Metroid Prime documented history (in progress)

12 Artefacts
Morph Ball 13
Morph Ball Bombs 14
Boost Ball 15
Spider Ball 16
Power Bombs 17
Varia Suit 18
Gravity Suit 19
Missile 20
Grapple Beam 21
Wave Beam 22
Ice Beam 23
Plasma Beam 24
Charge Beam 25
Super Missiles 26
Space Jump 27
Thermal Visor 28
X-Ray Visor 29


Skip list:
1. Thermal Visor (November 2002, 28%)
2. Grapple Beam (January 26, 2003, 27%)
3. Charge Beam & Super Missiles (February 9, 2003 5:31AM EST, 25%)
4. Gravity Suit (February 9, 2003 6:25PM EST, 24%)
5. Spider Ball (23%)
6. Boost Ball (22%)
7. Space Jump Boots (June 2010, 21%)

Kip Jan 18, 2003

"the remote possibility of 27%.”

Kip Jan 18, 2003

“i'd rather something like the grapple beam was left out, instead of space jump”

Tlj9204 Jan 22 2003

“Anyway, after beating Thardus, you have the Spider Ball, which is the key item you need for the Plasma Beam. As you're leaving Phendrana back into Magmoor, stop inside the Geothermal Core. Hop to the platform immediately in front of you, fire a Missile or something to shut the Puddle Spore up, then stand on the very edge. Do a TBJ and a Morph and you'll barely catch the edge of the lowest disc platform. Crank the Control Stick and you'll be able to roll onto the platform, enabling you to finish a sequence and grab the Plasma Beam. I would've gotten the darn thing, but in my excitement, I missed a drop from Magnetic track to magnetic track.” Pretty sure this is a lie? Even the highest bomb jump possible BARELY makes this, I doubt a Triple Bomb Jump could have come close

Amasawa Jan 23 2003

“Well, I managed to get the plasma beam w/o the grapple beam finally. I used a different method from Tim's to do it, but it works quite well. The good news is you don't have to attempt a tbjm with puddle spores pestering you. The bad news is it requires some rather precise jumping that might be tricky for me to explain over the internet since I'm not so hot at this kind of thing, but here goes:  In the geothermal core, head towards the door on the side of the room that's closest to the elevator to tallon overworld. On the right side of the door is a big rock that you can jump up on if you turn back around and face the lava, then jump up backwards. You'll have to experiment with the angle a little bit to find a way to get up there without sliding off; I don't know how to explain it better than that. (Facing toward the rock while trying to jump on it will make Samus slide off all the time as far as I know.  Once on top of the rock, look to your right, on the other side of the nearby door. There's a metal box there sticking out of the wall that you can reach with a space jump, although the ledge is small. You'll notice that there is actually a small lip sticking out of the box also; I tend to aim for landing on that instead of on top of the entire box itself in order to successfully land the jump.   Now look out in the direction of the lava, and just in front of you is a thin spire of rock. Yep, you guessed it... you gotta jump onto that ridiculously small spot. It's not quite as bad as it looks; there's a small flat spot on top of it that I aim for by looking downward as far as I can and then space jumping so I have plenty of time in the air to try to hit that spot.   Finally, space jump toward the lower platform with the spinner and voila! you made it, and can finish getting the plasma beam as usual.  Being eager to try out the hard-won toy, I took it to Phendrana and melted the ice that blocks the power bomb powerup there. It only gives you one bomb, as the expansion normally does, but hey; it works! :-)   Tim, I haven't had the game hang up on me yet after getting the plasma beam early, but I'll certainly let you know if it happens.”

Banks17 Jan 24 2003

“Here's a list of items and why they are needed:

Missiles: To open numerous locked doors.

Morph Ball: To enter pipes / holes to advance in the game.

Morph Ball Bombs: To blow up blocks, defeat flaahgra.

Charge Beam: needed with the super missile to get the artifact in the sun chamber.

Varia Suit: To survive in Magmoor Caverns.

Boost Ball: needed to activate generators/get space jump?/ get x-ray visor.

Space Jump: Needed in various rooms to advance in the game.

Wave Beam: Needed to open locked doors.

Super Missile: needed to get the sun chamber artifact.

Spider Ball: needed to get Plasma Beam / get past metroid quarantine A, and the artifact by wavebuster.

Ice Beam: Used to unlock doors.

Gravity Suit: Used to get artifact by the wavebuster.

Power Bombs: can be replaced by one power bomb expansion. used to advance further in the game / get an artifact.

Grapple Beam: Needed to pass Fungal Hall A? (may not be required)

X-Ray Visor: used to destroy Omega Pirate.

Plasma Beam: Used to unlock doors.

Phazon Suit/Beam: used to destroy Metroid Prime.”

Kip Jan 26, 2003

“hahaha, you don't need the spider ball for anything in geothermal core, unless there's something i forgot about when you're using the spinners and actually getting the plasma beam (gonna check, this was in my 100% game).”

Devilbit Jan 26, 2003

“IMPORTANT TIP ABOUT SPACE JUMP.  you canextend the reach of the jump. just jump normally and when you press B a second time rotate samus diagonally. It gives you 2-3 extra feet.” Devilbit discovers that you have no sideways speed cap and can abuse this (although it’s not truly realised until about 12 years later)

Kip Jan 26, 2003

“rofl, amazing. i got from the bottom of phazon processing center to the door to magmoor without using the spider ball at all. the way you do it is weird though once you get to the middle of the room.

so i guess this means the spider ball isn't needed. however i don't think that means 26%/27% just yet... skipping the spider ball would mean grabbing a power bomb expansion to avoid ever going to ore processing. and ore processing is still the room i'm not sure how to get through without using the spider ball.

but at least we know the spider ball isn't needed for anything else now (let me go check that last track before omega pirate real quick though, before i eat my words). i've known for a long time you don't need to use the spider ball track in the impact crater, you can just space jump to the end.

hmm there's also that one track in the metroid cave [Metroid Quarantine A]… need to check that one too.“ Skipping most of Spider Ball

Devilbit Jan 26, 2003

"Use my spacejump tip. Is easy to pass all fungal without grapel.” Devilbit drops the fact that you can get through Fungal Hall A and Fungal Hall B without grapple easily while everyone has been searching for it lol, later in the day

Kip Jan 26. 2003

“try hugging the wall when you jump, then move away from it when you space jump. anything to get extra height, it all works weird here (like sometimes you can't make the jump to the top of the spinner, but sometimes it's easy).” Describing ghetto jumps for the first time ever

Kip Jan 26, 2003

“And like i said earlier, you dont need the graple in the fungals, you can reach OP without it. So, in what other place is need it?"

nowhere else then. it's not needed for the plasma beam even though it looks like it, i just got the plasma beam a few hours ago without having the grapple beam or spider ball.

the only other grapple points you would've had to visit is the one in phendrana's edge (but there's a way around those as we know), the fungal halls (you've said there's a way around that), and the room before omega pirate. that's it.

we got 27% then, maybe i'll do a confirmation run on hard just to be sure... then again i've never actually gotten through the fungal halls/room before OP without the grapple, but i guess i can learn how.” 27% confirmed

funkytoad Jan 28, 2003
“-beat frigate
-get missile launcher
-get morph ball
-get charge beam
-get morph ball bombs
-fight flaaghra
-go through magmoor, grab artifact in pillar, artifact of strength
-get boost ball
-get space jump
-get wave beam
-tbj through furnace, get ice beam
-head back to phendrana
-get to save near thardus
-get super missiles
-go past thermal room
-head to gravity chamber
-get gravity suit
-go to phendrana-magmoor elevator
-get plasma beam
-beat thardus
-go back to ice ruins, get power bomb
-go to ice temple, get artifact of sun
-go to elevator to magmoor(near shorlines, original elevator)
-before going to elevator, go to shore tunnel, get ice spreader
-go to magmoor-chozo ruins elevator
-go to sunchamber, get artifact
-go to tower, get lifegiver artifact/wavebuster
-go back to tallon overworld, landing site, go to frigate crash area, take tunnel up to frigate.
-go through frigate
-in great tree hall, take elevator to chozo ruins south
-get artifact of world from hall of elders with plasma beam
-head back to great tree hall
-go to top, life grove, get x-ray visor, and artifact
-back to great tree hall
-go to phazon mines
-get grapple beam immediately once you get to ore processing
-continue, get power bombs
-continue through mines, all the way to omega pirate.
-beat OP, head back to grab artifact of newborn
-go back to OP room, continue, grab energy tank, continue through mines.
-go to elite research, get artifact of warrior from phazon elite
-go to phazon mines-magmoor elevator.
-from there, go to magmoor-phendrana elevator (the one that brings you close to thardus)
-go to phendrana's edge, get artifact
-go back through thermal visor room, get thermal visor, continue to control tower, get artifact
-go back to elevator near thardus' room, to magmoor
-go to magmoor-tallon elevator
-go to landing site, save, fight meta ridley
-go to crater, save, beat game”

Kip Jan 28, 2003

“[…]
spider ball: for now this is required in ore processing and metroid quarantine A, but this may change later. it's not needed in phazon processing center even though it looks like it, and the spider ball track in impact crater doesn't have to be used either (i space jump through the phazon all the time, probably could do a tbj also if there's a way to survive long enough).
[…]
gravity suit: needed to get lifegiver artifact unless someone finds another way.”

TheBlackChocobo Jan 31, 2003

“By the way, everyone, if you haven't already, go look at l2ag3's topic (alternate ice beam method)” Talking about the ghetto jump method, I believe

Psycho Falcon Jan 31, 2003

“On my way through my first and rather relaxed attempt at 27%, I was trying out l2ag3's method and came across something entirely by accident. While I was setting up as he described, I began to WALK UP the black border on the left side of the spider track. Surpised, I faltered and fell to the ground, but upon re-locating the spot I was able to repeatedly back away and turn around, hten find the spot again within a few seconds, even though it is rather precise.”

Banks Feb 1 2003

“Amasawa: someone claimed to be able to get the lifegiver artifact without the gravity suit. Is there any other reason to use it? Or do you ahve to get the power bomb expansion to be able to not need it.” First mention of skipping lifegiver

Amasawa Feb 1 2003

“hey, ain't no thang. I'm just messing around, trying out paratroopa's trick to get lifegiver w/o the gravity suit, and it worked like a charm. Now if there were just some way to get this stasis tank open w/o getting the main power bomb pickup.” Confirming lifegiver without Gravity. They are trying to figure out how to activate the Artifact of Warrior/Phazon Elite fight with only an extra PB expansion.

Amasawa Feb 1 2003

“I tried it out and what I wound up doing was kind of like getting the plasma beam early when you jump up onto the first spider block from that rim that goes around the room. That is, I jump while pressing forward against the wall, start to pull away a little just before space jumping, and then push forward again about halfway through the jump. I'm not sure exactly why that works/precisely how you should move to get that increased height, but it definitely works.” Describing ghetto jumps in big detail (first time)

Kip Feb 2, 2003

“currently the only problematic rooms are:

ore processing
metroid quarantine A
great tree hall (to get to x-ray visor/chozo artifact)
sun tower (to go back to sunchamber for wild artifact)“

12ag3 Feb 2, 2003

“something tells me theres a way to do that. maybe you can do a bdj or a tbj while rolling back and fourth on the half pipe to get just the little amount on extra hight you need?” First mention of half pipe bomb jumping (First theory of it anyway)

Psycho Falcon Feb 2 2003

“No Boost Ball Reflecting Pool!
First you must jump on the ledge on the back side of the back right pillar (when facing the Chozo Head) and lock the camera when facing the ledge where the door leading to the Great tree Hall is. Space jump towards the ledge's edge and maneuver yourself so that you are in between two small pieces of it that are sticking outm, you should glitch and "hang" there. Contitue to holdthe direction towards the ledge with camera lock and you should slowly raise up hte ledge via tah glitch. Once up high enough, morph and stand still and bomb jump to the ledge! The rest is simple...“

Kip Feb 2, 2003

“first go to where you are when you enter the room from hall of elders (the chozo head is staring at you, and a toad to your left and right). go left and jump on that first toad there.

then turn around facing the door to hall of elders. look up some and lock your view. you are going to space jump to the ledge directly above you. jump off and move right and back slightly (make sure she doesn't hit her head anywhere so the jump isn't ended prematurely), then space jump towards the ledge. if it's done right, it looks like samus does a third jump up to reach the ledge, it's weird.“ Ghetto off a stone toad. Still haven’t discovered that they are ghetto jumping.

Kip Feb 2, 2003

“yay, i got from third to top floor. that leaves metroid quarantine A and sun tower.
first floor to second:

if it's not already like this when you enter ore processing for the first time, bomb the device until the blue track lines up with the connecting piece on the second floor, as if you trying to ride it up there. then look at the pillar and you should see a line barely off the ground that goes across some of the pillar, which you can jump on.

when you get on this line, you should notice that on one end it ends at the red spider ball track, at the other it ends near some rusty bars and next to those there is a slippery ledge sticking out above you. it seems like you can jump on the ledge but you'll slide off every time.

what you want to do is space jump over the ledge and push against the pillar while also moving to the bars. try to get yourself stuck in between the bars and the slippery ledge. if done right the bars (or something glitchy) will keep you from sliding off. from here, space jump to the second floor, aim for the part sticking out past the railing which is above that little blob of phazon (but try to get over the railing).

second floor to third:

bomb the device on the second floor until the red spider ball track lines up with the connecting piece on the third floor (so that it forms a longer line on the third floor; that's what you want, not a path that goes up there).

then go over to the blue track and look for a square shaped thing with 8 lights on it. space jump on it and you'll land on it. now, face the blue track and lock your view, space jump and move out to the left (don't hit her head anywhere), then move back to the right and you should stop early because you landed on top of the track. space jump again to the third floor.

now you can go get the power bomb.

third floor to top:

once you're on the third floor, jump on top of the device. take a look at the red spider ball track. if you lined it up earlier it should be a long line. now do that L lock special space jump thing and land on top of the back part of the red track since it's closer than the front. from here, space jump again to the top floor.

to go from the grapple beam door to waste disposal or vice versa without grapple beam, space jump down on the red track, then space jump again to whichever part you wanted to go to. i'm sure you could also do an L lock space jump to avoid messing with the red spider ball track again.

i expect the method of going from the first to second floor to be hard to understand. like i said i'd love to make a video instead but you guys know how it is... =[“ Solves Ore Processing, Metroid Quarantine A, Suntower remaining

Funkytoad Feb 2, 2003 “2:31. I didn't save in the impact crater however, because I feel that with some perfect optimization, I could get a 2:29. ^_^” One of the first ‘speed runs’ of Metroid Prime. Goes by in-game time which will become the standard of Metroid Prime timing. Apparently montypylon got a faster time but I can’t find any actual mention of it.

Banks17 Feb 3, 2003

“In case any of you haven't read about the Secret Worlds glitch, i'll post it here.

There's a guy who found a way to get through a crack you're not supposed to go through in transport tunnel C which glitches the game. I haven't tried it yet, so i don't know what it's like. Going to test it now.“

Devilbit Feb 4. 2003 “Crossed the twin fire tunnel (the one with the spider track)without deeping into the lava, problem is cant manage to do it again.
Theres a ledge at the left of the entrance where is posible to climb then from there attempt a space jump, but is really hard, the reason to post this is if anyone knows another ledge where is posible to climb?“ First skip of Twin Fires Tunnel without bomb jumping (R jumping!!!)

Devilbit Feb 5, 2003

“Hi.

A small sugestion:

Try making a little bomb ladder like this:
#3 .
#1-2 .
==========
Ground.

BTW, have tried a million places and methods. But if gonna try from the ship i suggest the bomb ladder.“ First time that ‘Ladders’ are used as a method to explain bomb jumping (it makes sense in context of the ASCII — still unsure if ladders actually do anything?)

Funkytoad Feb 5, 2003

“BOOYA! Space jump before flaahgra baby! I did it off the back of the ship =D” First mention of actually getting it from the back of the ship (People had been trying for a while)

SolrFlare Feb 5, 2003

“Because as it is with the Sun Tower appearing to be unrefreshable without hitting bottom as it is...our only hope of potentially breaking some new ground is somehow pulling that Phendrana run...otherwise we are are pretty much stuck percentage wise..although some more sequence breaking options may show up letting us cut some more time from speed runs.”

RockMFR 5 Feb 6, 2003

“I don't know if this would work, but here's an idea:
Go to the sun tower use a bomb against a wall. Then use the boost ball to climb the wall. Before your boost ball runs out, place another bomb and gradually climb up the wall with bombs and the boost ball. I just thought of this, so I have no idea if it is even feasible.” Describing a process really similar to Early Wild before it was officially discovered by Kyuenjin

SolrFlare Feb 6, 2003

“Someone will pull it off once then we'll all blow our brains out for 3 to 4 weeks before someone out of nowhere comes up with an easy method” extremely relevant to skipping things discoveries

RockMFR 5 Feb 7, 2003

“ARGH!!!!!
I almost got up the Sun Tower without the super missiles!! I was so ****ing close!!! I've have been messing around with morph bombs for a while (almost an hour). I was trying to get past the "road block" on the spider track. At first I thought it was impossible, but I kept trying. I kept pushing A while randomly letting go of the track with R and reconnecting. After about an hour, I was ready to give up when a bomb finally hit me upwards instead of outwards. I got about 80% up the "road block". I was SO close to getting on the top part of the track. DAMN!!!!” Describing what would eventually be called the “Sess-BJ” a couple days later

Sesshomaru Feb 8, 2003

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH, I went higher than the bottom of the grate!

I DID I DID

I got about as high as the two bottom runic symbols

Here's how I did it

I can't remember my exact position when I did it because I was doing this casually

But I did a sideways 90 degree double bomb jump

like this

__| <- runic gate
||||C
///AB
/

Bomb one at point A, let go and place bomb 2 at the same time right before it explodes, propel to point B, place bomb 3, grip onto the track again at point A, slightly above point A actually, it propells yu DIAGONALLY so you end up ABOVE the bomb at point B and you are bombed UPWARDS

It was far enough out so I made it UP THE GRATE as high as the bottom runic symbols

YEEHAW, sideways 90 degree double bomb jump. I want that one named after me if it turns out to be the key to getting up the grate :P” SessBJ before SessBJ

Sesshomaru Feb 9, 2003 **posts about the Sess-BJ in full detail at 3AM, proceeds to post 3 page explanation which I won’t copy for simplicity sake.**

Kip Feb 9, 2003

“hydro access tunnel isn't going anywhere either. i have an idea of how to get through it, but i only get one shot each time because if i screw up she gets pushed to where the energy tank is and that's the point of no return unless there's something i'm missing. hopefully someone else will try it out too.

here's the easiest way to get there, all of this is without gravity suit:

cargo freight lift to deck gamma: go to the first conduit in this room, then notice the wall to the right of it. you want to lock your view on the conduit and move against the wall. then do a jump and move to the right SLIGHTLY, but stop after that and start moving left.

if done correctly samus jumps as if the water isn't hindering her movement. don't hit her head on anything, and as you're moving left, space jump and move toward the top of the structure at the peak of the jump. with a little practice it's easy to land on the top.

from here, space jump to the platform with the first reaper vine using the same premise; pushing against the wall to start the jump for extra height and then moving away. it helps a little if you have the plasma beam since you can kill the reaper vines. jump up and shoot the second conduit from the platform with the reaper vine, then go into ball mode.

push against the sloped ground and you'll notice samus stays at where she's at. just bomb/boost ball your way to the last platform in the water. once you get there, turn around, away from the sloped ground. do that same jump against the sloped ground, then do your second jump at the peak and move toward the top. you'll barely land on it. shoot the last conduit and proceed.

it shouldn't be a problem getting to hydro access tunnel from here. if a better explanation is needed somewhere, ask and i'll answer if i'm around. i also wouldn't mind people trying to get through hydro access tunnel (without the gravity suit obviously).

there's another way to get near the last platform without using ball form, but it's incredibly complicated and there's no point of me going into detail about it when an infinitely easier way exists (simply bombing your way up).“ Skipping Gravity suit (just figuring out Hydro Access Tunnel)

Kip Feb 9, 2003 "fortunately it's not hard to get there. there's a series of super ghetto jumps you can do to just barely make it to the next part”

Sesshomaru Feb 9, 2003 5:31AM EST

“I DID IT

HOLY COW, UNBELIEVABLE

What did I do? Well guess dopey

I made it up the runic gate[…]” Finally skipping Charge and Super Missiles, so 25% confirmed.

Sesshomaru Feb 9, 2003

“That's 21 percent that unquestionably cannot be skipped” nice.

Amasawa Feb 9, 2003 6:25 PM EST

“I got to Hydro Access tunnel, and the good news is that somehow, I've been able to do big consecutive boosts downward, all the way to just short (like half a morph ball's diatance) from touching the bottom. What's more, I managed this from up at the energy tank. Problem is, I can't figure out exactly how I'm doing it. =P “

Zell99 Feb 14, 2003

“tlj- Mario means the escape the frigate time (the best time REMAINING on the counter)... it is 4:07.26” very bad escape time even for then

Suikunrules Feb 16, 2003

“Sometimes going through the back way, the pirate won't break the glass -- this is an inconsistancy that hasn't been nailed down yet, but it's correctable by simply backing up a couple of rooms to get the room with the glass to reload, and then try again.” Yep.

Varsis Erion Feb 27, 2003

“I hadn't really noticed this board... in fact, until the beginning of this week, I hadn't broken the sequence. Now my 100% Hard mode time is 3:50. I have one thing to definitely contribute: one new, useful move, and a good way to use it. A NIGH PAINLESS Main Quarry>Waste Disposal sans Grapple Beam!
First, kill all the pirates except the one who started at the control panel. Try to get him standing next to the tower on the Waste Disposal door side. Position accordingly, then freeze him. Now, you do a dash-jump across the pit. You'll need the Space Jump for this trick, no matter where you use it. Lock on to the frozen pirate while standing on the top platform edge near the Ice Door. Dash (dodge) off the ledge, straight towards the door, the release your lock halfway and space jump on to the ledge. It is extremely easy, you should be able to get it in a handful of minutes. I'm still looking for other places to use the Dash-Jump- More coming soon!“ Literally his first post, out of nowhere, discovered dash jumping and then leaves again after like 4 posts