Norfair Ancient Ruins - Super Metroid Walkthrough (Part 6)

Part 6 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.

With our current upgrades we can now explore the rest of Norfair. Remember the Torizo from Part 1? There's another one here, and it has new tricks. It attacks at a faster rate, and can now fire beams from its eyes. It is immune to regular missiles, and should you fire a Super Missile at it, it will catch it and throw it back at you (It will be vulnerable during this animation so if you keep firing Supers it will only stop the first one). At low health it releases eggs that will hatch into tiny, hostile bird creatures. Charge Beam attacks are the most effective here. I make use of the Plasma combo, which creates four energy rings around Samus that spread out and contract, to deal extra damage and soak up the many projectiles it fires.

We've fought various types of Zebesian Space Pirates throughout the game, but this area contains what I consider their toughest incarnation. The Silver Zebesians attack by kicking or by rapidly throwing their claws at Samus. While in this state they are invulnerable to all your attacks, even the Screw Attack. Your opportunity to damage them is when they perform a jump kick at Samus. After they land, they will momentarily turn gold in colour, which will make them susceptible to damage from missiles or Charge Beam shots. The window for this is very tight so make your shots count.

If you are at low health/ammo by the time you reach the boss door, I suggest you recharge yourself by farming those endlessly spawning Zebbo insects before proceeding any further. Our long awaited rematch with Ridley will be quite the endurance test. Ridley moves very sporadically throughout the arena and can be difficult to predict. His primary methods of attack involve breathing fire and using his tail. For his tail attacks, he can either lash Samus with it like a whip, or use his tail like a pogostick in an attempt to crush her. Occasionally he will swoop down to grab Samus to inflict damage before dropping her. Be wary of the terrain, as the lava here will harm Samus even with the Gravity Suit. By the way, Ridley has a LOT of health. You will likely be expending all of your missile ammo before the fight ends. If you do run out, your next best option is fully charged shots. You can gauge how much health Ridley has left by his colour. The more red he turns, the closer he is to death. After hitting him enough times, Ridley explodes and the fight is won.

Unfortunately, Ridley no longer has the Baby Metroid. But now that all four Space Pirate commanders are dead, we can finally access what that mysterious statue was guarding. Before you do this, you should first collect the remaining items on Zebes if you want to reach 100% completion. Assuming you've been following my walkthrough so far, once you leave Norfair the only item left should be a single missile tank in Crateria.

The totals for 100% in Super Metroid are 230 Missiles, 50 Super Missiles, 50 Power Bombs, 14 Energy Tanks, and 4 Reserve Tanks. In the next and final part of this series, we will be beating the game.