Metroid Prime Guide
by Bryan Backas (DMHawkmoon)
Version .95
12/10/2002

**********
CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
III. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
IV. GUIDE
V. ENERGY TANKS
VI. MISSILES
VII. POWER BOMBS
VIII. ARTIFACTS
IX. UNLOCKABLES
X. LEGAL STUFF
**********

WHAT'S NEW?
The walkthrough is complete and the missiles are now fully sorted.

WHAT'S NEXT?
I am going to organize the energy tanks and power bombs. At the end
of each section in the walkthrough I am going to say how many of
each item the upgrade you acquired allows you to obtain. I am also
going to list the things you can have in your logbook and which ones
you can only get at certain times. I will list the rooms where the
pirate data and Chozo Lore are found.

I. INTRODUCTION

I know that there are some extensive guides out there to help with
this game, so I am attempting to make mine such that it will be of
more benefit to some people than the very long and wordy guides are.
I want it to be more to the point to help people who just need a
push in the right direction. The reason I want it to be this way is
because I know that some people do not like spending a long time
looking through a giant guide when all they need to know is one
little thing. That is not to say that it's not an extensive guide,
it's just that I don't want to walk people through every platform
when the vast majority of people who need help need it on a much
more general level. The focus of this guide is WHERE TO GO and
HOW TO BEAT THE BOSSES.


II. HOW TO USE THE GUIDE

The walkthrough section of the guide is split into sections based
on the next major item you should collect. If you are stuck, scroll
down til you see the last major item you found and see where you
should be heading next and which item you'll be collecting. This
should make it easy for you to find what you're looking for.

You will need to be proficient with using the map to use my guide
properly. To see room names, hit Z and you will be taken to the map
screen. Use L to zoom out, the analog stick to rotate the map, and the
C stick to move around. As you move around different rooms will be
highlighted and the names of the rooms will appear in blue text at
the top. This is how you should figure out where items are located.


III. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: My game froze. What should I do?

A: There's no official word from Nintendo at this time, so I cannot
suggest any course of action other than save frequently. 99% of
the lock ups that people have, from my experience, occur on the
elevator to the Chozo Ruins West. It's not a big deal because if
you anticipate that your game might freeze, you can just save on
your ship every time you are going to take that elevator. The ship
is only a minute away, so it's no problem. Nintendo may fix the bug
in later versions. If you get freezing in other places, that is a
lot more uncommon. I would guess that you either have a dirty lens,
are very unlucky, your Gamecube is getting too hot, or some
combination if that is the case.

Q: Is Super Metroid in this game?

A: No, only the first one. How do I know? Well how do I know that
Super Mario Brothers isn't in the game? If you're going to hold
people to such a stiff standard for knowledge, how can anyone be
said to know anything? If Super Metroid was in the game, it would
be a big selling point to some people. Nintendo would have said it
was in there. As it stands, they just wouldn't release such an
acclaimed game as a throw-in game in here. Either way, there's just
no reason to think that Super Metroid is in the game.

Q: How long is this game?

A: I'd say that it takes about 20 hours to beat the game your first
time. Your save file only keeps track of time spent unpaused, so
you might spend a while in the menus or reading data, and also you
may die a bunch of times and the time won't be saved. I really can't
see anyone spending much less than 20 hours on the game their first
time through. Also, there is a hard mode unlocked when you win and
the original Metroid is in the game if you link up with Metroid Fusion.
The game has plenty to keep you busy for a while.

Q: How did you find some of those really well hidden upgrades?

A: You can actually hear when an item is nearby. They make a distinct
pulsating noise when you are near them.


IV. GUIDE

Once again, the guide is done by the next item you need to get. It
is complete and directs you where to go and makes note of many areas
of difficulty. Unless you're fighting a boss though, I won't go into
many combat tips here. I mostly want to help people find where things
are and beat the bosses. I believe those are the two main things
people are looking for help with in this game.

GAME INTRODUCTION

The introduction sequence is pretty self explanatory and linear for
the most part. Just make sure to scan everything if you want to get
all the logbook entries. Also make sure to use the save point in the
blue door from the Reactor Core Entrance. In the other large door is
a boss.

BOSS: PARASITE QUEEN
Scan her if you want her in your logbook, of course. Basically all
you need to do is hit her with your gun repeatedly and she will die.
Lock on and jump to the side a lot to avoid being hit. (B and left or
right)

After the battle you must evacuate. Don't waste any time because if
you don't take this seriously you really could run out of time and
have to do it again. Check your map (Z) and the blue path is the path
the evacuation will take you on, in case there is any ever doubt as to
where you need to go. Make sure to scan the panels to access the
elevators. In Biotech Research Area 1, you need to jump up platforms
to to left of where you enter and go in a door at the top which breaks
open after you beat the space pirates. Run down the corridors and ignore
the parasites to save time. They won't hurt you much even if they hit
you. When you reach the grapple beam room, you're almost done. Don't be
intimidated by the grappling. Just hold L, and when you get to the
highest point of your swing, let go and then hold L again, and then let
go when you're swinging over the next area. Not too hard really. Just a
few more corridors and you're done with this section and onto the real
game. Note that Samus loses all her abilities in the explosion, so you
need to find them all again on the planet.

MISSILES

You may be daunted at first by all the areas it looks like you can now
access, but... I hope you aren't disappointed to hear this, but there's
actually only one way you can go for now. Yes, it's sort of a false
sense of exploring until you get a few of your items back. I'll direct
you on the right path anyway. From the ship, go in the door on your
right. Follow this path and you'll reach an elevator to Chozo Ruins
West. Scan the panel to make it operational and take it. NOTE: Some
people experience freezing every once in a while on this elevator.
If it happens to you then you have bad luck, and just try again. It
should not happen more than once every twenty trips or so. Keep going
and you'll reach the Main Plaza. The door to take now is the last
one on the left. This path will lead you to where you have to go.
There is a save point from the Ruined Nursery; use it because there
is a mini boss coming up before you reach the missiles. 

A few rooms later you will come across this mini boss. Your main danger
here is the poison water. Do not fall off the platform! The boss will
shoot out Ram War Wasps. They will circle around you and then stop
before ramming you. Shoot them when they're stopped. Once you killed
them all, shoot the red area on the boss. It will close and turn, and
then spit out more Ram War Wasps. Blast at where they come out if you
want to take out some before they even get to circle you. Just repeat
this process of killing the wasps and shooting the boss 4 times and
you win. Remember to scan the Ram War Wasps NOW if you want them in
your logbook.

MORPH BALL

Make sure to get the energy tank in the room after the mini boss, and
then backtrack out to the Main Plaza. There is one missile upgrade you
can get on the way back in the Ruined Gallery, and a map station as well.
Back in the Main Plaza, there is a door you can open with the missiles.
Take the corridor and in the next room you acquire the morph ball after
battling a mini boss. First a lot of Beetles will come out of the ground.
Keep circling the room to stay away from them and blast them. If they
clump together you can blow up a lot of them at once with a missile.
After you destroy a lot of them a Plated Beetle comes out. Keep strafing
around him, especially by using B plus left or right. Shoot him in the
back. Three or four missiles will take care of him.

CHARGE BEAM

Back in the Main Plaza, get to the door up top. In here you can roll
under the obstructions to enter a new area. You have to be careful
not to fall into any poisonous water in the next areas. In the Ruined
Fountain, work your way around to the right first and then into the
door that was on your left when you entered the room. The other way is
a dead end until much later. In the Arboretum just go straight across
the room, or as straight as you can without falling into any poison.
There is a save room from the Gathering Hall. Take the path now to the
Watery Hall. You have to find 4 runic symbols in the Watery Hall and
scan them. One is one the ground on an island underneath tons of
blastcaps. One is on the wall when you get across the islands on the
ground level. One is on the wall right next to the door you enter from.
One is right next to the gate when you cross the platforms up top. 

BOMBS

Get back to the Gathering Hall and now work your way to the top. You
should take out those blastcaps before you do. You will get to the
Gathering Hall from the top door. Turn left. In the next room from
here is a mini boss, the incinerator. Lock onto it and strafe around
while charging up your beam. When a red area pops out of the top,
Use R to look up and target the instead, and relese your charge onto
the red part to hurt it. Do this 4 times and it's dead. As you fight,
a new kind of war wasp will come at you. Scan it now or you'll never
have it in your logbook. Also scan the boss, as you should always do.
Even if you get hit by the fire a few times, you'll be okay as long as
you take out the wasps and shoot the top part down as fast as possible
when it emerges.

You can now access: 2 new energy tanks, x new missiles

VARIA SUIT

Back in the Arboretum, you need to scan four runic symbols. They are:
under the red grass on the ground floor, on the side of the tree
close where the bottom wooden bridge sticks out, on the wall after
you roll through the first area when climbing to the top of the room,
and behind the gate at the top. As you make your way to the top, blast
the War Wasps and destroy their nests with missiles. Blow up the rubble
that was behind the gate, and follow the path. You'll reach a boss.

BOSS: FLAAHGRA
Once you know what to do, this guy is not so tough. First, lock onto
him and blast him til he reels in pain. You may take this opportunity
to scan him for your logbook, and you can scan a tentacle while you're
at it. Charge up your shot and blast him again when he comes to. You
can keep doing this as much as you want, but he'll never get hurt,
right? So what you need to do is hit the metal things that are giving
him light. If you strafe around the arena, you will see them hanging
down. Hit them up. Once you do, a tentacle will go away and you should
roll as a ball into where it used to be and bomb at the end of the
tunnel. Keep doing this and rolling into whichever tunnels you can.
After 4 times, he's dead. You will earn the Varia Suit.

BOOST BALL

Go to the Magmoor Caverns. The elevator to it is linked from the
Sunchamber or Transport Access North. Progress through the caverns.
At the Lava Lake, you need to place a bomb when you reach the center
of the room to blow open a path to the other side. When you reach
the monitor station, instead of taking the first door you see, climb
up as high as you can and take that door. There will be a morph ball
path to an elevator. There is an energy tank hidden in the passage
as well; see section V for details.
The elevator will lead to the Phendrana Drifts. Charge shot the ice
barriers. In Phendrana Shorelines, find the save point. Now, there
is only one door you will be able to get to, but you need to unlock
it by scanning a panel. The panel is located behind a grating on the
ground level. Shoot a missile at the grating to blow it open. Roll
over the snow pile and scan the panel. You now need to climb up to
the door. As stated, there is only one path you can take, and It
will lead you to a door right above where the grating is. The enemies
in the next passage you will see a lot from now on; try to roll under
them. You will now come across Baby Sheegoths. If they give you too
much trouble you can run past them, but they aren't too hard to kill
if you know how. Just lock on, charge up a shot, dash strafe to the
side til you get a clear shot at their back, and unleash. Two charged
shots and a few follow up shots will be the end of them. So anyway,
follow this path and you'll come back out at the Phendrana Shorlines,
but this time you're on a higher area and you can walk over to a new
door. Keep progressing and you will reach Phendrana Canyon. Fall down
and then jump back up to the right and scan a statue. The platforms
will raise and if you quickly jump across them you obtain the boost
ball.

SPACE JUMP BOOTS

If you've been following my guide, you'll now want to head back out
of the Magmoor Caverns and go the other way I told you not to go
which takes you out at another part of the Tallon Overworld. On the
way you can pick up a missile upgrade in the caverns and another in
the Tallon Overworld on the way back to the Landing Site. Of course,
see section VI if you want to know exactly where.
Back in the Tallon Overworld, make your way to Tallon Canyon and
boost ball in the halfpipe-like area. You can reach a high ledge
and if you plant a bomb at the end of the path up there, you'll
be able to get to a new door which brings you to a high section
of the Landing Site. Jump across to a new door and the boots are
inside.

ARTIFACT TEMPLE

You don't have to do this yet, but I think you should just so that
you don't get confused later. You can now access the Artifact Temple.
It's in the last door you haven't been in from the Landing Site. You
can get to it with the space jump. Just use the ledges over to the
left of the door and you'll reach it. Inside it a lot of stuff to scan
and an artifact. Basically you'll need to look for all the artifacts
before you can finish the game. Don't worry about searching for them
yet, just be aware that they exist and you may start finding them in
out of the way areas.

WAVE BEAM

Going any way you wish, get back to the Phendrana Drifts and the
Phendrana Shorelines. There should be just one door you have not gone
into from this room. With the space jump, you can get there. Get up
to the higher ledges near the door to Ice Ruins Access. Jump to the
nearby floating platform and then make a very long leap to a farther
platform. You're now at the door and a few rooms away awaits a boss
who'll give you the wave beam. Climb up and you'll reach a barred off
door. To open it, scan the nearby statues and find the broken one.
Shoot it off with a missile and then scan the panel behind it.
The mini boss is a bunch of Baby Sheegoths and then a big Sheegoth.
Kill the baby ones as usual by dash strafing behind them and shooting
their backs. Break open the nearby boxes for a lot of health if you
need it. The Sheegoth will come out once all the babies are dead.
To defeat it, shoot it with your normal gun til it shoots projectiles
out of its mouth, then when it's tired out shoot missiles at it. You
can usually get in two missile shots every time it gets tired.

SUPER MISSILES

With the wave beam you can now access a new door in the Ice Ruins West.
To get up to it, you'll need to jump around and get as high as you can
in the opposite corner from the door and find a stalactite that you can
blow off the ceiling. Jump on top of it and on to a new ledge and turn
around. There is an opening with two of those ice shelled creatures in
it. You need to jump in there and then across to a new ledge. From
here jumping to the door is no problem. The next tricky area is the
Ruined courtyard. You need to use the spinner machines located on the
ground level. Roll into them and boost ball. You'll activate a morph
ball slot higher up which raises the water level. Once the water level
is raised you can make it to the very top and access the blue door for
a save point, but if you want an energy tank then hop along the
floating ice blocks instead and they'll lead you to a hole with
a tank in it. Once you're ready to move on, use the save point of
course and take the purple door. You're going to have to do a lot
of fighting now, so I hope you're prepared! The lab area is pretty
linear, it's just a lot of intense pirate fighting. Lock on to them,
charge your beam, and fire. Charged beams, as you should know, are
much more powerful than regular shot. Much much more. In each room
in the lab, kill everything and scan everything and just keep pressing
forward. Eventually you'll find the super missiles. Sitting out in the
open at the top of one of the rooms. There is a save room nearby, too.

THERMAL VISOR

Keep going into the lab further and you'll find the thermal visor in
the Research Core. Scan the three panels in the room to unlock it. Once
acquired the lights will go out and you will be assaulted by metroids
on your way out. Use the thermal visor to see. You will now need to go
all the way out of here. Ignore the white door at the bottom as you
cannot open it yet. To escape the Research Core at the top now, find
a power panel on the wall and shoot it with the wave beam. The panel
is circular and will appear brightly with the thermal visor. It must
be targetted while wearing the visor and then shot. Any other way will
not work.

SPIDER BALL



BOSS: Thardus

Scan him if you want and it should hint at how to hurt him. I hope
you have a lot of missiles because you will need them. What you do
is you switch to your thermal visor, target the are of him that is
orange, use your NORMAL GUN, power up, and press Y to shoot a super
missile. If it connects with the orange area, then that area will
explode and then overload your thermal visor. Now switch over to the
wave beam and your regular goggles, and target the blue area. Hit it
til it explodes. This is the process you need to follow. I believe it
must be done 7 or 8 times, so you'll need to have a lot of endurance.
As long as you keep jumping to the side while he's targetted (B and
left or right) you should not get hit by his normal attacks. If you
do get frozen, press B rapidly to escape. If he rolls at you, you
usually lose your target on him so you'll need to just run to the
side. Overall, if you know what to do then you should be alright.
He does not take away much energy when he hits you. When you win,
you are rewarded with the spiderball. If you cannot beat him, then
maybe you should collect more energy tanks and missiles.

WAVE BUSTER

You should now head up one of the spiderball paths to a new door.
This takes you to a new elevator. Go up it and you're in a new area
of the Magmoor Caverns. There is a save point behind where the
elevator stops. Keep working your way through the Magmoor Caverns
til you get back to the elevator to the Tallon Overworld. Head to
the Chozo Ruins West elevator. From the Ruined Shrine boost ball
up the right side and then spider ball to the door. You end up in
the Tower of Light. Jump as high as you can and shoot missiles at
the weakened pillars that appear on your scanners. After you destroy
all 4 weakened areas, jump to the center platform and the level
will fall a little allowing you to jump higher. You need to destroy
another set of weakened pillars and then another before you can reach
the top. That's at least 36 missiles you'll need. At the top is the
Wave Buster which is just a powerful weapon you should have.

ICE BEAM

The spider ball also allows you to pick up the ice beam now! Proceed
to the Furnace via the Energy Core in the Chozo Ruins. There is a
puzzle you need to solve in the Energy Core. Solve it on your own
or you can read how to do it in the ENERGY TANKS section, tanks
number 3. It just involves activing all 3 machines in the room by
placing a bomb in each machine's morph ball slot. Once you get to
the furnace, you can grab the energy tank and then you need to go
up the spider ball track to reach the outer furnace. You can roll
into a hole in there to move on. Eventually you will reach a room
called Hall of the Elders and there is a mini boss: A Chozo Ghost.
Defeat him using the regular gun. He's actually not very hard at
all. Normal shots will kill him. Bomb into the statue once he's
dead to be propelled onto the ceiling and grab on with the spider
ball. Then bomb into the slot, get to where the three symbols
appeared, shoot the purple one with the wave beam, ride the statue
again and you can now get to the reflecting pool. Draing the water
by bombing the grating and boost up to the top. In one room is a save
point, in another is the ice beam. 

GRAVITY SUIT

Get back to the Phendrana Drifts any way you please and back to the room 
"Transport to Magmoor Caverns South". There's an ice door you can now
enter. In the next room, the way to go is into the room "Frozen Pike".
It's the second door from the bottom when you look at the map. When you
get to the Frost Cave, the door on the right is a save point, and the
other door is right way to go. Keep following that path and you'll reach
the Gravity Chamber. Please note that in two of the rooms you need to
shoot missiles at rocks in the ceiling tomake platforms out of them. In
the Hunter Cave, once you shoot down the ceiling rocks there is only one
out of the three doors you can go into for now, so that's the one to take.
Once in the Gravity Chamber, go along the bottom of the lake and you'll
find the gravity suit.

POWER BOMBS

Head to the frigate and make your way through it now. There are
not too many difficult enemies in here. All you need to do is use
the thermal visor in each room to find the panels that you need to
shoot with the wave beam. There are two energy tanks in the frigate
which you might want to pick up; look at section V to see where they
are or find them on your own. You will end up in the Great Tree Hall,
which you may have already been in after you got the ice beam. You
are in an area that you could not access before, however. To open
the top area of the room, you need to use your boost ball in the
spinner. Go in the lower ice door to access the Phazon Mines. In
the Main Quarry the save point is up the spider ball track. It's a
good idea to save now. Mess with the crane up top to get a missile,
otherwise just scan the panels by the force field to move on. You
will need to battle a lot of tough enemies in here. Scan them to
see their weaknesses. When you reach the top of Elite Research,
move the laser with the spinner til it faces the proper wall.
The wall you need it to face will show up on scanners. Once it's
facing the wall you can make it shoot by scanning the panel. If you
keep rotating the laser and blowing up the walls, you will uncover
a missile upgrade, too. In Ore Processing, there's a bit of a puzzle
but it's not too bad. Behind the hologram stations are places you can
morph ball into with a bomb and then if you bomb in them it makes the
pillar turn. Bomb once in the bottom one, spider ball up and bomb
twice in the second one, and then go back and bomb three times in
the bottom. The red path now takes you to the top. In the Ventilation
Shaft, you can recharge yourself completely by standing in the lower
doorway and shooting the Puffers from right outside where the gas
will hurt you. They keep spawning and you can keep killing then.
Suck in their power ups with the charge beam until you're satisfied.
When you get to the central dynamo, a weird enemy will come out.
Shoot it (shoot at the lights) with missiles a few times and it will
die. Now roll into the maze and bomb when you get to the dead ends
past the yellow beams. At the end of the maze is the power bombs.

GRAPPLE BEAM

Go back to Ore Processing and now you can blow up the rubble on the
third tier to access the top rotation station. Turn it til the final
yellow path's drop off point is facing the wall opposite the station,
then jum down to the second tier and line it up, and then do the same
on the bottom. Once you have it properly lined up, you can find the
grapple beam inside a door up there.

X-RAY VISOR

Go to the Life Grove Tunnel from the Great Tree Hall and the visor is
in the room just beyond. Once you get it, you'll have to use a power
bomb on the wall, jump up a lot of platforms, and fight some Chozo
Ghosts before you can leave. Once the ghosts are dead just get as
high as you can til you reach the now opened ball hall and fall in to
reach the exit.

ICE SPREADER

Head to the Magmoor Caverns and blow up the tunnel in the Shore Tunnel
with a power bomb. The Ice Spreader is underneath the tunnel.

PLASMA BEAM

Get back to the Geothermal Core. You can now grapple up onto the
rotating lift platforms if you jump up onto the nearby ledge. Each
lift has a morph ball hole on it. Use you boost ball in each one to
raise up most platforms; raise each to the top so that it locks in
place. At the top, bomb in the morph ball hole and the ceiling will
rise. You must now make your way along a complicated but fun spider
ball track. Just remember that if you bomb, you will still be sent
flying up even if you're holding R. So, you can place bombs to propel
you to higher tracks without letting of R. Also, if you need to drop,
just hold R again as soon as you fall a small distance away. As long
as you're holding R, you'll latch onto any tracks you pass by. No
need to time it out. At the end of this path is an ice door with the
plasma beam behind it. You can now open red doors and melt things
that say they need melting.

FLAMETHROWER

Access this upgrade now from the Mine Security Station. Blow up the
wall on the top floor with a power bomb to access the computer and
turn off the force field. Enter the red door for the upgrade.

PHAZON SUIT

Head back to Metroid Quarantine A. You can now get across that gap
by using the X-Ray visor. It will reveal hidden platforms. The rest
of the way is pretty straightforward. There are only two breaks from
the path: a missile station and a save point. Don't try and roll in
the Phazon in the tunnel; you can safely roll there after you get
the Phazon Suit. At one point you have to grapple across a gap, but
the grapple point is too far away. Just jump while aiming up and
holding L. No problem. Make sure to go in the bottom door in Metroid
Quarantine B as it is a save point. A little past that is the next
boss.

BOSS: OMEGA PIRATE
This guy can be unbelievably hard, even downright impossible, if you
don't know how to fight him. First, lock onto and destroy his 4 armor
panels using whatever weapon you like. I'd go with the plasma beam
since it's the most powerful. Keep your distance, jump when he slams
the ground, and eventually you'll destory the panels. No problem so
far. Now comes the part where most people probably go astray. After
he disappears, turn on your X-Ray visor and switch to your regular
gun. A couple of space pirates will drop in, but I say that you
should ignore them and just take the hits. Keep running in circles
and watching very closely for the Omega Pirate to reappear. Have your
weapon charged. As soon as Omega Pirate reappears, lock on to him and
slam him with a super missile. Charge again and wait for him to appear
in another place. Repeat. You may be able to destroy him before he
gets his armor powered up again. If not, the fight just got a lot
harder. You'll need to take out his armor again and deal with the
other pirates. Destroy the pirates running around first, and then
destroy his armor like you did before and repeat the process. If he's
not dead after the second barrage of super missiles, you're doing
something wrong and you'll also probably be dead shortly. If you
are quick, it shouldn't be a problem now that you know what to do.

END GAME

You now have to collect all the artifacts and take them to the
Artifact Temple. You can visit it again to get more clues, or just
look at my artifacts sections to see where they're all located.
Once you have them all, take them to the temple and you'll be
confronted by Ridley!

BOSS: META RIDLEY
Keep hammering him with charged plasma beam shots, or whatever
weapon you prefer. Just try and wait til he's still before you shoot.
The best time to hit him is when he's just popped up from the side
and is powering up an attack. After you get his health down most of the
way, he gets a lot tougher. He'll start charging at you, and it's hard
to avoid. To finish him off, you have to hit him in the mouth when it's
open until he reels in pain, then blast his chest. I found that if you
shoot a fully charged plasma shot into his mouth right as he opens it to
charge, he'll immediately reel. Otherwise you'd have to wait til he's
firing breath shots at you to hit him a lot. He takes a lot of hits in
his second form even though his health is depleted all the way.

After you beat Ridley walk into the blue light to enter the crater.
There is a save point right in here so don't worry. In the next room
are some new creatures crawling on the walls and a Phazon floor BUT
you can't walk on this safely even with the Phazon Suit. So... Jump
over it! In the next large room you come across the fission metroids.
They're quite annoying and you actually won't be able to take them all
out that I can tell. More just keep coming and coming. The best way to
approach this room is to rush as fast as possible up. If a metroid is
coming at you, stop and roll into a ball. When it latches on, lay a
power bomb and it's toast. The other way to kill them is to change to
the weapon color that matches the metroid's individual color and blast
it with that. The first door you come to is a missile recharge station.
Keep climbing up and you'll enter a room with spider ball tracks. Take
them if you want to avoid damage, of course. In that door is the last
boss.

BOSS: METROID PRIME
He sure doesn't look like a metroid at first, though if you've played
Metroid 2 on the Game Boy he's a little reminiscient of the giant
metroids in that game. Anyway, what you do is change to the weapon
color which matches the color he is and blast him in the head. Keep
dodging around and shooting him with charged shots. If he's doing his 
giant laser-breath attack, you might want to wait for him to finish
before shooting because his head is pulled back when he's doing that.
If he's yellow, I like to use super missiles. If he's purple, I like
to use the wave buster. If he's white, I like to use the ice spreader,
but if he's red I just hit him with the normal gun. You will find
that the ice spreader is a lot of fun because it actually freezes him
in place. It's the only time in the game when I find that attack to
actually be useful. Watch out for when he charges; run over to the side
so his legs pass over you. This is really a standard fare battle here.
He just takes forever to defeat, but at least it's pretty straightforward.
Once he's defeated, he falls into a new chamber and comes out of his
shell. NOW he looks more like a metroid! Anyway, collect the power ups
that come out of the containers when he hits the ground. Make sure you
jump over that shockwave. Now, you can't hurt him yet, so just keep
avoiding the shockwave. Your chance to hurt him is when he makes a
Phazon pool on the ground. He will leave a big Phazon spot and cloak.
Switch to the X-ray Visor and if you still can't see him try the
thermal. Quickly run over and step on the Phazon. You will enter hyper
mode! Lock onto Metroid Prime and hold A! You will do a great deal of
damage to him. Now, each time he makes the Phazon pool he will switch
so that you can't see him with your current visor. He may even switch
back so that you can use your normal visor. It's all random. After you
hurt him a lot he will start spawning metroids when he makes the pool.
Just always run as fast as you can onto the spot and blast the metroids.
They will die in one hit from the hyper beam. Make sure that you jump
over the shockwaves while you are pinpointing Metroid Prime as he will
continue to send them out. If you are fast you can keep hitting him
with the hyper beam and eventually he will die. It usually takes 5 good
solid hits.

Once he's defeated, you've won the game. Congratulations!


V. ENERGY TANKS

1. Chozo Ruins: Transport Access North: Right after you get the
missiles for the first time, it's right behind the door.
 
2. Chozo Ruins: Main Plaza: You can see it in the room after you get
out of the elevator to Chozo Ruins west on the far end of this room.
It's up on a ledge you cannot yet reach. To  get to it, you need to
loop around to it. When you get to the elevator that goes down to 
Magmoor Caverns North, you can turn into a passage called  "Vault
Access". It is from herecthat you will complete the loop. When you
come out the other end you will obtain the energy tank.

3. Chozo Ruins: Furnace: (From the ENERGY CORE) There is a stone
toad blocking a path right before the part where you get the bombs.
You can destroy him by turning into a morph ball and then bombing
inside him when he swallows you. Remember this location. Now after
you defeat the boss who makes the water pure again, come back here
to the room behind the stone toad. Activate the machine in it by
bombing into the indentation in the wall, and placing a bomb there.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, then scan the room for it
the indentation. Once the machine is activated the water drains.
Morph ball into the now empty lake and then there is another machine
you can active the same way. When you do so the platforms align so 
that you can enter a new area with another machine. You must activate
this machine quickly before the noise stops. Only if you activate it
quickly will it turn on. Once all three machines are activated, the
lifts will rise so that you can enter a new door that leads to a
special area of the furnace with an energy tank in it. Take note of
the spider ball track here cause you'll need to take it later.

4. Magmoor Caverns: Transport Tunnel A: This area is right before
the transport to Phendrana Drifts North when you are a morphball
rolling through the tunnels. You access this area from the monitor
station! Notice that there is an area above you. You can reach this
area with bombs! You need to time your bombs right and use them to
propel you higher than normal. To do this trick first get the timing
of it right in another area of the game with a flat surface. Place a
bomb, then right before it explodes place another, and then place one
up in the air. You will get double blasted into the air if you time
it right. Now, you need to do it three times and just perfectly and
you'll find an energy tank in these passages. When you first enter
the passage from the Magmoor Caverns, double bomb up in the first
opening in the ceiling. Then, roll over left and do it again. Now
one more time and you'll recieve an energy tank for your troubles.

5. Phendrana Drifts: Ruined Courtyard: Get to it from the Ice Ruins
West using the wave beam and the double jump. When you first enter
there is a hatch that says "one way" when you scan it. This is where
you will come out from after getting the tank. Now, to get to the hole
up top, you'll need to do some more work. Roll into the two "spinner"
devices on each end of the room. Scan them; the game calls them
spinners. When you roll in, do the boost move over and over. Don't
power it all the way; just boost a little. Once you do this,
another hole willlight up at the top. Jump up there and bomb into
it, then lay a bomb inside it. The water will rise allowing you to
jump to the top of the area. The water only stays up for a limited
time. If you jump along the ice blocks that rose with the water,
you will get to a hole which contains the energy tank. Just for
reference, this hole is right under a blue door with a save point
inside. If you need to raise the water again, the last hole remains
actived from now on, so you don't need to bother with the spinners
again.

6. Phendrana Drifts: Research Lab Aether: You can see this tank
inside one of the glass containers on the ground level. Of course,
defeat the pirates in here before attempting to get any items.
Break the container with a missile and then collect the tank. There is
also a missile upgrade in this room which is listed in section V.

7. Magmoor Caverns: Magmoor Work Station: You can see the tank behind
the purple door. You'll need a thermal visor to get it. Use the visor
to find 3 power nodes in the room which will start the machine that
cools the lava. Roll into the cooled path, scan the wall, roll into
the next path, scan the wall, and then roll to the last path and the
tank.

8. Chozo Ruins: Hall of the Elders: Read on how to get the ice beam
and you'll know where this room is. If you hit the grey switch with
the ice beam in this room and place a bomb in the hole, the statue
in the center will bowl you into the ground where the energy tank is.

9. Talloon Overworld: Cargo Freight Life to Deck Gamma: From the
Frigate Crash Site. Once you get the ice beam or gravity suit
you can get in the frigate. The energy tank is found by charge
blasting off the grating. Scan for it in this room and you 
shouldn't have a problemfinding it. If you get it without the
gravity suit you'll have to leave and come back later to get any
farther than this.

10. Phendrana Drifts: Transport Access: It's right out in the open,
but you need the plasma beam.

11. Tallon Overworld: Deck Beta Conduit Hall: Inside the frigate.
You need the gravity suit to get this far in the frigate. Getting
this energy tank requires you to TRIPLE bomb jump. This is possible
because you are in the water. After the first drop off in the morph
ball tunnel, you will see a passage above you. You need to bomb up
into there and at the top is the energy tank. Lay a bomb, and then
right before you hit peak height, lay another. If you timed it right,
you will get blasted up again. Keep doing this til you reach the tank.

12. Chozo Ruins: Training Center: From the Magma Pool. Two rooms
after the Magma Pool, there is a room with some Chozo ghosts. Kill
them, and then boost ball up into the morph ball holes. One of them
opens the path forward to get back itno the Main Plaza for a
missile, and the other one opens up a path to the energy tank.
Quickly roll onto the lowered pipe and spider ball across.

13. Phazon Mines: Ventilation Shaft: Blow up the grating on the floor
with a power bomb, roll in, and scan the panel. The tank will appear.

14. Phazon Mines: Processing Center Acess: It's like a prize for
beating the Omega Pirate. It's in the room after you fight him sitting
out in the open.


VI. MISSILES

The upgrades ware listed by which item you need to get them. IF
YOU HAVE THE ITEM, YOU CAN GET THE MISSILE LISTED UNDER THE HEADING.
Let me clarify: If you need to blow open a wall with super missiles
to get an upgrade, that doesn't mean that the item will be listed
under the heading "SUPER MISSILES", because maybe you need the plasma
beam to enter the area in the first place.

It is possible that you could get some of these earlier than I say
if I made a mistake, however, not more than two or three. Also, it
is technically possible to get some of the missiles that I list under
the X-Ray visor earlier because those platforms still exist even if
you can't see them. It would be a matter of an absurd amount of
trial and error to do so, though, so I am not going to change where
I list those. Just make note of it in case you're the type who likes
to go for that kind of thing.


*MISSILES*

Chozo Ruins: Ruined Gallery: Shoot a missile at the cracked wall
behind the blastcaps.

*MORPH BALL*

Chozo Ruins: Watery Hall Access: Blow up the wall in here with a
missile.

Tallon Overworld: Landing Site: In a morph ball hole under a
cliff right behind your ship.

Tallon Overworld: Transport Tunnel B: From the Magmoor Caverns
East. Should be right under the bridge. Only hidden because it looks
like a dangerous area under there, but it's really harmless. Also
can be reached a bit earlier in the game I believe if you come here
from the landing site after you get the morph ball.

*BOMBS*

Chozo Ruins: Burn Dome: In a hidden area after the main room
if you lay a bomb where the small stream comes out of the wall.

Chozo Ruins: Ruined Shrine: Use the bombs and blow up a sandstone
block along the ground. It's in there.

Chozo Ruins: Ruined Nursery: Look around and you'll spot a missile
upgrade in the wall.  You can get to it if you have the morph ball
and bombs. From the bottom of the map, bomb into an area and blow up
a block with a black block on top of it. Then then go to the top and
enter the passage from the top. You can now bomb your way easily to
the missile.

Chozo Ruins: Vault: You need to open the vault. To do so all you
need is a the bombs for our morphball. Simply bomb open the grates on
the locks, get inside, and place another bomb. For the third lock,
you need to double bomb jump. Refer to the FOURTH energy tank for
information on how to double bomb jump.

Chozo Ruins: Ruined Gallery: Use bombs to get into a passage in
the wall.

*VARIA SUIT*

Magmoor Caverns: Storage Cavern: From the Triclops Pit. In this
room you will see a bunch of triclopes underneath a grating. This
is not the same grating that you got to this room from. It is a grating
in the room labelled "Triclops Pit". You can get under there from
a pipe in a dead end area. Keep looking around and you should find
it. Just roll around, feed the triclopses bombs, and you'll find
another pipe that leads to a door. You can see this door on your map.
In there is the Storage Cavern and a missile upgrade.

Magmoor Caverns: Fiery Shores: Midway through the room there is
a place with some crates. Blow them up and it reveals a path to an
upgrade that you roll into. If you aren't sure where I mean, you can
see the upgrade if you look around, and just follow the path to it
with your eyes. You need to roll carefully up there or else you'll
fall and it won't be pretty.

*BOOST BALL*

Chozo Ruins: Main Plaza: There is a missile upgrade you can get
by using the boost ball upgrade. Look on the right wall of an area
that looks like a half pipe. Once you have the boost ball you can get
it easily.

Chozo Ruins: Ruined Shrine: Use the boost ball on the halfpipe to
get up to the area on the left side of the room. If the side you get
up onto the side with no missile, then it's the other side you need to
get to. When you land on the right part, the missile is in a hole and
it's hard to miss.

*SPACE JUMP*

Chozo Ruins: Gathering Hall: This one is at the very top. You will
need the space jump to reach it. Above the door leading to the east
atrium, you can scan a grating with a structural weakness. The missile
is behind there. Jump onto one of the red protrusions in wall and then
double jump up to the grating. Bomb it and roll in.

*WAVE BEAM*

Phendrana Drifts: Research Lab Aether: There is a missile clearly
visible from the middle of the room on the wall. You can roll to it by
jumping to a small platform first and then becoming a ball.

*SUPER MISSILES*

Chozo Ruins: Main Plaza: There is a tree you can scan in this
room; your scanner says the tree is weakend. Hit the odd stump on
that tree with a super missile and it reveals a missile. You can
jump to the missile from one of the platforms up top. Just make
your way to the top area and get on the ledge closest to the tree.

Phendrana Drifts: Research Lab Hydra: On the top floor near the
entrance to Observatory Access, there is a container you can blow
open with a super missile with an upgrade inside.

Chozo Ruins: Dynamo: From the Watery Hall. Bomb to get into the
ball passage in the Watery Hall and once in the dynamo, shoot a super
missile at the weakened grating for the missile.

*SPIDER BALL*

Phendrana Drifts: Ice Ruins East: Jump to where you see a morph
ball hole on the map. There is a spider ball track that takes you to
a missile in that hole.

Phendrana Drifts: Phendrana Shorelines: Next to the door to
the Temple Entryway you can blow off a metal panel with a super
missile. Scan the panel behind it to open a path with a spider
ball track. Up there is the upgrade.

Chozo Ruins: Crossway: From the Furnace (see energy tank 3).
You need to access the outer part of the Furnace in order to find
the pathway to this area. You can do so with the spider ball. In
this room, you can see a missile upgrade far up in the wall above
where you enter. To get it, you need to first get to the other side
of the room by boosting in the half pipe. Scan the wall and find
the statue that you can scan. Hit it with a super missile and then
scan the panel behind it. A spider ball track appears. Boost in the
half pipe to reach the track. At the end of the track, while still
holding R, lay a bomb and then put another bomb in the morph ball
slot. Another spider ball track appears. Do the same thing in it,
and then quickly roll into where the pipe was lowered. It will
raise you up to the missile.

Chozo Ruins: Ruined Fountain: With the spider ball, roll into
the fountain. It will propel you to the ceiling and if you hold R
you'll latch on. Follow the path.

Chozo Ruins: Dynamo: From the Watery Hall. Bomb to get into the
ball passage in the Watery Hall and once in the dynamo, spider ball up
the wall to get a missile.

*ICE BEAM*

Tallon Overworld: Overgrown Cavern: From the save point next to
where you obtain the ice beam. Morph ball into the wall and take the
elevator. Along the path the missile will be clearly visible.

*GRAVITY SUIT*

Chozo Ruins: Watery Hall: Go into the water and fall into a
deep area. If you have the gravity suit you can walk through the
path and jump up the ledge on the other side for an upgrade.

Tallon Overworld: Frigate Crash Site: It's underwater and
clearly visible in the wall, but you cannot get to it without
the gravity suit.

Tallon Overworld: Biohazard Containment: Inside the frigate. You
need the gravity suit to get this far. Blow open one of the chordite
lockers on the ground level here.

Phazon Mines: Main Quarry: Get up to where the crane's base is.
Find the crane controls in the glassed area. They tell you that it
needs power. To give it power, turn on your thermal visor and find
the panel on the side of the crane base. Once it's turned on with a
wave beam blast, go scan the controls again and the crane moves next
to a missile. Spider ball up the pillar on the other side and it will
lead you right to the missile.

Phazon Mines: Elite Control Access: Near the door which leads
to elevator A. Look at the ceiling and you'll see an explosive box
next to an air duct. Blow up the box and the missile will be revealed.

Phazon Mines: Elite Research: If you rotate the laser using the
spinner, you can keep blowing up more walls and in one of them - the
last one - there is a missile upgrade.

*POWER BOMBS*

Tallon Overworld: Life Grove Tunnel: Use power bombs to get
in and at the part where you need to boost ball, try to make it
to the top of the circle. It may take a bit of practice. If you
manage to make it up to the top, you can lay a bomb up there to
open a hole into a secret passage with a missile.

Chozo Ruins: Furnace: Get into the main part of the room
using the spider ball. Scan the floor and you'll see a crack.
Blow it up with a power bomb and it will reveal a half pipe
that you can get onto the spider ball track with. Follow the
track and it will lead you to the upgrade. Please note that at
two points you will have to fall onto a thin path to get to the
next spider ball track.

Phazon Mines: Security Access A: Drop a power bomb against a wall
here. The wall is scannable. The upgrade is right behind it.

Phazon Mines: Phazon Processing Center: When you come in the room
from the Maintenance Tunnel from Elite Control, go straight and then
along the plank to the right which leads to a wall. Of course,
destroy the enemies first. Now, at the wall, drop down a level and
lay a power bomb. The missile will be revealed in the wall.

*GRAPPLE BEAM*

Chozo Ruins: Training Chamber Access: From the Magma Pool.
You can hear it as you walk through the room. You have to roll
into the leaves at the end of the hall to find it.

Chozo Ruins: Main Plaza: Right above where you enter the room for
the first time. You can only reach it with the grapple beam and you
can only use the grapple point if you come into the Main Plaza from
the Magma Pool.

Phendrana Drifts: Quarantine Monitor: From Quarantine Cave.
Come back here with the grapple beam and you can swing across
to the hole in the wall. The missile is waiting inside.

Phendrana Drifts: Frost Cave: Under the lake. Oddly enough, no
amount of fire can melt that ice. You need to break it with a
stalactite from the ceiling. Get to the highest point of the room
by swinging on the glider up to where the boxes are. Look up and
lock onto the stalactite. The missile is yours.

*X-RAY VISOR*

Tallon Overworld: Root Cave: Grapple up to some higher
platforms and keep going til it looks like you can't anymore.
Turn on your X-ray visor and you'll see formerly invisible
platforms. Take them up and you'll find an upgrade in the wall.

Phazon Mines: Metroid Quarantine A: When you come back with the
X-ray visor, get across the gaps and you'll eventually reach a spider
ball track. If you still gave on your X-Ray visor when you get there,
as you probably will, you should notice a big empty hall to your
left. When you try to go in, however, you cannot because it's
actually a solid wall. Your visor has picked up a secret! Blow
the wall open with a power bomb. At the end of this passage blow
up another wall with a power bomb, then bomb onto the spider ball
track which runs across the beam and turn on your X-Ray visor again
on the other side to see a platform which takes you to the upgrade.

Magmoor Caverns: Triclops Pit: Coming from the Pit Tunnel,
get near a bunch of boxes. Turn on your X-Ray visor and you'll
be able to see a lot of hidden platforms which lead to the
upgrade. You will have to blow up the pillar with a missile
before you can jump to it though.

Tallon Overworld: Great Tree Chamber: From the Great Tree Hall.
Use the X-Ray visor to see a hidden platform which allows you to reach
the blue door. This room contains nothing but the upgrade.

*PLASMA BEAM*

Phazon Mines: Fungal Hall Access: It's the first room on the
third floor. Roll under the big mushroom on the bottom. You will
have to take damage to do this as soon as you can access the room,
but not too much.

Phazon Mines: Fungall Hall B: Under the door to Quarantine Access
B. It's right under the mushroom. I recommend that you come back and
get this one after you get the Phazon Suit since you'll need to come
back this way to get an artifact anyway.

Phazon Mines: Metroid Quarantine B: In the area after you
deactivate the force field, scan the containers. One of them
is cracked. Blow it up with a super missile.

Phendrana Drifts: Gravity Chamber: You need the plasma beam. Come
into the room from Chamber Acess and right above you will be a giant
icicle. Shoot it with the plasma beam and it reveals a grapple point
you can swing to the upgrade with.

Phendrana Drifts: Phendrana Shorelines: Right under the door
leading to the Plaza Walkway is a pillar with a missile encased
in its base. Hit the ice with the plasma beam to get it.

Phendrana Drifts: Ice Ruins East: Use the plasma beam on an ice
wall near the door leading to the Plaza Walkway.

Tallon Overworld: Arbor Chamber: From the Root Cave. Use your
X-Ray visor to see hidden platforms which will lead to the door
at the top which can be opened with the plasma beam.

UNSORTED

Missile Replenishing Stations: Hall of the Elders, Fungal Hall B,
Crater Missile Station


VII. POWER BOMBS

Each power bomb upgrade increases the amount you can carry by 1.

1. Chozo Ruins: Magma Pool: With the grapple beam, get across the
lava and blow up the far wall with a power bomb.

2. Phendrana Drifts: Security Cave: From Phendrana's Edge. You
need the grappling hook. Get to the top of the room by jumping
and swinging. At the top there is a morph ball hole which leads
to this room containing the upgrade.

3. Phendrana Drifts: Ice Ruins West: You need the plasma beam.
Get on top of the high ledge by the blue door and shoot the ice
in the ground. It's sitting right there.

4. Magmoor Caverns: Fiery Shores: From the Warrior Shrine. Power
bomb the floor in the warrior shrine right under the statue to
open up the path to this part of the Fiery Shores room. You could
always see it on the map but never get to it. The Warrior Shrine
is accessed from the Monitor Station by boosting in the spinner
to raise a bridge to the top door.


VIII. ARTIFACTS

1. ARTIFACT OF TRUTH - Tallon Overworld: Artifact Temple: From
the Landing Site.

2. ARTIFACT OF STRENGTH - Magmoor Caverns: Warrior Shrine: From
the Monitor Station. Get to the very top of the room and use the
boost ball in the machine to lower a bridge which allows you to
access the door leading to the Warrior Shrine. 

3. ARTIFACT OF ELDER - Phendrana Drifts: Control Tower: Destroy the
window in the room above the east tower with the plasma beam, take
out the big box with a super missile, and then shoot a super missile
out the window at the fuel tanks. The tower will collapse and a path
will open in the floor leading to the artifact.

4. ARTIFACT OF WIND - Chozo Ruins: Sunchamber: Revisit the Sun
Chamber later in the game and there will be 3 Chozo Ghosts. Kill
them and the artifact appears. I am not sure what triggers this,
but when I got it I had come into the room from the spider ball
track in the Sun Tower.

5. ARTIFACT OF LIFEGIVER - Chozo Ruins: Tower Chamber: From the
Tower of Light. Once you have the gravity suit, fall in the water
and you can jump up the ledge down there to access this room.

6. ARTIFACT OF WARRIOR - Phazon Mines: Elite Research: Blow up
the tank with the Phazon Elite in it with a power bomb. Kill
him for the artifact.

7. ARTIFACT OF CHOZO - Tallon Overworld: Life Grove: Lay a power
bomb in the center of the lake where the rune is, roll into the
spinner, and boost a few times. The artifact emerges.

8. ARTIFACT OF NATURE - Magmoor Caverns: Lava Lake: In the part
of the room closest to the Lake Tunnel, blow up the pillar with
a super missile.

9. ARTIFACT OF THE SUN - Phendrana Drifts: Chozo Ice Temple.
Come back with the plasma beam and melt the top statue's hands.
Jump and roll into them now to open a path to the artifact.

10. ARTIFACT OF WORLD - Chozo Ruins: Elder Chamber: From the Hall
of the Elders. Come back here with the Plasma Beam and hit the red
target on the wall. Bombing in the morph ball hole opens the way
to this room.

11. ARTIFACT OF SPIRIT - Phendrana Drifts: Storage Cave: From
Phendrana's Edge. Use the grappling hook to climb to the higher
platforms. Make sure you have on your X-Ray visor. With it you'll
spot a hidden door in the wall! Blow up the wall with a power bomb
and you'll find the artifact inside.

12. ARTIFACT OF NEWBORN - Phazon Mines: Phazon Mining Tunnel: Come
back to collect this after you have the Phazon Suit, otherwise
you have no chance to survive.


IX. UNLOCKABLES

Picture Gallery 1 - Scan 50% of the logbook entries

Picture Gallery 2 - I have not unlocked this yet, but supposedly it
is unlocked for getting 100% of the logbook entries.

Hard mode - Beat the game.

Fusion Suit - Beat the game and then go to the option for this on
the menu. If you have Metroid Fusion and a link cable, you can connect
up and you'll unlock the suit. Just follow the onscreen instructions.

NES Metroid - Same as above only you need to beat Metroid Fusion and
then link up.


X. LEGAL STUFF

This guide is copyright 2002 by Bryan Backas. You may post it wherever
as long as it is in its full text and as long as the version number is
1.00 or greater. PLEASE DO NOT POST IT ANYWHERE YET! THE GUIDE IS NOT
COMPLETE! IT SHOULD ONLY BE ON GAMEFAQS!

I have gotten websites shut down before for plagiarising my guides, so
please don't test me! I worked hard on this and there's no reason to
cut and paste my guide into your own webpage when I am telling you that
you may post the text file.