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Section 3: Walkthrough

3.4: The Fiery Depths of Norfair

Brinstar

Time for another quick supply check.  You should have 3 Energy Tanks for 399 energy, as well as 30 Missiles and 5 Super Missiles.  Go ahead and take the elevator down to Norfair.

Norfair

I recommend saving your progress in the Save Room through the lower-right door of the main shaft.  When you're ready, go through the top-right door.  In this fiery room are Sovas and a new enemy, the Dessgeega, which is like the Sidehopper but tougher.  Shoot the floor below the door and drop through to the bottom, then make your way right and then up to the red door.  Blast it open and head through.

This next room is cave-like with some exposed areas of lava, which the Varia Suit can't protect against.  There is another new enemy here, the Geruta, which is Norfair's version of the Reo, except more damaging.  (Most of the enemies here are like that.)  There is an item to collect here; go to the third pool of lava from the left, blast the Geruta out of the way, and shoot the lower-right corner of the lava pool.  A pack of MISSILES (35) should appear; roll up and quickly collect it before you take too much damage (or it disappears).  Then head to the right and blast open the green door to continue.

When you enter this room, it will start filling with lava (but it stops at a certain height, so don't panic).  Make your way across the small platforms as quickly as you can, doing your best to avoid the Squeepts, Dragons, and Sovas.  Head through the door once you get there.

This area is made of walls that look like bubbles (thus its popular name, the "bubble room").  Anyway, the room has some Rippers, Wavers, and Sovas.  (There's also a Save Room.)  There is one item to collect before moving on; head to the far right, and you'll fall through a false floor and a crumble block (which thankfully doesn't reappear).  Jump, aim down and shoot the blocks below you to clear a passage.  Once you reach the bottom, avoid the Ripper and jump over the spikes to reach a pack of MISSILES (40).

Head back up the same way, then go left toward the middle of the room.  Shoot the floor here to reveal a passage leading to a narrow tunnel.  Roll up and bomb each block that gets in your way (as well as the two Sovas you'll encounter), until you reach a pair of doors.  Go through the one in the floor.

Make your way down the platforms here; the first door on the right is empty except for a Gamet nest; you can raid it for refills if you like.  At the bottom of the shaft, go through the door on the right.  The next room has some more new enemies, Multiviolas and Magdollites (living lava creatures).  Head through the door at the end.  You can pass through this next room without stopping, ignoring the Violas and going through the door on the right.

Insectoid's Tip:

Another room with rising lava.  Avoid the lava as you make your way across, and you'll reach a Fune above a narrow tunnel; ignore the Fune and roll through, then unroll and start heading up, shooting the ceilings to get through, and ignoring the Funes.  Once you get to the top, go through the door on the left.

Here you'll find a peculiar new type of Ripper called a Tripper, which has a platform on its back that you can stand on.  Morph and roll onto the first Tripper to avoid the spikes protruding from the ceiling.  Once you get to the pillars, unroll and jump across them (watch out for the shutter and spikes), then jump to the next Tripper, which again you should roll onto.  This Tripper is weaker, so don't stay on it too long or you'll fall into the lava.  Go through the door at the end.

There are more Multiviolas in this shaft, along with a different kind of Dragon called an Alcoon, which pops out of the floors.  Blast these (a Missile each will do) as you make your way past the first door on the right and up to the second.  Blast this red door open and go through.

In this room are some small yellow-and-green platforms that move up or down when they sense you.  (The Player's Guide calls them "suspensor platforms".)  Try to ignore the Funes in this room (though they will try to knock you off the platforms), and jump the first and second platforms.  Stand on the third until it lowers, then jump to the fourth (otherwise you'll hit your head on the ceiling and fall).  Shoot the blue gate and jump over to collect the pack of MISSILES (45) sitting there.  Now, this next item is through the door at the far end of the room, between which is a large spike pit.  Normally you would need the Grappling Beam to collect it, but you can actually get there with a well-executed wall-jump, and save a lot of time in the process.

From the far left of this platform, run and jump as far to the right as you can; if you fall through the crumble blocks at the bottom, you'll have to exit and reenter the room through the upper door.  If you make it close to the wall below the door, try to endure the spikes and spin-jump at the wall, then wall—jump off of it to the platform above.  Go through the door and shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the WAVE BEAM!  Your beam is stronger, and will also pass through walls!  Exit this room, and drop through the crumble blocks in the middle of the spike pit.  Ignore the Kago hives and head left to the door.

Back in this shaft, head all the way to the top and go through the door on the left.  Back here in the bubble room, jump up, ignore the Cacatac, and head to the upper-right, blasting the green door open.  Go through, kill the Skrees here, and then shoot the ceiling to open up a passage.  Jump up, shooting the ceiling again, and blast through the green door on the right.  (There is also a Gamet nest to the left, if you want refills.)

Dash all the way through this long tunnel, ignoring the enemies; most of the bridges are made of crumble blocks.  At the end, just to the left of the door, shoot the ceiling to reveal a hidden pack of MISSILES (50).  Blast open the red door and go through.  Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble and collect the SPEED BOOSTER!  You can now run at high speeds and break Speed Booster blocks.  As soon as you pick up the Speed Booster, this room and the tunnel will start filling with lava.  So, dash through the long tunnel again, and this time you'll reach what I call "super-speed"; you'll outrun even your own sprites on the screen, not to mention the lava.  Go through the door at the end, and backtrack to the bubble room.

Back here, head to the left and drop down to the bottom, and then back through the tunnel with Sovas again.  This time, enter the door on the left; jump over the gap in the next room, ignoring the Violas, and go through the next door.

Insectoid's Tip:

In this long tunnel, dash all the way to the end, super-speeding through Speed Booster blocks and many Beetoms in the process.  Save in the Save Room, then head left back to the main shaft, climb up to the green door on the left, and blast it open, entering at a dash.

Keep dashing in this tunnel to make it past all the speed-shutters, as well as breaking two Booster blocks.  (As you can see, the blocks underneath are Power Bomb blocks, which you can't break yet.)  Go through the door on the left.  In this room are some more of those weaker Trippers; use them to cross the lava and enter the door at the other end.

This room has many Funes, but avoid them and jump up the platforms to the top.  Instead of going through the door, shoot the floor below it; you'll notice many notches in the right wall below.  Morph and roll into each of them until you reach the narrow tunnel, then blast through the red door there.  Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble to reveal the ICE BEAM!  In addition to having more power, you can now freeze enemies and stand on them.  Exit this room, roll up and fall back to the bottom of the Fune room, then climb back up and enter the door on the right.

In this room are three peculiar blobs called Boyons.  When you get close to them, they bounce up and down like a rubber ball.  Walk up to the first one and, using the Ice Beam, freeze it at the peak of its bounce, then jump on it and repeat with the second and third Boyons.  Roll through the opening next to the last one, freeze the red Ripper II and use it to jump across the lava pit to reach the door.  Here, you'll fall through many crumble blocks until you're back above the tunnel with the shutters that we ran through earlier.  Morph and roll right (ignore the Sova) and you'll fall through another crumble block into the tunnel.  Exit this room, and go through the door across from you, then through the three fire rooms back to the bubble room.

In the bubble room, jump up to the left where the Save Room is, then look for a Waver nearby.  Freeze it about halfway between you and the ledge above, and jump on it, then jump to the green door.  (Notice that you would have needed the Grappling Beam otherwise?)  Blast it open and go through, shooting the Geruta in here, and jump over to the pack of MISSILES (55).  Shoot the lower-left corner of this room (easiest from the right-hand column) to make a hidden shutter rise.  Jump onto it, shoot the wall, and roll through the passage to a door; go through it.

In here, jump from platform to platform, killing the Sovas and freezing the Dragons on the way to the far left of the room.  Shoot the marble there and pick up your first RESERVE TANK (1). Angle down and shoot the little platform closest to you to reveal another pack of MISSILES (60); don't worry about dropping in to get it.  Head back to the right, through the door and narrow tunnel again, back to the bubble room, and then down to the doors at the bottom; go through the left one.  In this room, drop down and shoot the floor out, go left past the Gamet nest (you can shoot some if you like) to the blue gate.  With the Wave Beam, you can open these blue gates from the wrong side; do so now, and go through the door.

In the shaft here, make your way down past the silver Geemers and red Space Pirates to the door in the floor.  Refill your energy in the Energy Recharge Room to the right if you need to, then head left through the tunnel with Dragons to the next door.  In this shaft, blast open the green door below, then climb up and destroy the Cacatacs for Super Missile refills, and save if you want (through the other door on the right).  When you're ready, drop through the door you opened and prepare to face the mini-boss Crocomire.

    CROCOMIRE
    HP: n/a
    Attacks: slash 20, fireballs 10.

  Missiles – 1 step
  Charged Spazer/Ice/Wave – 2 steps
Super Missiles – 3 steps

This four-eyed monster doesn't have a set number of hit points; you must herd him onto the weak bridge to the right by shooting him in the mouth when he opens it.  Start the battle with a single Missile, then switch to Super Missiles.  (If you start with a Super Missile, it will have no more effect than a regular Missile!)  After running out of Super Missiles, I strongly suggest using the charged Spazer Beam combo, not only because it has twice the effect of Missiles, but because it gives Crocomire less opportunity to gain ground.

Insectoid's Tips:

Once you manage to herd Crocomire onto the weak bridge (you'll know it when you see it), it will collapse under his weight and he'll fall in the boiling lava, causing his skin to melt right off his skeleton.  (Think Raiders of the Lost Ark.)  It's not quite over yet, though; you'll see some bubbles in the lava moving to the left.  Follow them to a wall of spikes blocking your way, and Crocomire's skeleton will crash through and land at your feet.


After Crocomire croaks, collect the refills and carefully head to the left across the boiling lava pits (boiling lava will damage Samus much faster than ordinary lava) and through the door.  In this room, drop down and visit the Save Room to the right, and raid the Gamet nest here for refills if you wish.

From the near the Save Room door, face left, angle down and freeze the Gamets at the bottom of their nest, then back up to the door and make a running leap to the left, spin-jumping up to the ledge near the red door (you should JUST make it).  Blast it open, and collect your first pack of POWER BOMBS (5)!

Insectoid's Tip:

Exit this room, drop down, and go through the door on the floor.  Ignore the door on the left (you can't get through that way) and drop down this long shaft, until you see a red door on the right.  Blast through it, and be wary of the rising and falling lava and Metarees as you make your way right, morphing and rolling through the narrow passage.  Watch out for Gamets as you make your way over to the pack of MISSILES (65).  Backtrack to the long shaft and go through the door in the floor.

Drop a Power Bomb in this long tunnel to blast away all the blocks on the ground, and kill the Mellas on the left.  (If you tried normal bombs on the blocks, you'd discover that they're Power Bomb blocks.)  Go back to the right until you reach the end, then start running back to the left.  You should reach super-speed just before you reach the ramp; press Down to store the energy (what I call a "super-charge"), then drop into the lava pool and position yourself about halfway between the edge of the ramp and the first small platform to the left.  Press Jump, and you'll Super-Jump straight up into the ceiling; hold Right to reach a pack of MISSILES (70) on a ledge.  Bomb-jump into the narrow tunnel here to fall down some crumble blocks back to the long tunnel.  Head back to the right and start another super-speed dash to the left.  This time, jump as soon as you hit the ramp; you'll spin-jump a LONG way, and land on a ledge at the other end of the room.  Go through the door here.

Shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the GRAPPLING BEAM!  This useful tool lets you latch onto special blocks and even some enemies.  Climb to the top of this shaft, and you'll see some of those grappling blocks now.  Arm the Grappling Beam, angle up, and fire at one, and you'll latch on and start swinging back and forth.  Swing in the direction of the door and let go, then go through.

Now, why there is clear blue water in the fiery underworld of Norfair I can't explain, but I do know that you need to swing across it.  (If you fall, you'll have to climb out and try again.)  At the other end, go through the door.  In this shaft, freeze the Funes and climb up, jumping to the small platform above.  Equip the Grappling Beam, jump while aiming straight up, and at the peak of your jump fire, just latching onto the grappling block above you.  Use it to swing over to the door, and go through.

One more water room to cross.  This room has two pools, with a platform in between.  (The first pool has a Gamet nest at the bottom, while the other has some Puyos, the only ones in Norfair.)  Swing across each pool, then blast the green shutter with a Super Missile and go through the door.  we're back in the long shaft from earlier.  Go through the door in the ceiling and head right, using the suspensor platform to jump to the upper door, and go through.

We're back in the long room where we fought Crocomire; head to the right.  Remember the weak bridge that he fell through?  There are grappling blocks above it, all the way to the other end of the tunnel.  Latch on and grapple your way across to reach an ENERGY TANK (4).

Insectoid's Tip:

Swing back across, and go through the door in the ceiling.  Enter the second door up on the right (the first leads back the way we came, to the Energy Recharge Room and the blue gates) and save your game.  Exit and go through the door on the left at the top.

Kill the Gerutas that get in your way as you climb the platforms here to the upper-right of the room.  Arm the Grappling Beam and swing across the room until you reach a platform with a pack of MISSILES (75).  (If you fall, jump on the small platforms to the right and try again.)  Blast the green shutter with a Super Missile and go through the door.  We're back in the elevator shaft; climb up to the yellow door on the left and blast it open, then pick up the map data for Norfair (what's left of it, anyway).  When you're done, take the elevator back up to Brinstar.

Brinstar

That's it for Norfair, at least for a while.  Head to the left, through the three Maridia tunnels, back to the Yapping Maw room.  In here, freeze the Maws and use them as stepping stones (or just leap over them).  Head through this room and the water room (freeze or kill the Skrees) all the way back to the long red shaft.

In here, use your Ice Beam to freeze the Rippers above you, then jump from Ripper to Ripper to get up to the area with the yellow door.  Lay a Power Bomb here to cause both the sandstone blocks and a section of the left wall to be blown away, as well as the door behind it (the Beetom that was hidden in the block on the right gets destroyed, too).  Go through the now-open door.

This dangerous tunnel is filled with spikes, Firefleas, Wavers, and Yapping Maws (avoid the Firefleas as best you can; you don't want the room to get too dark).  Jump across the platforms to the left, and latch onto the grappling blocks once you see them.  Carefully swing across, timing your swings to avoid the outreaching jaws of the Yapping Maws.  At the end of this room is a red door; blast it open and go through.

Insectoid's Tip:

There is a half-visible shutter here; roll onto it and lay a Bomb to make it rise.  Head to the left and shoot the Chozo Statue's marble for the X-RAY SCOPE!  This allows you to scan the area (by equipping it and holding Dash) for hidden passages and special blocks.  Use it now to locate a hidden passage behind the Chozo Statue; bomb the opening and bounce in, bombing another block and rolling to the right.  Bomb the shutter to raise you up, and roll to the right; you'll eventually fall through a crumble block.  Exit the way you came in, and backtrack all the way to the long red shaft.

Use another Power Bomb to blast your way out of this niche, then resume climbing, past the blue door on the left, until you find some more Rippers.  Repeat the freezing trick to climb the rest of the way up, shooting the ceiling to reach the blue door.  Go on through.

In this room, be VERY CAREFUL not to fall into the Manflowers (or jump into the ones on the ceiling), for they'll hold on to you for several seconds, as well as draining a bit of your energy.  Jump from ledge to ledge, shooting the Zebbos and Zeelas that get in the way.  Go through the door on the right to reach another red shaft.

Insectoid's Tip:

Shoot through the floor here to reveal a passage leading down.  Ignore or shoot the worms crawling on the walls (I believe they're called Zeros), and blast open the green door at the bottom.  In here, freeze the Boyons to safely cross the spiky, Manflower-filled pit.  At the far end is a Chozo Statue; shoot its marble and collect the pack of POWER BOMBS (10).  Lay a Power Bomb right now; it will blast away the wall behind the statue.  Go to the left and get the pack of MISSILES (80) on the pedestal.  Head back the same way you entered, and climb back up the shaft (you can shoot the Zeros for Power Bomb refills).

Go past the door you got here through (notice it's now yellow?), and continue going up.  The blue door on the right is a Save Room; you won't need it, as we'll be going to the ship right after this next item.  Continue climbing until you reach the green door on the left; blast it and go through.  In this room, there are three large Sidehoppers, as well as a bridge running over Manflowers with Yapping Maws in them.  Kill the Sidehoppers to unlock the door, and head to the left of the room, where you'll see one Manflower without a Maw in it.  Lay a Power Bomb, and the entire floor will be blown away; you'll fall through the Manflower (which is fake) into a small room with a pack of POWER BOMBS (15).  Exit this room, being careful not to fall in the Manflowers and Yapping Maws on the way out the now-flashing metal door.

Back in the red shaft, take the elevator up to Crateria.

Crateria

Been a while, hasn't it?  Blast open the yellow door in the ceiling here and jump through.  Blast or ignore the green Scisers as you make your way up, shooting the ceiling and jumping into the tunnel above.  Kill the Kihunters and enter the door on the left at a dash.  Keep running until you super-speed through that barrier I noted when we first landed, and stop at Samus's ship.  Jump on top and press Down to enter the ship; your supplies will be refilled and you'll get to save.



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