14%
Introduction
14% is the lowest amount of items that the player has beaten the game with, without the usage of major glitches such as out of bounds or space time on standard SNES hardware with no modification. 13% is also possible without any major glitches. However, all known RTA completions of 13% utilize L+R Walljumping which cannot be done on a standard SNES d-pad with no modification.
The restriction of items creates very unique challenges for the player to overcome, requiring many skills that are not taught by Any% KPDR or 100% runs of Super Metroid. These skills include having a mastery of various glitches and boss fights.
A common set of 11 items forms the core of the known 14% and also 13% categories:
- Morphing Ball, Bombs, and one pack each of Missiles, Super Missiles and Power Bombs — for general access around Zebes;
- Varia Suit + three Energy Tanks and Reserve Tanks altogether — for the ability to survive Rainbow Beam and free access across Norfair;
- At least one additional pack each of Missiles and Super Missiles – for the ability to defeat phase 1 of Mother Brain. Also Zebetites can be defeated with no additional items.
The two objectives that remain, and require some assortment of additional items, are (1) traversing Maridia and (2) defeating Ridley and phase 2 of Mother Brain.
There are currently twenty-one different 14% categories that have a known RTA completion: 14% Ice, 14% Speed, 14% xIce, 14% xSpeed, 14% xGravity, 14% xPb, 14% xBoots, 14% xGrapple, 14% xSpring, 14% xAmmo, 14% GravPb, 14% Iceboots, 14% Iceboost, 14% Grapplebooster, 14% Speedboots, 14% Chargeless, 14% Chargelice, 14% xChargeless, 14% GrappleChargeless, 14% SuperChargeless, and 14% Pb-Pb.
Excluding Chargeless, each 14% category is named by its unique item(s). Since the first two categories both collect Gravity Suit, their names reflect the other major item they acquire - 14% Ice acquires Ice Beam, and 14% Speed collects Speed Booster. 14% xIce acquires both Ice Beam and X-Ray Scope, with X-Ray Scope's only required usage being to escape Draygon's entry chamber by X-Ray climbing from the lower door to the upper door. 14% Iceboots and 14% Speedboots are PAL-only categories - both categories collect Hi-Jump Boots instead of Gravity Suit, with 14% Iceboots involving Ice Beam and 14% Speedboots involving Speed Booster. The underwater jump height on PAL is slightly higher than NTSC, allowing the player, with Hi-Jump Boots equipped, to perform single underwater walljumps to escape Draygon's entry chamber. 14% Iceboost collects Ice Beam and Speed Booster instead of other major items by utilizing a newer method for generating blue suit. 14% Chargeless collects Gravity Suit and two additional Power Bomb packs while skipping Charge Beam - it uses its ability to Crystal Flash to generate shinespark suits and underflow ammo. 14% Chargelice involves similar feats as 14% Chargeless, but collects Ice Beam instead of Gravity Suit.
List of Categories
Here is the full list of 14% branches that have been completed by humans, even if it required L+R Walljumping to do so:
| Common Name | Unique Items | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 14% Ice | Charge, Gravity, Ice | |
| 14% Speed | Charge, Gravity, Speed | |
| 14% xGravity | Charge, Gravity, X-Ray | |
| 14% xIce | Charge, X-Ray, Ice | |
| 14% xPb | Charge, X-Ray, PB | |
| 14% xBoots | Charge, X-Ray, Hi-Jump | |
| 14% xGrapple | Charge, X-Ray, Grapple | |
| 14% xSpring | Charge, X-Ray, Spring Ball | |
| 14% GravPb | Charge, Gravity, PB | |
| 14% Iceboost | Charge, Speed, Ice | |
| 14% Grapplebooster | Charge, Speed, Grapple | (3) |
| 14% Iceboots | Charge, Ice, Hi-Jump | PAL exclusive |
| 14% Speedboots | Charge, Speed, Hi-Jump | PAL exclusive |
| 14% Chargeless | Gravity, PB, PB | Requires Draygon underflow |
| 14% Chargelice | Ice, PB, PB | Requires Draygon underflow |
| 14% GrappleChargeless | Grapple, PB, PB | Requires Draygon underflow (2) |
| 14% xChargeless | X-Ray, PB, PB | Requires Draygon underflow |
| 14% xSpeed | Charge, X-Ray, Speed | Requires Left+Right (1) |
| 14% xAmmo | Charge, X-Ray, Missile/Super | Requires Left+Right |
| 14% Pb-Pb | Charge, PB, PB | Requires Left+Right |
| 14% SuperChargeless | Super, PB, PB | Requires Left+Right and Draygon underflow |
(1) All known, recorded, RTA completions of this category used Left+Right, but this requirement can be removed on PAL.
(2) All known, recorded, RTA completions of these categories used Left+Right and it is unlikely for it to be done on original hardware without modification due to Fish Tank Climb.
(3) All known, recorded, RTA completions of these categories used single-wall underwater walljumping, but this requirement can be removed on PAL.
Bosses
Draygon
Draygon is slightly more challenging in most 14% conditions due to the lack of ammunition and lack of Wave special beam combo. Compared to the Ice categories, 14% Speed is moderately easier as even though it only has Charge Beam, it has the option to shinespark into Draygon which deals tremendous damage and can provide Samus with a blue suit. Other completed 14% categories with Gravity Suit are similar to 14% Ice except Chargeless will have near-infinite supers.
The remaining 14% categories are much more demanding. As you do not have Gravity Suit compared to 14% Ice, and as a result of not having Gravity Suit (which means a gravity jump (see below in Techniques) is not an option for escaping Draygon's chamber), must end the fight by having Draygon carry Samus up to the upper platform after a left-to-right goo cycle (so that Draygon is facing right), so that the player can cause Draygon to eject Samus near the peak of her vertical whirling trip. The player must also be able to survive this, so being at 321+ health is crucial, as each of Draygon's swipes will deal 80 damage. Alternatively, you can survive by using a Reserve Tank for pause abuse. Once on the upper platform, the player must effectively 'snipe' Draygon with a charge shot - the best chance of this happening is knowing when to fire when Draygon is swooping from left to right, where her core will be the most exposed.
You can find somewhat of an explanation for Draygon in 14% Chargeless and 14% Chargelice here.
Ridley
Many who learn 14% categories find Ridley to be the second hardest boss. It is an endurance battle and it is vital that the player understands what actions Ridley can and cannot take at any point during the fight. Ridley is the easiest to handle in 14% Chargeless, as the player has thousands of Super Missiles to throw at Ridley thanks to underflowing ammo. The second easiest category to handle him in is 14% Ice, as the player has both the protection of Gravity Suit and the additional damage from Ice Beam for the battle. As 14% Speed does not have Ice Beam, it has to land an additional 61 charge shots on Ridley. 14% xIce and 14% Iceboots have the same armaments as 14% Ice, but lack Gravity Suit, so not only will Ridley deal twice as much damage, but acid will also deal twice as much damage and reduce Samus's movement. Although the same is true for 14% Iceboots and 14% Speedboots, Ridley is less of a threat in these categories as Ridley is substantially slower, and bounces significantly higher, on the PAL version.
Number of shots required to kill Ridley in each type of fight in 14%:
- Charge + Ice (i.e. 14% Ice) - 123 charged Ice shots, 10 Missiles, 10 Super Missiles (Once Ridley changes color, 22 charged Ice shots plus 10/10 will bring Ridley to zero)
- Charge only (i.e. 14% Speed) - 184 charged shots, 10 Missiles, 10 Super Missiles (Once Ridley changes color, 33 charged shots plus 10/10 will bring Ridley to zero)
- Underflowed ammo (i.e. 14% Chargeless) - 30 Super Missiles
Power Bombs deal 200 damage and can strike Ridley twice, so they can help lower the amount of charged shots required even further. Ridley will attempt to avoid being struck by Power Bombs, so try to plant them in an unavoidable location. Here is an example of how you can incorporate Power Bombs for double strikes.
Mother Brain 2
In the 14% categories, Mother Brain's second phase is a test of concentration, and even more of an endurance test than Ridley. Mother Brain's second phase requires 300 charge shots in categories that collect Charge Beam but not Ice Beam, 200 charge shots in categories that collect both Charge Beam and Ice Beam, and 60 Super Missiles in 14% Chargeless. The player has to avoid any pattern that Mother Brain throws at them, making sure to never slip below 301 energy, all while outputting constant damage.
14% categories that acquire Ice Beam have the luxury of using the Ice special beam combo during the fight. You can use two (three if you are confident) at the start of the fight as Mother Brain awakens. You can perform additional Ice Shields during Mother Brain's red beam phase, when she is cooling down after a red beam attack, but those are more complicated and may not save time. Each Ice particle in the combo deals the same amount of damage as a charged Ice shot.
For PAL, it is important to note that the amount of frames it takes for the beam to charge (60) and a special beam combo to be unleashed (120) is the same as it is on NTSC, but since PAL runs at 50 frames per second, it means that the beam will take 0.2 seconds longer to charge and special beam combos will take 0.4 seconds longer to be unleashed compared to NTSC during 14% Iceboots and 14% Speedboots runs. Another difference PAL has in this fight is Mother Brain's actions will take noticeably longer to occur compared to NTSC, making for a slightly less tense fight.
Techniques
The low% categories require more glitches and tricks in order to complete the run than seen in the ordinary any% or 100% Super Metroid runs. Below is a list of many tricks that are useful and/or required to completing a 14% category:
Continuous Wall Jump
See: Continuous Wall Jump
This trick is the fastest way to cross The Moat. It involves jumping on the last frame before entering the water, barely overshooting the missile pillar (and grabbing the missile in the process), and walljumping on the far side of the pillar. See the trick's page for details.
Gravity Jump
This technique manipulates the physics of the game and is utilized in 14% Ice and 14% Chargeless to quickly reach places higher than Samus can normally jump. It can also be utilized in 14% Speed; however, it is the slower alternative to other techniques, such as performing the lava spark to enter Lower Norfair.
To execute the Gravity Jump, press the start button to pull up the pause menu. Before the screen becomes completely black and you lose control of Samus, press and hold jump. When done properly, you can usually see the very beginning of Samus's jump animation as the screen completely fades to black, as well as hear the very beginning of the spin jump sound effect (if you did perform a spin jump). At this point, remove the Gravity Suit, and exit the pause menu while continuing to hold jump. If done correctly, Samus's jump will be carried with the same speed as if she was wearing Gravity Suit, but the deceleration she has without Gravity Suit, resulting in a massive boost in height.
Mochtroid Clip
The area preceding Botwoon in Maridia usually requires Speed Booster to progress through; however, by using the Ice Beam and dragging a Mochtroid along to the proper location, a player can clip through a set of pipes and enter Botwoon's chamber without Speed Booster.
Zebetite Skip
For 14% categories that acquire Ice Beam, players who are already used to the common method of the Zebetite skip (using Ice Beam without Screw Attack equipped) should be fairly used to this. Because you don't have Wave Beam, you will have to stand under the platform of the first Zebetite, against the wall, and fire an Ice beam shot at the location the Rinka spawns at the moment it spawns, then execute the skip like normal.
For 14% categories with Speedbooster, the player must be able to charge a shinespark using the distance of the floor between the two rooms, and then shinespark underneath the platform of the first Zebetite, releasing it up+left. As the shinespark ends, mashing jump while holding down will allow the player to escape the Zebetite.
For 14% xPB and 14% Pb-Pb (without underflow), note a spark must be carried into Tourian and used for the Zebetite skip, making them particularly obnoxious.
For certain 14% options, the Zebetites must instead be destroyed (without underflowing ammo). This is also used in the current 13% xCharge and is what makes the category possible. See this page for a description of how to do this.
Enemy Climbing
Similar to the Mochtroid clip, the ability to freeze enemies has a great usefulness in 14% categories with Ice Beam. Players can cause certain enemies such as Scisers to fall off of surfaces by firing a Super Missile at the surface. Players can then freeze the enemy in midair as it descends down and jump onto these enemies, effectively using enemies as stepping stones to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
Theoretical Additional Categories
Categories without 13% Tech
Here, some theoretical other itemsets will be listed. This ignores any tech that would make 13% possible.
The current ignored techs are: Mt. Everest Slopespark (makes 13% Pb-Pb possible), Max 10 Power Bomb Underflow at Draygon (makes Ice-Pb possible), 10 Missile Zebetite Kill (makes 13% xCharge possible), and Colosseum Short Charge (does not make any 13% category possible on its own, but is crucial to 13% Speed).
14% xSpeed has yet to be done without L+R Walljumping. Otherwise there are no other theoretical categories that fit this criteria.
Categories without L+R Walljumping but with 10 Missile Zebetite Kill
If, instead, 10 Missile Zebetite Kill is used but L+R Walljumping is not allowed, then the following categories are theoretically possible:
- 14% Gravboots (PAL-only)
Categories which generate a flash suit with only 10 power bombs at Draygon
It is possible to generate a flash suit at Draygon with only 10 power bombs. This is how 13% Ice-Pb is done.
Although a run of any category doing this has not been completed yet, an RTA setup has been found. It just has fairly terrible odds which might be improvable.
Since this would allow 13% Ice-Pb to be completed, without L+R Walljumping, these categories are only "meaningful" if they do not use underflow. This creates the following additional categories:
- 14% IcePb: Ice Beam, Charge Beam, Power Bomb Pack
- 14% GrapplePb: Grapple, Charge Beam, Power Bomb Pack (note L+R Walljumping can be avoided in this category, but it would require Fish Tank Climb)
- 14% SpeedPb: Speed Booster, Charge Beam, Power Bomb Pack (without more 13% tech, this would require L+R Walljumping)
The effect of Everest Slopespark
There is an RTA setup for Everest Slopespark. The issue is that it is still triple frame perfect, and require single-wall underwater walljumping.
For 14% categories, Everest Slopespark does not change very many things. Since 13% Pb-Pb would then be possible, no 14% underflow categories would be "meaningful".
This seems to have three effects:
- 14% xSpeed would no longer require L+R Walljumping on NTSC (it already doesn't on PAL);
- 14% SpeedPb would either not require L+R Walljumping or generating a flash suit at Draygon with a maximum of 10 power bombs.
- 14% Pb-Pb and 14% SuperChargeless would no longer require L+R Walljumping as the sparksuit from the slopespark could be turned into a bluesuit and used to spark up halfie room. However, this would still require Hj-less fish tank climb without L+R.
