You’re standing in the rain. It’s dark, the music is pulsing with this weird, low-thrumming dread, and you’ve just landed on Zebes. If you’re looking for a Super Metroid Super Nintendo walkthrough, you probably already know that this game doesn't hold your hand. It’s a labyrinth. A gorgeous, 16-bit nightmare of a maze that defined an entire genre.
Honestly, most people get stuck within the first twenty minutes because they expect a linear path. Super Metroid isn't linear. It's a series of locked doors where the keys happen to be high-tech upgrades strapped to a bounty hunter’s arm. You're Samus Aran, and you’re here for a Baby Metroid, but first, you've gotta figure out how to wall jump without throwing your controller across the room.
Getting Your Bearings in Crateria and Brinstar
Most guides tell you to just "go left" or "find the bombs." That’s useless when you’re staring at a blue door and realize your pea-shooter doesn't do squat. First thing: head down. The old Tourian ruins from the first NES game are right under your feet. It’s spooky. It’s quiet. You’ll find the Morph Ball there. It’s basically the most important item in the game. Without it, you’re just a tall lady in a suit who can’t fit through a crawlspace.
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Once you’ve got the Morph Ball, the game "opens up," which is developer-speak for "now you can get lost in more places." You’ll head into Brinstar. This is the jungle zone. It’s green, it’s overgrown, and the music is an absolute banger composed by Kenji Yamamoto. You need the Missiles. Look for the red doors; those require five missiles to open. If you run out of ammo, farm those little hopping bugs. They’re basically walking vending machines for health and ammo.
The Spore Spawn Shortcut
A lot of players think they have to beat every boss in a specific order. Not really. Spore Spawn is this giant, floating nut-thing in Brinstar. He’s technically optional if you’re good at mock-balling (a speedrunning trick), but for a standard Super Metroid Super Nintendo walkthrough experience, just kill him. Stand in the corners. Aim up. Wait for him to open his shell. It’s a slow fight, but it nets you the Super Missiles. These are the green ones. They hit like a freight train and open green doors. One Super Missile is worth about five regular ones in terms of raw damage.
The Kraid Factor and the Varia Suit
Kraid is huge. Like, three-screens-tall huge. When you enter his room in deeper Brinstar, he’s just a little guy at first. Then he rises. It was a massive technical feat for the SNES back in 1994. To beat him, you need to shoot his eyes so he opens his mouth. Then, cram as many missiles or super missiles down his throat as possible.
The reward? The Varia Suit. This is the orange one. It cuts damage in half and, more importantly, lets you survive high temperatures. You need this for Norfair. Without it, your health just drains away like a leaky faucet the moment you step into the volcanic areas.
Why People Get Stuck in Norfair
Norfair is where the game gets mean. It’s a vertical maze of lava and heat. You’re looking for the High Jump Boots and the Ice Beam. The Ice Beam is crucial because it turns enemies into platforms. If you see a flying "Rinka" or those annoying jellyfish things, freeze 'em. Jump on 'em. That’s how you reach the high ledges.
The Wrecked Ship and the Gravity Suit
After Brinstar and Norfair, the game expects you to find the Wrecked Ship. It’s back up on the surface of Crateria, to the east. The power is out. None of the doors work. The save stations are dead. It’s basically a ghost story in a platformer. You have to kill Phantoon, a giant ghostly eyeball, to turn the power back on.
Pro tip: Do not use Super Missiles on Phantoon’s first phase unless you want him to go berserk and fill the screen with blue flames. Stick to regular missiles or charged shots.
Once Phantoon is toast, the ship powers up. Robots start moving. Conveyor belts turn on. You can now grab the Gravity Suit. This is the purple one. It’s the best item in the game because it lets you move through water like it isn't there. No more sluggish jumping. You can also survive the extreme heat of Lower Norfair.
Maridia: The Underwater Nightmare
Maridia is the part of every Super Metroid Super Nintendo walkthrough where people give up. It’s confusing. There’s quicksand. There are pipes. It all looks the same.
- Find the glass tube in Brinstar (the one connecting the elevator to Norfair).
- Set a Power Bomb.
- Watch the glass shatter.
- Welcome to Maridia.
You’re looking for Draygon. She’s a giant crustacean. There’s a "secret" way to kill her: let her grab you, then use your Grappling Beam on the broken electrical conduits on the wall. It’ll fry her in seconds. It’ll also hurt you, so make sure you’ve got a few Energy Tanks in reserve. Winning this fight gets you the Space Jump, which lets you jump infinitely in mid-air. You’re basically a god now.
Lower Norfair and Ridley
This is the endgame. Lower Norfair is brutal. The music shifts to this heavy, oppressive choir. You’ll need to find the Screw Attack. This turns your jump into a spinning blade of death that destroys almost any enemy on contact.
Then comes Ridley. The arch-nemesis. He’s fast, he’s aggressive, and he’s got a tail that’ll poke holes in you. There’s no real "trick" here other than having a lot of Energy Tanks. Just tank the hits and keep firing. If you’ve been collecting items properly, you should have about 10 to 12 Energy Tanks by now.
The Final Descent into Tourian
Once the four main bosses (Kraid, Phantoon, Draygon, Ridley) are dead, the golden statue in Crateria breaks. This opens the way to Tourian. This is a point of no return. Once you go down that elevator, you’re committed.
Tourian is full of Metroids. Real ones. Use your Ice Beam to freeze them, then five missiles to shatter them. Don't try to use the Power Beam; it won't work. Eventually, you’ll meet the "Super Metroid"—the baby from the beginning of the game, now grown to a massive size. It’ll attack you, but don't panic. It’s scripted. It’ll stop before it kills you.
Mother Brain: The Final Stand
The fight with Mother Brain has two phases. The first is the classic brain-in-a-jar. Easy. The second phase is a giant bipedal monster with a "Hyper Beam" that pins you to the wall. Again, this is scripted. Just wait for the Baby Metroid to fly in and save your skin. It’ll give you the Hyper Beam—a rainbow-colored stream of pure destruction. Use it to melt Mother Brain’s face.
The Great Escape
The self-destruct sequence starts. You have three minutes (usually) to get back to your ship. It’s a straight shot up, but the platforming is tricky with the screen shaking.
Wait! On your way out, there’s a room with the "Dachora" and "Etecoons"—the alien creatures who taught you how to wall jump and shine-spark earlier in the game. You can shoot the wall to the right of the final escape climb to let them out. It doesn't change the ending much, but it’s the right thing to do. If you save them, you’ll see a tiny speck fly away from the planet right before it explodes.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Run
To truly master the game, you need to understand the mechanics that aren't in the manual.
- The Wall Jump: Jump toward a wall, then at the moment of contact, tap the opposite direction and jump again. It’s a rhythmic tap-tap.
- The Shinespark: If you have the Speed Booster, run until you glow blue. Press down to "store" the charge. You now have about five seconds to press jump and a direction to fly like a rocket.
- Infinite Bomb Jump: If you time your bombs perfectly (placing the second one just as the first is about to explode), Samus can bounce indefinitely into the air.
- Check Your Map: The map shows circles for items. If the circle is filled, you got it. If it’s hollow, there’s something still there. Use Power Bombs to reveal hidden blocks.
Don't worry about your completion time on the first try. A standard run usually takes about 6 to 10 hours. Speedrunners do it in under an hour, but they’re using glitches that defy the laws of physics. Just enjoy the atmosphere. Super Metroid is less about the destination and more about that feeling of being completely alone on a hostile planet, slowly becoming an unstoppable force of nature.
Go back to your ship. Save often. Use your map. Zebes is a big place, but once you know the path, it feels like home.
Next Steps for Mastery:
Start practicing the Wall Jump in the pit in Brinstar where the Etecoons are. It is the single most important skill for sequence breaking. Once you can wall jump consistently, try reaching the Wave Beam early without using the Grappling Beam. This will drastically cut down your travel time in Norfair.