The 100% Category of Metroid: Zero Mission is collection of all 100 items, and is game-defined (meaning the percentage the game gives after the credits). Note that the game automatically gives you Varia Suit upon getting your suit back in Chozodia, so you never need to actually get Varia Suit.

Current Fastest Time

Unrecorded: 51:38 Single Segment by spidey-widey

Recorded: 52:58 Single Segment by spidey-widey

Leaderboards for Metroid: Zero Mission 100% can be found here

General Notes

The general route for the 100% route is as follows:

1. Brinstar - Get Morph ball, (Early Long Beam), Missiles, Bombs, (Early Brinstar Cleanup)
2. Kraid - Get Unknown Item, Beat Kraid, Speed Booster
3. Brinstar - Go to Norfair (usually get charge beam)
4. Norfair - Go to Crateria
5. Crateria - Get Unknown Item, Power Grip
6. Norfair - Go right, (Early Ice Beam), Hi-Jump, Screw Attack, Wave Beam
7. Ridley - Go left, clean up Ridley counter-clockwise, get Unknown Item, Beat Imago
8. Norfair - (Late Ice Beam), climb out of Norfair and to Brinstar
9. Brinstar - Clean up lower brinstar, (Late Brinstar Cleanup), (Late Long Beam), to Tourian
10. Tourian - Beat Mother Brain and Escape
11. Chozodia - Suitless section, get suit back, get Power Bombs, leave Chozodia via glass tunnel
12. Cleanup by going to Crateria -> Tourian -> Crateria -> Brinstar -> Kraid -> Norfair -> Crateria -> Upper-Left Chozodia -> Crateria -> Main Chozodia

Major Route Choices

The fastest known route for speedrunning at the moment is Late Long Beam, Early Brinstar Cleanup, Acid Worm Skip, Late Kraid Cleanup, Late Ice Beam, and Lower Norfair Cleanup, with no refills in Kraid nor Norfair.

Long Beam

There is a small area in upper brinstar where Long Beam resides. You can either choose to get this at the very beginning of the game, right after morph ball, or get it on your way up to Tourian.

Early Long Beam

+ Brinstar Hive room is MUCH easier, more consistent, and easily faster.

+ Several rooms become easier and/or slightly faster. Much more noob-friendly.

- Ultimately Slower (by about 15 seconds on the detour alone). The detour at the beginning of the game costs a sizeable chunk of time.

- Long Beam Escape can be difficult

Late Long Beam

+ Ultimately Faster

+ Getting Long Beam is on the path to Tourian, and allows for a shinespark as well, meaning a smoother route.

- Hive Room...

- Need to use more missiles early-game to shoot blocks from farther away

Brinstar Cleanup

There is an area in upper Brinstar with one missile tank and one e-tank (and Varia Suit, but that isn't collected) that can either be cleaned up immediately after obtaining bombs, or immediately before going to Tourian.

Early Brinstar Cleanup

Immediately upon reaching the vertical shaft on the right, bomb jump to the higher platform. Walljump to the left ledge immediately above, then start IBJing up. If you do double IBJs, and you're quick, you should be able to consistently make it past the two rippers; if not, then wait for the first ripper to pass moving right. Then follow the upper path to the left until the room to the left of the save room. Bomb jump up and diagonally left, then bomb jump up again. Get the energy tank in the acid here, then make your way to the center vertical shaft and go to Kraid.

Note: There are two missile tanks by the middle vertical shaft. While it is faster to get both before getting Kraid, it's only very marginally faster than getting them both just before Tourian (where samus has screw attack and hi jump), so it is recommended to get them later.

+ Extra early e-tank allows for the option to take the AWS route and skip refills in norfair

+ Complements Late Long Beam very well if the two missile tanks by the center shaft are collected before Kraid.

- Requires two extra infinite bomb jumps, one of which must be done very quickly to avoid losing time to ripper placement.

Late Brinstar Cleanup

After getting bombs, take the center horizontal path left, getting the missile tank on the path, and go straight to Kraid.

After coming back to Brinstar from Norfair, climb up the center vertical shaft after the super missile tank in lower brinstar, and go right. Get the missile tank on the top-right corner of brinstar, then head left and use hi-jump to get the e-tank by varia suit quickly. Use a super missile in the room on the left on the ceiling to bypass the plant, then get the missile tank in the top-center brinstar between the two vertical shafts. Go to Tourian.

+ More consistent and easier for most players.

+ Upper Brinstar Area is faster thanks to more major upgrades.

- One less e-tank for the first half of the run, meaning health management in norfair is more difficult. This means you cannot do AWS.

- Upper Brinstar Area is more of a detour.

Acid Worm Skip

You can decide whether to do acid worm skip (AWS) or not on the first trip to Kraid. It is highly recommended to not do AWS when starting out, as it is extremely difficult and requires the horizontal bomb jumping method.

No AWS

+ Much easier, safer, and more consistent.

- Acid worm area is significantly slower in early kraid than during cleanup.

AWS

+ Faster than not doing AWS.

+ Acid worm area is much faster, especially the acid worm fight itself.

+ Can skip refilling before the Kraid fight.

-Extremely difficult to HBJ, and messing up more than once loses the time you would've saved.

- One less e-tank in the early-game as you don't get the zipline e-tank when leaving Kraid if AWS is done.

- Cannot do Late Brinstar Cleanup, as doing Norfair with only 2 e-tanks is impossible.

Kraid Cleanup

After taking the first left zipline in the main Kraid area, you can choose to either go straight to the Unknown Item in Kraid, or collect the missile tank by the two giant sidehoppers and the zipline missile tank requiring the four kinetic cannons. The Early Kraid Cleanup route collects both missile tanks before fighting Kraid, whereas the Late Kraid Cleanup route delays both missile tanks until the endgame cleanup section of the game.

Early Kraid Cleanup

+ Faster in RTA by roughly 10 seconds, thanks to fewer door transitions.

- Need to worry about having enough missiles for the two giant sidehoppers after defeating acid worm.

- Slower in-game by roughly 3 seconds.

Late Kraid Cleanup

+ Kinetic Orb cannon room is done very cleanly and quickly with a space boost.

+ Giant sidehoppers are killed much more quickly with plasma beam and screw attack.

+ Good backup if you don't have enough missiles to do early kraid cleanup after fighting acid worm.

+ Faster in-game by roughly 3 seconds.

- Slower in RTA by roughly 10 seconds, due to several extra door transitions.

Ice Beam

There is a section in upper-right norfair where you obtain ice beam and two missile tanks. You have the choice to either collect ice beam after getting power grip, before going to lower norfair, or get ice beam immediately after finishing the Ridley area.

Early Ice Beam

+ Imago Cocoon is easier thanks to being able to freeze the ripper.

+ Can freeze the blue orb to make the pillar room easier in Ridley.

+ Can freeze pipe flies to make two rooms faster and easier, without requiring bomb jumps.

- Doing an extra heated room in norfair before lower norfair makes health management more straining.

- Ultimately slower.

Late Ice Beam

+ Ice Beam area is done much more quickly and easily with screw attack and hi jump.

+ Ultimately faster.

- More difficult Imago Cocoon (not necessarily slower).

- Must walljump the pillar room in Ridley (not necessarily slower).

- Room after fighting Ridley is slower, since you must bomb jump up instead of freezing the pipe fly.

- A missile tank while exiting Ridley is slower since you must bomb jump up instead of freezing the pipe fly.

Norfair Cleanup

Immediately after obtaining Screw Attack, there are two routes you can take in Norfair: Upper and Lower Norfair Cleanup. The respective cleanup names mean "Leave the expansions in this area of norfair for endgame cleanup". The route decision begins in the junction room two spaces below the room after leaving the jet-ripper room; it has a green door to the right and a blue door to the left.

Upper Norfair Cleanup

Upper Norfair Cleanup is used more often, and is more standard. In the junction room, immediately going left and down to lower norfair, collecting both the missile tank and energy tank in the wave-beam area while going to Ridley. During cleanup, after obtaining the lava power bomb tank, this route goes up one room and speedboosts right through the green door in the junction room and gets the missile tank and super missile tank in this area of norfair, then leaves via the middle-route.

+ 6 seconds faster by pure route choice

+ Generally the easier route

- Lose out some time by not having that extra super missile tank

- Extra heated room before wave beam, so health management is more of a problem and refills are more likely to be required

Lower Norfair Cleanup

Lower Norfair Cleanup is less standard. In the junction room, charge a speedboost then go through the green door and shinespark through to collect the missile tank and super missile tank in this area of norfair. Then make your way to Ridley through the wave-beam area, but ignore the missile tank and energy tank here; these will be collected during cleanup after the lava power bomb tank.

+ Extra 2 super missiles save time against Imago, Cocoon, Ridley, and in Tourian.

+ One less heated room makes skipping all refills viable in every route that uses Lower Norfair Cleanup

- 6 seconds slower on pure route

- The bomb jump out of the lava for the super missile tank can be difficult