There isn’t much to see right at the start of Area 1, so head down and to the right to make your way to the next Chozo Seal. There’s a lot more corrosive purple liquid near this Chozo Seal than the last one, so mind your step.
Also be careful of Chute Leeches when jumping. These sneaky little pancakes like to leap out right as you do. Getting hit by one will likely drop you right into the purple acid, so look out for their mounds in the liquid before jumping from platform to platform.
Upon reaching the next Chozo Seal, note that the lights have increased from one to four. Since a single Metroid DNA strand was needed to open the last single-light seal, expect that this one will require four. Time to go hunting!
There are a few things to find before you go Metroid-hunting. Start by heading to the right side of the Chozo Seal room and through the Charge Door. Upon entering the next room, you’re immediately greeted by an Electric Moheek. Defeat it before jumping on its platform, lest you receive a nasty shock from one of their electric discharges.
Continue climbing up this corridor until you reach the top, then head through the passage on the right and drop down the next corridor. Jump onto the platform above the deactivated door on your right and proceed through the passage. You pass a Missile Tank along the way, but ignore it for now. You don’t have the means to retrieve it yet.
Continue through the hall until it dead-ends in another tall corridor. Before dropping down, face the right wall and shoot at the Block in-line with the platform you were just on. Jump toward it to grab it automatically. Press Up on the Circle Pad to transform into the Morph Ball.
Scale up this next corridor, using your Scan Pulse to identify destructible Blocks along the way. As soon as you find a passage on your left, head on through.
Go through the Red Door at the end of the hallway to find another piece of your arsenal: the Morph Ball Bombs.
These tiny explosives can only be used while in Morph Ball form. They aren’t much use in combat situations, but for exploration they’re a treasure. Whenever you see a purple Block with a circle in its center, that’s your signal to use a Bomb. Bombs help you find a slew of secret areas, and it’s impossible to progress to the deeper levels of SR388 without them.
As your first Bomb test, you must bomb your way out of this room. Almost immediately in front of the ramp leading up to the Chozo Statue is a set of unseen Blocks. Put those Bombs to good use!
At this point, you can roll your way to the right and forward to 
—blow up another Block underneath the deactivated door to get out of the room. But you also have a chance to grab another Missile Tank and simultaneously learn a new advanced technique.
To continue your item hunt, head out to the tall corridor to the right of 
. Climb the corridor until you reach a door on the right. Enter, then climb under the platform on the right side of the room as a Morph Ball and continue to the right.
There’s another strange device like the one at the end of the last area. You have no need to interact with it now, so press onward.
When you come to another tall corridor, head downward until you reach the bottom. Bomb your way through the platform when the path dead-ends; the rest of the way is smooth sailing.
Go left to find a small drop-off leading into the next room. Once you drop in, you can’t get out right away. Jump onto the platform on the left side of the room and proceed through the Red Door.
Another weapon to add to your arsenal can be found in this room: the Ice Beam. In terms of utility, the Ice Beam is only used in a select few locations, but it’s handy against the Metroids. Up to this point, missiles have been your only effective tool when dealing with Metroids. With the Ice Beam in your possession, you’re able to wound Metroids even if you run out of missiles. The Ice Beam isn’t the most powerful weapon to use against them, but something is better than nothing when you’re locked in a room with one of these vicious parasites.
Head back out to the room with the Chute Leech. Select your Ice Beam from the touchscreen, charge up a shot, and wait for the Chute Leech to jump into the air. When it reaches a place just above the halfway point of its journey down, shoot it. It freezes in place for 10 seconds, allowing you to safely jump onto it and use it as a makeshift platform.
Head right, back into the tall corridor, and scale it past the Charge Door on your right until you find a Chute Leech.
Stand on the ledge to your right and charge up an Ice Beam shot. Wait for the Chute Leech to reach the top of its jump, then shoot it and use it to reach the upper platform on your left.
Go up and through the door on your right.
When you come to another deactivated door, jump onto the platform above it, transform into the Morph Ball, and roll through the passage above. You find a small opening facing the other side of the deactivated door—which is quite activated. Crouch in front of the opening and shoot the door to open it, then roll back through the narrow passage.
Take the now-open door and follow the path ahead until you arrive at the bottom of the corridor where an empty-handed Chozo Statue resides.
A cave-in crushed the statue and knocked the suit upgrade it possessed from its hand. The upgrade is buried, but easily reachable with the help of your Bombs. Roll to the bottom-left corner of the room and use Bombs to blow up the rocks and obtain your newest upgrade: the Spider Ball.
Use the Spider Ball—by holding the L button while in Morph Ball form—to scale the wall and climb back out of this corridor the same way you came in. At this point, you can immediately head for 
as it appears on your map, or you can first opt to get another Missile Tank and an extension to your Aeion Energy bar.
Back outside of the Spider Ball chamber, jump onto the Save Station platform, then onto the elevated ledge next to it. Spider Ball your way up the wall to bump into Missile Tank M-8.
Climb a little higher to reach a door on your right. Head through to encounter your next Metroid.
2/40
Alpha Metroid
Compared to the first Alpha Metroid you encountered, this one is much more difficult and does heaps more damage. It’s electrified and has a couple of new attacks that its predecessor lacked.
Melee Counter opportunities are much rarer now, so most of the damage you deal is done by shooting the Metroid in its bulbous belly. Power Beam shots have no effect, but missiles and the Ice Beam work just fine. Use your missiles carefully. Its stomach might be weak, but the rest of its body is thoroughly armored. Any shots there bounce off; it’s easy to blow through your entire supply if you fire wildly. Patience is key here, so focus on dodging its attacks and only fire missiles when you’re confident you can land the shot.
Charging up Ice Beam shots and shooting the Metroid in its core yields unique results. Its stomach freezes temporarily, limiting its ability to produce electricity during this time. This doesn’t necessarily make the fight easier, but it does make it faster, as it forces the Metroid into performing certain attacks. It’s much more likely to attempt its counterable tackle while frozen, which gives you more chances to deal huge amounts of damage. It doesn’t stay frozen long, however, so get in as many missile shots as possible.
This Metroid’s most common attack is its electric tackle. As with its counterable tackle, it sits high above you for a moment, then swoops down at you. Unlike the counterable attack, it can perform its electric tackle back-to-back up to three times. Getting hit by it costs a sizable chunk of health. You can’t damage it during this attack, so focus on dodging.
Its second attack is much more useful to you for several reasons. The Metroid floats high above you, shuffling back and forth across the chamber while discharging electric orbs. These orbs explode when they hit the ground and deal a good amount of damage, but they’re also destructible, often dropping health resources and missile ammunition. Stand your ground during this attack. Focus on shooting the orbs if you’re in need of health or missiles, then get some shots in on the Metroid’s stomach once you’re well-stocked. Make sure to shoot any orbs above you. Even if they aren’t directly overhead, an explosion can get you if the orb falls close enough to your feet.
As previously mentioned, the counterable tackle attack that you witnessed during the first fight doesn’t make an appearance very often in Metroid battles from this point forward. Therefore, it’s extra important that you land your Melee Counter when it does show up. This is a great time to unload missiles on the Metroid, as it’s temporarily incapacitated, which means you don’t have to worry so much about missing missile shots.
Pay close attention to the Metroid to get an idea of what’s coming next. Remember, patience is vital.
Once the fight is complete, head to the right corner of the room and Spider Ball up to the ceiling. Bomb the corner Block and ascend through the newly created passage. Energy Tank E-2 is waiting for you to claim it. Morph Ball your way through the passage to the right to be dropped back out to the corridor just before the Metroid chamber.
Return to 
’s corridor and drop down until you see a passage on your left.
Continue to the left until you reach a tall corridor. Head down to the bottom of the corridor, then Spider Ball up the left wall and bomb the Blocks at the top.
Descend through the next door on your right. Ignore Missile Tank M-10 for now; you’ll come back to it later.
Continue through the next corridor to reach the next Metroid.
3/40
Alpha Metroid
Not much has changed compared to what you faced with the last Alpha Metroid. This one is also electrified. The key difference is that the chamber is layered with health-sapping red plants. If the Metroid body-slams you, there’s a good chance you’ll fall right into them. Don’t panic. Carefully and calmly jump back on one of the platforms.
Keep yourself centered on the middle platform. This gives you plenty of maneuverability and a clear line of fire toward the Metroid.
You can also move toward one of the outside platforms and wait for the Metroid to perform its electric tackle attack. It’s likely to ram right into the wall, which prevents it from performing subsequent tackle attacks as it normally would. Plus, with the Metroid momentarily staggered, you have a brief window of time to fire at its core.
Either strategy works, so feel free to experiment. Keep an eye out for those electric charges, electric orbs, and the counterable tackle.
Once you finish off the Metroid, head left until you dead-end in the tall corridor you came in from. Approach the left wall and bomb it to open a new passage.
Bomb or shoot your way through the floors, and take the door on the right to find your next Metroid.
4/40
Alpha Metroid
This fight is almost identical to the one before. Red plants surround the bottom of the chamber, and three platforms offer safety. This is not EXACTLY the same as the previous fight; some minor changes can throw you off if you’re not prepared. The ceiling is lower here, forcing the Metroid to stay a little closer to the ground. The lower ceiling also forces you to change the timing of your jumps, and making the adjustment can be tricky. Otherwise, use the same strategies you employed before.
Backtrack through the door you entered from, then head through the door on the left side of the corridor. To reach the other side of this room, use your Ice Beam to freeze a handful of Chute Leeches in place, then use them as platforms.
At the far-left side of the room, destroy the Blocks above you, then jump through. The two Blocks on the right side of this row are both destructible, which makes it easier to reach the passage above.
Find Metroid 5/40 on the other side of the passage.
5/40
Alpha Metroid
This is the most straightforward Metroid fight in this area. The ground is flat and devoid of deadly red plants; the ceiling is high, so you have plenty of room to jump; and the Metroid is an Alpha, like those you’ve seen up to this point. This is the last Metroid in Area 1, so knock it out and you’re home free!
Use Bombs on the center of the smaller wall in the bottom-right corner of the room to escape.
With four Metroid DNA strands in your possession, the Chozo Seal begins flashing once again. Return there and place the DNA into the seal to lower the liquid.
With the liquid drained, you can now move on to 
Getting to the elevator at the bottom of this zone is a tough transition. You can only make it so far before you reach this point.
Trying to grab the ledge above or climb through with the Spider Ball causes the Blocks to break, so you need to Spider Ball through from the Blocks above them. Jump back up to the platform above, then Spider Ball your way along the platform’s bottom to reach the other side of this little passage.
Dropping down the shaft on the other side of the passage results in a dead end. To progress, hang from the handhold on the left wall and fire a missile into the passage on the right to destroy a Block that’s obstructing your path forward.
Once the Block is clear, quickly jump onto the handhold on the right and head through the passage as the Morph Ball. Carry on and drop down the shaft to the right. You seemingly encounter another dead end, but there are more destructible Blocks here. Destroy the ones on the left; the destructible Block near the base opens a path that holds nothing of value to you at this point, so for now it’s wasted energy.
Drop down on the left as soon as there’s an opportunity, then continue down the corridor to reach the elevator.
Clean up
Surface: Missile Tank M-11
Before going down to Area 2, return to the elevator you entered Area 1 from and get back to the Surface. Climb back up the room until you reach the narrow passage shown in our screenshot.
Roll through the passage, drop down, and continue through the next passage on the right. Spider Ball up the wall at the end of the passage to claim Missile Tank M-11.
Surface: Missile Tank M-12
From the elevator, progress up the room until you reach the narrow passage that leads to M-11. Instead of rolling through the passage, jump up the ledge and head upward.
Just below and to the left of the Teleport Station is a Bomb Block. Use Bombs to destroy it, then follow the passage to find Missile Tank M-12.
With both tanks in hand, continue to Area 2.