Metroid Prime’s Original Developers Call Remaster’s Credits a “Travesty”

One of the original developers behind 2002’s Metroid Prime has criticised the recently-released remaster of the game for omiting the original development team in its credits. Spotted by Axios, senior engineer on the original Metroid rime, Zoid Kirsch, took to Twitter to voice his displeasure at the remaster not crediting the original staff that worked at Retro Studios on Metroid Prime.

“When my son plays Metroid Prime on the Switch for the first time, the fact that he won’t see [my] and my colleagues’ names in the credits as the original creators is a punch in the gut,” said Kirsch to Axios.

The technical lead engineer behind the original game, Jack Matthews, quote-tweeted Kirsch’s tweet, calling the omission of the original crew’s names in the game’s credit a “travesty”, and “shameful”.

“This is a travesty,” says Matthews in the tweet. “Not just for my credit (even though most of my code was probably replaced), but for people whose code and work are largely unchanged, like Mark HH, Steve McCrea, all of the uprezzed art and concepts, the game design. Shameful.”

Metroid Prime got a remastered release on the Nintendo Switch last week. For more details, check out our review, and here are some comparisons highlighting the differences between the original and the remaster.

This is a travesty. Not just for my credit (even though most of my code was probably replaced), but for people whose code and work are largely unchanged, like Mark HH, Steve McCrea, all of the uprezzed art and concepts, the game design. Shameful. https://t.co/y6tXyCG3N1

— Jack Mathews (@jack_mathews) February 12, 2023