I finally made it through that little section I was stuck on in Metroid Fusion. Between the run-from-death-incarnate section, and the nasty spider boss right before it, I've been trying to get through about a 10-minute section of the game for over a month. I was just about to put up the white flag on this title, so this victory came in the nick of time to salvage the game (for now).

Naturally, I find out the SA-X chase is actually a lot easier than I was making it, because I got some bad advice from GameFAQs. The room the FAQ told me to avoid (and that I finally tried going into anyway since nothing else was working) is actually the 'safe zone' to hide in to get the SA-X to break off the chase. Thanks for that, FalconZero!

Yet another reason why games are more fun if you don't 'spoil' them with guides. I'm sure I would have tried that a lot sooner if I were using my own creativity instead of 'cheating.' Ah well, lasting lessons are the ones learned the hard way eh?