Welcome back to Practicing Glitchcraft. Being the third installment, it seems only right that we cover not one, but three games. Metroid Prime, Echoes, and Corruption still exist as some of the very greatest of the Metroid series in the minds of fans. So much so that the original trilogy was re-released on the Nintendo Wii in a three-in-one bundle.
Metroid originated on the NES in 1986 (the same years as the Mario games) and featured Samus Aran, the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter, on a mission to destroy the malicious Mother Brain. Inclusive of this first outing, the series has seen ten mainstream games plus Metroid Pinball, an odd twist of the Prime storyline.
That concludes the briefing. Your mission now is to return to the Prime Trilogy and unmask the glitch-forms that dwell there. Naturally, we will begin with the first game in the series, Metroid Prime.
The clips provided in this footage demonstrate several sequence breaks in the Japanese version, plus some techniques that have been removed from the remake. First, a bomb space jump (BSJ) is used to skip a spider ball climb. Next, a bomb slot is reached with a space jump instead of the spider ball, followed by the patched stone toad puzzle skip (jumping is disabled while on top of the toad). The fourth clip is another BSJ to squeeze through a gap, then going nearly out-of-bounds to reach a door from a giant crane before showing another old trick that no longer works due to some added blockage. After that is another spider ball skip followed by a nerfed combo and a showcase of faster charge shots. The final part reveals Samus traveling out of bounds for real and falling into the abyss.
Most of the glitches in Echoes were sadly fixed for the Trilogy release, but a few still remain. YouTuber Uchiha Madao has made a series of videos showcasing a few of them. The one presented here is a graphical glitch that occurs when using the grapple arm at the right time. No, Samus, that’s not the proper way to do a falcon punch!
For Metroid Prime: Corruption, a compilation video details disappearing worlds, irrational noises, out-of-place life-sucking monsters, utter nonsense, and sacrilege against the laws of physics. The best one has to be at 4:14 with the lizard’s head stuck outside the room.
The world of Metroid is all about exploration, experimentation, and harrowing alien encounters. With a widely varied arsenal and tons of collectibles, the games are rich in possibility. Perform some of these glitches for yourself and try to discover new ones. And remember, while gamers may not get the Metroid adventure they want anytime soon, nothing can diminish or trivialize the wonderful titles that already exist.