Super Metroid Cheat Codes & Secrets
Complete collection of cheat codes, passwords, unlockables, and hidden secrets for Super Metroid (1994).
Super Metroid Cheats & Secrets
Super Metroid has no traditional cheat codes but is filled with optional items, sequence breaks, and speedrunning techniques that have made it one of the most technically analyzed games on SNES.
Password System
Super Metroid does not use a password system — it saves to SRAM battery backup. The game supports three save files with independent saves at any of the game’s save stations.
All Items & Locations Overview
There are 100 collectibles in Super Metroid:
- Energy Tanks: 14 (each adds 100 energy)
- Reserve Tanks: 4 (extra energy reserves)
- Missile Packs: 46 (adds 5 missiles each)
- Super Missiles: 10 (adds 5 super missiles each)
- Power Bombs: 10 (adds 5 power bombs each)
100% item collection requires all of these. Low-percent runs intentionally skip as many as possible.
Sequence Breaks
Super Metroid is famous for sequence break discoveries that allow collecting items out of the intended order:
Bomb Jumping: By jumping and placing bombs in midair, Samus can gain height to reach areas normally requiring upgrades. Infinite Bomb Jumping chains this technique for extreme vertical gains.
Mockball: By performing a running jump and immediately pressing fire to enter morphball, Samus maintains running momentum in morph form, allowing passage through tight corridors that would otherwise require the Speed Booster.
Crystal Flash: When Samus has 0 energy, 10+ missiles, 10+ super missiles, and 11+ power bombs, enter morph ball and hold all fire buttons simultaneously. This fills all energy tanks completely — a last-resort technique but genuine game mechanic.
X-Ray Scope Climbing: The X-Ray Scope can be used to look through walls. Standing against certain walls and using the scope moves Samus through wall geometry in some cases.
Shinespark (Speed Booster Charge Jump)
After running long enough to activate the Speed Booster, crouch to store the spark, then jump in any direction (including straight up) for a powerful speed dash. Advanced Shinespark chaining allows crossing large gaps or gaining dramatic height without Gravity Suit or Space Jump.
Walljumping
Samus can walljump (called “Moonwalk” by the community) by pressing jump while pressing away from a wall as she begins to slide down. This requires precise timing but is useful throughout the game, particularly in early-game before Highjump Boots are acquired.
Ridley’s Secret Behavior
Mother Brain room entry: After defeating Ridley, you may notice the golden statues holding the baby at the entrance move. Return here after defeating Phantoon, Draygon, and Ridley to see them kneel as you pass. This triggers the Ceres Space Colony ending sequence correctly.
Baby Metroid finale: In the final Mother Brain battle, when Samus’s energy drops to zero, the baby Metroid (last of its kind, raised on Ceres) appears and absorbs Mother Brain’s beam, then restores Samus’s energy to full. This triggered the Hyper Beam acquisition — do not skip this sequence.
Animal Rescue Ending
Super Metroid tracks whether you rescue the animals (a bird and a dachshund-like creature) from Dachora and Etecoons, who demonstrate walljumping and the Shinespark. After defeating the final boss, you have a time limit to escape the planet. Taking the route that passes the animal room (lower Tourian) and allowing them to escape triggers an expanded ending and is considered the “true” ending.
The timer for the escape is affected by completion percentage: lower completion = less time allowed.
Time Attack Medals
Completing the game in under certain times awards different ending screens and save file icons:
| Time | Rating |
|---|---|
| Under 3:00 | Best ending, standing pose |
| 3:00 – 5:00 | Good ending, slight damage |
| 5:00 – 10:00 | Normal ending |
| Over 10:00 | Worst ending |
Speedrunners have pushed any% completion below 40 minutes.
Maridia Secret Passage (Easier Access)
From Wrecked Ship area, instead of fighting through lower Maridia, there is a passage accessible via Shinespark in the sand rooms of Maridia that shortcuts to the Space Jump item early.
Reserve Tank Usage
Reserve tanks store extra energy. Manually activate them (item menu) or set them to auto-activate when energy hits 0. They fill when regular energy is full and you collect more energy — functioning as overflow storage.
Hidden Message in Final Room
In the room before the final Zebes escape launch, if you look carefully at the bottom of the screen, there is a hidden visual reference to the original Metroid’s ending. The development team included multiple such tributes to the original game throughout Zebes.