It’s been a few days since the stunning announcement from Nintendo that Metroid Prime 4’s development is being scrapped and restarted, which means it will be delayed. As the dust has settled, the team at Shinesparkers took the time to gather our thoughts together and share them. We also asked the Metroid fan community to tell us feelings about this shocking news.
Darren
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that Nintendo had released a video discussing Metroid Prime 4’s development, I genuinely thought the video would contain some small gameplay details and a trailer. I clicked the video, and as the video progressed, I started to feel sick. My first reaction was that they’ve cancelled Metroid Prime 4, and I can’t describe in words how horrible that would have been. Thankfully, the Retro Studios logo appeared and things were more clear.
While the news about the game restarting development is sad, and it sucks that we are going to be waiting years for the game to be released, I am thankful the project is still a priority for Nintendo. Retro Studios are a fantastic company with a great track record on shipping some wonderful games, including the original three Prime titles and the Metroid Prime Trilogy. I have high hopes that the project will be in good hands from this point forward.
RoyboyX
I was left with mixed emotions after seeing the update video, which I watched right before going to work for the day. For the first few minutes, Takahashi made it sound like the game had been cancelled, and I was seething with rage. However, by the end of the video I understood Nintendo’s reasoning completely in spite of my disappointment. The road to completion in video game development is a bumpy one with numerous complications. We all remember how the first Prime’s development was not smooth whatsoever.
Nintendo scrapping and restarting a game, and announcing it in this fashion is unprecedented, and I’m grateful to them for their transparency in this matter. I’m even more ecstatic that Retro Studios is working on it once again, although much of the original team is no longer there. (perhaps some of them will come back?) In the end, we can only remember Miyamoto’s famous quote: “A delayed game is eventually good, a rushed game is forever bad.” We’ve waited nearly 12 years for the Prime series to continue, and I would hate to see it do so with a mediocre game. Metroid Prime 4 is on the horizon, and when the day of its release finally dawns, we will be right there with Samus, like old times.
KomodoZero
Game development is a complicated thing, so in all honesty, I can’t be mad. It’s fantastic news that Retro Studios is now overseeing the project, but also disappointing that we’ve already been waiting so long and now have to wait even longer. Restarting the whole game from scratch is no easy decision to make, but it is often for the better. Resident Evil 2 was once in a similar situation, but restarting from the beginning ended up being the best decision Capcom could’ve made.
It’s worth noting that we haven’t necessarily lost anything as a consumer, we’re still going to get Metroid Prime 4 some day. It’s also worth noting that there are very few, if any, members of the original trilogy team still left at Retro. That being said, they’ve succeeded at creating not one, but two fantastic Donkey Kong Country games that live up to the pedigree that Rare left for us, so I reckon the game is in good hands.
Glaedrax
I can’t be mad at Nintendo for taking such a huge decision and being so transparent and honest with us, but can’t help to be disappointed either for the additional wait. The project is now in the hands of Retro Studios, which is basically a new team now since most of the people who worked on the original trilogy do not work at Retro anymore, so we’ll have to see how things will turn out. I’m not pessimistic though, as Kensuke Tanabe is in charge of the project. Oh well, after waiting for almost twelve years, I guess another two or three years won’t kill us if it means getting an amazing game worthy to be the sequel to Metroid Prime 3!
On another note, I hope that Nintendo will release Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Switch in the meantime. Metroid 5 would be nice too. After all, it’s been almost seventeen years since Metroid Fusion!
We also asked Metroid fans on Instagram and Twitter to share their feelings and thoughts on this news. Here is what some of them had to say:
aaronnurse
I’ve been holding out from purchasing a Nintendo Switch, in high hopes there would be a Metroid/Samus themed console with the release. My nerd heart aches. Cries in Chozo
Classic Games (@classicgamecollector_)
It sucks but at least theyre making sure its gonna be a good game
PJBgamer
My biggest concern right now is if the game launches too late into the Switch’s life cycle, that it could end up selling poorly due to a lack of interest from people who aren’t already Metroid fans. I really want this game to be successful to convince Nintendo to make more games!
Reace Niles (@thatACDCguy)
I think it’s telling how much faith Nintendo has in this project that they didn’t outright cancel it. A cancelled Metroid game, while devastating for us personally, wouldn’t be a huge financial hit for Nintendo.
As for Retro coming back, obviously I’m incredibly excited & it definitely softened the blow quite a bit. I know a few people have mentioned that the staff is different compared to the Primes, however Retro’s quality has not withered with the DK games, & I trust their talent.
When Metroid Prime 4 was announced, I was ecstatic, but within the past month, with no more word at all, I was starting to feel like it was just a dream. No word of anything, nothing more than fake leaks about it or a Prime trilogy port. With this news, I’m not worried anymore!