This E3 was a good one for Metroid fans- we got the announcement of not just one, but two new Metroid games coming up for release in the next year or so. Metroid Prime 4 for the Nintendo Switch, and also Metroid: Samus Returns for the Nintendo 3DS, the latter being a 2D sidescrolling Metroid game in the vein of the classic titles, and in fact being a remake of the Gameboy game Metroid 2: Return of Samus.
Speaking about how they ended up making the game to begin with, developers Mercury Steam (who previously worked on Castlevania with Konami as well) explained that they approached Nintendo. “We approached Nintendo to make a remake of a classic game. We are also a fan of the series, so we were happy to know that they wanted to collaborate with us,” Mercury Steam’s Jose Luis Márquez told GameSpot.
Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto added, “I just wanted to start out by saying I’ve been wanting to make a 2D Metroid game with today’s technology for quite a long time. It wasn’t only my personal desire, but also because I know there are a lot of people out there in the world who have been clamoring for a 2D Metroid game.
“For myself, I’ve been wanting to revisit that fundamental, basic, core essence of Metroid, that 2D gameplay, and I was considering ways to go about taking on that challenge. That was more than two years ago.
“Then I heard of Mercury Steam and they were looking to take on the challenge of remaking a Metroid game. It wasn’t Metroid II, but again I’d heard about this desire from the MercurySteam team.
“I knew MercurySteam from their development work on Castlevania. I thought, “We’ve got to meet with these guys,” and so we flew out to Spain . Over the course of that meeting, obviously we had a great time. It seemed like, wow, there’s a lot of potential here, and basically that’s really how it got started.”
He also discussed the possibility of a 2D Metroid game eventually coming to the Nintendo Switch. “We are always, always thinking about ways that we can excite the fans of the series and come up with stuff that they will want to see and play, and we love that challenge, but there’s nothing we can discuss in terms of Switch at this point. Yeah, we’ll discuss it.”
Metroid: Samus Returns is due out exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS this September. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage on the fantastic looking 2D revival of the classic series.
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