Super Metroid was the third game of the series to be released, but in chronologic terms, it is one of the last, taking place between the events in Metroid II: Return of Samus and Metroid: Other M. An overview of the chronologic order of the saga:
Metroid (Zero Mission) - Metroid Prime - Metroid Prime: Hunters - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Metroid 2: Return of Samus - Super Metroid - Metroid: Other M - Metroid Fusion
Metroid (Zero Mission) - Metroid Prime - Metroid Prime: Hunters - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Metroid 2: Return of Samus - Super Metroid - Metroid: Other M - Metroid Fusion
When you retrieve the Morph Ball, and also further down the cave where you find the second set of missiles, a strange light from the wall shines on Samus and follows her. It is probably a Pirate surveillance camera or sensor of some sorts, registering her presence, because when you backtrack from there, all the corridors that were deserted earlier are crawling with Space Pirates. The Pirates were probably hiding their presence on Zebes and monitoring intruders, and when they saw Samus entering, they decided to try and take her out, knowing that she would be capable to find and defeat them.
In one of the Space Pirates' logs in Metroid Prime 2, the Pirates describe using stealth fields to hide their presence on planet Aether, in order not to be detected by the Federation. Since Super Metroid takes place after the Metroid Prime series, we can assume the Pirates used this stealth technology on Zebes as well. Furthermore, the Pirates build their base underground, using the Chozo caves already present, so they were hidden from the surface.
Also, Samus and the Federation were too preoccupied with other, more urgent matters to check Zebes. Other groups of Pirates were experimenting with the dangerous Phazon substance, and by the time of Metroid Prime 3, they had become quite powerful with it. In between, there was also the challenge of the Ultimate Power in the Alimbic System (described in Metroid Prime Hunters). After the Phazon threat had died down, Samus was asked to resume the mission on SR388 to exterminate all Metroids down there (Metroid II: The Return of Samus). These threats may have been so imminent and dangerous, that Samus could not make time to check Zebes in between.
In that case, it is likely that the Galactic Federation sent some Marines or another bounty hunter to Zebes to check for Pirate presence. But their base was hidden quite carefully, as seen in Super Metroid: there were the devastated remains of the first base, and Samus had to enter some secret caves to find the new base. Given the fact that the Marines or other bounty hunters didn't know Zebes like Samus did (she was raised there), and the Pirates were hiding from view (probably monitoring any intruders with cameras, see above), they might not have found the hidden Pirates, Or,someone DID find the secret entrance, and this is the dead body found in Super Metroid in the area before you battle Kraid. In that case, that person died before he or she was able to report the finding of the rebuild Pirate base.
Also, Samus and the Federation were too preoccupied with other, more urgent matters to check Zebes. Other groups of Pirates were experimenting with the dangerous Phazon substance, and by the time of Metroid Prime 3, they had become quite powerful with it. In between, there was also the challenge of the Ultimate Power in the Alimbic System (described in Metroid Prime Hunters). After the Phazon threat had died down, Samus was asked to resume the mission on SR388 to exterminate all Metroids down there (Metroid II: The Return of Samus). These threats may have been so imminent and dangerous, that Samus could not make time to check Zebes in between.
In that case, it is likely that the Galactic Federation sent some Marines or another bounty hunter to Zebes to check for Pirate presence. But their base was hidden quite carefully, as seen in Super Metroid: there were the devastated remains of the first base, and Samus had to enter some secret caves to find the new base. Given the fact that the Marines or other bounty hunters didn't know Zebes like Samus did (she was raised there), and the Pirates were hiding from view (probably monitoring any intruders with cameras, see above), they might not have found the hidden Pirates, Or,someone DID find the secret entrance, and this is the dead body found in Super Metroid in the area before you battle Kraid. In that case, that person died before he or she was able to report the finding of the rebuild Pirate base.
The Chozo are Samus' old guardians, who taught her her fighting skills and created her Power Suit. Their derelict statues hold expansions for her suit and help her advance through difficult areas, revealing hidden locations. The Chozo on Zebes were themselves wiped out by the Space Pirates, so it may be assumed they left the statues on purpose, forseeing that Samus or other Chozo warriors returning to Zebes would need them in the future. However, in order to ensure that the weapons and upgrades don't fall in the wrong hands, statues are hidden and some will resurrect from time to time to 'challenge' the obtainer. Only those trained in Chozo warrior techniques, like Samus, will be able to defeat the statues, and are thus worthy of receiving the upgrades.
There is a body lying in front of the door (with the eye over it) leading to the room where you battle Kraid. It is covered with scavengers that fly away when you approach. It probably belonged to a Galactic Federation marine, or possibly a fellow bounty hunter. He or she was most likely sent by the Galactic Federation to investigate Zebes and get rid of any Space Pirates who had reportedly returned to rebuild their base. This warrior must have died before he or she could warn the Federation.
Kraid, the large green monstrosity, and especially Ridley, the dragon-like boss, have made several come-backs in the Metroid series. Which is remarkable, to say the least, as their deaths always involve complete explosion of their bodies. So reviving/resussitation of their bodies is rather far fetched.
In the Metroid Prime games, it is stated that the pirates reconstructed Ridley as a cyborg on several occasions following his defeats by Samus. That goes some way to explaining how his body can be recovered. This does not, of course, explain how fully organic versions of both Kraid and Ridley could return.
In Metroid: Other M, it is explained that a group within the Galactic Federation has an active (and illegal) cloning program which they use to clone Space Pirates and Metroids; they even accidentally clone Ridley during this process. It is reasonable to assume that the Space Pirates, being extremely experimental, also know this technique, and clone their leaders on purpose. It is further stated in Metroid Fusion that minds can be extracted and recreated electronically: in that particular case, Samus' old commander Adam Malkovich. So perhaps the Space Pirates are able to create identical clones of their leaders, which they can restore to full reincarnations of the original, by uploading the stored thoughts, memories and personalities into their empty brains.
In the Metroid Prime games, it is stated that the pirates reconstructed Ridley as a cyborg on several occasions following his defeats by Samus. That goes some way to explaining how his body can be recovered. This does not, of course, explain how fully organic versions of both Kraid and Ridley could return.
In Metroid: Other M, it is explained that a group within the Galactic Federation has an active (and illegal) cloning program which they use to clone Space Pirates and Metroids; they even accidentally clone Ridley during this process. It is reasonable to assume that the Space Pirates, being extremely experimental, also know this technique, and clone their leaders on purpose. It is further stated in Metroid Fusion that minds can be extracted and recreated electronically: in that particular case, Samus' old commander Adam Malkovich. So perhaps the Space Pirates are able to create identical clones of their leaders, which they can restore to full reincarnations of the original, by uploading the stored thoughts, memories and personalities into their empty brains.
This is unknown. According to the Super Metroid manual, it is a ship from a very ancient civilization that crash-landed on Zebes a very long time ago. It is hard to draw any conclusions about it, since continuity was not a very high concern for the makers of the Metroid games, as they kept adding more backstory to the Metroid legacy with every installment, and also more inconsistencies.
As it was suggested in Metroid Prime and Metroid: Zero Mission, Samus Aran was raised on Zebes by the Chozo. The Chozo themselves did not know exactly where they originally came from, so the stranded astronauts could have been Chozo who had left their home planet.
According to the Super Metroid manual, the ghosts inside the Wrecked Ship are the evil souls from the shipwrecked crew. In Metroid Prime, Samus was also attacked by evil spirits from dead Chozo, which makes it plausible that the astronauts from the Wrecked Ship were in fact the Chozo. There are also Chozo statues inside the ship, which is another suggestion.
However, in Prime, evil Chozo spirits were created by the toxic influence of the dangerous Phazon substance, which was never present on Zebes as far as we know; therefore, it cannot have been present on Zebes, so this contradicts the Chozo theory.
There are more conflicting clues. The Metroid Prime manual describes the Chozo as a very technologically advanced race who spread themselves voluntarily and easily accross the Galaxy, and later shed themselves of their over-dependance upon technology. It is therefore more logical that they voluntarily made Zebes one of their homes, and forgot about their home planet after several millenia. The presence of the ancient ship of their ancestors would probably have made it impossible for them to forget their origins. The Wrecked Ship would be from a different species that crashed before the Chozo arrived. The Chozo simply built their statues inside it later.
It is also conceivable that if the shipwrecked crew were the Chozo's predecessors, it was long before they became an enlightened species. During the years of living on Zebes, they developed, spread across the Galaxy from their new home Zebes to neighbouring planets, like Tallon IV, and then started to forget about their origins. Their Zebes population was finally wiped out by the Space Pirates.
Another theory came up after the release of Metroid: Zero Mission. In this game, Samus destroys the large Space Pirates' mother ship at the end. It was proposed that the Wrecked Ship is the remains of this mother ship, as some of the technology in the Wrecked Ship (e.g. the robots) could also be found in the Mother Ship. This idea was rejected by Zero Mission director Yoshio Sakamoto. It is also impossible, as the Wrecked Ship can already be found in Zero Mission before the Space Pirates mother ship arrives (the similar technology could have been left in the Wrecked Ship by Space Pirates already living on Zebes).
As it was suggested in Metroid Prime and Metroid: Zero Mission, Samus Aran was raised on Zebes by the Chozo. The Chozo themselves did not know exactly where they originally came from, so the stranded astronauts could have been Chozo who had left their home planet.
According to the Super Metroid manual, the ghosts inside the Wrecked Ship are the evil souls from the shipwrecked crew. In Metroid Prime, Samus was also attacked by evil spirits from dead Chozo, which makes it plausible that the astronauts from the Wrecked Ship were in fact the Chozo. There are also Chozo statues inside the ship, which is another suggestion.
However, in Prime, evil Chozo spirits were created by the toxic influence of the dangerous Phazon substance, which was never present on Zebes as far as we know; therefore, it cannot have been present on Zebes, so this contradicts the Chozo theory.
There are more conflicting clues. The Metroid Prime manual describes the Chozo as a very technologically advanced race who spread themselves voluntarily and easily accross the Galaxy, and later shed themselves of their over-dependance upon technology. It is therefore more logical that they voluntarily made Zebes one of their homes, and forgot about their home planet after several millenia. The presence of the ancient ship of their ancestors would probably have made it impossible for them to forget their origins. The Wrecked Ship would be from a different species that crashed before the Chozo arrived. The Chozo simply built their statues inside it later.
It is also conceivable that if the shipwrecked crew were the Chozo's predecessors, it was long before they became an enlightened species. During the years of living on Zebes, they developed, spread across the Galaxy from their new home Zebes to neighbouring planets, like Tallon IV, and then started to forget about their origins. Their Zebes population was finally wiped out by the Space Pirates.
Another theory came up after the release of Metroid: Zero Mission. In this game, Samus destroys the large Space Pirates' mother ship at the end. It was proposed that the Wrecked Ship is the remains of this mother ship, as some of the technology in the Wrecked Ship (e.g. the robots) could also be found in the Mother Ship. This idea was rejected by Zero Mission director Yoshio Sakamoto. It is also impossible, as the Wrecked Ship can already be found in Zero Mission before the Space Pirates mother ship arrives (the similar technology could have been left in the Wrecked Ship by Space Pirates already living on Zebes).
In the waterworld of Maridia, Samus experiences the first attacks by Metroids in the game. However, these particular ones have a somewhat flattened appearance and are much weaker than normal Metroids.
These creatures are called Mochtroids, and are actually somewhat failed attempts by the Space Pirates to clone Metroids, as all of the real specimens had been disposed of by Samus. They are weaker in both strength and energy draining capabilities, and much easier killed than their pure brethren. The real Metroids encountered at the end of the game are genuine specimens, created from the stolen infant Metroid.
These creatures are called Mochtroids, and are actually somewhat failed attempts by the Space Pirates to clone Metroids, as all of the real specimens had been disposed of by Samus. They are weaker in both strength and energy draining capabilities, and much easier killed than their pure brethren. The real Metroids encountered at the end of the game are genuine specimens, created from the stolen infant Metroid.
Numerous elements from past Metroid games reappear here, namely the Morph Ball, Bombs, Ice Beam, Wave Beam, Spazer Beam, Plasma Beam, Missiles, Spring Ball, Energy Tanks and Varia Suit.
Introduced in this game are the Grapple Beam, Power Bombs, Super Missiles, Gravity Suit, X-Ray Scope, Speed Booster, and Reserve Tanks. All of these have reappeared in the Prime series, with the exception of the Speed Booster and Reserve Tanks, which have reappeared in Metroid: Other M.
Introduced in this game are the Grapple Beam, Power Bombs, Super Missiles, Gravity Suit, X-Ray Scope, Speed Booster, and Reserve Tanks. All of these have reappeared in the Prime series, with the exception of the Speed Booster and Reserve Tanks, which have reappeared in Metroid: Other M.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content