NES Metroid invincibility request

[garsh]

None of the listed invincibility codes for Metroid are working for me.

This sounds like exactly what I would like:
000070 0B "With this, enemies can't even touch you; just walk through'em. Don't worry - you can touch them, heh."

In two different emulators there's no evident effect. Samus takes damage, and dies. I feel like I must be doing something wrong.

Same with this one:
000040 37 "Invincible, except touching Mother Brain"

Now for Game Genie, I tried "UNEYGO", but Nestopia rejects it as invalid. FCEU accepts it, and even led me to discover that altered to "UNAYGO" Nestopia will approve it.

Those work, Samus is untouchable, but she can't touch back. Her shots pass through enemies, and she passes right through the morph ball.

Is there any chance someone could find an alternative to PAR 000070 0B that works in Nestopia, or educate me to use it correctly?

[thenewguy]

I know couple game genie codes but not par.

[rimsky82]

Did you try different dumps of the Metroid rom? Check to make sure it's the USA dump as opposed to Europe.

I believe the reason that code was determined invalid, was because of the compare bit flag. There is a bit in the code that is 1 (bit 9 from left) when a compare byte is present, as in an 8 letter code as opposed to 6. Obviously this being a 6 letter code, there is no compare byte encrypted into it. So the "UNAYGO" code is proper.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I must be the only one who thinks Metroid is the most overated NES game. It would have been so much better if so many levels/screens didn't look nearly identicle. Imagine if NES Zelda had lots of nearly identicle looking levels/screens. It would not have been as good. I stopped playing Metroid half way thru the game because of this. I know most of you will strongly disagree.

[Helder]

Try this GG code:

Invincibility And Able To Attack
LEVGXAAE
SZUGKTVG

[Lazy Bastard]

OldSchoolGamer: I agree. SNES Super Metroid was better. Still, I think the game play in NES Metroid was unique for its time, and that's why it gained such popularity.

garsh: Please post the version and region of the Metroid ROM you're using.

[mightymo77]

Try this GG code:

Invincibility And Able To Attack
LEVGXAAE
SZUGKTVG

These codes do not allow you to pick-up energy. I wonder why invincibility is so difficult for this game?

[Pugsy]

None of the listed invincibility codes for Metroid are working for me.
Is there any chance someone could find an alternative to PAR 000070 0B that works in Nestopia, or educate me to use it correctly?

I don't know about Nestopia (don't use it) but you could try my GG codes from a few years back for Invincibility

EPNVLZKA
PZNVGZZN
AVOYIXSL
EPKYUGAZ
APKYKKKP

[garsh]

You guys are hardcore! Thanks a bunch for all the great replies.

I'm really not certain about the dump. I've had it so long, there's no telling where it came from and there aren't even any tags in the filename. However, the "image info" in Nestopia tells me it is NTSC, but I have no idea how to determine what version it is beyond that.

For my own better understanding, Lazy Bastard, how would I go about determining a version?

helder's pair of codes perform for me just as they did for mightymo77. Inability to collect energy doesn't bother me, but missiles are another story. And did you notice it causes the final countdown timer to display?

Fortunately, Pugsy's set of FIVE (!) codes works perfectly, and does exactly what I was hoping for. How anybody could even ever manage to work out 5 separate codes that leads to this result is beyond me, but I'm glad you managed, and very grateful. Now I can wander around carelessly in one of my most favorite overrated games of all time -- in luxury.

Pugsy, what emulator would you recommend, and what do you find unsatisfactory about Nestopia? It runs really well on my fragile laptop.

[Lazy Bastard]

Added Pugsy's code (I wonder why we didn't already have it in the DB).

As for determining the version of an NES ROM...I can't remember exactly, but I believe there were some emulators that would tell you detailed information about the ROM. There may also be some tools that specifically do so. Perhaps someone else could shed some light.

Now I can wander around carelessly in one of my most favorite overrated games of all time

Heh.

[Pugsy]

Fortunately, Pugsy's set of FIVE (!) codes works perfectly, and does exactly what I was hoping for. How anybody could even ever manage to work out 5 separate codes that leads to this result is beyond me, but I'm glad you managed, and very grateful. Now I can wander around carelessly in one of my most favorite overrated games of all time -- in luxury.

Pugsy, what emulator would you recommend, and what do you find unsatisfactory about Nestopia? It runs really well on my fragile laptop.

NP, glad it worked for you.

Nestopia I believe is one of the best NES emulators out. Personally, I use MESS because of the great debugger (essential for me to make cheats) but I honestly wouldn't currently recommend it for playing NES games as it's currently far from the best. In the future I can see MESS being the no.1 emulator but for now if you just want to play games it's best to stick with Nestopia. I don't play NES games with anything else but finding cheats in mind which is why I don't use Nestopia.

[garsh]

I've been thoroughly enjoying your codes already, Pugsy, but now I've ruined a bit of the mystique for myself. One of the first things I did was test your codes by disabling each of them, then re-enabling them one-by-one after taking deliberate damage. What I came to realize is that one of your codes (the 3rd down in the list, I believe) is responsible for the essential un-touchable quality with most basic types of damage, but the others are to do things like enable Samus to touch the bottom while submerged in lava and so on.

Now I realize they're not an integral set of variables that are all dependent on one another for a singular result, but rather a series of solutions to a variety of situations.

Did you know there are some types of damage not covered by your codes? So far I've taken damage from all of the following: re-forming blocks that I'd previously destroyed, fireballs spat from "seahorse dragons" and the similar arcing pellets that erupt from those red domes in Nofair, plus the hovering insects that suddenly dive-bomb in a few certain locations. I anticipate there could be trouble from the metroids, rinkas, and/or zebetite later on, too -- or especially Mother Brain herself.

Even so, your codes cover the spectrum of things I really had in mind anyway.

I can always use an infinite health code to keep myself from ever really ending up with a game over, but your codes make traveling so much more pleasant, since I don't get knocked around by the vast majority of things.

[Helder]

Pugsy always has great cheats and great information for anyone willing to learn, my code I posted does the exact same thing as that first PAR code and I did notice you couldn't pick up energy orbs but since you were requesting a GG version of it I figured you knew the draw backs of it.

[Pugsy]

I've been thoroughly enjoying your codes already, Pugsy, but now I've ruined a bit of the mystique for myself. One of the first things I did was test your codes by disabling each of them, then re-enabling them one-by-one after taking deliberate damage. What I came to realize is that one of your codes (the 3rd down in the list, I believe) is responsible for the essential un-touchable quality with most basic types of damage, but the others are to do things like enable Samus to touch the bottom while submerged in lava and so on.

Did you know there are some types of damage not covered by your codes? So far I've taken damage from all of the following: re-forming blocks that I'd previously destroyed, fireballs spat from "seahorse dragons" and the similar arcing pellets that erupt from those red domes in Nofair, plus the hovering insects that suddenly dive-bomb in a few certain locations. I anticipate there could be trouble from the metroids, rinkas, and/or zebetite later on, too -- or especially Mother Brain herself.

The problem is I have to play the game a lot to find all the bad stuff - and I find it quite dull. I've managed to find the parts of the game that have the reappearing blocks and the arcing pellets but can't find the "seahorse dragons" or the hovering insects - if you can point on a map where I could find them I will be able to protect against them too.

Anyway here's an updated Invincibility cheat (added last 5 codes(updated yet again) for pellets, blocks, insects, metroids and mother brain), I've mentioned what each part protects against.

Invincibility
EPNVLZKA - Water/Lava Part 1 of 2
PZNVGZZN - Water/Lava Part 2 of 2
AVOYIXSL - Most Bad Sprites
EPKYUGAZ - Most Bullets Part 1 of 2
APKYKKKP - Most Bullets Part 2 of 2
AVKYXTAZ - Reappearing blocks
AVVNYZAZ - Arcing Pellets
AVUYTZAZ - Dive Bombing Insects
OXEPNOOK - Metroids (can stick to you like glue till you go thro doors)
ATEPUVSZ - Mother Brain's Shield

[garsh]

helder, if it's any consolation, I bet you're not the first person to mistake me for someone who has any idea what he's doing, at anything. Actually, I was ecstatic to see a code that just functioned, so I'd have been perfectly happy to use that and couple it with an infinite missile code.

I only wish I could do what you guys do. I've managed to cobble together some crude invincibility codes in the past, and even stumbled on some that were better than I intended, but you guys seem able to target a specific aspect of a game and alter the rules sometimes beyond their apparent scope.

Pugsy, there's really no need to add to your already excellent work on my behalf, but if you'd like to improve it for its own sake, I'd be very glad to contribute. After I get off work, I'll test out the updates you've added -- I have a hunch that the "arcing pellets" portion might already account for the "seahorses", and it's even conceivable that the block damage covers the dive-bombing insects. Just to cover all the bases, though, I'll work my way into the final areas of the game and see if there are any other loose ends. If I find anything, I'll point them all out on a map for exact reference.

If you want to check into it in the meantime, you can take a look at the vgmaps.com image (900kB! 7680x7200 pixels!):
http://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/NES/Metroid-Zebes.png

There are dive-bomber bugs are in the room just before the earliest reachable ice beam, near the center, in the top half of the map. There's a 2nd ice beam further right and a few screens down, which I mention to avoid confusion.

Probably the easiest to reach seahorse dragons are in the lava just before the high jump boots, almost all the way to the right, just barely below halfway down the map.

Later, I'll be glad to draw exact shortest paths from the starting location.

I'm baffled and delighted that you guys are so willing to offer this level of assistance in a game that you find "overrated" and "dull".