Quick Quit[edit]
If you ever feel that you are in a hopeless situation, or you would like to very quickly return to the entrance of the region of Zebes that you are currently in, you can force the password screen to appear by pausing the game, and pressing 
+
+
on the second control pad. Once the password screen appears, you can press 
on the first control pad to begin again from the entrance of the last region you were in and continue your game. This does not count against you in any way, and in all likely event, may shave several minutes off your completion time.
Bomb Jumping[edit]
Bomb Jumping is a technique that can sometimes allow Samus to jump higher than she would be normally capable of. To perform a Bomb Jump, you must start as a ball, and lay a bomb, and then stand up before the bomb detonates. As the bomb goes off, Samus will be lifted slightly off the ground. At that moment, press the jump button. If performed correctly, Samus will be boosted by the bomb explosion and get the full height of her jump, resulting in a higher than usual jump. While this technique doesn't have a lot of practical application throughout the game, it can become a life saving one if you happen to be stuck in lava or acid, and are having trouble getting out and reaching a high platform, especially in parts of Norfair where you can become stuck between tall columns.
Ball Bomb Jumping[edit]
Ball Bomb Jumping is a little trickier to accomplish. It is a technique that is intended to help you boost the heights that Samus can reach as a ball, in hopes of gaining access to new areas. To correctly bomb jump by one level in height, you must first lay one bomb. Just before that bomb is about to detonate, you must lay a second bomb, and as you are thrown into the air by the first detonation, you lay a third bomb in mid-air. The second bomb will detonate, tossing you back up into the air, and the third bomb should detonate as well, giving you even more height than usual. This trick can be extended to give you even more height than this, but it becomes increasingly difficult to get the proper timing, the higher you intend to go.
Wall Jumping[edit]
Wall Jumping is a special technique where you can literally climb up walls by getting stuck inside them and rapidly switching from a ball to standing up. In order to begin wall jumping, you must find a blue door and open it. Then stand inside the area that the door normally occupies, and let it close around Samus. Once you are enveloped by the door, begin rising by pressing Down-Up, Down-Up, Down-Up in a heartbeat like fashion (in other words, press Down, then quickly press Up and pause). If you do this successfully, you should rise a tiny bit off the ground each time. Do this until Samus' head nears the top of the screen, and then stop. At this point, begin tapping the jump button. The screen will begin to scroll up, bringing Samus closer to the middle of the screen each time. Eventually, the screen will stop scrolling, and you can begin tapping Down-Up again. Repeat this process until you reach the desired level, like a door that was previously out of Samus' reach.
There are some precautions to keep in mind while using this technique. It is very easy to make a mistake and get stuck performing Wall Jumping. Keep the following in mind:
- Don't allow Samus' body to pass beyond the top of the screen. This will cause the game to move Samus to the very bottom of the screen, and you will be unable to get her out.
- Don't wait too long to press Up, or you won't be able to come out of Ball mode, and you will become stuck.
- Don't keep all of Samus' body inside the wall. In the event that you do make a mistake and become stuck in Ball mode, you can fall out of the wall as long as some portion of Samus is protruding outside of the wall. If she is entirely in the wall, you won't be able to escape.
- Don't try this technique in a horizontally scrolling room. If the game does not think the screen should scroll vertically, it won't change when you jump.
Hidden Worlds[edit]
The technique of Wall Jumping has lead to the discovery of "hidden worlds" in the game of Metroid, or rather, the data. Hidden worlds are the result of the game trying to interpret the look of a room that Samus happens to be in which doesn't actually exist. Through Wall Jumping, you can locate and investigate a few of these regions. Inevitably, you will become stuck and forced to start the game over, or you may even enter a room that will cause the game to crash.