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Super Metroid (100%) TAS by JXQ

Essentials:
This run satisfies the following criteria:
  • 100% item collection
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Abuses programming errors
  • Manipulates luck
  • Emulator Used: SNES9x 1.43 +v9
    • Use WIP1 Timing - on
    • Allow Left+Right/Up+Down - off
    • Volume Envelope Height Reading - off
    • Fake Mute desync Workaround - off
    • Sync samples with sound CPU - off
Overview:
Super Metroid is probably my favorite game of all time. Back in its prime, I would play it on the SNES, trying to design a route to the fastest 100% completion. (Back then, "fast" was something like 1 hour 45 minutes game time...shame) TASing this game was the big rock I never knew I could climb, but I did it, and I'm very happy with how it turned out!
This run was attempted almost a year ago by Michael Flatley, and it was the first in-progress run I followed on the forums here at Nesvideos. About a third of the way into the run, Michael unfortunately abandoned the project. However, were it not for his efforts, several of the ideas and tricks here would not have been realized at this time.
Tool-assisted or not, this game has a huge variety of sequence breaks and glitches to exploit in the interest of getting the fastest time. I have put together some information on the Super Metroid tricks page that explains how many of the frame-precise techniques work for this game, and a few of the other glitches that may not be obvious at first glance.
Details:
First of all, this game has an in-game timer that runs only during actual playing sequences (and a few other unusual spots). This is handy for console speedrunners of this game, but I don't believe it's necessary in a TAS, so I instead optimized to overall movie length. Because of the rules of the in-game timer, there are certain situations that could be done differently in order to lower the in-game time at the expense of a longer movie length.
I spent a long time planning a route and testing things before really starting the run. I studied several of the console and tool-assisted speedruns for route ideas and strategies, and ended up with my own unique route that takes advantage of things like being able to manipulate the items dropped by enemies. I have a good amount of confidence in this route; I'd be surprised if it could be improved more than a little bit.
The rules of Samus's movement had to be re-learned each time I got an item that changed something about her movement. The Morph Ball, Speed Booster, Space Jump, and Spring Ball all affected what strategy was optimal in a given environment. This makes for a varying style of play as the run goes on, which helps keeps things entertaining throughout.
Although I did optimize this run pretty tightly (I gained over fifteen seconds on Michael Flatley's progress by the time I caught up to him), it's definitely improvable. This game is very difficult to fully optimize, and I'm sure I didn't find everything there is to find, not by a longshot. I would estimate this run could be improved by 15-30 seconds.
This run's in-game timer ends with 39 minutes, 55 seconds and 22 frames. (The in-game timer can be viewed in memory more accurately than the displayed final time.) Since the seconds are so close to the next minute, I would also estimate that time shown at the end cannot be improved to 00:38.
Suggested Description & Screenshot:
In accordance with standard procedure, Samus discarded all of the items she collected on previous adventures before embarking on this one. This run aims for 100% item collection in the fastest time.
Super Metroid has a wide variety of time-saving glitches to exploit, many of which are explained on the Super Metroid Tricks page.
Suggested Screenshot - Frame 187172
Thanks to…
  • Michael Flatley, for his important discoveries and partial progress.
  • Graveworm, for helping me learn the basics of the game and giving me seemingly impossible goals to aim for.
  • Nitsuja, for the invaluable improvements in SNES9x 1.43+ v9.
  • OmnipotentEntity, Saturn, and Truncated for watching my progress closely and giving helpful feedback and encouragement.
  • Angerfist, Fabian, Highness, Kaz, Nach, Bablo, Kyrsimys, OgreSlayeR, Baxter, Guybrush, moozooh, Gorling, Zurreco, xou, Fredrik, yarbles, Torgen, Atma, Oddity, and MANY others for giving me all sorts of extra encouragement. I feel like I had an army backing me on this run!
Enjoy the run!
Spittin' so much fire, I wear a Varia Suit - JXQ
Edit: To those of you who like to see the animals get saved, I've done an alternate run that simply re-does the last few rooms of the escape. You can find it here.
Bisqwit: Amazing … mobility. Accepted without doubt.

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Posted: 4/21/2006 7:40 PM
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Graveworm
Former player
Joined: 9/29/2005
Posts: 460
JXQ wrote:
Figure out what determines if the Space Jump can be used after 5 frames or 23 frames of not holding the jump button (it was always one or the other, and seemed to depend on the room).
It depends whether you're under water/lava or not.
Posted: 4/21/2006 8:38 PM
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Qlex
He/Him
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 193
Location: Available
I just found it was a huge movie that perfectly aimed for the fastest time, while being greatly entertaining. I just thought you could have been playing some more before Kraid or before getting to Tourian, but hey, those are just my two cents. I really liked how you kill lots of enemies on screen when you enter a room. I loved that movie, because I played a lot Super Metroid, although I would understand that people would find it boring. I see you are working on an improvement, well I am really looking forward to it. I voted yes, congrats JXQ!
Posted: 4/21/2006 9:01 PM
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Graveworm
Former player
Joined: 9/29/2005
Posts: 460
The reason he didn't "play around" while Kraid emerged from the spikes was because it would have caused lag.
Posted: 4/21/2006 10:02 PM
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Fabianx
Joined: 12/17/2004
Posts: 99
Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
Hi, congrats for a very nice TAS. As I haven't watched any WIPs it was much more exciting. Still I have some questions: - Around frame 55000 you have gone through a door, collected a missile and used a wall-jump to reach the next platform. Would it have been possible to use the slow-shinespark to avoid the wall jump and possibly also shinesparking through the next room? - Around frame 160000: You let the digger-machine open the way for you. Then you shinespark through it. It looks as if you actually destroy some blocks with your shine-spark? Or is this wall really undestroyable except by that machine? - I think the one thing missing to massively improve Metroid runs, is control about the end of the shinespark. Was already every possible key combination tried? Especially L or R come to mind as they can "stop-on-dime" normally. cu Fabian
Posted: 4/21/2006 10:18 PM
(Edited: 9/8/2006 2:02 PM)
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moozooh
Senior Moderator
Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5770
Location: Away
Fabianx wrote:
You let the digger-machine open the way for you. Then you shinespark through it. It looks as if you actually destroy some blocks with your shine-spark? Or is this wall really undestroyable except by that machine?
Normally, that wall can't be destroyed by any means other than that peculiar creature. You can't even speed the process up a bit. JXQ does the so-called space boost (which is spacejumping while speedboosting; shinespark is another move) at the first frame possible, and enters the gap formed in the wall at the same frame as the blocks blocking his way crumble, that's why it appears that he actually destroys them by going through them.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Posted: 4/21/2006 11:02 PM
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hero_of_the_day
Player (88)
Joined: 11/14/2005
Posts: 1057
Location: United States
iirc the sand can also be destoryed by those black shells that are found at the end of room.
They're off to find the hero of the day...
Posted: 4/21/2006 11:14 PM
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moozooh
Senior Moderator
Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5770
Location: Away
hero of the day wrote:
iirc the sand can also be destoryed by those black shells that are found at the end of room.
Huh, are they really usable (or were already used) in a speedrun?
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Posted: 4/21/2006 11:36 PM
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Oddity
Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 178
I notice the big metroid attaches to you yet you still have some time to sit perfectly still at the very far left of the room. Wouldn't it be possible to have the big metroid attach to you sooner so that your life depletes sooner?
<^>v AB X LR s
Posted: 4/22/2006 6:51 AM
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KDR_11k
Joined: 1/23/2006
Posts: 352
Location: Germany
Hm, I wonder: If you can get the speedboost by only pressing dash on certain frames, is it posible to let go of the dpad in betweeen as well or does that reset the speedboost counter?
Posted: 4/22/2006 7:29 AM
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JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
NES TAS of 2008 Speedy TAS of 2008 SNES TASer of 2007 TAS of 2007 SNES TAS of 2007 Funny TAS of 2007
Graveworm: Thanks for answering that mystery for me :) Fabianx (and indirectly, KDR_11k): Frame 55000 - There isn't enough space here to charge a shinespark. This area gave me the same idea that KDR_11k mentioned, but as he guessed, releasing "forward" resets the speed boost level counter. Frame 160000 - moozooh was right. I also tried speed-morphballing through here (so only one block needed to be destroyed) but Samus still took some damage in the process which ultimately made it a bit slower. Ducking to charge a Shinespark does make Samus slide a bit, is that what you were referring to? Unfortunately, using L or R to stop-on-a-dime gets rid of Samus's echoes and so she can't charge the spark. Oddity: In theory, yes. This part was very goofy as far as which movements got the Metroid to latch onto me and which ones didn't. I also had to make sure I could at least get onto the lower platform before the Metroid got me. But you could probably improve this part by 10 frames or so, if optimal conditions were met. Qlex: Thanks! But currently I'm not working on an improvement, I just am keeping a log of what I see that could be improved.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Posted: 4/22/2006 9:34 AM
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KDR_11k
Joined: 1/23/2006
Posts: 352
Location: Germany
Naah, I mean the short charging, you only press dash on the frames where it checks. I'm wondering if you can do something similar with the directional input (e.g. when moving right only pushing right on certain frames) to make the charge distance even shorter? Does the game check for that every frame?
Posted: 4/22/2006 12:48 PM
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Fabianx
Joined: 12/17/2004
Posts: 99
Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
JXQ wrote:
Ducking to charge a Shinespark does make Samus slide a bit, is that what you were referring to? Unfortunately, using L or R to stop-on-a-dime gets rid of Samus's echoes and so she can't charge the spark.
No, I meant something differently. When you have charged up enough and let Samus "fly" in the direction you want to go (like outside of wrecked ship, metroid area in maridia with blue suit, ...). It would be very nice if you could stop this voluntarily without having to wait to crash into a wall ... But I guess its not possible. That is why I have asked if you had tried every possible key combination? cu Fabian
Posted: 4/22/2006 1:48 PM
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Saturn
Player (209)
Joined: 2/18/2005
Posts: 1451
I'm pretty sure it is impossible to stop Samus in mid air while shinesparking/flying no matter what buttons you press. You just have to deal with the long crash animation.
See my perfect 100% movie-walkthroughs of the best RPG games on http://www.freewebs.com/saturnsmovies/index.htm Current TAS project (with new videos): Super Metroid Redesign, any% speedrun
Posted: 4/22/2006 4:35 PM
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JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
NES TAS of 2008 Speedy TAS of 2008 SNES TASer of 2007 TAS of 2007 SNES TAS of 2007 Funny TAS of 2007
KDR_11k wrote:
Naah, I mean the short charging, you only press dash on the frames where it checks. I'm wondering if you can do something similar with the directional input (e.g. when moving right only pushing right on certain frames) to make the charge distance even shorter? Does the game check for that every frame?
This what I thought you meant, I just must have explained it badly. For example, when fighting Phantoon, I press -> for 2 frames, and release for 2 frames. I was thinking maybe slow walking like this (or some derivative) combined with short shinespark charging would allow even shorter distances (like the platform before the Wave Beam). However, I couldn't get it to work, and I later confirmed with the game's memory that releasing the direction you are running, even if for only one frame, no matter how close you are to running full speed, will put the speed-boost counter back at zero.
Fabianx wrote:
It would be very nice if you could stop this voluntarily without having to wait to crash into a wall ...
Kejardon told me about a way to slightly lower the effect of this - by using a charged beam power bomb combo when shinesparking, a second shinespark in the same room will end faster. I haven't tried it, so I don't know how effective it is, and I also can't think of a place it would help in the run, but here's what Kejardon told me: Also on the topic of beam tricks, if you have a 4-projectile charge beam combo going and you do a super jump, one of the echoes will not fire off because the projectile array is full already (5 projectiles max) The useful part is that the *next* set of super jump echoes will still be prepped to fire, and so you will cut off a lot of the super jump ending wait. The catch is that it has to be within the same room, leaving the room will lose the effect.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Posted: 4/22/2006 6:28 PM
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Saturn
Player (209)
Joined: 2/18/2005
Posts: 1451
JXQ wrote:
Kejardon told me about a way to slightly lower the effect of this - by using a charged beam power bomb combo when shinesparking, a second shinespark in the same room will end faster. I haven't tried it, so I don't know how effective it is, and I also can't think of a place it would help in the run, but here's what Kejardon told me: Also on the topic of beam tricks, if you have a 4-projectile charge beam combo going and you do a super jump, one of the echoes will not fire off because the projectile array is full already (5 projectiles max) The useful part is that the *next* set of super jump echoes will still be prepped to fire, and so you will cut off a lot of the super jump ending wait. The catch is that it has to be within the same room, leaving the room will lose the effect.
Wow, interesting stuff, thanks for posting it JXQ. Never had the idea to find such extreme tricks. If Kejardon know any other useful trick/glitch that could help in TAS'ing to save time, I would very appreciate to hear it.
See my perfect 100% movie-walkthroughs of the best RPG games on http://www.freewebs.com/saturnsmovies/index.htm Current TAS project (with new videos): Super Metroid Redesign, any% speedrun
Posted: 4/22/2006 6:58 PM
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AllBogs
Joined: 12/16/2005
Posts: 69
At times I doubt there's anything about SM that Kejardon doesn't know :P Anyway, JXQ, thanks for the TAS, I had a blast watching it. I never expected to see so much tricks and techniques I didn't know about, and my compliments on your creativity with certain boss battles :)
Posted: 4/22/2006 7:10 PM
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JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
NES TAS of 2008 Speedy TAS of 2008 SNES TASer of 2007 TAS of 2007 SNES TAS of 2007 Funny TAS of 2007
Kejardon's knowledge of the game is very comprehensive. He updated memory addresses section at the Super Metroid Tricks page far beyond what I could figure out from watching the memory.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Posted: 4/22/2006 7:41 PM
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Saturn
Player (209)
Joined: 2/18/2005
Posts: 1451
Yeah, mindbreaking stuff indeed! Thanks alot to everybody who contributed to this page.
See my perfect 100% movie-walkthroughs of the best RPG games on http://www.freewebs.com/saturnsmovies/index.htm Current TAS project (with new videos): Super Metroid Redesign, any% speedrun
Posted: 4/22/2006 8:21 PM
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Fredrik
Joined: 12/7/2005
Posts: 149
Location: Sweden
Kejardon has a bunch of documents here.
Posted: 4/22/2006 10:08 PM
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SuprJen
Joined: 9/6/2005
Posts: 5
Mind-blowing, staggering video! It was a real pleasure to watch.
Posted: 4/23/2006 3:34 AM
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skuzz
Joined: 9/2/2005
Posts: 26
Great run! I've never played far into the game and the game itself is amazing. Sad that they had to ruin it with the Metroid Prime sequel. The h.264 video encoding wasn't that impressive, many random display errors and frame drops, not used to watching a run with that many errors - although that's not a JXQ issue - just an encoding process issue. Overall though, impressive show of Samus' might! Skuzz
I rule.
Posted: 4/23/2006 9:02 AM
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Brushy
Former player
Joined: 11/13/2005
Posts: 1587
Should it be encoded with DivX codec then? And don't even mention MP4...
Posted: 4/23/2006 10:28 AM
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Warp
Banned User, Former player
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
skuzz wrote:
The h.264 video encoding wasn't that impressive, many random display errors and frame drops, not used to watching a run with that many errors - although that's not a JXQ issue - just an encoding process issue.
I didn't notice any such problems. Are you sure the problem is not in your end?
Posted: 4/23/2006 10:44 AM
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Sir_VG
He/Him
Player (39)
Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1911
Location: Floating Tower
I agree, it sounds like an error with H.264 on your computer. I've played it on 2 different computers and it worked just fine. Good run JXQ, BTW.
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
Posted: 4/23/2006 10:46 AM
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Fabian
Former player
Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 1711
For what it's worth I've had some problems with this avi too. I use VLC and haven't had problems with other movies encoded this way.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
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