Wrecked Ship - Super Metroid Walkthrough (Part 4)

Part 4 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.

If Samus equips only the charge beam and one other beam type, then charges her cannon while Power Bombs are selected, she will consume one Power Bomb to perform a combination attack of sorts with that element. For the Ice Beam, this creates four large ice crystals that circle around her like a barrier. I use this attack to protect myself from the Rippers during the ascent up the red shaft in Brinstar. We also found the X-Ray Scope on the way up, which lets Samus see breakable blocks and other hidden objects in the world. The Grappling Beam can be used to cross the large body of water east of Crateria. The Grapple points with cracks on them will break apart if you swing on them for too long so make sure you use them quickly. You can also swing on the metallic-coloured Rippers, which lets us enter the Wrecked Ship.

Some backstory here: this spacecraft was originally piloted by members of the Chozo race, where it crash landed on Zebes ages ago and resulted in the tribe settling into this planet as their home. Now the ship is without power, which disables the save station and blocks us from accessing certain rooms. Funny enough, even the spike traps won't function here. Unfortunately, this place is also haunted. Ghost-like entities known as Covens can appear sporadically throughout the vessel, and should we enter the basement we'll find the next major boss of the game.

Phantoon is an ethereal creature from another plane of existence; it can materialize its head into the physical world but the rest of its body is a mystery. It starts off the fight in an intangible state and will drop blue flames that bounce across the floor. Once its eye opens, it becomes susceptible to damage but will turn invisible often to hide itself. When it takes damage once, it will rapidly circle around the arena to throw you off so keep the pressure on with your charged beam attacks. If you only equip the Charge, Wave, and Spazer Beams Phantoon will stay tangible for longer and therefore give you more opportunities to damage it. I opted for just the Charge and Wave Beam so that I could use the Wave Beam's combo attack. It generates four purple spheres that initially orbit around Samus in an X formation, before randomly dispersing once Samus starts moving. If set up properly they can deal a lot of damage to Phantoon. Super Missiles also work well, but as seen in the video this will trigger an aggressive attack pattern and makes the boss invulnerable for a long period of time, so I wouldn't recommend using them.

Phantoon's defeat results in the Wrecked Ship's power restored. We can now access the rest of this map. On the way to the roof I reach low health and decide to use this opportunity to demonstrate the "Crystal Flash" technique. To perform it, Samus must be at 50 HP or less and have empty Reserve Tanks. In addition, she must have at least 10 missiles, 10 Super Missiles, and 11 Power Bombs. Drop a Power Bomb and then immediately hold L, R, down, and the fire button while staying in the exact same position that the explosion occurs. If performed correctly, Samus will absorb the energy of the Power Bomb and fully restore her health. Since it requires a lot of setup it is not wise to use in a room full of enemies, as they can harm her via contact damage during this process.

At the 21:12 mark we find a unique Geemer variant sporting a colour scheme that resembles the Varia Suit. It stays out of harm's way and will move in parallel to Samus' position. Its purpose in the game was never explained, but personally I think its just a silly easter egg.

After acquiring the Gravity Suit I backtrack to Crateria and Brinstar to collect the remaining items there. Along the way Samus meets some friendly animals who will teach the player a couple of those hidden techniques I mentioned previously. I've already been using these abilities but this is a good opportunity to explain how they work. The monkey-like Etecoons demonstrate how to Wall Jump: by spin jumping against a wall, then holding the opposite direction and quickly pressing the jump button again, Samus will spring off the wall in the opposite direction. This can be chained continuously allowing her to scale up any wall. The ostrich-like Dachora teaches the Shine Spark: while speed boosting, pressing down will make Samus crouch and "store" the energy for a few seconds. Tapping jump and a directional input will rapidly propel her in the desired direction, just keep in mind that this technique drains Samus' health in this game.