Abyss Cycle

This is a Super Metroid ROM hack in the spirit of Loop Hero. Samus starts in a map room with Morph Ball and a few credits. Each loop starts with a short ring of rooms, from a random start room back to the map room. Shoot a purple door to place a room card there, and use your rooms to reach items and the next boss. When you run out of credits or cards, head back to the map room and start the next loop. Enemies get tougher every loop.

Each loop gives you a new ring of rooms, a new hand of cards, and new items in the item spots. Ammo is lost, but suits and beams stay.
Rooms and corridors cost credits. Crossing rooms and killing enemies earns some back. Corridors earn nothing.
Enemies and bosses get tougher every loop.
Some enemies drop room cards, which go straight into your hand.
You can find a card belt to hold more cards at a time.
Each loop has a few item rooms, marked T on the map, with a major item in each.
Some rooms form sets. Connect them door to door for a credit bonus. How to play lists the sets you've found.
Kraid, Phantoon, Draygon and Ridley are down elevators on the board.
Pick a difficulty and seed when you start a new cycle. You don't need to redownload for a new seed.
Most cycles end in the abyss. That's the game: delete your save and start another.

How a cycle goes

Samus shoots a purple door five times, plays two rooms onto it from her hand, and walks through — **Place your own new rooms.** Shoot a purple door five times to open the builder there. Play a room card from your hand onto that door, then you can play one more onto the room you just placed. Each card shows what the room needs and what it holds.

Samus shoots a purple door open to the builder, plays a corridor for 2 credits, and walks into it — **Play custom room cards to make connections.** Corridors, shafts and corners are always in your hand. They cost credits and earn nothing back. Nothing checks your gear, so read a card before playing a room you can't get through.

The map room at loop 12, its colours drained, the HUD counting 12 loops — **Enemies get tougher every loop.** They take more hits and do more damage, faster on higher difficulties. Zebes also loses its color the longer you go.

The setup page: difficulty, seed and wall jumps — **Pick your difficulty and seed.** Turn on wall jump ledges if you want them.

Items and upgrades

Item spots roll new items every loop. Along with the usual Super Metroid items, you can find:

Survey: room cards show what their item spots hold this loop.
Card Belt: 2 more cards can drop each loop.
Belt Pouch: 2 more on top of the belt, up to 2 pouches.
Permanent missile, super and power bomb packs (in gold boxes): each adds 5 to the ammo you start every loop with, once you make it home. Regular packs only last the loop.

Beam and missile levels

Finding a beam you already have raises your beam level. Each level adds a quarter to beam damage, up to level 9. Each permanent missile or super pack raises that weapon's level, adding an eighth to its damage. Your levels show on the equipment screen. If you die, the levels from that loop are lost.

Download

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Super Metroid (Japan, USA), .smc or .sfc, with or without a copier header. Your ROM never leaves your browser.
Drop your ROM here, or click to choose it Remember it on this device
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Playing

Play the .sfc in any accurate SNES emulator (bsnes, Snes9x, BizHawk, Mesen) or on a flash cart. The game saves at the map station (the M on your map), and a death costs you the loop.

Changelog

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