Phendrana Shorelines
The Phendrana Shorelines
Game	Metroid Prime
Planet/Ship	Tallon IV
Area	Phendrana Drifts
Notable features	Water, rock pillars, Radion grate blocking access to panel controlling lock on door, Ice blocking alcove, tower, floating platforms
Significance	Location of two Missile Expansions, first major room of Phendrana Drifts
Enemies/wildlife	Crystallites, Flickerbats, Baby Sheegoths

Phendrana Shorelines is a room in the Phendrana Drifts, found in Metroid Prime. It contains two Missile Expansions, and is a major room in the area, being very large and connecting to many other rooms. It contains many tall rock pillars, an icy lake that is very shallow in places, the ruins of a building high on a ledge, and multiple platforms to reach higher areas.

To access Ice Ruins Access, the door must be released by scanning a panel below its ledge: this alcove is blocked by snow, so Morph Ball use is required for entry, but the scan can be made without going inside. Platforms further round this side Phendrana Shorelines lead up to the unlocked door. Higher up in the room, the Plaza Walkway door is used to access the Ruins Entryway door after circling back around to this room. The door to Temple Entryway requires the Space Jump Boots to reach the floating platform nearby and jump up to the ruins from there.

After receiving the Boost Ball, when Samus returns to this room, she sees Meta Ridley flying toward the Phazon Mines, possibly warning the Space Pirates that Samus was on Tallon IV.

A Secret World can be found in this room: [1]

Connecting rooms

• Shoreline Entrance (via Blue Door)
• Save Station B (via Blue Door)
• Ice Ruins Access (via Locked Door)
• Plaza Walkway (via Blue Door)
• Ruins Entryway (via Blue Door)
• Temple Entryway (via Blue Door)

Inhabitants

• 4 Crystallites
• 3 Flickerbats
• 2 Baby Sheegoths (after the Wave Beam has been collected)

Items

Missile Expansion

This is behind sheet of ice, inside a stone column near the door to Save Station B. To melt the ice, the Plasma Beam is required.

Missile Expansion

The other expansion in this room is at the top of the tower of the ruins, accessible only with the Space Jump Boots. Samus must use a Super Missile on the weak Cordite panel and then climb the track through the revealed hole using the Spider Ball.

Scans

Radion

"Grating has become brittle from temperature fluctuations. Large traces of Radion detected."

Panel

"The door directly above has been unlocked."

Ice

"The ice covering this opening can be melted with extreme heat."

Platform

"This platform is kept aloft by a gas-based propulsion system attached to its underside."

Cordite Statue

"This Cordite statue is worn and weathered. Scan indicates the presence of a Power Conduit behind the statue."

Power Conduit

"Something behind the wall seems to have been activated."

LeRoy Strauss design notes

At Retro Studios, every area begins with a "blue room" which is blank to allow the programmer to code an area (or room) how they want without being forced to work around the art staff. "This process is not unique to Retro," explained LeRoy. "Many game studios have people build out blocky low poly rooms to test game play and then hand them off to artists. The artists then take these low polygon blocked in rooms and rebuild them with tons of details and textures."

The Phendrana Shorelines took LeRoy about three weeks to model and texture. "I … usually build the whole room first then texture it. Sometimes, though, I get excited about a certain area so I texture it before the rest of the room," explained LeRoy. As far as details go, another artist added particle effects such as the snow later. Programmers added the fish swimming around in the pond later as well.

Gallery

Door leading to Plaza Walkway.

Samus enters Phendrana.

Samus views the Shorelines for the first time.

View after leaving Save Station B

Samus overlooks the Shorelines. The Chozo Ice Temple is visible in the distance.

Meta-Ridley flies over

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