The various abilities and attacks that Samus has have varied a lot over the years in the Metroid series. Players have made use of many different upgrades to make her a more effective alien hunter. And with the release of Metroid Dread on the Switch, things get more interesting. Both classic and new upgrades to Samus’ arsenal are featured here, giving players new maps and challenges to overcome.
How to unlock the Speed Boost in Metroid Dread
You’ll receive this upgrade after defeating the yellow EMMI in the Dairon area.
How to use the Speed Boost
It’s kind of complicated to use, until you know how. Once you’re at the end of a long surface, start running in one direction while holding down L3 (press the left stick). Samus should start glowing, that’s your cue to keep moving in the direction you’re going to get a short speed boost for a few seconds. One cool trick with the speed boost in Metroid Dread is that you can even dash past enemies if you time it right.
There’s also a more powerful variant of the boost called a Shinespark. When dashing, move the left stick down to store speed as a powerup. When you’re charged, hold B and choose a direction to launch into a Shinespark. You will know this worked when Samus stops boosting and begins to glow purple. That’s the Shinespark charging. Now just hold the B button, and press the stick in the direction you want to move. You can launch Samus in any direction, until she hits a wall, with this move.
To keep the boost going, just keep moving. Under normal play, the boost wears off, but you can keep it going by jumping off of surfaces and walls. By combining jumps with the boost, you can keep it going. In fact, there are several puzzles that require you to use this combination. You will encounter things like Speed Booster blocks, designated by an orange arrow symbol, that you need to break through.
