Yellow Suit Glitch
The yellow suit glitch, more commonly referred to as "shinespark suit", describes the phenomenon in which Samus is in a constant state of shinespark charge.
It is very similar to the blue suit glitch, but has a few key differences and less unique methods of creation. Whereas the basis for all methods of generating a blue suit is to interrupt a shinespark, most methods for generating a shinespark suit involve interrupting a Crystal Flash.
Unlike blue suit, the shinespark suit will not be lost when dash is activated with forward movement, or when Samus becomes submerged in sand.
The shinespark suit will be lost if Samus charges and/or activates another shinespark (including crouching while having blue suit), if Samus activates the X-Ray Scope, or if Samus activates a Crystal Flash.
Additionally, neither shinespark suit nor blue suit are preserved through saving the game or death.
Below are a number of ways to perform the yellow suit glitch. All of these can be performed inbounds; however, some may be made easier to set up by involving out of bounds.
Methods that require a Crystal Flash to perform will be denoted by "*CF". An interesting way to tell if you were successful in performing these methods is that Samus's beams will become a light gray color as opposed to their normal colors until Samus enters another room.
Contents
Draygon *CF
A shinespark suit will be generated if Draygon grabs Samus while she is performing a Crystal Flash.
Additionally, if Samus performs a Crystal Flash while in Draygon's grasp, it can cause Samus's ammo values to underflow.
Each directional pad input will increase by 1 the amount the ammo type is decreasing by. For example, if you have 10 Missiles upon activating the Crystal Flash, and then perform a single input on the directional pad as the amount of Missiles are decreasing, it will cause 11 Missiles to be depleted instead, which will cause the value to underflow to 65535.
The reason the above works is because the game utilizes the same memory address for the reduction in ammo during a Crystal Flash as it does for counting directional pad inputs for Draygon releasing Samus. Basically, the directional pad will increase the value of this address, and the Crystal Flash will decrease it. Draygon will release Samus when the counter reaches 60, and the Crystal Flash will end when the counter has reached zero three times. Upon reaching zero for the first time, the Crystal Flash will begin depleting Super Missiles. Upon reaching zero for the second time, the Crystal Flash will begin depleting Power Bombs. Upon reaching zero for the third time, the Crystal Flash will end.
Because the counter decreases by 1 once every eight frames, it makes it possible to battle back against the counter using the directional pad, and spam inputs until 60 have been performed, resulting in both an ammo underflow and a shinespark suit after Draygon releases Samus.
Mother Brain *CF
A shinespark suit will be generated if Mother Brain's rainbow beam strikes Samus while she is performing a Crystal Flash.
The issue with this method is that Samus will not be able to move after performing this method unless X-Ray Scope is activated, which would remove the shinespark suit, or unless Samus is struck by either Mother Brain or one of her attacks.
A neat feature of this method is that when the rainbow beam connects with Samus while she is performing a Crystal Flash, Samus will be granted near-infinite ammo of either one or two types, depending on when the rainbow beam connects with Samus while her ammo is being depleted by the Crystal Flash.
Super Metroid *CF
A shinespark suit will be generated if the Super Metroid attaches appropriately to Samus and forces Samus into the crouch pose while she is performing a Crystal Flash. The reason the word "appropriately" is used is because sometimes, this method simply does not work for unknown reasons.
Similar to the previous method, Samus will not be able to move after performing this method unless X-Ray Scope is activated, which would remove the shinespark suit. All in all, this and Ridley (Ceres) *CF are the most limited methods for generating a shinespark suit.
Depending on the timing of the Crystal Flash, the yellow suit glitch may not occur. Instead, the effect of the Crystal Flash will occur immediately after Samus reaches 01 energy, and will free Samus from the Super Metroid's stun upon completion.
Reserve Mode *CF
A shinespark suit will be generated if the Reserve Tank automatic refill occurs while Samus is performing a Crystal Flash under the effects of "Reserve Mode."
The only known procedure for causing "Reserve Mode", also known as "greyout glitch", according to Kejardon is the following:
- While X-Ray Scope is highlighted green and at least ~5 Reserve Tank energy is available while the Reserve Tank is set to "Auto", transition into a room as a creature deals damage to Samus
- As the transition occurs, press and hold "dash" so that X-Ray Scope is activated post-transition
If performed correctly, the screen should become darker than usual, and should remain that way as long as Samus is in this mode. There may also be some discoloration of the background.
The most useful enemies for producing this mode are those who can continue to move even during a transition taking place, such as Zebbos, and/or those that can still continue to channel damage into Samus during transitions, such as Metroids.
The reason at least ~5 energy is a requirement for producing this mode is because otherwise, the energy transfer will occur so fast that the game state that usually occurs, where the game stops for a short time for the energy transfer, will not happen at all.
Reserve Mode
A shinespark suit will be generated if the Reserve Tank automatic refill occurs when Samus is struck by an enemy while morphed and activates the shinespark on the frame the knockback timer reaches zero under the effects of "Reserve Mode."
Elevator *CF
A shinespark suit will be generated if an elevator is activated on the same frame that a Crystal Flash is activated.
Because one of the required inputs for the Crystal Flash is down on the directional pad, this method is only possible on elevators that will travel downward.
Suit Upgrade *CF
A shinespark suit will be generated if Samus acquires a suit upgrade on the same frame that a Crystal Flash would activate, and a bomb is placed accordingly.
The bomb is required to propel Samus and interrupt the Crystal Flash, as otherwise, Samus would begin the Crystal Flash after the suit upgrade animation; however, the Crystal Flash animation would be replaced by the save station animation that occurs when a save file is loaded, except with green electricity.
Ridley (Ceres)
A shinespark suit will be generated if Ridley's escape cinematic on Ceres Station occurs while the X-Ray Scope is active, and then a shinespark is activated which results in Samus, before the shinespark would begin travel, coming in contact with the wall she would have otherwise been pushed into.
Coming in contact with the wall in question while not in an active shinespark will remove the knockback property prematurely, making this method no longer possible. Coming in contact with the wall in question while in a traveling shinespark can result in a softlock.
Ridley (Ceres) *CF
A shinespark suit will be generated if Ridley's escape cinematic on Ceres Station occurs while Samus is performing a Crystal Flash.
Spikes
A shinespark suit will be generated if Samus takes damage from a spike or spike-like source (such as electricity) while morphed, unmorphs on either the frame contact is made ("frame 1") or the frame after ("frame 2"), and activates a shinespark on the last frame of the knockback timer ("frame 10").
Please refer to the pastebin linked here for a more in-depth explanation and useful applications.
Samus cannot normally perform this method without Gravity Suit underwater because the knockback timer from contact with a spike or a spike-like source runs out before Samus is able to jump. Contact with spikes will cause a knockback period of 10 frames, and the earliest frame a shinespark can be activated without Gravity Suit underwater from an unmorph is the 18th frame, which does not occur normally. The knockback timer must be a higher value than the earliest frame when a shinespark can be activated in order to generate a shinespark suit with this method.
That being said, a Reserve Tank automatic trigger occurring during an unmorph on spikes will double the knockback timer's amount (from 10 to 20), allowing the "earliest frame when a shinespark can be activated" amount to be reached without Gravity Suit underwater.
As a result of the above, it is possible to perform this method without Gravity Suit underwater if a Reserve Tank and a mild amount of pause abuse are incorporated appropriately.
Slopes
A shinespark suit will be generated if Samus is struck by a damage source while Samus is moving forward, damage boosts onto a slope behind her, and activates a shinespark immediately upon landing atop the slope.
to-do: explain this better
