Metroid Database :: Metroid Prime Tips

NOTE:For an ungodly amount of advanced tips and trickery, I highly recommend an amazing website called Metroid 2002. These guys have gone far beyond what I have been able to find and offer strategies for Prime similar to those we found for Super all those years ago: getting items early, playing the game out of order, and amazing techniques and moves. There's so much there that it's useless for the MDb to try to duplicate it -- just go to the site itself!

UNLOCKING HIDDEN FEATURES

We realize some of this information is presented directly in the game and manuals, so we're getting it out of the way first. Here's a quick rundown of Metroid Prime's unlockable features:

Metroid Fusion Connectivity Features:

For these features, you'll need a Game Boy Advance, a copy of Metroid Fusion, and a Game Boy Advance/Gamecube Link Cable. You need only connect the two systems one time -- the connection is registered and the unlocked features are saved to your Metroid Prime memory card file.

PLAY THE ORIGINAL NES METROID:
Connect a completed game of Metroid Fusion to the Gamecube. This will unlock the NES Metroid on the menu.
FUSION SUIT:
Complete Metroid Prime and connect the GBA with the Fusion cart in it to the GC (or complete Prime after already having made a connection with a completed Fusion cartridge once). You may now select Samus' Fusion Suit for use in Prime. The Fusion Suit does not affect gameplay -- it's strictly an aesthetic change.

Unlockable Features in Prime:

HARD MODE: Complete Metroid Prime once.
IMAGE GALLERY 1: Get 50% of the Log Book scans.
IMAGE GALLERY 2: Get 100% of the Log Book scans.
IMAGE GALLERY 3: Complete Metroid Prime in Hard Mode.
IMAGE GALLERY 4: Complete Metroid Prime with 100% item collection rate.

CRITICAL SCANS

If you wish to go for 100% of the Log Book scans, it's important to realize that there are a fair number of items that you have only a limited number of chances -- in some cases, only one -- to scan, and that you won't have the ability to return to later. Following is a list of scans that must be obtained when you first encounter them. List compiled by Dan Perry, with contributions from Yosho and CapCom.

Frigate Criticals:

7 Parasite Queen
35 Parasite
Log 09.992.3 [Pirate Data] Fall of Zebes

Critical [Creature] Scans:

6 Ice Shriekbat
18 Hive Mecha
23 Aqua Drone
31 Barbed War Wasp
32 Flaahgra
40 Incinerator Drone
44 Meta Ridley
54 Phazon Elite
55 Metroid Prime [Phase 2]
56 Ice Burrower
57 Flaahgra Tentacle
58 Elite Pirate
59 Omega Pirate
62 Thardus
67 Metroid Prime [Phase 1]
69 Ram War Wasp
70 Ice Parasite

Critical [Research] Scans:

Missle Door Lock
Map Station
Stalactite
Locked Door

ITEM AUDIO CLUE

At many points in the game, you'll notice a low, ominous, droning sound fade in and out as you move around. At first you may think it's an environmental sound effect, or an annoying piece of avant-garde background music, but in fact it's an audio clue that an item (a Missile, Energy Tank, Power Bomb, or any major upgrade) is nearby. Pay attention to this sound and use it to tell if you are "hot" or "cold" in relation to the item, even if it's hidden behind a wall or inside an object. | Hear it! (buzz.mp3, 270k)

IMPROVED JUMPING VIEW

Here's a handy tip to make that @#$&% first-person jumping a bit less of a headache. This is actually shown in the game's introductory attract mode (look for a Phendrana scene), but in case you missed it, here it is. Press and hold the R trigger to free-look. Tilt your view down just a bit, then press and hold the L trigger, and release the R trigger and the control stick. Samus' view will be locked in place, and you may move about freely. This slightly downward view makes it much easier to land exactly where you want when jumping, although your view will also stay locked forward if you make any left or right adjustments to your jump (it's like strafing in mid-air). You may find other useful applications for locking Samus' view in any other direction, as well.

OPTIMUM HALFPIPE BOOST BALLING

Having trouble getting enough air when Boost Balling in a halfpipe? The best way to gain speed and altitude is to release the Boost Ball's charge when Samus is traveling up a transition (i.e., the curved part of the halfpipe). Only let go of the B button for the tiniest fraction of a second possible before you press and hold it again, so that you get a maximum charge while Samus is in the air, falling, rolling downward, and rolling horizontally, then release B to boost when she's on an upward curve again. Repeat this and within just a few passes, Samus will be catching mad hangtime.

Metroid Database.com

The #1 source for Metroid since 1996.