Max% No Powerbombs analysis

First, note this page is about no major glitches conditions.

Max% No Powerbombs analysis (last update: 02.12.2023)

The maximum for PAL and NTSC is: 80% (RTA proven), or 82% (TAS conditions). This can be increased by 1 if it is allowed for Samus to be softlocked at the end (with two different options for TAS).

This count excludes power bomb packs. If power bomb packs are allowed, this adds seven items under PAL or TAS conditions: Under RTA conditions on NTSC, two of these power bomb packs are a softlock. These data lead to the following totals:

• 80% (RTA, no softlock, power bomb packs cannot be collected)

• 81% (RTA, end in softlock, power bomb packs cannot be collected)

• 82% (TAS, no softlock, power bomb packs cannot be collected)

• 83% (TAS, end in softlock, power bomb packs cannot be collected)

• 85% (RTA, NTSC, no softlock, power bomb packs allowed)

• 87% (RTA, NTSC, end in softlock, power bomb packs allowed)

• 87% (RTA, PAL, no softlock, power bomb packs allowed)

• 88% (RTA, PAL, end in softlock, power bomb packs allowed)

• 89% (TAS, no softlock, power bomb packs allowed)

• 90% (TAS, end in softlock, power bomb packs allowed)

The items that can be collected are listed below. They are flagged as follows:

• TAS: Only proven in TAS conditions, i.e., have never been replicated RTA.

• Softlock: Collecting this item leads to a softlock, i.e., it cannot be escaped from without using a power bomb.

Additionally, items that require more finesse have a brief description of how they can be collected.

Crateria:

• Bombs

• Gauntlet Energy Tank

• Terminator Energy Tank

• Left Gauntlet Missiles

• Right Gauntlet Missiles

• Omega Missiles

• Old Mother Brain Missiles

The following all require getting into Wrecked Ship without power bombs. This is quite difficult on NTSC, but it is possible by gate glitching the bottom gate into Maridia, using Ice, Wave, Hi-Jump, and Supers. Under TAS conditions, there are other options. On PAL, only Ice is needed (even for RTA conditions).

After getting into Maridia, one can proceed through West Sand Hall (on NTSC by using a sandy bomb jump), and backwards through Forgotten Highway.

• Moat Missiles

• West Ocean Missiles in the Sky

• West Ocean Maze Missiles

• West Ocean Drowned Missiles

Brinstar:

• Morph Ball

• Charge Beam

• Spazer

• Varia Suit

• Brinstar Reserve Tank

• Blue Brinstar Energy Tank

• Kraid Energy Tank

• Early Supers

• Spore Spawn Supers

• Alpha Missiles

• Beta Missiles

• Missiles below Early Supers

• Missiles behind Brinstar Reserve

• Missiles behind Missiles behind Brinstar Reserve

• Big Pink Top Missiles

• Big Pink Bottom Missiles

• Green Tube Missiles

The two Etecoons items may be collected by moondancing down (one option), and then ice clipping back up.

• Etecoons Energy Tank

• Etecoons Supers

The two Billy Mays items may be collected by performing an extended ice clip and sparking up. This has been replicated RTA, although taking considerably longer and a lot more Geemer hits due to needing about 63 near frame perfect freezes of the global Geemer.

• Billy Mays Visible Missiles

• Billy Mays Hidden Missiles

The Wavegate Energy Tank may be collected by using an ice clip through the door with a Zeb and a Reo. This requires multiple blind frame perfect pauses, so it has not been replicated RTA.

• Wavegate Energy Tank (TAS)

The Waterway Energy Tank may be collected by supersinking past the power bomb block. This has been replicated RTA. However, escape is impossible.

• Waterway Energy Tank (Softlock)

Norfair:

• Ice Beam

• Wave Beam

• Hi-Jump Boots

• Speed Booster

• Grappling Beam

• Norfair Reserve Tank

• Hi-Jump Energy Tank

• Crocomire Energy Tank

• Hi-Jump Missiles

• Cathedral Missiles

• Bubble Mountain Missiles

• Green Bubbles Missiles

• Norfair Reserve Missiles

• Speed Booster Missiles

• Wave Missiles

• Cosine Missiles

• Indiana Jones Missiles

• Crocomire Escape Missiles

• Crumble Shaft Missiles (by coming up through Crocomire Speedway)

Via a difficult moonfall setup with Ice and Grapple, it is possible to enter Lower Norfair. This is considerably easier on PAL, but it has been done RTA on NTSC.

• Screw Attack

• Firefleas Energy Tank

• Golden Torizo Supers

• Mickey Mouse Missiles

• Hotarubi Missiles

• Three Musketeers Missiles

GT Missiles are more elusive. Via a moonjump it is possible to collect. It can also be collected with a "slopespark" by taking double enemy knockback (using a Reserve Tank) when Golden Torizo does a tall jump (i.e., a forwards jump).

• Golden Torizo Missiles (TAS)

Wrecked Ship:

The following all require getting into Wrecked Ship without power bombs. This is quite difficult on NTSC, but it is possible by gate glitching the bottom gate into Maridia, using Ice, Wave, Hi-Jump, and Supers. Under TAS conditions, there are other options. On PAL, only Ice is needed (even for RTA conditions).

After getting into Maridia, one can proceed through West Sand Hall (on NTSC by using a sandy bomb jump), and backwards through Forgotten Highway.

• Gravity Suit

• Wrecked Ship Energy Tank

• Wrecked Ship Left Supers

• Wrecked Ship Right Supers

• Gravity Missiles

• Spooky Missiles

• Attic Missiles

Via some ice moonfall shenangians, one can carry vertical fall speed into the top of Bowling Alley and fall on top of the Reserve. However, escape is impossible. To my knowledge, this has not been replicated RTA, although there is no reason why it couldn't be.

• Wrecked Ship Reserve (Softlock, TAS)

Maridia:

The following all require getting into Wrecked Ship without power bombs. This is quite difficult on NTSC, but it is possible by gate glitching the bottom gate into Maridia, using Ice, Wave, Hi-Jump, and Supers. Under TAS conditions, there are other options. On PAL, only Ice is needed (even for RTA conditions).

After in Maridia, to get past the power bomb blocks in Aqueduct one could perform Butterfly Skip and then go backwards through the Botwoon hallways. Alternatively, maybe an ice moonfall setup in Crab Shaft could work.

• Plasma Beam

• Space Jump

• Maridia Reserve

• Watering Hole Missiles

• False Wall Missiles

• West Sand Hole Missiles

• East Sand Hole Missiles

• Main Street Missiles

• Mama Turtle Missiles

• Aqueduct Missiles

• Precious Missiles

• Watering Hole Supers

• Crab Supers

• Aqueduct Supers

• Mama Turtle Energy Tank

• Botwoon Energy Tank

Items that cannot be collected:

First, note the above list does not contain any power bomb packs. If the goal is instead max% without using power bombs, note seven power bomb packs can be collected:

• Alpha Power Bombs (under RTA conditions, coming here is a softlock on NTSC)

• Beta Power Bombs (this may be collected with an ice moonfall into a slopekiller, and escaping via a standard ceiling clip; under RTA conditions, coming here is a softlock on NTSC)

• Etecoons Power Bombs (escape via an ice clip)

• Mission Impossible Power Bombs (an ice clip with either Wave or Spazer can collect this; there are also other options)

• Crocomire Power Bombs

• Jail Power Bombs (this requires the Ice and Grapple moondance to get into Lower Norfair)

• Maridia Power Bombs (this requires a crazy gate glitch to get into Maridia)

The following cannot be collected:

• X-Ray Scope (due to the powerbomb door in the way: the power bomb blocks can be avoided)

• Spring Ball (due to a powerbomb block wall in Shaktool's room)

• Ridley Energy Tank (because of the yellow door shell on the way down to Ridley's lair and the powerbomb block statue in the room before the Ninja-Pirates)

• Crateria Supers (because of a yellow and a grey door blocking the room off)

• Missiles behind Alpha Power Bombs (since it is behind a powerbomb block wall in Red Brinstar)

• Kraid Missiles (because it is behind a powerbomb block wall)

• Blue Brinstar Power Bombs (due to a power bomb door on the left and power bomb blocks on the right)

• Crateria Power Bombs (due to a power bomb door)

• Power Bombs of Shame (due to the power bomb door at the bottom of Red Kihunter Shaft)

The following have not been replicated RTA:

• Wavegate Energy Tank: This requires 6 frame perfect freezes, which all have to be done blind as the enemy is embedded in the door so it can't be seen.

• Golden Torizo Missiles: TAS has two methods, of moonjump or a clip using a Reserve Tank (for double knockback off of GT) and a stored shinespark. Neither seem very possible RTA.

The following lead to a softlock if collected (and thus in a run, only one may be collected):

• Waterway Energy Tank: Although a Grapple supersink can be used to get past the power bomb block on the way in, there is no method to get out without power bombs.

• Wrecked Ship Reserve: Although an ice moonfall may be performed in Attic and a slopekiller allows carrying this to then fall onto the Reserve Tank from above, escaping requires power bombs. Note this has not been replicated RTA (to my knowledge at the time of writing this), but there is no reason it shouldn't be possible.

Beating the game with minimal power bombs

As a final remark, people may want to round out this category by beating the game while using the smallest number of power bombs (perhaps a more satisfying ending). The only thing stopping the game from being beaten is Ridley.

There are two obstacles, with one of them occurring twice: The yellow door at the bottom of Red Kihunter Shaft, and the statue in Wasteland going both directions.

Under both RTA and TAS conditions, the yellow door in Red Kihunter Shaft cannot be avoided. Thus, at least one power bomb is required.

Under TAS conditions, the statue in Wasteland can be gotten past going down: This is done with an ice moonfall setup. This is TAS-only, as it requires frame perfect re-freezes of the Dessgeega.

Theoretically, the statue could be avoided going up with an X-Ray Climb. Collecting X-Ray only needs a single power bomb, and thus this is an equivalent number of power bombs used. Having X-Ray would make many of the earlier strats much easier: In particular, entering Maridia and Lower Norfair could be done with G-Mode instead.

Thus, for RTA the minimum number of power bombs is 3, and for TAS the minimum number of power bombs is 2. This adds the following items:

• X-Ray: This is collected with a single power bomb used (X-Ray climbing in Red Tower on the escape to get past the power bomb blocks), and then an X-Ray climb is done in Wasteland to avoid this power bomb use.

• Power Bombs of Shame: This is collected on the way to Ridley.

• Ridley Energy Tank: This is collected after Ridley.

• Crateria Power Bombs: Using a very deep stuck, achieved with momentum mirroring with Speed Booster. This would be quite difficult RTA.

• Golden Torizo Missiles (RTA): With X-Ray, the GT superjump could be done RTA.

• Wrecked Ship Reserve (TAS): This can be escaped with a superjump. Note the entry hasn't been replicated RTA, to my knowledge.

Additionally, Alpha and Beta Power Bombs would no longer be a softlock under RTA conditions on NTSC.

I personally have thought about this less, so a couple things to potentially check:

• Kraid Missiles: Can these be collected? I have tried G-mode stuff to no avail, but maybe I missed something.

• Wasteland statue: Can this be passed by going upwards on TAS, e.g., with moonjump shenanigans? The ceiling is 3 tiles thick, so I suspect it cannot.

But assuming the analysis to be correct, this increases the percentage to:

• 92% (RTA);

• 94% (TAS).

For players without tool-assistance, 72% currently is the current best achieved as a run, where PAL was used. With recent setups, the same is possible in NTSC, although it would be considerably more difficult.

Demonstration videos for the PAL case with 72 collected items:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyIfiSHc9Dg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi2rVhhGx9w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IrTCLSmkTs