Super Metroid Invisible Hand

This Super Metroid analysis has been on my site for quite a while. After reading the analysis of the design of the Zelda dungeons , I realized that I should publish my article on Gamasutra. I assume that readers are to some extent familiar with the Metroid franchise or, at least, with the games of the “metropolis” genre. Therefore, I will skip the introductory part and focus on the level design and techniques used by the designers to guide the user in the gameplay, which seems random, but in fact it is not.

This analysis is mainly built on the first run of the game by my friend Rufus, which I had the pleasure of watching from beginning to end. Watching how he, an absolute newcomer to the genre, traveled through Zebes about the same as I did, almost never lost and not stuck for a long time, I wondered how this was possible. This analysis was my answer.
')
First, I want to start by defining what I think has become one of the key psychological phenomena of the Metroid gameplay.

There is always something

Before Super Metroid invented its stunning player management skills, the original Metroid pulled a safety net against irritation, which always worked well in this genre. The creators of the game hid arbitrary upgrades throughout the map, so even if the player was not on the right track, he always found something valuable. This significantly reduces the risk of fatigue from the gaming process of “metroidvany”, and motivates to explore not only important locations, but also the entire world.

Upgrade as a plot twist

When Metroid players get a new upgrade, their consciousness goes back in time. This is like a turning point in the film. When the secret is revealed, we are forced to look back at the story in order to mentally review everything we have seen before, sometimes changing the interpretation of whole scenes. “So that's why Obi-Wan was worried about meeting Luke with Vader! What does that change? ”The same thing happens in Metroid .

So, I got a freezing beam (Ice Beam). Now I can freeze the enemies and stand on them. Where can this be used? What does it change? I have to remember all the rooms visited, and think about how the new technology is applicable to them. The result is the same feeling: “Of course! This is a solution for passing that room in the lower Brinstar! ”The player uses a mental list of rooms in which he thinks one could use the new acquisition. In most metros, you can only hope that the desired path is on this list, but in Super Metroid it is almost always there. Later I will explain why this is happening.

In the room and on the map

Since the player never completely leaves behind and does not forget already visited areas, the world in his mind is constantly growing. No areas become completely exhausted when we come to new ones. The games of the “metropolis” genre promise us that if we memorize the game world and master it, we will be rewarded for it. A map that is always available is a great help in tracking the gameplay, but players are not interested in looking at the map at every step. Instead, they create a Zebes mental map.

Therefore, the gameplay of the majority of “metros” takes place simultaneously on two levels. At one level, you are traveling along a dangerous corridor, avoiding puddles of lava, solving puzzles and shooting aliens. But at the same time, your consciousness is in “macro mode”. It watches the player moving on the map and makes a long-term route. This type of simultaneous navigation provides interest, even if one of the levels fails to charm us.

Player follows suit capabilities

The design of Super Metroid takes a leisurely approach to the problem of interactive storytelling. In each case, there is a well-defined best solution, the exact way you need to go through the game. The game constantly assumes that the player behaves exactly as the designers expect. To ensure this, the game contains small hints and tricks that pull the player in the right direction, and the main part of my analysis is about them.

But it is important to note that Super Metroid is aware of the futility of this approach. The player never plays exactly as the designers have planned, so the game never relies on the cooperation of the player. She expects him, but does not rely on him. This is an important difference. Super Metroid always allows the player to go around, explore the wrong areas and skip key concepts or scenes. But she always leaves a second chance. Sooner or later he will outlive all the important elements. Perhaps not in the right order, but there is nothing to worry about. As you move, Super Metroid is comfortable with this.

The first example of this at the micro level is a room with an image, next to the beginning of the game. The player blew up the blocks and opened the passage from right to left, and after returning, he sees that the exploding blocks have recovered. Well, boredom! But as soon as the player starts to blast, Super Metroid knows that the players will most likely continue to press the cross to the right, even if there is a wall in the way. There is no point in letting go of the button, I’ll move to the right anyway. And so the first bomb throws the player into the air so that he can pass to the right through a hidden tunnel, avoiding tiresome explosions. Not every player can achieve this. But most will succeed, and the rest will understand.

ACT 1: TRAVELING ON ZEBES

The first part of Super Metroid is characterized by almost constant movement forward, and the player is limited to a relatively small area that does not allow him to get lost. It serves as a training for the main concepts and areas of the game. It is in the first "act" the ability of the game to lead the player is the most important and necessary.

This map shows parts of the world that are available during the act. Gray areas are unavailable and while we are not interested. The red numbers on the map correspond to the comments below, so you can easily follow my path on the planet Zebes.



After a linear “warming up” level in the space colony of Ceres, which introduces us to the main mechanics and to the premise of the history of “the search for the larva of the Mettid abducted by Ridley,” we land on the desert land of Crateria.

1. The ancient art of moving left

The game does not waste time acquainting the player with his non-linear nature. Movement to the left (traditionally in games considered to be a movement back) becomes the correct and only way to continue the game. A similar scheme is used in the original Metroid , where the player is allowed to move through several rooms to the right, until he needs a balloon upgrade to continue. This upgrade is located directly to the left of the starting point. The Super Metroid path is more cautious, but at the same time more adamant. On the right is an irresistible stone wall. It is clear that it can be destroyed, but you do not yet have the necessary equipment. Turn back. Turn left.

2. First tunnel: back and forth

The subsequent segment is definitely an introduction to how Metroid works. You are led through a strictly linear tunnel, surrounded by doors that you cannot open yet. After the first upgrades below (Morph Ball and rockets), you understand that there is nothing more to be found and it is necessary to return to the tunnel. To brighten the return, the tunnel is made mostly vertical. Therefore, it creates other difficulties with the return, because when you first fell just down (although it seems inadequate, because the tunnel on the way back is also filled with space pirates). Returning back is important because traveling along the same route in both directions allows the player to quickly create a safe zone in the brain. Now this tunnel is felt completely safe, researched and familiar. This part of the world can already be called "home", but most "metro" for hours to get such a result takes hours.

Returning in your footsteps, of course, allows you to open many doors that did not open on the way down. This introduces the player to hidden upgrades, collected voluntarily. One of them is a room with a map of Crateria, showing a little more than you have already explored. However, it opens up a series of completely obscure hidden rooms leading to the next upgrade - bombs. They allow you to move west, towards Brinstar.

3. Which door to choose?

On the way to Brinstar, the player gets into the mine, filled with space pirates, which can be killed only by rockets (pirates are constantly used in such a way as to show the capabilities of new types of weapons). Also, when they kill, they leave behind a rocket, so that you have enough weapons to fight the next threat. Then, at the bottom of the mine, you see these two doors shown in the image. To open one of them need rockets, but for the other - no. But you already have rockets and you used them, so what will you do? The player is pushed to the right.

This trick is important because it directs most players to a very important room. It is quite possible to investigate it later, but Super Metroid clearly wants us to find it as soon as possible, because it is the most important indicator of progress in the game. I'm talking about the room with the statues, which depicts the four main game boss. When all of them are defeated, this room will be the gateway to the last zone.

The door on the left leads the player to Brinstar.

4. Map of the Brinstar area

This is what Brinstar looks like on the first visit. However, one of the first in this area is to find a room with a map that opens up most of the structure of the area (as shown in the images below). Unlike the room with the map from Crateria, everything that you need opens here. With the exception of a clearly missing connection between the eastern and western parts of the area, this is essentially all you need to know about Brinstar, and this makes your journey in this area much more straightforward than in the rest of the game.

Super Metroid will soon take advantage of the fact that this map is easy to find, in one place, in which the map is the only clue to the right path. She reveals the existence of the Kraid lair at the very east (see section 10).

5. In sight

Here is hidden one of the most important upgrades of the game - Charge Beam. But few will miss it. In this corridor, which you will most likely cross many times, two blocks stand out clearly. And not only - the land on the right is strangely allocated, but at the bottom of the screen we see a hint at the ceiling of another room. Any of these tips are enough to attract the player’s attention, and he already knows that you need to blow up everything that attracts attention. Therefore, the Charge Beam looks like a hidden treasure, but in fact it is almost impossible to miss.

6. Study of incomprehensible mechanics

This room gave me a lot of trouble when I first went through Super Metroid . Only later did I realize that the game did it for my own good. You see the first room in which you want to use the run button. If you do not run, then fall through the fragile floor. And if you have not yet understood that you can run, then this will cause irritation.

As it turned out, this is not only the first of many rooms in which you may not know about your key to the passage. When this happens, Super Metroid performs the only correct action. He locks you up. Because the only thing that annoys more than ignorance is going back and refusing to solve a problem when you are already a step away from the truth. This will not happen here, as in other parts of the game. You will stay in this room until you learn to run. This is a difficult lesson, and students studying modern game design might think that the game should just bring a hint - “Hold B to run.” But Super Metroid uses a completely different approach. It never saves you from the illusion that you play on your own. She will hold your hand, but she will never admit it.

7. Mine, from which there is no return - lower Brinstar

Traveling from west to east Brinstar, you will sooner or later fall into the mine. The mine has a height of several screens and is inhabited by invulnerable flying beetles. There is no chance to return. It creates a mood for the next part of the game, in which the research serves only to fulfill the main task - to return to the world that you know.

The point of no return also serves to keep the player focused. If the player had access to the “old world” during his upcoming adventures in Norfair, he would be tempted to test his new upgrades in the top Brinstar and Crateria. Having blocked this road, Super Metroid essentially tells the player that the answer lies in the lower half of the map, and saves him from the need to memorize the whole world. This will be needed later, but not until the player is trained and ready for it. As long as the area above for the player simply does not exist. We are, so to speak, in the world 2.

8. The Mystery of the Fourth Region - Maridia

The Lower Brinstar is a bit of a pass to Norfair, but along the way it contains one of the most amazing game tricks - the secret of Maridia. The short corridor, which seems to belong to the lower Brinstar, is actually described in the game map as a separate area. This corridor, deliberately located in a narrow place of passage, which the player will pass before the game ends again and again, will in fact be the only part of Maridia that we will see in most of the game.

This is a simple but extremely effective scheme for creating curiosity. We suspect that Maridia is the fourth world of the game, but as long as the player slowly captures Crateria, Brinstar and Norfair, Maridia remains a complete and absolute secret for him. Knowledge of Maridia keeps the player in the game, and ensures that he will never assume that the world has been fully explored. As long as Maridia is there, there is a hint of the need to find something significant. In fact, it is very strange that such a technique is very rarely used in modern games.

9. Stuck in Norfair

The tall mine closes your way to the west, so there is almost nothing left but to explore Norfair. But, as it turns out, Norfair is almost unexplored due to the monstrous heat in most of its rooms, eating up your health. Therefore, parts of Norfair that can be reached are shown on the map above.

Thanks to such a limited number of options, the game doesn’t cost anything to lead you in the right direction - to the High Jump Boots upgrade in the lower left corner of the map. This is still the beginning of the game, so designers can be accused of over-exploiting the stunt with closing the player in a relatively small area so that he is not lost at all. But you can not deny that it works. And in this particular case, it has the added advantage ...

10. Lost in Norfair

As it turned out, the boots are not very useful in Norfair, therefore the accessible area is still minimal. This long-term situation of being almost in captivity determines the attitude of the player to Norfair for the rest of the time. Between the Norfair combing process to find High Jump Boots and Norfair combing to find where to use them, most players will fully explore all the available rooms, which will create a lasting sense of space development, although it remains hostile. This feeling is used in several ways. It not only helps to create the feeling that the player is stuck in Norfair and his goal is to escape, but also guides the player through several schemes, the most important of which I will discuss in section 12.

So where do High Jump Boots lead us? In the lair of Kraid. Players who have already found the entrance will be too disturbed by a strange door and will not be able to get it out of their head. All this again because the player was stuck in Norfair and eastern Brinstar and his options are limited.

As I mentioned above, finding Kraid's lair is very dependent on the room with the Brinstar card. Players who have not found the map may be in difficulty here, because the entrance is hidden behind a wall next to the elevator in Norfair, in a completely innocent-looking room. The problem is that the room with the map is located in western Brinstar, in an area that is now completely inaccessible due to the high mine. This situation may be highly annoying and may be considered a weak point of design, but it is also worth noting that it enhances the feeling of a close acquaintance with the area.

11. More than you think.

Kraid, the first of the four main bosses, is a character from the first Metroid. In the original game, he deceived us by sending his weak clone before the real boss battle. This trick is repeated in Super Metroid, but on a completely different level. There is still a Kraid clone, and it is very similar to Kraid from the first game. Expecting that the real Kraid will look like, the player gets an unpleasant surprise - the real Kraid is so huge that it takes up the whole screen! But this does not end there, at the climax of the epic battle, Kraid pierces the ceiling and stretches out to his full height, which is even larger - almost the size of three screens. To use one trick twice, elegance is always required.

After defeating this important monster (and it is obviously important, because it is displayed in the room with the statues in Crateria, described in section 3), Super Metroid gives the player the corresponding reward. The Varia Suit costume not only provides access to the hot areas of Norfair, but also greatly changes the appearance of Samus. Many people call this the end of the first act of Super Metroid - the first boss is defeated, and Samus has changed.

But stay with me, the journey is not over yet.

12. Where to use Speed ​​Booster

The Varia Suit suit “hacks” Norfair, allowing Samus to pass through hot rooms without any problems. There is a single way of passing (although the turns and intersections themselves feel non-linear, almost like dungeons in Zelda), and after a series of very linear difficulties, the player comes to the next upgrade - Speed ​​Booster.

This is the first true plot twist with the help of the upgrade described at the beginning. For the first time in the game, there is no place nearby where a new upgrade could be applied, and the accessible area becomes quite large-scale. So where do you use the speed booster? A list is created in the player’s mind. Those who have a good memory can remember places in the “old world”, but they are not interesting at the moment (given that the Speed ​​Booster will not allow you to get out of a deep mine). Of course, several locations from Norfair will appear in the list, but only one - more or less accurately. And this is the room shown above.

What is so remembered this room? Players spent a lot of time exploring each wall at the start of Norfair. Here they are helped by familiarity with the terrain. In particular, in this room the doors slowly lower when the player approaches, and only acceleration will allow him to slip in time. At the very beginning of the “captivity” in Norfair, the complexity of this room is unique and leaves a deep impression in the player’s memory. To further enhance the room's memorability, Super Metroid deliberately allows players to go through the first door, but not the second. This creates a panic situation in which you are stuck between the doors and must find a secret way out. So there is a long memory of a traumatic event that could have been avoided if you ran a little faster.

And now you are capable of it.

13. Where to use the Ice Beam

Behind the sliding doors, we quickly find the Ice Beam, and because of this we gain another delightful application of the upgrade. Where can I freeze enemies to use their stillness? And again in Norfair there are several places leading to minor upgrades. But there is also the only sure way , and Super Metroid must ensure that it is in the list of rooms the player thinks about.

Therefore, in the next room we meet the enemy and we are pushed to freeze him and stand on him to cross the pool with lava. The enemy is familiar to us, this is the invulnerable flying beetle in the mine, from which there is no return. A flash of insight - is it possible? .. There is the only way to find out. And it turns out that the key to escape from Norfair is really in your hands.

14. Do you think everything is under control?

Of course, you can climb the mine, freezing flying aliens, and for one moment of trepidation Super Metroid is on the verge of losing control. If a player enters the door on the left of this image, he will return to the “old world”. Now he is armed with High Jump Boots, Varia Suit, Speed ​​Booster and Ice Beam, so the list of their possible uses is too large for the player’s memory to process. If he enters this door, chaos will begin. Super Metroid realizes that this chaos is inevitable, but there is a way in its sleeve that there is a much better way to demonstrate this.

Therefore, instead of entering the door, most players wonder why they never jumped to that platform. By this time, they were so accustomed to their High Jump Boots (the first item found in the new world), that the idea that this was impossible before seemed unreal. They want to explore all the corners and crevices of the old world, and this looks like a good place to start exploring.

FIX: I was told that here the game controls the process more seriously. If the player passes through the left door, he will return to the room where he learned to run, remember? Remember how this room locked up the player? This block is still valid, and turns out to be an elegant solution to two completely different problems!

Well, okay ...

As it turned out, the way up is the right way , and it quickly leads to another upgrade - Power Bomb. Chaos, which we feared earlier, is increasing even more, but at this point Super Metroid locks you in a remote corner of Brinstar. The idea of ​​a Power Bomb blasting a yellow door leading up seems more profitable than going back.

Easier than taking candy from a child.

15. The circle is closed

The player is absorbed in research. The promises of mining mountains in the old world, backed up by super-fast passage through the Power Bomb area, make it reckless. And the subsequent mine seems too simple and linear for most players to bother with studying the map.

Before you realize this, you will find yourself in Crateria again, right where you landed at the very beginning. The game is clearly trying to delay as much as possible the moment of realization of this. Even the music in the cave where you approach the surface (it is already a part of Crateria) does not specifically change from the musical theme of Brinstar until you get out of the room.

And this is the first major turning point of Super Metroid.. The game literally made a full circle, and we again returned to the first cell of the field. Chaos, growing in the last hour, turned in full force. You have returned to where you started from, so you have no idea where to go. The old world and Norfair are at your feet, and they are both filled with opportunities that you can try with your new toys, not only with High Jump Boots, Varia Suit, Speed ​​Booster and Ice Beam, but also Power Bombs. This signals a radical and complete change in the pace of the whole game. To highlight this change, Super Metroid uses a very precise time to change music. The calm earlier Crateria is now complemented by a grand, magnificent composition that conveys the feeling that you are still at the very beginning of the plot.

Super Metroid lies in front of your feet.

ACT 2: RESEARCH

Immediately after the first round, the Super Metroid's guiding hand disappears almost completely, leaving the player in the grip of his own curiosity and research thirst. To the gameplay cost participation, almost all the additional secrets of the game become available. The old Metroid feeling “I don’t know the way forward, but I found something interesting” rises to a new level when you find much cooler items than just increasing the number of rockets and energy cells. The fact that almost all the rest of the metro (or other adventure games) are called the “end of the game”, after which they move to the captions, Super Metroid uses as a pleasant change of pace .

16: Back to the old world

, . , , . Norfair, . Brinstar Crateria , .

Super Metroid , , . , Norfair Power Bomb, , :

A —

The shortest way from the landing site back underground goes straight through the room with the statues. For those players who managed to miss it for the first time, this will be a second chance, and this time it will be difficult to miss, because the player is already primarily focused on research. But even if you have been here before, now you will notice that the statue of Kraid has turned gray, clearly telling us about some event that will occur after the defeat of three more bosses. So that the player does not miss this ceremony, the game unobtrusively locks the doors until the performance is completed.

B - jumping on the walls

Power Bomb Brinstar, . , .

. Etecoons, .

, , Etecoons. , , , . Super Metroid slightly sweetens the pill, giving the player the opportunity to save below and creating an easy way out - you can make just one right jump on the wall to reach the saving tunnel, but to get an upgrade to increase the number of Power Bomb, you need to climb to the top.

C - learn to fly

, Speed Booster, . ? Super Metroid , , , , . , , .

. , , , , .

To get out of the pit, you need to understand that you can do the same. Speeding up to the maximum with the help of Speed ​​Boosters and crouching, Samus makes an incredibly powerful jump, capable of penetrating the acceleration sensitive blocks. Soon the players get out and continue their adventure, trembling from the possible possession of abilities that they are not yet known.

D - vicious circle 2.0

Power Bomb opens up new opportunities, but I would not call it a secret. But there is something worth exploring. It turns out that one of the yellow doors in the central Brinstar leads only to a large wall. You can expect the Power Bomb to destroy it, but you don’t expect anything from the other side. When the camera moves to the right, we recognize the place where the Morph Ball was first found, not only in this game, but also in its predecessor. Cutting in the old Brinstar is a powerful moment, it proves that everything is connected, and the secrets are hidden where you least expect them. If even a room from another era can hide a secret, in which room are they not?

E - preparation for x-ray scanner

Directly above the “no return mine” is one of the yellow doors that has long attracted you, and while you have something to do with it. At least you think so.

Of course, you can open the door, but it is almost impossible to walk along a corridor filled with spikes and requiring a very skillful use of the Ice Beam or what you do not yet have a Grapple Beam.

Super Metroid allows you to go through one section of the road, just to show you the next one. So the game does rarely. Creating a sense of powerlessness in this particular example is a very good idea, because it guarantees that you will return here when you get the Grapple Beam to show the hallway with spikes who is in charge here. And that is why very few players miss the important X-Ray Scanner located here.

F - Spazer

Super Metroid — Spazer, (, Power Bomb Varia Suit), «» High Jump Boots. , , , ( ) .

G — Maridia

, , , , Maridia. , , . .

So why not? : Power Bomb. , .

, Maridia, , — , . Super Metroid , , , . — , Gravity Suit, , , Maridia. , , . — , , Maridia. : GLHF («Good Luck, Have Fun»).

, , — ( ), , Maridia. , , Brinstar. -, ? , Maridia, , , .

, Power Bomb — , . , , .

17. Norfair —

We return to the crime scene. As I explained, no player will rush back to Norfair after the first act. But when the players finally get to him, and that will be because nothing else propels them forward, they immediately notice the yellow door in the Norfair corridor. She leads to a room with a map.

As we now see on the map, there is a large unexplored complex in the lower left corner of the map. How to get there? , . . , Speed Booster. . , Power Bomb.

Crocomire . , Speed Booster, Grapple Beam.

? , -, .

! Norfair . , . .

18. Grapple Beam

, Super Metroid , , ? . .

? - , , — . , . — Grapple Beam. Crateria, , Grapple Beam .

, — Crateria ( ) , Grapple Beam. .

, 1994 .

19. — ?

This act will come to an end as soon as we reach the cave in Crateria, and is there a better way to finish it, except to add more side quests? What could have been quite a long run from the depths of Norfair back to the surface, is seasoned with two new side quests requiring the Grapple Beam.

Finding the Wave Beam requires a detour through Norfair, but if you want to explore the entire recently opened map, then you will go in that direction anyway. On this way, you may also stumble upon the eerie and completely inaccessible entrance to the Ridley lair.

X-Ray Scanner is more difficult to skip. There are no paths to Crateria that do not pass through it, and players will either seek to master this challenging corridor once and for all, or they will be interested in that yellow door, which they somehow managed to miss, passing here for the last time with the Power Bomb.

In any case, their reward will be the X-Ray Scanner.

ACT 3: three tests

Forget about going back. In fact, you can even forget for a while those areas that have been explored before. From this point on, Super Metroid acquires a much more linear structure. She will lead us through the remaining areas, one by one, and introduce us to the remaining bosses. We will start with Phantoon in eastern Crateria, as well as the previously unknown Wrecked Ship. Then we finally manage to go through Maridia and defeat Draygon, after which we descend into hell.

20. Wrecked Ship and Missed Extension

Crateria always seemed a little ... small. It was felt that the surface should be much more than we have already seen. And Super Metroid does not disappoint. Or all the same ...

Players will spend about an hour exploring a huge lake, in which, it seems, an alien spacecraft of unknown origin crashed. The theme of this location will be re-used in the Metroid Prime for the Gamecube. Wading through the lake is mainly necessary to prepare for the next chapter, and the Wrecked Ship itself is one big expansion for the boss. At least trying to be it.

Here, the gameplay Super Metroid is getting closest to the real horror. The ship is dark, the music resembles ambient rather than music (much ahead of its time in this), and ghostly objects appear around randomly. There is no power, so many doors do not open, conveyor belts stand still, and even the save point refuses to work. Making your way through the ruins of the guts of the ship, you quickly come face to face with one of the four main bosses. It seems strange to me that the Phantoon boss appears just like that, out of nowhere. Although he is probably the most atmospheric of the four quarters, he is the only one whose appearance is not announced much in advance: he is not shown on the map, in front of him there is no predictive save point (at least there is a save point). This makes his appearance rather weak, because Super Metroid has no way of saying that there is something waiting ahead of you.

However, given what happens next, perhaps another boss climax could downplay the importance of the next two. And I fully support the fact that the creators of the game gave Ridley a higher priority than Phantoon.

21. Deep pool edge

This is just awesome. Soon after the death of Phantoon, the power of the ship is restored in some way and the game leads you to the new equipment Gravity Suit (See? Winning one of the important bosses again changes your appearance!).

As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the lake surrounding Wrecked Ship is little more than just preparation, but most players will hate it. The closer you are to the ship, the more difficult the tasks with rocking become, therefore the probability of falling and making the whole way back - under water - is annoying, to say the least.

So what does Super Metroid do? She is just luring you through a door leading to nowhere, throwing you in the middle of this soup.

And of course, now you can move freely. The game teaches you through relaxation. This is a completely new feeling associated with learning.

22. The way inside, finally

With this new ability, we can technically go back to Maridia. But no one will do that, because there is a closer secret, right behind the Wrecked Ship. Which, as it turns out, leads us right there.

So, we are finally in Maridia. We are so far away from those parts that have already been explored, that I almost can’t see these two places on one map screen at the same time, it means there is a lot of things between them!

Now that we finally got to Maridia, nothing makes us leave until we defeat the boss of this area and collect all the upgrades. Therefore, the gameplay becomes very focused.

Anyway. The part of Maridia that we found is (at least for now) the usual shortcut to parts already known to us. To get deeper, we need to break this glass tube.

And for those players who still haven't figured out how to do this, there is exactly the same, but broken pipe on the way down. Do you understand?

23. The mystery of the Mohtroid

The only place Super Metroid finds itself in the third dimension is where it hints at Sonic the Hedgehog and starts Samus on a journey through the pipe between the upper and lower parts of Maridia. The player observes many strange rooms flying in the background. One of the things we manage to see is ... What? Can not be…

Was it a metro?

This is definitely not the right place to explore the metro. So what is it? When we get to this room, after quite a long time, we will see the creatures as clearly as in the image. Mettiids do not have eyes, and they have teeth, not long claws. False alarm, it turns out, it was a mokhtroid, a cosmic pirates creation described in the game manual (it was 1994, then everyone read the manuals).

But I am sure that that moment in the pipe everything inside you is cold.

24. Last Grapple Beam Mission

When a player approaches the Draygon lair, room by room, one of his devices becomes more important than all the others. Maridia is filled with Grapple Beam puzzles, and this beam is used more often in Maridia than in the rest of the world. One may wonder: why did this happen?

The answer is simple: after defeating Draygon, you get a way of vertical movement, so powerful that it makes the Grapple Beam unnecessary. Space Jump is not a double jump, not a triple jump, but ... In general, you can jump with it as much as you want, that is, the player can actually fly. So thank the Grapple Beam for your faithful service and take off to the skies. By this moment you already feel that you have explored all the important points of the world, and are ready for real omnipotence. You have the feeling that you can do anything. Space Jump gives you this omnipotence.

It is also worth noting that tasks with a hook are a great way to demonstrate how amazing this opportunity is, because it provides completely free vertical movement. There is no need to increase these walls anymore, because now you can fly.

25. How does Plasma work

This is a separate piece, but as long as we have not left Maridia, I am obliged to shed light on this simple but beautiful design element. In the corridor leading to the optional Plasma Beam upgrade, many amoebas block your path. They only need one shot, but killing them one by one is still painful. This is a great way to "sell" you Plasma Beam, whose shots fly through enemies. On the way back you just shoot once and remove all amoebas from the path.

26. Three are dead, where to go?

If you still do not understand, two of the three tests mentioned in the title of the act have already been passed. East Crateria is conquered, like Maridia. Both their masters have become history. But the transition to the third is not so obvious, and requires a bit of research.

But stand, we can fly. That is actually able to move anywhere. And the most logical, of course, is to go to the only remaining boss, who, as we almost know for sure, is in the depths of Norfair. And when we see this, we understand that we are on the right track.

It is very likely that players have already noticed the entrance to Ridley's lair during their previous Norfair survey, and most likely during a detour, on which many also find the Wave Beam. But in fact, it is impossible to achieve without Space Jump.

27. Why Ridley's Lair is Hell

Already near the elevator you have a feeling of danger. Why do you need a lift? It is usually used for transitions between different zones. It looks like we are leaving Norfair and getting somewhere ... more. In a deeper place. In addition, there is a save point next to the elevator, and it gives us an unambiguous signal. She is useful to us.

Lower Norfair is a marvel of atmospheric level design. Of course, ominous music plays its role, but that’s not all. Remember, the same composition did not create any tension in Magmoor Caverns of Metroid Prime . Really scary house Ridley makes a series of unpleasant surprises.

Even to just get here, you need to swim through the sea of ​​lava. Did you think that Gravity Suit protects against everything? No, not from this lava. You can fly, and the world has become an open book for you - but here you meet creatures that you cannot scratch. You are deeper than ever, but the path leads even lower. Add to this the enemies that are more aggressive and steadfast than everyone else on the planet. Graphic style changes to a frightening retro style. It is in such an environment that the magic of music acts in full force.

A good conclusion is that the last mini-boss of the game, the golden statue of Chozo, is an improved version of the first boss. This creates a symmetry that, I think, many players feel to some extent. They know that this is really the last mini-boss. After defeating him, we can direct all the energy to the hunt for Ridley. This time Super Metroid evokes the same sense of focused determination as the classic Mega Man . In general, Chozo himself and the decoration of the temple make the descent downward all the more exciting. We are in the heart of the planet. And in its core we will meet with that piercing gaze.

27. Notes on Tourian

All that Ridley guarded was an empty room with a broken container inside. This is an unobtrusive but effective way to tell the player what happened. That is, the realization that the metroid larva has escaped arises inside the player, therefore, it is perceived more acutely and penetrates to the bone. The only place you can go is the room with the statues, which now opens the way to the Tourian.

This is the only screenshot in my guide that was not made by me. This simply was not necessary. As well as it was not necessary to bother with descriptions of the final scenes and battles in Tourian. Tourian is already known throughout the web. For me, the hunt for Ridley is the completion of the Super Metroid research gameplay, and the Tourian is something completely different. Tourian is the ending of the Metroid series, ending the stories of both its predecessors. It is absolutely necessary to explain what happened to the metroid larva and to settle accounts with Mother Brain. In addition, it is quite touching and has become a masterpiece of semi-interactive storytelling, unsurpassed for many years.

But this is not the story I wanted to tell here. It was a story about a girl and a planet. Because first of all, like many others, Super Metroid is a game about research. It's amazing that she approaches the research gameplay with the same love as the writer for her story. Hope I managed to show it.

Thank you for reading!