning. Just don't step on this Phazon stuff. Transport to Phazon Mines East: Head down for some Phazon action... ======================================= 5I. Phazon Mines - The Canary's Dead! = ======================================= Quarry Access: Head down this tunnel dealie... Main Quarry: Watch out for the Mega Turrets in this area, near the Force Field. The Spider Track on ground level leads to a Save Station. Climb up the catwalks to face off against some Space Pirates. Keep climbing and you'll reach the top. Use Thermal Scan to find a power conduit, which turns on the computer console nearby. Scan the console and you'll operate the crane. Ride up the nearby Spider Track and over to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Drop back down to the bottom. Scan the two consoles down near the force field to open it up. Security Access A: Take out the two Mega Turrets here. Mine Security Station: First up is three Shadow Pirates. Move along this area and you'll face three new Wave Troopers. Only your Wave Beam works on them. Continue on and shoot a purple door in the ceiling. Security Access B: Shoot down the barriers in your way, then take out the two Shadow Troopers. Elite Research: Two Space Pirates are right in front of you. Scan the consoles down here for some Pirate Data. Note the Elite Pirate sitting in front of you in stasis. Creepy. Scan another console to start up some platforms. Climb up them, then face off against two Wave Troopers. After they're done, activate some more platforms, then climb up and you'll face your first Power Trooper. Take him out then start playing with the plasma cannon mounted to the ceiling. Scan the console and you'll fire it. Use the Spinner to aim it. Aim it at the farthest wall to knock down the way forward. Then, turn it all the way around so it's pointing to the left, and use it to open up the way to a MISSILE EXPANSION. Proceed through the white door. Research Access: Connect to the Spider track and roll down, avoiding the weird power thingies that pass by. Ore Processing: Take out the two Power Troopers on the floor quickly. The object here is to rotate the pillars you see here so that you can Spider Ball up the tracks. You do this by hopping into the little ball gap and Bomb it to rotate. Bomb the thingy so that the blue track above you and to the left connects, then ride up and go to the second control. Bomb it so that the red track connects above and to the left, then drop down and line up the red tracks on the first floor. Ride up and get back to normal to receive the Wave Trooper attack. You can't do anything else here, so Ice Beam the door on this level. Elevator Access A: Shoot up the Scatter Bombus and drop (or roll) down to the floor. Elevator A: Scan the console and ride down to Level Two. Elite Control Access: There are two Space Pirates here. While you're here, there's a box that explodes on a ledge, near a vent spewing green smoke. Shoot the box and the vent will bust open, revealing a MISSILE EXPANSION. Elite Control: Enter and engage. Your very first Elite Pirate. Use the Thermal scan to find the plasma cannon and Missile it off his back, then target and pound him with more Missiles until he goes down. Note the nasty music is still going. You've got three Ice Troopers coming down at you from the catwalks. Head up there and waste them. This room has a ton of Pirate Data, so start collecting. Leave by the white door at the top of the room. Ventilation Shaft: Uh oh. Plated Puffers AND toxic gas is spilling into the room. Time to move to the next room, quick. Omega Research: Two Wave Troopers and three Power Troopers are in here, as well as some more Pirate Data. Don't worry about the Elites for now. They're frozen in their tubes. Open the white door in the floor. Dynamo Access: Head through and try not to stare at the Elite Pirate tank... Central Dynamo: This place has a pesky mini-boss. We're going to call him the Shadow Drone, but you can't scan him, so it'll be tough to get a reading on him. Charge up a beam, and when he gets ready to fire, let him have it with a Super Missile to drop him. Once he's out, a hatch will blow in the floor. Roll up and drop in. Navigate the shocking maze. If you find a patch of ice, bomb it to open new paths. Reach the center and earn the Power Bombs. One of the Ice Beam doors leads to a Save Station. The other one leads to a place you can't really pass yet. So, let's head back... *** EARNED POWER BOMBS *** Omega Research: Uh oh. Another Elite Pirate. Take him out. Use a Power Bomb on the rubble on the upper level to reveal a Map Station. Ventilation Shaft: Set a Power Bomb at the grate in the shaft. Drop in, roll and Bomb up to this small room. Scan the console and the Plated Puffers will be pulled into the grate, blowing it up. Take the ENERGY TANK. Elite Control: Five Shadow Pirates in this room. Ore Processing: Watch out for the four Metroids here. Use a Power Bomb on the rubble. Now, use the machine to line up the yellow track so that it's pointing to the far side of you. Head down a level and line it up on the second level, then on the ground level. Ride up the track to... Storage Depot B: The Grapple Beam!! *** EARNED GRAPPLE BEAM *** Ore Processing: Attach to the point across the way and swing across. WHEEEE! Waste Disposal: Roll up and head into the little water course. Make your way through out the bottom. Main Quarry: More Space Pirates. Swing across the crane. Head back down to... Security Access A: Use a Power Bomb on the nearby gate to blow it open and pick up a MISSILE EXPANSION. Main Quarry: Head back to the surface. ============================================== 5J. Tallon Overworld/Chozo Ruins - X-Ray-ted = ============================================== Great Tree Hall: Climb up the platforms. Use the Spinner to open the gate and head up further, taking out Seelings and Bloodflowers. Take them out, and find a pole with a Spider Track on it. Roll up and head through the door. Life Grove Tunnel: Head through this ball course, using Bomb Jumps and Boost. If you have the nerve, try to get to the top of the Boosting pipe thingy. Bomb the top and you'll drop onto a MISSILE EXPANSION. Life Grove: First off, grab the X-Ray Visor. Next, use a Power Bomb to blow open the walls. In the water, bomb the drain to raise a little pillar, then roll into the hole underneath. Use the Spinner to rotate the platform, which will rise up and display and ta-da! An Artifact. Hop onto it from higher ground. You just got the Artifact of Chozo. Now, to get out of here. Hop up onto higher platforms, then roll through the little ball course. As you get to the top, you'll be attacked by three Chozo Ghosts. Use your X-Ray Visor to constantly track them. Once all three are gone, a hatch opens near a Chozo Statue. Hop up on top and fall down the hole and leave by the door. *** EARNED X-RAY VISOR *** Great Tree Hall: Hop over to a spot with two Bloodflowers. Hop into the little cave that has the higher one and flip on your X-Ray. You should see a platform that wasn't there a second ago. Hop onto it, then to the further blue door. Great Tree Chamber: Take your MISSILE EXPANSION. All right, your next destination is Magmoor Caverns, to investigate some seismic stuff going on. Before that, let's go get us some more items, eh? Take the lift near here down to the Chozo Ruins, and head to... *Furnace: Use a Power Bomb to bust open a halfpipe. Fly up to the Spider Tracks. Use Bomb Jumps and careful manuevering to make your way across the course and you'll reach a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Watery Hall: There's a small tunnel in the water here. Roll into it, and jump out the other side for a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Ruined Fountain: Take the "other" door out of here, the one that leads to... Meditation Fountain: Proceed through to the... Magma Pool: Use a double swing on the Grapple Beam to get across. Lay a Power Bomb to blow the wall and find a POWER BOMB EXPANSION and a Chozo Lore, what should be your last one. Training Chamber Access: Near the end of this passage, you'll find some leaves near the floor. Roll through them to find a hidden tunnel, and a MISSILE EXPANSION. Training Chamber: Exorcize the two Chozo Ghosts here. Use the halfpipe to boost up to the Bomb Switches. The one on the right will activate a Spider Track and a ball-a-vator. Roll into it quickly to get to an ENERGY TANK. The other switch opens the way out of here. Piston Tunnel: Avoid the pistons and ride to the end. Main Plaza: Don't hop down just yet. There's a Grapple Point above you. Jump and grab it to be carried over to the MISSILE EXPANSION. *Tower of Light: Instead of climbing up, hop down into the water and head to the next room from in there. Tower Chamber: Take the Artifact of the Lifegiver. Now to head to Magmoor Caverns once more. Head to Tallon Overworld. While you're here, you can stop by the Artifact Chamber and drop off the ones you have. If you have the five I've pointed out so far, you should be able to get some more Artifact info. In fact, you should have all but one. So, head in the direction of the Transport to Magmoor Caverns East, but on the way... Root Cave: Start climbing higher than before. Use your Grapple Beam to cross to another ledge, and the X-Ray Visor to jump on invisible platforms. Near the top, you'll see a MISSILE EXPANSION. It's behind an illusionary wall, but with X-Ray on you can see it. Once you get it, drop to the bottom and head to Magmoor Caverns. ===================================== 5K. Everywhere - Plasma and Pickups = ===================================== Transport to Tallon Overworld West: Head to the door you haven't gone through yet (or couldn't get very far in). Twin Fires Tunnel: Use the Grapple Beam to get across this fiery area. Twin Fires: More Grapple Beam action. There are also some stalactites to derail in case you want to cross that way. North Core Tunnel: Knock down the stalactite here to cross. Geothermal Core: This area starts out pretty cool. Hop to the other side, then start climbing platforms. Grapple over to the lowest platform, and operate the Spinner. Jump to the next platform and operate that Spinner. Jump back to the first platform, only the one above. Jump to the next platform, operate the Spinner, and Spider Ball up. Jump to the highest platform and bomb the switch to extend a pipe with a Spider Track. It's time for Death Spider Course, now. The course isn't hard to figure out, it can just be tough sometimes getting the timing and aiming correct. Remember to use the Bomb if you wanna jump up, and just let go of R if you want to fall to a track below. There's no way I can help other than to say keep practicing and reach the top. Plasma Processing: Take your prize for that mess, the Plasma Beam. *** EARNED PLASMA BEAM *** Geothermal Core: Head out the other door. South Core Tunnel: Watch out for the Puddle Spore. Magmoor Workstation: Back here again... Now, let's head to Phendrana Drifts for a bit of item-collecting... Okay, a LOT of item collecting... :-P Take the Transport that's close to this room up to Phendrana Drifts South. From there, we'll head to... *Quarantine Cave: From here you can Grapple across to a tunnel... Quarantine Monitor: Grab the MISSILE EXPANSION. *Ice Ruins West: One of the tall structures has an ice floor. Melt it to get a POWER BOMB EXPANSION. *Phendrana Shorelines: One of the small pillars has an ice wall on its back. Melt it to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Chozo Ice Temple: Go up to the fountain. Melt the statue's hands. Roll up in them and you'll open up a passage to the Artifact of the Sun. *Ice Ruins East: Walk around the ground to the side with the upper door, looking for an ice wall. Melt it with the Plasma Beam to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Control Tower: Climb up one of the bunkers and melt the frozen window. Use a Super Missile on the tower in the distance to collapse it and bust open a hole in the floor. Roll in to get the Artifact of Elder *Frost Cave: Grapple across the Glider to the section with sloped platforms and two crates. Look up and shoot down the Stalactite, which will crash through the pond. Swim down to collect a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Phendrana's Edge: Jump and grapple up the platforms. When you pass two floating platforms, pull up your X-Ray Visor to see a door. Set a Power Bomb to blow it open. Storage Cave: Take the Artifact of Spirit. Phendrana's Edge: Continue climbing. Grapple using the Glider creature and roll into the next room. Security Cave: Take the POWER BOMB EXPANSION. *Gravity Chamber: Melt the icicles with the Plasma Beam to uncover a Grapple Point. Swing over to collect the MISSILE EXPANSION. BIG NOTE: Do NOT leave the room after melting the ice, but BEFORE collecting the Expansion. For some buggy reason, the Grapple Point disappears, and you won't be able to grab that Expansion ever... *Transport Access: Melt the nearby ice with the Plasma Beam to get an ENERGY TANK. That's all for here. Now it's time to make the rounds of the rest of the world... *Tallon Overworld - Root Cave: Climb up to the very top using the Grapple Beam and X-Ray Vision. Open the red door... Arbor Chamber - Take the MISSILE EXPANSION. *Magmoor Caverns - Lava Lake: Use a Super Missile on the pillar in the middle of the room and you'll snag the Artifact of Nature. *Magmoor Caverns - Triclops Pit: Near the crates at the entrance, use the X-Ray Visor to spot some platforms. Follow them and use a Super Missile on the nearby pillar to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. *Magmoor Caverns - Shore Tunnel: Use a Power Bomb to bust up the glass in the tunnel and get the Ice Spreader Beam Combo. *** EARNED ICE SPREADER BEAM COMBO *** *Magmoor Caverns - Warrior Shrine: Use a Power Bomb to bust open the plug near the statue for a POWER BOMB EXPANSION. *Chozo Ruins - Hall of the Elders: Hit the red light at the top of the room and bomb the switch to open a door to... Elder Chamber: Take the Artifact of World. FINALLY, it's time to head back down to the Phazon Mines... ===================================== 5L. Phazon Mines - The Pirate Purge = ===================================== Start making your way down the Mines the same way you got down the first time. You'll face plenty of the same bad guys you faced last time. Mine Security Station. Use a Power Bomb near the end to blast the wall in front of the console. Scan it to deactivate the Force Field downstairs, which is in front of a red door. Storage Depot A: Take the Flamethrower Beam Combo. *** EARNED FLAMETHROWER BEAM COMBO *** Elite Research: There are several Mega Turrets here. Take them out first. Now you're going to do something really stupid. Set a Power Bomb next to that there tank, and destroy the Phazon Elite inside. You'll get the Artifact of the Warrior. Continue down back to the Central Dynamo. Watch out, because there's an Elite Pirate in the Dynamo Access, although he doesn't have a plasma cannon. Central Dynamo: Head through the far door. Quarantine Access: There are four Mega Turrets over there. Roll up and head into the hole to your right and roll under them. Jump up at the end and scan the console to shut them down. Painless, eh? Metroid Quarantine A: Scan all of these consoles. One of them, the red one, releases the Metroids on the unsuspecting Space Pirates below. It's the little things in life you treasure... Head down to the lower area and kill all the Metroids down here. In the next part of this room, you'll see a big pit of Phazon. Don't walk there. It hurts. Instead, climb on the nearby mushroom and bring up your X-Ray Visor. You'll see platforms. Cross them, then jump up to the ledge on the right, using the mushroom on the far side of the pit. Flip the X-Ray on again to see another platform. You'll reach a Spider Ball track. Before you go anywhere, use a Power Bomb, then roll through the busted wall and use another one. Roll across the Spider Track, ride up the invisible platform, and take the MISSILE EXPANSION. Go back to the first Spider track, and ride up it to the door out of here. Elevator Access B: Take out the Burrowers here. Elevator B: Head down to the third level of mines. Scared, yet? Fungal Hall Access: Take out the Space Pirate and hop down. Now, I know you don't wanna touch Phazon, but there's a MISSILE EXPANSION underneath that big mushroom at the bottom. If you want to come back after getting some better protection, I'll understand. Really... Fungal Hall A: Several Hunter Metroids in this area. Tread carefully. Hop across the shrooms and use the Grapple on the Glider to cross to the exit. Phazon Mining Tunnel: Power Bomb the wreckage and roll through to a little ball course. When you reach the bottom, Boost across the platforms before they disappear and dump you into the Phazon. Leave by the hole. Fungal Hall B: Several Metroids in this area. Once again, hop across the shrooms and Grapple the Glider. If you take the left exit, you can replenish your Missiles. The right exit moves you on. Below the right exit, however, is a circle of small shrooms. Power Bomb that area to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Quarantine Access B: There are Void Bombus in this area. You can see them with your X-Ray Visor. Metroid Quarantine B: Two Plasma Troopers drop down to challenge you. Across the Phazon pit are two more. Use the Grapple Point to cross and deactivate the force field with the security panel next to you. Take out the Plasma Trooper and two Wave Troopers. Blow up the nearby canister for a MISSILE EXPANSION. The doorway on this floor has a Save Station. USE IT. Climb up the ramps and exit by the red door. Elite Quarters Access: Take out the Plasma Trooper. Melt the ice above the security barriers here to open them with the Plasma Beam. Elite Quarters: It's time to teach the Omega Pirate who's the real engine of death around here. Okay, to start with, this is what he can do to you. Get too close and he'll swipe at you with his big claws. At a generally medium distance, he'll employ his Wave Quake Generator, which you should use a double jump to get over. At long range, he'll use his Plasma Incendiary Launchers, which you should just dodge to get out of the way from. If you shoot at him when he's not attacking, he'll use his shield to absorb your attacks. Now, to take him out, you have to shoot him while he's trying to attack (preferably with the Wave Quake). Once you scan him, there are four spots you can target, which are the four Phazon plates on his arms and legs. Hit them with anything you want. Plasma or Super Missiles work the best for me. Once you destroy all four, he'll call for help before fading out of view, using the Chameleon Manta. The lousy thing about the Manta is that he cannot be seen by anything, period. While he's taking five, Troopers of random colors will drop from the catwalks above. You're encouraged to kill them before they kill you. After they're gone, pull up your X-Ray Visor. Well, the Omega Pirate is still largely invisible, except for the pure Phazon running through his veins as he recharges on the pit. You'll see his heart and veins. Open up with your best weapon, like a Super Missile or something. Hurry, because once all four plates are back on, he'll be back in the fight. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Eventually, you'll wear his health down enough that he'll keel over. Onto YOU!!! Fortunately, we built our Sammy tougher than that. She absorbs the Phazon into her Power Suit! Boom! You now have the Phazon Suit and Phazon Beam. Okay, don't jump too quickly. We gotta go back somewhere first... *** EARNED PHAZON SUIT AND BEAM *** Phazon Mining Tunnel: Roll back into this and start Bombing the obstacles behind it. At the end you'll find the Artifact of Newborn (that's you). Elite Quarters: Ride the lift up and leave by the red door. Processing Center Access: ENERGY TANK. That was nice of them. Use the console to open the gate. Phazon Processing Center: Pirates of many colors here. Activate your X-Ray Visor about a third of the way up to see some platforms, and a MISSILE EXPANSION, which is behind a wall. Set a Power Bomb to get it. Make your way up to the top using platforms, the little ball course, and the Spider track. Transport Access: Either Grapple or just walk across the Phazon. Tranport to Magmoor Caverns South: Head up to the Caverns. Workstation Tunnel: Use a Power Bomb to clear the wreckage. You're now back in the Magmoor Workstation. ================================= 5K. Tallon Overworld - Showdown = ================================= At this point, you should have all 12 Artifacts at least in your possession, if not returned to the Chamber. If you don't have them all, check the section on Artifacts later in my guide. Once you have them all, head to your Gunship to save, then to the Artifact Chamber. Artifact Chamber: You'll activate all your Artifacts, and the chamber will start powering up. Before it finishes, however, Meta Ridley swoops in from above and destroy the channelling pillar, halting the process. It's time to go another round with your old nemesis. For the first part of this battle, he'll fly around the Artifact Chamber. If he halts and folds his wings, he's going to use his Multi-Missile System, which you should dodge. Also up in the air, he'll use his Kinetic Breath Weapon. If he swoops far from the battlefield, he'll come in at bombing angle to release his Meson Bomb System, which you should dodge very quickly and run away from. Scan Ridley to find that his weakest plating is in his chest. When he stops and you have a clean shot, fire either a Charged Plasma shot or a Super Missile at him. Try to stay locked on the whole time, naturally. Sometimes, Ridley will land to spew fire or stuff at you, or slash you, so watch out. Once you wear him down to about a third of his energy, his wings will burn and he'll land on the chamber platform to go toe-to-toe. If you're far off, he'll perform a dashing slash, and afterwards, if he needs to turn to face you, he'll whip his tail, which hurts. If you're close, he'll just plain slash. He'll also use his Kinetic Breath Weapon at times. I've found that if I stand close, but not too close, he'll bend down and roar. When his mouth is open is when you should hit him. Give him one charged Power Beam shot in the open mouth and he'll recoil, leaving his chest open for you to launch a Super Missile at. Keep dodging, waiting for openings, and taking advantage of them, and you'll deplete his energy enough. After he's drained, the Chozo Temple will activate and laser him off the platform. Then, the Chozo Spirits will recreate the artifact energies and open the way to the Impact Crater. ========================================= 5L. Impact Crater - The Newborn Returns = ========================================= Crater Entry Point: Save up and head through the red door. Crater Tunnel A: Lumigeks are in this area. Shoot them if you wish, and jump across the more nasty red stuff, worse than Phazon. Phazon Core: There is only one or two enemies in this room at a time. That's the good news. The bad news is that they're Fission Metroids. I suggest not even fighting them, as if you defeat one, more will just come out of nowhere. Just cross over and make your way up the platforms and the white ledges along the wall. If you think it's going to attack. Get into a ball and wait for one to start sucking on you, then set a Bomb to shake him off, and keep moving. There's a Missile Recharge halfway up if you're intersted. Keep hopping to the next highest platform and trying to shake off the Fission Metroids, and you can reach the red door. Crater Tunnel B: A rather complicated Spider track, isn't it? Bomb up to the left and keep Bombing up or dropping down to the next closest track. Phazon Infusion Chamber: Well, that doesn't look friendly... Follow it... Subchamber One: Time to face the Metroid Prime. Only its head is vulnerable, and only to the beam it's colored as. I'm not sure if this how it works everytime, but for me it started with yellow, so start launching Super Missiles. After that, it'll turn purple, so launch Charged Wave Beam shots. He'll run off after that. Subchamber Two: He's yellow again, so lay in with the Super Missiles. After that, it'll charge at you, so roll into the little trenches in the ground to avoid the charge. He'll be purple next, so more Wave Beam. After that, another charge, then he'll be white. Hit him with the Ice Spreader if you have it, otherwise just with charged Ice shots. After that, he'll drop another level. Subchamber Three: Now, he'll go through all four colors, in a random order. For red, just use quick, regular Plasma shots. Subchamber Four: Now it's all random, and he'll throw every dirty trick in the book at you. Keep shooting at him. Watch for his charging, which will happen whenever his eyes fade, and the colored lights on his body dim. Once his energy is depleted, he'll crash through the wall into... Metroid Prime Lair: The casing has cracked and shattered, and out pops the True Metroid Prime. You cannot hurt it with any normal attacks. As a main attack, it creates a red Wave Quake, which isn't too hard to jump over. It will also cloak itself at times. The first time, you can see him with the Thermal Visor, then he'll cloak again and you can see him with the X-Ray Visor, then he'll change again and you can only see him visibly. The time to strike is when it creates a pool of Phazon underneath it. Step in the pool and your arm cannon will enter Hyper Mode. First take out the Metroids the Prime spawned. If you can't see the Prime, flip your Thermal or X-Ray Visor and look around. It should be pretty close to you. Just hold down the button to release the pain on this overgrown jellyfish. After causing damage, the Prime will start releasing Hunter and then Fission Metroids. The Phazon Beam will still kill them outright in one hit. Keep an eye on the Prime with visors so you know where it is, and learn the sound of the Wave Quake so you know when to jump. Once the Prime is defeated, it'll suck the Phazon out of your suit, and you'll escape with the knowledge that you defeated one pretty hard last boss. And that's it. Depending on your percentage, you'll get a different ending. Congrats on saving the galaxy once again! Now go play it on Hard Mode! ^_^ ****************************************************************************** 6. GAME COLLECTIBLES ****************************************************************************** As with all Metroid games, Sammy needs to beef up her stock of energy and ammo. And just because they needed a place to go, I put the Artifacts here, too... ======================== 6A. Missile Expansions = ======================== These are approximately in the order you should be able to find them. Each one you collect adds 5 to your total. There are a total of 49 to be found, giving you a grand total (with the first pickup, which I don't count) of 250. Chozo Ruins - Ruined Gallery: You need Missiles. Blast open the weak wall near the floor with a Missile. Tallon Overworld - Transport Tunnel B: You need Missiles. Below the bridge in this room is your Expansion. Tallon Overworld - Landing Site: You need the Morph Ball. Behind your ship is a small hole with the Expansion. Chozo Ruins - Watery Hall Access: You need the Morph Ball to get to this area. Blast open the brick wall near the water with a Missile. Chozo Ruins - Burn Dome: You need the Morph Ball and Bombs. After beating the Incinerator Drone, Bomb the wall in the water. Chozo Ruins - Ruined Nursery: You need the Morph Ball Bombs. Navigate the little ball maze on the wall, by Bombing boxes in your way. Chozo Ruins - Ruined Gallery: You need the Morph Ball Bombs. Bomb Jump up to one of the holes in the wall and roll through. Chozo Ruins - Ruined Shrine: You need the Morph Ball Bombs. In the little arena, find the circular barrier and Bomb it open. Chozo Ruins - Dynamo (near the Charge Beam): From the Watery Hall, bomb a little barrier near the Charge Beam and break down the metal gate in the next room with a Missile. Chozo Ruins - Vault: Bomb the grates in front of the Bomb Switches, then activate all three with Bombs. You may need to Bomb Jump to get up to them. Magmoor Caverns - Storage Cavern: You need the Varia to survive the area. In the Triclops Pit, roll underneath the grating to find this room. Magmoor Caverns - Fiery Shores: After rolling through the first tunnel in here, Bomb the boxes and roll up the slope. Carefully navigate the catwalks. Chozo Ruins - Ruined Shrine: You need the Boost Ball. Ride up the halfpipe's right side in this room. Chozo Ruins - Main Plaza: You need the Boost Ball. In the halfpipe in this area, shoot up the side and you'll find them tucked away. Chozo Ruins - Gathering Hall: You need the Space Jump Boots. Jump to the Energy Core entrance, then jump to a ledge directly above. Bomb the grate up here. Phendrana Drifts - Research Lab Aether: Near the top, you'll see some tiny catwalks. Jump up and carefully navigate in your Morph Ball. Chozo Ruins - Main Plaza: You need the Super Missile Beam Combo. On the big tree near the entrance, blow up the gray hexagon. You'll need to jump from an upper ledge to get yourself there. Phendrana Drifts - Rese