I have returned to the game after not playing for several years, and found I was near the end of the game.
I do have a question, though.. I am at what I believe is the last save point in the game, and after saving, I kept going on into the next area. As I moved through the area, my Metroid counter jumped from 1 to 9. This scared me, as I don't have the Ice Beam, but the Plasma Beam.
I kept on moving through the area, thinking I would come across the Ice Beam eventually (and quickly finding out that Metroids don't like to be shot by Plasma..), but I died before reaching any kind of safe area or Ice Beam.
Is the Ice Beam there, or do I need to backtrack?