Metroid Prime

This guide was written, contributed and copyrighted by me by me, known 
here as lighterfluid6. Don't plagiarize, or use this guide giving 
yourself credit. This guide is not to be posted in any website other 
than gamefaqs.com, ign.com and associated websites. To contact me, email 
me at redshift71388@aol.com or IM me at redshift71388 (do not contact my 
previous addresses, ChaosUnit22). If you do contact me, do it only to 
ask for help that you feel isn't covered in my guide, or for any 
constructive criticism and appraisal. Do not, under any circumstance, 
contact me asking me to join your special forum, be part of some special 
group, or make small talk. If you ask a question about the game, make 
sure the guide doesn't cover that. That is all.

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Introduction.

The Chozo are in peril. After centuries of technological advancement and 
deep space exploration, this race of beings had regressed into natural 
simplicity, adopting the fertile planet of Tallon IV as their home, and 
looking inward to reach an enlightened plane of existence. For a while, 
the Chozo lived in harmony with the native creatures, and built their 
homes and temples from the natural materials Tallon IV provided them. 
Soon, the Chozo were able to leave their physical bodies behind and 
exist as omniscient spirits. Then, twenty years ago, a meteor struck 
their planet. Tallon IV was a biological paradise, teeming with unique 
life forms. However, the meteor carried with it a deadly mutagen known 
as Phazon. The Phazon polluted the planet's ecosystem, killing and 
mutating the native species. What the Phazon did not kill, it mutated 
into corrupt new forms. Eventually even the Chozo spirits began to feel 
the Phazon's effects. They either slipped into insanity or disappeared 
to an unknown realm, leaving only their ruins behind. The Chozo spoke of 
a 'Worm' that came along with the meteor. Before their demise, they used 
their once-forsaken technology to seal away the Worm within the meteor's 
Impact Crater, so that only the holder of twelve Chozo Artifacts could 
enter its lair. But this was not enough. Soon after the extinction of 
the Chozo, the Space Pirates arrived, seeking the power of the Phazon 
for their biogenetic experimentations and to rebuild their forces after 
their defeat on Zebes. Their research and mining brought them to the 
Worm, which they called Metroid Prime. Their experiments also took place 
aboard the Space Pirate Frigate, Orpheon, but lately, things haven't 
been going so smoothly for them....

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Walkthrough.

When using this guide, all you really need to know is that important 
items will be in CAPITALIZED print. This includes new Log Book entries, 
power-ups, expansions and more. The walkthrough section of this guide is 
divided into fourteen chapters:

1.	The Space Pirate Frigate.
2.	Obtaining the Missile Launcher.
3.	The Morph Ball.
4.	Toxins at the Ruins.
5.	Fire and Ice.
6.	High Waves.
7.	Phendrana Labs.
8.	Return to the Ruins.
9.	The Gravity Suit.
10.	A Miner Threat.
11.	The Treasure Hunt.
12.	Phazon Corruption.
13.	An Old Friend.
14.	The Worm.

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Chapter 1: The Space Pirate Frigate.

=============

The game of Metroid Prime is the first of the Prime series, which takes 
place between the original Metroid game and Metroid 2: Return of Samus. 
After destroying the Space Pirate base on Zebes, Samus went in pursuit 
of the remaining Space Pirate forces to try and eliminate them once and 
for all. She was able to intercept a distress signal coming from the 
Space Pirate Frigate, Orpheon, in orbit around Tallon IV. Being the 
bounty hunter that she is, Samus moves in to investigate.

The Space Pirate Frigate is the only area in the game that you can't 
revisit again, but you will have a chance to explore the vessel once 
it.... (Sorry, I can't spoil that for you). Nevertheless, some of the 
elusive creatures and information found aboard the Orpheon can only be 
scanned during your initial tutorial run through the ship. If you want a 
full Log Book, scan.

After Samus docks with the frigate, you'll assume control over her. You 
start in the Exterior Docking Bay, a room boxed in with special force 
fields that prevent you from falling off into space. The only way to 
progress is by going through the energy field that bars your way to the 
next portion of the room. The field is powered by four nodes located 
along its side. After you play around and get used to the game's 
controls, target each of the power nodes and blast them with the Power 
Beam to disable them. The shield will deactivate once all four nodes are 
shut down. Walk out to the second section of the room. Your progress 
through this area is also barred by an energy field, again powered by 
multiple nodes. This time however, the nodes are lacking power. You need 
to reenergize the system by scanning the blue control panel on the 
center pillar of the room. Afterwards, shoot all six power nodes to shut 
down the force field. You'll need to look up to shoot the topmost two 
nodes. Now jump up to the third section of the room and follow the 
walkway to a blue door. Shoot the door to open it, and then step inside 
the frigate.

You can skip through these next three small passageways, scanning when 
you need to. In the last potion of the Docking Bay, you can scan the 
holograms on the wall for information about the ship's status. When you 
reach the Air Lock, you won't be able to continue until you re-
pressurize the room. Scan the control panel to do so. You'll know when 
the room is re-pressurized when the floating debris falls to the ground 
and the door ahead glows blue. Continue to the Emergency Evacuation 
Area.

This room is a waste. Whatever happened here ended with several dead 
Space Pirates and the dominating carcass of a large, insect-like 
creature. Before you go too far in, scan the smaller creatures you see 
feeding on the Space Pirate's body to your right. The PARASITE is fairly 
common aboard the frigate; you probably saw a few running beneath the 
floor crawlspace of the last room. Despite that fact, they can only be 
found on the Orpheon, and you'll lose your chance of scanning any for 
your Log Book afterwards. Parasites aren't deadly. Like most enemies, 
you'll suffer minor damage if you make contact with one, but it takes 
only one Power Beam shot to kill them. After dealing with them, head 
around the fire and across the balcony, blasting more Parasites as you 
go. Turn left and prepare for your first real threat, if you can call it 
that. The injured Space Pirate ahead will start shooting you if you get 
too close, so take it out from afar. Because of its injuries, its aim 
will be hindered and it will take only a few shots to put it out of its 
misery. Like all pirates aboard the ship, you won't add it to your Log 
Book if you scan it. Take the door on your right.

The Deck Alpha Umbilical Hall is blocked off by a pile of rubble. Charge 
up your Power Beam and unload onto the debris to clear it. The door at 
the end of the passageway takes you to the Map Facility. As soon as you 
open the door to this room, a short cut-scene will interrupt your fun to 
show you two Parasites fleeing down a small tunnel along the right wall. 
Roll into your Morph Ball and follow them to the small room with the 
glowing hologram. Scan the hologram, before you step into it. When you 
step into a MAP STATION, you can download the schematics for each area 
that the station corresponds to. This station will show you the layout 
of the frigate. There are only four Map Stations in the game, and if you 
download one before scanning it, there will be nothing to scan 
afterwards. Be sure to scan one of them (preferably this one) before 
using all four. After your map is updated, roll back through the tunnel 
and use the door at the end of the Map Facility.

To use the elevator to Deck Beta, scan the control panel and a hologram 
will appear in the center of the lift. Walk into it and you will rise to 
Deck Beta. The first room after the lift, the Deck Beta Conduit Hall, is 
blocked by more rubble, fire and some live wires. Touching the fire will 
harm you. Use your Morph Ball to roll under the rubble, but wait for the 
live wire current to flicker off so that you don't take additional 
damage.

The following room is the first Biotech Research Area. The room houses a 
dormant Parasite Queen contained within the large stasis tank in the 
center of the room. This monstrous creature is not unlike the dead beast 
you saw earlier. The Space Pirates are somehow enhancing regular 
Parasites to grow many times their normal size, mutating them and 
building an army of giant Parasite Queens. But if the Emergency 
Evacuation Area and the distress signal is any clue, you can tell 
something went wrong with their experiments. Anyway, turn left and walk 
around the upper part of the room, cleaning up Space Pirates as you go. 
You'll encounter another crippled individual, as well as another who is 
able to stand and actively attack, but isn't much more of a threat 
anyway. 

When you kill an enemy, it will sometimes leave behind a pickup. Pickups 
glow and make unique whirring hums, and they can be drawn towards you 
using your Charge Beam. Pickups provide energy and restore your 
ammunition. The different types can also be scanned for Log Book 
entries. By now you may have seen the small purple units, or SMALL 
ENERGY units. These restore ten of your health points. In the following 
corridor after the Biotech Research room, turn left for a nasty 
surprise, an AUTO TURRET. These stationary defense weapons are 
programmed to attack whenever they sense you nearby. They fire damaging 
bolts of energy, and it's wisest to quickly dismantle them as soon as 
possible. Don't bother scanning this one yet; just shoot it with a 
missile and scan the yellow pickup it leaves behind, a MISSILE AMMO unit 
(which replenishes five missiles to your Missile Launcher). 

The next room is the Biohazard Containment. Somewhere from the depths of 
this room, you'll have another Auto Turret shooting at you. Luckily, you 
can take cover behind the stasis tank in the room, which contains the 
grisly remnants of a failed Parasite Queen experiment. Flip on your Scan 
Visor and find the computer monitor with the red scan symbol, and scan 
it. It is your first and only opportunity to scan Pirate Data: FALL OF 
ZEBES. It's the only Pirate Data entry that can't be revisited if you 
accidentally miss it, so scan it now! Also, turn to the left and scan 
the control panel along the left wall. This panel will disable the Auto 
Turret. Not all turrets have a corresponding panel to shut them down, 
but it sure makes fighting them a lot easier. Now that the turret is 
pacified, scan it for an easy Log Book entry if you didn't get the last 
one. If you wish, collect data on the rest of the room's creepy-crawly 
contents, and then head to the back of the room. 

Scan the control panel back here to activate the small lift that takes 
you up to the upper level of the room. The top section is made up of a 
balcony that encircles the room. As you travel to the door on the 
opposite end, you'll have to level a few pirates. The first few are 
easy, but the third one is particularly nasty. It hasn't sustained many 
injuries, and it's about as tough to take down as the pirates you'll 
fight later in the game. Don't hesitate to use missiles on it. Collect 
any dropped pickups and head for the door. A final dying pirate will 
attempt to stop you by the door; laugh at him, mop him up and continue. 
Head down the Deck Beta Transit Hall and to the Cargo Freight Lift to 
Deck Gamma. 

The top of the cargo lift is guarded by another Auto Turret. Take it out 
of commission the old fashion way, and then scan the nearby panel to 
activate the lift to Deck Gamma. Enjoy your pleasant ride down; there's 
another vicious Space Pirate at the bottom that will attack. Kill it 
with missiles and then go after the Parasites feeding on the pirate 
carcasses. You should have them scanned by now. If not, do it now 
because the next and final time you see them will be when you're in a 
hurry. After the room has been cleared, scan the panel down here to 
energize the large door ahead. It still won't open unless you use the 
use the device on the floor marked with a spherical hologram. The panel 
told you to insert a metal sphere...like your Morph Ball. Roll into the 
mechanism and the door will open. 

Be quick to destroy the two turrets in the next room. Charge up your 
beam to draw in the Missile Ammo. The door ahead of you opens up just 
like the last one, but we'll worry about that in just a second. Use the 
regular blue door on your left to save your game, using the SAVE 
STATION. Unlike Map Stations, there are plenty of reusable, scan-able 
Save Stations scattered throughout the game. They allow you to save your 
progress and they restore all of your lost health. Give this one a scan 
and then make sure you heal and save. Back outside, scan the control 
panel and use the Morph Ball to open the large door like you did with 
the previous one. The next room is the Reactor Core.

When Samus enters the Reactor Core, she'll be attacked by a live 
PARASITE QUEEN. This mutant beast is your first boss, the first true 
test of your skills. Like all bosses, the very first thing you should do 
when fighting her is scan her. Bosses can only be fought once, and thus 
you only get one chance to scan them. Not only that, but scanning the 
Parasite Queen in particular will prove useful when fighting her. The 
first thing you need to know is that when you target the queen, you'll 
lock on to her fleshy stomach. But after you scan her, you'll discover a 
new weakness in her mouth, and you'll target the mouth from that point 
forward. Yes, you can win without finding this weak spot, but it takes 
longer and it deprives you of her one-shot scan. So go ahead, scan her 
like you mean it. All you need to do to win this battle is shoot her 
repeatedly with Power Beam shots and/or missiles. The trick is that the 
Parasite Queen is perched inside a dual force field system around the 
ship's energy core. The blue field will deflect your shots, but the 
orange field is weak enough to shoot through. In return, the queen can 
attack through both fields. The force fields will rotate around the 
queen, meaning you'll have to practice your strafing techniques to get 
shots in. Lock on to the queen and dash to the sides. This will also 
help you avoid her attacks; she fires jets of volatile acid from her 
mouth. The battle itself isn't all too difficult. Use up your missiles, 
and then feed her Power Beam shots to finish her off. Keep moving in 
order to get a shot through the blue force field. Sometimes the fields 
will scramble, so you will need to wait until they reset themselves. 
Again, this battle shouldn't be too difficult. And if it is, well, 
that's what the Save Station was for.

When the Parasite Queen succumbs, she'll fall into the reactor core, 
destroying herself and the core in the process. With the core gone, the 
entire ship will become unstable and self destruct in seven minutes! 
That means you need to get moving now. Samus's Power Suit, being the 
technological wonder that it is, will tell you to "evacuate immediately" 
while an alarm blares loudly. The door you entered from won't do, but 
luckily there's another door that should be right in front of you. Head 
forward, up the steps and through the passageways. Take the next lift 
back up to Deck Beta. On the way out, scan the panel on the wall in 
front of you to deactivate a hidden Auto Turret. 

Enter Biotech Research Area 1. This is the bottom section of the room, 
not the upper balcony you explored previously. Already, the ship has 
turned into a war zone. The Space Pirates here are trying to subdue the 
awakened Parasite Queen. You won't have to fight either of them; as soon 
as you take a few steps in, a large explosion will kill everything in 
sight. Head behind the stasis tank and up the pieces of rubble to the 
second floor. Turn right and head down to the other door. Three Space 
Pirates will attack you up here. Dispatch the first two with missiles. 
The third might get killed for you by another explosion which will 
reveal a new path through the ventilation systems. The entrance to the 
system is to the right of the door (which you can't use anyway).

Go ahead and use your Morph Ball to quickly make your way through the 
ventilation shafts. Roll into the openings in the walls to continue 
through the tunnels. The shafts are all basically the same, with some 
added turrets along the way (roll out of the Morph Ball to deal with 
them). Most are infested with swarms of Parasites. You'll take damage 
when you roll through them, but it isn't anything to worry over. 
Additionally, you'll reach an area that you'll have to bomb through, and 
another in which the tunnel is blocked off by a large piston. Wait for 
the piston to retract, and then continue before it pumps out again. 
Eventually you will reach the end of the tunnels and emerge in Biotech 
Research Area 2.

It's Ridley! Samus stumbles upon the most intriguing of the Space 
Pirates' research projects, the resurrection of one of their leaders. 
Samus defeated the dragon-like Ridley on Zebes when she destroyed their 
base and the commanding Mother Brain. The survivors of her purge went on 
to revive their winged aggressor and scout for new base locations; hence 
their presence on Tallon IV. The cybernetic-enhanced Meta Ridley will 
break out of his restraints and escape through the ceiling. Now you'll 
notice a chasm blocking your way to the door on the far end of the room. 
To get across, you'll need to implement your Grapple Beam. The Grapple 
Points ahead of you are marked with special Grapple icons. Fire your 
Grapple Beam as indicated and swing across. As soon as you reach the end 
of your swing, let go and then immediately reattach yourself to the 
second Grapple Point, and then swing across to the other side. Enter 
this door and continue.

The next passage has another blue panel that needs scanning. Well, you 
don't need to, but if you don't, there will be another Auto Turret 
raining death upon you. Turn the corner and head towards the lift. Avoid 
the damaging currents of electricity down this passage. When you scan 
the lift's control panel, you'll trigger a cut-scene. A violent 
explosion slams Samus against the wall, damaging her Power Suit. When 
you recover, you'll be at full health, but at the price of losing almost 
all of your gear. That includes the Varia Suit (you'll notice your suit 
looks different), Missile Launcher, Morph Ball (and its bombs), Charge 
Beam and Grapple Beam. Basically, all you have left is your default 
Power Suit, Power Beam, Combat Visor and the Scan Visor. Yay. Now ride 
the lift to Deck Alpha.

The Deck Alpha Mech Shaft is a short passage with a few sharp turns that 
dumps you at the Air Lock. Good news: that's only a room away from 
freedom. However, since you pressurized this room earlier, you need to 
wait a few seconds for it to depressurize so that the door becomes 
active. Dash through the next passage to complete your escape to the 
outer docking bay. If you didn't make it in seven minutes, you'll die 
and be forced to restart at the Save Station (before the boss battle). 
When you step outside, a cinematic will take over.

Samus narrowly escapes from the crumbling Space Pirate Frigate as it 
self-destructs. Meta Ridley has also escaped and is fleeing for the 
nearby planet, Tallon IV. Samus will give chase, but end up losing the 
tracking signal and be forced to continue reconnaissance on foot.

=============

Chapter 2: Obtaining the Missile Launcher.

=============

Samus lands her ship upon the lush rainforests of the planet's first 
major area, the Tallon Overworld. Tallon IV is divvied up into five main 
areas each connected via a system of transport elevators. There is also 
one final area that can be reached at the very end of the game. Tallon 
Overworld is a place characterized by rainy weather, thick vegetation 
and plenty of wildlife, but comparatively little intrusion from any 
civilization. 

You can always return to the Landing Site if you need to use your 
GUNSHIP. Your ship acts as a multipurpose station. It allows you to save 
your progress, restore health and restore any ammunition. You should 
also scan it at some point for a Log Book entry. There are several doors 
leading out of the Landing Site, but of those doors, only three are 
accessible to you right now. Take the door on your right, leading to the 
Canyon Cavern.

When you enter this cavern, several disturbed BEETLES will attack. You 
won't be hurting for opportunities to scan these creatures, but you may 
as well. Beetles are aggressive insects that surface from their 
subterranean dens whenever they sense movement above. They attack you by 
ramming you, so shoot them all before they get that chance. The passage 
on your left takes you to a door, leading to the Tallon Canyon.

The canyon is home to a variety of new species, all of which will add a 
new page to your Log Book. The yellow plantlike object in front of you 
is a SAP SAC. These are only dangerous if you shoot them; they'll 
explode with enough force to harm you or kill any creature that is too 
close. Ruptured Sap Sacs sometimes leave behind pickups and you may even 
get one to leave behind a LARGE ENERGY unit. These health pickups are 
slightly larger than Small Energy units, are red, and heal 20 lost 
health points. If you don't find it now, keep your eye out for it. 
Further down the canyon you will see a waterfall to your left. Crawling 
among the rocks are common creatures called ZOOMERS. Zoomers keep to 
themselves, but can defend themselves with their spikes when necessary. 
They are still fairly easy to destroy though. GEEMERS on the other hand, 
are a bit tougher. You'll find a Geemer above you, crawling around the 
ledge on your right, opposite to the waterfall. Geemers are variants of 
the Zoomer, but are invulnerable to any type of beam weapon except for 
missiles and the late-game Plasma Beam. Lastly, scan the mushrooms 
growing in the corners of the waterfall pond. These are BLASTCAPS, which 
can be shot to reveal pickups. Blastcaps are poisonous though, so after 
you shoot one wait for the toxic gas to disperse before you approach. 
Keep walking towards the half-pipe-shaped rock formation past the 
overhanging bridge. Kill the two Beetles that attack, and then continue 
to the blue door.

The tunnel ahead takes you to a transport. You can easily destroy the 
Zoomers crawling around here by shooting the Sap Sacs nearby. Head 
through the door at the end. This, your first transport, will take you 
to the Chozo Ruins. Scan the bird-shaped control panel and then step 
into the elevator's hologram to ride upward. 

The Chozo Ruins area was once home to the very beings that raised Samus 
as a child. The Tallon Chozo are now extinct, but their crumbling ruins 
are filled with clues and lore as to what led to their demise, and how 
they existed before their way of life was brought to an abrupt end. Walk 
through the next two doors until you reach the Ruins Entrance. There are 
Beetles here to kill. Also, if you have the hint system option turned 
on, you'll get a notification now about strange seismic activity 
occurring deeper within the ruins, in a room called the Hive Totem. That 
is your next destination. Before leaving through the door up ahead, scan 
the shimmering section of wall above it. These weird symbols are pieces 
of Chozo Lore, entries in your Log Book. This piece is Chozo Lore: 
FOUNTAIN. The Chozo Lore pieces each tell a part of the Chozo's story. 
You'll find more as you explore deeper into Tallon IV.

After the introductory cinematic in the Main Plaza, step down into the 
clearing and eliminate the dozen or so Beetles that pop up. The Main 
Plaza connects many sections of the Chozo Ruins together, with many 
doors leading to and from the room. The door you should be interested in 
right now is the far left door at the back of the room. Cross the half-
pipe configuration and head up the steps, and then turn left to find 
your door. You should now be in a tunnel called the Nursery Access. 
After the turn, check out the swarm of insects crawling towards you. 
SCARABS are common throughout the tunnels of the Chozo Ruins, and can be 
quite a nuisance. Like Parasites, they travel in swarms, but differ in 
that they will eventually stop moving to try and block your path. If you 
get too close to them, they explode. Kill them all before proceeding. 
The next tunnel, Eyon Tunnel, is named after its inhabitants: EYONS. 
These organisms look like eyes attacked to the wall. They can 
concentrate energy in the form of a laser beam and shoot it at anything 
in their line of sight. Eyons can't be destroyed without the Charge 
Beam, but you can shut them for a few seconds by simply shooting them. 
After you get past them, head to the next room.

The Ruined Nursery has a Save Station right next to it, but you'll need 
to find a way up to it before you can use it. First, scan the Chozo Lore 
on the opposite wall (EXODUS). To get up on the ledge on your right, 
head to the back of the room and use the steps from there, taking out 
the two Beetles along the way. At the blue door, turn back towards the 
room's center and scan the yellow structures on the ceiling and opposite 
wall. These are HIVES, which are homes to vicious WAR WASPS. The wasps 
will attack you as soon as you get up onto the ledge. Shoot them quickly 
before they attack. They'll hover near you, and then swoop in for a 
ramming attack. You can also use missiles to destroy the Hives before 
the wasps emerge; that way you'll prevent any of them from appearing. 
So, from the blue door, jump to the ledge on the right wall (the wall 
opposite of the entrance door) and locate the door leading to a Save 
Station. Use it, then head back out and go through the other blue door.

You'll be interrupted by a swarm of Scarabs as you pass through the next 
small room, the North Atrium. Kill the swarm, and then proceed to the 
next room. The Ruined Gallery is another Hive infested room. First, take 
out the War Wasps. Then, scan below for a new entry. TANGLE WEED is the 
grassy stuff. Ignore it for now, and make your way across the ledges on 
the right side of the room to the other side where a door is. Head on 
through. 

The path in the Totem Access slopes downwards, patrolled by new 
creatures called PLAZMITES. These fireflies are relatively harmless, and 
are actually beneficial in some areas. Because of the light they emit, 
they can sometimes be your only means of seeing where you're going, so 
shooting them would leave you in the dark. This isn't really a problem 
here, but you should still watch your step when you go through the room. 
The water in the Chozo Ruins is being polluted by an unknown source, and 
its toxicity levels are high enough so that you'll take damage from 
contact with it. The crate in the middle of the room can be opened with 
the Power Beam to reveal pickups. You'll see more of that Tangle Weed 
stuff too. It's harmless, but you'll be slowed down if you try walking 
through it. Anyway, there's a door at the far end of the room that you 
should now head through.

Your goal is reached, for you are now in the Hive Totem. You aren't out 
of danger yet though. Head to the center structure of this slanted room, 
accessed by steps made by collapsed rubble near the toxic water. 
Downhill, to your left, is a metal bridge that spans the toxic pond to a 
glowing item. This is you first power-up, but you'll have to fight for 
it. Once you try and cross the bridge, a cut-scene will interrupt and 
your first mini-boss battle will commence. The large machine above the 
power-up lowers to block your path across the bridge, while the Chozo 
statues to either side of the bridge begin to spill green water into the 
room, trapping you on top of the center island. While the HIVE MECHA 
isn't really a boss, you only get one chance to scan it. Got that? Only 
one chance. Point your scanner below the water level and look for the 
red scan symbol. The Hive Mecha is a mechanical wasp hive designed to 
interact with hive dwellers. This unit houses a nasty new breed of War 
Wasp, the RAM WAR WASPS. When the battle starts, the Hive Mecha will 
release several of these red insects, which will begin to zoom around 
you at high speeds. Make sure to scan one, because like the Mecha 
itself, these only appear this one time. Don't bother trying to get a 
lock on a circling War Wasp. Instead, study your radar and wait for one 
of the yellow dots to stop moving. When one does, look for the hovering 
War Wasp and blast it out of the air before it strikes. When all of the 
wasps have been eliminated, the Hive Mecha will reveal a weak spot. 
Target this red area and give it a few shots of the Power Beam until the 
Hive Mecha closes itself and rotates. The cycle will need to be repeated 
two more times. More wasps will be released each time you damage the 
Hive Mecha. After the third cycle, the Mecha will surrender its captured 
power-up and the water level will recede to normal. Cross the bridge and 
collect the MISSILE LAUNCHER. 

Your trusty missiles will allow you to open the door ahead of you, 
sealed with a MISSILE DOOR LOCK blast shield. Scan the shield first, and 
then blow it apart with a missile. The small chamber beyond contains 
your first ENERGY TANK, which restores all of your energy and increases 
your maximum health capacity by 100. You can also bust up some crates in 
the room to collect Missile Ammo. There is nothing else you can do here 
now, but do take note of that tunnel in the back of the room. Now return 
to the Ruined Gallery.

Destroy the wasp Hive as soon as you enter the gallery. Now, jump down 
to the room's lower level, but don't touch the water. Turn around and 
shoot the Blastcaps, and then fire a missile at the cracked section of 
the wall across the small pond. The wall will crumble and reveal a space 
containing a MISSILE EXPANSION. These items allow you to carry five 
extra missiles. There are 49 expansions in the game, meaning you'll end 
up with a maximum capacity of 250 for the Missile Launcher (the launcher 
itself also provided five of those missiles). Jump back across to solid 
ground and head for the back of the room's lower section. You'll find 
another door with a Missile Door Lock to your right. Bring it down and 
enter to download the Chozo Ruins map via the Map Station. After that's 
done, climb back up to the upper ledges and take the door back to the 
Ruined Nursery. Once you get there, use the Save Station nearby.

=============

Chapter 3: The Morph Ball.

=============

After saving, backtrack to the Main Plaza. Defeat any Beetle opposition 
and head down to the clearing in front of the tree, where the main 
Beetle population lives. Across from the tree is a door covered by a 
Missile Door Lock. Blast it to bits and enter the exposed doorway. The 
tunnel beyond is crawling with Scarabs, as expected. There are in fact 
two swarms that you have to fight through. The door at the end of this 
tunnel takes you to the resting place of your next power-up (that was 
quick, wasn't it?), the coveted Morph Ball.

Climb over the formation ahead of you and hop down into the clearing. 
The Morph Ball in the back of the room is sitting there waiting for you, 
but as soon as you approach it, a wall will rise up from the ground and 
deny you access. At that point, you'll be ambushed by a huge colony of 
vicious Beetles. You can't turn back now, so the only way to make it out 
alive with the Morph Ball is to fight this wave of Beetles. Try to keep 
moving and always stay locked on to a target. Don't think twice about 
using missiles if you can get the Beetles in a cluster, but don't get 
too carried away with them either. A lot of them will drop health, so 
collect that when you can. After you've decorated the floor with every 
last Beetle's guts, the ground will rumble and a new breed of nasty will 
surface from the ground. The angry PLATED BEETLE is another mini-boss. 
Scan it now if you wish, but don't worry if you forget; unlike the Hive 
Mecha, there will be plenty more of these baddies to fight later in the 
game. So how do you fight it? Frontal attacks are useless against the 
Plated Beetle because of the hard shell around its head. The only way to 
damage the bug is to shoot its red backside, but the beetle will always 
do its best to be facing you so that its weakness isn't exposed. The 
only time you can damage it is when it charges. Get reasonably close to 
the bug and wait as it shuffles from side to side. Watch for its 
antennae to twitch, and then dash out of the way. As the beetle charges 
past you, make sure you maintain your lock on it and fire a missile when 
you see its red rear. Whenever the Plated Beetle is about to charge, it 
will twitch its antennae and make a loud shriek. If you run out of 
missiles, pelt it with Power Beam shots when it exposes its weak spot. 
Repeat this process until the beetle dies. Claim your MORPH BALL prize 
after the battle and then use it to exit the room, through the small 
tunnel in the rock structure.

The Morph Ball, in combination with the Missile Launcher, will allow you 
access to new places in Tallon IV. The Morph Ball itself is neat, but 
you're still defenseless with it until you reclaim its explosives. 
Before we get to that though, it's a good idea to collect expansions 
that you previously couldn't get without the two aforementioned power-
ups. 

Go back to the Ruined Nursery and use the Save Station. From here, go 
back to the empty Hive Totem and enter the small room behind the bridge. 
Remember the hole in the back of the room? Roll into Morph Ball mode and 
enter the new path. Navigate through the small maze of pistons and to 
the other side of the tunnel, where you'll be dropped off at a new 
elevator, which leads to a new area known as the Magmoor Caverns. 
Without the Varia Suit, you won't survive long after taking the 
elevator, so ignore it for the moment and use the door on your right. 

The small Vault Access has a piston in the corner that will lift you up 
to a new Morph Ball tunnel. Roll through the set of pipe lines and 
eventually you'll end up at the Vault. There's a large cage in the 
middle of the room that blocks off an expansion, but you need Morph Ball 
Bombs to get that. You can still scan for Chozo Lore: BEGINNINGS, 
though. Use the door on the other side of the room and kill the Beetles 
within the following room, the Plaza Access. The door at the end takes 
you to a part of the Main Plaza that you can't reach from the other 
side, and resting on the ledge is an ENERGY TANK. 

After that's all done, head all the way back to the Tallon Overworld 
area. Reenter it by using the lift on the other side of the Main Plaza 
and Ruins Entrance. Once you get there, stop at the Tallon Canyon. When 
you clear the area of enemies, turn towards the waterfall and hop onto 
the rocks that the Zoomers were crawling on. Climb upwards and then turn 
to face the platform where the Geemer lives. Kill it using a missile, 
and then hop across. From there, turn right and cross the bridge, then 
enter the doorway ahead of you. 

This next cavern is home to a new enemy, a BLOODFLOWER. To kill this 
plant, wait until it hurls a green spore at you. You can target the 
spore and shoot it, which will cause it to bounce back at the 
Bloodflower, killing it. This Bloodflower in particular is easy to kill 
alternatively by hitting the Sap Sacs above it, which will incinerate 
the flower when exploded. Make your way to the other side, avoiding the 
water (it's clean, but it slows you down and prevents you from jumping 
high). Blast the door with a missile and enter the next room.

The Root Cave is huge. Jump or drop down to the very bottom of the 
shaft. There's a Beetle nest down here, so watch out. Fight or flight, 
and head for the door that's down here. This takes you to yet another 
Transport Tunnel, but it leads to the same area as the one back up in 
the Chozo Ruins, so you should wait to take this elevator until you've 
acquired the Varia Suit. You can still grab the MISSILE EXPANSION 
beneath the steamy bridge though, avoiding the sneaky Zoomers as you do 
so. After you grab that, turn back to the Root Cave and climb back up to 
the top using the platforms and tree formations (again, avoid those 
Zoomers). Return to your Gunship at the Landing Site.

You can collect another MISSILE EXPANSION by using the Morph Ball to 
roll underneath the small hole behind your ship. You may want to shoot 
the Tangle Weed down before that so that you can roll through at normal 
speed. Now, go to the other end of the Landing Site. Wade into the small 
pond and locate the cavern to the left of the waterfall. You can also 
get there by rolling into a hidden tunnel along the left side of the 
room, from your ship's point of view. Either way, you should end up 
looking at a new doorway. 

The Waterfall Cavern is home to a few Blastcaps, but nothing too 
threatening. Roll under the rock obstruction blocking your way and exit 
by using a missile on the door on the other side. Prepare your Scan 
Visor before stepping through to the Frigate Crash Site.

The huge clearing that is the Frigate Crash Site is separated down the 
middle by a large pond. You can't cross this pond yet, but you can scan 
one of the two creatures up ahead on the shoreline, guarding a ruptured 
crate. These are jetpack-equipped FLYING PIRATES. Flying Pirates are 
actually very dangerous, and right now they're way out of your league. 
Luckily, these two will flee once they see you, but try to scan them 
before they escape. The reason you'll want to scan them now is because 
when you next fight them, you'll want to devote all of your efforts into 
actually fighting them, not scanning them. They're that deadly. After 
you've spooked them off, turn back towards the Landing Site. There is 
nothing more you can do at the Frigate Crash Site, but if you're 
determined to explore it some more, stay away from the crate that the 
pirates were guarding. It's oozing deadly Phazon, a blue substance that 
will cause heavy radiation damage if you touch it.

From the Landing Site, return to your ship to get your bearings. Facing 
forward from the front of it, and look for a set of mossy stone steps 
above the entrance to the Waterfall Cavern. These lead to a path behind 
the waterfall, and eventually to another blue door. Climb and walk this 
path until you're at the door. Beyond it, scan one of the three new 
creatures crawling on the ceiling. SEEDLINGS are very similar in 
behavior to Zoomers, but they are a bit more aggressive and have the 
ability to launch their spikes at you. Kill them and then shoot the 
Tangle Weed out of your way so you can cross to the next doorway.

After the Temple Hall are the Temple Security Station and the Temple 
Lobby. The lobby is merely an empty tunnel, but the security station 
contains a hologram of some Pirate Data (ARTIFACT SITE) and a Missile 
Door Lock blocking you way. You'll also be shown a short cinematic 
introducing you to the Impact Crater. This is the game's final area, but 
you aren't actually in it right now. This is just the gateway to the 
crater. After passing through the Temple Lobby, you'll be inside the 
Chozo's sacred Artifact Temple.

The Chozo built the Artifact Temple directly over the Impact Crater. It 
was designed to contain a great evil within the crater, and keep out 
anyone who would want to exploit that evil, like the Space Pirates. The 
only way through the temple's ancient seal and to the game's final area 
is by collecting the twelve Chozo Artifacts that act as keys to unlock 
the seal. At the large window up ahead, turn to either side and scan the 
Chozo Lore entries along the far walls: STATUARY and BINDING. The right 
path is blocked by rubble, so turn left and take the path down to the 
outside area of the Artifact Temple. You'll find the first Chozo 
Artifact at the base of the Artifact Temple's central pillar, the 
ARTIFACT OF TRUTH. After you collect it, seven of the pillars around the 
room will activate and allow you to scan them. These pillars provide 
clues as to the whereabouts of the other Chozo Artifacts. Note that when 
you scan a clue, it registers as a Log Book entry. This is misleading; 
the Artifact section in your Log Book doesn't need to be scanned in 
order for the Log Book to be completed. You just need to find them all. 
Still, if you don't know what you're doing, it's a good idea to scan the 
clues to help you during your quest to collect the artifacts. After 
you're done, return to your ship and save your game.

=============

Chapter 4: Toxins at the Ruins.

=============

The Morph Ball is crucial to a bounty hunter who needs to explore every 
last corner of Tallon IV, but you still need a way to defend yourself 
whilst using it. The Morph Ball Bombs fill that void, so it's important 
that you track them down as quickly as possible. Additionally, it's 
about time we return to the Chozo Ruins and clean up the polluted water 
supply, and then find a way through Magmoor Caverns' crushing heat. With 
your Arm Cannon raised, and Scan Visor at the ready, be prepared to take 
down the greater evils that lurk within the Chozo Ruins. It all starts 
at the Main Plaza.

At the back of the Main Plaza, there's a set of steps that lead up and 
around to the left and across the bridge. Watch out for the gap over the 
entrance to the Nursery Access. The bridge is patrolled by a lone War 
Wasp. If it notices you, it will retreat into its Hive at the other end 
of the bridge. More wasps will attack if you try to cross the bridge, so 
shoot the Hives from afar and eliminate the scout. On the other side of 
the bridge, use the door on your right. Use the Morph Ball to make it 
across this winding tunnel, which is blocked in some parts by fallen 
tree branches. Try to roll fast enough so that you can zip by the 
Scarabs before they drop from the ceiling. This tunnel leads to the 
Ruined Fountain.

The Ruined Fountain was clearly named after the stone fountain in the 
back of the room, which is currently spewing sickly green water into the 
air. You will also see Chozo Lore: HATCHLING behind the fountain, and 
several Plazmites flittering through the air. This room is fairly dark, 
and you won't be able to see very well of you gun down all of the 
Plazmites, so keep them alive. You'll need the visibility to get through 
the flooded portion of the room. From where you entered, you'll want to 
reach the door on the left wall, not the one up ahead and to the left 
behind the fountain. To get across, use the stones along the right side 
of the room to get to the back. Avoid the fountain's plagued water and 
jump over to the platform with the desired door. When you reach the 
door, head through and equip your Scan Visor. Turn the corner and 
quickly scan one of the SHRIEKBATS flying at you. These flying creatures 
usually hang from ceilings, but are very territorial. When you approach 
their roosting site, they'll dive-bomb you in a kamikaze fashion, 
accompanied by the high-pitched shriek that earned them their name. Turn 
another corner and open the next door with a missile.

The grand Arboretum contains a large amount of vile water, and a huge 
tree growing right in the middle of the room. Use the platforms around 
the tree to get to the other side safely. Turn left from the door and 
scan the vine-like plant swinging its scythe at you. REAPER VINES grow 
from crevices in the wall and are only dangerous if you get too close to 
them. Just stay out of reach of its deadly blade and you'll never get 
hurt. In instances where you must get past them in order to proceed 
however (like now), just target the vine's eye and shoot it. It will 
retract into its crevice for a few seconds. Only with the Plasma Beam 
can you actually destroy a Reaper Vine. Anyway, shoot down the first two 
and jump onto the platforms in the water. Hop up to the platforms 
surrounding the tree to get to a wooden bridge. Cross the bridge and 
turn left. There are more Reaper Vines growing down this sloped path, 
but you can roll safely past them with the Morph Ball. Use a missile on 
the door down here and go through this next small passage.

This next room is the Gathering Hall. To your right is a path that leads 
to a Save Station, behind the Missile Door Lock. After saving, enter the 
door opposite to the Save Station door, fighting off the Shriekbats and 
Blastcaps in your way. Turn the corner at the Watery Hall Access room 
and shoot down more Shriekbats. At the bottom of the sloped path, just 
about at water level, there's a section of the left wall that's weak 
enough to blast through with a missile. Expose and grab the MISSILE 
EXPANSION behind it, and then continue through to the Watery Hall 
(beware of more Shriekbats as you turn the last corner, and use a 
missile to open the door). 

The Watery Hall is a quick detour, but a highly valuable one at that. To 
your left is a platform with Blastcaps on it. Shoot them and step onto 
the platform. Turn around and scan the symbol on the wall above the 
drainage pipe. There are three more runic symbols in this room that need 
to be activated in order to gain access to your next power-up. Hop 
across to where the Reaper Vine is, shoot it and proceed. Shoot all of 
the Blastcaps on the next long platform and scan the runic symbol 
beneath them. Keep crossing platforms until you can go no further. There 
will be another runic symbol to scan on the wall. Now head back to the 
beginning of the room. Notice the suspended platforms that lead up above 
ground level. Make your way across them, fighting off Reaper Vines as 
you go, until you reach a metal gate with the four runic symbols on it. 
Three of them should be lit up, representing the three you've already 
activated. To your right is the fourth. Scan it and a fifth will be 
revealed on the gate. Scan it to open the gate and gain access to the 
area beyond. Up ahead, grab the CHARGE BEAM and scan Chozo Lore: METEOR 
STRIKE. The Charge Beam is nothing new to you; it lets you charge your 
beam weapons for a more powerful shot. Also, keep in mind that while 
you're charging your shot, the energy from your Arm Cannon will draw in 
any pickups lingering in the air. Use the Charge Beam whenever pickups 
are otherwise out of your reach. Most importantly (at the moment 
anyway), you can now destroy Eyons with a charged shot. Once you collect 
the Charge Beam, six previously-dormant Eyons will trap you inside. 
Destroy them all and head back to the Gathering Hall. 

Now, about those Morph Ball Bombs. Starting from the Save Station at the 
Gathering Hall, face the left door to the Arboretum but jump up onto the 
platform directly above it. Hop platforms as you go around the room, 
shooting Shriekbats and Blastcaps when necessary. When you get to the 
opposite corner (above the Watery Hall Access door), turn around and 
jump onto the platform on the wall behind you, further up. Make sure you 
clear off all of the Blastcaps before hopping over. On the wall ahead is 
a small hole that loops around to the center platform. Kill the 
Shriekbats that swoop down from the opposite doorway, and then jump over 
to the door.

Blast the Shriekbats in the next room and head through the next door. 
Now you will be in a tunnel with a few more Eyons to deal with. Also 
notice the raised section of the tunnel with a sealed Morph Ball tunnel. 
It will provide a shortcut on your way back through the tunnel, so that 
you don't have to mess around with the Eyons. You will now reach the 
next large room, the Energy Core. 

After you defeat the Shriekbat horde, scan the door with the weird lock 
on it, on the opposite end of the room. This is a LOCKED DOOR system, 
and no weapon you have can break the lock. Once you clear the room of 
enemies or accomplish a certain task, the Locked Doors will remove 
themselves from the door they were sealing. Since you can't reach it 
anyway, turn and head down the left wing of the room. Avoid any water 
puddles and Shriekbat attacks. You'll find a Morph Ball tunnel at the 
end of the wing. At the end of this tunnel is the door to the Burn Dome.

Prepare for battle! The Burn Dome is home to a malfunctioning disposal 
unit known as the INCINERATOR DRONE. Like the Hive Mecha, this mini-boss 
is one-of-a-kind, so definitely take a few moments to download its Log 
Book entry. Also like the Hive Mecha, the Incinerator Drone fights 
alongside a unique breed of War Wasp, but very much unlike the Hive 
Mecha, this drone is quite capable of defending itself without the 
wasps. It will attack you by spouting a jet of flames from the two 
nozzles it has on either side. The drone rotates slowly, so just lock on 
and strafe to avoid the flames, or jump over them if you must. The drone 
is invulnerable until it reveals its weak spot, a red light from the top 
of its 'head'. When it raises its head, target the red spot and blast 
away. When the drone takes damage, it will send a jet of flames upwards, 
right into the large War Wasp Hive. As you can imagine, this will anger 
its inhabitants, the BARBED WAR WASPS. While not as numerous as the Ram 
War Wasps, this species has the ability to launch its poisonous stingers 
at you, and then regenerate them for additional barrages. Also, they'll 
appear constantly from their damaged Hive, not just when the drone takes 
damage. As the battle progresses, the Incinerator Drone will get more 
creative with its flamethrowers. It will sometimes spew its flames at an 
angle, preventing you from jumping over to avoid the damage. Just blast 
wasps and avoid the fire as best you can while you wait for the drone to 
reveal its head. Damage the head about three or four times and you'll 
win the battle. Afterwards, the drone will send a final jet of flames at 
the Hive (destroying it) and then self-destruct. The power-up it leaves 
behind is the MORPH BALL BOMB. Now your balls will do some damage. 

Your acquisition of the Morph Ball Bomb upgrade paves the way for new 
opportunity; you can now track down the source of the ruin's polluted 
water and put an end to its filth. Before you take on whatever dangers 
await you though, it's recommended that you backtrack through the ruins 
to collect as many expansions as possible. They'll help you in the near 
future. Your bombs will help you find most of those expansions. In fact, 
there's one in this very room. Along the wall is a covered drainage 
tunnel that can be bombed open to reveal a chamber beyond. Don't worry 
about the water in the ditch; it won't touch you. Roll down the tunnel 
to the hidden chamber and grab the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now exit the Burn 
Dome, and use a bomb-jump (lay a bomb and let it propel you upwards) to 
return through the small tunnel.

When you emerge in the Energy Core, turn left immediately and locate the 
path blocked off by a large, grunting creature. This beast is a STONE 
TOAD. As ferocious as it looks with its curving tusks and large size, it 
is completely docile until you roll into a Morph Ball. When you do, 
it'll inhale you into its mouth and try to eat you. Don't worry though; 
it will spit you out soon enough. When you're in its mouth, lay a bomb 
to give it a nasty case of indigestion. Once he's out of your way, enter 
the chamber behind him. The power core machine in here is currently 
offline. On one wall, you'll find a MORPH BALL SLOT. These round holes 
energize nearby systems when you bomb them. Bomb-jump up to the Morph 
Ball Slot so that it holds you in place, and then feed power to the 
nearby machine with a bomb. As soon as the machine starts working, a 
timer will start, giving you a short amount of time to find the next 
machine. The first will drain most of the water within the Energy Core. 
Roll out to the main part of the room through the hole in the window. On 
the other side of the room, enter the second chamber and repeat the 
bombing process before the timer finishes (when the bleeps start to get 
faster, you only have a few seconds left before the toxic water refills 
the room). When you power the second machine, platforms in the main room 
will lower, allowing you to get to the third and final machine. A new 
timer will start to tick as well. Climb up to the room's entrance and 
then turn around to cross the platforms to the hallway that they lead 
to. Fallow the path to the last machine, and give it power. A second set 
of platforms will descend from the ceiling and make a path to the Locked 
Door, which now unlocks itself. Head back to the main area (at your own 
pace, since the timer has stopped) and use the platforms to get to the 
doorway.

Go through this winding passage to reach the entrance to the Furnace. 
Once inside, roll into your Morph Ball and use the small tunnel. When 
you return with the Spider Ball upgrade, you can explore the rest of the 
furnace by climbing that magnetic rail system. At the end of the tunnel, 
you'll be rewarded with an ENERGY TANK within the Furnace chamber. Now, 
return to the Gathering Hall. Remember, if you want to avoid those Eyons 
in the Energy Core Access, use your bombs to expose the tunnel that runs 
underneath the floor.

Where to now? How about the Watery Hall? Once you get there, climb up to 
the area where you found the Charge Beam and the Eyons. Along the wall 
closest to the entrance, next to an Eyon, you'll find a covered hole, 
just like the one back at the Burn Dome. Bomb it open, and then travel 
through the next set of tunnels until you get to the Dynamo. On the way, 
you'll have to bust down two Missile Door Locks. At the Dynamo, fire a 
missile and the metal covering on the wall to reveal the caged MISSILE 
EXPANSION. Now, head all the way back to the Ruined Shrine, where you 
fought the Plated Beetle. Save and heal at the Gathering Hall if you 
wish.

When you get to the Ruined Shrine, face the back of the room. On the 
right wall is a discolored patch of rock that conceals yet another 
tunnel. Break it with your bombs and collect the MISSILE EXPANSION. 
Watch out for the angry Beetles that still dwell within the shrine. Now 
head to the Ruined Nursery. 

When you get to the Ruined Nursery, notice that along the wall that you 
entered from is some sort of maze. Roll in to Morph Ball form and bomb-
jump to get into the lower section of the maze. You won't make it very 
far in from here, but you can use your bombs to dislodge a sandstone 
block that will cause the metal block above it to fall into place, 
clearing the upper path. Now head to the top entrance to the maze, from 
the upper ledge of the room. Make your way through the maze, dislodging 
the lighter-colored blocks in order to get through. Hopefully you killed 
the War Wasps before going into the wall, or otherwise they'll make your 
job painful as you go. At the end of the maze is a MISSILE EXPANSION. 
Now move on to the Ruined Gallery. 

Eliminate the War Wasps and drop down to ground level. On the right side 
of the room (directly opposite from the door leading to the Map Station) 
is an elevated hole in the wall, just large enough for your Morph Ball 
to roll through. If you check your map you can see that the hole goes 
around back behind the wall and loops back to another hole a little 
farther up. Bomb-jump into the tunnel, and then roll through to get the 
MISSILE EXPANSION. 

Continue through this area of the Chozo Ruins and take the path you took 
before to reach the Vault (go to the Hive Totem and through the door 
where you got your first Energy Tank, then roll through the tunnel until 
you reach the lift. Don't use the lift, but take the door on your right 
and travel through the Morph Ball tunnel). 

The cage in the Vault can be lifted with the Morph Ball Bombs, by using 
the blue circular slots on the opposite side of the structure. These act 
similarly to Morph Ball Slots. Roll into all three slots and use a bomb 
to unlock each one. Of course, to complicate things, they've positioned 
the slots at varying heights and put metal covers on the lower two. Use 
an extra bomb to blow the cover off of the lowest slot, and then bomb 
the inside. Now, position yourself underneath the second slot and bomb-
jump up to it. When you reach the top of your ascent (just about level 
with the slot), plant a second bomb to blow off the cover. Now bomb-jump 
into the slot and energize it like you did the first. The third slot has 
no metal cover, but its height makes it the trickiest to unlock. You 
need to perform a double-bomb-jump in order to reach it, which requires 
some skill and coordination. First, drop a bomb. Right when it is about 
to detonate, drop a second bomb. The first bomb will propel you into the 
air. Drop your third bomb at the peak of your ascent. When you fall back 
to the ground, the second bomb should blast you back upwards, right into 
the third bomb. Now, if you timed it right, you'll fly even higher up, 
enough so that you can enter the final slot and raise the cage. Grab the 
MISSILE EXPANSION, and then return to the Gathering Hall to save. 

By now you should have all 55 missiles and three Energy Tanks that you 
can obtain at this point. From the Gathering Hall, go to the nearby 
Arboretum, the room with the Reaper Vines and the huge tree. The door to 
the Sunchamber is high up in the room, but there's a metal gate that 
will prevent you from using it. This gate is controlled by four runic 
symbols, just like the Watery Hall gate. The symbols are hidden 
throughout the room. First off, go to the wooden bridge on your left, 
and then hop down a platform or two. Look downwards and find the 
platform overgrown with what looks like red Tangle Weed. Shoot the weeds 
out of the way and scan the symbol concealed beneath them. The second 
symbol is on the tree itself, right above the bridge. Now, while facing 
away from the tree when you're on the bridge, turn right and climb up 
along the ledge. War Wasps who've nested on the great tree will 
occasionally emerge to attack. Try to eliminate their Hives before they 
can emerge. Pretty soon, the ledge will get too small for you to walk 
on. Roll into the Morph Ball and slip through the crevice, bombing the 
sandstone blocks in your way. When you emerge from the crevice, scan the 
third runic symbol up ahead by the steps. Climb up these steps and then 
get ready to roll through another crevice. This one is blocked by more 
of that red Tangle Weed, or VENOM WEED, to be more appropriate. Venom 
Weed will hurt you if you touch it, so get it out of the way before 
rolling through. Hop up the steps afterwards and then turn around to 
jump to the platform behind you. Jump over the small bridge and to the 
ledge with the locked runic gate. The final symbol is on the tree behind 
you. With the gate out of the way, use a bomb and a missile to get to 
the next set of rooms.

The next two rooms are the Sunchamber Lobby and the Sunchamber Access. 
Both are small passages filled with Venom Weed and Reaper Vines. Once 
you make it past them, head into the Sunchamber. Once you step inside, 
there will be no turning back.

The boss of the Chozo Ruins is a monstrous weed known as FLAAHGRA. When 
you enter its lair, vines will grow over the door, trapping you inside. 
After you scan Flaahgra, scan one of its spiny tentacles. The FLAAHGRA 
TENTACLES are treated as separate Log Book entries, and like Flaahgra 
itself, they can only be scanned during this battle. Flaahgra is 
unharmed by any form of attack, but you can momentarily stun the 
creature after enough punishment from the Power Beam or Missile 
Launcher. Flaahgra receives energy from one of the solar arrays in the 
room. If you alter the direction of the sunlight by altering the array 
itself, you'll cut Flaahgra's source of power and expose its weakness. 
After smacking Flaahgra around with missiles find the solar array that's 
shining light onto Flaahgra's body and fire shots at the red dot. The 
dish will flip upwards, cutting Flaahgra's solar supply. The great plant 
will momentarily faint and retract its tentacles from the four channels 
around its pool that connect to Flaahgra's base. Roll up into the Morph 
Ball and activate the Morph Ball Slot at the end of the channel before 
Flaahgra wakes up. This will drop Flaahgra's health by a quarter. Now, 
two solar arrays will flip down and revive Flaahgra. You need to repeat 
the process again, only this time you need to take out both of the 
arrays before Flaahgra faints. You'll want to keep stunning Flaahgra as 
well, because it won't take too kindly to you when you start flipping 
the arrays up, and will try to flip them back down. After both arrays 
are flipped, enter one of the three remaining Morph Ball channels and 
bomb the next slot. Afterwards, rinse and repeat, this time flipping 
three arrays before the boss faints. On round four, all four arrays in 
the room will be reflecting light onto Flaahgra. Things get complicated 
here, because you don't have a lot of time while Flaahgra is stunned to 
flip up solar arrays. Stun it when necessary until all four arrays are 
out of commission. Locate the last remaining channel and deliver the 
final bombing blow to the vile boss of the Chozo Ruins. But wait, what 
about Flaahgra itself? It isn't just going to sit and look pretty 
throughout the battle as you try and kill it. It has a few attacks of 
its own, but nothing too deadly until the damage starts to add up. It 
can fire blasts of concentrated solar energy at you from afar, or cut 
you down with its mantis-like scythes if you get too close. Flaahgra 
also has the ability to produce a wall of poisonous vegetation. It uses 
this trick to block you off from any pickups that appear. Also, don't 
get too close to the tentacles, or else they'll slap you around, and 
don't touch the water surrounding Flaahgra, for it is as poisonous as 
ever.

After Flaahgra has wilted into nothingness, the entire water supply 
throughout the Chozo Ruins will purify. The vines blocking the door to 
the Sunchamber Access will remain however, until you have to come back 
later. To get out, use the Locked Door on the other side. To unlock it, 
simply collect your new reward, the VARIA SUIT. Now you can survive in 
areas with high temperatures, like Magmoor Caverns. 

=============

Chapter 5: Fire and Ice.

=============

The time has come to leave the Chozo Ruins behind and explore new areas 
in Tallon IV, each more exciting but more dangerous than the last. The 
road to your next power-up is through the Magmoor Caverns, and the 
quickest way to it is the Transport to Magmoor Caverns North elevator, 
not more than three rooms away from the Sunchamber. Alternatively, you 
can also use the transport by the Root Cave in the Tallon Overworld, but 
who wants to go all the way over there right now? Not me.

The room following the Sunchamber is the Sun Tower Access. It's a fairly 
quiet room, and a small one at that. The first part of the room is empty 
of any wildlife save the Tangle Weed at the far end. Because the water 
here is no longer toxic, you can wade through it in safety. Past the 
Tangle Weed, you'll find a passage on your right that leads to the end 
of the room. The first portion of the passage is blocked off by a stack 
of crates. Blow them open to reveal a mass of pickups inside. Whenever 
you defeat a boss, you'll usually find a great quantity of pickups right 
afterwards to recuperate from the battle. Among the Missile Ammo, you 
should also find a new pickup, ULTRA ENERGY. These yellow units are the 
best healers, restoring one full Energy Tank's worth of health (100 
health points). Scan one, and then continue. 

At the end of the Sun Tower Access, you'll find a new enemy. Scan it. 
This is a PULSE BOMBU, an energy-based life form that hovers in the air, 
dropping charged blasts of energy on anything below it. Because they are 
made of pure energy, they constantly shed the excess energy in the form 
of these blasts. This also means that your current weaponry is useless 
against them. There are only two ways to kill a Pulse Bombu: the Wave 
Beam, and water. Currently, you have no Wave Beam, but if you shelter 
some deep hatred for bombus and you're determined to see the end of this 
one, let it touch the water in the beginning of the room and it will 
blow up. Bombus will attract to you if you hold your Charge Beam; you 
can lure the bombu into the water with it, if you're so inclined. Just 
don't let the thing touch you. Anyway, it's not the end of the world if 
you get hit by it once, so just avoid it and enter the Sun Tower.

The Sun Tower will be a bit more interesting on your return trip later, 
but there really isn't anything you can do in it right now except 
collect a few Log Book entries. Drop down to the very bottom and scan 
Chozo Lore: CONTAIN on the wall. There are also four Hives down here, 
and an additional new Log Book entry to scan, but it's best to deal with 
all that when you come back with the Spider Ball. Head out the door to 
Transport to Magmoor Caverns North, the lift you've been avoiding for so 
long. Use the lift to get to Magmoor Caverns, a new area.

The volcanic cave system of the Magmoor Caverns area acts like a 
crossroad between the bigger areas. While there are a few important 
items to find here, there is no boss of Magmoor Caverns, and none of 
those items are accessible until later in the game. 

The Burning Trail has a large vertical drop right after the entrance, 
just like the Sun Tower. The Varia Suit isn't necessary just yet, but 
this is about as far as you can go without it. If you try and enter any 
subsequent rooms, the crushing heat from the lava will overwhelm you and 
drain your energy quickly. If you need to climb back up the Burning 
Trail shaft, use the moving platforms. At the bottom of the drop, walk 
forward and kill the Shriekbats that attack. (And you thought you were 
through dealing with them. Don't worry; this is the only room in Magmoor 
Caverns that has them). Turn left up ahead and try to locate the door 
with the Missile Door Lock along the left wall. It can get hard to see 
down here with all the steam fogging up your visor. Save and then 
continue through the Burning Trail.

Turn right, kill the bats and then scan the bug on the platform up 
ahead, in the lava. This is a GRIZBY, a creature with a shell that can 
withstand anything you shoot at it, save missiles. Destroy it and cross 
to the other side of the lava pond. The Varia Suit can withstand the air 
temperature of Magmoor Caverns, but it won't protect you against lava or 
flame. 

Kill the two Grizbys in the next room and cross the lava by hopping from 
platform to platform. Jets of flame will spout out from the sides of the 
room every few seconds, so take care to avoid getting burned. There is 
another new creature tunneling just below the ground's surface on the 
other side. This annoying little bug is a BURROWER. The Burrower spends 
its time tunneling just below the surface. When it senses you, it will 
jump up from the ground and spit goop at you. Kill it while it's in the 
air.

The Lava Lake produces an introductory cinematic of the Magmoor Caverns. 
After the intro, a large fire serpent will rise from the lava and 
attack. MAGMOORS are the fiery predators that this area was named after. 
They're rather tough to take down, but aren't really as threatening as 
they look. Sure they can breathe fire, but they flinch every time you 
hit them with something strong. Blast it in the head with a few missiles 
and Charge Beam shots to defeat it. Now turn right and scan one of those 
green mine-like creatures floating through the air. These are PUFFERS, 
gas-filled organisms that burst when shot. They leave behind a cloud of 
noxious gas that lingers in the air for a few seconds. The gas is 
harmful, so wait for it to dissipate before approaching. Start hopping 
across platforms to get to the cave's opposite side. The floating, metal 
goblet-shaped platforms won't be able to maintain your weight, and will 
sink slowly into the lava once you're on them. Move quickly so you don't 
get caught between Puffer gas and the scalding lava. After landing on 
the first stable platform, a second Magmoor will attack. Kill it, and 
then proceed to the other side of the cavern. Head behind the crates and 
drop a Morph Ball Bomb near the rock to expose a tunnel leading to 
another chamber, which is in fact an extension to the Lava Lake. This 
latter half is also filled with Puffers. Cross the platforms here and 
head through the door.

The Pit Tunnel is blocked off by a metal structure in the center of the 
room. When you get the Space Jump Boots, you can leap over the 
obstruction, but for now you'll have to settle with rolling under the 
floor. There's a small space just before the metal portion of the floor 
that you can roll under, but scan one of the TRICLOPS before going 
through. A Triclops is a scavenging insect that usually appears in 
places where you must use the Morph Ball. They gather food in their 
powerful jaws, but won't be able to distinguish your Morph Ball from a 
tasty morsel. When rolling under the floor, drop a bomb near a Triclops 
so that it goes for that instead. If you do get caught by a Triclops, it 
will carry over to the entrance and spit you back out, causing some 
damage. Kill or avoid the trio of Triclops, and then roll out on the 
other side.

The Triclops Pit, named after the Triclops, is a very large cavern 
filled with Triclops and Puffers. When you get to the main area, shoot 
down all of the Puffers. There are a lot, including some guarding the 
path to the door (up ahead, slightly to the left), and more circling the 
rocks on your right. If you want to skip through the room, jump to the 
exit door by crossing the series of platforms. However, if you want an 
expansion, you'll have to find a way to the door on your right, which 
you probably can't see unless you draw up the map. Jump down to ground 
level onto the metal floor. Turn around to face the rock you just leapt 
from, and locate the small cavern. By the entrance, there's a tunnel 
just large enough for the Morph Ball to slip through. This takes you 
underneath the floor. Battle your way through the patrolling Triclops 
horde and head to the back right corner of the floor, behind a large 
rock. Locate the exit tunnel and roll out to find the blue door. At the 
back of the Storage Cavern, you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Roll back 
through the floor, all the way to the beginning of the room. Use the 
left door to exit the Triclops Pit. Enter the Monitor Tunnel, a small 
cavern filled with Puffers. Pop them all and cross the room by using the 
moving platforms. 

Monitor Station, even larger than the Triclops Pit, is the last major 
room in Magmoor Caverns that you'll explore this time through. The large 
metal outpost up ahead is guarded by four Auto Turrets. Try to take the 
three visible turrets out from the entrance door before they notice you. 
Now, eliminate the Puffers scattered throughout the edges of the room. 
Cross over to the door on your left, but ignore it and jump over to the 
center structure. The fourth turret is up on your left. Destroy it 
before it senses you. Now jump over to the left cavern wall by using the 
floating platform, and make your way left up the ledge. At the end, turn 
away from the wall and leap over to the glass bridge running parallel to 
the station. Enter the top floor of the building, where the Space 
Pirates keep their reports on Magmoor Caverns. The metal bridge up here 
takes you to the exit door.

Transport Tunnel A takes you to the Transport to Phendrana Drifts North. 
It's easy enough to get through with your Morph Ball, if you don't plan 
on picking up the hidden Energy Tank. This tank is probably the toughest 
to secure, but they're always worth it. To reach it, you need to perform 
at least three double-bomb-jumps. As if that wasn't tricky enough, the 
locations you must jump up from are made of weakened metal blocks that 
break after being hit twice, and they're the only thing keeping you from 
falling into lava. If you mess up, you'll get burned. Start at the 
beginning of the tunnel and find the first metal block. Double-bomb-jump 
up to the hidden ledge, and roll to the left to find another double-
bomb-jump location. Jump up to the second ledge, and roll to the end. 
Perform the final double-bomb-jump to reach the ENERGY TANK. If you 
can't seem to perfect your double-bomb-jumps, try listening to the 
background music. The drum beat is timed perfectly for when you need to 
drop bombs. Follow the drum pattern, dropping bombs on beats 1, 3 and 4. 
If you do mess up and fall into the lava, use a bomb to get out. After 
you have the tank, roll through the bottom path and take the elevator to 
the icy Phendrana Drifts.

The frozen landscape and frigid temperatures of Phendrana Drifts are a 
striking contrast to the molten caverns and blazing heat of Magmoor 
Caverns. Phendrana is the site of another section of Chozo ruins, a 
Space Pirate fortress and a system of crystalline caverns deep in the 
mountains. As always, stay alert as you encounter new enemies and find 
new treasures.

Move through the Shoreline Entrance and blast the ice walls that block 
the path. The ice can be brought down with a missile or a charged beam 
shot. Step outside when you get to the Phendrana Shorelines. This winter 
wonderland is the hub of the Phendrana Drifts. It's large and it has six 
doors leading to various places, including a Save Station on the 
opposite side. Scan the creatures flying around the room. FLICKERBATS 
fly in cyclical patterns but won't bother you unless you get in their 
way or disturb them. Until you acquire the X-Ray Visor, they're 
practically invulnerable. They possess optical camouflage that renders 
them partially invisible and able to avoid your auto-targeting. This 
also makes scanning them a longer ordeal than usual. In the back of the 
room, near the Save Station, you'll find a CRYSTALLITE. Like Zoomers, 
Crystallites are content with crawling around walls and floors, doing 
their thing. They are covered in a shell of hardened ice that will deter 
all of your weapons except for missiles and the Plasma Beam (the latter 
of which you don't get until the end of the game). After saving, you'll 
want to reach the door on the right side of the room (facing away from 
the Save Station), on a ledge. The door is currently locked, so even if 
you do find a way up to it, it won't do you any good until you scan the 
control panel that unlocks it. The panel is located behind the drainage 
gate on ground level, below the door. Use a missile to take down the 
gate, and scan the panel in the back of the small chamber. Watch out for 
the Crystallite too. With the door unlocked, turn around and head to the 
opposite side of the room. You'll find a ledge on the other side of the 
Save Station that leads up to the door. Blast the Crystallites that get 
in your way as you jump over to the door.

Shoot down the ice formation in the next tunnel and scan the bombu on 
the other side. SCATTER BOMBUS, like Pulse Bombus, are made of pure 
energy and can only be defeated once you get the Wave Beam. These types 
usually block tunnels. They don't drop explosive charges like the Pulse 
Bombus do, and they don't attract to you if you charge your beam 
weapons, but they do emit three electrical energy beams that they rotate 
around them, effectively blocking the tunnel. You can slip between these 
energy tendrils using the Morph Ball. If you get close to a Scatter 
Bombu outside of Morph Ball mode, it will mess with your visor, causing 
static. Do your best to avoid the bombu and get to the end of the 
passage. There's another Scatter Bombu near the end as well.

Ice Ruins East is shaped very similarly to the Watery Hall back in the 
Chozo Ruins. The path will curve to the right, directly into an open 
clearing. Two ferocious BABY SHEEGOTHS will awaken and attack with no 
mercy. Despite being just babies, these beasts are very dangerous and 
tough to kill. The front of their bodies is immune to your attacks, and 
the only weak area they have is their back, which is covered in a layer 
of ice. To expose the fleshy backside of a Baby Sheegoth, blast off the 
icy shell by getting behind it. Like the Plated Beetle, Baby Sheegoths 
will always try and face you in order to protect their weak backsides. 
Baby Sheegoths attack by ramming you, shooting ice blasts at you, and 
freezing you with ultra-cold breath (use the B Button to free yourself 
if you get frozen). Lock on to a Baby Sheegoth and strafe or jump so 
that you face its back. Pound it with ammunition until the pink back is 
exposed, and finish it off with a missile. Anyway, you'll notice that 
the exit door is too high up to reach from ground level. Turn and climb 
the ruined structures along the outside wall. Jump over to the roof of 
the building with two Crystallites on it, and then leap from there to 
the path with an additional Crystallite pair. From here, you can reach 
the doorway.

The Plaza Walkway is home to a group of ICE BURROWERS. Scan them 
immediately, because this is the one room you can find them in, and 
they'll disappear from the game forever shortly. They look and behave 
identically to regular Burrowers, and are defeated in the same manner. 
Take the door at the end to a new portion of the Phendrana Shorelines. 
Walk up the snowy path and enter the next room. This leads to Ice Ruins 
West. Avoid the three Pulse Bombus as you cross.

Ice Ruins West is not all that different from its eastern counterpart, 
in both appearance and predatory inhabitants. Contend with the pair of 
Baby Sheegoths first and head to the very back right corner of the room, 
where you'll find a door with a blast shield. Unlock it with a missile 
and proceed. You can explore the rest of the room when you come back 
with better equipment. Continue through the Canyon Entryway and avoid 
the Scatter Bombus.

Enter the Phendrana Canyon. Hop down to the bridge below and turn around 
to scan the piece of Chozo Lore behind the crates, THE TURNED. Below the 
bridge you are on is a Baby Sheegoth. Hop down to kill the beastie, and 
then walk forward to the edge of the ice canyon. Just before it, locate 
the blue control panel next to a Crystallite. The panel, when scanned, 
will align the platforms in the canyons so that you can cross to the 
tower on the other side. Jump from platform to platform to reach the 
tower, but move quickly because the platforms crumble after a few 
seconds (if you need to restart, scan the blue panel again to realign 
the platforms). At the base of the tower you'll find the BOOST BALL, 
your first completely new power-up. While in the Morph Ball, charge the 
Boost Ball with the B Button and release to gain a burst of speed. You 
can travel quicker with it, and use the half-pipe configurations that 
you've been seeing all over the place. To escape, you'll have to test 
out your new toy. Boost up onto the side of the canyon and use the 
accumulated momentum to reach the right edge of the half-pipe. Follow 
the path back to the entrance, and head back to the Phendrana 
Shorelines. As you step out onto the ledge, Meta Ridley will fly 
overhead....

=============

Chapter 6: High Waves.

=============

Our next stop is back in the Tallon Overworld. You need to return to 
Magmoor Caverns the same way you came out, via Transport to Magmoor 
Caverns West. After taking the elevator to the land of fire, enter the 
Monitor Station and destroy the four perimeter defense turrets. Now head 
down to the door on the lower wall opposite to the door leading to 
Phendrana. This path is a shortcut back to Tallon Overworld. Walk across 
the glass bridge in the Shore Tunnel and enter a cave called Fiery 
Shores. 

Here, you need to hop across the lava pit and avoid the flame jets 
coming from the ceiling. When the jets aren't shooting flames, jump 
across the pit to the larger part of the room. Kill the Magmoor in the 
lava and jump over to the rock with the lone Triclops. In order to get 
through the room safely, you need to roll through the small tunnel in 
the wall, which will dump you further ahead, past the lava. The only 
danger in doing this is the Triclops. If it grabs you, the mean little 
creature will spit you into the lava. Do him in and then use the tunnel. 
Walk through the rest of the room, avoiding the fire spouts and lava 
pools.

In Transport Tunnel B, you'll be immediately attacked by a Magmoor. 
Smash up the serpent and then roll up the stone ledge on the left side 
of the room. Follow the metal track across the lava pit, and don't worry 
about falling off it because you won't. On the other side, go through 
the door and take the transport up to the Tallon Overworld. 

If you didn't explore the area near the Root Cave earlier, there will be 
an expansion under the bridge in Transport Tunnel B of Tallon Overworld. 
Climb up to the top of the Root Cave and make your way to the Tallon 
Canyon. The canyon has a half-pipe near the door to the Chozo Ruins 
transport. Use the Boost Ball to skate up to the top of the half-pipe. 
Kill the prowling Zoomer and walk across the bridge. The Morph Ball 
tunnel on the other side needs bombs to open. Bomb the three sandstone 
walls to get to the Gully.

The Gully leads to the Landing Site. It's very small, but the thick 
undergrowth makes it hard to spot the three Zoomers in the room, until 
it's too late. Use the radar to detect the creatures on your way 
through. When you get to the Landing Site, stay on the ledge and turn 
left. Head along the path and leap over the gaps so that you don't fall 
to ground level. The door on your left at the end takes you inside the 
Alcove, a hidden room containing the SPACE JUMP BOOTS. This new power-up 
allows you to jump doubly high by jumping again while in midair. Use it 
to escape the Alcove, and then save at your ship.

Return to Magmoor Caverns again, the same way you came. Make your way 
through Transport Tunnel B to get to the Fiery Shores. When you get to 
the main part of the room, locate the pair of crates blocking a ramp, 
which looks vaguely like a ribcage. After you destroy the crates, roll 
into ball form and head up the ramp. Bomb yourself up the steps and onto 
a catwalk. Be very careful here. There are no sides to the catwalk and 
you can fall very easily so move slowly. At the end of the catwalk is a 
MISSILE EXPANSION. Drop down onto the platform below but watch out for 
the Triclops. Now make your way to Monitor Station.

At the station, destroy all of the Auto Turrets and Puffers, and then 
make your way to the top level of the structure. Walk on to the bridge 
that leads to Transport Tunnel A then look up to your left. You should 
see a platform. Space Jump onto it and then jump again to the bridge 
directly above the one below that you just jumped from. This bridge 
takes you to the roof of the station. The device in front of the 
computer monitors is a SPINNER. Spinners are similar to Morph Ball Slots 
in that they activate or perform certain functions like raising bridges, 
opening gates and moving platforms. To use a Spinner, enter it in Morph 
Ball form and use your Boost Ball once inside. The fast rotation of the 
ball will power the Spinner and raise the broken bridge that is shown. 
Spin the device until the bridge locks into place.

Leap from the end of the bridge to the new ledge. Turn right and follow 
the ledge to the Warrior Shrine door. This chamber was built long ago by 
the Chozo to honor their warriors. They left behind the ARTIFACT OF 
STRENGTH, resting in the hands of the Chozo warrior's statue. Now return 
to Monitor Station and take the nearby transport back to the Phendrana 
Drifts.

After a quick save next to Phendrana Shorelines, turn left from the Save 
Station and locate the platform suspended in the air by a gas burner, 
closest to the temple. You can use your Space Jump Boots from the edge 
of the pond to reach the platform, which in turn lets you reach the 
temple ledge. The door behind the pillars takes you through a tunnel. 
Smash the ice obstacle and avoid the Pulse Bombu. To prevent it from 
attracting to you, use a missile to break the ice. There are Scatter 
Bombus further down the tunnel as well.

The majestic Chozo Ice Temple contains a new kind of enemy, but first 
you white bugs crawling around the structures on the walls. These are 
ICE PARASITES, rare cousins of the Parasites you found on the Orpheon. 
They are hardier than regular Parasites, so it will be tougher to kill 
one. Ice Parasites are very rare, so take this opportunity to scan it. 
Now start climbing the platforms and ledges around the room, killing the 
Ice Parasites and Crystallites as you go. When you reach the top of the 
Chozo Ice Temple, leap across to an icy hallway decorated with busts of 
revered Chozo individuals. At the end of the hallway, you'll see a 
frozen Chozo statue and a gate on your right, blocking a door. The bust 
on the gate is inscribed with a clue as to how to open it. Scan it, and 
then "seek his twin within this room". The twin is one of the Chozo 
busts in the previous hallway. The statue to find is the replica of the 
Shaman. Once you find it, shoot it with a missile to reveal a Morph Ball 
Slot. The slot will raise the gate blocking the door when activated.

In this next tunnel, get into your Morph Ball and roll into the path. 
You need to bomb the first metal block to access the lower tunnel, where 
two more sandstone blocks support a heavier black stone block. Blast 
away the bottom blocks and the top one will fall into place, clearing 
the path above. Repeat this process again on the other side in order to 
make it through the tunnel.

The final room within the Phendrana ruins is the Chapel of the Elders. 
There are four sealed chamber in all four corner of the room, concealing 
the guardians of the Chozo's sacred chapel. When you try and get to the 
other side of the room, two of the chamber walls will lower and release 
one Baby Sheegoth each. When you kill one Baby Sheegoth, another chamber 
will open and release its captive, meaning you'll have to fight two at a 
time until all four are defeated. After all four die, a terrifying 
fully-grown SHEEGOTH will smash through the wall in the back of the 
room. Sheegoths are scary beasts, and if you thought the babies were 
ill-tempered, wait until you fight this thing. To make matters worse, 
this specimen is even larger than the Sheegoths you may encounter later 
in the game, making it stronger and tougher to kill. The Sheegoth has a 
resilient shell of ice crystals on its back that absorb your beam 
weapons and transfer the energy to the Sheegoths ice blast attacks, so 
don't ever use your Power Beam. The Sheegoth will attack just like its 
babies, by charging you, spitting ice blasts at you and freezing you 
with its breath. The good news is that Sheegoths don't have good 
stamina. Whenever the Sheegoth uses a breath attack, it will 
hyperventilate and be forced to rest for a few seconds. When it does, it 
will emit steam from its ears. This is a good time to use your missiles 
against it. You'll know the Sheegoth is taking damage if it flashes red 
with each hit. This method will take a while, but it's the safest way to 
bring down a Sheegoth. The second way is quicker, but more dangerous. 
Roll into the Morph Ball and pepper the Sheegoth with bombs. If it 
freezes you, free yourself with a bomb. Either way, the Sheegoth will 
eventually keel over and the WAVE BEAM in the back of the room will be 
yours.

Collect the Wave Beam and the health that the Sheegoth left behind, and 
then look for additional pickups inside the crates in the corners. The 
Wave Beam is an electrical weapon that fires three streams of 
oscillating energy. In truth, it isn't really stronger than the Power 
Beam, but it's a lot cooler and has many more uses. It can open purple 
doors, activate energy-bases systems, home in on enemies like a missile, 
and it can rip through mechanical enemies like Auto Turrets and energy-
based foes like bombus. Use the Wave Beam to exit the Chapel of the 
Elders and kill the bombus in the Chozo Ice Temple and Temple Entryway. 
When you reach Phendrana Shorelines, save your game. 

=============

Chapter 7: Phendrana Labs.

=============

The next section of the game puts you deep into Space Pirate territory, 
and it also puts your new Wave Beam to good use. When you return to 
Phendrana Shorelines, you'll find that the place had been taken over by 
a pair of Baby Sheegoths. For the most part, you'll probably end up 
ignoring them though. It is worth noting however, that Baby Sheegoths 
are easier to kill with Space Jump Boots and the Wave Beam. The boots 
let you make a quick leap behind the beasts to get at their backs, and 
the charged Wave Beam will paralyze foes when hit. 

Your new footwear will also provide a few Shortcuts in Phendrana 
Shorelines. From the ledge above the Save Station, you can leap to the 
nearby gas platform and then again to the door to the Ruins Entryway. 
This way, you can get to Ice Ruins West without having to go through Ice 
Ruins East. Also, you can use the pillars in the middle of Phendrana 
Shorelines to leap from the entrance to Ice Ruins East to the Chozo Ice 
Temple. Spiffy. Now, you'll want to go to Ice Ruins West.

After putting down the two Baby Sheegoths, find the building on your 
right that contains a Crystallite and a piece of Chozo Lore (CIPHER). 
Space Jump up to the top of the building. Find the side opening to the 
outer area. You should see a STALACTITE hanging up ahead. Scan this new 
Research entry for your Log Book. There are only a limited amount of 
Stalactites in the game, and you can't scan them after shooting them 
down. Lock on to the Stalactite's fracture point and fire a missile to 
bring down the structure. The downed Stalactite will make a platform to 
the top of the building behind it. To your left is a pair of 
Crystallites. Shoot them and jump to where they just were, and then scan 
the Shriekbats hanging from the cave up ahead. These are ICE SHRIEKBATS, 
and like the Ice Burrowers, they disappear forever after you find your 
next power-up. Scan them before you kill them all, or before they kill 
themselves in their suicide dive-bomb attack. From below their former 
roost, turn right and jump over to the ledge with the Crystallite and 
the purple door. Use the Wave Beam to open it. 

Head through the Courtyard Entryway, which leads to the Ruined 
Courtyard. The entryway tunnel is infested by a group of Scarabs and a 
lone Pulse Bombu. The Ruined Courtyard has a large platform in the 
middle, and your goal is to reach the top of this platform. Turn right 
and activate the Spinner to open the hatches on some of the fountains at 
the top of the room. On the other side of the room, directly across from 
this Spinner, is another Spinner. Activate it to open up the remaining 
fountains and activate a Morph Ball Slot within the room. The slot is on 
a ledge above this Spinner device, and to reach it you must climb atop 
the icebergs down here until you reach the platform. Before you activate 
the slot you may want to eliminate as many Flickerbats as you can so 
that they don't bump into you while you try and make your way through 
the room. You'll have to manually target them in order to kill them. Now 
activate the Morph Ball Slot. Water will start pouring in from the 
fountains, filling the room. The rising water level will also cause some 
of the room's floating icebergs to rise as well, effectively making a 
series of platforms for you to cross. A timer will start, counting down 
until the water level recedes again, so don't dawdle. Hop across the 
icebergs and reach the other side. Directly across the platform with the 
Morph Ball Slot is a platform with a small hole in it. Use your Morph 
Ball to roll inside the hole. Inside this small chamber is an ENERGY 
TANK. Now roll through the hole in the corner and you will emerge near 
one of the Spinners. Wait for the water level to lower before repeating 
the water-filling process. Note that the Courtyard Entryway door will 
lock when the room is full of water, to prevent the neighboring rooms 
from flooding. This time when you jump the icebergs, jump onto the 
platform on the center structure. From there, jump to the rock platform 
sticking out from the wall and then make your way to the top of the 
large center platform. There are three doors up here; a purple door, a 
Missile Door Lock, and another door that you can't use because it lacks 
power. Enter the door with the Missile Door Lock to save your game. Now 
head back out and enter the purple door. Get ready for some heavy Space 
Pirate action.

The Specimen Storage room is the entrance to the Space Pirates' massive 
fortress and laboratory complex. Right from the start, your presence 
will be unwelcome. The Auto Turret in the room can be disabled with the 
scan of a button, to the right of the turret's position. But as soon as 
the turret is down, you'll be attacked by a SHADOW PIRATE. Scan it 
before it gets to you. Shadow Pirates are deadly members of the Space 
Pirate forces that wield cloaking devices, making them perfect 
assailants for areas with low visibility. However, because a Shadow 
Pirate's cloaking gear eats a lot of energy, the pirate is limited to 
melee attacks. Use missiles and the Wave Beam to take this thing down. 
Continue to the door at the far end of the passage once you've killed 
the pirate.

Step into the Research Entrance and immediately target the Auto Turret 
in the back of the room. You don't want this thing shooting at you while 
you deal with the room's remaining dangers. If you step too far in, 
you'll trigger a short cinematic in which a security drone alerts the 
pirates of your intrusion, locking the doors on you on its way out. The 
room will fill with SPACE PIRATES. These are the standard warriors of 
the Space Pirate forces, and the same types you fought on the frigate. 
Back then, they weren't that difficult, but these pirates are fully 
prepared and healthy. Space Pirates are by far the toughest enemies 
you've had to face. They're fast, agile, powerful, tough to kill and can 
even dodge your shots. Don't let them outwit you; use the Wave Beam and 
missiles, which home in on locked targets. The beam will stun a pirate, 
so follow up with a missile while it's paralyzed. After you've killed 
the pirates, head to the back of the room and enter the door on your 
right. This is the Map Station of Phendrana. Download it, and then head 
back outside. To enter the door above you, use the ramp on the opposite 
wall. Kill the two Scatter Bombus in the next tunnel and proceed.

Research Lab Hydra is blocked off by a security force field. Scan the 
blue panel to the right of the field to deactivate it, and then get 
ready to kill pirates. There are a lot in here, partly because this is a 
multi-story room. Activate the lift in the back of the room to reach the 
walkway, and then continue killing pirates until you reach the very top. 
Kill the Auto Turret up here too. After you've cleared out the room, 
head back down to ground level. There are five pieces of Pirate Data to 
scan in this room. Three are at ground level, while the remaining two 
are the very top. They are: PHAZON ANALYSIS, MINING STATUS, SECURITY 
BREACHES, PARASITE LARVA and GLACIAL WASTES. These logs will give you 
some insight into the Space Pirates' bioresearch and mining programs on 
Tallon IV. Also, if you've been following this guide from the beginning, 
you should've just unlocked Image Gallery 1 (in the Main Menu) by 
filling 50% of your Log Book. Hurray! At the top floor of the room, 
locate and shoot the purple door on the ceiling.

Take down the three Auto Turrets in the next cavern. It's worth noting 
that the Wave Beam will have unique effects on mechanical enemies like 
turrets. Rather than exploding like they usually do, a turret defeated 
by the Wave Beam will go haywire and start firing random blasts at 
random thing for a few seconds before finally bursting. Collect pickups 
from the crates in here as well, and then use the purple door up ahead.

The Observatory is being patrolled by half a dozen Space Pirates. One of 
them will drop down from above directly in front of you. After you waste 
them, hop down and head towards the computer terminals on the other side 
of the room. To either side of the blue panel is a computer screen, with 
Pirate Data: PHAZON PROGRAM and Pirate Data: CONTACT, respectively (the 
left log may not appear until you scan the panel). Scan the blue panel 
to activate a Morph Ball Slot as shown. Jump up to the Morph Ball Slot 
by using the platform to the right of the computer area. Activate the 
slot to power another slot, higher up and across the room. Head to this 
slot by using the other platforms around the room, and activate it. This 
will activate the four Spinners at the base of the lower hologram 
projector in the center of the room. Hop down and use all four Spinners 
to initiate the hologram sequence. The upper hologram projector will 
lower and produce a replica of the star system. It depicts several 
orbiting planets, including the two central to the current Metroid 
story; ZEBES and TALLON IV. Scan their holograms to update your Log 
Book. Now, climb to the top of the room using the outer platforms. The 
lowered upper hologram projector will be in position so that you can 
reach the power-up resting on it, the mighty SUPER MISSILE. The Super 
Missile is the Beam Combo for the Power Beam. Charge up the Power Beam 
and then fire a missile while charging to unleash the devastating force 
of five missiles. Not only are Super Missiles powerful, but they can be 
used to break certain materials. Beware though; because they use up five 
missiles per shot, they can eat through your missile reserves quickly. 
After you collect the power-up, use a regular missile to break open the 
door up here with the blast shield over it, which leads to a Save 
Station. Now head across to the purple door to proceed through the 
pirate base.

The next tunnel is home two a few bombus and, oddly enough, a pair of 
Crystallites. Shoot them and unlock the door at the end of the passage. 
The next room is a small elevator that leads up to the Control Tower. 
Scan the blue icon and ride to the top of the tower. Go through the 
purple door up here.

The Control Tower is a pirate outpost at the very top of Phendrana. As 
soon as you enter, a group of pirates will attack. The large crates 
stacked up in this room provide excellent cover for both you and the 
pirates. After you kill them all, two Flying Pirates will enter the 
fray. Flying Pirates are formidable opponents equipped with jetpacks, 
lasers and rockets. They are very agile in the air and tough to kill. To 
worsen the matter, when a Flying Pirate is defeated, it will make a 
last-ditch suicide run towards you, damaging you with the jetpack 
explosion. Hopefully you already scanned these things back by the 
Frigate Crash Site in Tallon Overworld. If not, you'll have to do it now 
while they're gunning at you. A Flying Pirate's agility makes it 
difficult to hit with non-homing weapons like the Power Beam. That's why 
you should stick with missiles, the Wave Beam, or even better, the Super 
Missile. The latter will demolish a Flying Pirate in a single hit. After 
you kill the first two, an additional trio will show up. After they are 
gone, the doors will unlock and you can proceed to the next room, which 
is the elevator tower that takes you back down to the labs. Before you 
go, break all of the smaller crates in the room for pickups.

Exit the East Tower and kill the bombus patrolling the next tunnel. This 
tunnel leads to the second main research lab in Phendrana, Research Lab 
Aether. Walk in towards the stasis tank, and you will be introduced to 
the illustrious METROID. Metroids are the parasitic larvae of creatures 
native to a planet known as SR388. During the Zebes operation, the Space 
Pirates were planning to use Metroids as a new biological weapon. They 
have the ability to drain the life force out of any creature in seconds. 
After you scan the beastie, it will break out of its stasis tank and 
attack. Metroids are tough to kill. Their only true weakness is cold 
temperatures; when you get the Ice Beam, you can freeze a Metroid and 
then follow up with a shattering missile. Until then though, your weapon 
of choice should be the Super Missile. Metroids attack by latching 
themselves onto your face and draining away your energy. If you get one 
on you, roll into a Morph Ball and drop a bomb to shake the Metroid off. 
Also, if you see the Metroid sparkling with energy, don't shoot it 
because it's momentarily invulnerable. After you've pounded the Metroid 
with everything you've got, it will die. You're not in the clear yet 
though; a Space Pirate will jump through the side window and attack.

Like the Research Lab Hydra, Research Lab Aether is a multi-story 
complex with several pirates to kill. There are also five Pirate Data 
logs to scan after all the dust has settled. On the top floor, where the 
Metroid was, scan for Pirate Data: META RIDLEY and METROID STUDIES. On 
the floor below is Pirate Data: PHAZON INFUSION. Finally, METROID FORCES 
and METROID MORPHOLOGY are found on the bottom floor. There are also two 
expansions in here. An ENERGY TANK is trapped inside one of the stasis 
tanks on the bottom floor. Use a missile to break open the glass. The 
second goodie is located along the crossway between floors. Head up from 
the bottom floor using the small lift and walk along the ramp. Ahead of 
you along the ceiling of the bottom floor is a platform that connects to 
a catwalk. Hop onto the platform and roll into your Morph Ball to travel 
across the catwalk. Like the one in Fiery Shores, it requires that you 
move slowly and carefully so that you don't fall. At the end of the 
catwalk is your MISSILE EXPANSION. There's also an additional Metroid 
inside one of the lower stasis tanks, but it won't break free unless you 
break the tank with a missile. After you collect your rewards, blow up 
the stack of crates on the bottom floor and enter the purple door 
beneath them.

The door leads to an access tunnel to the Research Core. Within the 
tunnel you'll be attacked by a new type of beetle, the ICE BEETLE. These 
beetles are similar to the regulars only the have a shell of ice on 
their backs that makes them tougher to kill. They are also rather 
aggressive. There are two Ice Beetles in here to kill. Now move on to 
the Research Core.

The Research Core is a dimly lit room with tight security. The room has 
four levels, and each of the walkways is connected by ramps on the side 
of the room. Be quick to engage the Space Pirate on the top level, 
because the battle will likely alert the two Flying Pirates in the lower 
levels. After defeating all three pirates, scan one of the computer 
terminals on the top level. The monitor marked with a red scan symbol is 
one of the three override controls for the force field in the center of 
the room. Two more controls can be found as you move down to the lower 
levels. On the second level from the bottom, you'll find the second 
control. Finally, scan the computer terminal on the bottom floor to 
fully deactivate the force field. Watch out for the Auto Turrets on the 
bottom floor as well. With the shield down, you can collect the item in 
the center of the room, the THERMAL VISOR. This new visor allows you to 
see in the dark by shading everything in purple, pink or yellow. Heat 
sources like enemies, power-ups and pickups will glow pink or yellow. 
The Thermal Visor is a handy item, but note that it won't work in most 
of Magmoor Caverns, for obvious reasons. After you collect the visor, 
the entire research complex will lose power, leaving you stranded in the 
dark. Quickly switch on your Thermal Visor so that you can battle the 
two Shadow Pirates that attack. Even cloaked enemies like Shadow Pirates 
will be much easier to detect with the Thermal Visor. Now head up the 
ramp that leads to the next level. As you make your way back up to the 
top of the room, three Metroids will breach their containment tanks 
along the wall and attack. Deal with them quickly. At the top of the 
room, you'll notice that the door is lacking power, and won't open. It 
requires energy from the nearby power conduit. Using thermal imaging, 
locate the conduit (the yellow circle right next to the door) and lock 
on to it. Use your Wave Beam to energize the system and restore power to 
the door. Now make your way back out of the labs.

The Ice Beetles in the Research Core Access have been replaced by two 
SENTRY DRONES. These security drones are deadly adversaries that start 
by putting the room into lockdown, meaning both exit doors will be 
locked until you eliminate the drones. They attack with lasers and 
machine guns, and have visor-disrupting abilities similar to those of 
Scatter Bombus. Use the Wave Beam to defeat them quickly, and then make 
your escape.

Research Lab Aether now has an Auto Turret firing at you from the back 
of the room, and an additional turret at the very top, where you first 
fought the Metroid. Speaking of the critters, there are two more live 
Metroids within the stasis tanks on the bottom floor. If you shoot the 
tanks with missiles, the Metroids will break free. Why would you? Well, 
because Metroids attack both friend and foe. They'll not only go for 
you, but they'll also help in eliminating the Shadow Pirates in the 
room. The pirates may in turn be able to weaken or kill some of the 
attacking Metroids as well. Eliminate the leftovers and then climb to 
the top of the room.

Don't stop for anything as you pass through the Control Tower and the 
surrounding tunnels. Make your way back to the Observatory and take the 
opportunity to heal and save at the Save Station. Defeat the Space 
Pirates down below and collect additional health and ammo from crates. 
Kill the Sentry Drones in the Observatory Access cavern as well.

When you reach Research Lab Hydra, eliminate the Auto Turret firing at 
you. Avoid the tanked Metroid and turn your attention to the solid 
stasis tank next to it. The tank is covered in a substance known as 
Cordite, which breaks apart easily with the Super Missile. Shoot the 
tank with a Super Missile to reveal a brand new MISSILE EXPANSION. If 
you want, you can release the Metroid up here and the others on the 
bottom floor to aid you in fighting the Shadow Pirates. Fight your way 
through pirate, Metroid and bombu alike, until you reach the Research 
Entrance.

While this room isn't dark, you still need the Thermal Visor to see the 
Auto Turret and the Shadow Pirates through the mist. Finally, after 
dealing with them, you can pass through the Specimen Storage room to 
escape the dreaded labs. At last, natural light! Now supply yourself 
with Missile Ammo via the crates in the room, and save your game.

You may have trashed the Space Pirates' research facilities and stolen 
their prized Thermal Visor, but one project in Phendrana remains to be 
stopped; their Phazon animation project. Take a break, grab a snack and 
then get ready for a boss battle. 

From the Save Station at the Ruined Courtyard, cross over to the door 
directly across from you. The door requires power from a nearby conduit. 
The conduit is above the door behind an ornamental Cordite sculpture. 
Break open the sculpture's cover with a Super Missile and then use your 
Thermal Visor to target the conduit, and shoot it with the Wave Beam. 
The door will activate and you can now enter the Quarantine Access. Kill 
the Pulse Bombus in here and proceed to North Quarantine Tunnel. Move 
quickly through the Morph Ball tunnel to avoid the annoyingly-placed 
Pulse Bombus and enter the door on the other side.

The vast Quarantine Cave is the site of you third boss battle. Hop down 
from the ledge to begin. The piled boulders in the middle of the room 
will spring to life and form a huge rock behemoth. Meet THARDUS, the 
boss of Phendrana Drifts. Thardus is an animated and sentient golem 
brought to life by the corruptive nature of the Phazon it has been 
infused with. Thanks to the Phazon radiation surrounding the boss, 
targeting it is impossible if you use the Combat Visor. Switch to your 
Thermal Visor after you scan Thardus to get a lock on the boss's 
revealed weak spot. Use a Super Missile or charged Wave Beam blasts on 
the weak spot to cause damage to Thardus. After enough punishment, 
Thardus's Phazon radiation will overload your Thermal Visor, forcing you 
to revert back to the Combat Visor. Now, Thardus's weak spot will be 
glowing blue, and you can lock on to it to continue your attacks. After 
you cause enough pain to Thardus, his weak spot will be destroyed, but a 
new one will be revealed. You need to switch back to the Thermal Visor 
in order to find the new spot. Repeat this process about half a dozen 
times until you go through every major rock on Thardus's body. The final 
weak spot is his head. Sometimes, the larger stones will get in the way 
of his weak point, so wait until you have clear shot before you fire, 
especially if you're using ammo-consuming Super Missile blasts. Twice, 
Thardus will stop the battle to change the local weather. First, he'll 
summon a massive blizzard, and then he'll stop again to calm the storm. 
While the blizzard is raging, it will be difficult to see Thardus and 
your surroundings. Thardus has four different attacks. He'll swing a 
massive fist of boulders at you when you get too close to him. Also, he 
sometimes lobs stones at you. This attack is actually quite useful; if 
you target the approaching boulders and blast them, they'll reveal much-
needed pickups. Just watch out for the burst of Phazon radiation 
following the destruction of each rock. Thardus's third attack is a 
river of ice that he'll conjure to encase you in ice. This attack can be 
avoided if you jump over it. Lastly, his nastiest attack is his rollout 
move, where he rolls up into a tight ball and rolls around the room, 
causing massive damage if he hits you. You can use your Boost Ball or 
Space Jump Boots to avoid the attack. Do your best to avoid Thardus's 
attacks and hang in there until you drop his life bar to zero. While the 
technique is simple, defeating Thardus will take great skill and effort. 

After you defeat Thardus, the great golem will come crashing down and 
reveal his bounty: a bunch of Ultra Energy units, Missile Ammo and the 
SPIDER BALL. The Spider Ball allows you to travel on magnetic rail 
systems while in Morph Ball mode to explore new areas. At any point you 
can scan one of these SPIDER BALL TRACKS for Research entries. After you 
collect everything, use the Spider Ball to climb the rails around the 
room and enter the door that leads to the South Quarantine Tunnel. 
Bypass the bombus and ride the new elevator to the Magmoor Caverns.

=============

Chapter 8: Return to the Ruins.

=============

When you arrive at the south end of Magmoor, turn around and shoot a 
missile at the Save Station door and save. Now walk around the elevator 
and take the opposite purple door. Walk down the passage, but watch out 
for the flame spouts on the ceiling that frequently expel fire. Take the 
purple door at the end.

The Magmoor Workstation contains a hidden Energy Tank, but first you 
must destroy the three Flying Pirates in the room. Hop down to ground 
level and turn on your Thermal Visor. Most areas in Magmoor Caverns are 
too hot for the visor to work properly, but the Magmoor Workstation 
isn't one of them. There are three power conduits in the room that will 
energize the small machine under the entrance door. All three are 
located near the walls, next to the three channels under the floor. 
After you power all three with the Wave Beam, the machine will cool the 
lava in the west channel and form a path under the door to the west 
chamber. Find the opening in the metal grate covering the floor and roll 
through. Watch out for the two Triclops underneath the floor. Roll down 
the west channel until you get inside the chamber at the end. Scan the 
computer terminal on the wall. This will cool the lava in the east 
channel. Roll back through the floor and enter the channel. You don't 
have long before the rock liquefies again, so don't take forever. Repeat 
the process once you're inside the east chamber. The path to the 
northern channel will be exposed, and you'll be given a few seconds to 
reach the chamber before the channel fills with lava again. Inside the 
north chamber, you'll find the ENERGY TANK. Now get out of the floor and 
use the door to the left of the entrance, facing into the room. The 
other door in the room leads to a dead end, so don't even bother.

Scan the PUDDLE SPORE in the South Core Tunnel. Puddle Spores can't be 
defeated, but if you shoot one while its insides are exposed, the clam 
will flip over and you can use it as a platform to cross the pool of 
lava, where you'll have to get rid of two pesky Burrowers. Two more 
Puddle Spores allow you to cross the massive Geothermal Core, the next 
room. Afterwards, enter the North Core Tunnel. Rather than killing the 
Magmoor in this lava pool, shoot the Stalactite above it. You'll kill 
two birds with one stone this way, for the falling structure will crush 
the Magmoor and also provide you with a platform to reach the other side 
of the room.

The Twin Fires room is very similar to the Lava Lake, on the other side 
of Magmoor Caverns. Destroy the Puffers floating around the room and 
shoot down the Stalactite on your right. Use this and the subsequent 
platform to cross the chamber. Kill the Magmoor near the center of the 
room too. As you cross to the room's second chamber, roll into the Morph 
Ball to get past the horizontal flame spouts, which will burn 
constantly. On the other side, bring down the Stalactite to kill the 
Magmoor just like the one in the North Core Tunnel. Cross over to the 
door and avoid the flame spouts on the way out.

In the next room, you won't be able to cross safely unless you use the 
hidden Spider Ball Track. The track starts in a small hole on the right 
side of the room. Follow the track to the end, and enter the Transport 
to Tallon Overworld West. Instead of taking the elevator up to the 
Tallon Overworld, continue your journey through the caverns.

On the way through, you'll notice that the Auto Turrets and Puffers in 
the Monitor Station are gone, replaced instead by two Flying Pirates. 
The same fate has befallen the Puffers at the Triclops Pit as well. Keep 
moving until you reach the larger chamber within the Lava Lake. If you 
shoot the central pillar with a Super Missile, the structure will break 
and a Chozo Artifact will be revealed. Jump over to the pillar and 
collect the ARTIFACT OF NATURE. Afterwards, head through the Burning 
Trail (save if needed) and take the elevator at the top to the Chozo 
Ruins.

From the transport, enter the Sun Tower. Now that you have the Spider 
Ball, you'll be able to properly explore this place and get back inside 
the Sunchamber. Take out the four Hives at the base of the tower to 
avoid War Wasp bombardment. The Spider Ball Track on the far side of the 
room will allow you to ascend to the top of the tower, but the track is 
blocked a little ways up by a runic gate. Locate the four runic symbols 
in the room to move the gate out of the way. Two of them are located 
behind two of the four pillars in the room. The other two are hidden 
behind the Cordite sculptures on the right and left wall. After you scan 
all four, look up past the gate and scan the moving creatures on the 
wall. These are OCULUS. They can't be destroyed and any shot fired at 
them will deflect off into another direction. Climb up the track until 
you reach the broken section. You can continue upwards by bombing 
yourself up to the sandstone block of Spider Ball Track. Just wait for 
the Oculus traffic to pass before doing so. From the block, bomb 
yourself to the track that follows, but make sure you don't mess up. The 
sandstone block will crumble once you bomb yourself up from it. Continue 
until you reach the top of the tower and head through the door.

Ooh! What was that thing? A white, translucent creature will flee down 
the path at the Sun Tower Access. Follow the sound of its screeches and 
use the door on the far end to enter the Sunchamber, where the boss of 
Chozo Ruins once resided.

Now, prepare to fight a nasty new mini-boss, or should I say, three of 
them. Three balls of smoke will emerge from the center of the room and 
take form. They each turn into CHOZO GHOSTS. Chozo Ghosts are the 
corrupt spirits of the Chozo, and will appear to defend the sacred 
locales of the Chozo's ancient civilization. Ghosts are immune to 
natural energies such as fire, ice and electricity. In other words, the 
only weapon that will have any effect on them at all is the Power Beam, 
and the Super Missiles. Chozo Ghosts are also painfully difficult do 
defeat without the X-Ray Visor. They continually appear and disappear in 
between each relentless attack. When the Chozo Ghosts attack, they fire 
blasts of damaging ectoplasm at you that will disrupt your visor if you 
get hit. Try to lock on to a Chozo Ghost and hit it with everything 
you've got before it disappears again. Usually, a charged Power Beam 
shot and a Super Missile will be enough to kill a Chozo Ghost, but it's 
impossible to tell which ghost you've already hit, and it's equally 
impossible to tell where one will pop up next. Sometimes, a Chozo Ghost 
will go for a stronger blast by charging its energy in its hands for a 
few seconds. This is a great opportunity to get a strong hit on a ghost. 
When a Chozo Ghost is defeated, it will depart from existence and 
usually leave behind a decent pickup. After defeating all three, the 
vines blocking the other door will finally disappear, and a new Chozo 
Artifact will appear on top of Flaahgra's carcass. Space Jump over the 
water and collect the ARTIFACT OF WILD, your fourth Chozo Artifact. Now 
head through the unblocked door and through the Arboretum to the 
Gathering Hall, where you can save.

From here you have a choice. You can head up to the Antechamber and 
collect the Ice Beam, or you can take a small detour through the Ruined 
Shrine, to the Tower of Light. Here' you'll find the Beam Combo for the 
Wave Beam. Except for the Super Missile, Beam Combos are entirely 
optional for beating the game, but they're also very cool and powerful, 
so don't miss out on them. From Save Station B, next to the Gathering 
Hall, head to the nearby Ruined Fountain. Remember, all of the water in 
the ruins is clean now, so don't worry about falling in. This includes 
the water spewing out of the fountain. Enter the fountain and roll up 
into the Morph Ball. The water pressure from the fountain will propel 
you up to a Spider Ball Track. Grab onto it, and then follow it behind 
the wall to a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now return to the Main Plaza. 

When you get to the plaza, you can collect two more expansions. After 
killing the War Wasps and the Plated Beetle, aim a Super Missile at the 
large knot on the tree. A hole will be revealed, which you can jump into 
from the upper level of the plaza. The first MISSILE EXPANSION is 
inside. The second MISSILE EXPANSION is at the top of the half-pipe 
underneath the bridge. After collecting both expansions, head to the 
Ruined Shrine.

An expansion remains yet to be collected within the shrine. Face the 
back of the room and use the half-pipe formation to boost up to the left 
ledge. Find the hole in the wall and roll though to find the MISSILE 
EXPANSION. Now boost over to the other side of the half-pipe. The tunnel 
here leads to a section of Spider Ball Track that will take you to a 
purple door. Use the door and navigate through the next tunnel to reach 
the Tower of Light.

The ancient Tower of Light is flooded at its base, but you don't need to 
worry about what's underwater just yet. Leap up to the platform across 
from the entrance, and then thrice more to the first central platform. 
Look around the room, and use the Scan Visor to find weakened sections 
of the tower's support pillars. Three missiles are enough to damage each 
weakened section, and damaging all four will cause the entire tower to 
collapse a bit. The platforms above you will now be within jumping 
distance, so leap onto the first and then turn to scan the PLATED 
PUFFERS that emerge below. Well, you've seen Plated Beetles and you'll 
soon encounter Plated Parasites, so it's only fair that Puffers get 
their own mutant strain of tough-to-kill variants. The armored skin of a 
Plated Puffer can only be ruptured with a missile, but otherwise they 
are identical to the regular kind. They'll usually end up bumping into 
something anyway, so just don't bother wasting any ammo. Continue 
climbing the tower, and repeat the process of destroying the four 
support columns further up. Two of the columns up here have Oculus 
prowling on them, making it just a bit trickier to hit the actual 
structure. After all four of these columns are down, climb up to the 
final set of platforms before the Plated Puffers arrive, and destroy the 
final four columns (this time, all four have Oculus on them). When you 
reach the very top of the tower, collect the WAVEBUSTER. The Wavebuster 
is the Beam Combo for the Wave Beam. It fires a continuous beam of 
devastating energy that automatically seeks out enemy targets, even 
without a lock. However, use it sparingly, for it costs ten missiles to 
fire and five every second to sustain it. Now that you have this 
powerful new weapon at your disposal, return to the Gathering Hall and 
save.

To get to the Antechamber, you'll have to go from the Gathering Hall to 
the Energy Core. As you climb up to the top of the Gathering Hall, equip 
the Thermal Visor. Shriekbats and Blastcaps stick out like sore thumbs 
under thermal imaging, and you can even lock on to the bats while 
they're roosting as well, something you can't do while looking through 
the Combat Visor. At the top of the room, jump up onto one of the red 
cylinders to either side of the door. From there, jump to the platform 
above the doorway, and use a Morph Ball Bomb on the metal grate to 
reveal a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now continue to the Energy Core.

Skip through the Energy Core and through the passage leading to the 
Furnace. When you get there, climb up the Spider Ball Track to the top 
section of the Morph Ball tunnel. The blocks you have to cross over will 
disappear almost as soon as you touch them, so you have to be quick and 
combine your boosting skills with your bombing skills. Boost across the 
blocks and lay a bomb as soon as you hit the solid ledge. Hopefully, by 
the time the last block disappears, the bomb will send you up to the 
ledge. If you mess up, you'll fall to the lower tunnel, which you took 
earlier for an Energy Tank. After crossing, unroll in the main Furnace.

Kill the Beetle army in here and turn right to scan the creatures 
crawling around the Spider Ball Track. These are PLATED PARASITES. They 
have a hard shell that only a Morph Ball's weapons can damage. 
Regardless, without the Power Bombs, you won't be able to reach them 
anyway. You can also scan Chozo Lore: CRADLE on the left wall. Ignore 
the white door up ahead and use the tunnel underneath the Chozo Lore. 
This leads to a passage that connects the Furnace to the Crossway.

The Crossway contains a large half-pipe running almost the entire length 
of the room. Ignore the white door on the right side and hop into the 
half-pipe. At the other end, boost out to get up on the opposite ledge. 
There are three pieces of Chozo Lore here to scan: INFESTATION, WORM and 
HATCHLING'S SHELL. Now turn to the end wall and use a Super Missile to 
break apart the Cordite sculpture. The scan point behind, when scanned, 
will expose a section of Spider Ball Track high above on the right wall. 
Use the half-pipe to boost up to the track, and roll to the end. Use a 
bomb to enter the Morph Ball Slot. This device will reveal a similar 
track on the other end of the opposite wall. Mosey on over to the other 
end of the half-pipe and boost up to the track. The Morph Ball Slot up 
here will bring a piston down from the pipe on the wall. Enter the pipe 
before the timer finishes, and let the piston push you up to the upper 
tunnel. Roll to the end for a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, boost back over to 
the ledge with the Chozo Lore, and enter the door in the corner with a 
missile. Defeat the Scarabs in the Elder Hall Access and continue.

The Hall of the Elders is sacred in a big way to the Chozo, and as such, 
the place will be guarded by a lone Chozo Ghost. At least you only have 
to deal with one ghost this time, but don't get stingy with the Super 
Missiles. After the ghost is defeated, the statue of the Chozo Elder's 
hands will glow. We'll come back to that; first, jump up to the ledge 
where the entrance door is located and find the Morph Ball tunnel in the 
wall. On the other side of this tunnel, you'll get to use your first 
MISSILE STATION. As you can guess, a Missile Station will restore all of 
your Missile Ammo. Excluding your Gunship, there are only three in the 
game, so always take the opportunity to use one. You should have 105 
missiles by now. Now head back to the main room, and scan Chozo Lore: 
HOPE, behind the statue. Now, jump up onto the statue's waiting hands, 
and roll into the Morph Ball. He'll bowl you across the room and up to a 
Spider Ball Track. Hold the R Button to latch onto the track and follow 
it to a Morph Ball Slot. Activate the slot to energize three brightly-
colored Morph Ball Slots on the other side of the room. Jump up onto the 
platforms near the right side of the room (from the statue's point of 
view) and follow the ledge to the three slots. Each slot is covered in a 
color-coded force field that indicates what beam weapon you have to use 
to access it. Purple goes with the Wave Beam; white goes with the Ice 
Beam; and red goes with the Plasma Beam. You only have one of those now; 
so hit the purple slot and activate it. The bridge structure on the 
floor in front of the Chozo Elder will rotate, creating a new path. Let 
the statue bowl you again to the highest ledge in the room. Follow the 
path to the exit door. Before leaving, scan the panel to deactivate the 
security window, so that if you ever pass through this room again (which 
you will), you can just hop up or down from here.

The large room following this access tunnel is the Reflecting Pool. Take 
note of the ominous Stone Toads along the edges of the pool and enter 
the water. The pool's water is contained by a drain hatch that's made of 
weakened metal. A Morph Ball Bomb will be able to break the hatch and 
drain the entire pool, fish and all. Conveniently, you're left with a 
half-pipe. Use it to boost up to the top level of the room. You can use 
the Stone Toads at the top to your advantage, since they'll try to 
swallow you, but in the process bring you up to the level you want to 
reach (just make sure to kill the toad with a bomb). There are three 
doors up here. Use the two blocked by Missile Door Locks (these are 
probably the final two in the game, so if you didn't scan any of the 
previous ones, do it now or you'll have missed your last chance). One 
door leads to the Antechamber, where you can grab the ICE BEAM. This 
cool weapon lets you freeze enemies and open white doors, but it fires 
at a slow speed and rate. Still, its freezing capabilities and strength 
make it a very powerful weapon. Take the door directly across from the 
Antechamber and use the Save Station.

=============

Chapter 9: The Gravity Suit.

=============

You may have defeated the Space Pirates in Phendrana, but the heart of 
their operation lies within the Phazon Mines, the only major area you 
haven't explored yet. Unfortunately, you can't get to the mines without 
first addressing one major problem; water friction. It's time to explore 
what remains of the Phendrana Drifts. Beyond the Space Pirate labs, 
you'll discover an obscure system of frozen caverns and hidden 
treasures. 

Without even leaving the Save Station at the very top of the Chozo 
Ruins, turn towards the back wall and roll into the small Morph Ball 
tunnel. It leads to a new transport that takes you to the Tallon 
Overworld area. Transport Tunnel C in Tallon Overworld is overrun by 
Zoomers and Geemers, and blocked in parts by large tree branches. Kill 
the first two Geemers with missiles, and then hop over the branch to 
kill the Zoomers and the Blastcaps for pickups. Roll under the second 
branch to find the exit.

The well-named Overgrown Cavern is cramped with flora, including a few 
patches of Venom Weed. Mow down the weeds and roll through. Collect the 
obvious MISSILE EXPANSION as well. The white door out here leads to the 
Frigate Crash Site.

Drop down from the cliff to the shoreline below. As you may recall, when 
you left the frigate, it was well on its way to destruction. And well, 
this is where the crashed vessel ended up. The ship itself is in ruins, 
but you won't be able to explore it properly without the Gravity Suit. 
Put the crash survivors down here out of their misery, and then gun down 
the two Flying Pirates that attack from the opposite shore. Use the Ice 
Beam to battle these foes. A single hit from this weapon will freeze a 
pirate in its tracks, and a missile to follow up will shatter it into a 
hundred pieces. The only problem can be hitting the agile pirates with 
the slow Ice Beam; wait for them to pause to fire their torpedoes. After 
dealing with the threats, dive into the pond and cross over to the 
opposite shore. Head back to the Landing Site from here.

The best route back to Phendrana is the Transport to Phendrana Drifts 
South, the elevator you took down to the Magmoor Workstation after 
defeating Thardus. Use the Transport to Magmoor Caverns East (just past 
the Root Cave) in Tallon Overworld to get to Magmoor Caverns, and then 
head south until you reach the designated transport to Phendrana Drifts. 
Your journey through Magmoor Caverns will be a lot easier this time 
around. The Ice Beam lets you freeze those flame spouts solid, and the 
Wavebuster is incredibly fun (but somewhat wasteful) for clearing a room 
full of Puffers. When you get to the Phendrana Drifts, you'll notice a 
Spider Ball Track on the wall in the transport room that leads to a 
white door. Roll up to the door and enter.

When you enter the Transport Access, the first thing you might notice is 
the Pulse Bombu. The second thing you might notice (and only other 
significant feature within the room) is the Energy Tank frozen in ice. 
Remember to revisit this room when you get the Plasma Beam. Destroy the 
bombu and use the door at the end.

This room is the Frozen Pike. It's a very tall shaft with four doors 
leading out and in, and it can get confusing. The door below you leads 
to the Research Core, the room within the Space Pirate base where you 
found the Thermal Visor. Of the remaining doors, the only one you can 
reach is the bottom door that's still above water level. The room is 
inhabited by Ice Parasites and Flickerbats. Drop down all the way to the 
bottom and scan the wedge-shaped creatures floating underwater. JELZAPS 
are very peculiar looking, but they aren't very friendly. If you get 
close to one, it will open its jaws and try to draw you in for a bite. 
Shoot the glowing core to split the creature in half. Jelzaps can also 
mess your visor up with static while they make their attack. Now, climb 
out of the water by using the ledge along the side, and hop across the 
bridge and over another ledge on your left to get to the purple door. In 
the next tunnel, squeeze through the crevice and fight off the Ice 
Beetles and Scarabs on the other side before using the door to the Frost 
Cave.

The Frost Cave is a very large cavern with a few Stalactites and some 
new scans. You will probably hear the shriek of a Metroid before you see 
it, so ready your Ice Beam as you approach the ledge. The new type of 
Metroid that attacks is a HUNTER METROID. Hunters are Metroids in the 
juvenile stage of their development. Rather than latching onto you and 
draining your energy, a Hunter Metroid will attack with an extendable 
tentacle that can sap your life away from afar. If agitated enough, 
they'll also head butt you. Hunter Metroids are a bit tougher to take 
down unless you use the classic Ice Beam-missile combo. Flash-freeze the 
Metroid and shatter it before it causes too much trouble. Now scan the 
spotted creature floating in circles above you. This is a GLIDER, a 
pacifistic creature that is no threat to you, and is completely 
impervious to any weapon. Gliders are not targets to be destroyed. Their 
use will become clear once you get the Grapple Beam back. For now, just 
scan it for a new page in your Log Book. Now, target the two Stalactites 
in the room, high above on the ceiling. Both will provide platforms to 
the purple doors on the other side of the room. Use the right door to 
save, and the left door to continue through the ice caverns. 

Use your Morph Ball to roll through the Upper Edge Tunnel. When you step 
into Phendrana's Edge, two Flying Pirates will ambush you. Show them who 
is boss, and then drop to the bottom of the cavern to find an underwater 
purple door. There are a few Jelzaps down here too. Continue through the 
Lower Edge Tunnel (use the Wave Beam on the Scatter Bombus, and the 
Morph Ball to get underneath the caved-in roof).

The Hunter Cave is very similar to the Frost Cave, but strangely, there 
are no Hunter Metroids in it. There are however, Flickerbats in the air 
and Jelzaps in the water down below. The water here isn't frozen over 
like in the Frost Cave, so you'll have to shoot down two more 
Stalactites to reach the other doors in the cavern. Both Stalactites 
will also crush two of the three Jelzaps in the water, and hopefully 
take out a few Flickerbats as well. A third Stalactite to your right 
will land on the rocks, providing a platform to the upper ledge. Hop 
down to the water's edge and try to eliminate the surviving Flickerbats 
before crossing over to the opposite shore. Enter the first purple door 
to the right of the entrance by climbing up the side of the cave. Kill 
the bombu in this next tunnel and use the submerged purple door at the 
end.

When you enter the Gravity Chamber, trudge through the water until you 
fall into a sunken pit. It will help greatly if you use your Thermal 
Visor while exploring the murky depths of the chamber. The sunken pit is 
home to a Jelzap and a group of waving tentacles, known as AQUA REAPERS. 
The Aqua Reaper is an aquatic monster that buries itself if tight 
crevices with only its tentacles exposed. For all intents and purposes, 
Aqua Reapers are exactly like Reaper Vines. Shoot the tentacles to force 
them to retract into the ground so that you can pass. Climb out of the 
pit on the other side, and follow the shallow ledge to a second pit, 
which also contains a Jelzap and Aqua Reaper tentacles. Directly across 
from you, you'll find a small crevice that contains the GRAVITY SUIT. 
The amazing Gravity Suit negates water friction and allows you to travel 
through water as easily as you can on land, as if the water weren't even 
there. Also, you can now see underwater much clearer. Use the suit to 
climb out of the water, and then follow the icy ledge around the upper 
chamber to the other purple door. Take note of the large icicle hanging 
from the ceiling. You'll have to return with the Plasma Beam....

Take the tunnel here to the Hunter Cave, and make sure to kill the 
Sentry Drone in here as well. At the Hunter Cave, use the door you 
haven't used yet along the right wall to get out. It's best to ignore 
the Flying Pirates in here. The purple door leads down a watery path 
filled with Jelzaps that will attempt to hinder you. At the end of the 
path is the door that leads to the very bottom of the Frozen Pike. Kill 
the Jelzaps and Flying Pirates in this room, and then climb as high as 
you can go to the very top of the room, until you can go no further. On 
the way you will have to use your Morph Ball to roll through an ice 
tunnel along the wall. Use your Bombs to jump up the hard-to-see ledges 
inside the tunnel. After escaping the Frozen Pike, take the route 
through the Magmoor Caverns back to your ship. 

The Gravity Suit's true test is the crashed Space Pirate Frigate, which 
leads directly to the next major area, the Phazon Mines. Head to the 
Frigate Crash Site from the Landing Site to being your voyage. You'll 
have to contend with the usual duo of Flying Pirates, as well as a 
newly-established Beetle army. Now jump into the water, but beware of 
the Jelzaps now lurking among the sunken tree trunks. On the left side 
of the pond, jump up to a nook in the rock that contains a MISSILE 
EXPANSION. Now swim over to the far side of the pond and use the 
underwater ledges to get to a small cavern, directly behind the second 
Jelzap. Use the Morph Ball to roll under the small opening, and then 
jump up to dry land. There's a white door behind a set of crates that 
leads inside the doomed frigate.

The Frigate Access tunnel is dark and weedy. Along the left wall, you'll 
find a rocky path that leads to a tunnel, and eventually a door. Drop 
down into the water in the next room and continue through the 
ventilation tunnel system. Use the Morph Ball to roll under the rubble 
obstructing the path. The room beyond the large circular door up ahead 
contains a pair of Auto Turrets. Freeze them quickly and use the Thermal 
Visor to find the power conduit in the room. Since the main door lacks 
power, you'll need your Wave Beam to energize it. Continue from Main 
Ventilation Shaft Section A to Section B.

This tunnel slopes down below water level, but before that you'll run 
into a commuting swarm of crabs. TALLON CRABS are relatively harmless 
and not at all worth the effort to pause for more than a scan. Plow 
through the group and use the underwater door at the end, which is about 
as far as you can go without the Gravity Suit.

The Reactor Core is the very same room in which you defeated the 
Parasite Queen, albeit a bit less recognizable. And look how far you've 
come since then. Hopefully, this and the remainder of the frigate will 
start to look familiar to you, so that you'll have an easier time 
getting through. Drop down to the bottom of the Reactor Core and scan 
the pirates that attack. AQUA PIRATES are Flying Pirates equipped with 
modified jetpacks and gravity suits for underwater combat. They move and 
behave just like their aerial brethren, and can be defeated in the same 
way too. Many of the new enemies you fight down here are simply aquatic 
variants of preexisting foes. The exit door here is above the main 
platform. You can reach it by hopping on top of the pieces of rubble 
underneath it, but if you want to open it, you'll need to feed it power 
by energizing four power conduits in the room. Two are around the edge 
of the outer platform, a third is on the inside edge of the inner ledge, 
and the last one is just to the left of the door, along the wall. After 
you power the door, enter the next room. 

As you may well remember, there's a Save Station to your right. The door 
up ahead, like the last one, needs power from two conduits within the 
room. After saving and opening the door, enter the ruined Cargo Freight 
Lift to Deck Gamma. The freight lift has seen better days, and it isn't 
about to haul you up to the top of the long lift shaft. You'll have to 
climb your way up. But once again, the door at the top needs power, so 
keep your Thermal Visor and Wave Beam at the ready. First, blow the 
freight lift's door open to find an ENERGY TANK, and then activate the 
power conduit on the side of the lift. Jump on top of the freight lift 
and start climbing to the top of the room. Use the platforms along the 
left wall to ascend the passage, and shoot the Aqua Reapers that emerge 
from their tunnels. When you reach the midpoint up the shaft, about 
where the first reaper attacks from, turn around and fire up the power 
conduit on the ceiling. Jump to the piece of suspended rubble in front 
of it and then turn to continue up the passage. In order to get past the 
second reaper platform, you'll have to turn around again and jump to the 
platform behind you, and then jump over from there. As you near the 
water's surface, a Space Pirate will drop into the water, but it's dead, 
so don't worry about it. Shoot the final conduit to the left of the exit 
door to escape the room.

Walk through the empty passage and into the Biohazard Containment. The 
lower level of the room (which still contains the decaying Parasite 
Queen inside the stasis tank) is flooded. Take out the Auto Turrets up 
here, and then locate the power conduits that energize the door down 
below. The first is located on the top part of the stasis tank. The 
second is behind it, on a wall to your right. Follow the balcony all the 
way around if you can't see it from the entrance. After powering both 
conduits, peer into the water and scan one of the two AQUA DRONES. Aqua 
Drones are rarer than hen's teeth and will be gone after your initial 
tour through the crashed frigate, so don't destroy them both without 
scanning one. As mentioned earlier, these aquatic drones are almost 
identical to regular Sentry Drones and share the same weakness to the 
Wave Beam as any other mechanical foe. The final power conduit is also 
down here, inside one of the open storage tanks. And as if that weren't 
enough, one of the sealed tanks contains a MISSILE EXPANSION. Blast the 
door open with a Super Missile to add it to your collection. Now use the 
door in the left corner of the room. Fight through the reapers in the 
Deck Beta Security Hall and continue.

The Biotech Research Area has three more Aqua Pirates to play around 
with. And you'll never guess why the exit door isn't lit up. Use the 
Thermal Visor from the start (it helps when fighting pirates as well) to 
locate the conduits in the room, the first of which is along the wall 
right next to the entrance. The other two conduits will open the door on 
the opposite corner of the room. Use the rubble to climb and jump up to 
it. 

Pass through the next couple of passages until you see an explosion from 
the floor. You should be inside another flooded elevator shaft. Drop 
down to the bottom and start scanning for the blob-like AQUA SACS. They 
can be hard to locate if you don't know what to look for. Unlike their 
terrestrial ancestors, the Sap Sacs, Aqua Sacs won't explode when 
destroyed, but rather just dissolve pathetically. Use the door down 
here, and roll into the Morph Ball tunnel along the left wall of the 
Hydro Access Tunnel.

This Morph Ball maze requires some fancy bomb-jumping in order to get 
through, especially if you want another Energy Tank. The water in the 
room causes your bombs to propel you up slower but also much farther 
than normal. Bomb-jump up to the first ledge and then drop down to the 
bottom of the second. You'll notice an extension to the tunnel that goes 
upwards. Double-bomb-jump up the shaft to grab the ENERGY TANK. When 
performing an underwater double-bomb-jump, you need to drop the second 
bomb just below the peak of your first bomb's propulsion. Do this twice 
to reach the tank. Back at the bottom, roll to the right and bomb-jump 
up to the maze's exit, which leads to the outside of the frigate itself. 

The large room outside known as the Great Tree Hall connects two 
different transports: one that'll take you up to the Chozo Ruins, and 
another that will take you down to where you want to go, the Phazon 
Mines. Blast the Jelzaps below water level and climb over the tree roots 
on the other side of the chamber to get up to a white door, just above 
the surface. You'll get to explore the rest of the room later.

As you walk the path to the Transport to Phazon Mines East, heed the 
game's warning and avoid the blue stuff underneath the bridge, because 
it's deadly Phazon. Get used to seeing this dangerous substance, and the 
many other horrors that the Space Pirates have waiting for you. Smash up 
the Seedlings, and then take the transport to the Phazon Mines.

=============

Chapter 10: A Miner Threat.

=============

When you get off the transport, walk through the next passage and into 
the Main Quarry, until you see the short introduction sequence to the 
area. Welcome to the Phazon Mines. This is the very core of the Space 
Pirates' operations on Tallon IV, where their most secret Phazon 
experiments and latest weapons are held. The mines were dug to forge a 
path to the main source of Phazon within the Impact Crater, bypassing 
the Chozo Temple. Since the mines run almost underneath the crater, 
you'll come into contact with a lot of Phazon, and encounter many 
Phazon-enhanced creations. The Phazon Mines has three levels, each 
connected by small elevators. The road to the Power Bomb upgrade on the 
second level won't be easy, so remain on your guard, and show the Space 
Pirates no mercy, for they won't offer you any.

Head to the left side of the Main Quarry and use the Spider Ball Track 
to reach a purple door on the ledge. This is a Save Station, and in 
order to use it, you'll have to scan a control panel in front of it. 
After saving, go back outside and head to the back of the room. Two 
perimeter defense turrets will start firing at you from their stations 
along the left wall, above a yellow force field. These are new and 
improved MEGA TURRETS, which will replace the weaker Auto Turrets 
throughout the mines. Mega Turrets have stronger armor than Auto 
Turrets, so it will take three missiles to destroy them. The force field 
that the turrets are guarding will eventually have to come down, but 
first head up to the crane platform by using the walkway along the right 
side of the room. As you start to make your way around it, the Space 
Pirates on the platform will see you and attack. Several of them will 
appear, including some that jump onto the walkway. Use charged Ice Beam 
shots to destroy the pirates. At the end of the walkway, cross the 
bridge to the platform. A final Space Pirate will try to ambush you from 
a hidden compartment on the ceiling of the lower platform, so be ready 
with a charged Ice Beam shot. Continue past the base of the platform and 
climb on top of the rocks along the far wall to access the top of the 
crane platform. Along the side of the crane's base, look for a power 
conduit with the Thermal Visor, and use the Wave Beam to energize it. 
The conduit will feed power to the crane's controls, which are located 
inside the glass enclosure at the end of the platform. Scan the controls 
to send the crane's cargo smashing into the wall. The impact will reveal 
a MISSILE EXPANSION. You can reach it by using the Spider Ball Track 
along the underside of the crane. After grabbing it, drop all the way 
down to ground level. To shut down the security force field, you have to 
scan two panels that are located in the area in front of the shield. 
Scan both panels and use the white door behind the downed shield.

The two Mega Turrets guarding the Security Station A can be disabled by 
scanning the control panel behind them in the back of the room, just 
like standard turrets. Break the crates for pickups and continue through 
the door to the Mine Security Station.

This room has two floors, both of which are under tight security. As you 
head back and around the lower floor, Shadow Pirates will attack from 
the ceiling. Whip out your Thermal Visor and freeze them over as they 
charge. Parts of the metal structures in the room can be blasted off if 
you find they get in your way. Loop around the room by where the blue 
force field is blocking off a red door, and continue. When you get to 
the other end of the lower floor, locate the ramp along the right wall, 
and climb up to the second floor. When you do, a new type of pirate will 
attack; a beam trooper. The Space Pirates have tried to reverse-engineer 
your beam weapons, and to that end they were pretty close to successful. 
There are four different types of beam troopers, each of them copying 
one of the four beams you use (or will eventually use). As you can tell 
from the colors, the type you see now is the WAVE TROOPER. Although all 
troopers seem to use the same type of energy blasts, their armor is only 
vulnerable to the beam they use against you. This makes Wave Troopers 
the toughest to kill, due to the Wave Beam's lack of inexpensive power. 
If you have a lot of missiles, take out the first few with the 
Wavebuster, but otherwise stick to charged Wave Beam shots. After 
defeating the lot, head around the upper floor of the room until you get 
to a purple door that's located on the ceiling. Jump up through it. Kill 
the Shadow Pirates that attack as you make your way through this next 
passage, and shoot the metal structures that block your way. There's a 
white door on the ceiling at the end of the room.

Enter the Elite Research. Never mind the fearsome-looking monster inside 
the stasis tank in the center of the room, and instead turn your 
attention to the two Space Pirates in the room. Wipe them out. 
Afterwards, scan the computer terminals around the stasis tank. One 
contains Pirate Data: ELITE PIRATES and another is a control monitor 
that lowers the platforms to the second level of this three-story room. 
When you reach the second level, two Wave Troopers on the other side of 
the blue ramparts will dash around the edge of the room and attack you 
from the opposite end of the bridge. Kill them or knock them off of the 
bridge to the ground level so that they won't bother you. Head around 
the room to the other side of the ramparts, and scan the two computer 
monitors. One is a control panel that lowers the ramparts and raises 
another series of platforms to the third level. Climb up and prepare to 
fight a lone POWER TROOPER. Power Troopers can only be defeated with the 
Power Beam-based weaponry, but are very easy to kill with Super 
Missiles. After killing this trooper, walk over to the other side of the 
computer monitors and scan the control panel among them. This panel will 
activate the large pulse cannon hanging from the ceiling in the center 
of the room. The pulse cannon's blasts can be used to bring down the 
stone sections of the wall around the room, and the cannon itself can be 
rotated by using the Spinner next to the computers. Rotate the cannon so 
that it points to the wall directly across from the computers. The 
cannon will expose the white exit door. You can also rotate the cannon 
so that if points directly towards the left wall. This will reveal a 
MISSILE EXPANSION, which you can jump over to from the central bridge. 
Afterwards, exit through the white door.

In the Research Access, drop down to the bottom of the shaft. 
Alternately, you can use the Spider Ball Track to crawl down safely, 
because there are spinning energy blades that can damage you if you 
touch them, but it's only necessary to use the track when coming back up 
the Research Access. Use the white door down at the bottom.

The Ore Processing is another large multi-level room that you can't just 
zip through, unfortunately. Kill the two Power Troopers frolicking about 
on ground level before doing anything else. Now start studying the large 
structure in the center of the room. This rotate-able pillar is lined 
with three different Spider Ball Tracks (distinguished from each other 
by their colors) and is divided into three sections that move 
independently. These sections can be rotated with separate controls 
found on each level of the room. Find the control device down here, 
which contains a Morph Ball slot and a colored replica of the center 
pillar and its Spider Ball Tracks. Every bomb you drop inside this slot 
will rotate the bottom third of the pillar once. Rotate the bottom 
section once so that the blue track lines up with the track outlet above 
you. Use the blue track to get to the second floor. If you rotated 
incorrectly, you won't be able to reach the upper platform. Find the 
control device on the second floor and bomb the slot twice, so that the 
middle section of the pillar rotates twice. Now drop back down to the 
first device and rotate the bottom segment three times, so that the red 
Spider Ball Track aligns. Use this track to get to a white door, but 
watch out for the Wave Trooper up here.

Like in the Research Access, you can either drop down to the bottom of 
the Elevator Access A shaft or use the Spider Ball Track for a more 
careful journey through the obstacle course of Scatter Bombus. You can 
also shoot them with the Wave Beam to collect health.

Elevator Access A leads to Elevator A, which takes you down to the 
second level of the Phazon Mines. The passage after the elevator, the 
Elite Control Access, hides a few Space Pirates waiting to ambush you 
from the ceiling. You can spring their trap by shooting the explosive 
crate on the ledge in front of you. The blast will rip through the 
ventilation system and kill the pirates, and it will also reveal a new 
MISSILE EXPANSION on the ledge where the crate just was. Hop up to the 
ledge and grab it, and then continue to the end of the passage to a 
purple door.

If you think the mines will get easier from here, you're dead wrong. In 
fact, the opposite will happen, starting with the Elite Control room. 
After you take a few steps in, the huge, wicked-looking monster 
imprisoned inside the stasis tank up ahead will break loose and attack. 
This is a mini-boss called an ELITE PIRATE. You only fight these things 
three times in the game, so scan this one now before you forget. Elite 
Pirates are formidable pirates enhanced by their own Phazon mutation 
experiments. They're tough to bring down, and are armed with a heavy-
duty plasma artillery cannon strapped to their shoulder. If you get too 
close to the beast, it will swing its massive claws at you, but if you 
stray too far, it will fire its plasma cannons, and you don't want that 
either. The Elite Pirate's main attack is a massive energy wave quake 
that it sends along the ground. Jump over this shockwave to avoid 
damage. The Elite Pirate is vulnerable to any kind of weaponry, but 
don't use your weapons on it if it has its hand extended out in front of 
it; the siphoning powers it wields allows it to absorb your beam's 
energy and fuel its plasma cannon. Wait for the pirate to lower its 
hands before unleashing Super Missiles on it. Use the Thermal Visor to 
get a lock on the pirate's plasma cannon, allowing you to disable it and 
weaken the pirate. Thankfully, Elites are slow and sluggish, so it's 
easy to outmaneuver one. Keep pounding at it with Super Missiles when 
its hand shield is down until a victory is claimed. The shockwave that 
results from the pirate's destruction will overload the security force 
fields along the left side of the room, allowing you to ascend to the 
Elite Control's upper levels. 

Ignore the white door in the back of the room and climb up the walkway 
behind the disabled force field to the second level. You'll be attacked 
by a third type of beam trooper, the ICE TROOPER. Ice Troopers are by 
far the easiest troopers to kill, since they freeze over just like any 
other enemy and can be shattered with a single missile afterwards. After 
the final pirate forces have been defeated, go back downstairs and scan 
the Pirate Data. There are a total of eight logs in this room, including 
the three on the bottom that are THE HUNTER, HUNTER WEAPONS and METROID 
PRIME. The very top floor contains CHOZO ARTIFACTS, CHOZO GHOSTS, CHOZO 
STUDIES, PRIME BREACH and PRIME MUTATIONS. At the top floor, scan the 
remaining red scan symbol among the Pirate Data computers to deactivate 
the force field up here, and then head through the white door on the 
ceiling.

When you walk through the Ventilation Shaft, Puffers will start to pour 
into the room through the vents in the ceiling, and the room will 
quickly fill with noxious gas. You can stand near the exit doorway, just 
past the limits of the gas's reach, and pop the Puffers as they emerge 
from the vents. The Puffers will replace themselves infinitely, meaning 
you can sit there all day and shoot Puffers until you collect enough 
pickups to completely heal yourself and fill your Missile Ammo supply. 
At this point, you most likely need it. After you're satisfied, use the 
white door.

The Omega Research is an unpleasant room guarded by two Wave Troopers on 
the top level and a trio of Power Troopers down below. Try to knock the 
Wave Troopers off the second level so that you can shoot at them all 
from an elevated position. To get down, jump off of the balcony, or use 
the steps to the right of the entrance, where one of the Wave Troopers 
was. You'll have to disable a security shield on the ground level if you 
use the steps, which you'll have to do anyway if you want to go back up. 
Also, scan one of the computer monitors on the ground floor for Pirate 
Data: OMEGA PIRATE. To escape this room, head to the back left corner 
and drop down through the white door on the floor. Continue through the 
Dynamo Access, which has nothing for you just yet. 

Finally, you made it to the Central Dynamo. Drop down to the lower area 
and prepare for a quick mini-boss fight. The enemy guarding the Central 
Dynamo is a Sentry Drone with cloaking technology. Because this Cloaked 
Drone cannot be seen, it also cannot be scanned, and thus doesn't really 
have a distinguishable name. Regardless, it's a fairly easy fight. The 
Cloaked Drone would probably be a decent challenge if you didn't have 
the Wavebuster, but with it, it's a mere annoyance. You can't lock on to 
the Cloaked Drone, but because the Wavebuster automatically seeks out 
its targets even without a lock, all you have to do is fire it up and 
the battle will be over in a few painless seconds. If you don't have the 
Wavebuster, or missiles to fuel it, just keep shooting at the wherever 
the machine gunfire is coming from. After you fry the drone's circuits, 
the machine in the center of the room will take damage and a hole will 
be exposed in the metal floor. Roll up into the Morph Ball and drop 
through the hole to enter an electrical maze underneath. The Power Bomb 
upgrade is in the center of the maze, so you'll have to navigate through 
the randomly-assorted electrical currents that form the maze's walls. Be 
careful not to touch the electricity either, or you'll take damage. Look 
for the yellow flickering currents of electricity and the puddles of 
water, which usually indicate the path you need to take. When you reach 
a puddle, drop a bomb. The water will splash on the currents and short-
circuit them, leaving an open path for you. When you reach the center of 
the maze, grab the POWER BOMB. The Power Bomb is a big improvement over 
the Morph Ball Bomb. You can't bomb-jump with them, and they don't come 
with an unlimited ammo supply, but they are insanely powerful and can 
obliterate most enemies instantly should they get caught in its large 
blast radius. Power Bombs can also destroy objects made of a certain 
substance called Bendezium, just like Super Missiles can destroy Cordite 
objects. As mentioned before, the Power Bombs use an ammo system just 
like missiles, so keep an eye out for a new type of pickup to scan, the 
POWER BOMB AMMO units. You can probably find a few right now in the 
crates in the corner of the room. After you have the Power Bomb, you'll 
be back outside the maze. Use the door on the lower floor that isn't 
blocked by rubble, and take the opportunity to save after your perilous 
journey through pirate country. The door with the rubble in front of it 
can be cleared away with a Power Bomb, but you won't get anything 
productive done once you go past without the proper power-ups. Instead, 
use the platforms to jump back up to the entrance. 

Backtrack all the way to the Ore Processing room (the room with the 
Spider Ball Track that you rotated), but don't miss out on the detours. 
When you pass back through the Omega Research, you'll have to fight 
another Elite Pirate that breaks out of its tank. After toppling the 
beast, head up to the top floor and jump across the ledge to the 
platform, and then to the opposite balcony. Use a Power Bomb to clear 
away the rubble in front of the white door. Enter and download the 
schematics for the entire Phazon Mines. This is the last Map Station in 
the game as well, so make sure you have them scanned before using this 
one. Now continue to the Ventilation Shaft.

The Puffer problem will need to be taken care of if you want to get back 
up to the opposite door safely, but you'll still have to risk a few 
health points to do so. Use a Power Bomb on the grating along the right 
wall to expose a small hole that leads to a chamber behind the wall. 
There's a blue panel to scan here that will start up the fan in the main 
room. This will blow away all of the Puffers and the gas, and expose an 
ENERGY TANK on the opposite end of the room. Roll back out and grab it, 
and then use the half-pipe to get back up to the entrance door. 

In the Elite Control room, the Ice Troopers have been replaced by a 
stationed band of Shadow Pirates. You can also take the white door below 
to explore the Phazon Processing Center, but that can be covered later. 
Continue to make your way back to the Ore Processing room.

Thankfully, your destination is free of any baddies, which will make 
your job easier. This time, the pillar in the center will need to be 
rotated so that the yellow track lines up, but you can't do that unless 
you access the controls for the structure's upper portion. Jump across 
the gap to your right and use a Power Bomb to clear away all the rubble, 
exposing the controls for the upper segment of the pillar. Rotate the 
pillar twice up here. Drop down to the middle portion's controls, and 
rotate the center of the pillar three times. Drop down again to the 
bottom floor, and rotate the lower segment only once. The yellow Spider 
Ball Track should now be aligned, so ride it all the way up to the top 
level of the Ore Processing. Enter the white door and grab the GRAPPLE 
BEAM. The Grapple Beam is the final power-up in your inventory that you 
had in the beginning of the game. It allows you to swing from Grapple 
Points or Gliders to reach out-of-the-way places. When you get back 
outside, scan the GRAPPLE POINTS ahead of you. Use the Grapple Beam to 
swing across to the white door on the opposite side of the room.

Use your Morph Ball to get through the Waste Disposal chamber's water 
tunnel. There are bubble jets that will give you a push up to the ledges 
when needed. On the other side, use the white door and enter the Main 
Quarry. Scan the control panel that is located to your immediate right 
and bring the crane back to its original position. This will let you 
swing back and forth through the room if you ever need to, by using the 
Grapple Point underneath the crane's cargo box. Kill the Space Pirates, 
and use the Save Station behind the purple door.

=============

Chapter 11: The Treasure Hunt.

=============

You can now take a break from the Phazon Mines to explore what remains 
to be explored throughout the rest of Tallon IV's previously-visited 
areas. In addition to being able to collect every remaining suit upgrade 
left in those areas, you can now also collect close to every last Energy 
Tank and Missile Expansion left in the game and four new expansions to 
the Power Bombs. Defeating the game's final bosses will be tough or 
near-impossible without all of the help you can get. 

Take the transport from the Main Quarry in the Phazon Mines to the 
Tallon Overworld's Great Tree Hall. From the entrance door, destroy the 
Seedlings crawling around. Jump ahead to the first platform ahead of 
you, and then continue jumping until you get to the ledge to the left of 
the waterfall. The Spinner here will retract the gate that separates the 
upper portion of the hall from the lower. Now jump up to where the door 
is, and kill the two Bloodflowers on the upper platforms and ledges. The 
Ice Beam-missile trick will work against them as well. Jump inside the 
small crevice where one of the flowers was growing, and then over to the 
ledge with the winding piece of Spider Ball Track. Travel all the way up 
the first pole and then drop down onto the second track when the first 
one ends. The second track winds upwards to a white door.

This Morph Ball tunnel requires a Power Bomb to open. Blast the rock to 
make a path through the tunnel. The Life Grove Tunnel is shaped like a 
half-pipe, so you need to boost within the small amount of space you are 
given to the ledge on the far right. Also, if you really build up enough 
momentum, you can boost all the way up to the top of the loop. Use a 
regular bomb on the middle portion of the upper ledge to drop down a 
secret hole and grab a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now exit by boosting to the 
ledge on the right.

When you enter the Life Grove, drop down into the chamber below and 
collect the X-RAY VISOR. Your new eyewear will allow you to see through 
some walls and invisible objects. This includes enemies that are 
otherwise nearly impossible to track normally, like Flickerbats and 
Chozo Ghosts. Turn the X-Ray Visor on and walk up to the chamber walls. 
You should be able to see through the wall and the objects on the other 
side, indicating that the Life Grove is much larger than it initially 
appears to be. Use a Power Bomb to bring down the walls so that you can 
explore the rest of the room. If you're out of ammo, kill the Seedlings 
that start to appear from the entrance tunnel. Head over to the 
waterfall and splash around in the water until you locate a hatch on the 
bottom. Bomb the hatch to raise a pillar from underneath the ground. The 
pillar contains a Spinner device at its base that will rotate a part of 
the pillar. Use the Spinner so that the ramp connected to the pillar 
faces the waterfall. This reveals the ARTIFACT OF CHOZO. Jump up from 
the shore to collect it. Now head over to the wall along the left side 
of the smaller chamber (facing outwards) and locate the platforms. Jump 
up to the first ledge and then over to the base of the Morph Ball tunnel 
carved into the wall. Bomb your way up to the top of the tunnel. From up 
here, cross the bridge and jump over to the ledge on the other side of 
the tree. Before you can move any further, three angry Chozo Ghosts will 
materialize and attack. Three at a time would normally be tough to 
handle, but now that you have the X-Ray Visor, you'll have a much easier 
time in dealing with them. The X-Ray Visor allows you to track a ghost 
wherever it goes, and maintain a lock on it no matter how many trees or 
rocks or whatnot it phases through. Exorcise each ghost one at a time, 
with Super Missiles and charged Power Beam shots. After defeating them, 
jump over to the top of the main chamber and use the Morph Ball hole 
underneath the statue's beak to drop down onto the room's entrance. From 
here, go back through the Life Grove Tunnel and to the Great Tree Hall. 

Drop down to the bottom of the upper level and use the X-Ray Visor to 
find an invisible platform off to your right. Under normal vision, the 
platform can still be detected by looking for water droplets that stop 
seemingly in midair, indicating the platform's location. Jump over to 
it, and then over to the blue door behind the tree. Inside the Great 
Tree Chamber, you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now turn back and use the 
only door in the room you haven't used yet, a white door down below. 
This leads to a transport that will take you up to the Chozo Ruins.

You will emerge in a tunnel that leads to the Reflecting Pool. Take the 
door on the left side of the room and use yet another transport behind 
the Save Station, to the Frigate Crash Site back in Tallon Overworld. 
Swing to the other side of the crash site by using the Grapple Points 
and head for the Root Cave. Take the transport here down to Magmoor 
Caverns. Continue southwards until you get to the massive Geothermal 
Core. As you travel through the caverns, you can use your Grapple Beam 
to make quick swings through the larger rooms, including the Fiery 
Shores, Twin Fires and Lava Lake.

When you reach the Geothermal Core, jump over to the other side of the 
room. The Puddle Spores are absent, but you can make it without them. 
From the door, turn and jump up to the stone ledges on your left. Use 
the Grapple Point to swing over to the round platform up ahead. Embedded 
into the base of the central pillar, next to the blue section of the 
platform, is a Spinner device. Use it to raise part of the platform up 
to the top of the threads. Now jump over to the next platform, on your 
right, and repeat the process. From the second platform, you can jump 
over and reach the raised part of the first platform, and then again to 
a third platform up on your left. This platform has some Spider Ball 
Track on it. First, rotate the Spinner to raise the platform like you 
did the other two times, and then follow the Spider Ball Track to this 
newly raised platform. From there, you can jump over to the top of the 
second platform and use a Morph Ball Slot. This will raise the entire 
roof of the room and expose an incredibly complex Spider Ball maze along 
the wall. Additionally, a metal beam will extend from the wall to your 
platform. Use the track on this beam to reach the beginning of the 
Spider Ball maze. The track goes all the way around the room and will 
eventually dump you at the white door above you and to your left. It's a 
very long but fun journey. Make sure you don't fall, or you will have to 
start all over again after getting out of the lava. Keep moving along 
the track, eliminating Plated Parasites as you go. From time to time, 
you'll have to bomb yourself up to new pieces of track or drop down to 
tracks below you to continue. Also, when you come to the steep ramp, 
hold R Button as you roll down to grab the track at the end before 
rolling off. 

At the end of the long maze, you'll reach a white door. Enter the Plasma 
Processing room and head for the center to collect the final beam 
weapon, the powerful PLASMA BEAM. This uber-powerful weapon fires blasts 
of molten plasma that can ignite enemies with a single hit, damaging 
them further as they burn. If you hit an enemy with a charged shot, 
they'll probably be incinerated on the spot. Even powerful foes like 
Metroids and Flying Pirates, or some enemies otherwise immune to beam 
weaponry, like Geemers, Crystallites, Bloodflowers, Sheegoths and Aqua 
Reapers/Reaper Vines stand no chance against a charged blast of solar 
matter. The Plasma Beam can also melt ice and open red doors. Use it to 
escape the Plasma Processing room, and then head towards the Shore 
Tunnel, the glass bridge just before the Monitor Station.

When you get to the bridge, use a Power Bomb near the center to blow 
away the weakened glass. Hop outside and jump to the platform underneath 
the bridge to grab yet another powerful weapon, the ICE SPREADER. This 
is the Ice Beam's Beam Combo, costing ten missiles to fire. The Ice 
Spreader behaves much like a Super Missile, but when it makes contact, 
it creates a massive wall of ice that can destroy or encase any enemy in 
the vicinity. The Ice Spreader is perfect for destroying Ice Troopers. 
Now head next-door to the Monitor Station.

Use your new Plasma Beam here to cremate the two Flying Pirates. Climb 
up to the very top of the station, and use the Spinner to get to the 
Warrior Shrine. Last time, you collected the Chozo Artifact resting in 
the palms of the warrior statue. Now, you can use a Power Bomb at his 
feet to reveal a hole on the floor in front of him. Drop through the 
hole and collect your first POWER BOMB EXPANSION. There are three more 
of these rare items in the game, and they each allow you to carry one 
additional Power Bomb. Use the tunnel along the wall to drop down to the 
Fiery Shores.

Now, head to the Triclops Pit for your final Magmoor Caverns power-up. 
Kill the two pirates in the room and hop across to the rocky ledge in 
front of the opposite door. Now turn by the pile of crates and look 
towards the Storage Cavern with your X-Ray Visor. An invisible platform 
will be revealed ahead of you. Like the other metal platforms in the 
Magmoor Caverns, this one will sink to the ground with your added 
weight, so jump over to it and then quickly jump over to a second 
invisible platform behind the pillar. Turn left and hop to a third 
platform. With X-Ray Visor imaging, you should be able to see the hidden 
MISSILE EXPANSION inside the pillar ahead. Use a Super Missile to expose 
it, and then jump over to grab it. Backtrack to the Monitor Station and 
use the door near the top to get to the transport that will take you up 
to the Phendrana Drifts.

Two expansions can be collected inside the Phendrana Shorelines, but 
first eliminate the two Baby Sheegoths. A single charged Plasma Beam 
shot to the back will roast the creatures instantly. Now head towards 
the Save Station and go behind the pillar to its left. There is a small 
crevice behind the pillar that is covered in ice. Shoot the ice with the 
Plasma Beam to melt it and grab the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now head across 
the room for the entrance to the Chozo Ice Temple. The wall up on the 
ledge has a Cordite sculpture that you can blast with a Super Missile. 
Scan the revealed control switch to open up a tunnel at the base of the 
pillar to your left. Ride up the Spider Ball Track inside this tunnel to 
reach the second MISSILE EXPANSION. Now head for the Chozo Ice Temple 
itself.

After defeating the Pulse Bombus, climb up to the top of the temple and 
walk down the hall to the end, where you'll see a Chozo statue. The 
water flowing from the statue's mouth and onto his hands is frozen 
solid. Remedy the problem with a hit from the Plasma Beam. Enter the 
statues glowing hands to reveal a tunnel underneath the stone basin. The 
tunnel leads to a hidden chamber where the ARTIFACT OF SUN has come to 
rest. Grab it and head back to the Phendrana Shorelines.

From here, climb up to the opposite ledge and go to Ice Ruins East. 
Don't worry about the adult Sheegoth in here, because even though it 
won't fry instantly with a charged Plasma Beat hit, it will only take a 
few more charged shots to bring the beast down. The Sheegoth's crystals 
won't be able to absorb the energy of your Plasma Beam. After you kill 
it, head for the other end of the room, near the door that leads to the 
Plaza Walkway. Turn and face the right wall, and melt the sheet of ice 
with the Plasma Beam to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. But don't stop there. 
Start climbing up and around the room until you reach the structure just 
after the frozen waterfall and just before the roof with the 
Crystallites. Locate the Spider Ball Track on the side of the pillar and 
ascend to find another MISSILE EXPANSION. Now head to Ice Ruins West via 
the Plaza Walkway (watch out for the Sentry Drones).

Like the eastern ruins, Ice Ruins West has a Sheegoth begging for some 
plasma. Climb atop the buildings to where you can jump over to the 
former roost of the Ice Shriekbats. Turn left and jump over to the 
building with the crates on it. Melt the patch of ice on the roof of the 
building and drop into the small hole to find a POWER BOMB EXPANSION. 
From here you can turn and head to the Ruined Courtyard.

The top of the Ruined Courtyard can be reached without having to fill 
the room with water like you did the first time. Just use the Spider 
Ball Track from across the entrance, after you kill the Flying Pirates. 
Save up at the top, and then head through the Quarantine Access to the 
Quarantine Cave, the former lair of Thardus.

Thardus's nest has been taken over by a Sheegoth. If you try to fire 
easy shots at it from the ledge, it will stomp its feet and knock you 
down to ground level. Kill it, and then ride the Spider Ball Track on 
the other side of the room to get to the opposite ledge, which leads to 
the transport. From this ledge, turn and locate the Grapple Points in 
the air. Swing to the far ledge up ahead and roll into the tunnel along 
the wall that will take you to the small Quarantine Monitor, which 
contains another MISSILE EXPANSION. Now continue through the transport 
room to the Transport Access. Use the Plasma Beam to free the ice-locked 
ENERGY TANK, and continue to the Frozen Pike.

At the pike, drop down to the first door below the entrance and take the 
tunnel to the Research Core. Unfortunately, you'll have to venture back 
into the dreaded Space Pirate fortress to retrieve another Chozo 
Artifact, but the Plasma Beam makes the trip all the more easy. Kill the 
turrets and Metroids in the Research Core and climb up to the top, and 
then continue through the lab complex until you get to the Control 
Tower.

There are four Flying Pirates in the Control Tower to torch up. From the 
entrance door, turn and climb up to the small room above the tower. 
Clear away as much of the crates as possible, and then melt the ice 
covering the window. Peer out the window and look for the silo to your 
right. You can topple the silo by shooting the red fuel tanks at its 
base. When the tower comes down, it will smash through the side of the 
Control Tower and expose a path behind the wall. Go back outside and 
enter the new path to find the ARTIFACT OF ELDER. To exit this area, use 
the Morph Ball to roll up the side of the collapsed silo. Now, return to 
the Frozen Pike.

Take the door at the bottom of the pike (above water level) to get to 
the Frost Cave. This will be your first opportunity to test out a 
Glider. You can attach to them with the Grapple Beam just like a regular 
Grapple Point, but you have to wait for it to get near enough to use. 
When the Glider circles near, grab onto it and swing out across the 
cavern to a ledge on the other side of the room, with crates on it. Turn 
and look up to find a Stalactite at the very top of the room. The 
fracture point to this Stalactite can only be seen from this ledge. When 
you shoot it down, the Stalactite will crash through the ice below. Drop 
down into the freezing water and locate the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now save 
at the nearby Save Station, and then continue to Phendrana's Edge.

Defeat the pirate duo at the far edge of Phendrana, and then head to the 
top of the room by turning left and using the bridge, ledges and 
platforms. After crossing the bridge, use the Grapple Beam to make a 
double-swing over to the far platform. Now turn and jump up a few more 
platforms until you're at a ledge in front of a rocky wall. You'll know 
if you've ended up at the right spot by turning on the Thermal or X-Ray 
Visor. You'll see a hidden door behind the rock. Make use of a Power 
Bomb to get to this red door, and then enter to find the ARTIFACT OF 
SPIRIT. You aren't finished in Phendrana's Edge yet. Go back outside and 
climb even further until you reach the Glider. Swing over to the 
opposite ledge and enter the Morph Ball tunnel. In the Security Cave, 
you'll find the third POWER BOMB EXPANSION. From here, drop down to the 
bottom of Phendrana's Edge and head for the Hunter Cave.

The Hunter Cave offers no hidden expansions, but you can now use the 
Grapple Point above you to swing over to the opposite door that will 
take you back to the Frozen Pike. First though, turn to the right and 
take one of the two tunnels that lead to the Gravity Chamber.

The Gravity Chamber is now inhabited by a pair of Pulse Bombus. Dive 
into the water and use the Charge Beam to draw the bombus into their 
watery graves. Jump back out of the water, and stand by the door that's 
above water level. In front of you, there's a large icicle hanging from 
the ceiling, and an expansion off to your left on a ledge you can't 
reach. Use the Plasma Beam to shatter the icicle and reveal a new 
Grapple Point. Swing over to the ledge on your left and grab that 
MISSILE EXPANSION. 

Phendrana Drifts has been completely explored, so return to the Frozen 
Pike, and climb to the very top to use the transport back to Magmoor 
Caverns. Continue through the caverns until you reach the transport that 
takes you up to the Root Cave in Tallon Overworld.

Climb to the top door of the Root Cave, and turn to face inwards. Use 
your Grapple Beam to swing across to a ledge with a Geemer on it. Shoot 
it, and then kill its companion on the ledge to your right. Jump up and 
kill the Bloodflower as you cross the bridge. When you reach the ledge 
with a Zoomer on it, you won't be able to continue unless you activate 
the X-Ray Visor. Hop across three invisible platforms to another large 
ledge. Jump over to the fourth platform, and then turn left and jump 
through the wall of vines. There's a hidden cave behind the veil of 
vegetation, and a MISSILE EXPANSION inside. Also, there's another 
MISSILE EXPANSION inside the Arbor Chamber, which you can enter by 
jumping over to the red door across from the last invisible platform.

The only area left to clean out before returning to the Phazon Mines is 
the Chozo Ruins. Return to your ship if you wish and then head past the 
Tallon Canyon to use the transport up to the ruins. At the Main Plaza, 
use the left door that leads to the Ruined Shrine. There's a few Chozo 
Ghosts in here, but nothing else of interest, so use the half-pipe and 
the Spider Ball Track to get up to the purple door, and continue to the 
Tower of Light. Drop down into the water at the base of the tower and 
look for a large circular opening in the wall. The hole leads to a 
purple door in the ceiling. Enter the Tower Chamber and collect the 
ARTIFACT OF LIFEGIVER that's waiting inside. From here, go through the 
Main Plaza and head for the Ruined Fountain.

There's a blue door at the Ruined Fountain that you've always been able 
to enter, but only now will you be able to accomplish anything useful 
once you head through. The first passage past the door is the Meditation 
Fountain. Continue through it to the Magma Pool. This large room is the 
only place outside of the Magmoor Caverns that requires the Varia Suit 
for safe entrance. The room is filled with lava, and the gap between 
sides is too long to cross unless you have the Grapple Beam. Swing 
across both Grapple Points to the opposite side of the pool. If you fall 
in the lava, quickly turn back towards the entrance and use the steps 
along the side to get back out. On the other side of the room, use the 
X-Ray Visor to see through the back wall. You'll see an expansion and 
Chozo Lore behind it. Use a Power Bomb to collect the final POWER BOMB 
EXPANSION and scan the final piece of Chozo Lore, which is Chozo Lore: 
NEWBORN. Now, turn to the right and keep going through this new area 
through the purple door.

Along this next passage, you'll come to another purple door. Before 
going through, roll into the Morph Ball and roll behind the clump of red 
leaves to find a well-hidden tunnel. Roll to the end to collect a 
MISSILE EXPANSION. Now roll back out and use the purple door.

This next room is the Training Chamber, and as its name implies, it's 
training time. Two Chozo Ghosts will appear to defend their sacred 
ground. Subjugate them with a good round of Super Missiles, and remember 
to use the X-Ray Visor when fighting them. After you defeat them, two 
Morph Ball Slots will be revealed beneath the beaks of two Chozo 
Statues, each situated at the top of each side of the half-pipe in the 
room. Boost up to the slot on the right side of the room to expose a 
Spider Ball Track on the ceiling in the back of the room. The piston 
along the back wall will push you up to the track, but you have to reach 
it before the timer runs out. Follow the track to a chamber behind the 
wall, where you'll find an ENERGY TANK. Use the half-pipe again to reach 
the left-hand slot, which will reveal the exit tunnel beneath the beak 
of the Chozo Statue at the back of the room. 

Make your way past this next Morph Ball maze and avoid the crushing 
pistons. You will end up at the Main Plaza. Look out and find a Grapple 
Point up ahead. Swing across to a ledge with a MISSILE EXPANSION on it. 
If you fall, you'll have to go all the way back through the Magma Pool 
and Training Chamber to get the expansion. Now head through the Chozo 
Ruins to get to the Gathering Hall, just past the Arboretum. 

From the Gathering Hall, go to the Watery Hall. The water in the back of 
the room is deeper than the rest of the room, and you can reach a hidden 
chamber behind the wall down here to find a MISSILE EXPANSION, but 
you'll need the Gravity Suit. At the top of the Watery Hall, by where 
the Eyons are found, use the Morph Ball tunnel along the wall to get to 
the Dynamo. There's another MISSILE EXPANSION in this room that you can 
get to by using the Spider Ball Track along the wall. Watch out for the 
Plazmite at the top too. Now, you can return to the Gathering Hall and 
head for the Furnace, by going through the Energy Core.

More Chozo Ghosts will attack you at the Furnace. Using the X-Ray Visor, 
you'll be able to see a space beneath the floor on the right side of the 
room. Use a Power Bomb to break open the damaged floor and reveal the 
underlying half-pipe. You can use it to boost up to the Spider Ball 
Track above. Watch out for the Plated Parasites that crawl around the 
track. Follow the track to a beam that crosses the room. Drop down 
carefully onto the beam and cross it slowly, avoiding the additional 
Plated Parasites crawling around it. At the end, take another track up 
and around to another beam. Cross this beam and bomb-jump to the next 
Spider Ball Track. Follow it up to the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now use the 
white door to take a shortcut to the Hall of the Elders.

Three more ghosts haunt the Hall of the Elders. After defeating them, 
use the Missile Station in the room to refill your missile reserves. 
Now, jump up to the ledge with the colorful Morph Ball Slots. When you 
first visited the Hall of the Elders, you weren't able to use the red 
and white slots, because you lacked the appropriate beam weapon. Now 
that you have both the Ice Beam and the Plasma Beam, you can use both 
slots. Use the white slot first, by shooting it with the Ice Beam. When 
activated, this slot will alter the direction of the metal bridge and 
form a new path for the statue of the Chozo Elder to bowl you through. 
This new path will take you to a chamber underneath the floor and to a 
new ENERGY TANK. Now, roll back out and use the final red Morph Ball 
Slot by firing a Plasma Beam shot at it. When you use this slot, the 
Chozo Elder will slide forward and reveal a white door on the floor. Go 
through the door and into the Elder Chamber, where you'll find the 
ARTIFACT OF WORLD. There's one more door down here that you haven't used 
yet, but it's only a rather pointless shortcut to the Crossway room. 

Climb to the top of the Hall of the Elders and go to the Reflecting 
Pool. Now, using the white door at the far end of the top level of this 
room, take the transport to the Great Tree Hall, and then use the nearby 
transport to get back to the Phazon Mines.

=============

Chapter 12: Phazon Corruption.

=============

You can get back to the Central Dynamo (where you obtained the Power 
Bombs) in two ways. You can use the Grapple Point in the Main Quarry to 
reach the Ore Processing and skip the previous pirate-filled rooms, or 
you can take the normal route to pick up a few goodies. Security Station 
A for example, has a MISSILE EXPANSION that you can get by using a Power 
Bomb on the weakened Bendezium left wall. Watch out for the Shadow 
Pirates though. 

From here, you can continue to the Mine Security Station. Defeat the 
Wave Troopers on the bottom floor, and then continue up to the top, 
where a Mega Turret and a pack of Ice Troopers will attack you. At the 
very end of the room, to the left of the door on the ceiling, use a 
Power Bomb to expose a control panel behind the weakened metal wall. 
Scanning the screen will shut down the blue force field down below. 
Return to the lower floor and use the Plasma Beam to open the red door 
and find the Plasma Beam's Beam Combo, the FLAMETHROWER. This fiery 
weapon can ignite and incinerate large groups of enemies. The 
Flamethrower is cool in itself, but it's still the worst of the Beam 
Combos, sadly. Like the Wavebuster, it costs ten missiles to fire and 
another five per second to maintain it, but it's nowhere near as 
powerful or as effective. Everything that it does can be done with the 
Plasma Beam, with much more power and no cost. It's also interesting to 
note that the Flamethrower doesn't work underwater, which is logical. 
Now head back upstairs and keep going until you reach the Elite 
Research.

At the bottom of the Elite Research, you'll find a stasis tank housing a 
very ugly looking creature. The tank can be smashed with a Power Bomb, 
which will release the PHAZON ELITE inside. The Phazon Elite is one of a 
kind. Make sure you scan him immediately, because he'll never reappear 
after this battle. Phazon Elite pirates are Elites who've been infused 
with large amounts of Phazon. The Phazon Elite behaves and attacks 
similarly to regular Elite Pirates, except he's more aggressive. The 
Phazon Elite also doesn't use the plasma artillery cannon that the other 
Elites use. He still uses the wave quake technique however, and he will 
claw at you if you approach him. The Phazon armor on this pirate gives 
him better protection against your attacks, and it will take a while to 
defeat him. Use Super Missiles, Power Bombs and/or the Plasma Beam to 
battle him. After the Phazon Elite falls, a Chozo Artifact will appear 
in the center of the room. This is the ARTIFACT OF WARRIOR, the eleventh 
of twelve.

After you obtain the Artifact of Warrior, ascend the room and continue 
through the Phazon Mine's upper level until you reach the elevator to 
the second level. Continue through the pirate-filled rooms until you 
reach the Dynamo Access. The third and final Elite Pirate will attack 
you in this room. You get much less space to move around in here, but 
the good thing is you can avoid most of the pirate's attacks altogether 
by backing into the corner that is too small for him to enter. Also, 
this pirate doesn't have the plasma artillery cannon on his back, 
probably because you won't be able to get back far enough for him to use 
it. When you reach the Central Dynamo after your bout with the last 
Elite Pirate, use the Ice Spreader to turn the four Ice Troopers in the 
room into popsicles. Save at the nearby station, and then head over to 
the opposite white door and lay a Power Bomb to clear away all of the 
rubble in front of it. Now enter the next room.

Quarantine Access A is a small passage guarded fiercely by four Mega 
Turrets stationed on the ceiling. They'll rip you apart if you try and 
defeat them all, but luckily there's a more subtle approach to getting 
past them. Roll into the small hole in the glass floor on your right, 
and roll underneath the floor safely past the four turrets. When you get 
out on the other side, you won't have much room to hide as the turrets 
continue to shoot at you relentlessly, so immediately scan the blue 
panel on the other side to disable all four turrets. Now move on through 
the purple door.

When you enter Metroid Quarantine A, a short cut-scene will play and 
show you the pirates down below and the force field blocking off the 
Metroid containment area. Now, turn to the right and scan the computer 
monitor with the red scan symbol, which will shut down the security 
force field below. Watch in amusement as the Metroids attack their 
pirate captors. After the pirates are finished off, the Metroids will 
probably come after you, so head down to ground level via the ramp in 
the back and take them out. When you get down, turn left and enter the 
Metroid containment area. Kill all of the Metroids you can from here. 
You won't be able to make it through the Phazon pit ahead unless you don 
the X-Ray Visor. With it, you'll be able to see the moving invisible 
platforms up ahead, over the pit. Jump up onto the large mushrooms on 
your left and then leap over to the platforms. From there, jump to the 
other side of the pit and fight the remaining Metroids. The exit door is 
high above you, so you need to keep climbing. To your right, jump up 
onto another large mushroom and then up to the ledge with crates on it. 
Turn around and jump over to the invisible platform up ahead. You will 
be able to reach the opposite ledge from here. When you do, ignore the 
Spider Ball Track for a moment and lay a Power Bomb along the left wall. 
The Bendezium wall will crumble, as will the next wall behind it if you 
use an additional Power Bomb. Behind the second wall, use the bridge of 
Spider Ball Track to reach a new platform across the room. Turn on the 
X-Ray Visor one last time, and jump up onto the invisible platform as it 
moves up and down. On the top ledge, you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. 
Now return to the first ledge with the Spider Ball Track and ride the 
rails until you get to the white exit door.

The access room to Elevator B contains a trio of Burrowers and some 
Phazon, so watch out. Take the red door and activate the elevator to the 
third and final level of the Phazon Mines. Note that Elevator Access B 
is the last room you can get to down here unless you have the Plasma 
Beam.

You will emerge in Fungal Hall Access, a room filled with Phazon, large 
fungi and one Space Pirate. Kill the pirate below and drop down to the 
large mushroom on the ground. Underneath this mushroom is a MISSILE 
EXPANSION. You'll have to roll through deadly Phazon to reach it, so if 
your health is low or you're stingy about losing extra health, wait to 
come back later. Climb up to where the pirate was and use the red door.

Fungal Hall A must be crossed by hopping from huge, glowing, mutated 
fungi to huge, glowing, mutated fungi. Use the Ice Spreader to freeze up 
the Hunter Metroids in here before they absorb your energy. The Plasma 
Beam can usually take out a Metroid in one hit if fully charged, but 
Hunter Metroids are tougher, so stick with ice attacks, followed by a 
missile. Hop mushrooms until you find a Glider circling above. Use it to 
reach the white door to your right, up ahead. 

Use a Power Bomb inside the Phazon Mining Tunnel to expose the Morph 
Ball path in the rock. Roll through and head to the left. Down below, 
you'll have to roll across a set of metal panels that disappear when you 
touch them. Use the Boost Ball to zoom across, or else you'll fall into 
the Phazon below. Follow the tunnel to the red exit door.

Fungal Hall B is almost exactly like A, but there are regular Metroids 
in here rather than Hunter Metroids, and the room is a lot darker. Use 
the Thermal Visor to see the radioactive mushrooms and the Metroids. 
When you come to the Glider, jump down to ground level and head to the 
back of the room. Keep using the Thermal Visor to locate a hidden 
MISSILE EXPANSION underground, in the center of a ring of small 
mushrooms. You'll need to use the Power Bomb to expose the expansion. 
Now head back up to the large mushrooms and the Glider. The Glider 
allows you to access either of the two red doors on either side up here. 
Use the left door to get to a Missile Station, and then come back and 
use the right door to exit. It can be tricky trying to latch onto the 
Glider at the right time as it moves around, so try freezing it with the 
Ice Beam so that it stays put. Move on to the next room.

When you get to Quarantine Access B, you'll hear the familiar pulsating 
sound of bombus. Use the X-Ray Visor so that you can see a new, 
invisible type of bombu, the Void Bombu. Void Bombus are identical to 
Pulse Bombus expect they're completely invisible outside of the X-Ray 
Visor's imaging. This means Void Bombus cannot be scanned, like the 
Cloaked Drone. Just use the Wave Beam to kill all three, and hop over to 
the mushroom and to the following red door, avoiding the Phazon.

Metroid Quarantine B contains no Metroids in it just yet, but you will 
be attacked by a new enemy, the PLASMA TROOPER. This beam trooper can 
only be harmed with the Plasma Beam or the Flamethrower. They aren't 
difficult to defeat, thanks to the overwhelming power of the Plasma 
Beam, but they can resist the heat much better than most other enemies. 
Kill the first two that appear, and then walk to the pole with the 
Spider Ball Track, just before the pit of Phazon, and kill the other two 
troopers across the pit from afar. To get across, use the Spider Ball 
Track on the pole. Ride up to a second beam of track, and follow it to a 
platform. From here, jump over to the second platform, and then use the 
Grapple Beam to swing across to the opposite side. To bring down the 
security force field, scan the console to the left of the field and 
prepare to fight the troopers on the other side. There's a Plasma 
Trooper on ground level, and a few Wave Troopers on the upper walkways. 
After defeating them, look at the computers in the corner of the bottom 
floor and scan for Pirate Data: SPECIAL FORCES, the last Pirate Data 
log. Also, you can use a Super Missile on the Cordite-covered stasis 
tank to get another MISSILE EXPANSION. Go through the red door down on 
the left side of the bottom floor to save the game. Make sure you've 
saved, because you have a tough challenge coming up in the very near 
future. Now, head up to the second level using the ramp, and enter the 
door along the left wall.

Elite Quarter Access has another Plasma Trooper waiting to ambush you. 
Fry him and then head to the back of the room. The security gate is 
frozen shut, so use the Plasma Beam to melt the ice and reveal the red 
door beyond. Now, step into the Elite Quarters, where your next boss 
battle will take place.

At the far end of the room, within the huge stasis tank is the OMEGA 
PIRATE, boss of the Phazon Mines. It's possible to scan him and then 
head back to the Save Station in Metroid Quarantine B without triggering 
the battle. Do this so that you don't forget to re-scan him if you 
should die. When you approach the stasis tank, the Omega Pirate will 
break free and attack. The Omega Pirate is the strongest Elite Pirate in 
the Space Pirate forces. He is somewhat of a fusion between the Elite 
Pirates and the Phazon Elite, but with his own unique added twists that 
make him the most difficult boss you've had to face yet. Like the Elites 
before him, the Omega Pirate uses a variety of attacks based on the 
distance between himself and his target. At close range, he'll maul you 
with his enormous claws, but at a distance, he'll launch a pair of 
plasma blasts from the cannons on his back, which alone can drop your 
health by one Energy Tank's worth. The Omega Pirate also has the ability 
to absorb your beam weapons when his hand is outstretched in front of 
him, and he can also utilize the devastating wave quake attack. Keep 
moving and jumping so that the Omega Pirate doesn't trap you in a corner 
or hit you with his massive shockwaves. So now that you know what you're 
up against, you can bring down this colossal pirate. Like the Phazon 
Elite, the Omega Pirate is covered in plates of Phazon armor, one each 
on both his shoulders and knees. He's completely invulnerable to damage 
unless you destroy the four plates. Target them and then pound them with 
Super Missiles or charged Plasma Beam shots. After enough damage, the 
Phazon plate will be destroyed and the Omega Pirate will stumble a bit, 
but lose no health. When all four plates have been blasted off, the 
pirate will collapse and call for help before vanishing into thin air. 
This is where things get hairy. His call will be answered by a pack of 
dreaded beam troopers that will emerge from the rafters above. The 
variation of troopers is always random, but can easily decide how easy 
or how difficult this fight will be. You had better hope that no Wave 
Troopers appear, or you'll have your work cut out for you. Pray for 
mostly Ice Troopers for an easier battle. Don't spend too much time 
fighting the troopers, because the Omega Pirate still needs to be taken 
care of. After a few seconds, switch to the X-Ray Visor and try to 
locate the cloaked Omega Pirate in one of the room's corners. The boss 
will regenerate his protective Phazon plates by standing in the puddles 
of Phazon. This is the only time he's vulnerable. Target the Omega 
Pirate's heart and let fly with a Super Missile. A direct hit will bring 
the pirate's health down significantly. He'll vanish again, and then 
reappear in one of the other Phazon puddles. Continue damaging him with 
Super Missile blasts to his heart until he recovers his four Phazon 
plates. You should be able to reduce his health by almost half. He'll 
switch back to normal, so turn back to the Combat Visor and repeat the 
process of blasting his Phazon armor off. If there are any troopers left 
over, try to avoid them as best you can. They are hard to kill when the 
Omega Pirate is absorbing all of your beam weapons. Luckily, the Omega 
Pirate's wave quakes and plasma cannon blasts will kill some of the 
troopers for you. Every time the boss turns invisible he will sic more 
troopers on you while he heals. Eventually you'll whittle his health 
down to nothing, hopefully before he does the same to you. 

When the Omega Pirate is defeated, he will collapse right on top of 
Samus and melt away in a bubbling puddle of Phazon. Samus's Power Suit 
will become infected with Phazon energy, transforming the Gravity Suit 
into the sick-looking PHAZON SUIT. The Phazon Suit is the game's final 
suit, and it will allow you to safely touch blue Phazon. Also, like the 
other suits, it will give you better protection against enemy damage. 
And along with it, comes the PHAZON BEAM, a viral Phazon corruption to 
your Arm Cannon. Although you can't use this weapon until the very last 
few moments of the game, it's powerful enough to kill most enemies (like 
Metroids) in a single hit.

Well that was fun, wasn't it? Use the Phazon Suit's power to collect the 
mass of pickups ahead of you, above the Phazon puddle. Before 
continuing, head back to the Save Station next to Metroid Quarantine B 
and save. Metroid Quarantine B is now overrun by Metroids, and the room 
is considerably darker than before, but not so much that the Thermal 
Visor will make a big difference. Defeat the two Metroids on this side 
of the room and then walk across the Phazon pit. Remember, all blue 
Phazon is completely harmless now. To easily defeat all of the Metroids 
here, shoot them all once to get their attention, and then drop a Power 
Bomb when they're all crowded around you. Repeat this in Fungal Hall B, 
and then continue to the Phazon Mining Tunnel.

When you get into the Morph Ball tunnel, roll to your right and use a 
bomb to break the triangular rock and expose the new path through the 
Phazon. Continue rolling to the left from here, breaking rocks until you 
reach the end of the tunnel. When you reach the end, bomb-jump up to 
collect the final Chozo Artifact, the ARTIFACT OF NEWBORN. Now you can 
return to the Elite Quarters, but make sure to restock on missiles using 
the Missile Station next to Fungal Hall B, and make sure you collect the 
expansion in Fungal Hall Access if you haven't done so.

Reenter the Elite Quarters. Now locate the small lift along the right 
side of the room and scan the panel to activate it. Ride the lift to the 
upper walkways of the room. When you reach the red door up here, enter 
the Processing Center Access and grab the game's final ENERGY TANK, your 
reward for taking down the Omega Pirate. Scan the control panel here to 
open the gate blocking your way. Continue through the red door ahead.

The Phazon Processing Center is a huge room with many levels and 
platforms, as well as Phazon all over the floor, and a crew of nasty 
opposition to meet you. Immediately destroy the Mega Turret above you 
and to your right and then concentrate fire on the troopers up ahead. 
There's a Power Trooper on your left and a Plasma Trooper on your right. 
Jump up to the platform where the Plasma Trooper was, and then turn 
right, towards the entrance door. Hop along the platforms along the 
wall, and then jump to the first floating platform. After jumping a few 
more platforms, activate the X-Ray Visor to find a group of invisible 
platforms up ahead that lead to a ledge along the opposite wall. Use the 
platforms to get to the ledge, where you'll see an expansion behind the 
wall. Drop a Power Bomb to bring down the wall, and then grab the game's 
final MISSILE EXPANSION, and final power-up. (Collecting it will give 
you a grand total of 250 missiles, and it will also unlock Image Gallery 
4, if this is indeed the last power-up you've collected). Now, use the 
invisible platforms to jump up onto the large platform above you. 
There's a Wave and Plasma Trooper up here to deal with, and a white 
door. This door takes you back to the Elite Control room, but you'll 
need a Power Bomb to clear away the rubble inside the connection tunnel. 
It's a better idea to keep making your way up to the top of the Phazon 
Processing Center anyway. Use the Spider Ball Track winding around the 
poles to get over to a new ledge. Kill the Power Trooper shooting at 
you, and continue hopping up from platform to platform until you reach 
the very top. You'll have to kill another Mega Turret on the ceiling as 
well. When you climb to the very top of the room, you'll see a moving 
platform. Jump over to it, and then let it take you over to the left 
ledge. Use the door here to exit.

In the Transport Access room, use the Grapple Points to get through the 
room quicker. The transport will take you to Magmoor Caverns. Use a 
Power Bomb when you're inside the Workstation Tunnel to clear away the 
rubble and eliminate the Zoomers. You'll end up at the Magmoor 
Workstation. Continue through the fiery Magmoor Caverns and all the way 
back to your ship in the Landing Site.

=============

Chapter 13: An Old Friend.

=============

You are now armed with 250 missiles, 8 Power Bombs, 14 Energy Tanks and 
every suit upgrade possible, as well as all twelve Chozo Artifacts. At 
this point, you should have every Log Book entry except five remaining 
Creature entries. After saving at the Landing Site, go to the Artifact 
Temple. If you haven't been here before, you'll find the last Chozo 
Artifact (the Artifact of Truth) and three other Log Book entries (two 
pieces of Chozo Lore, and a Pirate Data log). Return the Chozo Artifacts 
to the center pillar of the Artifact Temple. The Chozo's Cipher will 
unlock, giving you access to the game's final area, the Impact Crater. 
Suddenly however....

META RIDLEY will appear and swoop down from the sky to destroy the 
Artifact Temple's central pillar. You didn't forget about your old 
nemesis, did you? After a few more flybys, Meta Ridley will begin his 
attack. Meta Ridley is the boss of the Tallon Overworld area. In order 
to get into the Impact Crater, you're going to have to defeat him once 
and for all. Like any boss, scan Meta Ridley immediately after the 
battle begins. If you die, don't forget to rescan him after you restart 
your game from the last place you saved. You'll fight Meta Ridley in two 
stages. His first attack will be an aerial assault, but after he takes 
enough damage, he'll lose his ability to fly and continue with a brutal 
physical attack. In both stages, the only weak point on Meta Ridley is 
his chest plate, which has thinner armor than the rest of his cybernetic 
body. As he hovers in the air in front of you, target his chest and use 
maximum firepower to damage him. Use Super Missiles or the Plasma Beam, 
preferably. Usually, Meta Ridley will expose his chest when he's using 
one of his attacks. His various toys include a kinetic breath attack, a 
multi-missile spread launcher and a bomb launcher. After taking a few 
hits, Meta Ridley will fly off into the distance for a new attack run. 
When he flies overhead, don't bother shooting and simply try to avoid 
his bombs and flame attacks. As he continues to attack, he'll wreak 
havoc on the Chozo Artifact pillars, often revealing pickups inside. Use 
the time while Meta Ridley is off in the distance to collect the health 
and ammo. When Meta Ridley returns from his flyby, he'll hover in front 
of the temple and continue his attacks. Sometimes, he'll also stomp down 
onto the temple arena, causing damage to you if you get too close. He 
may do this several times before taking to the sky again, and for the 
most part he can't be damaged when he's doing this, so just endure his 
attacks and wait for him to expose his chest. When Meta Ridley uses his 
attacks, such as the breath beam and the spread missiles, hop onto the 
ruined pillars to avoid the blasts, but don't expect the structures to 
hold out for long. Just keep aiming at his chest and keep attacking. 
Meta Ridley is very tough and his health doesn't drop very quickly. But 
after you reduce his health down to about 20%, Meta Ridley's wing 
membranes will burn away, leaving the dragon grounded. 

Now it's on to the second phase of the battle. Just because Meta Ridley 
only has roughly around a fifth of his health left and is unable to fly, 
that doesn't mean this part of the battle will be any easier. It all 
depends on how quick you are and what weapons you use against him. Meta 
Ridley will start attacking in a fury, causing heavy damage with his 
vicious melee attacks. When he rears back, lock on and sidestep to avoid 
his lightning-quick charge. This move causes a lot of damage, so it's 
important to avoid it whenever possible. If there are any pillars left, 
collect their pickups when they are destroyed. After Meta Ridley 
charges, quickly make some distance between yourself and the boss, so 
that he won't hit you with his tail swipe when he turns around. Although 
his charge is now his main attack, Meta Ridley will still be able to use 
his flame breath against you. Since Meta Ridley remains crouched in a 
lizard-like position throughout the battle, it will be hard to hit his 
chest. Wait for him to open his mouth or rear back just before he 
attacks. When he does this, fire something strong at him, and hopefully 
it will cause him to reel back, exposing his chest and allowing you to 
damage him. This is harder than it seems though, because his savage 
melee attacks will usually catch you off guard before you can react. If 
you're having trouble hitting Meta Ridley, use the Wavebuster. It will 
automatically strike his mouth and chest whenever he exposes himself. If 
you have enough missiles, you can even use the Wavebuster to finish him 
off. Either way, eventually Meta Ridley's health will finally drop to 
zero.

Meta Ridley will writhe in agony as his chest burns with sparks and 
flames. His destruction of the Artifact Temple's statuary will invoke 
the wrath of the angry Chozo. The giant Chozo statues on top of the 
temple will fire deadly laser beams from their eyes, sending the 
defeated creature over the edge of the temple in a great explosion. 
After Meta Ridley is destroyed, twelve Chozo Spirits will appear and act 
as their own Chozo Artifacts. The path to the Impact Crater will open. 
Step into the blue light to be transported to the Impact Crater, where 
the greatest of evils awaits you....

=============

Chapter 14: The Worm.

=============

The Impact Crater is a small network of underground caves and tunnels. 
It is also the home of two unique enemy species, and a psychotic boss 
with a deadly taste for chaos and destruction. Your final mission on 
Tallon IV is to venture into the crater's very core and stop this great 
evil once and for all. The first cavern is the Crater Entry Point. There 
is a Save Station down here, and it is highly recommended that you use 
it. After you save, take the red door to the Crater Tunnel A. 

When you step inside, make sure that you do not touch the orange 
radioactive waste in the pit ahead. This orange variation of Phazon is 
so deadly, that even the Phazon Suit can't stop it from eating through 
you. Before you jump over to the safe ground up ahead, scan the swarm of 
small salamander-like creatures traversing through the pathway. LUMIGEKS 
thrive in Phazon and will cause quite a bit of damage if you touch them. 
Shoot them or wait for them to disappear into the Phazon pool. Jump over 
the second pit and use the red door at the end.

This is the nasty part. The Phazon Core is an enormous chamber filled 
with toxic orange Phazon. However, that's only a minor inconvenience 
when you consider what else is in the room. As you walk further into the 
chamber, you'll start to hear the familiar shrieks of a Metroid, and 
sure enough, one will appear and attack. It looks ordinary, but this 
Metroid is much worse than a regular Metroid. It's a FISSION METROID, a 
genetically-mutated Metroid larva found only in the Impact Crater. 
Fission Metroids are by far the toughest Metroids you've had to face so 
far. When you attack one, it will simply split itself into two new 
Metroids, each with a unique genetic structure that makes them immune to 
all but one type of beam weapon. When a Fission Metroid splits itself, 
look at the color of the creature's internal nuclei. The color will 
correspond to which type of weapon you can use to destroy it, similarly 
to a beam trooper. Yellow means Power Beam; purple means Wave Beam; 
white means Ice Beam; red means Plasma Beam. Once you know what each 
division is weak to, you can implement the appropriate weapon to defeat 
it. Like a regular Metroid, a Fission Metroid will attempt to latch onto 
your head and drain away your energy. So, do they seem tough enough for 
you? Well, once you kill a Fission Metroid, you only have about five 
seconds before another brand new one shows up to take its place. That 
means that no matter how many you kill, more will always show up. So 
don't waste time fighting them, because you'll only be giving up 
precious health and ammo that you need to save for the final boss. To 
get to the top of the Phazon Core, jump over to the far side of the room 
and hop up onto the ledges that look like a set of molars. Jump to the 
highest 'molar' and then turn to jump onto the floating platform. Keep 
jumping platforms until you reach a bridge, which leads to a red door. 
This room is a Missile Station. It is recommended you refill your 
missile reserves after having used them against Meta Ridley. Now head 
back outside and walk along the ledge on your left, until you see more 
floating platforms. There's another Fission Metroid up here too. If you 
have to, use a Power Bomb to eliminate them, and then use the short 
amount of time before its replacement arrives to make your escape. At 
the top of the second series of platforms, cross another bridge and use 
the red exit door at the end.

Crater Tunnel B is filled with more orange Phazon, but you can cross the 
room safely using the small network of Spider Ball Track, bomb-jumping 
as you go. If you feel you can spare the health, just jump quickly 
through the nuclear sludge to the other side. When you enter the red 
door, there will be no turning back.

Enter the Phazon Infusion Chamber. When you do, the enormous, black, 
spider-like creature in the room will awaken. As soon as the creature 
spots you, it will turn around and tunnel deeper into the crater. Give 
chase and drop down into Subchamber 1. Meet METROID PRIME, game's final 
and toughest boss. Turn on your Scan Visor and scan your second-to-last 
Log Book entry. Metroid Prime is a radically-evolved life form that has 
absorbed and produced tremendous amounts of Phazon during the long 
decades it has spent trapped by the Chozo's Cipher. She is so powerful 
that even then, the Chozo were unable to stop the deadly spread of her 
Phazon throughout Tallon IV. Your battle will take place in four stages. 
As you inflict more damage to her, Metroid Prime will tunnel deeper into 
the Impact Crater, each time increasing her power. Metroid Prime is 
completely invulnerable to most of your attacks, but like the Fission 
Metroids, the color of her facial markings will give you a clue as to 
what weapon to use against her. During the first stages of the battle, 
she will only bear two different colors; yellow and purple. This means 
that your primary weapon against her will be either your Super Missiles 
or the Wavebuster. As soon as she reveals her facial color, start 
blasting her with everything you've got. Prime will lash out at you 
after she takes enough damage, and then switch her color to purple. 
Continue your attack with the Wavebuster. Use the stones in the back of 
the room to take cover from her deadly attacks. Her primary weapon is 
her energy beam. While most of her attacks are the same regardless of 
her color, the beam attack will actually change depending on what her 
color is, taking on the common properties of that weapon. For example, 
when Metroid Prime is purple, her mouth beam's electrical energy will 
cause heavy interference with your visor for a few seconds. Later on 
when she uses the Ice and Plasma Beam, her attack will freeze or burn 
you, respectively. Her second most common attack is a spread missile 
attack similar to that of Meta Ridley's. Jump or dash as best you can 
out of the way to avoid the attack. When you stun Metroid Prime a second 
time, she will burrow deeper into the crater, and the battle will 
continue in Subchamber 2. In this stage, Metroid Prime has added the Ice 
Beam to her inventory, and you must now stun her with all three beams 
before she tunnels deeper into the crater again. When using the Ice 
Beam, use the Ice Spreader to freeze Prime's face. A subsequent blast of 
a charged Ice Beam shot will usually be enough to stun her. Each time 
you stun Metroid Prime, she'll charge at you. When she does, use the 
Morph Ball and roll into the grooves in the floor to avoid her. The more 
the battle progresses, the more new attacks Metroid Prime will show off. 
Sometimes, she'll fire two balls of energy that will slowly drift 
towards you. Shoot the energy balls before they reach you to avoid the 
heavy damage and collect the pickups they contain. Also, she will start 
using a variation of her spread missile attack that leaves behind a 
toxic gas, similar to Puffer gas. Move closer to her when she uses this 
weapon to avoid the damage. Occasionally, Metroid Prime will also summon 
a river of ice to freeze you, similar to the technique used by Thardus. 
Jump over this attack to avoid being frozen. And lastly, there's the 
magnetic tractor beam she uses to pull you towards her. When she uses 
this technique, take the opportunity to get a clear shot at her face. 
Once you've stunned her sufficiently, Metroid Prime will tunnel deeper 
to Subchamber 3. Now she'll be using the Plasma Beam and its fiery 
properties against you as well, and you must stun her four times. 
Obviously, the Plasma Beam itself is much more effective against her 
than the Flamethrower while she's red. Each time she charges at you 
after you stun her, remember to roll into the grooves along the floor to 
avoid her. One last time, Metroid Prime will tunnel deeper into the 
crater, to Subchamber 4. The intensity of the battle will escalate and 
Metroid Prime will leave nothing to chance. Her colors will switch out 
at random now, making it tougher to damage her using the right weapon. 
She will also charge at you even if you didn't stun her first. If you 
run out of missiles to fuel such weapons as the Wavebuster or Ice 
Spreader, look out for the energy balls that she uses and shoot them 
down for ammo. You will need to stun Metroid Prime four times again. 
After taking the last hit, Metroid Prime will collapse sideways into 
Subchamber 5. Follow her in and drop down to the bottom of the deep, 
dark pit to see what has become of her. 

When you land at the bottom of the Metroid Prime Lair, METROID PRIME 
emerges from the mess of bubbling Phazon and reveals her true sinister 
form. The arachnid-like monster you battled in the Subchambers was only 
the exoskeleton of Prime's core essence. She now looks more like a 
highly-evolved and very chaotic Metroid. Since she is a separate form 
now, she is also treated as a second Log Book entry. Scan her 
immediately and you will have completed your Log Book (this will unlock 
Image Gallery 2). Now, the prophetic battle between the Worm and the 
Great Defender begins! Metroid Prime is completely invulnerable to any 
weapon you have at any time, expect the Phazon Beam. The Phazon Beam can 
only be used when you come into contact with high concentrations of pure 
Phazon. As Metroid Prime attacks, do your best to avoid her and wait for 
the opportunity to arise. Metroid Prime's main attack is a powerful wave 
quake even more devastating than those of the Elite Pirates. The attack 
is very strong, but you can Space Jump over the quake to avoid it. After 
the first attack, most of the rock structures in the room will be 
destroyed, revealing a last round of pickups. Collect the pickups and 
continue dodging Metroid Prime's attacks until you see her produce a 
small pool of Phazon before disappearing. Metroid Prime has the ability 
to render herself invisible to all but one of your visors at a time. 
Cycle through your Thermal and X-Ray Visor until you find the one that 
allows you to see Prime. Do this quickly, because Metroid Prime won't 
wait for you to find her before continuing her attacks. After you've 
found the right visor to see Metroid Prime, dash over to the puddle she 
created and stand in it. When you do, your Arm Cannon will convert into 
the Phazon Beam. Lock on to Metroid Prime and fire the stream of pure 
Phazon energy at her. The Phazon Beam will last until its Phazon supply 
depletes. When using the Phazon Beam, you can hold down the A Button to 
fire continually, rather than having to fire individual shots. After 
you've damaged Metroid Prime, continue the battle and wait for her to 
produce the Phazon puddle again. As the tough battle progresses, Metroid 
Prime may begin to switch her visual spectrum at random. Also, when she 
produces her pools of Phazon, she will begin to spawn Metroids to assist 
her in battle, two at a time. At first, she will produce standard 
Metroids, but as you continue the fight, Hunter Metroids and Fission 
Metroids will also appear. When they appear, use a Power Bomb to 
eliminate them quickly and then get back to fighting Prime. You can also 
use the Phazon Beam to destroy the Metroids in a single hit, but this 
takes away the time and energy you could be spending fighting Metroid 
Prime. After a good deal of fighting, Metroid Prime will be no more and 
the game will end. Congratulations for beating Metroid Prime! 

Metroid Prime will begin to collapse into a Phazonous blob and make one 
last-ditch effort to consume Samus. Fortunately, all she manages to do 
is strip Samus of the Phazon Suit before self-destructing in a massive 
wave of Phazon. Samus narrowly escapes from the Impact Crater as the 
Artifact Temple begins to crumble and burn. Depending on how many items 
you collected, you may see Samus take her helmet off and get a close-up 
shot of her face before she takes off from the doomed Tallon IV. Also, 
if you managed to collect every power-up in the game, you'll be treated 
to a special ending after the closing credits; from the bottom of the 
Impact Crater, a pool of Phazon bubbles and boils. A humanoid hand 
emerges from the puddle, and a large eye on the hand gets a look at its 
surroundings....

By beating the game, you will have unlocked several hidden features in 
the game, such as Hard Mode. In this difficulty level, enemies hit 
harder and take longer to bring down, making it a true challenge for any 
gaming pro. Beat Hard Mode and you will unlock Image Gallery 3, the 
final gallery. Lastly, you can explore the game's connectivity with the 
GBA game, Metroid Fusion. If you hook up the GCN and the GBA with a 
special link cable, you can play the original Metroid for the NES or 
enable the Fusion Suit from Metroid Fusion while playing regularly. In 
order to use the Fusion Suit, you will have had to have beaten Metroid 
Fusion.

When the game asks you to save after the credits, it's only saving the 
unlocked bonuses you just earned. When you start up the same save file 
again, you will be at whatever place you saved last before fighting 
Metroid Prime.

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Inventory.

Arm Cannon.
POWER BEAM: Default beam weapon. The Power Beam has a high rate of fire 
and has the longest range. Use it to open blue doors.
ICE BEAM: Fires blasts of ice that can freeze enemies. It is has the 
slowest rate of fire and slow traveling rate. Use it to open white 
doors.
WAVE BEAM: Fires beams of electrical energy that can home in on locked 
targets and stun them. Use it to activate power conduits and open purple 
doors.
PLASMA BEAM. Fires powerful streams of molten plasma that can ignite or 
incinerate enemies. Use to melt ice and open red doors.
PHAZON BEAM: When Samus comes into contact with highly-concentrated pure 
Phazon, the Arm Cannon can use the Phazon to fire a stream of pure 
Phazon energy. It is only used at the end of that game, and it can 
destroy Metroids in a single shot. The Charge Beam function will not 
work with the Phazon Beam.

Morph Ball.
MORPH BALL: Allows Samus to travel quicker, fit into smaller spaces and 
explore new areas.
BOOST BALL: Samus can charge up the Morph Ball and then boost for a 
short distance. Use the Boost Ball to travel faster and use half-pipes 
to reach new areas.
SPIDER BALL: Allows the Morph Ball to cling to magnetic Spider Ball 
Tracks. Travel in tracks to access new areas.
MORPH BALL BOMB: Small energy explosives that can damage enemies and 
destroy objects made of Sandstone or Talloric Alloy. Allows Samus to 
perform bomb-jumps and double-bomb-jumps.
POWER BOMB: Powerful explosives that can destroy objects that are made 
of Bendezium. Power Bombs have limited ammo. Use expansions to increase 
the Power Bomb's ammo capacity.

Suits.
POWER SUIT: Samus's default suit. The Chozo-made Power Suit is outfitted 
with various beam and concussive weapons, a Morph Ball feature and 
advanced visor technology.
VARIA SUIT: The Varia Suit allows Samus to explore areas with extremely 
high temperatures like Magmoor Caverns. It will not protect her against 
direct contact with flame or lava however. It provides better protection 
against enemy attacks.
GRAVITY SUIT: This suit allows Samus to move through water without 
resistance. It also improves underwater vision and protects Samus 
against enemy attacks better than the Varia Suit.
PHAZON SUIT: This suit protects Samus against radiation from blue 
Phazon. It cuts damage from enemy attacks significantly.
FUSION SUIT: Unlocked by beating the game and connecting the GCN with 
the GBA game Metroid Fusion with a cable link. The Fusion Suit's 
differences are aesthetical, and it provides no new game function. 
Changes appearance depending on what regular suit you have in the game.

Visors.
COMBAT VISOR: Default visor. This visor has a heads-up display, radar, 
mini-map, environmental threat meter and a hint system option.
SCAN VISOR: Visor used to obtain information from objects. Scan the 
yellow or red scan symbols that appear. It can be used to activate 
control panels, open doors and gates, and download information into the 
Log Book.
X-RAY VISOR: Allows Samus to see through walls and detect certain 
invisible objects and enemies. 
THERMAL VISOR: This visor displays objects in thermal light, indicating 
sources of heat. Can be used to see in the dark or to detect invisible 
objects and enemies. Will not work properly when overloaded with heat or 
radiation.

Secondary Items.
SPACE JUMP BOOTS: Allows Samus to Space Jump by jumping a second time 
while making her first jump. Space Jump to reach new areas.
GRAPPLE BEAM: Samus can use this to latch onto Grapple Points (indicated 
with Grapple icons) and swing to new areas.
MISSILE LAUNCHER: Fires concussive missiles that have seeking 
capabilities when targets are locked on. Missiles can destroy Radion and 
Brinstone, and come in limited ammo. Use expansions to increase the 
Missile Launcher's ammo capacity.
CHARGE BEAM: Charge any beam weapon to release a more powerful shot. 
While charging, the Charge Beam can be used to draw in nearby pickups.
BEAM COMBO: Special weapons that combine the Charge Beam and Missile 
Launcher for a stronger attack. Charge a beam weapon and then fire a 
missile while charging. (See specific Beam Combos below).
SUPER MISSILE: Beam Combo for the Power Beam. It costs five missiles to 
use, but it's very powerful. The Super Missile can home on locked 
targets and destroy Cordite objects.
ICE SPREADER. Beam Combo for the Ice Beam. It costs ten missiles to use, 
and it can home in on locked targets. It also creates a wall of ice that 
can freeze multiple enemies in the surrounding area.
WAVEBUSTER: Beam Combo for the Wave Beam. The Wavebuster costs fifteen 
missiles to use, and it can be sustained by using up five missiles per 
second afterwards. It fires a continual stream of electrical energy that 
can seek opponents even without a lock.
FLAMETHROWER: Beam Combo for the Plasma Beam. It costs fifteen missiles 
to use and five per second to sustain it thereafter. The Flamethrower 
can set foes on fire, but it doesn't function underwater.

Miscellaneous.
ENERGY TANK: Increases Samus's health capacity by 100 units.
MISSILE EXPANSION: Increases the amount of missiles Samus can carry by 
five.
POWER BOMB EXPANSION: Increases the amount of Power Bombs Samus can 
carry by one.
CHOZO ARTIFACT: Twelve keys that must be obtained in order to gain 
access to the Impact Crater.

Pickups.
SMALL ENERGY: Replenishes 10 units of energy.
LARGE ENERGY: Replenishes 20 units of energy.
ULTRA ENERGY: Replenishes 100 units of energy.
MISSILE AMMO: Resupplies Missile Launcher with 5 rounds of ammo.
POWER BOMB AMMO: Resupplies Power Bomb with 1 round of ammo.

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Log Book.

The Log Book is mainly for fun, though you can unlock cool Image 
Galleries by filling your Log Book with more and more entries. The Log 
Book is divided into five sections: Pirate Data, Chozo Lore, Creatures, 
Research and Artifacts. To download a new Log Book entry, just scan the 
item with your Scan Visor. The only exception to this is the Artifacts 
section. You don't need to scan the Chozo Artifacts in order to download 
them into your Log Book; all you need to do is collect them. You must do 
this anyway to beat the game.

Pirate Data.
1.	Metroid Prime
2.	Mining Status
3.	Artifact Site
4.	Special Forces
5.	Metroid Forces
6.	Chozo Studies
7.	Fall of Zebes
8.	Prime Mutations
9.	Security Breaches 
10.	Phazon Analysis
11.	Omega Pirate
12.	Contact 
13.	Chozo Ghosts
14.	Prime Breach 
15.	Parasite Larva
16.	Meta Ridley
17.	Phazon Program
18.	Metroid Morphology
19.	Chozo Artifacts
20.	Phazon Infusion
21.	Metroid Studies
22.	The Hunter
23.	Elite Pirates
24.	Glacial Wastes
25.	Hunter Weapons

Chozo Lore.
1.	Infestation
2.	Binding
3.	Cradle
4.	Beginnings
5.	Cipher
6.	Worm
7.	Fountain 
8.	Exodus
9.	Hatchling's Shell
10.	Hatchling
11.	Meteor Strike
12.	Contain
13.	The Turned
14.	Hope 
15.	Statuary
16.	Newborn

Research.
1.	Save Station
2.	Missile Door Lock
3.	Map Station 
4.	Spinner 
5.	Missile Ammo
6.	Large Energy
7.	Small Energy
8.	Stalactite 
9.	Missile Station
10.	Spider Ball Track
11.	Power Bomb Ammo
12.	Grapple Point
13.	Zebes
14.	Ultra Energy
15.	Morph Ball Slot
16.	Tallon IV
17.	Locked Door
18.	Gunship

Creatures.
1.	Mega Turret
2.	Grizby
3.	Zoomer
4.	Plated Parasite
5.	Pulse Bombu
6.	Ice Shriekbat
7.	Parasite Queen
8.	Scarab
9.	Aqua Reaper
10.	Triclops
11.	Puffer
12.	Glider
13.	Auto Turret
14.	Jelzap
15.	Beetle
16.	Tangle Weed
17.	Flying Pirate
18.	Hive Mecha 
19.	War Wasp
20.	Bloodflower
21.	Ice Beetle
22.	Reaper Vine
23.	Aqua Drone
24.	Ice Trooper
25.	Sap Sac
26.	Flickerbat
27.	Wave Trooper
28.	Sentry Drone
29.	Burrower
30.	Plazmite
31.	Barbed War Wasp
32.	Flaahgra
33.	Scatter Bombu
34.	Space Pirate
35.	Parasite
36.	Tallon Crab
37.	Blastcap
38.	Aqua Sac
39.	Lumigek
40.	Incinerator Drone
41.	Eyon
42.	Fission Metroid
43.	Oculus
44.	Meta Ridley
45.	Plasma Trooper
46.	Aqua Pirate
47.	Baby Sheegoth
48.	Seedling
49.	Plated Beetle
50.	Sheegoth
51.	Stone Toad
52.	Metroid
53.	Venom Weed
54.	Phazon Elite
55.	Metroid Prime
56.	Ice Burrower
57.	Flaahgra Tentacle
58.	Elite Pirate
59.	Omega Pirate
60.	Puddle Spore
61.	Chozo Ghost
62.	Thardus
63.	Shriekbat
64.	Hunter Metroid
65.	Magmoor 
66.	Hive
67.	Metroid Prime
68.	Shadow Pirate
69.	Ram War Wasp
70.	Ice Parasite 
71.	Geemer
72.	Crystallite
73.	Plated Puffer
74.	Power Trooper

Artifacts.
1.	Truth
2.	Strength
3.	Elder
4.	Wild
5.	Lifegiver
6.	Warrior
7.	Chozo
8.	Nature
9.	Sun
10.	World
11.	Spirit 
12.	Newborn

Copyright 2006 Ryan N. Parra-Merrell.