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The Official Nintendo Player's Guide is an official strategy guide for several Nintendo Entertainment System games, including Metroid, which is featured on pages 52-59.
Description[]
The guide's coverage of Metroid begins on page 52, which features a summary of the story and a tutorial on the HUD, password system and collecting energy. Like the manual and other press for Metroid at the time, Samus is referred to with male pronouns to conceal her true identity for the ending.
The guide specifically dates the game's events in the year 2005, rather than the undefined Year 20X5 used throughout other media. The story summary refers to Zebes as the Fortress Planet Zebes and the Galactic Federation as the Galaxy Federation, and explains that it is a parliament established by the galaxy. It incorrectly says that "because of this creature [the Metroids], Planet SR388 was completely destroyed." This is not true, as the planet is shown to be intact in Metroid II: Return of Samus (and later Metroid: Samus Returns); the planet's eventual destruction by impact event would not occur until the end of Metroid Fusion. It may have meant to say that SR388's food chain was severely impacted, but it was not destroyed.
Page 53 features an outline of the "ten items" Samus needs to reach Mother Brain: the Morph Ball (referred to as Round Ball), Long Beam, Ice Beam, Bomb, High Jump, Varia, Wave Beam, Screw Attack, Energy Tanks and Missiles.
Page 54 discusses the "characters" - enemies - in the game: Zoomer, Skree, Rio, Ripper, Waver, Geega, Zeb, Side-Hopper, Zeela, Nova, Squeept, Geruta, Multiviola, Holtz, Dessgeega, Rinka, Metroid, Zeebetite, Kraid, Ridley and Mother Brain. The Zoomer, Rio and Zeela are referred to with male pronouns, while the three bosses and the other enemies are referred to with gender-neutral pronouns.
Page 55 includes a map of Brinstar and recommends that the player obtain the following items in this order: the Morph Ball, Missiles, Long Beam, two Energy Tanks, Bombs, Ice Beam, a Missile Tank and the Varia Suit, and then go to Kraid's Lair to defeat Kraid. After this, the player is recommended to collect the High Jump, Wave Beam and Screw Attack in Norfair before going to Ridley's Lair to fight Ridley. Pages 56 and 57 include a larger map of the whole of Zebes, with Chozo Statues, power-ups, expansions and elevators highlighted. Certain rooms are dubbed "Point" 1, 2, 3 and on to point 17.
Finally, pages 58 and 59 includes paragraphs corresponding to each Point that explain what Samus should do in the room. For example, point 3 explains how to get underneath the blocks in the "Fake Block shaft" that leads to Kraid's Lair.