For Nintendo, its greatest strength is its catalog of beloved, classic franchises- but of them all, Metroid has always felt curiously neglected. It stands out like a sore thumb from the rest of Nintendo’s lineup to begin with, with its eerie, somber, science fiction trappings- but Nintendo also seems to give it less time in the spotlight than it does something like Mario or Zelda.
However, this E3, no Metroid fan had any chance to complain, as Nintendo revealed not just one, but two new Metroid games- Prime 4, and Samus Returns, the latter being a new 2D game coming to the 3DS (acting as a reimagining of Metroid 2 on the Gameboy).
Speaking to Polygon, Nintendo of America head noted that Metroid is an important franchise for Nintendo- and this is something the company wanted to demonstrate with its announcements at E3.
“We wanted to make it clear that Metroid is an important franchise for us,” Fils-Aime told Polygon, “As we think about how to satisfy the needs to the Metroid fans, we needed to make sure they understood there was a great console experience coming, in addition to Metroid: Samus Returns coming on Nintendo 3DS.
“That’s what we wanted to make sure it was clear that it wasn’t one or the other, that we were going to support both of our platforms with a great new Metroid experience.”
The message has been received, Reggie- now let us all hope that Metroid never goes on an extended hiatus as long as it did before these announcements. May it remain a Nintendo mainstay forever more.