Norfair

Norfair is the largest and deepest area of Zebes. Molten lava and volcanic activity accompany extreme heat that constantly melts away Samus’s energy unless she has equipped the Varia Suit. It’s possible to sequence-break Super Metroid by venturing through Norfair without proper protection in order to obtain power-ups normally acquired toward the end of the game, but it’s extremely risky.

Featured Boss: Ridley

At last, Samus’ pursuit of Ridley reaches its climactic conclusion. Unlike the multi-faceted battle with Draygon or even the shockingly violent way in which Norfair’s other boss, Crocomire, is melted down to its bones after Samus pushes it into a sea of liquid hot magma, the confrontation with Ridley is straightforward. The layout of Ridley’s lair largely resembles his lair in the original Metroid, a small platform suspended over a volcanic lagoon within relatively tight quarters. The battle isn’t about spectacle; it’s about closure. But Samus won’t yet have it, as defeating Ridley only leads to a room where the hatchling’s tube lies broken open, and empty…

As one of countless small touches in the game, the prologue battle against Ridley can be “won.” If players can damage Ridley enough while avoiding taking critical damage themselves, Ridley drops the baby Metroid, then picks it up and flies off as he normally would. It’s just one of the many ways the developers made Super Metroid special, and made players who discover or achieve this Easter egg feel special because of it.

Ridley would appear again and again throughout the series in various forms, and like with Kraid, was given a visual reimagining for Metroid: Zero Mission in the style of his Super Metroid appearance.