Maridia - Super Metroid Walkthrough (Part 5)

Part 5 of my walkthrough of Super Metroid. I will be collecting 100% of items and will complete the game in under 3 hours in order to get the best ending.

Most of Maridia is completely submerged underwater. There are also quicksand traps that hinder Samus' movement, and enemies that will attempt to pull her into the aforementioned quicksand. Traversing this area is an absolute nightmare without the Gravity Suit, so I hope you picked that up before deciding to come here.

Some rooms in Maridia contain what appears to be Metroids. They are actually Mochtroids, failed clones created by the Space Pirates. They can drain your health like real Metroids but are nowhere near as dangerous. You can use anything in your arsenal to kill them, even the Grappling Beam.

Botwoon is the serpentine creature guarding the eastern portion of Maridia. It will travel between the various holes in the wall and fire acidic breath from its mouth. Shoot its head with Super Missiles to kill it. Not too far after it is the Space Pirate commander of this area, Draygon. Draygon has two kinds of attacks: it will either quickly swoop down from above to tackle Samus, or spit grey sludge at Samus to slow her down allowing it to grab her and strike her with its tail. The walls of the boss arena are lined up with wall cannons that can be destroyed with missiles. You can defeat Draygon normally by shooting its yellow stomach enough times. However, there is a faster way to kill this boss. if you let it grab Samus you can attach your Grappling Beam to one of the destroyed wall cannons during its attack. The sparks from the turret will transfer to Draygon, electrocuting it to death. With Draygon's death we witness its babies(?) carry away its corpse and gain access to the next room, which contains the Space Jump. The controls for Samus are pretty "floaty" which makes it kind of difficult to pull off in this game. You'll need to time your jump inputs with more of a rhythm to maintain it, otherwise you'll plummet down to the floor. I've been playing this game for years and I still struggle with Space Jumping sometimes.

Draygon's death will also unlock a door in the northmost section of Maridia, where we obtain the Plasma Beam. Since it's so powerful, I turn the Ice Beam off at certain points just to avoid obstructing my path with frozen enemies. Interestingly, the game will not allow us to stack the Spazer Beam with the Plasma Beam. Speaking of Spazer, I use its combination attack on the way to the Spring Ball. The Spazer variation creates a row of yellow beams that swoop below and above Samus, ending with tiny sparks that rain down in the general area. It's not that powerful of an attack, but its vertical range could be reliable in specific situations.