13% xPb

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Super Metroid Category
13% xPb
13% xPb
WORLD RECORD
103:51:02
1:29 IGT
Full Category
World Record Holder
World Record Holder:
Kingofthehill476
WORLD RECORD RECORDING

Category Details

Timing
Start Timer:
On Start Game
Stop Timer:
Entering Ship Animation
Location
Begin At:
Ceres Station
End At:
End of Zebes Escape
Collection
Percentage:
13%
Bosses
Major Bosses:
All
Mini-Bosses:
Boss Order:
KRDP
Glitches
No
No


13% is the lowest amount of items in which a human can beat the game via defeating all major bosses without using major glitches, but while utilizing either L+R walljumping or ammo underflow at Draygon. 13% xPb is the third in-bounds 13% category that has been completed RTA using ammo underflow and not L+R. This is similar to IcePb except this has a harder Maridia, requiring strange shenanigans to avoid L+R. A total of 13 items are picked up during the entire run. This and 13% PbPb are perhaps the hardest categories ever completed by a human.

With proper positioning and drop luck, it's possible to Crystal Flash at Draygon with a maximum Power Bomb count of only 10, as seen with the obsoleted Any% TAS that used underflow. Detailed info how this was done can be found here.

Notably, this and 13% IcePb are the only completed 13% categories that don't give some advantage to keyboard over controller, either by requiring L+R or requiring underwater walljumping without L+R. The hypothetical GravityCharge is the only other potential 13% category that doesn't require those two things.

Prerequisites

To finish this run, you need to know how to:

Collected Items

Morphball.png Bombs.png Xray.png Varia.png Etank.png Reserver.png Reserver.png Missiles.png Missiles.png Supermissiles.png Supermissiles.png Powerbomb.png Powerbomb.png

R-mode CF suit in Etecoons Hallway

Generating an R-mode CF suit with only a maximum of 10 power bombs requires a fairly precise setup. For purposes of this category, this method is currently the most consistent RTA method:

Note this method requires having zero Energy Tanks, so the Energy Tank for Mother Brain's rainbow beam must be collected after doing this setup and before entering Tourian. This effectively means most of the run must be completed with zero energy tanks.

Due to how health gain during a Crystal Flash works, and how it relates to enemy spawns, this method does not always work the same way. There are eight different ways enemy spawn and the CF tick can be related.

On NTSC, the following are the probabilities of this method working:

  • 37.5%: Chance of getting the suit on the first bug hit;
  • 25%: Chance of getting the suit on the second bug hit;
  • 25%: Chance of getting the suit on the third bug hit;
  • 12.5%: The suit may be gotten if a bug hits you within the first two CF ticks.

Since there is barely enough time to be hit by three bugs, the last two cases require more precise setups. However, with a nice, simple setup, two bug hits is quite feasible. Thus, this is effectively a 62.5% chance. A more precise setup could increase the odds; this has not been looked into yet, since 62.5% is fairly good.

On PAL, the bug will normally only be able to damage Samus for four frames which is not enough to trigger Reserves. The method can still work, if the bug damages Samus as early as possible. This results in a 50% chance of working, and requires a 4-6 frame window.

This can be improved: Normally, two CF ticks are needed for energy to enter Reserves. However, if a CF is initiated with exactly 50 energy, then only one CF tick is needed. This makes it always work, but the frame windows don't quite line up. Based off one test, the following are the probabilities if the CF is initiated with 50 energy:

  • 333-334 frames between enemy death and power bomb placement: 37.5%;
  • 335 frames: 50%;
  • 336 frames: 62.5%;
  • 337 frames: 87.5%;
  • 338 frames: 75%;
  • 339 frames: 25%;
  • 340 frames: 12.5%.

Thus, one can see that the setup is inherently inconsistent on PAL. Even if you place the power bomb frame perfectly, it will still only work 87.5% of the time at most.

TODO: Do a similar check for frame windows on NTSC; 62.5% of the time, they will be huge, but may as well check.

L+R Walljumping

To avoid L+R walljumping, a spark must be generated to get up Halfie Climb Room.

Past Mt. Everest, this method can be used to generate a spark.

This method has a tight window, and also is dependent upon crab RNG.

TODO: Look at frame windows here, against the different CF tick options.

Resources