The Speed Booster and its accompanying technique are certainly not new to Metroid, but the ability in this game has enough variation to it that it is worth covering in its own section.
Like in past games, you can use the Speed Booster to go faster and press Down to charge up the Shinespark, and also like in Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid Fusion, you can store multiple Shinesparks by Speed Boosting into inclines.
In Metroid Dread, the Speed Booster adds a whole new mechanic in how you can use it to keep going at full velocity by wall jumping, sliding, or even going into Morph Ball mode. To activate the Speed Booster, you need only click the L Stick once and start to run so that you see the thrusters on Samus' back flare up, after which point you can just run like normal.
Once you are at full speed, you can press ZL to slide, double tap it to morph, or even wall jump and retain Speed Booster velocity. Moving the L Stick down will store the Shinespark, and at this point you can go in any of the eight cardinal directions by pressing B and holding the stick in that direction. You can morph and use the Ballspark to rocket forward in Morph Ball form, also in any of eight directions. Lastly, you can chain jumps together and straighten out in mid-air to use a Shinespark. To do this, you need to spin jump towards where you want to go, then press Y and B simultaneously plus the direction you want to go on the L Stick to instantly Shinespark without the charge up animation. See the page on Instant Shinesparking for further information.
Attaining mastery of the Speed Booster is integral to getting 100% in this game.
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