Surface



The Surface of SR388 is the starting area of Metroid II: Return of Samus and its remake, Metroid: Samus Returns.

In Nintendo Power guides for Metroid II, this area was originally known as Phase 1.

Description
This is the area where Samus Aran lands her gunship and prepares her Metroid extermination mission by defeating the first Alpha Metroid. She later returns this way after defeating all other Metroids save for a hatchling believing her to be its mother. Samus can Space Jump, Spider Ball or use a Power Bomb to get to the top of the landing site, but if she continues she will be stopped by the outer atmosphere. After returning to her Gunship, the entrance to the caverns and further areas are blocked off by debris.

In Return of Samus, Phase 1 contains no items, only consisting of a Save Point, a single Larva Metroid that molts into Alpha Metroid before her eyes, and a Big Energy Ball and Missile Battery to restore Samus' ammunition after the battle with it. The tunnel leading to the Alpha Metroid has small pools of an unidentified liquid that hinders Samus's movement if she steps in it, while the local Hornoads freely hop in and out of these puddles.

In Samus Returns, the Surface has been reimagined and now houses some plants and mushrooms as well as various relics left behind by the Chozo. This is where the Morph Ball (which Samus begins with in Return of Samus) and Charge Beam (which did not exist in Return of Samus) are acquired, as well as the Scan Pulse Aeion ability. As Samus continues through the Surface, tutorials for using the Missiles, Free Aim and Melee Counter are displayed on-screen. The Surface replaces the Big Energy Ball and Missile Battery with an Ammo and Energy Recharge Station, and a Teleport Station is added. The Surface is also where the first Chozo Seal and Alpha Metroid are found. Prior to the Alpha battle, there is a cutscene of a Larva Metroid draining a Hornoad of its energy; when Samus encounters the larva, it molts into an Alpha before her eyes, like the encounter in the original. The Hornoad's corpse can still be found in the background after being drained, along with the deceased members of the Galactic Federation Special Squadron.

After the Queen Metroid is defeated, Samus returns to the Surface with the baby, an Infant Metroid she decided to spare. In Return of Samus, there are no enemies on the way to Phase 1, and Samus leaves the planet with the baby unhindered. In Samus Returns, there are a number of enemies in the route, and the Surface is in the middle of a major storm, with a tornado clearly visible in the background. As Samus and the baby are about to leave, they are confronted by Samus's arch-nemesis Proteus Ridley, who intends to steal the baby. Samus duels him in a grueling and difficult battle, and is nearly killed if not for the baby, which drains energy from Ridley to give to Samus during the battle. After Ridley is defeated, Samus and the baby leave SR388, leading to the events of Super Metroid.

Return of Samus

 * Hornoad
 * Seerook
 * Tsumuri
 * Yumbo

Samus Returns

 * Gigadora
 * Gravitt
 * Gryncore
 * Gullugg
 * Hornoad
 * Moheek
 * Rock Icicle
 * Proteus Ridley (boss)

Both games

 * 1 Alpha Metroid (first seen as a Larva Metroid)

Samus Returns

 * 8 Missile Tanks
 * 1 Energy Tank
 * 1 Aeion Tank
 * 3 Super Missile Tanks
 * 1 Power Bomb Tank
 * Morph Ball
 * Charge Beam
 * Scan Pulse

Connecting areas

 * Area 1 (Phase 2)
 * Area 8 (Phase 9)

Trivia

 * The music heard during the ending of Samus Returns when Samus and the baby return to the stormy surface is a remix of Planet Zebes - Arrival on Crateria from Super Metroid, which incidentally also played during a storm on the surface of a planet, in this case, Crateria on Zebes.
 * Upon her return to the Gunship in both Return of Samus and Samus Returns, Samus cannot re-enter the entrance tunnel to the rest of the caverns as there is a wall blocking it off.
 * The lifeless bodies of the Galactic Federation Special Squadron briefly mentioned in the game's opening can be found throughout the Surface, presumably killed by the hostile creatures they encountered. One of them is covered in a cohesive substance mostly found in Metroid nests, implying that he was attacked by one of them.

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