Super Zero Mission
Release date: Apr 16, 2011
Author: SBniconico
Download: Version 2.4 [UH] (hard) (9283 downloads)
Download: Version 2.3 [UH] (18520 downloads)
Download: Version 2.2 [UH] (hard) (1918 downloads)
Download: Version 2.2 [UH] (2796 downloads)
Genre: Exploration [?]
Game: SM
Difficulty: Veteran [?]
Average runtime: 11:10
Average collection: 69%
Read Me: Readme [JAP]
Read Me: Readme [ENG]
Forum Thread: Forum Thread
Rating: Star Star Star Star Star
Awards:
  • Top Hacks 2011: Most Creative Gameplay, Best Challenge
Description
[Standard Edition]
A complete hack that artfully combines the essences of both Super Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission. A lot of ASM modifications were utilized in order to freshen up the gameplay considerably. Only the standard abilities of Samus are required to play this hack, but players adept with advanced techniques will find ample opportunity to use them. This hack, made by a Metroid hacker from Japan, is turning the heads of numerous Metroid hackers from the english-speaking world.

[Hard Edition]
For fans of Metroid Super Zero Mission and fans of hard-type hacks is the latest update to Metroid Super Zero Mission. Version 2.2 plus Hard Edition. You can play the most up-to-date standard version of the hack or you can play the special Hard Edition if you want more challenge. The screenshots reveal that the Hard Edition is heavily modified from the standard version of the hack.
Screenshots
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Ratings and Reviews
By Bloodsonic on Mar 30, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
This hack features new graphics, new code, and all new levels. It's large and highly ambitious. It all sounds good on paper, but in play, everything is executed poorly. Countless times certain actions will lock you out of other areas without you knowing or make certain items you missed nearly impossible to go back and obtain, and the difficulty ramps up exponentially to almost TAS level when reaching chozodia. The game essentially punishes you for playing it.

SZM Could be a triple-A hack, but it's botched by poor design choice after poor design choice.
By Cpt.Glitch on Mar 31, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
While I enjoyed the hack for a while, I never came to complete it. The difficulty (even on the "standard" version, ramps up at an almost idiotic rate. While it does have great new enemies, graphics, physics, and is a remake of the first metroid game I've ever played, (Zero Mission obviously), the difficulty was just too much to bear.

This is a very large and good hack, but it came more of a frustration rather than an enjoyment due to high difficulty early on.
By Zhs2 on Apr 02, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
You think it might be like the official Nintendo release of Zero Mission, but you quickly find yourself very, very wrong. Still, even for the difficulties in playing, there are a few good moments to it. Complete this only if you hate yourself.
By Metaquarius on Apr 04, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
SZM was ahead of its time when it came out and is still pretty impressive by today standards. It has raised the bar in almost every way possible. It's a large and complex world but doesn't lack of content and variety which is the pitfall most large hacks fall into. It has also a lot of replayability value with alternate paths, optional challenges and the hard version (if you have the skill of course). Howewer, 100% is basically not possible unless you have TAS reflexes. The only weak point I can think of is Chozodia, very uninspired place, bland and hard to navigate through.
SZM doesn't want to be Zero Mission, it combines elements and locations from various Metroid games to make its own unique adventure.
Recommended.
By squishy_ichigo on Apr 11, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
By Vismund Cygnus on Apr 20, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
By CrAzY on Jun 07, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
By GoldenTorizo on Oct 11, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
The only thing that keeps me from rating this hack a 4 or a 5 is the item locations. Some of them are near impossible to get without using some kind of tricks used in TAS speedruns. So me getting 100% on this hack is out of the question.
By Infinitys_End on Oct 12, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
I played this game when it first came out. I also wrote a review on it.
You can read my review here: http://www.metroid-database.com/reviews/mszm.php

I think faulting the game for its challenge ramp isn't fair - I am absolutely not a master Super Metroid player in any form or fashion, however I can do some of the "easy" tricks like mochball, IBJ, or mid-air morphing, and they are all required to enjoy this game to the end.

I continue to believe it's one of the best SM hacks ever made, but it needs to be played on an emulator in order to be fully completed. All future SM hackers should try to reach this level of care, detail, and complexity in level design.
By Aran;Jaeger on Dec 08, 2016 (Star Star Star Star Star )
101% in 12:34
[Watch Video]  
Animals saved.
Chose Hard Edition.

Quick Summary of the meaning of my SM hack ratings:
5 orbs: SM hacks within the 80% to 100% (90% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; SM hacks for outstanding wholesome playing experiences and at most minor inconveniences.
4 orbs: SM hacks within the 60% to 80% (70% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Well done SM hacks with noticeable design problems.
3 orbs: SM hacks within the 40% to 60% (50% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Normal decent average SM hacks.
2 orbs: SM hacks within the 20% to 40% (30% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Overall messy, confusing, or punishing SM hacks with some upsides.
1 orb : SM hacks within the 00% to 20% (10% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Ruthlessly unplayable, broken, or barely from the original game changed SM hacks.

Judgement parameters summary:
° Creative ideas and features, polished design, how enjoyable and fun the hack can be, lack of hard to find or cryptic required game elements, the difficulty, and if the hack can be finished without major guides or tools.
° Note that the length of a SM hack will not necessarily contribute to my rating of the SM hack, since instead the averaged out experience over the whole hack will be taken into account to get a relative comparison between SM hacks.
° Besides this, lack of impactful changes from the original SM game also went into the evaluation of SM hacks (otherwise one may consider them among the 3 stars hacks) as follows: Ultimately, for my ratings I consider a situation in which an SM enthusiast that already has, knows about and is familiar with the original game and its prominent mechanics could only choose 1 new SM hack to play and thus would really want to make sure he/she will get a fresh and fantastic experience or journey out of his/her 1 choice.

The goal of all these SM hack ratings is so that rather new players have an overview of the whole spectrum of SM hacks and how to sort them in, in relation to each other, where SM hacks that are rated lower might still be enjoyable for more experienced players.

Finally, sometimes for SM hacks it can be relevant that they may be significantly more enjoyable from a player standpoint at which the player is well practiced and familiarized with Super Metroid's game mechanics in general, and that in particular some of the best SM hacks may not be the outright best first SM hack choices to play otherwise because of this, and for beginner SM hack players this typically steers the best first SM hack choices towards some of the SM hacks that I rated with 4 orbs instead of 5.

Rating for some hacks may be off by 1 Star, but arguably not more, and ratings are not attempted to be provided within the precision of ''half orbs''.
By vadoff on Feb 09, 2017 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
I really enjoyed this game, and it's one of my favorite Metroid games of all time. It really feels like an official successor to the series, like a "Super Metroid 2".

Not sure why some people here thought this game was impossible to beat, I'm not a Metroid pro by any means but I was able to beat this just fine (the normal version, not the hard one). Overall it was a bit harder than Super Metroid, and felt a lot longer as well which I appreciate.
By kojakt on Feb 11, 2017 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
I'm not a huge fan of particularly difficult hacks, but SZM makes up for being difficult by doing just about everything else really well, and many things excellently. I've seen but not played Zero Mission, yet it was easy to imply just how similar and different that this hack was from that game. The atmosphere and mechanics made me feel as though I was playing a game that was so different from Super Metroid, yet obviously built from Super Metroid in all of the best ways. Its level design was complex and confusing. It was easy to get lost or not know how to progress. I definitely felt like I was playing a game that required a player's guide or an abundance of patience and attention to detail to actually beat. But the amount of secrets, shortcuts, different paths to certain locations, and the intricate puzzle created by the level design kept me intrigued, and a bit frustrated, for most of the time I played it. My advice: don't be a hero. The internet is a thing, so if you get stuck, go find out where to go next. It will make the experience much more enjoyable. This shouldn't be your first hack to play, and you should try to have some familiarity with the mechanics of Super Metroid and with this hack, especially the shinespark mechanics. Then, when you have some time, SZM is well worth exploring. 9/10
By infinality on Mar 30, 2017 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Compared to other SM players, I'm probably in the mid-range of skill level, so there were parts of this hack that were extremely difficult, and I absolutely used savestates! As the game went on, I also started peeking at maps that people had posted, which were helpful for parts that I couldn't figure out.

Aside from my own abilities, I loved the large map, and the thoughtful, meticulous design. I wish all hacks were done with this level of quality!
By Pixel_Tiger on Jul 12, 2017 (Star Star Star Star Star )
88% in 12:25
Top hack, very nice details, puzzles are great, enemies are ok (some are meh), lots of skill use required!
By mccad on Jan 03, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
48% in 7:49
This is a wonderfully ambitious hack, and there is lots of enjoyment to be had here, but much of it gets spoiled by the occasional poor design choice or glitch.

In particular, certain rooms break upon entry, some paths are very cryptic, and I even had to patch the rom to fix an extremely integral item which decided to not show up. Despite this, if you’re patient, and willing to deal with a few bugs, this is a remarkable hack.
By Black Luster Soldier on May 17, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
51% in 3:20
Version 2.3, normal edition.

This ROM hack brings a lot to the table in terms of level design and exploration. It plays mostly like Super Metroid, but there's Zero-Mission-based physics changes as well (such as being able to restart a spin while falling, and shinespark chaining).

This hack's difficulty unfortunately spikes up massively when you first get to the Space Pirate Mother Ship and Chozodia. Tourian also has some sudden difficulty spikes too. Also, getting 100% is obscenely difficult (mainly due to a certain Missile Tank in Tourian that requires...every advanced trick in the book).
By Iscariath on May 22, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Definitely the most ambitious hack I've played so far in term of graphic and level design. The critical path is not always obvious and too well hidden for my filthy casual taste. I sure had to check online for direction, use wall jump and shine spark tricks to progress. Some graphical choices made things a bit confusing, making me wonder sometimes whether a tile was solid or not. Nice spin on the story though. Difficulty is hard, but mostly fair. All in all, one of the few GOAT hack out there.
By albert v. on Jun 29, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
98% in 17:45
AWESOME HACK!
By Sapphron on Sep 09, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
63% in 7:15
Surprised I managed to finish this. The pirate ship is very well-executed, but you need god-like skills to make it through there without detection.
I liked respin and slope re-sparking though.
By y2trips on Dec 19, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
I've played quite a few SM hacks. This one by FAR is the most well done. Difficulty creep aside, it's amazing.

The thoughtful and innovative level design, and extremely well thought 'puzzles' that have enough clues inherently built into the hack to allow for progression.

Even the story line flows perfectly. i'd give it more than 5* if I could.
By Syphon on Feb 01, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
53% in 6:15
Everyone experienced with Super Metroid hacks should play this hack.

I first played this hack about 6 years ago (2013) and even though I was a beginner I still managed to beat it. Advanced techniques are only required for optional items.

A very unique hack and still one of the best Super Metroid hacks despite the difficulty spikes in the Pirate Ship and Chozodia.
By benox50 on Feb 01, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
First hack I played and I was amazed by how much you can do with the SM modding scene. I didnt even know there was an editor back then, though it was black magic. (pants became hard once I knew)
Really liked to play SZM with SM physics and that it was an original map and all, felt like a new full expansion to SM.
This hack does so much stuff and is so old thats its pretty crazy.
However there is alot of wrong design choices, mostly making things as hard as possible.
I felt that some parts needed save states and thats bad.
By caauyjdp on Feb 12, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
97% in 26:28
Best sm hack I've seen in terms of room/world movement/route options. Some patience might be required.
By croissant bug on Apr 24, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
This hack was better than the real ZM until the space pirate ship and chozodia, then it turned kaizo. Just quit after beating mother brain. It's not worth it.
By metasamus on May 19, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
One of the best hacks!
By Kremit44 on Jul 31, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
55% in 9:43
This hack is unreal. It may be a little too difficult at times but the scope of it means it's far better than many of the hacks above it in rating. I did use the occasional save state, as I didn't want to sink too much time into it, but it is certainly beatable without it. I'm good not great at Metroid so I wouldn't say the difficulty is as bad as it seems to be made out to be by others but perhaps it comes down to the version I played (2.3 Normal). Space Pirate Ship and Chozodia are not Kaizo by any means once you realize morph ball is essential when trying to sneak. The first escape sequence was a bit brutal IMO and a couple of bosses a little unreasonable but nothing practice couldn't overcome with the advantage of quick restarts via save states.

Sometimes traversal was a bit confusing and there was too many gotcha moments but nothing obscene. I feel like some of the items are too hard to figure out how to get, let alone execute getting them, but there is still a ton to collect and many of them are reasonable to get. I may even go back and get more as I never did go back through the world after getting Gravity, and I'm confident I could get many more with my upgrades.

If you can 100% all the 2D Metroids (including AM2R) and Hyper then I think this is a great next hack to try. I felt I got a lot better at Metroid without being frustrated. Don't be scared off by the difficulty as it really isn't that bad as much of the very hard stuff is optional and occasional save states can really help out without ruining the game. Play this hack, it's top tier.

To the creator and anyone who has helped, Thank You, it was terrific and much appreciated. I do think an "easy" version that would put the difficulty in and around Super, or just a bit harder, could honestly make this my favourite Metroid game. It has that much potential.
By DARK_DOOM on Sep 07, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
59% in 20:16
Waou ! This hack is great. There is a LOT of hiden passages and you need to know every trick super metroid has to offer. I used saves states at multiple time to get some of the item. If you want some exploration and a challenge, you need to try this hack.
By Tundain on Oct 08, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
85% in 12:45
The item collection is from my first playtrough, because i played this hack multiple times, it was that good.
All of the new graphics really make you feel like it's zero mission, but you can really feel how it's super metroid. Overall, it felt more like zero mission in super metroid, rather than a hybrid (the main map layout feels more like zero mission than super metroid, but that's okay). only at a certain (relatively short) moment you will recognize some of the sm terrain. This hack also features an element from metroid fusion, which was quite unexpected. Difficulty wise it was quite challenging, but i think that's because the author expects you to have mastered the original.
One of the things about this hack which brought this hack to my top 3, is the effort put into realism. Like, tourian ACTUALLY feels like a real lab and the pirate ship feels like and actual ship. Hard mode was also quite fun. Painfully hard, but it's not just the basic "buffed enemies" hard. He really changes a lot of terrain and item progression. It's not even completely linear, as there is one EXTREMELY hard (intentional) sequence-break, but with a huge reward.
Overall, this hack is a must-play, a piece of metconst culture, i'd call it.
However, make sure you've mastered vanilla if you don't want to suffer too much.
By shaktool7 on Jul 12, 2021 (Star Star Star Star Star )
52% in 10:16
Lacking Important Feature: An Actual difficulty curve for heaven's sake

But given how absolutely polished the rest of the hack truly is, I'll assume the difficulty choices were intentional and the rest of the hack does make up for it.
Regarding the stealth section, BAD BAD.

Highly Recommended, if you can handle the heat.
By Fercho on Feb 20, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
57% in 6:42
Impresionante, el diseño de nivel presentado en este hack es de otro nivel lo recomiendo ampliamente. Hay que tener cuidado con la dificultad porque en algunas secciones sí se pone difícil, o si disfrutas morir unas cuantas veces como yo podrías jugarlo sin guardar el estado y aún así disfrutarlo al máximo.
By Zagan on Apr 12, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
71% in 7:26
Incredible hack. It is very polished, the mix between SM and MZM feels natural and coherent, and some details were adapted very cleverly given the limitations of the original game.
The world is absolutely huge, all routes, areas and secret locations seem to have been thought out in depth and the result is a fantastic, very complex exploration hack that will challenge all your skills.

It has already been said in the other comments, but as good as the level design can be, the difficulty gets brutal once you reach Pirate Ship. Take your time and look for hidden paths, it will be a lot easier.

Huge sequence breaks are possible, but unless you have speedrunner reflexes, you will need savestates a lot. You absolutely need to learn to short charge and chain shinesparks if you want to see all this game has to offer, but it is worth it. It is possible to finish it without beating Mother Brain, but prepare for a real challenge.

Aside from its sometimes unfair difficulty, this hack is a masterclass in every possible way.

There is a super speed edition available on romhacking.net which adds small quality of life improvements and makes short charge much easier to do. Highly recommended If you feel the game is too hard.
By KPF on May 03, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Fuck this hack. It Sucks after Kraid.
By Zincoshine on Jul 30, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
This hack has not aged well, the gameplay is particularly bad. Luckily, someone has updated it and brought it into the modern era and that version is extremely good. However, the update isn't linked on this page. Search for "metroid super speed zero mission" to find the up-to-date version of this.
By mosul on Jan 26, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
59% in 6:31
By sbelmont85 on Mar 22, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
[Watch Video]  
[SPOILER ALERT] Video is a 101% complete and the link is to the speed run video by zoast which isn't mine, but I wanted to reference it to highlight how crazy this hack is.

First: This hack is amazingly well done, graphics, concepts, design, completeness all 10/10 which is why I don't think it should be rated any less than a 4.5.

Second: This hack is difficult to complete 100% but very doable and many of the items that need more advanced techniques like mockball can be gotten later with other powerups. Difficulty similar to Super Metroid Redesign but harder for these 2 reasons, one because many of the item and required routes are well hidden, and two because most of the puzzles to get items in this hack are designed around speed runner reflexes to get 100%.

The Hard version is almost kaizo, and the normal version is really challenging where you almost need speed runner skills for normal game play, many mockball required areas. Punishing where a miss step lands you into crumble blocks only to have to try over and over. See video linked at 1:16:30 for the intended way to get this missile. I'm convinced a TAS player developed this hack in mind to make it's margins of error at the TAS and speed runner skill level.

I really like the beauty, design, and general theme and routing of this hack and wanted to do a blind play through, but eventually I had to look up a map online to know where to go and use save states to avoid coutinously punishing restarts later in the game. See video 28:25 for intended route to Norfair. A huge number of secret ways that are not obvious in any way with no clue of access even when bombed, powerbombed, etc. don't reveal the block to break, path to take, or where to use a super missile.

I think if you are up for the challenge of developing speed runner skills and feeling completely lost and many hours bombing & super missiling random walls and checking for secrets this would be a great 'blind' hack to play. Or if you just want to experience the hack, play through while looking at an online map and be ok with not getting all the items, you may enjoy it. I just don't enjoy a game that I have to look up solutions to know what to do.

Finally don't complain and rate this hack low because of it's difficulty, just realize the difficulty is by design.
By FANXINGPRIME on Apr 16, 2023 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
A challenging and fantastic hack of Super Metroid.
By ironrusty on Mar 01, 2024 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
I almost gave up on this hack near the beginning until I looked up the way. It has some high notes after that but also a lot of frustration as I tried to get a grip on what I was supposed to do. From a blind play perspective, I would rate this hack low, but from a speedrunning perspective it has plenty of good to carry it.
By h4O9hRveaf on Jun 17, 2024 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.

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