| “ | Heat level critical. Life support failing. | „ |
Samus' Visor notes the high heat level in the Magmoor Caverns, Prime.
Extreme heat,[1][2][3] also known as intense heat[4][5] or high temperatures,[6][7] is a common obstacle featured throughout many games in the Metroid series. The temperature rises to extreme levels, and thus, will damage certain non-heat-tolerant creatures, including humans.
In the case of Samus Aran, her basic Power Suit's life-support systems will begin to fail if she is exposed to extreme heat, and she either has to run through the superheated area quickly or wait until she can arm herself with the Varia Suit, which negates heat damage.
Role and appearances[]
| “ | Intense heat readings detected behind this door. | „ |
Oftentimes, when Samus Aran enters a lava-themed area, she will be consistently damaged when exploring most rooms in it. The damage incurred varies per game; 15 energy units per second in Super Metroid, six units per second in Metroid Fusion, ten units per second in Metroid Prime and Metroid: Zero Mission, and two per second in Metroid: Other M. In the latter case, Samus is forced to travel through superheated rooms in Sector 3 / Pyrosphere until she reaches the top of the Crater Interior, where Commander Adam Malkovich will finally authorize the activation of the Varia Feature. The Difficulty mode only affects the damage in Prime, where it becomes five units of energy per second on Normal Mode/Casual Mode (in the Wii and Switch versions) and 15 on Hard Mode (Hypermode in the Wii versions).
In Metroid: Zero Mission, superheated rooms are marked on the map in orange. When stepping into one of these such rooms, there will be an orange hue shadowing most of the screen. Very few superheated areas are featured in Zero Mission's Norfair, but this is change in Super Metroid, as almost every room in the area becomes superheated sometime between the events of the two games. A mirage effect is usually used for superheated rooms in Super Metroid and Other M.
In Metroid Prime, if Samus encounters extreme heat in the Magma Pool in the Chozo Ruins or the Magmoor Caverns before acquiring the Varia Suit, her visor will glow an orange tint, water will condense on her visor, and the Heads-Up Display will warn her about the extreme heat. A similar visor effect will occur if Samus stands in the vents found in the Magmoor Caverns, even with the Varia Suit, though this causes no damage. The map does not mark extreme heat, nor does the Varia Suit ever notify Samus about normal changes in air temperature, so she normally has no direct way to distinguish superheated rooms once the upgrade is acquired. In spite of this, the Thermal Visor can generally be used to distinguish very hot rooms, as it displays surfaces inside them in bright colors.
In Metroid: Samus Returns, superheated rooms are indicated by a red glow from the doors leading into them when they are open, as a warning not to enter unless the Varia Suit has been acquired. These rooms are found in Area 1 through Area 5 and usually contain expansions or serve as shortcuts to previous areas. All superheated rooms are marked as red on the map. A remix of the Magmoor Caverns theme plays in each of the superheated rooms in Samus Returns.
In Metroid Dread, superheated rooms make their return. Like Samus Returns, their doors feature a fiery glow to indicate that the following room features extreme heat, and they are also marked red on the map. However, these rooms have been altered to be more dangerous than their previous iterations; after several damage ticks, each damage tick will be more harmful to Samus than the last one, eventually leading to ticks that deal a whole Energy Tank of damage. Samus is unlikely to progress through these rooms safely unless she acquires the Varia Suit. These rooms are prevalent in Cataris, where Samus can occasionally reduce the temperature to safe levels by activating neighboring switches. One room in Artaria contains one of these machines; when used, the room begins to overheat and Samus must quickly ascend it to escape.
The Varia Suit/Varia Feature is only effective for stopping damage from hot atmospheres, and is not capable of protecting Samus from actual lava nor heat-based attacks. She will have to obtain the Gravity Suit in order to completely stop or reduce lava damage.
Metroid, Metroid Prime Pinball, Metroid Prime Hunters, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, while all featuring lava areas, do not feature extreme heat as an obstacle. The lack of these areas in Metroid would impact Zero Mission, as there are few of them in this game, allowing the Varia Suit to be skipped.
Trivia[]
- Metroid: Zero Mission: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide additionally refers to rooms with extreme heat as "hot-air corridors".
Gallery[]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Metroid: Zero Mission: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide pg. 24
- ^ Metroid: Samus Returns Samus Screen description for Varia Suit
- ^ Metroid Dread Samus Screen description for Varia Suit
- ^ Metroid Prime Heads-Up Display
- ^ Metroid: Zero Mission manual
- ^ Metroid Prime manual
- ^ Metroid: Other M manual