This fall Metroid Prime turns….I hate typing this….20 years old. As one of the best games the Gamecube ever had and a revolutionary title overall, it deserves a party…but Nintendo isn’t springing for a cake or balloon animals. There’s no official acknowledgement of the anniversary and Metroid Prime 4 is lost in space. As it typically the case, it’s up to the fans.
Seeing Metroid Dread, a game rumored to exist since 2005, suddenly appear during this week’s Nintendo Direct was quite a surprise. Equally surprising was a comment made by series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto in a follow-up video about the game’s long development history. “The series has chronicled the relationship between Metroids and the heroine Samus,” he said, “but this game will mark an end to that story arc.”
After what’s been a lackluster E3 even by post-COVID limited-resources no-time-to-prepare-anything standards, everyone was looking to Nintendo to save the day. Did they do it? Well…their Direct this morning wasn’t a series of slam dunks, but they scored enough times to leave us pleased. Here are the things that intrigue us most:
There’s growing outrage today from Nintendo fans about the recently revealed functionality of amiibo in Metroid: Samus Returns, coming soon to 3DS and 2DS.
Easily one of the biggest surprises of E3 2017 was Metroid Prime 4. The next game in a franchise that fans have been begging Nintendo to bring back for quite some time. However, the reveal of the game was just a look at the logo, with a note that the game was in development. Nothing else was given about the game itself. Though it was noted that Retro Studios was not making the game.
The Nintendo Treehouse event kicked off in a big way, after doing a demo of Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime took the stage to unveil a major 3DS game: Metroid: Samus Returns.
Last week we pointed out over 100 issues of Nintendo Power were available to virtually leaf through at the Internet Archive. At the time we were among the first to point it out, and sensing a viral wave of reports was about to hit (and it did) we made it a point that the magazine scans were NOT from Nintendo and were uploaded by a volunteer last February. We also wondered how long it would take before one of these uploads was caught. Not long!
Video game movies are nothing new, successful ones are more rare though. However, with certain successes, it could be a more viable brand. One of the few Nintendo franchises that fans truly think could work as a movie is Metroid. And MMA superstar Ronda Rousey has made it clear she wants to be the legendary bounty hunter Samus Aran.
If you’re looking for a remake done right, look no further than Metroid: Zero Mission, a remake of the original NES Metroid game that was first released in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. A fan favorite among many, it retells the original story (which wasn’t very developed with 1986 technology) of Samus’s original mission to Planet Zebes to stop Ridley and Kraig and exerminate the deadly Metroid species. This is also the game that Zero Suit Samus originated in, but for the sake of those who have never played, we won’t tell you where.
One of the biggest surprises to come out of E3 was the reveal that Nintendo was making a spinoff of Metroid Prime called Federation Force. It would have certain elements of Metroid, yet not feature Samus Aran (the main character of the series). Fans did not like this, at all. From almost the moment it was announced, Nintendo fanboys and fangirls raged about how Nintendo was trolling them essentially by giving the a “Metroid” game without it being a Metroid game.
At E3 last week, Nintendo made a bold move by revealing Metroid Prime: Federation Force, a Metroid game does not feature Samus at all. For Metroid fans, this was a slap in the face. The Metroid fanbase has been very vocal in that they want a return for the Metroid series in the vein of the Metroid Prime trilogy (there was Other M, but we don’t speak of that). And yet, it’s been a very long time and we have no word on whether that’s ever going to happen at all. Speaking on this matter, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime spoke to Kotaku and stated the following:
When it comes to Nintendo, the gaming giant has a lot of franchises to pick and choose from in regards to making games. Look at Super Smash Bros. and you’ll see what I mean. However, that doesn’t mean that every property gets its fair share in the sun. Ever since Other M (aka the Metroid game that fans don’t like to talk about), Nintendo fanboys and fangirls have been wanting, waiting, and praying for a new full-on Metroid title. At the Nintendo E3 Digital Event, we got a spinoff in the form of Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Needless to say, this didn’t please fans at all. Just look at the like/dislike ratio on the trailers Youtube page. It’s ugly.