Overblast

Samus performs the Overblast on a Dessgeega.

Overblast is a technique in Metroid: Other M. When executed, Samus will jump on an enemy and struggle with it, firing a charge shot at the creature, either killing or damaging it. However, if Samus delays to fire the charged shot, the enemy will push her off, damaging her.

As the game progresses, some enemies will struggle against the Overblast; if Samus jumps on an enemy, they will throw her off before allowing her to execute the charged shot, although it won't damage her. In most cases, the enemy must be considerably weakened before attempting the Overblast again.

This shouldn't be confused with Lethal Strike, as Lethal is performed on a downed enemy instead.

Early depictions

In the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Diorama depicting the battle between Samus and Ghor, Samus is positioned on Ghor's Armorsuit as if she were to perform an Overblast on him.

Unused Corruption cutscene by Sonny Santa Maria.

The Overblast was first depicted in chapter 2 of Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether, against a Dark Alpha Splinter, where Samus fires the Charge Beam at point-blank range after her Power Beam and Missiles have no effect.

Official data

Metroid: Other M on-screen tutorial

"OVERBLAST
Jump on an enemy to climb on top of it and press [1] once you're fully charged."

Metroid.com

Overblast

"Like a deadly space rodeo, Samus can ride certain creatures to aim for an Overblast. Charging while mounted on these beasts is tough, but the results make it worthwhile."

Metroid: Other M manual

Overblast

"Jump towards an enemy to ride on top of it and the charge gauge will fill. Once it's full, press the 1 Button to attack. Note: This might not be possible, depending on the type of enemy and the battle conditions."

Official Nintendo Magazine issue 59, page 27

"Enemies won't know what hit them"

Continuous Overblasting

An Overblast can be "juggled" by utilizing the Overblast to jump from one enemy's head to another, Overblasting each time. This is most useful when fighting multiple large enemies such as Dessgeega. An example of Overblast "juggling" can be seen here: [1]

List of enemies that can be Overblasted

Samus performs the Overblast on Goyagma.

A member of the 07th Platoon attempts an Overblast.

• Asborean (Can be performed in the same window of time as Lethal Strike. If tried any other time, the Asborean will just throw Samus off.)
• Barisute
• Brug Mass
• Cyborg Zebesian
• Dessgeega
• Ghalmanian
• Gigafraug (Its head armor must be broken with a Missile first.)
• Goyagma
• Griptian
• Groganch
• Kihunter (Does not kill; instead, Samus will rip off their wings.)
• Kyratian (Ironically, Kyratians can perform Overblasts too.)
• Mighty Griptian (Although Samus can jump on top of Mighty Griptians, they will always push her off no matter how much health they have.)
• RB176 Ferrocrusher (This Overblast is an instant kill, much like most of the Lethal Strikes.)
• Rhedogian (Although Samus can jump on top of Rhedogians, they will always push her off whether stunned or not.)
• Sidehopper
• Super Kihunter (Does not kill; instead, Samus will rip off their wings.)
• Super Zebesian (They must be considerably weakened before Overblast can be performed successfully. Otherwise they'll just throw Samus off.)
• Zebesian Hologram

Trivia

Nintendo Official Guidebook for Metroid Other M, page 170

• During the battle with the Brug Mass, if Samus waits long enough after dislodging one tentacle, one of the Soldiers will attempt the Overblast technique on it, but is shaken off. The same Soldier will keep trying the exact same method over the course of the phase but will always fall short. After the second tentacle is dislodged, the Soldier stops using the technique, seeming that it was useless for him to do so.
• While normally the opponent will struggle and damage Samus if she fails to fire on time, she will actually be pushed off the Griptian with no damage incurred. The same applies to the RB176 Ferrocrusher, except she will slide off instead.
• In Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread, the Grab Sequence animations on Gamma Metroids, Omega Metroids, and Experiment No. Z-57 will have Samus mount the creatures and shoot them, similar to performing an Overblast.

Gallery

An Overblast performed on the same Dessgeega pictured above (pre-release screenshot).