SDA Knowledge Base - User contributions [en]

Talk:What is a speedrun?

2014-05-26T13:23:03Z

JaggerG: Some shorter categories go unrun due to lack of Challenge or unfamiliarity.

Metroid: Zero Mission has several categories that are run: Any% Normal, 100% Normal, 9% Normal, Any% Hard, 10% Hard, and maybe 9% Hard EU version. Clearly, any category created beyond Any% Normal is done so due to increased Challenge, and routes of each are dependent on each runner's personal comfort level. But there's one thing people often tend to forget: there's actually an Easy Mode.

The article lists reasons for creating categories, and assumptions made in making said list, but I'm curious if Omnigamer considered a category being eliminated for actually not being Challenging enough. Another Example is Metroid Fusion. The game's community is debating the value in running the JP version because it potentially has about 2 minutes less dialogue to scroll through for RTA runs, since in-game time is starting to become too vague to use competitively. But even then, nobody's seriously suggesting using the JP-only Easy Mode, despite it giving good luck for almost every significant instance of RNG.

Thanks for the article. Cheers!

Metroid: Zero Mission/Game Mechanics and Tricks

2013-06-20T10:33:54Z

JaggerG: /* Diagonal Bomb Jump */

= File Management =

A New Game+ File is identified on the file select screen by a green screw attack symbol on the right side.

Getting a New Game+ File is very convenient for seeing the player's current in-game time while pausing, or using its checklist of expansions in the map screen. To obtain one, simply beat the game with a saved file. That same save file will have the green symbol.

Time Attack Mode is a convenient way to improve your records in the game itself. With a New Game+ file, on the file select screen, select the New Game+ File, then before hitting start, press up, left, right, and down. You will open a menu with the option "New Time Attack". Select it and you have converted your file into a Time Attack File. You can NOT copy over time attack files, so time attack mode is not recommended for segmented runs.

= General Movement Tips =

* Run as much as possible, and jump as little as possible. Jumping is horizontally twice as slower than running.
* If in the air and you need to move horizontally, avoid being in morph ball. Morph ball moves horizontally slower in the air than spin jumping.
* Land as little as possible. Every time Samus land, she has a landing animation and must then accelerate to start running again.
* In 100%, if you have power bombs and there are bomb blocks to destroy, plant power bombs as early as possible that can reach the bomb blocks, as this is faster than using normal bombs up close.
* Screw attack destroys individual bomb blocks as well, but not chains of bomb blocks
* Whenever the morph ball fall from a high height and lands, it spends a little time stopping and bouncing. If you have fast fingers, you can avoid this by unmorphing and morphing again a few blocks before landing, so you don't bounce.
* If given the option between the two, always space boost (or jump with speed boost) instead of shinespark, as shinesparking has a considerable startup and bonking lag that makes it usually slower.
* Avoid ballsparking if possible (and shinespark instead), since ballsparking has a longer startup animation.
* When space jumping, optimal space jumps wait until Samus dips down a little bit, then space jump again. Try to lose minimal height whenever space jumping; if there are ladders, or enemies that you can freeze, then it is better to ladder jump or hijump off of frozen enemies, respectively.
* Avoid power gripping if you can just jump up instead.
** However, power gripping then jumping from a ledge grab is very fast for climbing rooms, but difficult to do. This is faster than walljumping if done properly.
* To shoot as early as possible after a door transition, run through the door with at least a partial charge beam. Let go of B during the latter half of the door transition, and Samus will automatically shoot an uncharged beam shot. This is useful for objects that need to be shoot ASAP after going through a door.
* In Metroid Fusion, you can R Shoot. You can NOT R shoot in Zero Mission!

= Wall Jumping =

Walljumping is a technique to gain height.

If walljumping off of a right wall, spin jump towards the wall and press right against the wall. After touching the wall, press left then A to walljump off of it.

Walljumping is useful to reach a higher height more quickly. Samus can repeatedly walljump on a single wall as well.

* You cannot walljump anymore after obtaining space jump.
* Power gripping and then jumping from a power grip is faster than walljumping, as there are a few frames where Samus is doing the walljumping animation without moving.
* You can walljump as Zero Suit Samus.

= Shinespark =

Shinesparking is a basic technique that speeds up many parts of the game. While running with a speed boost, crouch at any time to Shine Charge. To shinespark, press A from the ground without pressing a direction. During the start-up animation, press a direction to shinespark in that direction; Samus can shinespark horizontally, up, or diagonally up in either direction. Samus will then shoot herself in that direction, and will not stop until she hits an object.

To shinespark in the air, press A with a shine charge while samus is in aerial standing position, then press a direction during the startup. Samus can spinjump with a shine charge without shinesparking, but to shinespark, you must break out of her spin before trying to shinespark.

If Samus shinesparks horizontally or diagonally into a slope, and the horizontal direction on the d-pad is held, then Samus will continue running on that slope with speed booster. You can then shine charge again and repeat.

Shinesparking is the fastest form of movement in the game, and is very slightly faster than speed boosting and space boosting. However, there is a considerable startup animation and a long bonk animation, which makes shinesparking primarily useful only if you can cancel the bonk by hitting a slope, or usually only for long rooms. In other words, avoid shinesparking short distances, and if you can, space boost.

= Ballspark =

Ballsparking is shinesparking in morph ball, and can only be done once Samus has hijump (which enables spring ball).

Whenever Samus has a shine charge, simply morph and then press A (without any direction held) as if you are shinesparking normally. You will ballspark in the direction you hold.

Ballsparking controls are exactly the same as shinesparking controls.

* Ballspark into a slope to continue rolling with speed boost; press down to shine charge in morph ball after that.
* To spring ball with a shine charge without ballsparking, just press A while holding left or right as if you are doing a spin jump.

= Space Boost =

Space boosting is space jumping while speed boosting. This move horizontally as fast as running on flat ground with speed boost. This is one of the best forms of movement after obtaining space jump, as there is no start up nor delay unlike with shinesparking. However, it is also the most difficult technique to master, as touching any solid object besides a ceiling from below will stop Samus. Pressing any direction besides forward will also stop the space boost. Shooting anything will cause Samus to break out of spin, which stops the space boost. You cannot open doors while space boosting; the door must be shot before starting the space boost, as you can not R shoot in Zero Mission.

Though space boosting is used in all categories, it is most prominently used in 100%.

= Jump Extend =

Every time Samus shoots in the middle of her spin in the air, her vertical velocity is set to a constant and she stays in the air for a very slight amount of time. This gives her a very slight boost in horizontal distance for a jump, hence the name. By linking multiple jump extends in one jump, Samus can gain a few extra pixels of distance. The most common way to jump extend is while spin jumping, alternate between pressing B and A.

This is a very minor technique that isn't as useful in zero mission as in fusion. It can be used as a backup-strat in case you do a jump that barely falls short, but there aren't very many jumps where jump extends are very helpful, especially since power gripping in zero mission is faster than fusion.

Also note that you can break out of samus's spin by pressing up or down, without the jump extend effect. This is also different from metroid fusion, where breaking out of spin always gives the jump extend effect.

= Infinite Bomb Jump =

Bomb jumping is extremely versatile in Metroid Zero Mission. As such, there are several different types of bomb jumping techniques, each with their own separate uses. You can combine any of these techniques with each other (for example, transition double bomb jumps into single bomb jumps into diagonally left into horizontally left, if you want to get complicated).

== Infinite Single Bomb Jump ==

This is the easiest bomb jumping technique. Plant a bomb, then plant a second bomb the moment the first bomb goes off. Plant a bomb anywhere while Samus falls down. The second bomb will propel Samus up; plant a fourth bomb anytime Samus is falling down towards the third bomb. The third bomb will propel Samus up, and so on. In other words, after the first two bombs, plant a bomb any time in the middle of Samus falling down towards the previous bomb.

You can gain infinite height with this technique, and the timing for it is very lenient due to the big blast radius of bombs in zero mission. It is also very versatile and allows you to control your height (i.e. slow down or speed up). However, single bomb jumping is slower than double bomb jumping, so it is recommended to use double bomb jumping whenever possible.

== Infinite Double Bomb Jump ==

This is the faster, double equivalent of the ISBJ. If you are familiar with double bomb jumps in the Metroid Prime series, this technique works the same way.

Plant a bomb. When it goes off, plant a second bomb on the ground then a third one at the very peak of the jump. After Samus falls, the second bomb will propel Samus up to the third bomb.

Just as the third bomb goes off, plant a fourth bomb where the third bomb was, then a fifth bomb at the peak. Repeatedly do this.

The timing is very difficult to get a grasp of, but IDBJ is faster than ISBJ. When putting the lower bomb of a jump, make sure it's placed at the exact time as the previous bomb, and when planting the higher bomb of a jump, make sure it is not planted before the peak (otherwise it will not hit Samus).

== Diagonal Bomb Jump ==

The timing for pressing B is exactly the same as a SBJ or DBJ, whichever you want to choose. The difference is adding in a direction now.

To diagonal bomb jump right, plant a bomb and move very slightly right of the bomb. The moment the bomb goes off, hold left for the entire duration of the bomb jump and start pressing B to do single or double bomb jumps.

If you want to go left, simply move left of the bomb, then hold right for the entire duration after the first bomb goes off.

You can also start a diagonal bomb jump while in the air, in the middle of a vertical bomb jump. The concept is the same; to go right while vertically bomb jumping, move slightly right before the previous bomb goes off, then hold left after it goes off.

You can change the directions by "bouncing" off any blocks during your bomb jumping. Normally as you diagonally bomb jump, you're locked into moving one direction until you start to fall, but any collision cancels this. All you have to do after colliding is continue holding the direction so that you fall past the other side of the bomb, then hold the opposite direction once it explodes. It's easier than it sounds, since the blast radius is so large. This is referred to as a Zig-Zag Bomb Jump, notably used to get out of the pit containing the Grip ability, saving about a second over the standard IBJ method.

== Horizontal Bomb Jump ==

This technique is notorious for doing acid worm skip without power grip, and is one of the most difficult techniques in the game.

If horizontally bomb jumping left, plant a bomb on the ground and move slightly left of it. When the bomb goes off, plant another one at ground level without holding any direction. Just after reaching the peak of the bomb jump, hold right and plant a bomb just as the previous bomb goes off. You want this bomb to be as low as possible so you do not gain height from it. After being propelled by the next bomb, let go of all directions until after you reach the peak of the jump, then hold right, and repeat.

You do not want to hold the opposite direction the entire time or else you will not gain much horizontal distance. If you go too high, you will generally bump into a ceiling and fall straight down.

== Jump Bomb Jump ==

This is a minor technique used to reach a morph ball tunnel that's barely out of reach of a grounded bomb jump, and this is slightly faster than using two bomb jumps, but requires extremely fast fingers.

Jump in human form, then at the peak of the jump, morph and plant a bomb while falling. Immediately unmorph, jump, then morph again. Because Samus is in morph ball while higher than the ground, and the bomb is higher than usual, Samus will be propelled up higher.

= Weapon Information <ref name="Damage">Dump of damage data for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission by PJ Boy - http://tasvideos.org/PJBoy/Dump.html</ref> =

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
! Name or Number of Beam Upgrades !! Base Damage !! Charge Damage !! Pseudo Screw Damage !! Cooldown (frames)
|-
| 0 Beam || 2 || 8 || 8 || 6
|-
| 1 Beam || 3 || 12 || 12 || 6
|-
| 2 Beam || 4 || 16 || 16 || 6
|-
| 3 Beam || 5 || 20 || 20 || 6
|-
| 4 Beam || 6 || 24 || 24 || 6
|-
| Missile || 20 || - || - || 8
|-
| Super Missile || 100 || - || - || 10
|-
| Bomb || 8 || - || - || 6
|}

* Number of Beam Upgrades is how many beam upgrades (besides charge beam) Samus has obtained. So long+ice will do the same amount of damage as long+wave.
* If plasma beam is obtained, then the beam deals damage for every frame it is inside an enemy.

= References =
<references />

Metroid Fusion/Game Mechanics and Tricks

2013-06-20T10:10:00Z

JaggerG: added pseudos and bomb jumping, reordered list based on types of tricks

= Timing =

Timing standards by the metroid fusion speedrunning community go by in-game time. This means your final time is the time shown at the end of the game, after the credits. The in-game timer counts anytime you see the playing screen, including:

* Anytime you see Samus moving and/or have control over her
* Item acquisition cutscenes
* Seeing Samus's ship move

Things that don't count towards the in-game timer include:

* Door transitions
* Dialogue with Adam
* Samus's monologues

For racing, RTA timing begins upon hitting "Start Game" on a 00:00 Main Deck File, or "Continue" on a 00:00 Main Deck New Game+ File. RTA Timing ends upon losing control of Samus, or the moment Samus gets beamed back into her ship after defeating Omega Metroid.

= Starting a 00:00 Main Deck File =

Resetting in Metroid Fusion would normally be very long, painful, and timewasting because of the very long introduction cutscene with slow text that is at least 5 minutes long. Fortunately, the game provides a way to start with an empty file without having to trudge through that introductory cutscene with every attempt via getting a 00:00 Main Deck File.

On a fresh file, start the game and go through the introduction cutscene. Once you see Samus's ship land in the ship, and the computer starts talking to you, then soft reset. The file you started on should now be a 00:00 Main Deck file, where all you have to do is go through a few boxes of dialog then you can immediately start playing.

A New Game+ File is especially handy for keeping count of your item count, and also your current in-game time in minutes. A New Game+ file is shown on the file select screen with the screw attack symbol on the right side of the file. To get that symbol, simply play a file and beat it. The file will still be at the last spot you saved, but you will now have that symbol.

To have a 00:00 Main Deck File with the New Game+ attributes, first get a standard 00:00 Main Deck File. Then play through the file and beat the game without saving. That 00:00 Main Deck File will now have the New Game+ Symbol.

= General Movement Tips =

* Run as much as possible, and jump as little as possible. Jumping is horizontally twice as slower than running.
* If in the air and you need to move horizontally, avoid being in morph ball. Morph ball moves horizontally slower in the air than spin jumping.
* Land as little as possible. Every time Samus land, she has a landing animation and must then accelerate to start running again.
* Avoid taking hits as much as possible, as Samus gets knocked back very far, and you typically lose almost a second for each unintentional hit.
* Killing enemies in the way is generally faster than jumping over them or taking hits. It is even better to kill them without stopping. This is usually done by aiming diagonally down while running and using charge beam or missiles to finish off the enemy in the first half of the game.
* If you have power bombs and there are bomb blocks to destroy, plant power bombs as early as possible that can reach the bomb blocks, as this is faster than using normal bombs up close.
** This applies more to 100%, but screw attack destroys individual bomb blocks as well.
* Every eye door after charge beam can be destroyed in one shot. For Zazabi's and Serris's eyedoor, use a close-range charge beam shot to hit with the flare to one hit KO it. All eyedoors after that can be destroyed by a single missile (since you should have super missiles or stronger), or a flare-hit charge shot.
* Whenever the morph ball fall from a high height and lands, it spends a little time stopping and bouncing. If you have fast fingers, you can avoid this by unmorphing and morphing again a few blocks before landing, so you don't bounce.
* If given the option between the two, always space boost (or jump with speed boost) instead of shinespark, as shinesparking has a considerable startup and bonking lag that makes it usually slower.
* When space jumping, Samus must be at maximum falling speed in order to space jump again. Because your vertical speed decreases as you approach the pinnacle of your jump, you ascend faster overall for higher climbs if you release the A button about 2/3 the height of each jump.
** On the other hand, some situations call for using full jumps to reach ledges just short enough to reach in one jump less.
** If there are ladders, platforms, or enemies that you can freeze, then it is better to ladder jump or high-jump off of floors or frozen enemies, respectively.
* There are several spots in the game where there is a one-sided gate right after a door. The easiest way to shoot them without stopping is to charge your beam and hold L to aim diagonally up before going through the door before the gate. During the door transition, let go of B but keep holding L. Samus will shoot the beam at the earliest possible frame, which will always unlock the gate.
** One exception where this may not work is the gate after Ice Missiles and/or Power bombs in Sector 5. If you started running from too far left, then Samus will activate her speed boost before shooting the gate, and thus she'll run into the gate before opening it.
* Avoid power gripping whenever possible. Use jump extends or walljumps to avoid power gripping, as it is relatively slow to climb up ledges.

= Wall Jumping =

Walljumping is a technique to gain height and/or cross longer distances to speed up certain rooms.

If walljumping off of a right wall, spin jump towards the wall and press right against the wall. After touching the wall, press left then A to walljump off of it. Samus can walljump off of any physical object as long as the bottom of her hitbox is touching the object she is attempting to walljump off of it.

Walljumping is useful to reach a higher height more quickly. Furthermore, the spinjump from a walljump also has 50% more horizontal speed than a normal spin jump, so it is useful for horizontal distances, or simply crossing horizontal gaps more quickly.

* You cannot walljump on a single wall and gain height (unless done underwater without gravity suit), like in zero mission
* You cannot walljump anymore after obtaining space jump.
* You can pull change direction quickly in a walljump by pressing A again during the walljump. This lets you pull back towards the wall quickly and walljump again on the same wall if you like (but you can't gain height).

= Ladder Jump =

This is a technique used primarily in 100%.

This can only be done after obtaining space jump, or if submerged in liquid before Gravity Suit. Samus can jump off the ladder, pull back towards the ladder, and grab it again, then repeat. If done quickly, this is faster than space jumping manually, as you never lose any height for each jump.

Assuming Samus is facing a left ladder, simply press right, press A, immediately press and hold left until she grabs it, then repeat.

The only use for it in any% and 1% is the short ladder immediately after obtaining diffusion missiles. However, this technique of climbing rooms is used often during 100% cleanup.

= Jump Extend =

Every time Samus breaks out of her spin in the air, her vertical velocity is set to a constant and she stays in the air for a very slight amount of time. This gives her a very slight boost in horizontal distance for a jump, hence the name. By linking multiple jump extends in one jump, Samus can gain a few extra pixels of distance. The most common way to jump extend is while spin jumping, alternate between pressing B and A.

While it is a very minor technique, it helps turn several pixel-perfect jumps into just difficult jumps. It can also make the difference between power gripping a ledge and landing on it.

= Underwater Wall Jump =

Samus can walljump on a single wall and gain height if she does it underwater without Gravity Suit. However, she gains very little height with each walljump, and it requires very fast fingers. After doing a walljump, immediately pull back towards the wall and walljump again.

This technique is almost useless, except for one trick. After speed booster, you can leave backwards from Serris's tank and get out of the alcove with the underwater walljump. If done quickly and on the first try, this saves less than a few seconds than taking the standard route.

= Pseudo Screw Attack =

After collecting Charge Beam, you can charge a beam and spin-jump to attack enemies. Some enemies die to one of these attacks before it has a chance to damage you, but it's generally not as strong as a full beam shot, so it's usually useless. But in some special cases, you can pass through parts of bosses using this technique, most notably against Nightmare's arms. Even though the arms have no health, it mysteriously nullifies their contact damage.

= Ledge Shot =

If you have a charged beam as you grab a ledge, you can shoot along the ground as you climb up. This is handy if there are enemies on the ground above you that might block you.

= R Shot =

While Samus has her beam charged and has at least one missile available, tapping R makes her automatically shoot it. However, an R shot is different from shooting her beam normally as R shooting does not affect Samus's current state. In other words, Samus's movement will continue as if she did not shoot at all.

The R shot allows you to shoot your beam while spin jumping, without breaking out of spin. This is the most practical use for R shots, and is required to open doors while spaceboosting. It is also useful for shooting your beam while climbing across ceiling bars without stopping.

= Double Missile =

The standard technique for double missiles is used for defeating the core-x of bosses more quickly. Typically, against a normal core-x, you hit it with a single missile then it is invincible for a few seconds, and you repeat. However, by hitting it with two missiles on the same frame, you can skip one round with each successful double missile.

The key to double missiling a core-x is the fact that the core-x's hitbox is a square. The standard method is to lure it to come sideways from high up, and shoot two missiles upward as closely together as possible. If done correctly, the side of the core-x's square hitbox will hit the two missiles and both missiles will hit it.

With the standard method, while aiming up and holding R, fire a missile up, immediately jump vertically, then while still rising in your jump, fire the second missile as early as possible. The first missile will have been fired as low as possible, and the second missile as high and early as possible, so both will be very close together.

If you have normal missiles, you can also hit the core-x easily if it's low. Simply stand near the core-x, and while it's forming, fire two missiles quickly. If done at the right time, both missiles will be inside the core-x by the time it forms, and it will be hit by both.

The timing for the double missile varies depending on what kind of missiles you have. Each upgrade to your missiles increases the cooldown after firing a missile, and the missile also travels faster than the previous type. Thus each upgrade makes it more and more difficult to double missile. The player should be able to master the timing for all four types (normal, super, ice, diffusion) to reliably double missile all standard core-x.

Beam Core-X are near impossible to double missile, mainly because the hitbox is much, much smaller, so both missiles must be at the same spot on the same frame. It is unviable to double missile any beam core-x besides the charge beam core-x.

List of Core-X and how many missiles they take:
* Arachnus - 3
* Charge Beam - 4
* Zazabi - 4
* Serris - 5
* Mega-X - 6
* Wide Beam - 4
* Yakuza - 6
* Nettori - 5
* Nightmare - 6
* BOX-2 - 4
* Ridley - 6

You can also double-missile eye doors, specifically before Arachnus and the Charge Beam core. To do so, you must stand about 3 blocks back, jump straight up, simultaneously hit A and B, then land and shoot another missile as soon as possible. The key here is that, for some reason, if Samus is changing animations, the missile starts from the back of her sprite, thus your second missile is fired in front of the first. If you're spaced at the right distance and timed your missiles exactly right, the first missile catches up to the second as they hit the eye. This is obviously the hardest of the double missile strategies, and even the best players get it less than 10% of the time, but you need to grab the red X to refill missiles regardless, so there's practically no cost to attempt it.

= Golden Pirates =

The game intends for you to damage the gold pirates with charge shots on the back. However, the game only checks if both Samus and the pirate are facing the same direction when calculating if the beam should damage the pirate or not.

The fastest way to kill a golden pirate is to have a charged wave beam and face a golden pirate that is facing Samus, shoot it, then immediately turn around. Both Samus and the pirate will be facing the same direction, and the charged wave beam shot should finish it in one hit.

= Shinespark =

Shinesparking is a basic technique that speeds up many parts of the game. While running with a speed boost, crouch at any time to Shine Charge. To shinespark, press A from the ground without pressing a direction. During the start-up animation, press a direction to shinespark in that direction; Samus can shinespark horizontally, up, or diagonally up in either direction. Samus will then shoot herself in that direction, and will not stop until she hits an object.

To shinespark in the air, press A with a shine charge while samus is in aerial standing position, then press a direction during the startup. Samus can spinjump with a shine charge without shinesparking, but to shinespark, you must break out of her spin before trying to shinespark.

If Samus shinesparks horizontally or diagonally into a slope, and the horizontal direction on the d-pad is held, then Samus will continue running on that slope with speed booster. You can then shine charge again and repeat.

Shinesparking is the fastest form of movement in the game, and is very slightly faster than speed boosting and space boosting. However, there is a considerable startup animation and a long bonk animation, which makes shinesparking primarily useful only if you can cancel the bonk by hitting a slope, or usually only for long rooms. In other words, avoid shinesparking short distances, and if you can, space boost.

= Pseudo Space Jump =

If you shinespark horizontally and hold Jump, you automatically perform a jump after bonking, as if you had been standing on the ground. The only current use for this in a speedrun is in the second visit to Sector 5 ARC.

Similarly, though less importantly, if you're holding left or right, you automatically start spinning.

= Space Boost =

Space boosting is space jumping while speed boosting. This move horizontally as fast as running on flat ground with speed boost. This is one of the best forms of movement after obtaining space jump, as there is no start up nor delay unlike with shinesparking. However, it is also the most difficult technique to master, as touching any solid object besides a ceiling from below will stop Samus. Pressing any direction besides forward will also stop the space boost. Shooting anything will cause Samus to break out of spin, which stops the space boost, meaning to open doors while space boosting, you need to charge your beam and R shoot the door while space boosting.

Though space boosting is used in all categories, it is most prominently used in 100%, particularly during Sector 6 Cleanup.

= Bomb Jumping =

Fusion has previously received a reputation of ruining the speedrunability of the series for various reasons, and its very limited bomb jumping is an example of such developer control over players. You cannot infinitely gain height by bomb jumping as in all previous games (besides the original played by a human). Bomb jumping is required once, immediately after receiving bombs, but you are then given Jump Ball shortly after that. The only notable advanced bomb jump is used exactly once in 100%, to give you access to a morph ball tunnel slightly too high for Jump Ball.

To perform a Jump Bomb Jump, morph, jump, plant a bomb at the apex, release jump until you land so that you bounce, then hold jump again so you jump after the bounce. If timed right, you should consistently get propelled from the top of your jump, one block higher. The only reason this is useful is because during a PB explosion, you cannot be grabbing ledges to climb into high morph ball tunnels.

= Weapon Information <ref name="Damage">Dump of damage data for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission by PJ Boy - http://tasvideos.org/PJBoy/Dump.html</ref> =

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
! Name !! Base Damage !! Charge Damage !! Flare Damage !! Pseudo Screw Damage !! Cooldown (frames)
|-
| Normal Beam || 2 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Charge Beam || 4 || 20 || 6 || 14 || 6
|-
| Wide Beam || 9 || 45 || 9 || 21 || 6
|-
| Plasma Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 12 || 30 || 6
|-
| Wave Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Ice Beam || 18/frame || 36/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Missile || 10 || - || - || - || 8
|-
| Super Missile || 30 || - || - || - || 13
|-
| Ice Missile || 40 || - || - || - || 14
|-
| Diffusion Missile || 45 || - || - || - || 15
|-
| Bomb || 8 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Power Bomb || 50 || - || - || - || 4
|}

* Charging the diffusion missile does not do any more damage. However, the spreading flakes do 1 damage.
* Plasma, Wave, and Ice Beam have the property to travel through most enemies, including some bosses. Thus they deal damage for every frame they travel inside the target.
* There can be a maximum of three beams, two missiles, four bombs, and one power bomb on the screen at a time.
* Ice and Diffusion Missiles have the property that they do not one hit KO enemies they freeze on the first hit.
* It is very obvious that the wide, plasma, wave, and ice beam have three parts. However, the charge beam is actually two shots put into one; you can confirm this by shooting a wall and noticing two hitboxes that hit the wall. As a result, for strats relying on charge beam, it's important to make sure both parts hit, rather than only half of the beam.

= References =
<references />

Metroid Fusion/Any%

2013-06-20T08:50:25Z

JaggerG: /* Back-Up */

{{sda run|http://speeddemosarchive.com/MetroidFusion.html}}

The Any% category for Metroid Fusion is the easiest and most straightforward category. The player does not need to worry as much about dying and missile management like in 1%, nor does the player have to worry about item placement and advanced room strategies like in 100%.

Thus, it is highly recommended for new players to start learning with Any%, as everything players learn in Any% can carry over to both 1% and 100% categories. This category forces the core basics and strats that all players should learn and practice for all categories.

A tutorial video series for Metroid Fusion Any% is available in a [http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3pBMjeS6rYhtLVGWtLoCeD7C2aZrkl9n youtube playlist] by kirbymastah

= Current Fastest Time =

Unrecorded: 0:46 by Biospark

Leaderboards for Metroid Fusion Any% can be found [https://m2k2.taigaforum.com/post/metroid_fusion_leaderboards.html here]

= Expansions =

Due to the straightforward nature of Metroid Fusion's progression, there is no significant routing. Simply knowing where to go to beat the game generally follows the ideal route.

Routing differences in Metroid Fusion generally comes down to which energy tanks and missile tanks to collect.

=== Energy Tanks ===

The ideal number of energy tanks to collect is exactly one, as the others do not help with speed in any way.

However, it is strongly advisable to collect more energy tanks, especially in races, depending on your skill level. Considering that Biospark gets 2 energy tanks in races, and the next best players (kirbymastah, jaggerg, and dragonfangs) collect 3; new players should opt for several more. Below is a list of cheap extra energy tanks that the player should get, ordered by how much time they cost from less to more. In other words, the player should get the energy tanks near the top of the list until they are comfortable.

1. E-tank in sector 6, the room before the SA-X encounter, before Varia Suit. This costs less than a second to get as long as you plant the bomb before getting the e-tank, so the bomb goes off during the acquisition animation. This e-tank should NEVER be skipped.

2. First e-tank in the game, just before Arachnus, in plain sight.

3. E-tank before Yakuza, in the room with the space pirates, in plain sight.

4. E-tank in sector 1, in the toad room after the first stabilizer, in plain sight inside a morph ball tunnel.

5. E-tank in sector 2, just before Zazabi, in plain sight.

6. E-tank after BOX. Be sure to shinespark left in the hall above BOX so you can get the e-tank from above.

7. E-tank in sector 5, just before fighting Nightmare, in plain sight. Use the morph ball tunnel above to get it. If you can get this with the crumble block strat instead, then get this instead of e-tank #6.

8. Second e-tank before Arachnus. Shoot a missile at the left block of the right part of the ceiling to reveal a tunnel and climb through. This costs a lot of time, but gives you another early e-tank to work with for the rest of the game.

When starting a run, it is recommended to try collecting all 8 above in a run. The player should see how many e-tanks the player can take off, and remove e-tanks from the bottom of the list until the player is comfortable.

=== Missile Tanks ===

==== Standard ====

For any%, missiles early on save a significant amount of time. The optimal missile tanks to collect in a speedrun are listed below, which are six missile tanks adding up to 40 missiles.

1. Missile tank on Main Deck, in the dark shaft after getting Missiles, in plain sight on the right side.

2. Missile tank on Main Deck, in the room left of Missile Tank #1.

3. Missile tank on Main Deck, above the navigation room Samus stops at after obtaining Morph Ball.

4. Missile tank on Sector 3, notoriously named BOB as it is unskippable on console. You can't miss this.

5. Missile tank on Main Deck, on the bottom floor of the animals room, after saving the animals.

6. Missile tank on the Main Deck, found by speed boosting into the left wall of the Main Elevator that goes down to the sector selection hall.

The first three missile tanks give just enough missiles to reliably complete sector 1 and 2 without heavily relying on missile drops. BOB is unskippable. The only time missiles are really needed before Missile Tank #5 is during the meltdown segment, and having 15-20 missiles is more than enough. Missile Tank #5 and #6 are collected as they save time against Yakuza, Nettori and, Nightmare, and both missile tanks cost little time.

==== Back-Up ====

The missile tanks below are missile tanks collected if a certain strategy fails; they can also be collected if the player wishes to get more missiles than the ones above.

1. In the first visit to Sector 1, missile management is fairly important. 25 should be more than enough, but on an occasional bad run, you might use too many and get no refills. If you find you're out of missiles after destroying the third atmospheric stabilizer (in the bottom-right of the sector), you might opt to grab the tank in the upper-left room. It's the most costly back-up tank, but being out of missiles before the eye door costs much more.

2. After fighting BOX, and going to sector 6 after, there is a chance that the player will not have enough missiles to take out the super missile barrier. If this is the case, and the player messes up shinesparking through the super missile barrier, then the fastest back-up strat is to bomb the wall to the left of the barrier and collect the missile tank there, rather than collecting drops and refills.

3. An extra missile tank can be collected, depending on the player's luck. On the main deck, in the dark hall with the spitter enemies in the ceiling, before returning to the ship after power bombs, if the player is unable to obtain a speed boost due to enemy placement, then it is faster for the player to simply power bomb the next room and collect the missile tank in the way. This is a good backup strategy as it does not require redoing the speed boost, and the extra missile tank saves time against Nettori and makes Nightmare slightly easier on missile count.

4. If the player wants another missile tank, there is one hidden in a morph ball tunnel in the space pirate room just before fighting Yakuza.

= Route =

This section will detail strategies for every single room in the Any% Route of Metroid Fusion. Each bullet point is one room (sub-bullet points are additional notes for that current room). Any line that starts with "Navigation Room" means step on the switch and go through the text from the computer.

Numbered expansions refer to those in the [[Metroid_Fusion/Any%25#Expansions|Expansions]] section

== Main Deck Beginning ==

* After being beamed down by the ship, run left
* Run left into the next room
* This room is notorious for a complicated set of walljumps, dubbed the Sesshomaru walljump strategy. There are two methods to start the strategy:
** Jump along the left wall then walljump at the peak, walljump off the adjacent yellow platform, walljump higher up on the same wall, walljump three times between three yellow platforms, walljump at the top left corner, then land on the second-top yellow platform
** Immediately upon entering the room, walljump off of the left side of the yellow platform above, and land on the yellow platform to the left of it. Run left, then walljump off the top of the left wall adjacent to it, walljump three times between three yellow platforms, walljump at the top left corner, then land on the second-top yellow platform.
** If the sesshomaru walljump strategy is too difficult, then feel free to simply do the first walljump of the second strat above, grab the ledge of the platform above and climb, do it again, then climb the ledge of the yellow platform to the left. This is a few seconds slower and not as sexy.
* Keep running left. Be sure to not shoot the ground out of boredom, as there are two breakable blocks that will slow you down if you shoot them.
* Keep running left.
* Navigation Room. Go left.
* Do two short hops to climb the platforms to the left, then two more to the right. Grab the ledge of the platform high above, hop off of it to grab the ledge of the top-left platform and climb it. If this is too difficult, then feel free to simply climb up the first ledge then jump to the second one, though this is marginally slower.
* Run off the ledge, then go into a spin before touching the left platform.
* Get on the second platform, then while aiming diagonally down, do a vertical jump and shoot a few shots. At least two need to hit the toad to kill it. Return through the right door.
* Climb up the left ledge of the center platform. Either walljump off of the left platform, or climb the ledge of the top platform. Walljumping is marginally faster if a proper unspin cancel is done on the top platform.
* Run off the ledge then immediately go into a spin to the left. Make sure not to press left while spinning or else you'll grab the ledge too. When you land on the left side, run right, doing a short spin jump to skip the gray platform.
* Navigation Room. Go right.
* Either walljump the right edge of the gray platform, or simply climb the right ledge. Walljump off of the top of the right wall to reach the higher gray platform, then go through the door on the right.
* Run right. If the toad somehow finishes spawning here, you're doing something wrong.
* Save Room. Run right.
* Grab the right ledge of the gray platform above and climb it. Jump right once, then jump high to grab the left ledge of the top gray platform. If the zombie is spawned on the right side, he will hit you unless you are nearly perfect with your execution; it is recommended to shoot it if it is on the right side unless you can consistently get past it without getting hit.
* Navigation Room. Just before the door transition on the right, do a spin jump.
* Jump up the steps and go through the top-right door.
* Take the elevator and go through the monologue.
* Go left.
* Run left until you see the ledge. Jump up of it, then do another jump to grab the ledge by the door.
* Run left through this Navigation Room.
* Get '''''MISSILES'''''.

* Run right
* Navigation Room. Go right.
* Jump across the two midair platforms and use a missile to blow open the hatch on the right. Run through the hidden path.
* Immediately fire three missiles to the right to destroy the barrier. Drop down the crumble blocks and hold left to grab the ledge of the pillar. Climb up of it, fall to the left and shoot the bottom left corner and run off of it. Spin to the right and fall down more crumble blocks. Run left and fall down more crumble blocks. After the crumble blocks, spin right then immediately jump to climb the ladder. Climb it, then fall to the right and spin left. Fall off of the following landing, and spin right to grab '''''MISSILE TANK 1'''''. Run left.
* Run left and use a diagonal shot to uncover '''''MISSILE TANK 2''''' in the top block of the steps. Get it, then run right.
* Run right.
* Jump up the platform, shooting the two zombies in the way, and approach the eyedoor. Kill it, get the Red X, and run in.
* Do two walljumps to reach the top quickly. Fall down and spin left to walljump to the next platform. Get '''''ENERGY TANK 2''''' and fall down the following crumble blocks to fight [[Metroid_Fusion/Boss_Strategies#Arachnus|Arachnus]]. Defeat him to get '''''MORPH BALL'''''
** If you want another early e-tank, feel free to get the back-up '''''ENERGY TANK 8'''''.

* Roll into the tunnel in the bottom left. Climb the ledge of the giant block and fall left. Climb the ledge into the wall and roll through.
* Roll of the ledge, unmorph just as you roll off, spin right and walljump off of the wall to reach the top of the ladder. Roll off and into the tunnel at the bottom, then grab the ledge on the left. Ledge hop, shoot twice to clear the two blocks, grab the ledge, and roll through. Unmorph as you roll off the ledge, and start firing diagonally down to kill the zombies while running left. Morph through the following tunnel.
* Go left.
* Go left past the save room.
* Go left.
* Run off the ledge then spin right. Use a jump extend to clear the ground without landing on it, then spin left as you pass it. Run left without grabbing the platform.
* Navigation Room. Go left.
* Do two short spin jumps to climb the first two platforms. Climb the next two with short spin jumps, then morph into the tunnel.
* Grab '''''MISSILE TANK 3''''', then roll back left.
* Climb this room the same way as earlier in the run.
* Either jump all the way across the gap, or run off the ledge then immediately jump upon landing. Roll through, then unmorph and run left.
* Run left.
* Take the elevator down, and watch the SA-X cutscene.
* Go left after reaching the bottom of the elevator
* Take the elevator down to Sector 1.

== Sector 1: Charge Beam ==

Note: Missile management is very important before obtaining Charge Beam. If Samus is at full health, all drops are guaranteed to be missile drops. As such, it is important to take as little damage as possible, to guarantee as many missile drops as possible.

Note 2: Furthermore, every stabilizer has two possible placements upon entering the room. Adapt accordingly; those that significantly change strategies will be noted.

* After arriving via elevator, go right
* Navigation Room. Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* This room can be done quickly in two ways. If properly done, both are exactly the same speed.
** The easier and more consistent method is to run off the ledge, spin left, then spin right after passing the left platform. Run right through the bottom-right door.
** The swag method is to do a pixel-perfect spin jump to the right, just before running off the ledge. If done perfectly, you will make it past all the platforms without landing.
* Run right. Spam your beam forward. The second-to-last bubble needs to be shot diagonally up-right or else it will suck a few health from you. Just after running up the small slope, shoot three fast missiles forward to destroy the barrier without stopping.
* Grab the ledge above, then do another jump to the top. Run right, fall into the gap and run left. Stand on the platform by the stabilizer and shoot three horizontal missiles. While waiting for the door, grab as many drops as you can.
** If the stabilizer is going down the moment you enter the room, you have little room for error to be able to shoot missiles into it from the platform before it goes too high. If you are too slow, you will either have to wait, or try to do short-hop missiles while waiting.
* The moment you enter the room, shoot a missile diagonally down, (wait about 1/4 of a second) then two forward, then one diagonally up-right. If timed properly, the first four toads will all be killed without stopping. Jump on the ledge and shoot a missile diagonally-down to kill the last town without stopping.
** '''''ENERGY TANK 4''''' is available here if you want it. Simply shoot the left wall beside the e-tank and roll through after killing the first four toads.
* Run off the ledge, then spin left. Go into the left door.
* Run left. There are three armored enemies on the ground here; use diagonally-down missiles to kill them without stopping. The last one may be on a higher slope; if so, shoot a missile forward while on flat ground to kill it.
* Run off the ledge then spin right. Shoot a missile down along the right wall to kill the first pirate there. Start falling against the right wall and shoot two missiles downward; morph after the missiles to slow down, so the missiles fly ahead of Samus. The two missiles should hit up to two pirates on the right wall. If you want to be safer, after one missile hits a pirate, feel free to unmorph, shoot another missile down, then morph again, in case there are three pirates on the right wall.
** Regardless, there is no guaranteed way to make sure you never get hit; sometimes a pirate on the left wall may jump into you as you fall, which a missile won't hit because it was previously on the left wall
* Run right, using a diagonal missile to take out the underwater crab.
* Jump on the first platform. Fall off and grab the right ledge of the platform you were standing on, then spin jump right off of it. Get on the ladder on the far right, climb up, and shoot three missiles left into the stabilizer. While waiting for the door to open, kill the toads on the bottom with your beam to grab their drops.
* Run right, using a diagonal missile to take out the armored enemy.
* Climb the shaft with two chained walljumpgs. Grab the ceiling rungs and climb right, and fire one missile into the stabilizer. If the stabilizer is going up, fire two more; if it's going down, then wait until it rises again, then fire two more. Climb left, fall on the lower platform then jump on the pillar. Make your way to the bottom-right door quickly before it opens.
* During second half of the door transition, hold up and R, then immediately press B to fire a missile along the left wall to take out a pirate. Grab the left ledge of the yellow platform and spin jump off of it to the left ladder. Use a series of jumping from the left ladder to the yellow platforms to climb this room. While on a yellow platform, if there are pirates on the ladders, take the time to use missiles to kill them.
* While running left, spam your beam diagonally up to open the gate.
* Keep running left and into the water, shooting your beam forward to kill the grab at the bottom left. Before reaching the left wall, shoot your beam diagonally up to uncover the morph ball tunnel above. Jump to grab the ledge of it, ledge hop and shoot your beam to uncover the rest of the tunnel, then morph through and go left.
* Fall down through the crumble blocks, morph through the tunnel, then walljump off of the ladder to reach the eyedoor. Kill it, grab the Red X if you have fewer than 8 missiles, and run through the door.
* Fight the [[Metroid_Fusion/Boss_Strategies#Charge_Beam_Core-X|Charge Beam Core-X]] here and get '''''CHARGE BEAM'''''.

* Upon acquisition of Charge Beam, grab the right ledge of the platform closest to your left. Spin jump right off of it to grab a platform to the top-right, and climb it. Jump across the two small gaps and go through the door.
* Shoot diagonally before jumping to clear a square block. Jump again to reach the door.
* Run right while spamming your beam to kill the toads. To destroy the stabilizer in one shot, have a beam charged, then jump into it from above and take damage. Hold left, and release your beam the moment the entire beam is inside the weak point, so both the beam and the flare hit. Charge your beam and take the door on the bottom-right after it opens, while holding L to aim diagonally up.
* Release B during the door transition so the gate immediately opens upon entering the room. Run right.
* Walljump off of the left ledge of the top platform to reach the top-left door, and go through it.
* Jump on the left platform, then right, then walljump to reach the next left platform, then right, then go through the top-right door.
* While running right, shoot your beam diagonally down then forward to clear the blocks without stopping. Keep shooting forward to kill the toads as you run to the right side. Jump on the next level, shoot as you run left, then shoot up to clear the blocks above. Get on the next level, run right, and shoot a curved missile diagonally down to kill the last toad from far away. Charge your beam as you run below the stabilizer, then shoot it and two missiles up (three is ok if you want insurance from missing the charge beam). Run right to fall down crumble blocks, then head back to the bottom-left door and exit when it opens.
* Run off the ledge, land on the platform, then immediately jump left and continue. Have a beam charged.
* Use your charged beam and two missiles (or three if you forgot to charge your beam) while aimed diagonally and running left to kill three toads without stopping.
* Run up the hill then jump on the right ledge (so you don't power grip). Jump left to the top level, run across. When you run off the ledge, spin right then left as you pass the left ledge.
* Run left, spamming your beam to kill the bubbles. Taking light damage isn't a big deal here.
* Run left up until the center of the room. Jump on the lower left platform (shooting diagonally down as you land to kill the zombie, or using a pseudo screw), then jump on the higher left platform. Head left.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Navigation Room. Go left.
* Take the elevator up to the Main Deck.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Take the elevator down to Sector 2.

== Sector 2: Bombs & Hi Jump ==

Note: Sector 2 is one of the more difficult parts of the game, due to the Red Zoros dealing 45 damage (which is very high at this point in the game). Take care to not take too many hits to die, and constantly have your charge beam charged, as you will be using it constantly.

* Run right.
* Navigation Room. Run right.
* Run right.
* Run right. If you are very paranoid about Sector 2 killing you, then feel free to take the refill here, but it will cost you several seconds.
* Follow the zigzagging path, but do not kill any red zoros in the left half of the room while climbing down. On the second downward left hill, shoot the beam down-left to take out only the right breakable block at the end, so you can fall down it without touching the red zoro by it. Charge your beam as you fall down, then shoot it right as you run right to take out the red zoron on the small hump. Climb up the left side of the platform above. If you are fast and the red zoro on the right wall is lower, then you can walljump on the left wall and skip it. Otherwise you want to stand below it and kill it with a charge shot, then walljump the left wall. Climb the right ledge, then the right side of the higher platform, then jump up to the highest platform and go into the top-right door with a charged beam.
* Run right and use the charge beam diagonally down to kill the first zoro. Time two missiles appropriately to kill the second without stopping.
** The timing for the two missiles on the second zoro depends on which way it's crawling. If it's crawling towards you, you need to fire them a lot earlier than you think. If it's crawling away, then fire them later.
** The timing of the double missile here is very difficult and tight. Feel free to stop and shoot the second zoro if you can't get it consistent, as you're better off stopping to kill it than taking damage and slowing down even more.
* While charging a beam, jump up the higher ledge. If the zoro on the higher right wall is lower, then you can skip it; otherwise kill it with your charge beam. Walljump on the 2-block left wall, then the right wall, and land on the second-highest platform (charge your beam while doing this). Climb up the highest platform then kill the top red zoro with a diagonal charge shot while running left.
* Fall off and unlock '''''LEVEL 1 LOCKS''''', then run right through the blue door.
* Make your way to the bottom-left door, ignoring the zoros, and charging a beam through the door.
* Traverse this room the same way you traversed it the first time.
* While charging a beam and aiming diagonally down-left, run off the ledge, and fall down the one-space gap between two platforms. Don't move left or right until you land, then run off, fall straight down, and kill the red zoro there. Run left and open the door, while charging a beam.
* Let go of B during the door transition to kill the one zoro on the higher ground. Keep running left.
* Walljump off of the left wall of the ceiling above to grab the left ledge on the top floor. You should easily pass by the flying enemy if you're reasonably quick; if not, have a charged beam so you will pseudo screw attack it. Run left, jump on the higher ledge, the go into the left door.
* Get '''''BOMBS'''''. Run right.

* Have a charged beam. Run off the ledge, then spin jump to pseudo the flying bug, and also land on the one-block higher ledge. Run off the right ledge and spin left while charging your beam. Kill the one grounded zoro with your charge beam, then bomb the bottom-left corner of the room. Roll through the following tunnel, then as you pop out, unmorph and run left, firing two missiles straight to kill both flying bugs. Stop to kill the red zoro with two missiles if it's close to the right; otherwise charge your beam to kill it as it will be on the left.
* Morph and follow the morph ball tunnels, using bombs to bomb jump. After rolling left then right, fall down and spin left. There may be a red zoro or two blocking the left bomb block; if so, use 2 missiles each to get rid of them then bomb it. While bombing the second bomb block after the pit, charge your beam, unmorphed. After it's destroyed, shoot it and two missiles right to kill the two red zoros blocking the morph ball tunnel before rolling through. While waiting for the bomb on the right to go off, charge your beam again, then when you land, morph to automatically shoot it to kill the last red zoro. Proceed through the morph ball tunnels and take the bottom-left door.
* Fall down, spin right, and go through the next door with a charged beam.
* Just as you run off the ledge, shoot your beam to kill the flying bug charging at you, then plant a bomb on the floor below. Fall and spin left, then fall and spin right, avoiding the crumble blocks below.
** If you fall down the crumble blocks, you'll fall into the notorious blue zoro pit, the only spot in the game with a blue zoro. At all costs, do NOT touch the blue zoro. Even if the blue zoro is crawling next to a red zoro, touch the red zoro to run through the blue one. Bomb the single block on the right to get out.
* Climb into the first ledge which will make you morph. As you roll off, unmorph, spin left, then walljump to clear the gap with the red flat enemies. Bomb the spot two spaces from the right wall to uncover a pillar. Stand on it and climb & morph into the next tunnel. If the next red enemies are on the left, then roll off, unmorph, spin left, and walljump over again. If they are spread out, or on the right, then fall to the ground, then use missiles to kill them while running to the door.
* Jump on the center platform, then the right platform, then the platform above with a red zoro. Jump on the wedge above, walljump on the left wall next to you, then land on the right side. Jump again on top of the two-space pillar, then fall to the right to the door with a charged beam. You should not have to kill any red zoros.
* There is a strange hopper enemy in the middle that will shoot spikes when you damage it. Just when you land on the bottom floor, release your charge beam and shoot two missiles. Do a short spin jump over the spikes that are shot, and keep going right.
** One full charge beam shot is enough to kill it. However, it may crouch at a certain time, meaning only half the charge beam will hit, and maybe even one missile will fly over it. Two missiles are enough to guarantee you will kill it.
* Go right, ignoring the red zoro. Do not shoot the ground.
* Go right of this save room.
* Go right, taking the bottom path. The owtch should be nowhere near you to hurt you.
* As you enter the room, shoot down while falling straight down, then spin right after you pass the broken floor. Charge your beam to one-shot the eyedoor whenever it becomes vulnerable.
** If you want to get '''''ENERGY TANK 5''''', instead of shooting down to break the floor as you enter, run right and get the e-tank on the higher ledge. Run left off the ledge, shoot straight down and spin right to land by the eyedoor.
* Defeat [[Metroid_Fusion/Boss_Strategies#Zazabi|Zazabi]] and get '''''HI JUMP'''''. Use two hi jumps to grab the ledges and get out of the room on the left.

* Use a walljump at the spot you broke in the left part of the ceiling to reach the door on the top-left
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Go left. Have a beam charged.
* Run left, getting rid of the enemy the same way you did before. Bomb the floor on the left side of the room and fall through.
* Wait against the left wall for the SA-X to go through the door. A safe cue to start running right is just when the SA-X fires its beam to open the door. Run to the right, shoot diagonally down to destroy the blocks, then run left.
** If you have over 300 health, you can skip waiting for the SA-X. Refer to the 100% section on how to do it, but if you are good enough to do the SA-X skip, then you are good enough to skip some of the e-tanks you have.

(WIP)

== Sector 4: Speed Booster ==

* Go left after coming down the elevator.
* Navigation Room. Go left.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Jump on the first platform. Then jump across the entire gap; to make it without power gripping, you will probably need a few jump extends. Drop down the left and go through the door.
* Go left, with a charged beam.
* Jump to the platform above, then spin jump to the top left of the corridor, pseudo-screw attacking the crab in the top-right corner. Plant a bomb at the 2x3 block, then run through it and run off the ledge to the left, while charging your beam. Just when you touch the electric water, jump on the square platform. Hope across the set of square platforms, using R-shots and/or pseudo-screw attacks to kill the two crabs occupying them. Go to the top left door with a charged beam.
* Immediately shoot your charged beam diagonally down to kill the crab immediately in front of you, and charge your beam again. Jump across the water, then run off the ledge and go into a spin to pseudo-screw attack the crab on the left wall. Go through the bottom-left door with a charge beam while holding L to aim diagonally up.
* Let go of B during the door transition, while holding left and L; you will instantly kill the crab on the ceiling. At the edge of the platform you're starting on, morph then spring ball left, planting a bomb against the ceiling. Unmorph and you'll land in the electric water, on a higher platform. Jump left to land on the left platform (you may need a few jump extends), then jump right and around out of the water to the higher ground. Use a missile or charge beam to kill the crab on the ceiling while running left, and plant bombs to destroy the wall. Keep going left, and through the door, making sure to have your beam charged.
* Let go of B while holding up to shoot your charge beam up, destroying both the block above and the owtch lurking above. Walljump off the wall above the door to land on the left wall directly above. Instead of climbing across the ceiling rungs, run off left, then spin right and walljump across. Shoot up, get on the higher level, then shoot a charge beam or missile + normal beam to both take out the owtch in front of you and the block. Roll through the tunnel, unmorph and charge your beam while walljumping off the right wall. You should pseudo-screw attack the last crab. You may get hit by an owtch overlapping with the crab; if so, use a missile to kill it or the crab (whichever the pseudo-screw doesn't get). Climb across the runs, shoot down and fall on the left, then shoot up once to destroy both blocks, walljump the left wall, and go through the door.
* Run down the slope of this save room while shooting your beam to destroy the crack in the wall. Jump and morph and roll through.
* Bomb the blocked tunnel. Go through the door, jumping as late as possible before going through the door if you can.
* Straightforward room. Go left.
* Jump on the left ledge, then right. Walljump off the higher right wall, then left wall, to reach the top. Charge your beam as you fall into the water and kill the eyedoor.
* Defeat [[Metroid_Fusion/Boss_Strategies#Serris|Serris]] and get '''''SPEED BOOSTER'''''. Go through the top right door.

* Run right across the stretch of land and shine charge at the end. Go to the lower floor and use a low-height shinespark to the left to kill all the owtch. From the left wall, run right to start a speed boost and destroy the blocks on the bottom-right, while charging your beam.
** To do the low-height shinespark here, make sure you're in between the vertical 2-block gap. Either press A twice very quickly without pressing a direction, then press left, or while holding left, alternate between A and B repeatedly until you shinespark.
* Fall straight down while aiming diagonally down-left. When you land on the bottom floor, run left, using the charge beam to kill any owtch in your way. Fall down at the far left, having your beam charged.
* Fall off left and spin to land on the square block, killing the crab on it with a pseudo screw attack. Use another pseudo screw attack or a well-placed diagonal missile to kill the second crab as you jump on the left block. Go through the top-left door with a charged beam.
* Do this room the same way as before.
* Do this room the same way as before.
* Go left nonstop.
* Run left to start a speed booster, and shine charge just as you step on the button to lower the water level. Shinespark right when you regain control. Go through the right door.
* Go right.
* Go right and roll through the one-space gap. Fall down and run left, using diagonal-down missiles or charge beam to kill crabs in the way. A few spaces right from the open electricity, start running right to start a speed boost. Do NOT touch the wires.
* Keep speed boosting right.
* Keep speed boosting right. The moment you destroy the far right speed boost blocks, press B and start holding it as you go through the door.
* Just when you land from the speed boost, release B to kill the bottom crab. Start charging your beam, stand in the center, and shoot it up when the gold crab spawns on the ceiling. Go right.
* Jump up both ledges. Jump right across the giant gap, using a few jump extends if necessary. Jump across the last gap and go through the door.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Navigation Room. Shinecharge on the switch, then shinespark right after talking to Adam. Jump with speed boost before going through the door. You should do this upon exiting every single sector from now on.
* Press up or B just above the center of the elevator to stop your speed boost, then go up the elevator.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right. Take the elevator down to Sector 3.

== Sector 3: Super Missiles ==

Note: Sidehoppers can be hit by shooting forward instead of diagonally down, meaning straight super missiles or three straight normal missiles from far away will kill them. However, only half a charge beam will hit when shot forward, so to OHKO a sidehopper without missiles, you must aim diagonally down and hit them with a flared charge beam.

Note 2: You need 10 missiles minimum for BOX (you probably want a few more for insurance), and two more afterwards to guarantee you won't lose time. After that, to do the start of sector 6 optimally, you need three super missiles to destroy the missile barrier. Take care to keep an eye on your missile count.

* Go right.
* Navigation room. Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Keep holding right to start a speed boost and break through the wall until you start falling down crumble blocks. After you reach the bottom, run left, shooting your beam to break the blocks, and go through the bottom-left door.
** On the second set of speed boost blocks you break, if you press down the frame you land, you can shine charge, fall down, then shinespark left from the floor to save a little bit of time. Pause buffering is recommended; if you press down too early, you won't destroy all the blocks and you'll have to run around.
* You'll start a speed boost as you enter this room. Shine charge, spinjump to the ceiling, then shinespark left against the ceiling. Morph, go into the top-left corner and bomb it to go into the hidden room.
* Step on the switch for '''''LEVEL 2 LOCKS'''''. Start going right.
* You'll start another speed boost. Just before reaching the second short hill, do a full jump while speed boosting to go through the speed boost blocks, then start running right again.
* Run right nonstop, shooting your beam to destroy the blocks in your way. You'll speed boost a slight bit.
* Jump right and around to the platform above, then up to the next platform. Morph so you can roll under the stretchy, and roll to the right wall to fall through crumble blocks. Shoot the gate, go left a bit, then starting 1-2 blocks from the door, start running right.
* Keep running right and you'll destroy some speed boost blocks. Fall through and take the bottom-right door.
** A faster but more difficult strategy is to shine charge just as Samus destroys the first speed boost block (a visual cue for it is the black pillar in the background). Samus will shine charge just over the ledge of the non speed boost block, but also destroy it. Fall down, go through the door, and shinespark up the next room, taking care to avoid the stretchy in front of you.
* Assuming you're not shinesparking up here, jump to the ladder above, and just keep climbing. Neither stretchy should hit you. Go through the left door at the top.
** If you want to speed this up a little, do a walljump off the right wall just above the second stretchy to skip a small chunk of climbing. If you walljump earlier, the second stretchy will notice you earlier and hit you, slowing you down more.
* Bomb the center of the wall ahead to uncover a morph ball tunnel. Roll through to get BOB, or '''''MISSILE TANK 4'''''; try to plant a bomb just before you get BOB, so the bomb goes off to destroy the 2x2 square block above BOB during the item acquisition cutscene. If not, just unmorph against the left wall and shoot it. Regardless, morph and hop into the top tunnel, and plant a bomb near the right side to destroy a ceiling block. Unmorph, hop and shoot into the next tunnel to destroy the block at the end, then roll through it and go through the top-right door, charging your beam.
* Just after landing from running off the ledge, release your beam and start spamming missiles. As long as you're not very unlucky, you should easily kill all three sidehoppers without stopping, and then you can speed boost jump through the door after opening it.
** You should make sure to have at least 10 missiles after this room; it usually takes around 9-10 missiles to do this room cleanly. If you have fewer than ~20 missiles, then it is recommended to just stop and use diagonal flared charge beam shots to kill some sidehoppers to compensate.
* Keep running right nonstop into the right door.
* Step on the button to get '''''SUPER MISSILES'''''.
** There is a difficult trick that saves a little time called the data room spark. Pause buffering is highly recommended, as it is a very precise trick. The idea is to shine charge as late as possible, but also stay on the button as long as possible before shine charging. So just when you're on the left edge of the button, hold left to start skidding and slowing down, then press down just as Samus is about to run off the button. She'll stay on the button for a little bit longer and shine charge on the right edge of the button, and get super missiles. You then have a very small window to shinespark left after acquiring super missiles, and then you have to make sure that you open the door so you don't run into it. If this is done correctly, you'll speed boost through the entire hall before super missiles.

* Assuming you don't get the data room spark, run left.
* Keep running left and you'll start a speed boost through the door.
* You have two options here. You can either shinespark left to activate the BOX fight then go back right, or do a precise speed-boost jump just after the door transition. Shinesparking is much easier, but also a half second slower; regardless, there is a big gap in the room. Either use a full spin jump with a few jump extends, or drop to the block below and jump across.
** If you want to do the speed boost jump strat, you must know exactly where the BOX fight is triggered. After the jump, cross the gap, then run left until you touch the very right edge of the large black box in the background, then start going back right.
*** Note that the trigger for BOX and the trigger for the rumbling sound are actually different. If you trigger the BOX fight from as far right as possible, you will not hear the rumble.
* Fight [[Metroid_Fusion/Boss_Strategies#BOX|BOX]]. Climb out of the room by standing on the stalactite that fell, then walljumping off the ledge of the right higher platform. Do two full high jumps to climb out. Alternative, you can do a chain of three walljumps, but if both strats are done optimally, walljumping is slightly slower.
* After climbing out of the pit, run left, charging your beam. Aim diagonally up to take out the flying red enemy, then shoot a super missile forward before running down the slope to take out a sidehopper (if you're low on missiles, use a diagonal flared charge beam on the sidehopper instead). You'll start speedboosting through the left door.
* Hold down during the door transition to shine charge. Fall down, then shinespark into the bomb block by the morph ball tunnel (this is faster than bombing it). Morph into it, then as you fall out of the tunnel, unmorph and fire a super missile diagonally down-left to take out the first sidehopper. As you run left, fire another one straight left to kill the second sidehopper. Bomb the blocks at the left, then roll through the tunnel.
* Pop out of the tunnel and just follow the zig-zag path back to the top-left corner, using your beam to take out the first flying enemy, and a pseudo-screw attack for the second one.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Navigation room. Shinespark left.
* Take the elevator up to the main deck.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Take the elevator down to Sector 6.

== Sector 6: Varia Suit ==

Note: After obtaining Varia Suit, you'll encounter one of the most annoying enemies in the game: Puffers. Damaging and/or killing them causes them to release smoke, which has a huge hitbox and will damage you in return. Thus, it is best to just avoid them all together, or even just run into them sometimes. A pseudo-screw attack will not kill them with your current beam either.

Note 2: To make matters worse, each puffer has four possible random behaviors (most enemies have 2). You will have to basically improvise every time there is a room with at least two puffers.

* Run right after taking the elevator.
* Navigation Room. Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right, having a beam charged and starting a speed boost.
* Do a speedboost jump from the edge of the ledge you start on, to jump almost all the way across the room. The charged beam is there as insurance to make sure you don't get hurt by the bottom-right bug; if you jumped a little too early, you will pseudo-screw attack it instead.
* Make your way to the bottom of the room and shoot three supers to destroy the barrier. Go to the top-right door.
** If you don't have enough super missiles for the barrier, then an alternative strat that is barely slower is to shinespark. So upon entering the big room after the recharge room, shine charge, jump on the safe spot on the floor between two bugs, then shinespark right into the slope. As you enter the next room, shine charge, make your way to the bottom, then shinespark right through the barrier.
** If you fail the shinespark method, and you don't have enough missiles, then feel free to bomb the bottom-left wall to get a back-up missile tank (the first one listed). This missile tank should only be collected as a last resort, as the only reason it is recommended is because it is faster than farming for missiles in the previous room or backtracking to the recharge room.
* Run right, stunning the ice-x if you want.
* There's another ice-x at the top-right; stun it if you want. Just fall down this room as typical and head for the bottom-right door.
* Run right and you'll reach a stack of 3 square blocks; there is an ice-x hidden in the bottom one. Get past this among one of three ways listed below. Just when starting to fall, hug the left wall and shoot the one-layer wall to go through it. Spam your beam forward as you run left, jumping over the gap; you should usually stun the ice-x up ahead and be able to run under it. Go through the bottom-left door.
** The fastest method at the start of this room is to shoot forward twice to uncover and stun the ice-x , then shoot diagonally up once to break both blocks above. Then do a short hop over the stunned ice-x and fall down the shaft.
** The easier method is to destroy only the bottom block and keep running right, tanking the hit from the ice-x. While you take damage, by the time you recoil, you will be up against the left wall while falling, so there won't be much recoil.
** The slowest but safest method is to simply shoot the top two blocks and jump on top of the bottom block. This is slower as you're landing an extra time and running off the edge, but is recommended if you're low on health and can't afford to risk getting hit by ice-x.
* Run left under the three ice-x and shine charge at the ledge, just as you destroy the speedboost blocks. Fall to the bottom, then shinespark left into the slope, opening the door on the left and running through it.
* Jump over the energy tank while speedboosting, then plant a bomb against the bottom-left corner. Immediately get '''''ENERGY TANK 1''''', so the bomb goes off during the item acquisition cutscene. Roll into the hole, roll through the tunnel, then as you unmorph above the door, shoot down to open it and run or roll right.
* Go to the right wall and plant a bomb to go in the bottom morph ball tunnel to see the SA-X. The power bomb it plants does 20 damage, so if you have less than that (this should only happen in 1%), then hide in the bottom-left corner to avoid it. Otherwise just stay below where it plants the power bomb until it goes off. Then '''after the SA-X starts walking again''', do a very short hop to catch its attention, and stay standing right by the morph ball tunnel. It will run left and jump over you; immediately get on the higher platform and run right, taking care to jump over the one-space gap. Fall down the crumble blocks and go to the left door.
* Shoot left at the bottom floor, then go through the tunnel to get away from the SA-X safely.
* Shoot diagonally down-left to destroy the center block, then fall down; land directly below the left side of the gap. Shoot right exactly once to destroy two square blocks, and go through the door with a charged beam.
** Shoot ONCE. Remember that the charge beam is two beams put into one, so if you shoot twice, then you will uncover an ice-x on the right side.
* This part is tricky. Aiming diagonally up-right, just as you land on the bottom floor, shoot your charge beam, then immediately super missile straight forward. The flare will kill the closest flies, and half of your charge beam will kill two of the farther flies each. The missile will kill the one on the far bottom-right. This clears your path to do a clean jump over the pillar without stopping. Kill the eyedoor with a flare charge beam or a super missile. Be sure to get the Red-X if you have fewer than 6 missiles, more if you want to attempt to double-missile the core-x.
* Watch the Mega-X absorb the Varia Suit data. You can missile it for fun, but it doesn't do anything. Go right.
* Defeat the [[Metroid_Fusion/Boss_Strategies#Mega-X|Mega-X]] and get Varia Suit. Go through the right door.

* Go right.
* Do a short hop then a full jump to reach the ladder. Climb up to the top and go through the top-right door with a charge beam.
** You can speed up climbing the ladder a little with two walljumps. The first one, walljump from the left wall when it sticks out towards you, then back to the ladder. The second one, walljump off of the ledge to your left near the very top.
* Whether you can walljump or have to wait and climb up the ladder a bit depends on the puffer placement. Regardless, you have a charge beam so you can pseudo-screw attack the worm on the ladder. Use your best judgement to determine whether to walljump underneath the puffer or climb up the ladder and jump over it. Have a charged beam as you go through the top-right door.
* Use an R-shot or pseudo-screw attack to kill the owtch on the ceiling and go through the tunnel. At the exit of this hidden area, hang off the very edge in morph ball. You can then spring ball straight up, unmorph at the peak, and grab the ladder, then do a series of two more walljumps to reach the top quickly. Use diagonal missiles to kill the owtch on the floor in your way as you run to the top-right door.
** If you miss the spring ball, and fall down, a good backup strat is to jump into the right wall and walljump at the very peak, then you can use a series of walljumps to reach the top quickly.
* After running off the starting platform, shoot a missile up just to the left of the ceiling above you. There is an owtch where half the time, it'll be right there in the way of your climb. While charging your beam, jump up to the ceiling platform, then walljump off the right wall (pseudo-screw attacking the owtch if it's on the wall). Grab the ladder on the left, climb up a bit, then jump off and make your way to the top-left door.
** There may be a puffer in the way of your jump from the ladder. Use your best judgement; if it's lower, you can jump over it. If it's directly in the way, then take a hit and jump through it.
** If that darn puffer isn't in front of the ladder, then it's in front of the door that you're trying to go through. Either jump over it or roll underneath it, but killing it is slower as you will take damage from its smog.
* Run left, using a missile to kill a worm on the floor. Charge your beam as you go through the left door.
* Release B during the door transition; there is a worm on the left wall that may get in your way, and the charge beam will kill it if it gives a bad pattern. Proceed through this room, using super missiles to kill worms in the way. Avoid killing puffers; rolling underneath or jumping over them is preferred. As you go through the top-left door, have your beam charged and aimed diagonally down, holding L and B while running through the door.
* During the door transition, release B while holding L to kill the fly directly in front of you. Just after you run down the first slope, shoot two missiles forward to kill two flies in your way, then just before reaching the wall, one more missile diagonally down to kill the one lurking in the corner.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Navigation Room. Shinespark left.
* Take the elevator up.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Take the elevator down to Sector 5.

== Sector 5: Ice Missiles ==

Note: Conserve missiles if you can. You don't have any free refills up until the end of meltdown, and you want as many ice missiles as you can have for meltdown. That being said, don't waste time to save missiles; use charge beam whenever possible, but don't be too stingy with missiles.

* Go right.
* Navigation Room. Go right.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Just after you speed boost off the ledge, without holding right (so you don't grab the ladder on accident), shoot the top-right corner of the alcove, then shoot a super missile at the wall enemy, then after you land in the alcove, jump up and fire a missile into the uncovered tunnel (there's a missile block there). Roll through and go through the right door.
* Fall to the bottom with your beam charged and kill the first grounded enemy with charge beam, the second one with a super missile. Walljump off the right ledge sticking out to reach the higher left ledge and climb up the ladder while charging your beam. Grab the ledge at the very top, then during Samus's ledge climb animation, release B to shoot your charge beam to kill the first enemy. Run across, charging another beam to kill the second enemy. If you fail the first charge beam, use missiles on both enemies. Run off the right ledge and fall down, spinning left halfway then right. Just after you pass the ceiling above the bottom-right door, use a jump extend to land on the ground in front of the door rather than the lower floor.
** The timing for the charge beam while climbing up the ledge is a small window. Too early and only the top half of the beam will come out and not kill the enemy on the ground. Too late and the charge beam will be too high, so only the bottom half will damage the enemy.
* Have your beam constantly charged during this part, since the wavers die to a pseudo screw attack. Make your way to the right side of the room, using charge beam or super missiles to kill wavers in the way that pseudo screw attack doesn't take out. After falling down on the right, run left, then shoot down as you run off the ledge. Run left through the door on the left.
* You need to give yourself distance by running left then start running right for a speed boost. There are two strategies for this.
** The consistent, slightly slower strategy is to start running from beneath the ceiling enemy. This can't go wrong.
** The slightly faster strategy is to run a few blocks left from the door (you should almost get hit by the ceiling enemy's shot), then start running with a charge beam. You will have to aim the charge beam diagonally down, as the waver in the next room may be in your way before the speed boost starts. There is also a slim chance that the ice-x will be in front of the waver, which you can't do anything about, and will have to start over.
* Speedboost to the right, regardless of which method you used above, then fall down while charging your beam. Run off the small ledge to the left, spinning if there's a waver in your way. If you don't see any wavers, then there will be two in front of you just as you run across the center of the floor; shoot your charge beam forward then immediately missile diagonally up-left to take out both without stopping. Run off to the left wall, then run right. Bomb the block in the morph ball tunnel, and keep going right, using charge beam or missiles to take out the two wavers on this floor as appropriate.
* Bomb the wall. Wavers will attempt to attack you by stabbing themselves into the wall; you can kill them with your beam or missiles while waiting for the bomb to go off, as their hitbox comes slightly into the wall. Go right.
* Go left through this save room.
* Run off the ledge, fall in the center of the room and shoot down to break the floor while falling. Spin left just as you pass by the floor and go into the left door.
* Make your way left. It is recommended to slightly hug the corner of the plants, so you'll land frames earlier and can run across earlier.
* Go left.
* Unlock '''''LEVEL 3 LOCKS'''''. Go left.
** Alternatively, you can try to go for reverse ice missiles for swag, but it's not recommended unless you want to go for swag or you are JaggerG.
* Run left with a charge beam, then jump on the higher platform. Shoot the beam to kill the enemy on it (it's on floor one block higher than you) then jump around right and left to the higher platform with a charged beam. Jump into the left wall and walljump to the higher platform (you should pseudo-screw attack the enemy on this wall). On the right side of this platform, shoot up to clear a block, then walljump the left wall above, then the right wall, and R-shoot the crab on the ceiling here. Shoot diagonally up to destroy the ceiling then land on the left edge of the top floor and start running right, opening the door.
* Run right in the save room, making sure to aim diagonally up and charging a beam as you go through this door.
* Release B while holding L during the door transition to open the gate. You'll start speed boosting. Open the right door and charge your beam before entering it.
** When starting this speedboost, it's important to start running on the left edge of the top floor after destroying the right block of it; if you start running from too far left (meaning you only destroyed the far left block, and not both), then you'll speed boost into the gate and it won't open quickly enough for you to run through nonstop. If you start running from too far right, then the enemy will likely snipe you in the hall after the gate before your speed boost starts.
* Jump on the left side of the opening in the ceiling, then to the right; half the time, a waver will be here but you will pseudo screw attack it. Go right through the yellow door with a charged beam aimed diagonally up.
* Open the gate here again, by releasing B during the door transition. Go right.
* Get '''''ICE MISSILES'''''. Go right.

* Shoot the floor and fall down the center of the room. All three rippers will never be in the center of the room, so you will be fine. As you land, go through the left door.
* Jump and shoot diagonally up to shoot the center of the ceiling while waiting for the vine to form. Either freeze the vine then jump through, or (the faster method) jump over the vine just before it forms, freeze it from above, then get through the ceiling. Go left while charging your beam.
* Jump on the higher floor as you enter, then jump over the gap. Run left a little, then jump and shoot your charge shot left along the ceiling to kill the enemy in the top-left corner. Wait by the right side of your current platform with another charge beam, then kill it as it reforms. Go back to the far-right platform and wait for the vine to form, then as you run left, shoot a diagonal ice missile down to freeze it just before running across and through the door on the left.
* Speed boost through the blocks, and use normal spin jumps to climb to the top and out. Have your beam charged.
* Jump on the ledge on the left then right; you may pseudo screw attack wavers in your path. Use charge beam to kill any wavers in the way that you don't get with pseudo screw attack. Get on the higher right ledge, shoot the tiny alcove to uncover a hidden path. Walljump the right wall, then while hugging the top-left corner of this hidden room, shoot your beam left to uncover a tunnel and grab the ledge at the same time. Roll through, unmorph and charge your beam; another waver maybe in the way here. Climb out of this room like you did before, heading for the top-left door.
* You can do a difficult spinjump to reach the ceiling above you without falling but it's very precise; otherwise just drop to the bottom level then jump again. Climb up the ladder, then grab the right ledge of the top level; shoot your charge beam during the ledge climb animation like before to kill the first enemy, and also give you enough time to charge it for the second enemy. If you fail it, you will just have to wait for them to jump, as you don't have super missiles anymore. Fall down the left side, using charge beam to kill one enemy and wait for the other on the bottom floor. Go through the bottom-left yellow door.
* Just run left, ignoring all enemies, without shooting the floor.
* Meltdown will start. Grab the left ledge of the ceiling above and climb it. Then do a full jump up to barely grab the ladder directly above you; climb it for abut a block then spin jump left to reach the top-left door quickly.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Navigation Room. Shinespark left.
* Go up the elevator to Main Deck.
* Go right.
* Take the elevator down to Sector 3.

== Meltdown ==

* Go right.
* Go right, ignoring the navigation room.
* Go right.
* Go right, starting your speedboost.
* Break through the speedboost blocks and keep going right.
* Go through this room the same way you did before. You can save a tiny bit of time by using two ice missiles on the stretchy to kill it while running.
* Speedboost through this room like before, except without shine charging since there is no use for the shinespark.
* Run off the ledge, spin left, and immediately fire two ice missiles down. After they kill the first stretch you fall towards, shoot two more to kill the second stretchy that you fall towards and go through the bottom-left door.
* Start charging your beam. Jump into the middle of the first lava pit and jump out to cross it quickly. For the second pit, spin jump into the ceiling rungs (pseudo-screw attacking the flying enemy in your way) and climb across. Do the same for the third pit. There's a flying enemy while you climb across the rungs for the long lava pit; use an R-shot with your charge beam so you can shoot it without stopping climbing across.
** Lava plumes can pop from the lava below and are random. If one is about to hit you from your right, then just keep holding up-left and you'll get knocked left, but you'll grab the rungs without falling, losing very minimal time. If one is about to hit you from your left (aka in the way), then stop, wait for it, then climb across.
* Run until you reach the edge, then spin jump high and left over the bottom stretchy. At the peak of your jump, pull back the spin jump right, then fire an ice missile down just when the stretchy comes out a little. You can then jump to the top without grabbing the ledge.
** An alternative, easier strat is to do a short hop and freeze the stretchy just as you enter the room, then jump on the bottom stretchy and reach the top of a ledge grab. This is, however, about 20-30 frames slower.
* Run right. You can't do much about the flame enemies on the ceiling dropping fire on you.
* Run right, and fire an ice missile diagonally up to freeze the first stretchy. Jump on it, fire a diagonal ice missile diagonally up-left to freeze the upper stretchy, then climb up.
** The ice missile must be early; remember that it will curve because you are running while firing it. If it is too late, then the bottom stretchy will snipe you before you shoot the missile. Have your beam charged as you go into the top-left door.
** Alternatively, just do a short hop and ice missile the bottom stretchy. Again, this is slower by a bit.
* While aiming diagonally up-left, jump on the first platform, then just before jumping from the left edge of it, fire your charge beam up-left. It should kill the flame enemy that will get in your way. As you jump a second time, shoot an ice missile left to freeze the first stretchy. Get on it, climb up and go right, freezing the flame enemies on the ground to run across. Freeze the top-right stretchy as you climb around, and run left, freezing the flame enemies and the last stretchy, and being careful not to fall down the crumble blocks. Fall down the left shaft and go into the bottom-left door with a charge beam.
* Do a full spinjump across, pseudo-screw attacking the flame enemy at the ceiling.
* Jump through the opening in the ceiling above, then climb to the top, using flared-charge beam to kill the sidehoppers, or freezing them with ice missiles. Kill the eyedoor and go through the top-left door.
** A faster, riskier strategy is to fire three fast ice missiles just as you enter, and keeping running left. You will kill the first sidehopper, and the second sidehopper on ground level will be frozen in the air. Use it as a platform to reach the top-left quickly. This is risky as if your ice missiles off-timing, or the second sidehopper gives a bad pattern and doesn't jump high, then you've wasted time running on the bottom floor.
** Assuming you're using the first strat, you can do a pixel-perfect jump from the left edge of the middle floor through a hole in the top floor. This skips a sidehopper. However, again, it is pixel perfect, and jump extends will not help you. This is not recommended.
* Defeat the [[Metroid_Fusion/Boss_Strategies#Wide_Beam_Core-X|Wide Beam Core-X]] and get '''''WIDE BEAM'''''. Be sure to shoot diagonally down left while running down the stairs to try to hit the scientist as early as possible. Leave via the right door after obtaining Wide Beam.

* Just hold right through this room, using your new awesome wide charge beam to kill the sidehopper in the way. Charge your beam as you go through the bottom-right door.
* Same way you did this room, except the opposite direction. Pseudo-screw attack the flame enemy on the ceiling.
* This room is tricky to optimize well. Jump up the left higher ledge, then the right higher ledge. Start charging your beam as you walljump off the left wall to reach the top. Then drop down the crumble blocks and immediately fire your charged wide beam down, followed by two ice missiles, to kill the stretchy below. When you fall down past the middle floor, hug the right wall (but don't grab the ledge), so you'll land on the single block instead of falling left of it and into the lava pool below. Shoot 3 normal wide beam shots up-right to kill the flame enemy near by, then hop across to go to the door.
* Just fall down and go to the bottom-left room, being careful not to touch the stretchies.
* Run to the left door, charging your beam as you go through the door.
* Run off the ledge, then spin right, using an R shot to kill the flame enemy in the way. If you're unlucky, it may drop a flame and hit you.
* Climb across the first two lava pits like you did before, using an R shot with the charged wide beam to take out the two flying enemies while climbing. Again, if a lava plume will damage boost you right, be sure to be holding up-right; if it's going to knock you left, dodge it and wait.
* The climb up this shaft can be done quickly by freezing the stretchies appropriately. Freeze the stretchy above you, jump on it, then get on the right ladder and climb up. Freeze the flame enemy above, freeze the stretchy above, then walljump off the right then left wall to get on it. Freeze the next stretchy above, jump left then right. Jump and freeze the last stretchy, then walljump right then left to land on it. Jump to the door on the top-left.
** A video demonstration can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IytR4uZvkao here]. Note that you can speed up the climb a bit by freezing two of the stretchies just before landing, rather than stopping to freeze them before climbing.
* Bomb the lower-left block and roll through to fall down.
* Charge your beam and go left.
* Release during the room transition to open the gate, and run through the left door.
* Keep firing your beam forward to clear blocks as you run through. Climb this room to the top-left door like you did upon exiting sector 3 the first time after super missiles.
** Don't shinespark anywhere. There is no use for it in this room.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Navigation Room. Shinespark left.
* Take the elevator to the Main Deck.
* Go right.
* Go right.
* Go to the center and take the elevator up to the Main Deck.

== Save the Animals ==

* After taking the elevator up, run right through the destroyed door.
* Run right and start speedboosting.
* Speedboost through the wall and jump through the right door.
* Fall down this room like you did at the beginning of the game.
* Go right.
* With high jump, you can climb this room to the top-left corner more quickly. Jump to the right ledge, then either jump twice to reach the higher right platform (faster if optimally done) or walljump to grab its ledge (easier). Jump to the platform directly above you, then walljump off the left edge of the last platform above to reach the door.
* Take the elevator up.
* Go left.
* There are three strategies to climb this area and reach the top-left door.
** The slowest, easiest strategy is to climb normally. Wait until the bottom stretchy spawns, then jump near the left side to lure it out and freeze it. Get on it then the middle level and do the same to lure the second stretchy.
** The faster strategy is to immediately do a walljump as high as possible from the right wall, and do a few jump extends after the peak of the walljump to reach the center level quickly. This skips waiting for the first stretchy.
** The fastest but riskiest strategy is to wait a split second, then jump and shoot an ice missile down so the first stretchy spawns and then freezes while you're above it. Immediately walljump off the wall higher up, then pull back to the right, and fire an ice missile down just as the second stretchy spawns, so you freeze it from above. This is one second faster than the second strategy, but also the riskiest, because if you miss the second stretchy, you have to reset the room or wait for the first one to thaw.
* Run left, and shoot diagonally down at the second set of breakable blocks on the floor. Fall to the right, open the gate, run right a few blocks then start running left, shooting to destroy the wall and charging a speedboost. Like in sector 3, shine charge just as you break the first speed boost block on the floor so you break it and also shine charge, then fall down and go into the left wall.
* If you have the shine charge in this dark vertical chamber, then shinespark up. Otherwise climb up the room via freezing the stretchies and jumping back and forth.
* Go right and save the animals. After you regain control of Samus, run right and fall back down the same blocks you broke the first trip through. Then on the middle level, destroy the blocks directly to your left on the floor and fall down. Open the gate on the right, grab '''''MISSILE TANK 5''''' on your way to exiting through the bottom-right door.
** The amount of time it takes for the animals to come out is luck. You can lose up to around 5 seconds with bad luck.
* Go right.
* Take the elevator down.
* Go right.
* Fall down the first part of this room between the sets of platforms. Run right then left and go into the navigation room.
* Navigation Room. Go left.
* Climb this room like before; you can skip some platforms now since you have hi-jump.
* Go through to the top-left door and start running.
* Keep going left to start a speedboost through the broken door.
* Speed boost left, past the elevator.
* Grab '''''MISSILE TANK 6''''' after breaking the speed boost blocks. Go back right.
* Take the elevator down.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Go left.
* Take the elevator down to Sector 5.

== Sector 5: Power bombs ==

== Main Deck: Space Jump ==

== Sector 2 - Plasma Beam ==

== Sector 5 - Gravity Suit ==

== Sector 4 - Diffusion Missiles ==

== Sector 6 - Wave Beam ==

== Sector 1 - Screw Attack ==

== Endgame ==

Metroid Fusion/Boss Strategies

2013-06-20T07:29:39Z

JaggerG: /* Phase 3 */

Metroid Fusion is notorious for its difficult boss battles, and as such, strategies are provided for all bosses.

= Arachnus =

== Any% ==

You should be coming into this fight with 20 missiles. Simply stand in front of him and spam missiles. He takes 15 missiles to go down, and his core-x takes 3 missiles, requiring 18 missiles total.

Arachnus has a random chance to roll, which he is invincible during this animation. If you are spamming missiles, you will usually tink 2 missiles on him; however, this is fine as you can afford to waste two missiles without having to rely on the core-x's drops.

Always leave at least one missile for the core-x (two if you want to double missile it at the start). If Arachnus is not down when you're at one or two missiles, then use your power beam to finish him. This should generally only happen if he rolls at least twice, which is very bad luck.

== 100% ==

This is more difficult than any%, as you come into the fight with only 19 missiles (thanks to being forced to get the second e-tank). If Arachnus rolls even once, you generally won't have enough to finish off the core-x without getting drops (You will lose 2 missiles, meaning 17 missiles, and Arachnus requires 15, so you will have 2 left for the core-x, which isn't enough). So try to predict if he'll roll or not and pause in your missile spam to minimize your chances of tinking missiles when he rolls.

If you tink more than one missile, you must get drops from the core-x.

== 1% ==

The 1% strategy for Arachnus is the same as any%, except to fire missiles only if the player knows he will hit Arachnus with the missile. It is best to save 1 or 2 missiles for the core-x. Otherwise spam beam shots to damage Arachnus. Don't be afraid to take hits, as you can take several, as long as you don't actually touch Arachnus himself.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20dgRr8mDOg Arachnus 1% Demonstration]

= Charge Beam Core-X =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Hit the ball in the chozo statue's hand by firing a curved diagonally downward missile (fire a missile diagonally while running), so you can hit it slightly earlier than with your beam.

Stand on the edge of the lower platform, where Samus is standing on it but still able to shoot missiles down. The core-x will be stuck below the platform, aiming diagonally, so it cannot hit Samus. Shoot missiles down when its eye opens; it takes 4 missiles to finish it.

You can finish it in two rounds rather than four if you can manage to do two double missiles, as this is the only beam core-x where it is viable to double missile it outside of TAS. Jump into the ceiling above, and after you start falling, fire your first missile, then fire the second missile as soon as possible. It's best if the second missile is fired immediately before landing, so get the hang of the height of the first missile in preparation. The timing is very precise, but as long as you have enough missiles, there is no reason to not go for it.

Assuming you're going to attempt every double missile, you should come in the room with at least 8 missiles to guarantee you will not lose time, but also have enough missiles for every possible double missile attempt (trying to double missile it if you've already hit the core-x with three missiles is useless). If you have fewer than 8 at the eye door, then grab the red-x.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_charge_beam_core_x.php Video]of doing two double missiles

= Zazabi =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Zazabi is a very random boss. He should typically be taken out in 4 rounds.

It is important to note that once you do enough damage in one round to destroy a segment, any extra damage before the next round does not add on damage.

When Zazabi is jumping around, pay attention to how he's jumping. If he suddenly jumps at a slower horizontal speed, then he's about to open his mouth. Get in position and fire your charge shot upward, followed by a few missiles. The number of jumps he does in the first three rounds is completely random; in the last segment, he will always open his mouth.

For the first three rounds, one well-aimed charge shot is enough to end a round. However, it is very easy to be slightly off on the aim and have only half the charge shot hit. So it is advisable to fire an extra missile to ensure that you finish the round, in case the entire charge beam doesn't hit.

The fourth round requires a charge beam and two missiles to finish him. It is recommended to fire three missiles instead of two though, for the same reasons as above.

Deal with the Core-X as usual. It takes four missiles to finish it, or two double missiles.

= Serris =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Serris has 50 health, so he can taken out with two close-range charge shots (a full hit with the flare does 26 damage). It is important to finish him in as few shots as possible, as every time he takes damage, he starts speed boosting, and he is invincible while speed boosting.

Serris has several patterns he can use:
* Straight across the room, left to right
* Straight across the room, right to left
* Zigzagging the platforms left to right, then jumping out right to left
* Zigzagging the platforms right to left, the jumping out left to right
* Serris dives out of a random gap and dives into another gap two gaps away

When the fight starts, Serris will always do the fourth pattern. You can consistently hit a full charge by either:

# Climb on the very left edge of the ceiling runs and aim left. Serris will fly straight into you; you can hit him here.
# Stand on the right edge of the 2nd platform from the right (the platform you step on when the floor crumbles) and aim diagonally up-right. Serris will come down directly in front of you.

The first option is generally the most preferred, and is faster as it hits Serris earlier. You should always be on one of the two center platforms, or on the rungs above them.

Dodging Serris is very easy once you know his patterns, and you want to dodge his speed boosting attacks since he's invincible during this time. Holding the ceiling runs will dodge all of his patterns except the latter half of both zig-zag patterns. If he uses a zig-zag pattern, then drop down after he zig-zags, then grab the rungs after he jumps over you.

For the second charge beam shot, the strategy comes down to reacting to which pattern Serris does and hitting him up-close. Pause buffering is a good starting strat, especially if you are focusing only on in-game time.

* The easiest pattern is the first two; you can easily just shoot him from standing on the platform just before he hits you.
* If he zig-zags right to left, you can shoot him on the 2nd platform from the left, or shoot him on the rungs above the 2nd platform from the right
* Vice-versa if he zig-zags left to right
* If he uses the last pattern, with a single small dive, and he ends his dive near you, you can hit him with a diagonal shot. However, his hitbox will be farther than if he was diving from a zigzag, so it is very difficult to hit him with a flared charge shot; it's advisable to simply wait until a different pattern.

Finish the core-x as standard. It takes 5 missiles, or two doubles and a single, to finish Serris. The room can make it very awkward to land a double missile on it; to lure the core-x in a higher position, either lure it low then walljump off the top of a wall to lure it high, or grab the rungs then drop down so it swings past you high up.

= BOX =

This fight is functionally the same in all three categories. However, you want to make sure to miss as few missiles as possible in any% and especially moreso in 1%, as you need every single super missile in 1%; if you use more than 10 super missiles in 1%, you will likely lose time later on as you need all 5 remaining super missiles.

BOX takes 10 super missiles to defeat. Run up to BOX aiming diagonally down while it's stuck in the wall. Get close to it, jump and shoot a charged beam and a missile diagonally down. If BOX is hit at the very start, he will immediately start jumping, which is what you want. The charge beam's purpose is not to deal damage (it doesn't affect how many missiles it takes to finish BOX), but rather, as insurance to make sure you can hit BOX to make him jump in case the missile misses.

After the initial hit, immediately grab the right edge of the rungs above. If you're fast, you can squeeze in some super missiles by shooting diagonally down-right before BOX is directly below you. When he is below you, you have just enough time to pump 4 super missiles directly down before he opens his cannon.

When he opens his cannon, climb to the left above the bomb. When he puts away his cannon, you can fire more supers diagonally down-right before he jumps again. Ideally he should be dead at this point.

If he is not yet done, then climb to the right edge of the rungs again (the fire pillars won't hit you) then wait for him to jump below you. Fire missiles directly down.

If he's still not dead, then just repeat the above two paragraphs.

= Mega-X =

Firing missiles at the mega-x while in the data room does NOT do anything!

When entering the boss room, come in with a charged beam, as it is the only weapon that damages it. It will appear once you jump right of the edge of the center platform. It will always start at the very top-left corner of the room.

== Any% / 100% ==

You can finish the Mega-X with four full flared charge shots. The most consistent method of doing these is to straight jump into the Mega-X, take damage, then shoot your beam while inside of it. Make sure to NOT spin jump or else you will pseudo-screw attack it.

== 1% ==

This strategy vastly differs from Any%, as without any energy tanks, Samus cannot reliably 4HKO Mega-X with flare shots without dying. As such, it is best to predict where Mega-X flies and hit it with charge shots from far away. The key is to not take damage during the fight. You can clear out some of its junk shield using flare hits to make sure the full charge beam hits in later rounds. You can combine the any/100% strat to finish faster if you're confident enough, or take damage from the junk to attempt to 4-round it if you're feeling extra saucy.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orE9sHQPXuo Mega-X 1% Demonstration]

The core-x takes 6 super missiles to finish. Three double super missiles will defeat it.

= Wide Beam Core-X =

This is the same in all three categories.

Similar to fighting the Charge Beam Core-X, after shooting the X scientist, stand on the right edge of the top left platform. Here, the core-x will get stuck underneath and aim diagonally, so as long as you stay above it, it can't hit you.

The Wide Beam Core-X takes four ice missiles to finish. Feel free to fire all four missiles while on this safe spot.

The faster strategy is to lure it down to the sweetspot of the Wide Beam ability after hitting it with two ice missiles. On the platform above, lure it left to give it some space, then while falling down, shoot your third ice missile left horizontally into its open eye. Wait a little at the right side of the bottom floor, then run left, jump and hit it in the middle of your ascent with the last missile when its eye opens at the sweetspot. At the height of your jump, fall right into the ability.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_wide_beam_core_x.php video]of sweetspotting it quickly.

= Yakuza =

The general strategy for Yakuza is the same for all three categories; minor difference will be mentioned. This is the most complicated, trick-filled, and fast-paced fight in the game, making it likely the most difficult boss to speedrun well.

== Phase 1 ==

The moment you land and the ground shakes, you can damage Yakuza before he comes down because his mouth is open to shoot fire. Stand in the center of the room and jump up, firing ice missiles while jumping up repeatedly. You'll hear him screech if you're damaging him; the missiles will only hit if you're jumping up.

After that, Yakuza will crawl around the room between 1-4 times randomly. To skip part of him crawling around the room once, you can jump into his claws to get grabbed, then break out by mashing left and right; this saves a little bit of time as long as you get grabbed higher up. Obviously you shouldn't do this in 1%.

To dodge him crawling, simply morph in the corner. This usually works; it only does not work if he starts crawling from the very opposite corner of you (i.e. if he stops at the very top left corner and starts crawling, he will grab you if you're morphed in the bottom-right corner).

Whether you get grabbed intentionally or dodge his crawl, whenever he eventually opens his mouth, fire one charge beam then a volley of missiles. As long as you damaged Yakuza before the fight started, you should easily be able to finish this round the first time he opens his mouth.

Yakuza has 1000 health. Once you have dealt at least 500 damage to him, he will start round 2 and reset to 500 HP. Thus, doing extra damage does not help unless you can somehow bring him to 0 health in one round.

== Phase 2 ==

Have a beam charged while Yakuza is transitioning. Just when his legs break off, you have just enough time to squeeze in a charged wide beam shot along with two ice missiles to quickly take off 125 damage, before he starts jumping.

There are two strategies you can use here: missile strat or charge beam strat. The missile strat is faster than the charge beam strat, but much more difficult and requires a strong instinct of knowing how yakuza moves randomly. In 1%, the charge beam strat must be used as you do not have enough missiles for the missile strategy.

=== Missile Strategy ===

The faster and more difficult option. The idea is to hit Yakuza with a missile as quickly as possible after each jump by jumping up with him and aiming properly. However, you have almost no time to predict where he'll go, so you need to have a very strong instinct of this round in order to use this strat. After hitting him with a missile in the air, land, then immediately jump to where you think he'll be next, and shoot a missile into him again. Repeat.

If you find the charge beam strategy too difficult to time, then feel free to fire missiles from the ground instead. While this is significantly slower, it gives you much more time to know where he'll be, and more room for error.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_yakuza.php video]of the full fight with the missile strategy.

=== Charge Beam Strategy ===

For this strategy, Samus will stay on the ground the entire time, using charged wide beam shots. Each complete space jump takes just enough time for Samus to barely charge her wide beam. So after Yakuza finishes a space jump, hit him with a charged wide beam shot then immediately start charging again and repeat.

If you miss a shot, then it is recommended to skip Yakuza's next space jump to ensure you have a fully charged shot. It is very easy to release the shot just before it's fully charged.

You must use this strategy for 1% as you do not have enough missiles to use the Missile Strategy.

Regardless of how you defeat Yakuza's second form, defeat his core-x as usual. It takes 6 ice missiles to defeat his core-x.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kza58WEWyJI video]of a 1% fight with the charge beam strategy

= Nettori =

Nettori has 2000 HP, and is one of the longest bosses in the game. Before entering the arena, immediately drop a power bomb just before falling down the crumble block, as it clears the pollen early in the fight to let you get on the safe spot, and also damages Nettori.

There are two safe spots that Samus can stand on reliably safely without getting hit by the pollen.

1. Samus cannot be hit by either flower if she is crouched on the very left edge of the right platform.

2. The left flower will stop dropping pollen if Samus is standing on the very righ edge of the right platform; the right flower will not hit Samus.

It is recommended to stand on the right edge, as it brings Samus closer to Nettori and allows her to damage the boss more quickly, but it is somewhat negligible and comes down to personal preference.

Strategies on which weapon to use depends on the category, as this is the one fight where having a high missile count changes how to damage Nettori.

Regardless of which strategy you use, after phase 1, Nettori starts firing plasma shots. If it fires a high shot, crouch to dodge it. If it fires a low shot, do a short hop and shoot at Nettori high. Regardless of which height it shoots at, you can always hit it with an ice missile at standing position.

After the plant is down, defeat the plasma beam core-x as standard. It takes five ice missiles to finish it.

== 100% ==

Samus's best form of DPS is spamming ice missiles, at least humanly possible. Planting power bombs will only slow down shooting ice missiles, and does only 10 more damage, so it is not worth planting power bombs (except dropping one for starting the fight). Charge beam should not be used either, except as the very first shot when starting the fight.

== 1% ==

Be prepared for a very tediously long charge-beam spam fest, as you only have 15 missiles and 10 power bombs.

Use a charge shot, then immediately after shooting it, fire a missile then start charging again. Repeat this until you're out of missiles. Whenever there isn't a power bomb on the screen, plant a power bomb in between charge shots as well. It is important to prioritize not taking a hit nor fall into the flowers, as the plasma beam does a lot of damage to Samus, and two hits will kill you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfGH7bh1Sxc 1% Demonstration]

== Any% ==

This fight can vary depending on how many missiles you have, and is the most complicated strategy; it is basically the 1% and 100% strats put together. 50 ice missiles are exactly enough to finish Nettori, so adding on the initial power bomb and wave beam shot, you can finish Nettori in about 48 missiles. In the ideal fusion any% route, you'll only have 40 missiles, but if you collected more expansions and have at least 50 missiles, then feel free to use the 100% strat.

Otherwise you'll have to compensate for the missing missiles. Take 48 - the number of missiles you have, and that's roughly how many charge beams and power bombs combined you will need to compensate. It is advised to fire an extra charge shot or two, as it is very easy to tink a missile on nettor's plasma shot. So follow the 1% strat until you've compensated for those missiles, then start spamming ice missiles.

= Nightmare =

== Any% / 100% ==

=== Phase 1 & 2 ===

While Nightmare is still spawning, stand right below where his weakpoint will be, with a beam charged. Just when the fight starts, shoot it up and follow it with a missile to end phase 1 instantly.

Stay below his weakpoint, using charged plasma shots to continuously damage it. Make sure that you get good clean shots that stay inside the weakpoint as long as possible, so the plasma beam deals maximum damage. You shouldn't lose more than 100 health by tanking hits, as long as you're shooting clean charged plasma shots. You should end this phase in around 4-5 shots. If you can time it well, firing a missile between each shot helps speed it up as well.

=== Phase 3 ===

While waiting for Nightmare's mask to fall off, grab the ladder on the left with a charge beam and get ready to aim right to his face. Just when it breaks off, release the plasma beam shot and mash on your ice missiles. Keep spamming ice missiles until he touches you and knocks you off (jump away early if you have less than 100 health, but you really shouldn't), then watch his patterns and react accordingly. Try to lure him into the center-right side of the room so he stops, and you can grab the ladder and pump missiles into him again. As long as you came into the fight maxed on missiles in any% (at least 40 missiles), you should easily finish Nightmare in two rounds during this phase. Try to finish nightmare as close to the right side as possible, as nightmare is the only non-core-x that also has a sweetspot (he slowly floats to his death spot before actually dying, so the closer he is to it, the less time he'll waste). Finish the core-x as standard.

== 1% ==

Nightmare in 1% is notorious for ending 1% runs as well as being the most difficult boss for 1% challenge runs. None of his attacks do at least 100 damage, but almost everything does at least 50. A rule in mind is that you can only take one hit safely before dying.

=== Phase 1 & 2 ===

This phase is significantly different, as you can't afford to take any hits. Instead, space jump in the top-left corner to lure him high up when he starts. Fall down, shoot a charged plasma shot up from below. If round 1 isn't done, then repeat until phase 2 starts.

You want to make sure he's very high up when starting phase 2 (aka when the high-gravity starts). He'll take a long time to hover all the way down; during this time, stand below him and repeatedly shoot plasma charged shots. As long as you're fine with your timing, you should easily finish this phase before he gets anywhere near you; run to the left and grab the ladder as in the any%/100% strat.

Note that you want all three parts of the plasma beam to hit his weakpoint in phase 2. The right arm wiggles left and right; if it's on the left when you shoot your plasma shot, then the right beam will tink on his arm. Once you can see Nightmare, time your shots so they go to his weakpoint while the right arm is swinging right, so it doesn't block it.

=== Phase 3 ===

Instead of pumping missiles as in any%/100%, you should keep alternating between charged plasma beam shots and ice missiles. Ice missiles are easy to squeeze in between plasma beam shots without slowing down your charged shots too much. When nightmare gets close, space jump out and space jump in the upper-right corner; observe which way he's going to chase you, and dodge accordingly, luring him into the sweetspot so he stops and you can start spamming shots again.

Alternatively, instead of making him stop to rush the ladder again, you can use the "jumprope" technique to lure it around the zone, so that you can keep damaging it as it's forced helplessly to chase you in circles. Note that once he's red in the face, his stopping zone is larger, so it may be best to intentionally stop him directly across from the ladder. This method takes longer, but it eliminates some extra random motions at the start-up of his chasing pattern, giving you more control of the fight.

While nightmare chases you, you should have a charged plasma shot, and try to R shoot his face while space jumping whenever the opportunity arises. Every little bit helps, and you need every little bit you can get.

Also, sometimes you'll have to jump through his arm to dodge. You can safely pseudo-screw attack through his arms without taking damage, which is more reason to constantly have your plasma beam charged.

Be sure to save one missile for the core-x.

= BOX-2 =

= Ridley =

The key to fighting Ridley is to use charged wave beam shots. Because of Ridley's huge hitbox, well-aimed shots will stay inside of him longer and potentially do several hundred damage per shot. However, his tail blocks wave beam shots, so always make sure your shot isn't going to be blocked early.

== 100% ==

The fastest strategy is to fight Ridley while on the ground.

At the start, stand to the right of Ridley. the moment Ridley comes out, jump and fire a charged wave shot diagonally down. Do it again. As he starts rising up, fire a charged wave shot diagonally up so it travels with him a few more frames. He'll fly to the right after; stand slightly right of the center of the room and shoot a charged wave shot up.

From here on out, Ridley's movements are essentially random. Prioritize shooting diagonal charged wave beam shots, but if his tail is blocking the way, don't be afraid to use vertical shots (or even jump and use a horizontal shot).

If your timing is very good, you can fire a diffusion missile in between every charged wave beam shot. If done optimally, adding a missile between every charge shot saves one or two extra charged wave beam shots in the long run. However, you should only fire missiles in between if your timing is very, very, very right.

== 1% ==

The easiest and most reliable strategy to defeat Ridley in 1% is the corner strategy.

While waiting for the fight to begin, charge your beam and keep B held the entire fight. Aim diagonally down and hold L the entire fight, without ever pressing up. Start space jumping in the upper left corner; Ridley will not be able to hit you here, and will simply hover back and forth as long as you time your space jumps correctly. R-shoot the beam diagonally down-right while Ridley stupidly hovers below you and repeat. It is recommended to shoot your beam while he hovers to the right, as the shot will stay inside of him longer, dealing more damage.

Be careful not to touch Ridley's tail during his death animation!

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwuq36zty9Y Ridley 1% Demonstration]

== Any% ==

Generally you should follow the 100% strategy. However, if you find yourself taking too much damage, near death, or simply unable to fight him on the ground without dying, then you can also use the 1% strategy as it is only marginally slower.

= SA-X =

The strategy is the same for all three categories. Be aware that a single hit will kill you in 1%, however.

== Phase 1 ==

When entering the big room before the Operations Deck, the fight activates when you approach the locked door at the top-left corner, when the room rumbles. Immediately when the room rumbles, run off right, stand on the right edge of the left platform, and fire a missile right. If well-timed, you should freeze the SA-X just as it lands on the right platform.

Do a straight jump high then fire a charged wave beam shot diagonally down with a missile immediately after (Hold L the entire time). The wave shot should heavily damage the SA-X (because it's staying inside the frozen SA-X longer), and it should be hit by the diffusion missile just before it thaws, so it stays frozen. Repeat this until it crouches in pain. The perfect fight finishes the SA-X in four charged wave beam shots, though five is generally standard.

Timing of the shots is key, as you have absolutely no room for error. You must start charging your beam the instant you fire your missile, you must fire your charge beam the moment it finishes charging, and you must fire the next missile almost at the same time as when you fire your beam. It's almost required to R-shot the charge beam so you're already ready to fire the missile within the next few frames. It's also almost required to let go of R the moment you shoot your missile, so you start charging as early as possible.

If you let the SA-X free, and it gets off the right platform, then fight it on the ground level. Freezing it should be easy; just keep in mind that you can't freeze it while it is screw attacking.

If the fastest strat proves to be too difficult and/or risky for you (and understandably so; it requires a lot of practice and is one of the most difficult strategies in the game), then when starting the fight, just go to the ground level and the SA-X will land to your left. You can use an easier diagonal strat by using shorter jumps while right next to it, which is only marginally slower.

If you can't use the diagonal strat, or it messes up your timing, then feel free to shoot your beam+missile horizontally from the ground level instead. It is much easier, though it will take roughly 7-9 shots to kill instead of 4-6.

== Phase 2 ==

Have a charged wave beam and stand right in front of it as it transforms into monster SA-X. Just after it finishes transforming, shoot the wave beam diagonally up-forward into it, then charge another beam and shoot vertically up. If done well, the second shot will kill it because the beam will travel with monster SA-X as it jumps up, doing a ridiculous amount of damage. Run to where it lands with a charged wave beam and shoot it during its death animation. The reason you want a third charged shot is insurance in case the first two didn't finish it, but you need to be near it after it lands for it to activate Phase 3.

== Phase 3 ==

This is the most dangerous beam core-x in the game, because the ice beam it shoots does over 100 damage, which will kill you in one hit in 1%, and should still be avoided in any%. Note that the Ice Beam Core-X cannot damage you while you are screw attacking; its ice beam doesn't damage you while screw attacking, nor does touching it. Use the typical strat of standing over the edge of a platform while the core-x hovers below you stupidly; just be careful not to hit its eye with a diffusion missile while it's still wiggling or else it might shoot straight up and hit you. Hit it after it stabilizes and aims diagonally. The Ice Beam Core-X takes 6 diffusion missiles to kill; after 5 missiles, start space jumping up to the top then shoot a missile down to kill it near the sweetspot; immediately go into spin to screw attack so the ice beam doesn't damage you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wh-UYBrRgQ SA-X Demonstration]

= Omega Metroid =

This boss is the same for all three categories.

After watching the SA-X get swiped by the Omega Metroid, charge your beam while jumping into the ice beam ability. Your beam will charge during the acquisition animation, which will let your first shot deal more damage.

The key to defeating Omega Metroid is to deal damage to it so fast that it continuously staggers. While it is against the right wall, there is a specific spot that Samus can stand such that by shooting diagonally into Omega Metroid's body, the center beam of the ice beam travels through it, dealing damage for every frame it is inside it.

Run towards the Omega Metroid to lure it to swipe you, dodge it by running left, then run into position during its cooldown from swiping. Once you're in position, start shooting the ice beam as fast as possible, and if you are shooting it quickly enough, it'll continuously stagger until it dies. If you feel like you're not in position, lure it to swipe again. At all costs, do not let Omega Metroid walk left or else you will lose your position, and you will have resort to the slower strategy of repeatedly running in, shooting a few times, then running out.

For 1%, be sure to practice this strategy as much as possible. One hit will kill you. This strategy, once practiced, is arguably safer than running back and forth as there are very few chances of Omega Metroid to swipe you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetyP4whRAU Video]of defeating the Omega Metroid quickly

Metroid Fusion/Boss Strategies

2013-06-20T07:06:45Z

JaggerG: /* 1% */

Metroid Fusion is notorious for its difficult boss battles, and as such, strategies are provided for all bosses.

= Arachnus =

== Any% ==

You should be coming into this fight with 20 missiles. Simply stand in front of him and spam missiles. He takes 15 missiles to go down, and his core-x takes 3 missiles, requiring 18 missiles total.

Arachnus has a random chance to roll, which he is invincible during this animation. If you are spamming missiles, you will usually tink 2 missiles on him; however, this is fine as you can afford to waste two missiles without having to rely on the core-x's drops.

Always leave at least one missile for the core-x (two if you want to double missile it at the start). If Arachnus is not down when you're at one or two missiles, then use your power beam to finish him. This should generally only happen if he rolls at least twice, which is very bad luck.

== 100% ==

This is more difficult than any%, as you come into the fight with only 19 missiles (thanks to being forced to get the second e-tank). If Arachnus rolls even once, you generally won't have enough to finish off the core-x without getting drops (You will lose 2 missiles, meaning 17 missiles, and Arachnus requires 15, so you will have 2 left for the core-x, which isn't enough). So try to predict if he'll roll or not and pause in your missile spam to minimize your chances of tinking missiles when he rolls.

If you tink more than one missile, you must get drops from the core-x.

== 1% ==

The 1% strategy for Arachnus is the same as any%, except to fire missiles only if the player knows he will hit Arachnus with the missile. It is best to save 1 or 2 missiles for the core-x. Otherwise spam beam shots to damage Arachnus. Don't be afraid to take hits, as you can take several, as long as you don't actually touch Arachnus himself.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20dgRr8mDOg Arachnus 1% Demonstration]

= Charge Beam Core-X =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Hit the ball in the chozo statue's hand by firing a curved diagonally downward missile (fire a missile diagonally while running), so you can hit it slightly earlier than with your beam.

Stand on the edge of the lower platform, where Samus is standing on it but still able to shoot missiles down. The core-x will be stuck below the platform, aiming diagonally, so it cannot hit Samus. Shoot missiles down when its eye opens; it takes 4 missiles to finish it.

You can finish it in two rounds rather than four if you can manage to do two double missiles, as this is the only beam core-x where it is viable to double missile it outside of TAS. Jump into the ceiling above, and after you start falling, fire your first missile, then fire the second missile as soon as possible. It's best if the second missile is fired immediately before landing, so get the hang of the height of the first missile in preparation. The timing is very precise, but as long as you have enough missiles, there is no reason to not go for it.

Assuming you're going to attempt every double missile, you should come in the room with at least 8 missiles to guarantee you will not lose time, but also have enough missiles for every possible double missile attempt (trying to double missile it if you've already hit the core-x with three missiles is useless). If you have fewer than 8 at the eye door, then grab the red-x.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_charge_beam_core_x.php Video]of doing two double missiles

= Zazabi =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Zazabi is a very random boss. He should typically be taken out in 4 rounds.

It is important to note that once you do enough damage in one round to destroy a segment, any extra damage before the next round does not add on damage.

When Zazabi is jumping around, pay attention to how he's jumping. If he suddenly jumps at a slower horizontal speed, then he's about to open his mouth. Get in position and fire your charge shot upward, followed by a few missiles. The number of jumps he does in the first three rounds is completely random; in the last segment, he will always open his mouth.

For the first three rounds, one well-aimed charge shot is enough to end a round. However, it is very easy to be slightly off on the aim and have only half the charge shot hit. So it is advisable to fire an extra missile to ensure that you finish the round, in case the entire charge beam doesn't hit.

The fourth round requires a charge beam and two missiles to finish him. It is recommended to fire three missiles instead of two though, for the same reasons as above.

Deal with the Core-X as usual. It takes four missiles to finish it, or two double missiles.

= Serris =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Serris has 50 health, so he can taken out with two close-range charge shots (a full hit with the flare does 26 damage). It is important to finish him in as few shots as possible, as every time he takes damage, he starts speed boosting, and he is invincible while speed boosting.

Serris has several patterns he can use:
* Straight across the room, left to right
* Straight across the room, right to left
* Zigzagging the platforms left to right, then jumping out right to left
* Zigzagging the platforms right to left, the jumping out left to right
* Serris dives out of a random gap and dives into another gap two gaps away

When the fight starts, Serris will always do the fourth pattern. You can consistently hit a full charge by either:

# Climb on the very left edge of the ceiling runs and aim left. Serris will fly straight into you; you can hit him here.
# Stand on the right edge of the 2nd platform from the right (the platform you step on when the floor crumbles) and aim diagonally up-right. Serris will come down directly in front of you.

The first option is generally the most preferred, and is faster as it hits Serris earlier. You should always be on one of the two center platforms, or on the rungs above them.

Dodging Serris is very easy once you know his patterns, and you want to dodge his speed boosting attacks since he's invincible during this time. Holding the ceiling runs will dodge all of his patterns except the latter half of both zig-zag patterns. If he uses a zig-zag pattern, then drop down after he zig-zags, then grab the rungs after he jumps over you.

For the second charge beam shot, the strategy comes down to reacting to which pattern Serris does and hitting him up-close. Pause buffering is a good starting strat, especially if you are focusing only on in-game time.

* The easiest pattern is the first two; you can easily just shoot him from standing on the platform just before he hits you.
* If he zig-zags right to left, you can shoot him on the 2nd platform from the left, or shoot him on the rungs above the 2nd platform from the right
* Vice-versa if he zig-zags left to right
* If he uses the last pattern, with a single small dive, and he ends his dive near you, you can hit him with a diagonal shot. However, his hitbox will be farther than if he was diving from a zigzag, so it is very difficult to hit him with a flared charge shot; it's advisable to simply wait until a different pattern.

Finish the core-x as standard. It takes 5 missiles, or two doubles and a single, to finish Serris. The room can make it very awkward to land a double missile on it; to lure the core-x in a higher position, either lure it low then walljump off the top of a wall to lure it high, or grab the rungs then drop down so it swings past you high up.

= BOX =

This fight is functionally the same in all three categories. However, you want to make sure to miss as few missiles as possible in any% and especially moreso in 1%, as you need every single super missile in 1%; if you use more than 10 super missiles in 1%, you will likely lose time later on as you need all 5 remaining super missiles.

BOX takes 10 super missiles to defeat. Run up to BOX aiming diagonally down while it's stuck in the wall. Get close to it, jump and shoot a charged beam and a missile diagonally down. If BOX is hit at the very start, he will immediately start jumping, which is what you want. The charge beam's purpose is not to deal damage (it doesn't affect how many missiles it takes to finish BOX), but rather, as insurance to make sure you can hit BOX to make him jump in case the missile misses.

After the initial hit, immediately grab the right edge of the rungs above. If you're fast, you can squeeze in some super missiles by shooting diagonally down-right before BOX is directly below you. When he is below you, you have just enough time to pump 4 super missiles directly down before he opens his cannon.

When he opens his cannon, climb to the left above the bomb. When he puts away his cannon, you can fire more supers diagonally down-right before he jumps again. Ideally he should be dead at this point.

If he is not yet done, then climb to the right edge of the rungs again (the fire pillars won't hit you) then wait for him to jump below you. Fire missiles directly down.

If he's still not dead, then just repeat the above two paragraphs.

= Mega-X =

Firing missiles at the mega-x while in the data room does NOT do anything!

When entering the boss room, come in with a charged beam, as it is the only weapon that damages it. It will appear once you jump right of the edge of the center platform. It will always start at the very top-left corner of the room.

== Any% / 100% ==

You can finish the Mega-X with four full flared charge shots. The most consistent method of doing these is to straight jump into the Mega-X, take damage, then shoot your beam while inside of it. Make sure to NOT spin jump or else you will pseudo-screw attack it.

== 1% ==

This strategy vastly differs from Any%, as without any energy tanks, Samus cannot reliably 4HKO Mega-X with flare shots without dying. As such, it is best to predict where Mega-X flies and hit it with charge shots from far away. The key is to not take damage during the fight. You can clear out some of its junk shield using flare hits to make sure the full charge beam hits in later rounds. You can combine the any/100% strat to finish faster if you're confident enough, or take damage from the junk to attempt to 4-round it if you're feeling extra saucy.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orE9sHQPXuo Mega-X 1% Demonstration]

The core-x takes 6 super missiles to finish. Three double super missiles will defeat it.

= Wide Beam Core-X =

This is the same in all three categories.

Similar to fighting the Charge Beam Core-X, after shooting the X scientist, stand on the right edge of the top left platform. Here, the core-x will get stuck underneath and aim diagonally, so as long as you stay above it, it can't hit you.

The Wide Beam Core-X takes four ice missiles to finish. Feel free to fire all four missiles while on this safe spot.

The faster strategy is to lure it down to the sweetspot of the Wide Beam ability after hitting it with two ice missiles. On the platform above, lure it left to give it some space, then while falling down, shoot your third ice missile left horizontally into its open eye. Wait a little at the right side of the bottom floor, then run left, jump and hit it in the middle of your ascent with the last missile when its eye opens at the sweetspot. At the height of your jump, fall right into the ability.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_wide_beam_core_x.php video]of sweetspotting it quickly.

= Yakuza =

The general strategy for Yakuza is the same for all three categories; minor difference will be mentioned. This is the most complicated, trick-filled, and fast-paced fight in the game, making it likely the most difficult boss to speedrun well.

== Phase 1 ==

The moment you land and the ground shakes, you can damage Yakuza before he comes down because his mouth is open to shoot fire. Stand in the center of the room and jump up, firing ice missiles while jumping up repeatedly. You'll hear him screech if you're damaging him; the missiles will only hit if you're jumping up.

After that, Yakuza will crawl around the room between 1-4 times randomly. To skip part of him crawling around the room once, you can jump into his claws to get grabbed, then break out by mashing left and right; this saves a little bit of time as long as you get grabbed higher up. Obviously you shouldn't do this in 1%.

To dodge him crawling, simply morph in the corner. This usually works; it only does not work if he starts crawling from the very opposite corner of you (i.e. if he stops at the very top left corner and starts crawling, he will grab you if you're morphed in the bottom-right corner).

Whether you get grabbed intentionally or dodge his crawl, whenever he eventually opens his mouth, fire one charge beam then a volley of missiles. As long as you damaged Yakuza before the fight started, you should easily be able to finish this round the first time he opens his mouth.

Yakuza has 1000 health. Once you have dealt at least 500 damage to him, he will start round 2 and reset to 500 HP. Thus, doing extra damage does not help unless you can somehow bring him to 0 health in one round.

== Phase 2 ==

Have a beam charged while Yakuza is transitioning. Just when his legs break off, you have just enough time to squeeze in a charged wide beam shot along with two ice missiles to quickly take off 125 damage, before he starts jumping.

There are two strategies you can use here: missile strat or charge beam strat. The missile strat is faster than the charge beam strat, but much more difficult and requires a strong instinct of knowing how yakuza moves randomly. In 1%, the charge beam strat must be used as you do not have enough missiles for the missile strategy.

=== Missile Strategy ===

The faster and more difficult option. The idea is to hit Yakuza with a missile as quickly as possible after each jump by jumping up with him and aiming properly. However, you have almost no time to predict where he'll go, so you need to have a very strong instinct of this round in order to use this strat. After hitting him with a missile in the air, land, then immediately jump to where you think he'll be next, and shoot a missile into him again. Repeat.

If you find the charge beam strategy too difficult to time, then feel free to fire missiles from the ground instead. While this is significantly slower, it gives you much more time to know where he'll be, and more room for error.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_yakuza.php video]of the full fight with the missile strategy.

=== Charge Beam Strategy ===

For this strategy, Samus will stay on the ground the entire time, using charged wide beam shots. Each complete space jump takes just enough time for Samus to barely charge her wide beam. So after Yakuza finishes a space jump, hit him with a charged wide beam shot then immediately start charging again and repeat.

If you miss a shot, then it is recommended to skip Yakuza's next space jump to ensure you have a fully charged shot. It is very easy to release the shot just before it's fully charged.

You must use this strategy for 1% as you do not have enough missiles to use the Missile Strategy.

Regardless of how you defeat Yakuza's second form, defeat his core-x as usual. It takes 6 ice missiles to defeat his core-x.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kza58WEWyJI video]of a 1% fight with the charge beam strategy

= Nettori =

Nettori has 2000 HP, and is one of the longest bosses in the game. Before entering the arena, immediately drop a power bomb just before falling down the crumble block, as it clears the pollen early in the fight to let you get on the safe spot, and also damages Nettori.

There are two safe spots that Samus can stand on reliably safely without getting hit by the pollen.

1. Samus cannot be hit by either flower if she is crouched on the very left edge of the right platform.

2. The left flower will stop dropping pollen if Samus is standing on the very righ edge of the right platform; the right flower will not hit Samus.

It is recommended to stand on the right edge, as it brings Samus closer to Nettori and allows her to damage the boss more quickly, but it is somewhat negligible and comes down to personal preference.

Strategies on which weapon to use depends on the category, as this is the one fight where having a high missile count changes how to damage Nettori.

Regardless of which strategy you use, after phase 1, Nettori starts firing plasma shots. If it fires a high shot, crouch to dodge it. If it fires a low shot, do a short hop and shoot at Nettori high. Regardless of which height it shoots at, you can always hit it with an ice missile at standing position.

After the plant is down, defeat the plasma beam core-x as standard. It takes five ice missiles to finish it.

== 100% ==

Samus's best form of DPS is spamming ice missiles, at least humanly possible. Planting power bombs will only slow down shooting ice missiles, and does only 10 more damage, so it is not worth planting power bombs (except dropping one for starting the fight). Charge beam should not be used either, except as the very first shot when starting the fight.

== 1% ==

Be prepared for a very tediously long charge-beam spam fest, as you only have 15 missiles and 10 power bombs.

Use a charge shot, then immediately after shooting it, fire a missile then start charging again. Repeat this until you're out of missiles. Whenever there isn't a power bomb on the screen, plant a power bomb in between charge shots as well. It is important to prioritize not taking a hit nor fall into the flowers, as the plasma beam does a lot of damage to Samus, and two hits will kill you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfGH7bh1Sxc 1% Demonstration]

== Any% ==

This fight can vary depending on how many missiles you have, and is the most complicated strategy; it is basically the 1% and 100% strats put together. 50 ice missiles are exactly enough to finish Nettori, so adding on the initial power bomb and wave beam shot, you can finish Nettori in about 48 missiles. In the ideal fusion any% route, you'll only have 40 missiles, but if you collected more expansions and have at least 50 missiles, then feel free to use the 100% strat.

Otherwise you'll have to compensate for the missing missiles. Take 48 - the number of missiles you have, and that's roughly how many charge beams and power bombs combined you will need to compensate. It is advised to fire an extra charge shot or two, as it is very easy to tink a missile on nettor's plasma shot. So follow the 1% strat until you've compensated for those missiles, then start spamming ice missiles.

= Nightmare =

== Any% / 100% ==

=== Phase 1 & 2 ===

While Nightmare is still spawning, stand right below where his weakpoint will be, with a beam charged. Just when the fight starts, shoot it up and follow it with a missile to end phase 1 instantly.

Stay below his weakpoint, using charged plasma shots to continuously damage it. Make sure that you get good clean shots that stay inside the weakpoint as long as possible, so the plasma beam deals maximum damage. You shouldn't lose more than 100 health by tanking hits, as long as you're shooting clean charged plasma shots. You should end this phase in around 4-5 shots. If you can time it well, firing a missile between each shot helps speed it up as well.

=== Phase 3 ===

While waiting for Nightmare's mask to fall off, grab the ladder on the left with a charge beam and get ready to aim right to his face. Just when it breaks off, release the plasma beam shot and mash on your ice missiles. Keep spamming ice missiles until he touches you and knocks you off (jump away early if you have less than 100 health, but you really shouldn't), then watch his patterns and react accordingly. Try to lure him into the center-right side of the room so he stops, and you can grab the ladder and pump missiles into him again. As long as you came into the fight maxed on missiles in any% (at least 40 missiles), you should easily finish Nightmare in two rounds during this phase. Try to finish nightmare as close to the right side as possible, as nightmare is the only non-core-x that also has a sweetspot (he slowly floats to his death spot before actually dying, so the closer he is to it, the less time he'll waste). Finish the core-x as standard.

== 1% ==

Nightmare in 1% is notorious for ending 1% runs as well as being the most difficult boss for 1% challenge runs. None of his attacks do at least 100 damage, but almost everything does at least 50. A rule in mind is that you can only take one hit safely before dying.

=== Phase 1 & 2 ===

This phase is significantly different, as you can't afford to take any hits. Instead, space jump in the top-left corner to lure him high up when he starts. Fall down, shoot a charged plasma shot up from below. If round 1 isn't done, then repeat until phase 2 starts.

You want to make sure he's very high up when starting phase 2 (aka when the high-gravity starts). He'll take a long time to hover all the way down; during this time, stand below him and repeatedly shoot plasma charged shots. As long as you're fine with your timing, you should easily finish this phase before he gets anywhere near you; run to the left and grab the ladder as in the any%/100% strat.

Note that you want all three parts of the plasma beam to hit his weakpoint in phase 2. The right arm wiggles left and right; if it's on the left when you shoot your plasma shot, then the right beam will tink on his arm. Once you can see Nightmare, time your shots so they go to his weakpoint while the right arm is swinging right, so it doesn't block it.

=== Phase 3 ===

Instead of pumping missiles as in any%/100%, you should keep alternating between charged plasma beam shots and ice missiles. Ice missiles are easy to squeeze in between plasma beam shots without slowing down your charged shots too much. When nightmare gets close, space jump out and space jump in the upper-right corner; observe which way he's going to chase you, and dodge accordingly, luring him into the sweetspot so he stops and you can start spamming shots again.

While nightmare chases you, you should have a charged plasma shot, and try to R shoot his face while space jumping whenever the opportunity arises. Every little bit helps, and you need every little bit you can get.

Also, sometimes you'll have to jump through his arm to dodge. You can safely pseudo-screw attack through his arms without taking damage, which is more reason to constantly have your plasma beam charged.

Be sure to save one missile for the core-x.

= BOX-2 =

= Ridley =

The key to fighting Ridley is to use charged wave beam shots. Because of Ridley's huge hitbox, well-aimed shots will stay inside of him longer and potentially do several hundred damage per shot. However, his tail blocks wave beam shots, so always make sure your shot isn't going to be blocked early.

== 100% ==

The fastest strategy is to fight Ridley while on the ground.

At the start, stand to the right of Ridley. the moment Ridley comes out, jump and fire a charged wave shot diagonally down. Do it again. As he starts rising up, fire a charged wave shot diagonally up so it travels with him a few more frames. He'll fly to the right after; stand slightly right of the center of the room and shoot a charged wave shot up.

From here on out, Ridley's movements are essentially random. Prioritize shooting diagonal charged wave beam shots, but if his tail is blocking the way, don't be afraid to use vertical shots (or even jump and use a horizontal shot).

If your timing is very good, you can fire a diffusion missile in between every charged wave beam shot. If done optimally, adding a missile between every charge shot saves one or two extra charged wave beam shots in the long run. However, you should only fire missiles in between if your timing is very, very, very right.

== 1% ==

The easiest and most reliable strategy to defeat Ridley in 1% is the corner strategy.

While waiting for the fight to begin, charge your beam and keep B held the entire fight. Aim diagonally down and hold L the entire fight, without ever pressing up. Start space jumping in the upper left corner; Ridley will not be able to hit you here, and will simply hover back and forth as long as you time your space jumps correctly. R-shoot the beam diagonally down-right while Ridley stupidly hovers below you and repeat. It is recommended to shoot your beam while he hovers to the right, as the shot will stay inside of him longer, dealing more damage.

Be careful not to touch Ridley's tail during his death animation!

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwuq36zty9Y Ridley 1% Demonstration]

== Any% ==

Generally you should follow the 100% strategy. However, if you find yourself taking too much damage, near death, or simply unable to fight him on the ground without dying, then you can also use the 1% strategy as it is only marginally slower.

= SA-X =

The strategy is the same for all three categories. Be aware that a single hit will kill you in 1%, however.

== Phase 1 ==

When entering the big room before the Operations Deck, the fight activates when you approach the locked door at the top-left corner, when the room rumbles. Immediately when the room rumbles, run off right, stand on the right edge of the left platform, and fire a missile right. If well-timed, you should freeze the SA-X just as it lands on the right platform.

Do a straight jump high then fire a charged wave beam shot diagonally down with a missile immediately after (Hold L the entire time). The wave shot should heavily damage the SA-X (because it's staying inside the frozen SA-X longer), and it should be hit by the diffusion missile just before it thaws, so it stays frozen. Repeat this until it crouches in pain. The perfect fight finishes the SA-X in four charged wave beam shots, though five is generally standard.

Timing of the shots is key, as you have absolutely no room for error. You must start charging your beam the instant you fire your missile, you must fire your charge beam the moment it finishes charging, and you must fire the next missile almost at the same time as when you fire your beam. It's almost required to R-shot the charge beam so you're already ready to fire the missile within the next few frames. It's also almost required to let go of R the moment you shoot your missile, so you start charging as early as possible.

If you let the SA-X free, and it gets off the right platform, then fight it on the ground level. Freezing it should be easy; just keep in mind that you can't freeze it while it is screw attacking.

If the fastest strat proves to be too difficult and/or risky for you (and understandably so; it requires a lot of practice and is one of the most difficult strategies in the game), then when starting the fight, just go to the ground level and the SA-X will land to your left. You can use an easier diagonal strat by using shorter jumps while right next to it, which is only marginally slower.

If you can't use the diagonal strat, or it messes up your timing, then feel free to shoot your beam+missile horizontally from the ground level instead. It is much easier, though it will take roughly 7-9 shots to kill instead of 4-6.

== Phase 2 ==

Have a charged wave beam and stand right in front of it as it transforms into monster SA-X. Just after it finishes transforming, shoot the wave beam diagonally up-forward into it, then charge another beam and shoot vertically up. If done well, the second shot will kill it because the beam will travel with monster SA-X as it jumps up, doing a ridiculous amount of damage. Run to where it lands with a charged wave beam and shoot it during its death animation. The reason you want a third charged shot is insurance in case the first two didn't finish it, but you need to be near it after it lands for it to activate Phase 3.

== Phase 3 ==

This is the most dangerous beam core-x in the game, because the ice beam it shoots does over 100 damage, which will kill you in one hit in 1%, and should still be avoided in any%. Note that the Ice Beam Core-X cannot damage you while you are screw attacking; its ice beam doesn't damage you while screw attacking, nor does touching it. Use the typical strat of standing over the edge of a platform while the core-x hovers below you stupidly; just be careful not to hit its eye with a diffusion missile while it's still wiggling or else it might shoot straight up and hit you. Hit it after it stabilizes and aims diagonally. The Ice Beam Core-X takes 6 diffusion missiles to kill; after 5 missiles, start space jumping up to the top then shoot a missile down to kill it near the sweetspot; immediately go into spin to screw attack so the ice beam doesn't damage you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wh-UYBrRgQ SA-X Demonstration]

= Omega Metroid =

This boss is the same for all three categories.

After watching the SA-X get swiped by the Omega Metroid, charge your beam while jumping into the ice beam ability. Your beam will charge during the acquisition animation, which will let your first shot deal more damage.

The key to defeating Omega Metroid is to deal damage to it so fast that it continuously staggers. While it is against the right wall, there is a specific spot that Samus can stand such that by shooting diagonally into Omega Metroid's body, the center beam of the ice beam travels through it, dealing damage for every frame it is inside it.

Run towards the Omega Metroid to lure it to swipe you, dodge it by running left, then run into position during its cooldown from swiping. Once you're in position, start shooting the ice beam as fast as possible, and if you are shooting it quickly enough, it'll continuously stagger until it dies. If you feel like you're not in position, lure it to swipe again. At all costs, do not let Omega Metroid walk left or else you will lose your position, and you will have resort to the slower strategy of repeatedly running in, shooting a few times, then running out.

For 1%, be sure to practice this strategy as much as possible. One hit will kill you. This strategy, once practiced, is arguably safer than running back and forth as there are very few chances of Omega Metroid to swipe you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetyP4whRAU Video]of defeating the Omega Metroid quickly

Metroid Fusion/Boss Strategies

2013-06-20T06:53:57Z

JaggerG: /* Charge Beam Core-X */

Metroid Fusion is notorious for its difficult boss battles, and as such, strategies are provided for all bosses.

= Arachnus =

== Any% ==

You should be coming into this fight with 20 missiles. Simply stand in front of him and spam missiles. He takes 15 missiles to go down, and his core-x takes 3 missiles, requiring 18 missiles total.

Arachnus has a random chance to roll, which he is invincible during this animation. If you are spamming missiles, you will usually tink 2 missiles on him; however, this is fine as you can afford to waste two missiles without having to rely on the core-x's drops.

Always leave at least one missile for the core-x (two if you want to double missile it at the start). If Arachnus is not down when you're at one or two missiles, then use your power beam to finish him. This should generally only happen if he rolls at least twice, which is very bad luck.

== 100% ==

This is more difficult than any%, as you come into the fight with only 19 missiles (thanks to being forced to get the second e-tank). If Arachnus rolls even once, you generally won't have enough to finish off the core-x without getting drops (You will lose 2 missiles, meaning 17 missiles, and Arachnus requires 15, so you will have 2 left for the core-x, which isn't enough). So try to predict if he'll roll or not and pause in your missile spam to minimize your chances of tinking missiles when he rolls.

If you tink more than one missile, you must get drops from the core-x.

== 1% ==

The 1% strategy for Arachnus is the same as any%, except to fire missiles only if the player knows he will hit Arachnus with the missile. It is best to save 1 or 2 missiles for the core-x. Otherwise spam beam shots to damage Arachnus. Don't be afraid to take hits, as you can take several, as long as you don't actually touch Arachnus himself.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20dgRr8mDOg Arachnus 1% Demonstration]

= Charge Beam Core-X =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Hit the ball in the chozo statue's hand by firing a curved diagonally downward missile (fire a missile diagonally while running), so you can hit it slightly earlier than with your beam.

Stand on the edge of the lower platform, where Samus is standing on it but still able to shoot missiles down. The core-x will be stuck below the platform, aiming diagonally, so it cannot hit Samus. Shoot missiles down when its eye opens; it takes 4 missiles to finish it.

You can finish it in two rounds rather than four if you can manage to do two double missiles, as this is the only beam core-x where it is viable to double missile it outside of TAS. Jump into the ceiling above, and after you start falling, fire your first missile, then fire the second missile as soon as possible. It's best if the second missile is fired immediately before landing, so get the hang of the height of the first missile in preparation. The timing is very precise, but as long as you have enough missiles, there is no reason to not go for it.

Assuming you're going to attempt every double missile, you should come in the room with at least 8 missiles to guarantee you will not lose time, but also have enough missiles for every possible double missile attempt (trying to double missile it if you've already hit the core-x with three missiles is useless). If you have fewer than 8 at the eye door, then grab the red-x.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_charge_beam_core_x.php Video]of doing two double missiles

= Zazabi =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Zazabi is a very random boss. He should typically be taken out in 4 rounds.

It is important to note that once you do enough damage in one round to destroy a segment, any extra damage before the next round does not add on damage.

When Zazabi is jumping around, pay attention to how he's jumping. If he suddenly jumps at a slower horizontal speed, then he's about to open his mouth. Get in position and fire your charge shot upward, followed by a few missiles. The number of jumps he does in the first three rounds is completely random; in the last segment, he will always open his mouth.

For the first three rounds, one well-aimed charge shot is enough to end a round. However, it is very easy to be slightly off on the aim and have only half the charge shot hit. So it is advisable to fire an extra missile to ensure that you finish the round, in case the entire charge beam doesn't hit.

The fourth round requires a charge beam and two missiles to finish him. It is recommended to fire three missiles instead of two though, for the same reasons as above.

Deal with the Core-X as usual. It takes four missiles to finish it, or two double missiles.

= Serris =

This fight is the same in all three categories.

Serris has 50 health, so he can taken out with two close-range charge shots (a full hit with the flare does 26 damage). It is important to finish him in as few shots as possible, as every time he takes damage, he starts speed boosting, and he is invincible while speed boosting.

Serris has several patterns he can use:
* Straight across the room, left to right
* Straight across the room, right to left
* Zigzagging the platforms left to right, then jumping out right to left
* Zigzagging the platforms right to left, the jumping out left to right
* Serris dives out of a random gap and dives into another gap two gaps away

When the fight starts, Serris will always do the fourth pattern. You can consistently hit a full charge by either:

# Climb on the very left edge of the ceiling runs and aim left. Serris will fly straight into you; you can hit him here.
# Stand on the right edge of the 2nd platform from the right (the platform you step on when the floor crumbles) and aim diagonally up-right. Serris will come down directly in front of you.

The first option is generally the most preferred, and is faster as it hits Serris earlier. You should always be on one of the two center platforms, or on the rungs above them.

Dodging Serris is very easy once you know his patterns, and you want to dodge his speed boosting attacks since he's invincible during this time. Holding the ceiling runs will dodge all of his patterns except the latter half of both zig-zag patterns. If he uses a zig-zag pattern, then drop down after he zig-zags, then grab the rungs after he jumps over you.

For the second charge beam shot, the strategy comes down to reacting to which pattern Serris does and hitting him up-close. Pause buffering is a good starting strat, especially if you are focusing only on in-game time.

* The easiest pattern is the first two; you can easily just shoot him from standing on the platform just before he hits you.
* If he zig-zags right to left, you can shoot him on the 2nd platform from the left, or shoot him on the rungs above the 2nd platform from the right
* Vice-versa if he zig-zags left to right
* If he uses the last pattern, with a single small dive, and he ends his dive near you, you can hit him with a diagonal shot. However, his hitbox will be farther than if he was diving from a zigzag, so it is very difficult to hit him with a flared charge shot; it's advisable to simply wait until a different pattern.

Finish the core-x as standard. It takes 5 missiles, or two doubles and a single, to finish Serris. The room can make it very awkward to land a double missile on it; to lure the core-x in a higher position, either lure it low then walljump off the top of a wall to lure it high, or grab the rungs then drop down so it swings past you high up.

= BOX =

This fight is functionally the same in all three categories. However, you want to make sure to miss as few missiles as possible in any% and especially moreso in 1%, as you need every single super missile in 1%; if you use more than 10 super missiles in 1%, you will likely lose time later on as you need all 5 remaining super missiles.

BOX takes 10 super missiles to defeat. Run up to BOX aiming diagonally down while it's stuck in the wall. Get close to it, jump and shoot a charged beam and a missile diagonally down. If BOX is hit at the very start, he will immediately start jumping, which is what you want. The charge beam's purpose is not to deal damage (it doesn't affect how many missiles it takes to finish BOX), but rather, as insurance to make sure you can hit BOX to make him jump in case the missile misses.

After the initial hit, immediately grab the right edge of the rungs above. If you're fast, you can squeeze in some super missiles by shooting diagonally down-right before BOX is directly below you. When he is below you, you have just enough time to pump 4 super missiles directly down before he opens his cannon.

When he opens his cannon, climb to the left above the bomb. When he puts away his cannon, you can fire more supers diagonally down-right before he jumps again. Ideally he should be dead at this point.

If he is not yet done, then climb to the right edge of the rungs again (the fire pillars won't hit you) then wait for him to jump below you. Fire missiles directly down.

If he's still not dead, then just repeat the above two paragraphs.

= Mega-X =

Firing missiles at the mega-x while in the data room does NOT do anything!

When entering the boss room, come in with a charged beam, as it is the only weapon that damages it. It will appear once you jump right of the edge of the center platform. It will always start at the very top-left corner of the room.

== Any% / 100% ==

You can finish the Mega-X with four full flared charge shots. The most consistent method of doing these is to straight jump into the Mega-X, take damage, then shoot your beam while inside of it. Make sure to NOT spin jump or else you will pseudo-screw attack it.

== 1% ==

This strategy vastly differs from Any%, as without any energy tanks, Samus cannot reliably 4HKO Mega-X with flare shots without dying. As such, it is best to predict where Mega-X flies and hit it with charge shots from far away. The key is to not take damage during the fight.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orE9sHQPXuo Mega-X 1% Demonstration]

The core-x takes 6 super missiles to finish. Three double super missiles will defeat it.

= Wide Beam Core-X =

This is the same in all three categories.

Similar to fighting the Charge Beam Core-X, after shooting the X scientist, stand on the right edge of the top left platform. Here, the core-x will get stuck underneath and aim diagonally, so as long as you stay above it, it can't hit you.

The Wide Beam Core-X takes four ice missiles to finish. Feel free to fire all four missiles while on this safe spot.

The faster strategy is to lure it down to the sweetspot of the Wide Beam ability after hitting it with two ice missiles. On the platform above, lure it left to give it some space, then while falling down, shoot your third ice missile left horizontally into its open eye. Wait a little at the right side of the bottom floor, then run left, jump and hit it in the middle of your ascent with the last missile when its eye opens at the sweetspot. At the height of your jump, fall right into the ability.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_wide_beam_core_x.php video]of sweetspotting it quickly.

= Yakuza =

The general strategy for Yakuza is the same for all three categories; minor difference will be mentioned. This is the most complicated, trick-filled, and fast-paced fight in the game, making it likely the most difficult boss to speedrun well.

== Phase 1 ==

The moment you land and the ground shakes, you can damage Yakuza before he comes down because his mouth is open to shoot fire. Stand in the center of the room and jump up, firing ice missiles while jumping up repeatedly. You'll hear him screech if you're damaging him; the missiles will only hit if you're jumping up.

After that, Yakuza will crawl around the room between 1-4 times randomly. To skip part of him crawling around the room once, you can jump into his claws to get grabbed, then break out by mashing left and right; this saves a little bit of time as long as you get grabbed higher up. Obviously you shouldn't do this in 1%.

To dodge him crawling, simply morph in the corner. This usually works; it only does not work if he starts crawling from the very opposite corner of you (i.e. if he stops at the very top left corner and starts crawling, he will grab you if you're morphed in the bottom-right corner).

Whether you get grabbed intentionally or dodge his crawl, whenever he eventually opens his mouth, fire one charge beam then a volley of missiles. As long as you damaged Yakuza before the fight started, you should easily be able to finish this round the first time he opens his mouth.

Yakuza has 1000 health. Once you have dealt at least 500 damage to him, he will start round 2 and reset to 500 HP. Thus, doing extra damage does not help unless you can somehow bring him to 0 health in one round.

== Phase 2 ==

Have a beam charged while Yakuza is transitioning. Just when his legs break off, you have just enough time to squeeze in a charged wide beam shot along with two ice missiles to quickly take off 125 damage, before he starts jumping.

There are two strategies you can use here: missile strat or charge beam strat. The missile strat is faster than the charge beam strat, but much more difficult and requires a strong instinct of knowing how yakuza moves randomly. In 1%, the charge beam strat must be used as you do not have enough missiles for the missile strategy.

=== Missile Strategy ===

The faster and more difficult option. The idea is to hit Yakuza with a missile as quickly as possible after each jump by jumping up with him and aiming properly. However, you have almost no time to predict where he'll go, so you need to have a very strong instinct of this round in order to use this strat. After hitting him with a missile in the air, land, then immediately jump to where you think he'll be next, and shoot a missile into him again. Repeat.

If you find the charge beam strategy too difficult to time, then feel free to fire missiles from the ground instead. While this is significantly slower, it gives you much more time to know where he'll be, and more room for error.

[http://www.metroid2002.com/fusion/boss_tricks_yakuza.php video]of the full fight with the missile strategy.

=== Charge Beam Strategy ===

For this strategy, Samus will stay on the ground the entire time, using charged wide beam shots. Each complete space jump takes just enough time for Samus to barely charge her wide beam. So after Yakuza finishes a space jump, hit him with a charged wide beam shot then immediately start charging again and repeat.

If you miss a shot, then it is recommended to skip Yakuza's next space jump to ensure you have a fully charged shot. It is very easy to release the shot just before it's fully charged.

You must use this strategy for 1% as you do not have enough missiles to use the Missile Strategy.

Regardless of how you defeat Yakuza's second form, defeat his core-x as usual. It takes 6 ice missiles to defeat his core-x.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kza58WEWyJI video]of a 1% fight with the charge beam strategy

= Nettori =

Nettori has 2000 HP, and is one of the longest bosses in the game. Before entering the arena, immediately drop a power bomb just before falling down the crumble block, as it clears the pollen early in the fight to let you get on the safe spot, and also damages Nettori.

There are two safe spots that Samus can stand on reliably safely without getting hit by the pollen.

1. Samus cannot be hit by either flower if she is crouched on the very left edge of the right platform.

2. The left flower will stop dropping pollen if Samus is standing on the very righ edge of the right platform; the right flower will not hit Samus.

It is recommended to stand on the right edge, as it brings Samus closer to Nettori and allows her to damage the boss more quickly, but it is somewhat negligible and comes down to personal preference.

Strategies on which weapon to use depends on the category, as this is the one fight where having a high missile count changes how to damage Nettori.

Regardless of which strategy you use, after phase 1, Nettori starts firing plasma shots. If it fires a high shot, crouch to dodge it. If it fires a low shot, do a short hop and shoot at Nettori high. Regardless of which height it shoots at, you can always hit it with an ice missile at standing position.

After the plant is down, defeat the plasma beam core-x as standard. It takes five ice missiles to finish it.

== 100% ==

Samus's best form of DPS is spamming ice missiles, at least humanly possible. Planting power bombs will only slow down shooting ice missiles, and does only 10 more damage, so it is not worth planting power bombs (except dropping one for starting the fight). Charge beam should not be used either, except as the very first shot when starting the fight.

== 1% ==

Be prepared for a very tediously long charge-beam spam fest, as you only have 15 missiles and 10 power bombs.

Use a charge shot, then immediately after shooting it, fire a missile then start charging again. Repeat this until you're out of missiles. Whenever there isn't a power bomb on the screen, plant a power bomb in between charge shots as well. It is important to prioritize not taking a hit nor fall into the flowers, as the plasma beam does a lot of damage to Samus, and two hits will kill you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfGH7bh1Sxc 1% Demonstration]

== Any% ==

This fight can vary depending on how many missiles you have, and is the most complicated strategy; it is basically the 1% and 100% strats put together. 50 ice missiles are exactly enough to finish Nettori, so adding on the initial power bomb and wave beam shot, you can finish Nettori in about 48 missiles. In the ideal fusion any% route, you'll only have 40 missiles, but if you collected more expansions and have at least 50 missiles, then feel free to use the 100% strat.

Otherwise you'll have to compensate for the missing missiles. Take 48 - the number of missiles you have, and that's roughly how many charge beams and power bombs combined you will need to compensate. It is advised to fire an extra charge shot or two, as it is very easy to tink a missile on nettor's plasma shot. So follow the 1% strat until you've compensated for those missiles, then start spamming ice missiles.

= Nightmare =

== Any% / 100% ==

=== Phase 1 & 2 ===

While Nightmare is still spawning, stand right below where his weakpoint will be, with a beam charged. Just when the fight starts, shoot it up and follow it with a missile to end phase 1 instantly.

Stay below his weakpoint, using charged plasma shots to continuously damage it. Make sure that you get good clean shots that stay inside the weakpoint as long as possible, so the plasma beam deals maximum damage. You shouldn't lose more than 100 health by tanking hits, as long as you're shooting clean charged plasma shots. You should end this phase in around 4-5 shots. If you can time it well, firing a missile between each shot helps speed it up as well.

=== Phase 3 ===

While waiting for Nightmare's mask to fall off, grab the ladder on the left with a charge beam and get ready to aim right to his face. Just when it breaks off, release the plasma beam shot and mash on your ice missiles. Keep spamming ice missiles until he touches you and knocks you off (jump away early if you have less than 100 health, but you really shouldn't), then watch his patterns and react accordingly. Try to lure him into the center-right side of the room so he stops, and you can grab the ladder and pump missiles into him again. As long as you came into the fight maxed on missiles in any% (at least 40 missiles), you should easily finish Nightmare in two rounds during this phase. Try to finish nightmare as close to the right side as possible, as nightmare is the only non-core-x that also has a sweetspot (he slowly floats to his death spot before actually dying, so the closer he is to it, the less time he'll waste). Finish the core-x as standard.

== 1% ==

Nightmare in 1% is notorious for ending 1% runs as well as being the most difficult boss for 1% challenge runs. None of his attacks do at least 100 damage, but almost everything does at least 50. A rule in mind is that you can only take one hit safely before dying.

=== Phase 1 & 2 ===

This phase is significantly different, as you can't afford to take any hits. Instead, space jump in the top-left corner to lure him high up when he starts. Fall down, shoot a charged plasma shot up from below. If round 1 isn't done, then repeat until phase 2 starts.

You want to make sure he's very high up when starting phase 2 (aka when the high-gravity starts). He'll take a long time to hover all the way down; during this time, stand below him and repeatedly shoot plasma charged shots. As long as you're fine with your timing, you should easily finish this phase before he gets anywhere near you; run to the left and grab the ladder as in the any%/100% strat.

Note that you want all three parts of the plasma beam to hit his weakpoint in phase 2. The right arm wiggles left and right; if it's on the left when you shoot your plasma shot, then the right beam will tink on his arm. Once you can see Nightmare, time your shots so they go to his weakpoint while the right arm is swinging right, so it doesn't block it.

=== Phase 3 ===

Instead of pumping missiles as in any%/100%, you should keep alternating between charged plasma beam shots and ice missiles. Ice missiles are easy to squeeze in between plasma beam shots without slowing down your charged shots too much. When nightmare gets close, space jump out and space jump in the upper-right corner; observe which way he's going to chase you, and dodge accordingly, luring him into the sweetspot so he stops and you can start spamming shots again.

While nightmare chases you, you should have a charged plasma shot, and try to R shoot his face while space jumping whenever the opportunity arises. Every little bit helps, and you need every little bit you can get.

Also, sometimes you'll have to jump through his arm to dodge. You can safely pseudo-screw attack through his arms without taking damage, which is more reason to constantly have your plasma beam charged.

Be sure to save one missile for the core-x.

= BOX-2 =

= Ridley =

The key to fighting Ridley is to use charged wave beam shots. Because of Ridley's huge hitbox, well-aimed shots will stay inside of him longer and potentially do several hundred damage per shot. However, his tail blocks wave beam shots, so always make sure your shot isn't going to be blocked early.

== 100% ==

The fastest strategy is to fight Ridley while on the ground.

At the start, stand to the right of Ridley. the moment Ridley comes out, jump and fire a charged wave shot diagonally down. Do it again. As he starts rising up, fire a charged wave shot diagonally up so it travels with him a few more frames. He'll fly to the right after; stand slightly right of the center of the room and shoot a charged wave shot up.

From here on out, Ridley's movements are essentially random. Prioritize shooting diagonal charged wave beam shots, but if his tail is blocking the way, don't be afraid to use vertical shots (or even jump and use a horizontal shot).

If your timing is very good, you can fire a diffusion missile in between every charged wave beam shot. If done optimally, adding a missile between every charge shot saves one or two extra charged wave beam shots in the long run. However, you should only fire missiles in between if your timing is very, very, very right.

== 1% ==

The easiest and most reliable strategy to defeat Ridley in 1% is the corner strategy.

While waiting for the fight to begin, charge your beam and keep B held the entire fight. Aim diagonally down and hold L the entire fight, without ever pressing up. Start space jumping in the upper left corner; Ridley will not be able to hit you here, and will simply hover back and forth as long as you time your space jumps correctly. R-shoot the beam diagonally down-right while Ridley stupidly hovers below you and repeat. It is recommended to shoot your beam while he hovers to the right, as the shot will stay inside of him longer, dealing more damage.

Be careful not to touch Ridley's tail during his death animation!

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwuq36zty9Y Ridley 1% Demonstration]

== Any% ==

Generally you should follow the 100% strategy. However, if you find yourself taking too much damage, near death, or simply unable to fight him on the ground without dying, then you can also use the 1% strategy as it is only marginally slower.

= SA-X =

The strategy is the same for all three categories. Be aware that a single hit will kill you in 1%, however.

== Phase 1 ==

When entering the big room before the Operations Deck, the fight activates when you approach the locked door at the top-left corner, when the room rumbles. Immediately when the room rumbles, run off right, stand on the right edge of the left platform, and fire a missile right. If well-timed, you should freeze the SA-X just as it lands on the right platform.

Do a straight jump high then fire a charged wave beam shot diagonally down with a missile immediately after (Hold L the entire time). The wave shot should heavily damage the SA-X (because it's staying inside the frozen SA-X longer), and it should be hit by the diffusion missile just before it thaws, so it stays frozen. Repeat this until it crouches in pain. The perfect fight finishes the SA-X in four charged wave beam shots, though five is generally standard.

Timing of the shots is key, as you have absolutely no room for error. You must start charging your beam the instant you fire your missile, you must fire your charge beam the moment it finishes charging, and you must fire the next missile almost at the same time as when you fire your beam. It's almost required to R-shot the charge beam so you're already ready to fire the missile within the next few frames. It's also almost required to let go of R the moment you shoot your missile, so you start charging as early as possible.

If you let the SA-X free, and it gets off the right platform, then fight it on the ground level. Freezing it should be easy; just keep in mind that you can't freeze it while it is screw attacking.

If the fastest strat proves to be too difficult and/or risky for you (and understandably so; it requires a lot of practice and is one of the most difficult strategies in the game), then when starting the fight, just go to the ground level and the SA-X will land to your left. You can use an easier diagonal strat by using shorter jumps while right next to it, which is only marginally slower.

If you can't use the diagonal strat, or it messes up your timing, then feel free to shoot your beam+missile horizontally from the ground level instead. It is much easier, though it will take roughly 7-9 shots to kill instead of 4-6.

== Phase 2 ==

Have a charged wave beam and stand right in front of it as it transforms into monster SA-X. Just after it finishes transforming, shoot the wave beam diagonally up-forward into it, then charge another beam and shoot vertically up. If done well, the second shot will kill it because the beam will travel with monster SA-X as it jumps up, doing a ridiculous amount of damage. Run to where it lands with a charged wave beam and shoot it during its death animation. The reason you want a third charged shot is insurance in case the first two didn't finish it, but you need to be near it after it lands for it to activate Phase 3.

== Phase 3 ==

This is the most dangerous beam core-x in the game, because the ice beam it shoots does over 100 damage, which will kill you in one hit in 1%, and should still be avoided in any%. Note that the Ice Beam Core-X cannot damage you while you are screw attacking; its ice beam doesn't damage you while screw attacking, nor does touching it. Use the typical strat of standing over the edge of a platform while the core-x hovers below you stupidly; just be careful not to hit its eye with a diffusion missile while it's still wiggling or else it might shoot straight up and hit you. Hit it after it stabilizes and aims diagonally. The Ice Beam Core-X takes 6 diffusion missiles to kill; after 5 missiles, start space jumping up to the top then shoot a missile down to kill it near the sweetspot; immediately go into spin to screw attack so the ice beam doesn't damage you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wh-UYBrRgQ SA-X Demonstration]

= Omega Metroid =

This boss is the same for all three categories.

After watching the SA-X get swiped by the Omega Metroid, charge your beam while jumping into the ice beam ability. Your beam will charge during the acquisition animation, which will let your first shot deal more damage.

The key to defeating Omega Metroid is to deal damage to it so fast that it continuously staggers. While it is against the right wall, there is a specific spot that Samus can stand such that by shooting diagonally into Omega Metroid's body, the center beam of the ice beam travels through it, dealing damage for every frame it is inside it.

Run towards the Omega Metroid to lure it to swipe you, dodge it by running left, then run into position during its cooldown from swiping. Once you're in position, start shooting the ice beam as fast as possible, and if you are shooting it quickly enough, it'll continuously stagger until it dies. If you feel like you're not in position, lure it to swipe again. At all costs, do not let Omega Metroid walk left or else you will lose your position, and you will have resort to the slower strategy of repeatedly running in, shooting a few times, then running out.

For 1%, be sure to practice this strategy as much as possible. One hit will kill you. This strategy, once practiced, is arguably safer than running back and forth as there are very few chances of Omega Metroid to swipe you.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetyP4whRAU Video]of defeating the Omega Metroid quickly

Metroid Fusion/Game Mechanics and Tricks

2013-06-20T06:37:56Z

JaggerG: /* Ladder Jump */

= Timing =

Timing standards by the metroid fusion speedrunning community go by in-game time. This means your final time is the time shown at the end of the game, after the credits. The in-game timer counts anytime you see the playing screen, including:

* Anytime you see Samus moving and/or have control over her
* Item acquisition cutscenes
* Seeing Samus's ship move

Things that don't count towards the in-game timer include:

* Door transitions
* Dialogue with Adam
* Samus's monologues

For racing, RTA timing begins upon hitting "Start Game" on a 00:00 Main Deck File, or "Continue" on a 00:00 Main Deck New Game+ File. RTA Timing ends upon losing control of Samus, or the moment Samus gets beamed back into her ship after defeating Omega Metroid.

= Starting a 00:00 Main Deck File =

Resetting in Metroid Fusion would normally be very long, painful, and timewasting because of the very long introduction cutscene with slow text that is at least 5 minutes long. Fortunately, the game provides a way to start with an empty file without having to trudge through that introductory cutscene with every attempt via getting a 00:00 Main Deck File.

On a fresh file, start the game and go through the introduction cutscene. Once you see Samus's ship land in the ship, and the computer starts talking to you, then soft reset. The file you started on should now be a 00:00 Main Deck file, where all you have to do is go through a few boxes of dialog then you can immediately start playing.

A New Game+ File is especially handy for keeping count of your item count, and also your current in-game time in minutes. A New Game+ file is shown on the file select screen with the screw attack symbol on the right side of the file. To get that symbol, simply play a file and beat it. The file will still be at the last spot you saved, but you will now have that symbol.

To have a 00:00 Main Deck File with the New Game+ attributes, first get a standard 00:00 Main Deck File. Then play through the file and beat the game without saving. That 00:00 Main Deck File will now have the New Game+ Symbol.

= General Movement Tips =

* Run as much as possible, and jump as little as possible. Jumping is horizontally twice as slower than running.
* If in the air and you need to move horizontally, avoid being in morph ball. Morph ball moves horizontally slower in the air than spin jumping.
* Land as little as possible. Every time Samus land, she has a landing animation and must then accelerate to start running again.
* Avoid taking hits as much as possible, as Samus gets knocked back very far, and you typically lose almost a second for each unintentional hit.
* Killing enemies in the way is generally faster than jumping over them or taking hits. It is even better to kill them without stopping. This is usually done by aiming diagonally down while running and using charge beam or missiles to finish off the enemy in the first half of the game.
* If you have power bombs and there are bomb blocks to destroy, plant power bombs as early as possible that can reach the bomb blocks, as this is faster than using normal bombs up close.
** This applies more to 100%, but screw attack destroys individual bomb blocks as well.
* Every eye door after charge beam can be destroyed in one shot. For Zazabi's and Serris's eyedoor, use a close-range charge beam shot to hit with the flare to one hit KO it. All eyedoors after that can be destroyed by a single missile (since you should have super missiles or stronger), or a flare-hit charge shot.
* Whenever the morph ball fall from a high height and lands, it spends a little time stopping and bouncing. If you have fast fingers, you can avoid this by unmorphing and morphing again a few blocks before landing, so you don't bounce.
* If given the option between the two, always space boost (or jump with speed boost) instead of shinespark, as shinesparking has a considerable startup and bonking lag that makes it usually slower.
* When space jumping, Samus must be at maximum falling speed in order to space jump again. Because your vertical speed decreases as you approach the pinnacle of your jump, you ascend faster overall for higher climbs if you release the A button about 2/3 the height of each jump.
** On the other hand, some situations call for using full jumps to reach ledges just short enough to reach in one jump less.
** If there are ladders, or enemies that you can freeze, then it is better to ladder jump or hijump off of frozen enemies, respectively.
* There are several spots in the game where there is a one-sided gate right after a door. The easiest way to shoot them without stopping is to charge your beam and hold L to aim diagonally up before going through the door before the gate. During the door transition, let go of B but keep holding L. Samus will shoot the beam at the earliest possible frame, which will always unlock the gate.
** One exception where this may not work is the gate after Ice Missiles and/or Power bombs in Sector 5. If you started running from too far left, then Samus will activate her speed boost before shooting the gate, and thus she'll run into the gate before opening it.
* Avoid power gripping whenever possible. Use jump extends or walljumps to avoid power gripping, as it is relatively slow to climb up ledges.

= Wall Jumping =

Walljumping is a technique to gain height and/or cross longer distances to speed up certain rooms.

If walljumping off of a right wall, spin jump towards the wall and press right against the wall. After touching the wall, press left then A to walljump off of it. Samus can walljump off of any physical object as long as the bottom of her hitbox is touching the object she is attempting to walljump off of it.

Walljumping is useful to reach a higher height more quickly. Furthermore, the spinjump from a walljump also has 50% more horizontal speed than a normal spin jump, so it is useful for horizontal distances, or simply crossing horizontal gaps more quickly.

* You cannot walljump on a single wall and gain height (unless done underwater without gravity suit), like in zero mission
* You cannot walljump anymore after obtaining space jump.
* You can pull change direction quickly in a walljump by pressing A again during the walljump. This lets you pull back towards the wall quickly and walljump again on the same wall if you like (but you can't gain height).

= R Shoot =

While Samus has her beam charged and has at least one missile available, tapping R makes her automatically shoot it. However, an R shot is different from shooting her beam normally as R shooting does not affect Samus's current state. In other words, Samus's movement will continue as if she did not shoot at all.

The R shot allows you to shoot your beam while spin jumping, without breaking out of spin. This is the most practical use for R shots, and is required to open doors while spaceboosting. It is also useful for shooting your beam while climbing across ceiling bars without stopping.

= Shinespark =

Shinesparking is a basic technique that speeds up many parts of the game. While running with a speed boost, crouch at any time to Shine Charge. To shinespark, press A from the ground without pressing a direction. During the start-up animation, press a direction to shinespark in that direction; Samus can shinespark horizontally, up, or diagonally up in either direction. Samus will then shoot herself in that direction, and will not stop until she hits an object.

To shinespark in the air, press A with a shine charge while samus is in aerial standing position, then press a direction during the startup. Samus can spinjump with a shine charge without shinesparking, but to shinespark, you must break out of her spin before trying to shinespark.

If Samus shinesparks horizontally or diagonally into a slope, and the horizontal direction on the d-pad is held, then Samus will continue running on that slope with speed booster. You can then shine charge again and repeat.

Shinesparking is the fastest form of movement in the game, and is very slightly faster than speed boosting and space boosting. However, there is a considerable startup animation and a long bonk animation, which makes shinesparking primarily useful only if you can cancel the bonk by hitting a slope, or usually only for long rooms. In other words, avoid shinesparking short distances, and if you can, space boost.

= Space Boost =

Space boosting is space jumping while speed boosting. This move horizontally as fast as running on flat ground with speed boost. This is one of the best forms of movement after obtaining space jump, as there is no start up nor delay unlike with shinesparking. However, it is also the most difficult technique to master, as touching any solid object besides a ceiling from below will stop Samus. Pressing any direction besides forward will also stop the space boost. Shooting anything will cause Samus to break out of spin, which stops the space boost, meaning to open doors while space boosting, you need to charge your beam and R shoot the door while space boosting.

Though space boosting is used in all categories, it is most prominently used in 100%, particularly during Sector 6 Cleanup.

= Double Missile =

The standard technique for double missiles is used for defeating the core-x of bosses more quickly. Typically, against a normal core-x, you hit it with a single missile then it is invincible for a few seconds, and you repeat. However, by hitting it with two missiles on the same frame, you can skip one round with each successful double missile.

The key to double missiling a core-x is the fact that the core-x's hitbox is a square. The standard method is to lure it to come sideways from high up, and shoot two missiles upward as closely together as possible. If done correctly, the side of the core-x's square hitbox will hit the two missiles and both missiles will hit it.

With the standard method, while aiming up and holding R, fire a missile up, immediately jump vertically, then while still rising in your jump, fire the second missile as early as possible. The first missile will have been fired as low as possible, and the second missile as high and early as possible, so both will be very close together.

If you have normal missiles, you can also hit the core-x easily if it's low. Simply stand near the core-x, and while it's forming, fire two missiles quickly. If done at the right time, both missiles will be inside the core-x by the time it forms, and it will be hit by both.

The timing for the double missile varies depending on what kind of missiles you have. Each upgrade to your missiles increases the cooldown after firing a missile, and the missile also travels faster than the previous type. Thus each upgrade makes it more and more difficult to double missile. The player should be able to master the timing for all four types (normal, super, ice, diffusion) to reliably double missile all standard core-x.

Beam Core-X are near impossible to double missile, mainly because the hitbox is much, much smaller, so both missiles must be at the same spot on the same frame. It is unviable to double missile any beam core-x besides the charge beam core-x.

List of Core-X and how many missiles they take:
* Arachnus - 3
* Charge Beam - 4
* Zazabi - 4
* Serris - 5
* Mega-X - 6
* Wide Beam - 4
* Yakuza - 6
* Nettori - 5
* Nightmare - 6
* BOX-2 - 4
* Ridley - 6

You can also double-missile eye doors, specifically before Arachnus and the Charge Beam core. To do so, you must stand about 3 blocks back, jump straight up, simultaneously hit A and B, then land and shoot another missile as soon as possible. The key here is that, for some reason, if Samus is changing animations, the missile starts from the back of her sprite, thus your second missile is fired in front of the first. If you're spaced at the right distance and timed your missiles exactly right, the first missile catches up to the second as they hit the eye. This is obviously the hardest of the double missile strategies, and even the best players get it less than 10% of the time, but you need to grab the red X to refill missiles regardless, so there's practically no cost to attempt it.

= Ladder Jump =

This is a technique used primarily in 100%.

This can only be done after obtaining space jump, or if submerged in liquid before Gravity Suit. Samus can jump off the ladder, pull back towards the ladder, and grab it again, then repeat. If done quickly, this is faster than space jumping manually, as you never lose any height for each jump.

Assuming Samus is facing a left ladder, simply press right, press A, immediately press and hold left until she grabs it, then repeat.

The only use for it in any% and 1% is the short ladder immediately after obtaining diffusion missiles. However, this technique of climbing rooms is used often during 100% cleanup.

= Jump Extend =

Every time Samus breaks out of her spin in the air, her vertical velocity is set to a constant and she stays in the air for a very slight amount of time. This gives her a very slight boost in horizontal distance for a jump, hence the name. By linking multiple jump extends in one jump, Samus can gain a few extra pixels of distance. The most common way to jump extend is while spin jumping, alternate between pressing B and A.

While it is a very minor technique, it helps turn several pixel-perfect jumps into just difficult jumps. It can also make the difference between power gripping a ledge and landing on it.

= Golden Pirates =

The game intends for you to damage the gold pirates with charge shots on the back. However, the game only checks if both Samus and the pirate are facing the same direction when calculating if the beam should damage the pirate or not.

The fastest way to kill a golden pirate is to have a charged wave beam and face a golden pirate that is facing Samus, shoot it, then immediately turn around. Both Samus and the pirate will be facing the same direction, and the charged wave beam shot should finish it in one hit.

= Underwater Wall Jump =

Samus can walljump on a single wall and gain height if she does it underwater without Gravity Suit. However, she gains very little height with each walljump, and it requires very fast fingers. After doing a walljump, immediately pull back towards the wall and walljump again.

This technique is almost useless, except for one trick. After speed booster, you can leave backwards from Serris's tank and get out of the alcove with the underwater walljump. If done quickly and on the first try, this saves less than a few seconds than taking the standard route.

= Weapon Information <ref name="Damage">Dump of damage data for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission by PJ Boy - http://tasvideos.org/PJBoy/Dump.html</ref> =

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
! Name !! Base Damage !! Charge Damage !! Flare Damage !! Pseudo Screw Damage !! Cooldown (frames)
|-
| Normal Beam || 2 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Charge Beam || 4 || 20 || 6 || 14 || 6
|-
| Wide Beam || 9 || 45 || 9 || 21 || 6
|-
| Plasma Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 12 || 30 || 6
|-
| Wave Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Ice Beam || 18/frame || 36/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Missile || 10 || - || - || - || 8
|-
| Super Missile || 30 || - || - || - || 13
|-
| Ice Missile || 40 || - || - || - || 14
|-
| Diffusion Missile || 45 || - || - || - || 15
|-
| Bomb || 8 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Power Bomb || 50 || - || - || - || 4
|}

* Charging the diffusion missile does not do any more damage. However, the spreading flakes do 1 damage.
* Plasma, Wave, and Ice Beam have the property to travel through most enemies, including some bosses. Thus they deal damage for every frame they travel inside the target.
* There can be a maximum of three beams, two missiles, four bombs, and one power bomb on the screen at a time.
* Ice and Diffusion Missiles have the property that they do not one hit KO enemies they freeze on the first hit.
* It is very obvious that the wide, plasma, wave, and ice beam have three parts. However, the charge beam is actually two shots put into one; you can confirm this by shooting a wall and noticing two hitboxes that hit the wall. As a result, for strats relying on charge beam, it's important to make sure both parts hit, rather than only half of the beam.

= References =
<references />

Metroid Fusion/Game Mechanics and Tricks

2013-06-20T06:35:37Z

JaggerG: /* Double Missile */

= Timing =

Timing standards by the metroid fusion speedrunning community go by in-game time. This means your final time is the time shown at the end of the game, after the credits. The in-game timer counts anytime you see the playing screen, including:

* Anytime you see Samus moving and/or have control over her
* Item acquisition cutscenes
* Seeing Samus's ship move

Things that don't count towards the in-game timer include:

* Door transitions
* Dialogue with Adam
* Samus's monologues

For racing, RTA timing begins upon hitting "Start Game" on a 00:00 Main Deck File, or "Continue" on a 00:00 Main Deck New Game+ File. RTA Timing ends upon losing control of Samus, or the moment Samus gets beamed back into her ship after defeating Omega Metroid.

= Starting a 00:00 Main Deck File =

Resetting in Metroid Fusion would normally be very long, painful, and timewasting because of the very long introduction cutscene with slow text that is at least 5 minutes long. Fortunately, the game provides a way to start with an empty file without having to trudge through that introductory cutscene with every attempt via getting a 00:00 Main Deck File.

On a fresh file, start the game and go through the introduction cutscene. Once you see Samus's ship land in the ship, and the computer starts talking to you, then soft reset. The file you started on should now be a 00:00 Main Deck file, where all you have to do is go through a few boxes of dialog then you can immediately start playing.

A New Game+ File is especially handy for keeping count of your item count, and also your current in-game time in minutes. A New Game+ file is shown on the file select screen with the screw attack symbol on the right side of the file. To get that symbol, simply play a file and beat it. The file will still be at the last spot you saved, but you will now have that symbol.

To have a 00:00 Main Deck File with the New Game+ attributes, first get a standard 00:00 Main Deck File. Then play through the file and beat the game without saving. That 00:00 Main Deck File will now have the New Game+ Symbol.

= General Movement Tips =

* Run as much as possible, and jump as little as possible. Jumping is horizontally twice as slower than running.
* If in the air and you need to move horizontally, avoid being in morph ball. Morph ball moves horizontally slower in the air than spin jumping.
* Land as little as possible. Every time Samus land, she has a landing animation and must then accelerate to start running again.
* Avoid taking hits as much as possible, as Samus gets knocked back very far, and you typically lose almost a second for each unintentional hit.
* Killing enemies in the way is generally faster than jumping over them or taking hits. It is even better to kill them without stopping. This is usually done by aiming diagonally down while running and using charge beam or missiles to finish off the enemy in the first half of the game.
* If you have power bombs and there are bomb blocks to destroy, plant power bombs as early as possible that can reach the bomb blocks, as this is faster than using normal bombs up close.
** This applies more to 100%, but screw attack destroys individual bomb blocks as well.
* Every eye door after charge beam can be destroyed in one shot. For Zazabi's and Serris's eyedoor, use a close-range charge beam shot to hit with the flare to one hit KO it. All eyedoors after that can be destroyed by a single missile (since you should have super missiles or stronger), or a flare-hit charge shot.
* Whenever the morph ball fall from a high height and lands, it spends a little time stopping and bouncing. If you have fast fingers, you can avoid this by unmorphing and morphing again a few blocks before landing, so you don't bounce.
* If given the option between the two, always space boost (or jump with speed boost) instead of shinespark, as shinesparking has a considerable startup and bonking lag that makes it usually slower.
* When space jumping, Samus must be at maximum falling speed in order to space jump again. Because your vertical speed decreases as you approach the pinnacle of your jump, you ascend faster overall for higher climbs if you release the A button about 2/3 the height of each jump.
** On the other hand, some situations call for using full jumps to reach ledges just short enough to reach in one jump less.
** If there are ladders, or enemies that you can freeze, then it is better to ladder jump or hijump off of frozen enemies, respectively.
* There are several spots in the game where there is a one-sided gate right after a door. The easiest way to shoot them without stopping is to charge your beam and hold L to aim diagonally up before going through the door before the gate. During the door transition, let go of B but keep holding L. Samus will shoot the beam at the earliest possible frame, which will always unlock the gate.
** One exception where this may not work is the gate after Ice Missiles and/or Power bombs in Sector 5. If you started running from too far left, then Samus will activate her speed boost before shooting the gate, and thus she'll run into the gate before opening it.
* Avoid power gripping whenever possible. Use jump extends or walljumps to avoid power gripping, as it is relatively slow to climb up ledges.

= Wall Jumping =

Walljumping is a technique to gain height and/or cross longer distances to speed up certain rooms.

If walljumping off of a right wall, spin jump towards the wall and press right against the wall. After touching the wall, press left then A to walljump off of it. Samus can walljump off of any physical object as long as the bottom of her hitbox is touching the object she is attempting to walljump off of it.

Walljumping is useful to reach a higher height more quickly. Furthermore, the spinjump from a walljump also has 50% more horizontal speed than a normal spin jump, so it is useful for horizontal distances, or simply crossing horizontal gaps more quickly.

* You cannot walljump on a single wall and gain height (unless done underwater without gravity suit), like in zero mission
* You cannot walljump anymore after obtaining space jump.
* You can pull change direction quickly in a walljump by pressing A again during the walljump. This lets you pull back towards the wall quickly and walljump again on the same wall if you like (but you can't gain height).

= R Shoot =

While Samus has her beam charged and has at least one missile available, tapping R makes her automatically shoot it. However, an R shot is different from shooting her beam normally as R shooting does not affect Samus's current state. In other words, Samus's movement will continue as if she did not shoot at all.

The R shot allows you to shoot your beam while spin jumping, without breaking out of spin. This is the most practical use for R shots, and is required to open doors while spaceboosting. It is also useful for shooting your beam while climbing across ceiling bars without stopping.

= Shinespark =

Shinesparking is a basic technique that speeds up many parts of the game. While running with a speed boost, crouch at any time to Shine Charge. To shinespark, press A from the ground without pressing a direction. During the start-up animation, press a direction to shinespark in that direction; Samus can shinespark horizontally, up, or diagonally up in either direction. Samus will then shoot herself in that direction, and will not stop until she hits an object.

To shinespark in the air, press A with a shine charge while samus is in aerial standing position, then press a direction during the startup. Samus can spinjump with a shine charge without shinesparking, but to shinespark, you must break out of her spin before trying to shinespark.

If Samus shinesparks horizontally or diagonally into a slope, and the horizontal direction on the d-pad is held, then Samus will continue running on that slope with speed booster. You can then shine charge again and repeat.

Shinesparking is the fastest form of movement in the game, and is very slightly faster than speed boosting and space boosting. However, there is a considerable startup animation and a long bonk animation, which makes shinesparking primarily useful only if you can cancel the bonk by hitting a slope, or usually only for long rooms. In other words, avoid shinesparking short distances, and if you can, space boost.

= Space Boost =

Space boosting is space jumping while speed boosting. This move horizontally as fast as running on flat ground with speed boost. This is one of the best forms of movement after obtaining space jump, as there is no start up nor delay unlike with shinesparking. However, it is also the most difficult technique to master, as touching any solid object besides a ceiling from below will stop Samus. Pressing any direction besides forward will also stop the space boost. Shooting anything will cause Samus to break out of spin, which stops the space boost, meaning to open doors while space boosting, you need to charge your beam and R shoot the door while space boosting.

Though space boosting is used in all categories, it is most prominently used in 100%, particularly during Sector 6 Cleanup.

= Double Missile =

The standard technique for double missiles is used for defeating the core-x of bosses more quickly. Typically, against a normal core-x, you hit it with a single missile then it is invincible for a few seconds, and you repeat. However, by hitting it with two missiles on the same frame, you can skip one round with each successful double missile.

The key to double missiling a core-x is the fact that the core-x's hitbox is a square. The standard method is to lure it to come sideways from high up, and shoot two missiles upward as closely together as possible. If done correctly, the side of the core-x's square hitbox will hit the two missiles and both missiles will hit it.

With the standard method, while aiming up and holding R, fire a missile up, immediately jump vertically, then while still rising in your jump, fire the second missile as early as possible. The first missile will have been fired as low as possible, and the second missile as high and early as possible, so both will be very close together.

If you have normal missiles, you can also hit the core-x easily if it's low. Simply stand near the core-x, and while it's forming, fire two missiles quickly. If done at the right time, both missiles will be inside the core-x by the time it forms, and it will be hit by both.

The timing for the double missile varies depending on what kind of missiles you have. Each upgrade to your missiles increases the cooldown after firing a missile, and the missile also travels faster than the previous type. Thus each upgrade makes it more and more difficult to double missile. The player should be able to master the timing for all four types (normal, super, ice, diffusion) to reliably double missile all standard core-x.

Beam Core-X are near impossible to double missile, mainly because the hitbox is much, much smaller, so both missiles must be at the same spot on the same frame. It is unviable to double missile any beam core-x besides the charge beam core-x.

List of Core-X and how many missiles they take:
* Arachnus - 3
* Charge Beam - 4
* Zazabi - 4
* Serris - 5
* Mega-X - 6
* Wide Beam - 4
* Yakuza - 6
* Nettori - 5
* Nightmare - 6
* BOX-2 - 4
* Ridley - 6

You can also double-missile eye doors, specifically before Arachnus and the Charge Beam core. To do so, you must stand about 3 blocks back, jump straight up, simultaneously hit A and B, then land and shoot another missile as soon as possible. The key here is that, for some reason, if Samus is changing animations, the missile starts from the back of her sprite, thus your second missile is fired in front of the first. If you're spaced at the right distance and timed your missiles exactly right, the first missile catches up to the second as they hit the eye. This is obviously the hardest of the double missile strategies, and even the best players get it less than 10% of the time, but you need to grab the red X to refill missiles regardless, so there's practically no cost to attempt it.

= Ladder Jump =

This is a technique used primarily in 100%.

This can only be done after obtaining space jump. Samus can jump off the ladder, pull back towards the ladder, and grab it again, then repeat. If done quickly, this is faster than space jumping manually, as you never lose any height for each jump.

Assuming Samus is facing a left ladder, simply press right, press A, immediately press and hold left until she grabs it, then repeat.

The only use for it in any% and 1% is the short ladder immediately after obtaining diffusion missiles. However, this technique of climbing rooms is used often during 100% cleanup.

= Jump Extend =

Every time Samus breaks out of her spin in the air, her vertical velocity is set to a constant and she stays in the air for a very slight amount of time. This gives her a very slight boost in horizontal distance for a jump, hence the name. By linking multiple jump extends in one jump, Samus can gain a few extra pixels of distance. The most common way to jump extend is while spin jumping, alternate between pressing B and A.

While it is a very minor technique, it helps turn several pixel-perfect jumps into just difficult jumps. It can also make the difference between power gripping a ledge and landing on it.

= Golden Pirates =

The game intends for you to damage the gold pirates with charge shots on the back. However, the game only checks if both Samus and the pirate are facing the same direction when calculating if the beam should damage the pirate or not.

The fastest way to kill a golden pirate is to have a charged wave beam and face a golden pirate that is facing Samus, shoot it, then immediately turn around. Both Samus and the pirate will be facing the same direction, and the charged wave beam shot should finish it in one hit.

= Underwater Wall Jump =

Samus can walljump on a single wall and gain height if she does it underwater without Gravity Suit. However, she gains very little height with each walljump, and it requires very fast fingers. After doing a walljump, immediately pull back towards the wall and walljump again.

This technique is almost useless, except for one trick. After speed booster, you can leave backwards from Serris's tank and get out of the alcove with the underwater walljump. If done quickly and on the first try, this saves less than a few seconds than taking the standard route.

= Weapon Information <ref name="Damage">Dump of damage data for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission by PJ Boy - http://tasvideos.org/PJBoy/Dump.html</ref> =

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
! Name !! Base Damage !! Charge Damage !! Flare Damage !! Pseudo Screw Damage !! Cooldown (frames)
|-
| Normal Beam || 2 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Charge Beam || 4 || 20 || 6 || 14 || 6
|-
| Wide Beam || 9 || 45 || 9 || 21 || 6
|-
| Plasma Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 12 || 30 || 6
|-
| Wave Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Ice Beam || 18/frame || 36/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Missile || 10 || - || - || - || 8
|-
| Super Missile || 30 || - || - || - || 13
|-
| Ice Missile || 40 || - || - || - || 14
|-
| Diffusion Missile || 45 || - || - || - || 15
|-
| Bomb || 8 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Power Bomb || 50 || - || - || - || 4
|}

* Charging the diffusion missile does not do any more damage. However, the spreading flakes do 1 damage.
* Plasma, Wave, and Ice Beam have the property to travel through most enemies, including some bosses. Thus they deal damage for every frame they travel inside the target.
* There can be a maximum of three beams, two missiles, four bombs, and one power bomb on the screen at a time.
* Ice and Diffusion Missiles have the property that they do not one hit KO enemies they freeze on the first hit.
* It is very obvious that the wide, plasma, wave, and ice beam have three parts. However, the charge beam is actually two shots put into one; you can confirm this by shooting a wall and noticing two hitboxes that hit the wall. As a result, for strats relying on charge beam, it's important to make sure both parts hit, rather than only half of the beam.

= References =
<references />

Metroid Fusion/Game Mechanics and Tricks

2013-06-20T06:18:05Z

JaggerG: /* R Shoot */

= Timing =

Timing standards by the metroid fusion speedrunning community go by in-game time. This means your final time is the time shown at the end of the game, after the credits. The in-game timer counts anytime you see the playing screen, including:

* Anytime you see Samus moving and/or have control over her
* Item acquisition cutscenes
* Seeing Samus's ship move

Things that don't count towards the in-game timer include:

* Door transitions
* Dialogue with Adam
* Samus's monologues

For racing, RTA timing begins upon hitting "Start Game" on a 00:00 Main Deck File, or "Continue" on a 00:00 Main Deck New Game+ File. RTA Timing ends upon losing control of Samus, or the moment Samus gets beamed back into her ship after defeating Omega Metroid.

= Starting a 00:00 Main Deck File =

Resetting in Metroid Fusion would normally be very long, painful, and timewasting because of the very long introduction cutscene with slow text that is at least 5 minutes long. Fortunately, the game provides a way to start with an empty file without having to trudge through that introductory cutscene with every attempt via getting a 00:00 Main Deck File.

On a fresh file, start the game and go through the introduction cutscene. Once you see Samus's ship land in the ship, and the computer starts talking to you, then soft reset. The file you started on should now be a 00:00 Main Deck file, where all you have to do is go through a few boxes of dialog then you can immediately start playing.

A New Game+ File is especially handy for keeping count of your item count, and also your current in-game time in minutes. A New Game+ file is shown on the file select screen with the screw attack symbol on the right side of the file. To get that symbol, simply play a file and beat it. The file will still be at the last spot you saved, but you will now have that symbol.

To have a 00:00 Main Deck File with the New Game+ attributes, first get a standard 00:00 Main Deck File. Then play through the file and beat the game without saving. That 00:00 Main Deck File will now have the New Game+ Symbol.

= General Movement Tips =

* Run as much as possible, and jump as little as possible. Jumping is horizontally twice as slower than running.
* If in the air and you need to move horizontally, avoid being in morph ball. Morph ball moves horizontally slower in the air than spin jumping.
* Land as little as possible. Every time Samus land, she has a landing animation and must then accelerate to start running again.
* Avoid taking hits as much as possible, as Samus gets knocked back very far, and you typically lose almost a second for each unintentional hit.
* Killing enemies in the way is generally faster than jumping over them or taking hits. It is even better to kill them without stopping. This is usually done by aiming diagonally down while running and using charge beam or missiles to finish off the enemy in the first half of the game.
* If you have power bombs and there are bomb blocks to destroy, plant power bombs as early as possible that can reach the bomb blocks, as this is faster than using normal bombs up close.
** This applies more to 100%, but screw attack destroys individual bomb blocks as well.
* Every eye door after charge beam can be destroyed in one shot. For Zazabi's and Serris's eyedoor, use a close-range charge beam shot to hit with the flare to one hit KO it. All eyedoors after that can be destroyed by a single missile (since you should have super missiles or stronger), or a flare-hit charge shot.
* Whenever the morph ball fall from a high height and lands, it spends a little time stopping and bouncing. If you have fast fingers, you can avoid this by unmorphing and morphing again a few blocks before landing, so you don't bounce.
* If given the option between the two, always space boost (or jump with speed boost) instead of shinespark, as shinesparking has a considerable startup and bonking lag that makes it usually slower.
* When space jumping, Samus must be at maximum falling speed in order to space jump again. Because your vertical speed decreases as you approach the pinnacle of your jump, you ascend faster overall for higher climbs if you release the A button about 2/3 the height of each jump.
** On the other hand, some situations call for using full jumps to reach ledges just short enough to reach in one jump less.
** If there are ladders, or enemies that you can freeze, then it is better to ladder jump or hijump off of frozen enemies, respectively.
* There are several spots in the game where there is a one-sided gate right after a door. The easiest way to shoot them without stopping is to charge your beam and hold L to aim diagonally up before going through the door before the gate. During the door transition, let go of B but keep holding L. Samus will shoot the beam at the earliest possible frame, which will always unlock the gate.
** One exception where this may not work is the gate after Ice Missiles and/or Power bombs in Sector 5. If you started running from too far left, then Samus will activate her speed boost before shooting the gate, and thus she'll run into the gate before opening it.
* Avoid power gripping whenever possible. Use jump extends or walljumps to avoid power gripping, as it is relatively slow to climb up ledges.

= Wall Jumping =

Walljumping is a technique to gain height and/or cross longer distances to speed up certain rooms.

If walljumping off of a right wall, spin jump towards the wall and press right against the wall. After touching the wall, press left then A to walljump off of it. Samus can walljump off of any physical object as long as the bottom of her hitbox is touching the object she is attempting to walljump off of it.

Walljumping is useful to reach a higher height more quickly. Furthermore, the spinjump from a walljump also has 50% more horizontal speed than a normal spin jump, so it is useful for horizontal distances, or simply crossing horizontal gaps more quickly.

* You cannot walljump on a single wall and gain height (unless done underwater without gravity suit), like in zero mission
* You cannot walljump anymore after obtaining space jump.
* You can pull change direction quickly in a walljump by pressing A again during the walljump. This lets you pull back towards the wall quickly and walljump again on the same wall if you like (but you can't gain height).

= R Shoot =

While Samus has her beam charged and has at least one missile available, tapping R makes her automatically shoot it. However, an R shot is different from shooting her beam normally as R shooting does not affect Samus's current state. In other words, Samus's movement will continue as if she did not shoot at all.

The R shot allows you to shoot your beam while spin jumping, without breaking out of spin. This is the most practical use for R shots, and is required to open doors while spaceboosting. It is also useful for shooting your beam while climbing across ceiling bars without stopping.

= Shinespark =

Shinesparking is a basic technique that speeds up many parts of the game. While running with a speed boost, crouch at any time to Shine Charge. To shinespark, press A from the ground without pressing a direction. During the start-up animation, press a direction to shinespark in that direction; Samus can shinespark horizontally, up, or diagonally up in either direction. Samus will then shoot herself in that direction, and will not stop until she hits an object.

To shinespark in the air, press A with a shine charge while samus is in aerial standing position, then press a direction during the startup. Samus can spinjump with a shine charge without shinesparking, but to shinespark, you must break out of her spin before trying to shinespark.

If Samus shinesparks horizontally or diagonally into a slope, and the horizontal direction on the d-pad is held, then Samus will continue running on that slope with speed booster. You can then shine charge again and repeat.

Shinesparking is the fastest form of movement in the game, and is very slightly faster than speed boosting and space boosting. However, there is a considerable startup animation and a long bonk animation, which makes shinesparking primarily useful only if you can cancel the bonk by hitting a slope, or usually only for long rooms. In other words, avoid shinesparking short distances, and if you can, space boost.

= Space Boost =

Space boosting is space jumping while speed boosting. This move horizontally as fast as running on flat ground with speed boost. This is one of the best forms of movement after obtaining space jump, as there is no start up nor delay unlike with shinesparking. However, it is also the most difficult technique to master, as touching any solid object besides a ceiling from below will stop Samus. Pressing any direction besides forward will also stop the space boost. Shooting anything will cause Samus to break out of spin, which stops the space boost, meaning to open doors while space boosting, you need to charge your beam and R shoot the door while space boosting.

Though space boosting is used in all categories, it is most prominently used in 100%, particularly during Sector 6 Cleanup.

= Double Missile =

The standard technique for double missiles is used for defeating the core-x of bosses more quickly. Typically, against a normal core-x, you hit it with a single missile then it is invincible for a few seconds, and you repeat. However, by hitting it with two missiles on the same frame, you can skip one round with each successful double missile.

The key to double missiling a core-x is the fact that the core-x's hitbox is a square. The standard method is to lure it to come sideways from high up, and shoot two missiles upward as closely together as possible. If done correctly, the side of the core-x's square hitbox will hit the two missiles and both missiles will hit it.

With the standard method, while aiming up and holding R, fire a missile up, immediately jump vertically, then while still rising in your jump, fire the second missile as early as possible. The first missile will have been fired as low as possible, and the second missile as high and early as possible, so both will be very close together.

If you have normal missiles, you can also hit the core-x easily if it's low. Simply stand near the core-x, and while it's forming, fire two missiles quickly. If done at the right time, both missiles will be inside the core-x by the time it forms, and it will be hit by both.

The timing for the double missile varies depending on what kind of missiles you have. Each upgrade to your missiles increases the cooldown after firing a missile, and the missile also travels faster than the previous type. Thus each upgrade makes it more and more difficult to double missile. The player should be able to master the timing for all four types (normal, super, ice, diffusion) to reliably double missile all standard core-x.

Beam Core-X are near impossible to double missile, mainly because the hitbox is much, much smaller, so both missiles must be at the same spot on the same frame. It is unviable to double missile any beam core-x besides the charge beam core-x.

List of Core-X and how many missiles they take:
* Arachnus - 3
* Charge Beam - 4
* Zazabi - 4
* Serris - 5
* Mega-X - 6
* Wide Beam - 4
* Yakuza - 6
* Nettori - 5
* Nightmare - 6
* BOX-2 - 4
* Ridley - 6

= Ladder Jump =

This is a technique used primarily in 100%.

This can only be done after obtaining space jump. Samus can jump off the ladder, pull back towards the ladder, and grab it again, then repeat. If done quickly, this is faster than space jumping manually, as you never lose any height for each jump.

Assuming Samus is facing a left ladder, simply press right, press A, immediately press and hold left until she grabs it, then repeat.

The only use for it in any% and 1% is the short ladder immediately after obtaining diffusion missiles. However, this technique of climbing rooms is used often during 100% cleanup.

= Jump Extend =

Every time Samus breaks out of her spin in the air, her vertical velocity is set to a constant and she stays in the air for a very slight amount of time. This gives her a very slight boost in horizontal distance for a jump, hence the name. By linking multiple jump extends in one jump, Samus can gain a few extra pixels of distance. The most common way to jump extend is while spin jumping, alternate between pressing B and A.

While it is a very minor technique, it helps turn several pixel-perfect jumps into just difficult jumps. It can also make the difference between power gripping a ledge and landing on it.

= Golden Pirates =

The game intends for you to damage the gold pirates with charge shots on the back. However, the game only checks if both Samus and the pirate are facing the same direction when calculating if the beam should damage the pirate or not.

The fastest way to kill a golden pirate is to have a charged wave beam and face a golden pirate that is facing Samus, shoot it, then immediately turn around. Both Samus and the pirate will be facing the same direction, and the charged wave beam shot should finish it in one hit.

= Underwater Wall Jump =

Samus can walljump on a single wall and gain height if she does it underwater without Gravity Suit. However, she gains very little height with each walljump, and it requires very fast fingers. After doing a walljump, immediately pull back towards the wall and walljump again.

This technique is almost useless, except for one trick. After speed booster, you can leave backwards from Serris's tank and get out of the alcove with the underwater walljump. If done quickly and on the first try, this saves less than a few seconds than taking the standard route.

= Weapon Information <ref name="Damage">Dump of damage data for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission by PJ Boy - http://tasvideos.org/PJBoy/Dump.html</ref> =

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
! Name !! Base Damage !! Charge Damage !! Flare Damage !! Pseudo Screw Damage !! Cooldown (frames)
|-
| Normal Beam || 2 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Charge Beam || 4 || 20 || 6 || 14 || 6
|-
| Wide Beam || 9 || 45 || 9 || 21 || 6
|-
| Plasma Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 12 || 30 || 6
|-
| Wave Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Ice Beam || 18/frame || 36/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Missile || 10 || - || - || - || 8
|-
| Super Missile || 30 || - || - || - || 13
|-
| Ice Missile || 40 || - || - || - || 14
|-
| Diffusion Missile || 45 || - || - || - || 15
|-
| Bomb || 8 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Power Bomb || 50 || - || - || - || 4
|}

* Charging the diffusion missile does not do any more damage. However, the spreading flakes do 1 damage.
* Plasma, Wave, and Ice Beam have the property to travel through most enemies, including some bosses. Thus they deal damage for every frame they travel inside the target.
* There can be a maximum of three beams, two missiles, four bombs, and one power bomb on the screen at a time.
* Ice and Diffusion Missiles have the property that they do not one hit KO enemies they freeze on the first hit.
* It is very obvious that the wide, plasma, wave, and ice beam have three parts. However, the charge beam is actually two shots put into one; you can confirm this by shooting a wall and noticing two hitboxes that hit the wall. As a result, for strats relying on charge beam, it's important to make sure both parts hit, rather than only half of the beam.

= References =
<references />

Metroid Fusion/Game Mechanics and Tricks

2013-06-20T06:13:15Z

JaggerG: /* General Movement Tips */

= Timing =

Timing standards by the metroid fusion speedrunning community go by in-game time. This means your final time is the time shown at the end of the game, after the credits. The in-game timer counts anytime you see the playing screen, including:

* Anytime you see Samus moving and/or have control over her
* Item acquisition cutscenes
* Seeing Samus's ship move

Things that don't count towards the in-game timer include:

* Door transitions
* Dialogue with Adam
* Samus's monologues

For racing, RTA timing begins upon hitting "Start Game" on a 00:00 Main Deck File, or "Continue" on a 00:00 Main Deck New Game+ File. RTA Timing ends upon losing control of Samus, or the moment Samus gets beamed back into her ship after defeating Omega Metroid.

= Starting a 00:00 Main Deck File =

Resetting in Metroid Fusion would normally be very long, painful, and timewasting because of the very long introduction cutscene with slow text that is at least 5 minutes long. Fortunately, the game provides a way to start with an empty file without having to trudge through that introductory cutscene with every attempt via getting a 00:00 Main Deck File.

On a fresh file, start the game and go through the introduction cutscene. Once you see Samus's ship land in the ship, and the computer starts talking to you, then soft reset. The file you started on should now be a 00:00 Main Deck file, where all you have to do is go through a few boxes of dialog then you can immediately start playing.

A New Game+ File is especially handy for keeping count of your item count, and also your current in-game time in minutes. A New Game+ file is shown on the file select screen with the screw attack symbol on the right side of the file. To get that symbol, simply play a file and beat it. The file will still be at the last spot you saved, but you will now have that symbol.

To have a 00:00 Main Deck File with the New Game+ attributes, first get a standard 00:00 Main Deck File. Then play through the file and beat the game without saving. That 00:00 Main Deck File will now have the New Game+ Symbol.

= General Movement Tips =

* Run as much as possible, and jump as little as possible. Jumping is horizontally twice as slower than running.
* If in the air and you need to move horizontally, avoid being in morph ball. Morph ball moves horizontally slower in the air than spin jumping.
* Land as little as possible. Every time Samus land, she has a landing animation and must then accelerate to start running again.
* Avoid taking hits as much as possible, as Samus gets knocked back very far, and you typically lose almost a second for each unintentional hit.
* Killing enemies in the way is generally faster than jumping over them or taking hits. It is even better to kill them without stopping. This is usually done by aiming diagonally down while running and using charge beam or missiles to finish off the enemy in the first half of the game.
* If you have power bombs and there are bomb blocks to destroy, plant power bombs as early as possible that can reach the bomb blocks, as this is faster than using normal bombs up close.
** This applies more to 100%, but screw attack destroys individual bomb blocks as well.
* Every eye door after charge beam can be destroyed in one shot. For Zazabi's and Serris's eyedoor, use a close-range charge beam shot to hit with the flare to one hit KO it. All eyedoors after that can be destroyed by a single missile (since you should have super missiles or stronger), or a flare-hit charge shot.
* Whenever the morph ball fall from a high height and lands, it spends a little time stopping and bouncing. If you have fast fingers, you can avoid this by unmorphing and morphing again a few blocks before landing, so you don't bounce.
* If given the option between the two, always space boost (or jump with speed boost) instead of shinespark, as shinesparking has a considerable startup and bonking lag that makes it usually slower.
* When space jumping, Samus must be at maximum falling speed in order to space jump again. Because your vertical speed decreases as you approach the pinnacle of your jump, you ascend faster overall for higher climbs if you release the A button about 2/3 the height of each jump.
** On the other hand, some situations call for using full jumps to reach ledges just short enough to reach in one jump less.
** If there are ladders, or enemies that you can freeze, then it is better to ladder jump or hijump off of frozen enemies, respectively.
* There are several spots in the game where there is a one-sided gate right after a door. The easiest way to shoot them without stopping is to charge your beam and hold L to aim diagonally up before going through the door before the gate. During the door transition, let go of B but keep holding L. Samus will shoot the beam at the earliest possible frame, which will always unlock the gate.
** One exception where this may not work is the gate after Ice Missiles and/or Power bombs in Sector 5. If you started running from too far left, then Samus will activate her speed boost before shooting the gate, and thus she'll run into the gate before opening it.
* Avoid power gripping whenever possible. Use jump extends or walljumps to avoid power gripping, as it is relatively slow to climb up ledges.

= Wall Jumping =

Walljumping is a technique to gain height and/or cross longer distances to speed up certain rooms.

If walljumping off of a right wall, spin jump towards the wall and press right against the wall. After touching the wall, press left then A to walljump off of it. Samus can walljump off of any physical object as long as the bottom of her hitbox is touching the object she is attempting to walljump off of it.

Walljumping is useful to reach a higher height more quickly. Furthermore, the spinjump from a walljump also has 50% more horizontal speed than a normal spin jump, so it is useful for horizontal distances, or simply crossing horizontal gaps more quickly.

* You cannot walljump on a single wall and gain height (unless done underwater without gravity suit), like in zero mission
* You cannot walljump anymore after obtaining space jump.
* You can pull change direction quickly in a walljump by pressing A again during the walljump. This lets you pull back towards the wall quickly and walljump again on the same wall if you like (but you can't gain height).

= R Shoot =

While Samus has her beam charged, tapping R makes her automatically shoot it. However, an R shot is different from shooting her beam normally as R shooting does not affect Samus's current state. In other words, Samus's movement will continue as if she did not shoot at all.

The R shot allows you to shoot your beam while spin jumping, without breaking out of spin. This is the most practical use for R shots, and is required to open doors while spaceboosting. It is also useful for shooting your beam while climbing across ceiling bars without stopping.

= Shinespark =

Shinesparking is a basic technique that speeds up many parts of the game. While running with a speed boost, crouch at any time to Shine Charge. To shinespark, press A from the ground without pressing a direction. During the start-up animation, press a direction to shinespark in that direction; Samus can shinespark horizontally, up, or diagonally up in either direction. Samus will then shoot herself in that direction, and will not stop until she hits an object.

To shinespark in the air, press A with a shine charge while samus is in aerial standing position, then press a direction during the startup. Samus can spinjump with a shine charge without shinesparking, but to shinespark, you must break out of her spin before trying to shinespark.

If Samus shinesparks horizontally or diagonally into a slope, and the horizontal direction on the d-pad is held, then Samus will continue running on that slope with speed booster. You can then shine charge again and repeat.

Shinesparking is the fastest form of movement in the game, and is very slightly faster than speed boosting and space boosting. However, there is a considerable startup animation and a long bonk animation, which makes shinesparking primarily useful only if you can cancel the bonk by hitting a slope, or usually only for long rooms. In other words, avoid shinesparking short distances, and if you can, space boost.

= Space Boost =

Space boosting is space jumping while speed boosting. This move horizontally as fast as running on flat ground with speed boost. This is one of the best forms of movement after obtaining space jump, as there is no start up nor delay unlike with shinesparking. However, it is also the most difficult technique to master, as touching any solid object besides a ceiling from below will stop Samus. Pressing any direction besides forward will also stop the space boost. Shooting anything will cause Samus to break out of spin, which stops the space boost, meaning to open doors while space boosting, you need to charge your beam and R shoot the door while space boosting.

Though space boosting is used in all categories, it is most prominently used in 100%, particularly during Sector 6 Cleanup.

= Double Missile =

The standard technique for double missiles is used for defeating the core-x of bosses more quickly. Typically, against a normal core-x, you hit it with a single missile then it is invincible for a few seconds, and you repeat. However, by hitting it with two missiles on the same frame, you can skip one round with each successful double missile.

The key to double missiling a core-x is the fact that the core-x's hitbox is a square. The standard method is to lure it to come sideways from high up, and shoot two missiles upward as closely together as possible. If done correctly, the side of the core-x's square hitbox will hit the two missiles and both missiles will hit it.

With the standard method, while aiming up and holding R, fire a missile up, immediately jump vertically, then while still rising in your jump, fire the second missile as early as possible. The first missile will have been fired as low as possible, and the second missile as high and early as possible, so both will be very close together.

If you have normal missiles, you can also hit the core-x easily if it's low. Simply stand near the core-x, and while it's forming, fire two missiles quickly. If done at the right time, both missiles will be inside the core-x by the time it forms, and it will be hit by both.

The timing for the double missile varies depending on what kind of missiles you have. Each upgrade to your missiles increases the cooldown after firing a missile, and the missile also travels faster than the previous type. Thus each upgrade makes it more and more difficult to double missile. The player should be able to master the timing for all four types (normal, super, ice, diffusion) to reliably double missile all standard core-x.

Beam Core-X are near impossible to double missile, mainly because the hitbox is much, much smaller, so both missiles must be at the same spot on the same frame. It is unviable to double missile any beam core-x besides the charge beam core-x.

List of Core-X and how many missiles they take:
* Arachnus - 3
* Charge Beam - 4
* Zazabi - 4
* Serris - 5
* Mega-X - 6
* Wide Beam - 4
* Yakuza - 6
* Nettori - 5
* Nightmare - 6
* BOX-2 - 4
* Ridley - 6

= Ladder Jump =

This is a technique used primarily in 100%.

This can only be done after obtaining space jump. Samus can jump off the ladder, pull back towards the ladder, and grab it again, then repeat. If done quickly, this is faster than space jumping manually, as you never lose any height for each jump.

Assuming Samus is facing a left ladder, simply press right, press A, immediately press and hold left until she grabs it, then repeat.

The only use for it in any% and 1% is the short ladder immediately after obtaining diffusion missiles. However, this technique of climbing rooms is used often during 100% cleanup.

= Jump Extend =

Every time Samus breaks out of her spin in the air, her vertical velocity is set to a constant and she stays in the air for a very slight amount of time. This gives her a very slight boost in horizontal distance for a jump, hence the name. By linking multiple jump extends in one jump, Samus can gain a few extra pixels of distance. The most common way to jump extend is while spin jumping, alternate between pressing B and A.

While it is a very minor technique, it helps turn several pixel-perfect jumps into just difficult jumps. It can also make the difference between power gripping a ledge and landing on it.

= Golden Pirates =

The game intends for you to damage the gold pirates with charge shots on the back. However, the game only checks if both Samus and the pirate are facing the same direction when calculating if the beam should damage the pirate or not.

The fastest way to kill a golden pirate is to have a charged wave beam and face a golden pirate that is facing Samus, shoot it, then immediately turn around. Both Samus and the pirate will be facing the same direction, and the charged wave beam shot should finish it in one hit.

= Underwater Wall Jump =

Samus can walljump on a single wall and gain height if she does it underwater without Gravity Suit. However, she gains very little height with each walljump, and it requires very fast fingers. After doing a walljump, immediately pull back towards the wall and walljump again.

This technique is almost useless, except for one trick. After speed booster, you can leave backwards from Serris's tank and get out of the alcove with the underwater walljump. If done quickly and on the first try, this saves less than a few seconds than taking the standard route.

= Weapon Information <ref name="Damage">Dump of damage data for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission by PJ Boy - http://tasvideos.org/PJBoy/Dump.html</ref> =

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
! Name !! Base Damage !! Charge Damage !! Flare Damage !! Pseudo Screw Damage !! Cooldown (frames)
|-
| Normal Beam || 2 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Charge Beam || 4 || 20 || 6 || 14 || 6
|-
| Wide Beam || 9 || 45 || 9 || 21 || 6
|-
| Plasma Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 12 || 30 || 6
|-
| Wave Beam || 9/frame || 27/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Ice Beam || 18/frame || 36/frame || 15 || 48 || 6
|-
| Missile || 10 || - || - || - || 8
|-
| Super Missile || 30 || - || - || - || 13
|-
| Ice Missile || 40 || - || - || - || 14
|-
| Diffusion Missile || 45 || - || - || - || 15
|-
| Bomb || 8 || - || - || - || 6
|-
| Power Bomb || 50 || - || - || - || 4
|}

* Charging the diffusion missile does not do any more damage. However, the spreading flakes do 1 damage.
* Plasma, Wave, and Ice Beam have the property to travel through most enemies, including some bosses. Thus they deal damage for every frame they travel inside the target.
* There can be a maximum of three beams, two missiles, four bombs, and one power bomb on the screen at a time.
* Ice and Diffusion Missiles have the property that they do not one hit KO enemies they freeze on the first hit.
* It is very obvious that the wide, plasma, wave, and ice beam have three parts. However, the charge beam is actually two shots put into one; you can confirm this by shooting a wall and noticing two hitboxes that hit the wall. As a result, for strats relying on charge beam, it's important to make sure both parts hit, rather than only half of the beam.

= References =
<references />