Metroid: Samus Returns Guide — How to Beat All Metroids from Alpha to Queen

In Metroid: Samus Returns, you are tasked to kill all metroids on SR388. Armed with whatever equipment you happen to find on the planet, you must use your wits and reflexes to avoid a most untimely death.

While we can’t beat the bosses for you, we can at least make it a little easier. In this Metroid guide, we’re going to go over all the big bad metroids you’ll come across and how to beat each one. 

Spoiler Alert: There will be some spoilers in this guide, so proceed with caution!

How to Beat the Alpha Metroid

In spite of their name, Alpha Metroids are the most common and the weakest metroid variety you will encounter on SR388. Being the base-level boss enemy in the game, Alpha Metroids have the easiest weak point to hit, as well as the easiest attack pattern to memorize.

While there are two varieties of Alpha Metroids — fire and electric — both have the following attack patterns:

1. An uncharged dive attack that can be melee countered
2. Dropping of elemental bombs that rather do direct damage or burst on the floor
3. An elemental charge attack that cannot be countered

To defeat an Alpha Metroid, simply hit its undersides with whatever weapons you have available until it dies. If you have the Ice Beam, you can use a fully charged shot on its belly to remove any elemental powers. This will ensure that all dive attacks can be countered, and that their bomb-dropping attacks will be minimized. 

How to Beat the Gamma Metroid

Gamma Metroids are the third mutation in the metroid life cycle. These creatures tend to spend most of their time sitting still in the air, but they will also come down to the ground to hit you with melee attacks. 

The moveset for Gamma Metroids includes: 

1. A diagonal beam attack
2. An elementally charged dive attack
3. A shockwave attack
4. A ground-dashing elemental attack (either via bombs from the air or when they shake on the ground)
5. An uncharged melee attack that can be melee countered

The special thing about Gamma Metroids is that in some rooms, they may retreat when they’re low on health (or if you fail to kill them fast enough).

Like their Alpha counterpart, Gamma Metroids have a weak point on their stomachs. So using the Ice Beam on that point will bring them down to the ground, where you can easily finish them off. Remember that when the Gamma Metroid is trying to shake off the ice, it is still vulnerable to damage on the head — even when trying to escape.

How to Beat the Zeta Metroid

In my opinion, Zeta Metroids are the first real threat you’ll face in terms of metroid evolutions. They have a number of attack patterns, and are the most agile of the metroid varieties. Their attacks include:

1. A mid-ranged fire breath attack
2. Long-ranged green energy orb attacks
3. An array of green orbs launched from the ceiling that will bounce around the room, and do not disappear until they time out
4. A dashing attack that can be melee countered

Players will have to be careful when melee countering Zeta Metroids, as they can partially break the animated sequence. To prevent this, use another melee counter once it dashes at you. Also, be sure to use the Grapple Beam on the Zeta Metroid before it can launch the green orbs from the ceiling. This will prevent a troublesome evasion sequence that won’t end until you rip the Zeta Metroid down or it times out.

Otherwise, it’s business as usual with the Zeta. Fire at the glowing weak point until well cooked, and serve with a side of Ice Beam and Missiles. Use Aeion Beams as garnish when available for something a little easier on the health gauge.

How to Beat the Omega Metroid

Fans will remember the Omega Metroid as the final boss of Metroid: Fusion. This gargantuan creature is the last of the multiple-occurrence metroid species in the game, and is strangely easier to beat than the Zeta Metroids — if only due to their much more exaggerated movements. However, Omega Metroid attacks do a lot more damage, so you’ll want to be careful.

Their moveset is as follows:

1. A devastating claw swipe attack
2. A low-ground, cross-room beam attack
3. A quick tail-swipe attack
4. A tail-thrashing attack that causes debris to fall from the ceiling
5. An arcing beam attack
6. A leaping attack
7. A biting attack (once their chest cavity is exposed)

Avoiding the attacks of the Omega Metroid typically boils down to jumping out of the way or destroying falling debris with the Aeion Beam Burst. Killing the Omega, on the other hand, is as simple as firing at its mouth or chest cavity as much as possible. 

Once the chest has been exposed, Omega Metroids will try to bite at you — and the ensuing melee counter prompt (a flash of white) will begin a counter sequence that can deal tremendous amounts of damage.

Other than that, the only other thing you need to do is screw attack out of the way whenever this metroid corners you. 

How to Beat the Queen Metroid

The Queen Metroid is the ultimate form of the metroid species — and you’ll only find one on SR388. Defeating it will require a number of skilled maneuvers and good timing. 

You’ll encounter some considerably large area-of-effect attacks, so be aware of that before you go in. The Queen Metroid’s full moveset includes:

1. Setting any combination of the floor, wall, and/or ceiling on fire
2. A heavy lunge that cannot be countered
3. A biting attack that can be countered by switching to the Grapple Beam.
4. Setting the wall on fire, then blowing you into it
5. Pseudo-homing green orbs that follow you around the room while some portion of that room is on fire

To damage the Queen Metroid, you must do any combination of the following:

1. Complete the melee counter chain of events by countering the bite, grappling the tongue, dragging the Queen to the ground, rolling into the queen with the Morph Ball, and then setting off a Power Bomb (up to three times in total).
2. Unloading your entire arsenal of Super Missiles and Missiles into the mouth of the beast, alongside your Beam Burst for whatever amount of health you do not knock off with the method above.

The Queen Metroid will not go down easily, so expect anywhere between two to twelve minutes of fighting, depending on your difficulty setting and how accurate you are with your beams, missiles, melee counters, and Power Bombs. There isn’t much more in terms of strategy we can provide here, since at this point in the game it will come down to raw skill.

Eradicating all fifty metroids found on SR388 is tough, but it’s certainly doable in less than three hours once you learn the ins and outs of the game. While your first playthrough might easily go over twelve minutes, the game does reward you with alternate ending screens for completing the game under set time limits, and even on different difficulty settings.

If you’re looking to complete the game with all the possible items, why not check out our guide on Spidersparking? That ability will make it much easier to access areas you might not have been able to before — especially those involving the otherwise impassable red spikes.

Stay tuned for more Metroid: Samus Returns guides. See you next mission!