Glitches you can do in Super Metroid

in 1994 Nintendo released Metroid 3 a sequel to the NES and Game Boy originals which despite selling poorly in Japan would go on to find worldwide acclaim even being included on greatest games of all time lists from various journalism outlets including g4 IGN GamesRadar and Popular Mechanics to name a few Super Metroid along with Castlevania Symphony of the Night is even credited with the creation of the metroidvania sub-genre which inspired gems like Cave Story and the more recent blood-stained ritual of the night despite super metroids pioneering it comes from a time before digital game releases for commonplace which means this game never received a content patch and while it's not uncommon for developers to updated games rom between production runs most of super metroids exploits were discovered years later so chances are if you have access to a copy of Super Metroid you can likely perform any of these for yourself not only that I'll show you how let's get started [Music] this glitch takes the number 10 spot only because it might be considered more optimization than exploit early on in the game upon entering the fight with kraid if you fire a charge beam shot at his eye and follow it up quickly with a super missile in his mouth you can freeze him in place before he has a chance to stand three more super missiles in his mouth will finish him off before he even gets a chance to attack this trick does have to be pulled off quickly to be successful but it looks more difficult than it really is in fact the clip you're watching now was only my second ever attempt at it if done correctly you can skip crates fight entirety and keep the camera locked on the bottom left eye of the boss room which causes some odd effects the post is no danger to your save file as exiting and returning to the room fixes the camera this is an exploit that is clearly most useful in a speedrun but even in a casual playthrough it can be pretty fun to pull off not a lot of setup here just a little practice while this glitch also has speed at its core it can provide a significant advantage in the fight against the final walls just as in the original Metroid in order to defeat Mother Brain you must first clear the way through these red gates known as Zepa tides by firing missiles at them however in order to keep the game running smoothly Nintendo opted to only have one gate loaded at a time and move it forward as Samus progresses what this means for the player is if you can make it past the first gate without destroying it none of the others will load accomplishing this much like killing Krag quickly relies on input speed immediately upon entering the room move to this location just below the gate and freeze the bottom Spaghettio the moment it spawns once it's frozen in place spin jump into the gate to take damage and after getting knocked back it's been jump once more and then jump forward without spinning all while Samus is still under invincibility frames this works because the game tries to allow Samus to stand on the frozen enemy inside the wall which actually clips her inside it just a bit then by jumping into the gate holding left it ejects her from the wall on the wrong side pretty cool trick now you can make your way to the balls without anything in your way and those super missiles you saved can be injected directly in a mother brain just keep in mind that the screw attack will have to be disabled in order to take the original damage and these actions will have to be performed extremely quickly in order to skip across the gate this one will definitely require some practice but is by no means impossible [Music] [Music] in several locations in Super Metroid these one-way gates exist that require a shop from one specific side to open their primary purpose is to prevent early access to late game areas or to force more in-depth exploration on the player the entire point is the ones that close Samus ought to find another way around or not there's little explanation necessary to describe the way this exploit functions the switches are simply placed too close to the gate itself by firing a pixel perfect super missile from the back side of the gate the explosion radius will reach the green lamp and open it up first you stand a pixel or so away from the gate then aim diagonal up and jump toward the gate firing the super missile when Samus is floating around midpoint in the hallway and still moving forward it's one of those things that's easier to feel than to describe once you get the timing down it can be repeated somewhat reliably interestingly this glitch only works on gates that have their switch on the left side right side of gates require a much more complex skip to circumvent and some of them still haven't been cracked today over two decades later okay so before I explain this glitch we should probably touch on the crystal flash briefly this is an intended mechanic that is activated when Samus is on 50 or less HP as empty reserve tanks and at least 10 missiles 10 super missiles and 11 power bombs the highlighting power bombs and going into morph ball mode then holding down on the d-pad L R and B our remaining ammo will be converted into energy healing her until the resources to pleat while the crystal flash is noteworthy in its own right it can also be used to skip spore spawn the first mini balls of the game normally the way to escape the boss room is by firing a super missile into this block and rolling through the tunnel back out into the main room however the only thing preventing this from being an entrance rather than exit is the edge of the screen unloading a missile shot from the opposite end by using the crystal flash from within the tunnel Samus will end up cramped into a one tile crouching position which actually allows for a point-blank super missile and skipping spore spawn entirely alternatively through careful positioning it's possible to stand on a specific tile and make a super missile connect with the block from outside the morph ball tunnel one would think this would be more likely to work but being as close to the tunnel as possible but the game has contingencies for this so the sweet spot actually ends up around here with samus's left foot fully obscured by this tallest plant you'll know when you've broken the block on the screen shakes and it only works if approached from left or right and if you don't yet have power bombs and want to skip fighting the plant this method is probably the better option [Music] the Mach ball or literal Mach ball as it's commonly spelled online is probably the most utilized glitch on this list due to its immediately utility on a new game file here's why Super Metroid is one of the few Metroid games with a dedicated run button and even without the speed booster it's possible to run slightly faster than normal by holding it down there are a few instances in the game where it's necessary to use this sprinting mechanic to get across collapsing floors and even more where the speed booster is required specifically this room and brinstar is often exploited because of a reserve tank and a super missile tank that awaits on the other side unfortunately these automatic shutters begin closing when Samus runs across the upper platform and running without speed booster isn't fast enough to make it through so if you want those super missiles either samus's speed must increase or her size decrease that's where the Mach ball comes in although it's not possible to run one and morph all mode normally this limitation can be circumvented with a series of quick inputs first you hold the Run button to sprint as normal then jump and press down while in mid jump arc then you press it down again on the same frame Samus hits the ground to enter more fall mode and finally hold the direction you want to move in the result is a morph ball that moves at the speed of Samus sprint which allows her to just slip under the closing shutters the be warned this one took me ages to pull off for this clip Super Metroid speed runners use this technique flawlessly and runs but that is only indicative of their skill and not on this Trixie's if you'd like to learn it be willing to invest some time what's funny about this glitch is that if this room used speed booster blocks instead of shutter gates it's this item check this exploit would serve no purpose but because of super metroids world layout the Mont ball is the fastest method for obtaining super missiles in the game so suddenly it's a valuable technique [Music] [Music] the gravity jump is an exploit of samus's underwater acceleration that allows her to jump much higher than intended and can be used to skip collecting the space jump all together while it does require the gravity suit is perhaps the easiest exploit to perform on this list while underwater and wearing the gravity suit pause the game and then press and hold jump just before the screen is completely black ideally you'd like to hear the jumping sound effect without seeing a visual change to samus a sprite then while in the pawls menu unequip the gravity suit and unpause while keeping the jump button held down this will force Samus to skyrocket through the water which is specifically useful and entering Ridley's lair through the lava pool beneath his cave without space jump this works because without the gravity suit samus is more sustained inertia while underwater now normally this is balanced by having greatly reduced speed as well and the final product ends up being as slow and difficult to control character however by initiating the jump while wearing the gravity suit she has her above water speed values applied to the job than by taking off the gravity suit that sustained inertia is applied to the existing jump speed resulting in an overall net gain to jump height of course you will have to then navigate the jump arc with slippery underwater movement but that's a small price to pay for the added reach [Music] you may know that there are a few different ways to take out drag on the boss of meridia in addition to finding her normally it's also possible to destroy one of the wall mounted turrets and use the grapple beam when it's exposed circuitry to electrocute both her and yourself provided you have a few extra energy tanks this could be one of the easiest methods to secure the kill and while this is an intended mechanic there's another unintentional method that has equally interesting results first fight drag on normally until she's red and near-death then allow yourself to be caught by her spray attack so that Samus becomes slowed the slower speed allows the room to be large enough to trigger the speed booster and if a shine spark is used to deal the killing blow on the boss Samus will remain blue after returning to the ground and being a fixed speed boosting state allowing normal movement but invulnerability and the capability to destroy most enemies on contact while in the blue suit state Samus will have the shine spark charged and ready to execute at any time so through this exploit it's possible to bring a shine spark into a room that doesn't normally allow for it just don't press the Run button or take damage in any way you lose the suit which isn't commonly used in speedrunning and in fact actually slowed Samus down while it's in effect the value disc which comes from the novelty of exploring the planet in the quote-unquote fourth suit [Music] you this is my final sequence break on the list and also the most difficult exploit to perform by far it involves getting stuck in a door and then crouching using the Run button turning and using the x-ray scope all at once to force Samus into a standing position and then raising her Center axis by five pixels then she can crouch and repeat the process to climb through the wall all the way out of the room the problem isn't so much with the x-ray climb itself it's getting stuck in the wall in the first place there are a few ways to do this like getting hit by an enemy in the perfect location or shinesparking in the opposite direction while passing through a door both easier said than done in fact this trick is so difficult it was the only one I was unable to personally perform for this video and all the footage you're watching is coming from various speedrunning guides as for the practical applications of this glitch is one of the most consistent and stable methods of going out of bounds and although the camera won't move from the room you perform the glitch within samus can still trigger events and pass through doors assuming you're capable of working blind for a bit this wire overlay is a mod that gives you a visual representation before Samus actually is in regards to the game world and is used by speedrunners to theory craft and practice routing although it's not a normal part of super metroid hope it gives you a visual sense of what's actually taking place when this glitch is performed this is one of the more flexible glitches on this list and it can be used just about anywhere you want to be above or below the current room so we can be used to obtain upgrades early and most notably can be used to skip the ball statues and reach turian without killing any of the main bosses you know assuming you can get yourself stuck on the door in the first place [Music] you [Music] the number-two spot goes to a very simple glitch that allows Samus to have all five beams equipped at the same time which normally is not possible to do this simply toggle all beams on except for plasma and then move to the right side of the screen where samus's boot upgrades are listed impress left and a at the same time this should force plasma beam active without disabling spacer as well as add the first three letters of the various suit next to it as the spritesheet for the menu overflows now if overflowing sprites aren't obvious enough let me be clear in saying that this glitch is incredibly unstable in firing this beam combo uncharged will crash the game every time however there is a workaround that will allow you to capitalize on this lost potential first charge any of the standard beams then pause the game and perform the VAR glitch again then unpause making sure to continue holding down the B button this beam combo often referred to as the murder beam online does not have a sprite and does not travel after being shot but it also does not destroy itself when coming into contact with an enemy what this means is that you can place the end of Samus is gone in a specific location and release the charge shot to mark a tile for constant damage this obviously has the potential to destroy large bosses like Mother Brain which can be defeated this way with a single shot also just check out the graphical issues it calls us in this fight which reminds me even firing a charged shot is only safe have done at certain angles left straight up or straight down or all good but as I learned the hard way this glitch does not like diagonal shots or shots to the right one bit and as good as it is against Mother Brain it's even better against Ridley for some still unknown reason the invisible shot that you plays will be picked up by the end of Ridley's tail and carried by him throughout the boss room inflicting constant damage the moment his tail passes across the tile you mark he will repeatedly flash white and the end of his tail will begin to burn as the invisible weapon is dragged alongside him that's some serious revenge for Samus oh and uh remember to turn plasma beam back off when you're done just trying to open a hatch with all five beams will still crush the game not that I've did that or anything [Music] [Music] [Music] the number one spot on this list goes to a glitch with the capability to reset all bosses and upgrades in the game but leave Samus with Oliver currently obtained items and equipment for use in playing through the game a second time with the same file what this means is that you can pick up the same tank upgrades again to exceed the intended maximum of energy tanks reserve tanks missiles super missiles and power bombs and fight every boss again with a maxed out character [Music] this glitch only works in a few limited locations but one of the easiest is set up is here in the secret room to the right of the original turian escape tunnel to find it fall down the right wall until you hit the small platform and then bomb the wall inside there's a yellow hatch open it and walk through now on the inside of the door perform the VAR glitch again from earlier to have spacer and plasma active at the same time but unequipped wave beam next open the hatch with a point blank shot and then turn right and fire again the top of the screen will turn into corrupted data and the game will slow to a crawl stepping back through the door will fix the slow speed and make the game believe that the only thing the player has done on this file is collect morph ball all bosses will respawn and upgrades will reappear all while leaving Samus with their current loadout the way this works is complicated but I'll do my best to explain it at least to the degree that I understand it firing a shot with this particular beam combo creates a data overflow of some kind that forces bizarre values into certain in-game variables one byproduct of this is altering the actual composition of Samus environment garbage sprites fill the screen deleting whatever is underneath them and that's why executing the glitch in this location is so important in actuality the reset glitch doesn't just corrupt the top of the screen it corrupts the top 24 screens of the room Samus is occupying normally this room is a speed booster puzzle you freeze these enemies on the floor and run over them to set up a shinespark up this long shaft to reach the super missile tank at the top what makes it exceptional for this glitch is that it's one of the tallest and widest rooms in the game this gives plenty of space for the resets glitch to consume 24 screens worth of data without affecting Samus or the hatch she came through firing the shot to the right spawns the garbage which slows the game down to a crawl but also overflows the game state back to an earlier point then exiting the room leaves the corruption behind as well which allows the game to pick back up to its normal speed from this point you can replay the game in full in this pseudo new game+ state and collect double the intended amounts of Health and ammo [Music] and that's it those are the 10 most interesting Super Metroid glitches in my eyes researching this topic was a long arduous process because most of this games exploits tend to be shared in private communities where just about word-of-mouth hell even most recordings of this games early speedruns no longer exist since this game is from 1994 I'm sure there were many people that encountered some glitch accidentally but had no way of documenting their experience or talking about it with other people while there are videos online of people performing some glitches in the game very few have explanations so a lot of this video is trial and error for me however there is a phenomenal glitch FAQ document posted on game facts by user called brick road last updated in 2002 which was a massive help in the creation of this video he goes into much more detail on the glitches I showcased and talks about dozens more that didn't make the cut so if you didn't get enough glitch content feel free to give that document a read I'll post a link to in the video description just keep in mind it's alt text so it does require some familiarity with the game to follow along and with that I'm afraid to have to draw a super metroid to a close this was generally one of the most fun games I've covered in the series and if you decide to give any a try for yourself sure experience down the comments I would love to learn that this video inspired the discovery of a new exploit technique one day and as always thanks for watching [Music] [Music]

Channel: Phobia

Views: 510,858

Rating: 4.9170251 out of 5

Keywords: Phobia, PhobiaSoft, Glitches, Super Metroid, Exploits, Countdown, Top 10, Samus, SNES, Super Nintendo, Nintendo

Id: M08d6LnTvL8

Length: 22min 3sec (1323 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 24 2019