At the elevator, pause for a moment to check your status. You should have one Energy Tank (having just picked it up), so you have 199 energy (each tank holds 100 energy), and a whopping 10 Missiles. We'll soon fix that… anyway, take the elevator down to Brinstar.
This main area is crawling with Zeelas (the Brinstar equivalent of Geemers). There are five doors here (all red), and an area through the floor of the shaft that you can't get to yet. Anyhow, the top-left door leads to a Map Room, the middle-left door to a Save Room, and the lower-left to a Missile Recharge Room. Go for the top-left door first; in here, ignore the Zeelas and small Sidehoppers as you make your way left, bombing through two blocks, and go through the door. Collect the map data for Brinstar; to return to the main shaft, destroy all of the Zeelas and Sidehoppers to unlock the metal door.
Next, blast open the top-right red door. We'll only be here for a moment, so jump up on the ledge to the right. This bridge is made entirely of crumble blocks; in addition, there are several speed-shutters (those metal poles that lower when you enter the room) that you can't get through yet. The area under the bridge is divided into chambers; the second chamber has a pack of Missiles just sitting there. Drop through the crumbling blocks and grab the MISSILES (15), then roll up and bomb the wall to your left, and exit through the door (watching out for the Zebs that fly up out of the pipe).
Back in the main shaft, drop down and enter the second door on the right. There are Zeelas and Reos here (the latter do a fair amount of damage if they hit you), so blast your way to the right, until you reach what looks like a dead end. It's actually a wall of bendezium; lay Bombs to blast your way through. Run under the Metarees (metal Skrees) as you make your way to the door at the end of the tunnel.
This large, pink-colored room (hereafter just the "pink room") has many Reos, as well more of those flying Zebs that fly out of pipes. Anyway, make your way right, down, and left to the lower-left corner of this big room to find a pack of MISSILES (20) sitting there. Over to your right, below the obvious narrow gap, is a suspicious-looking block; bomb it and drop down into the passage. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the CHARGE BEAM! Now your Beam shots can damage bosses!
Back in the large room, head all the way to the top, past the door you came in, being wary of the Reos and Sidehoppers. If you'd like to save, there is a narrow passage in the left wall that you can bomb and roll into, which leads to a Save Room. To continue, head to the right, picking off Zebs if you need energy or Missile refills. Blast through the red door on the right.
Here you'll meet the insect-like Space Pirates called Kihunters. One charged Beam shot or Missile will do for each. Once you've finished them off, the metal door in the ceiling at the far end of the room will unlock. Go on through, and be prepared to face another mini-boss.
SPORE SPAWN
HP: 960
Attacks: spores 4, body 12.
Missiles – 100 (10)
Charge Beam – 120 (8)
Spore Spawn isn't that tough, if you can manage to stay out of its way. Roll into a ball and stay in one of the corners; there are four to choose from:
Spores will be floating around continuously; if you're in one of the upper corners you shouldn't get hit by them. (You can also shoot them for refills; important if you're low on Missiles or Energy!)
Meanwhile, the boss will swing back and forth in a figure-8 pattern; after 6 or 8 swings he'll open his shell and stop momentarily. When he does, unroll, jump up, and fire at his exposed core. (I recommend using Missiles because you can get up to 2 hits in before the shell closes, especially if you're close to him.) After 6 Missiles, the boss will get a lot faster. 4 more Missiles should end the battle.
After Spore Spawn bites the dust, the shell will harden, allowing you to jump on it and continue upward, collecting leftover power-ups on the way. At the top of this room is a blue door; head through it to find a pipe with Zebs, and a second pipe that is actually made of crumble blocks; jump on it and you'll fall down a LONG shaft. At the very bottom of the shaft, inside a Chozo Statue's marble, is your first pack of SUPER MISSILES (5)! Collect it, and head through the door to the left.
Lots of Zeb pipes are in this room; now would be a good time to fill up on energy and Missiles. To move on, blast the green door with a Super Missile (notice the Zeelas that fall out of the ceiling?) and go through. There is a narrow tunnel in here with a block that must be destroyed by a Super Missile. Blast it with one, roll in, and bomb your way out the other side, where you'll wind up back in the large pink room. Go back down to the bottom-left of the room, and bomb-jump through the narrow gap above where you bombed through to get to the Charge Beam earlier. Blast open the green door with a Super Missile, and go through.
This green room is long and filled with horizontal pipes that obnoxious Geegas fly out of, usually running right into you. You can't reach the upper area yet (and even if you could, you couldn't open the door), so head down and right, until you reach a high pipe on the right side. Jumping normally, this would require the Hi-Jump Boots to reach, but if you wall-jump off the wall, it's easy to make it in. Roll to the right to collect a pack of MISSILES (25).
Insectoid's Tip:
Back in the green room, continue downward until you get to a blue gate; shoot it and keep going (kill the Sidehoppers if they get in the way), then go through the blue door at the end. In this room, jump up on the ledge to the right and dash all the way across, without jumping. (It's another one of those nifty crumble block bridges.) If you'd like to refill your Super Missiles, kill the Cacatacs here after you blast the green door open, and then head into the next room.
This long red shaft (and the surrounding tunnels) are still part of Brinstar, but they look nothing like it, and the music has become downbeat. (Hereafter called "red Brinstar.") Anyway, drop down (watching out for the Geegas) until you reach what looks like a dead end. Wrong; shoot the floor here to reveal a way down. Be careful not to shoot the lone block on the right; it contains a hidden Beetom, which will undoubtedly latch onto you. (If it does, lay Bombs to kill it.) Drop alllll the way down, past the Rippers, to the bottom of this shaft, and go through the door on the right. (There is an Energy Recharge Room through the green door to the left, if you'd like to indulge.)
This next room has some Skrees and a pool of water between you and the next platform. Notice that you can't just jump to the platform from the water; you would need the Gravity Suit to do so. Stand on the edge of the left platform and spin-jump over. Ignore or kill the Skrees and go through the door, then stop.
Look at the left corner of the ceiling here, and you'll notice a suspicious block. Shoot it with your Beam, then spin-jump against the left side of the gap, and wall-jump to the right. If you do this successfully, you'll find yourself next to a narrow tunnel leading to the right. Roll up and bomb the entrance, then unroll and shoot the next block. (There is a bendezium block below and left of the sandstone one, and if you laid a Bomb there you might fall through, right into a Yapping Maw in the room below.) Once you're through, blast the green door with a Super Missile and go through. Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the SPAZER BEAM! This will widen the range of your normal Beam, as well as increase its power.
With the Spazer Beam in hand, go back to the narrow tunnel, bomb the block I mentioned and fall through. Hold right so that you don't fall in the Yapping Maw, and continue right, blasting the Cacatac and avoiding the other Maw. Go through the door at the end.
Though the music hasn't changed, this is actually part of Maridia. (Look at the game map if you want proof.) Go through the next two doors, ignoring the obvious explorable area beyond the glass tube. (You need a Power Bomb to break it, but it would be futile to do so without the Gravity Suit.)
Back in Brinstar, take the elevator down to Norfair.
We won't be here for long; most of the doors in the main Norfair shaft lead to superhot areas, which would gradually reduce Samus's energy if you tried to explore them without the Varia Suit. (And one of the doors, the yellow one, can't even be opened yet.) The two lower doors are safe; the lower-right has a Save Room, but to proceed, blast through the lower-left, ignoring the Sovas (Norfair Geemers) for now.
Right in front of you in this room is an ENERGY TANK (2). Beyond it, there are several crumble blocks; fall through them, and roll to the left. Go through the door here to find a Chozo Statue waiting behind a wall. Shoot the upper section of it and jump over, then shoot the marble for the HI-JUMP BOOTS! You can jump twice as high now, evidenced by the fact that you can now jump over the wall from this side with ease. Go back through the door, and wait for the single Sova in this room to crawl down toward you, then blast it (this unlocks the metal door at the entrance). Jump up the ledges here to reach a pack of MISSILES (30). Bomb-jump into the tunnel to the right, and fall through to the door, then exit.
We're done here for now, so take the elevator back up to Brinstar.
To the right of the elevator, there are three blocks in the right wall just above the floor that seem out-of-place. Blast one with a Super Missile and roll (or bomb-jump) through. This empty room has what looks like a creature's mouth occupying the upper-right part of it. Now that you have the Hi-Jump Boots, you can reach that platform; go through the door at the end.
Though technically we're still in Brinstar, it again looks different, and is somewhat isolated, so I'm going to refer to it as a separate area. There are some Zeelas here; blast them out of the way, and shoot the floor next to the door and drop down. There is a metal door to the left, but it can't be opened yet. Bomb the lower corner of the wall across from it to reveal a narrow tunnel; roll through it, and go through the door in the ceiling.
Blast or ignore the four Kihunters here. Now you have two choices: if you want to save, head over to the right and bomb the little nook in the floor to reveal a tunnel that leads to a Save Room; to continue, shoot the cracked floor in the middle of the room and drop down. Go through the door.
In here, blast the green Space Pirates (either with charged Beam shots or a Missile each), and continue to the right. Sharp projectiles will be flying at you; try to ignore them, arm your Super Missiles and fire ONE at the Mini-Kraid as soon as you see it. Collect the Super Missile refills and go through the next door.
If you'd like, shoot the ceiling here to reveal a passage; jump up and head to the right, blasting the green door with a Super Missile to reach a Dual Recharge Room. To proceed, head to the right, jumping over the spikes and Zeb pipes, to reach an Eye Door. Each time it opens its eye, blast it with a Missile; do this three times to destroy it, and go through the door. (You can also use one Super Missile, but I recommend saving them for the boss.)
As soon as you step through the door turns metal behind you. There's no other way out, and the right side of the room is covered in spikes. Out of the spikes rises the first boss, Kraid.
KRAID
HP: 1000
Attacks: claw 10, spine 10, body 20, spikes 16.
Missiles – 100 (10)
Charged Spazer – 120 (9)
Super Missiles – 300 (4)
Kraid actually isn't that hard (that is, if you're not a klutz like me who falls off the platforms repeatedly). He starts out only halfway out of the spike pit; jump up and shoot him in the eyes, and he'll open his mouth, which is your cue to arm and fire a Super Missile down his throat.
After one super Missile, Kraid rises up all the way, breaking most of the ceiling except for a few small platforms; jump up onto these. Staying on them and not falling into the spikes is the tricky part; Kraid tries to hit you with a sort of boomerang-like claw, as well as firing sharp spines from the holes in his belly.
Shoot his eyes to open his mouth (either with the Spazer Beam or Missiles) and shoot a Super Missile in his mouth three more times to finish him off. If you run out of Super Missiles, use either Missiles or the charged Spazer (though the latter is more difficult to hit him with).
After Kraid is destroyed, the spike pit will disappear, allowing you to cross to the other side of the room; go through the flashing metal door here. A pedestal with a marble awaits you here; shoot it and pick up the VARIA SUIT! Yay. This special suit protects Samus from high temperatures, meaning you can now explore more of Norfair, and gives the Power Suit an orange coloring—neato. Exit this room and head back through the now-flashing metal door.
Backtrack all the way to the shaft with the Zeelas (blasting the Mini-Kraid, Pirates, and Kihunters for refills). You'll see that the metal door noted earlier is now flashing; enter it to find a room full of Beetoms, who will all make a beeline for Samus. Roll up and lay Bombs (or fire a Missile if you're at a safe distance) until they're all gone, then shoot the ceiling to reveal an ENERGY TANK (3). Exit the way you came in, and shoot the platform above you to get back to and through the door in the upper-left.
Finally back here, drop down and jump back up to the Super Missile blocks on your left. Blast one and roll through.
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