How to Shinespark in Metroid Dread

With the release of Metroid Dread, several familiar mechanics from the franchise have made a comeback, including Shinesparking.

Not only has this technique been in many of the main series games (Super Metroid, Metroid Other M, etc.), but it is also seen done quite a lot in speedruns of Metroid games. Shinesparking has helped many players reach faraway objectives or hard to reach places. In Metroid Dread, Shinesparking is needed to complete some elaborate puzzles.

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A guide to using Shinespark in Metroid Dread

For players to understand how to Shinespark, they first have to be able to Speed Boost. Both of these abilities are granted after defeating the Yellow EMMI in the Dairon sector.

Speed Boosting will allow Samus to race across the map at lighting speed. Players just need to click in the Left Stick (L3) on their controller to start up a Speed Boost.

The important thing to remember about Speed Boosting, though, is that it’s interrupted by just about anything. Once the player stops moving or shoots, Samus will fall out of Speed Boost and go back to normal. It only goes in one direction, too: Samus can’t turn around in Speed Boost form.

The best way to practice Speed Boosting is to find a long stretch of clear ground, with no obstacles, enemies, or other annoyances that could break a Speed Boost.

Once the player Speed Boosts, it can activate a Shinespark by pressing down on the left stick. This basically “stores” Samus’ kinetic energy from the Speed Boost. If a player Shinesparks successfully, they should be seeing a purple aura around Samus.

In this state, Samus can walk around like normal for five seconds. Within those five seconds, though, the player can press B and a direction to send Samus rocketting in that direction. This can send her high into the air, across long distances or even diagonally.

Interestingly, Metroid Dread is also the first game where Samus can Shinespark in Morph Ball form.

While this may sound a bit tricky, this is a technique players are going to need to master if they want to collect all of the items in the game. MercurySteam has placed several intricate puzzles around the map that require the Speed Booster and Shinespark to complete.