Wall Jump

Wall Jumping (also known as the Kick Climb) is a technique that speed runners use in the 2-D Metroid games to gain access to areas that would normally require a special upgrade such as the High Jump Boots.

In 2-D games
This is one of the most important techniques a player can learn while mastering Metroid gameplay. It is not listed in the games' instruction manuals, but it is demonstrated in Super Metroid by three Etecoons in a secret room. The Wall Jump technique breaks down like this: Samus must Spin Jump (jump while running) at a wall so that she touches the wall. When Samus is touching the wall, the player must press and hold the control pad away from the wall. Samus should momentarily look like she is clinging to the wall. At that moment, the player must press the jump button again. If done correctly, Samus will spring off the wall in the opposite direction.

In narrow vertical shafts, Samus can bounce back and forth between walls by performing the move in opposite directions. In Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission, this technique only requires one wall, allowing Samus to bounce her way up a free-standing wall. Once this move is truly mastered, the player can explore areas and obtain items which are otherwise inaccessible without further upgrades. While the technique requires very precise timing in Super Metroid, later games in the series have been more forgiving.

As Samus is already very acrobatic from her training with the Chozo, the Wall Jump is still usable in the Zero Suit.

In 3-D games
The Screw Attack in both Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption allows Samus to bounce between two special Wall Jump Surfaces, which looks almost identical to the Wall Jump of older Metroid games. The player only needs to press the jump button in these games, and Samus will automatically Wall Jump off of any other normal walls if she comes into contact with them while doing the Screw Attack.

Metroid Prime Pinball has a minigame called Wall Jump where the player must alternately press the buttons for the left and right flippers in time to scale both screens of the Nintendo DS for an Artifact, Extra Ball, or Special.

Metroid: Other M features the technique again, but using the alternate name "Kick Climb". The jump appears slightly differently when Samus is in and out of her suit. When in and out of her suit, she rockets off the wall with the help of the boosters on her back, with a pop sound also heard when the Speed Booster activates. In the Zero Suit, she does a spin jump through the air after bouncing off the wall, much like an acrobat, and the Wall Jump motion of the Prime series. This time, it functions more like the wall jumping in the Mario series, as the game does not require the player to change directions on the control pad when jumping from wall to wall.

Metroid: Other M On-Screen Tutorial
KICK CLIMB

''Press and hold + toward a wall and press 2 with good timing to consecutively kick your way up. (Don't change direction with +.) ''

Metroid.com
Kick Climb

"Traversing vertical corridors is a cinch for Samus as she leaps from side to side with minimal effort, through elevator shafts and more."

Metroid: Other M manual
"If you press and hold +* in the direction of the wall and press 2 with good timing, you'll kick your way up the wall. Note: You don't have to change the direction you're pressing on +*. "

Trivia

 * In Metroid Fusion, if Samus tries to wall jump, she will jump away from the wall, making it impossible to continuously jump on one wall as in Super Metroid. This is one of many changes made to the game to prevent Sequence Breaking.
 * In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the Bryyonian Labor Golem that Samus encounters in Falls of Fire is capable of wall jumping.
 * In Metroid Fusion, Samus states that the Etecoons and Dachoras taught her to Wall Jump and Shinespark, respectively. However, Samus has both of these abilities in Metroid: Zero Mission, so it is possible that she learned these prior to the events of Zero Mission. This could also be due to retroactive continuity.

Appearances

 * Super Metroid (first appearance)
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee
 * Metroid Fusion
 * Metroid: Zero Mission
 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
 * Metroid Prime Pinball
 * Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * Metroid Prime Trilogy
 * Metroid: Other M