Corridor No. 1

The Starting Point is the beginning room in Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission. It is also the very first room in the Metroid series.

Description
The room consists of blue rock and metal, occasionally featuring Koma statues. Samus Aran begins on a platform, opening her eyes in a crouched position (in Zero Mission), and her first adventure begins.

To her left in each of the room's appearances is the first item in the game, the Morph Ball. Samus must jump over a midair rock formation somewhat resembling a staircase, and she will find the Ball on a pedestal. However, the rock formation is low enough that she cannot walk under it, and tall enough that she cannot jump back over it. Thus, the item immediately comes into use as Samus must use it to roll under the narrow space between the formation and the ground. She must then continue on to the next room, the door to which is on a raised platform.

In Zero Mission, the layout of the room is mostly the same, although some of the terrain has been smoothed over. The background, where once there was none, is now green, and depicts far-off caverns. It also no longer contains a Skree as an enemy.

Exactly how Samus enters this room in her original Zero Mission is unknown. The 1986 manga depicts Samus crashing into the room after being ejected from her Gunship, but no such event is shown in-game. In Zero Mission, returning to the Starting Point after acquiring Power Bombs reveals a Morph Ball launcher hidden under the beginning platform, which launches Samus up to Crateria.

In Super Metroid, an elevator takes Samus to the Starting Point from the desolate ruins of Tourian, which are now considered part of Crateria. The Morph Ball is curiously in the exact same place it was before, but after acquiring it, an Eye mechanism shines a light on Samus. There is also now a Fake Block under the rock formation. As she returns to Crateria, the Koma statues that were stationary in her first adventure now mysteriously come alive. Upon return to Crateria, Samus discovers that the Space Pirates have become aware of her presence, and is ambushed. In exploration of other areas of Brinstar, Samus will find a Yellow Hatch that leads behind the left wall of the Starting Point. She is locked out of the door through which she came until she kills three Sidehoppers. Using Power Bombs twice will reveal a Power Bomb Tank.

Connecting rooms

 * Crateria (via Morph Ball launcher/Elevator)
 * Brinstar (via Blue Door)

Inhabitants

 * 5 Zoomers (Metroid and Zero Mission)
 * 1 Skree (Metroid)
 * Eye (Super Metroid)
 * 3 Sidehoppers (Super Metroid)

Items

 * Morph Ball
 * In all appearances, directly to the left of the location where Samus spawns.


 * Power Bomb Tank
 * Super Metroid only, through a wall of Power Bomb Blocks to the left of the Starting Point.

Other appearances

 * In WarioWare: Twisted!, the room appears in the microgame Metroid-Samus. Samus stands on the Starting Point's platform. There are several differences to the original room: the top and bottom are slightly cropped (at least one tile for each), the large midair block structures are missing, and the ceiling is slightly different, with the two lowest hanging pieces missing.