Terminal Fall

A Terminal Fall is an accidental "death" that can occur in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Similar falls can also occur in Metroid Prime Hunters and Metroid: Other M. Certain areas and rooms, either indoors or outdoors, are visited in the five mentioned games, which are suspended high above the ground or even exposed to outer space. If they are not careful when moving about platforms, bounty hunters such as Samus or members of the Federation Force can fall off the ledge. Falling this way does not cause a Game Over in the Prime trilogy or Federation Force, but it does in Hunters and Other M.
==By game==
===Prime trilogy and Federation Force===
Terminal Falls do not cause a Game Over, or in Federation Force, the mission to fail. While presumably they would end up falling to their death, for the sake of easing gameplay, Samus or the Federation Force will respawn a few seconds after falling, either where they fell off or on the ledge they were intending to reach. In Echoes and Corruption, the screen will flash and Samus will grunt in pain, with some of her energy lost (5 or 10 respectively on Veteran difficulty). If Samus falls in Morph Ball form, it is not entirely consistent whether she will respawn as the Morph Ball or in biped form, but she will not grunt upon respawning as the Morph Ball. In Federation Force, the soldier loses ten units of energy and a brief flash of the inside of their Mech is seen before they respawn.AbdallahSmash. Metroid Prime Federation Force - Part 16 | Mission 16: Slipstream! [NEW Nintendo 3DS Gameplay]. YouTube. August 22, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2024. https://youtu.be/EVlUXS7_h7Y?si=YNmAk20yCr6c4xOk&t=250
After Samus defeats Dark Samus for the second time, her malevolent doppelganger stumbles off the Aerie and falls out of view, but because of Dark Samus' extreme regenerative abilities, this does not spell her ultimate death. The Meta Ridley battle in Corruption can be considered a prolonged Terminal Fall, as Samus is knocked down the Generator Shaft and must defeat her nemesis before she falls to the bottom. Rundas rescues her before she falls to her death.
Terminal Falls are named in the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc. When approaching the back ledge of Transport to Agon Wastes, a message will appear on Samus's Heads-Up Display, saying "Warning: Terminal Fall Ahead!"
===Metroid Prime Hunters===
Samus can also fall in Metroid Prime Hunters, specifically in rooms on the Celestial Archives that are open to space. Unlike other Prime series games, these falls are fatal and will cause a Game Over.
Several Multiplayer maps similarly contain sections where any bounty hunter can fall to their death. Falling this way is treated as self-destructing and will subtract a point in the Battle game mode.
Also unique to Hunters is fall damage if Samus (or another bounty hunter in Multiplayer Mode) jumps down onto a surface from a great height, whereas other Prime games will merely stun her for a moment. Fall damage can be negated either by going into Alt-Form or by using the Jump Boots shortly before hitting the ground, however.
===Metroid: Other M===
In Metroid: Other M, attempting to jump out of the Sector Zero entrance corridor towards a detached section of the sector, will cause Samus to automatically fall and trigger a Game Over. This will happen even when the Gravity Feature is enabled.
==List of rooms/locations with Terminal Falls==
===Echoes===
*GFMC Compound
*Transport to Agon Wastes
*Windchamber Gateway
*Torvus Transport Access
*Grand Windchamber
*Ing Windchamber
*Sandcanyon
*Meditation Vista
*Gloom Vista
*Much of the Sanctuary Fortress and Ing Hive
===Corruption===
*Docking Bay 5 (G.F.S. Olympus)
*Repair Bay Shaft
*Docking Hub Alpha
*Hub Access
*Cargo Dock A
*Generator A
*Cargo Dock C
*Generator C
*Cargo Dock B
*Generator B
*Cliffside Airdock
*Gateway Hall
*Gateway
*Hillside Vista
*Crash Site
*Falls of Fire
*Machineworks Bridge
*Gel Purification Site
*Hall of Remembrance
*Almost all of SkyTown, Elysia
*Landing Site Alpha
*Landing Site Bravo
*Landing Site Charlie
*Airshaft
*Phazon Harvesting
*Drill Shaft 1
*Docking Bay 5 (G.F.S. Valhalla)
*Hangar A Access
*Aurora Chamber
*Landing Site
*Cavern Beta
===Federation Force===
*G.F.S. Aegis (bridge before Combat Sim)
*Federation outpost
*Temple
*Power station
*Federation research station
*Ancient Ruin
*Weapon factory
*Underground Lake (falling into water)
*Military Facility
*Setting of M08: Dustoff
*Setting of M09: Blender
*Setting of M10: Black Hole
*Volcanic area (falling into lava)
*Federation mining outpost
*Ancient skiff
*Underground tomb
===Hunters===
====Adventure Mode====
*Docking Bay
*Tetra Vista
*New Arrival Registration
====Multiplayer Mode====
*Transfer Lock (section corresponding to the Docking Bay)
*Outer Reach
*Harvester
*Weapons Complex
*Head Shot
==Development notes==
Terminal Falls were easy to script into Echoes and Corruption, since a trigger is placed at a certain point in a drop to respawn Samus on a platform with minor damage. Retro Studios did not consider making Terminal Falls fatal to Samus in gameplay.Kiwi Talkz. "#121 - Zoid Interview (Metroid Prime, Cameras, Scripting, Sequence Breaking , Programming etc.)" YouTube. January 22, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022. (starts at 42:47)
==Trivia==
*Terminal Falls are not possible in the original Metroid Prime or any of the traditional 2D Metroid series titles; in open rooms such as the Artifact Temple or Control Tower, Force Fields around ledges prevent Samus from falling.
==References==
Category:Obstacles
Category:Temple Grounds
Category:Agon Wastes
Category:Dark Agon Wastes
Category:Torvus Bog
Category:Dark Torvus Bog
Category:Sanctuary Fortress
Category:Ing Hive
Category:GFS Olympus
Category:Norion
Category:Bryyo
Category:SkyTown
Category:Pirate Homeworld
Category:GFS Valhalla
Category:Phaaze
Category:Excelcion
Category:Bion
Category:Talvania