Plasma Beam
From Wikitroid, the Metroid wiki
| Plasma Beam | |
|---|---|
 The Plasma Beam from Metroid Prime. | |
| Featured in | Metroid II: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime, Metroid Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption |
| Damage | High |
| Effect(s) | Low range, sets enemies on fire, pierces targets. |
| Special uses | To melt ice in both Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Also in Corruption, it can be used to repair damaged Circuit Boards via its welding attachment. |
| Obtained | Metroid Prime: Mandatory item, found in Plasma Processing. Metroid Prime 3: Mandatory item, won after beating Ghor. |
The Plasma Beam is a beam which appears in all of the Metroid games except for the original Metroid, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. In 2D incarnations, it is a thin ray capable of piercing multiple enemies, though in the Prime series it appears as a short-range beam of intense heat that can be used to melt ice and weld metals. Samus's Gunship is also stated to be equipped with a "retractable rear-mounted plasma cannon".
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[edit] In the Metroid Prime series
The Plasma Beam was the second to last beam acquired in Metroid Prime, and as such, besides the Phazon Beam it is perhaps the most powerful beam weapon in the game. When charged, it could instantly incinerate some enemies, such as Baby Sheegoths and Plated Beetles, and it could set fire to others, causing considerable damage. The Plasma Beam's color scheme in Prime was red, and it represented the "element" of fire. The Plasma Beam is also capable of melting Frigidite casings. The Plasma Beam's Beam Combo, the Flamethrower was a continuous Beam Combo, a stream of flame with an exceedingly short range, useful for killing Plasma Troopers and cold-based enemies, such as Sheegoth.
The Magmaul in Metroid Prime: Hunters takes over some of the Plasma Beam's functions.
In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the Light Beam was very similar to the Plasma Beam with its heat-based and burning effect as well as with its animation. However, it was the Annihilator Beam that used its Arm Canon shape from Metroid Prime.
In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption the Plasma Beam is acquired after defeating the hunter Ghor. The beam was no longer short-ranged and the rate of fire remained the same as the Power Beam, as all beam weapons were stacked upgrades in Corruption, although it suffered a downgrade in firepower when compared to Metroid Prime to compensate for this heightened firing rate. It retains its ability to ignite enemies and melt objects, though its Arm Cannon shape was altered. No longer is the gun extended forwards; instead, it takes after the Ice Beam from Metroid Prime by being slightly elevated upwards, which is also the shape of the Dark Beam from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. New also to the Plasma Beam in Corruption is its ability to repair damaged cables and circuitry with a laser-type attachment, initially used to repair Aurora Unit 217's cables that Ghor damaged.
[edit] In Other Games
| Plasma Beam (2-D Metroid titles) | |
|---|---|
 The Plasma Beam upgrade, as seen in Super Metroid. | |
| Featured in | Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion |
| Damage | Very High |
| Effect(s) | Pierces through enemies. |
| Obtained | Metroid Zero Mission: Statue in Crateria Metroid II: Return of Samus: Statue at third Chozo city |
In Metroid: Zero Mission, the Plasma Beam was gained as an unknown item and could not be used until the Power Suit was regained in Chozodia. When charged up, it has the potential to destroy many enemies, especially when several of them are standing in the line of fire.
In Super Metroid, the Plasma Beam was incompatible with the Spazer. If both were simultaneously selected with a variety of other factors, the game would glitch with results such as the Murder Beam, Spacetime Beam and the Chainsaw Beam.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Zero Suit Samus has two attacks called the "Plasma Whip" and "Plasma Wire" that fire from her Paralyzer. Both also act as a tether, similarly to the Grapple Beam.
[edit] Trivia
- Interestingly, the Plasma Beam in Metroid Prime is the only beam that increases in range when charged.
- Strangely, in the New Play Control! and Metroid Prime Trilogy versions of the game, embers no longer float off the Arm Cannon when charging. Theories suggest that this may be due to the way this and other visual effects were programmed in the original versions of the game, making it too difficult to reproduce the effects on the Wii.
[edit] Appearances
 Metroid Fusion (combined with the Charge and Wide Beams) |
 Zero Mission (combined with Ice and Wave Beams) |
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| Beams |
|---|
| Power Beam | Long Beam | Wave Beam | Ice Beam | Plasma Beam Charge Beam | Spazer Beam | Hyper Beam | Wide Beam Phazon Beam | Dark Beam | Light Beam | Annihilator Beam Volt Driver | Battlehammer | Magmaul | Shock Coil | Judicator | Imperialist Omega Cannon | Nova Beam | Paralyzer |
