Metroid Prime 1-3: A Visual Retrospective is one of the best tributes to the original trilogy’s glorious art direction ever realized. Hotly anticipated since its announcement nearly a year ago (at the time of writing), it showcases the talent, genius, and vision of Retro Studios’ art team. It’s rare for Nintendo to unveil any of their design process, so to see this is a real blessing for Metroid fans.
Each art piece is printed on high quality paper that gives it a real shine; the official description indicates each sheet was offset printed. Samus is emblazoned on the front cover in metallic red etching, meaning the average reader will be unmistaken in knowing what the book contains. The cloth covering of the Visual Retrospective is entirely comfortable in your lap.
The Visual Retrospective includes both seen and never before seen concept artwork and renders for Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and even Metroid Prime Remastered. The original Prime trilogy, and the first game’s glorious HD remaster for Nintendo Switch, were Retro Studios’ gifts to Metroid fans after an 8 year hiatus following Super Metroid. Each game is lovingly introduced with a foreword by Retro Studios’ staff, who reflected on the development of each game, from the determination to make Metroid Prime work, to their fatigue with the franchise during Metroid Prime 3’s development.
Series producer Kensuke Tanabe’s development notes are dotted throughout the art book, giving context to the creatures, worlds, and technology depicted. He speaks of disagreements between Retro and Nintendo, which was an example of Western game development philosophy clashing with that of Japan. He reflects on a conference call about the Metroid Prime’s Meta Ridley battle. The call lasted from morning until sunset that night, with no agreement being reached.
That said, they were able to work collaboratively, with Nintendo guiding Retro where necessary, and Retro having creative freedom to develop the world of the Metroid Prime saga – particularly Dark Samus. It was Retro who came up with Samus’s reason for going to Aether (to locate a missing Federation troop), the new Space Pirate designs in each title, and the concept of Aether as a divided planet.
Some of these anecdotes I knew already from my many years of researching Metroid’s history, while some were new to me. For example, the Sheegoth looked very different and originally had fire and ice abilities, rather than only ice as in the finished game. Aside from Tanabe’s notes, the book includes the in-game Logbook entries for many of the subjects depicted.
Among the “new” (as in, not seen before) art pieces are concepts for the Dessgeega and Gamet, two classic Metroid enemies, for Metroid Prime that went unused and not featured in the game’s Concept Gallery. The “Blood Monkey” piece that Greg Luzniak drew is also included, albeit without credit or explanation. Tanabe acknowledges Metroid Prime 1.5, the original plan for a multiplayer-focused Metroid Prime 2, for which a design document leaked years ago.
He also mentions the original concept for Metroid Prime 3, of a bounty hunting mission-based game, which has been discussed by former Retro developers in interviews, including with us. According to Tanabe, Retro additionally came up with the idea of Samus turning into Dark Samus, which evolved into the Hypermode mechanic in Corruption; failing to use it properly results in that very dire outcome. It was Tanabe himself who conceived the hidden messages from himself, Kenji Yamamoto, Satoru Iwata and others in the transmission console of Samus’s Gunship. These were recorded in the basement of Nintendo headquarters. I could go on and on about the book’s contents, but I’ll save the rest for you to discover.
While I have enormous love and praise for this book, I do have a major gripe with it. The commentary is mostly from Kensuke Tanabe, the producer of the Metroid Prime series since its inception. There are forewords for each game from Retro’s staff, but the book never makes clear exactly who wrote those. There are no acknowledgements of who drew which art piece. I’d love to put names to each of them.
Nintendo has a history of not crediting all of its people, as seen with Metroid Dread, Metroid Prime Remastered, the remaster of Donkey Kong Country Returns and the tracks on Nintendo Music. Much like Remastered, the book only credits the “Metroid Prime Series Development Team” and “Nintendo and Retro Studios Metroid Prime Artbook Team” without specifying who is on them.
Metroid Prime 1-3: A Visual Retrospective is now available at your local bookstore, and from major retailers such as Barnes & Noble, GameStop, or Amazon. If you’re a seasoned, or even new Metroid fan, believe me: it is absolutely worth the purchase!
Thank you to Piggyback for providing me with a copy for the purposes of this review.
Written by: Roy