25 Things You DIDN'T Know About Metroid Prime

25 Things You Didn’t Know About Metroid Prime

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 25 facts about “Metroid Prime” that you may not have known about.

A Metaforce to Be Reckoned With?

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

In very early stages of development, “Metroid Prime” was not planned to be a new “Metroid” game. Originally, it was to be a sci-fi third-person shooter called “Metaforce”, and it starred two women and a man as the game’s three main protagonists. While Retro showed them every project they were working on, “Metaforce” was the only game Nintendo was interested in. And ultimately, Nintendo had the final say in decisions as they were financing Retro Studios until its acquisition of the company in 2002. It wasn’t until Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto began providing input for “Metaforce’s” story when he suggested Retro turn the game into “Metroid”. According to producer Bryan Walker (who had not yet joined Retro during this time), the shift from “Metaforce” to “Metroid” actually caused more problems in development than most would believe.

We CAN Rebuild Her…

“Metroid Prime 2: Echoes” (2004)

When you develop a sequel to a game, you normally want to reuse as many assets as possible as it helps you make a quicker turnaround. It's actually a smart way of shaving time, cutting costs, and still managing to possibly deliver a promising product as you focus on other things. But Retro Studios chose not to do that for “Metroid Prime 2” rather deliberately. Some assets were reused, but for the most part, just about everything in “Echoes” was created from scratch at the requests of the art team specifically. Perhaps this was done because they learned from “Prime 1’s” development and found ways to make the game better?

The Fear of “3”

“Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” (2007)

When the Wii was beginning its lifespan, Retro Studios had no plans to make a third “Metroid Prime” at all. After “Echoes”, the studio wanted a break and decided to pitch Nintendo on other games they had in mind. The two that stood out were entries for a new “Donkey Kong Country” game and a “Zelda” spin-off that would center on the Sheikah. Both were turned down as Nintendo wanted a third “Metroid Prime”. Satoru Iwata himself had stepped in and personally requested Retro to make a third game to close out the story. Then, they could work on new projects. After “Corruption”, Retro Studios would go on to make “Donkey Kong Country Returns”, but that “Zelda” spin-off never happened.

Merciless Ball Out

“Metroid Prime Pinball” (2005)

Before “Metroid Dread” launched in 2021, the series had never really held much notoriety outside of Nintendo fans and hardcore fans of the games. Yes, each game has sold over a million, sometimes a little more. But two “Metroid” games hold some pretty abhorrent numbers. Though “Federation Force” might be the worst-selling overall, “Metroid Prime Pinball” was a complete bomb when it first launched in 2005. When it launched in Japan, the game had only sold a mere fifteen thousand copies within two years. Meanwhile, in the US, six thousand copies were sold within the first month. It’s a shame because for as absurd of a concept as it is for “Metroid”, the pinball aspect meshes surprisingly well with the IP here.

The Fight Over the Camera

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

As we mentioned earlier, the original form of “Metroid Prime” was developed to be a third-person shooter back when it was supposed to be “Metaforce”. So, what prompted the change to the first-person perspective? Well, it resulted from Nintendo and Retro Studios butting heads for several months about the camera. Retro wanted a third-person camera while Nintendo demanded the shift to first-person. Both companies would go back and forth repeatedly with their own cases of how this perspective served the player for this reason and made the game better this way or that way. Ultimately, Nintendo’s decision was the final one.

Truly Winging It

“Metroid Prime Pinball” (2005) & “Metroid Prime: Federation Force” (2016)

Back in the day, it was rather common for companies like Nintendo to work with certain publishing houses in order to get strategy guides ready in time for game releases. The most common partners during those days were BradyGames and Prima Games, both companies publishing guides for every “Metroid Prime”, “Corruption”, and just about every other “Metroid” game in the 2000s excluding “Echoes”. However, for whatever reason, “Metroid Prime Pinball” and “Federation Force” are the only games in the entire “Metroid” franchise that never had official strategy guides made. Perhaps this was because of “Pinball” being more luck-dependent while “Federation Force” came during a time when YouTube videos were being used as guides more often? Or maybe this was because Nintendo didn’t have confidence about their commercial performance? Who can say - there are plenty of theories we could explore on this.

“Metroid Prime 1.5”

“Metroid Prime 2: Echoes” (2004)

In the modern age of gaming, it’s become somewhat common hearing about how some video game sequel started as an expansion or DLC until it was getting too big. But this sort of change in direction has occurred more often than we may remember. Case in point, “Metroid Prime 2: Echoes”. This sequel was originally supposed to be a sort of “Metroid Prime 1.5”, serving to be nothing more than a multiplayer expansion using maps from the 2002 original. There was even going to be online multiplayer support utilizing the GameCube network adapter. However, the shift began when Retro Studios began exploring Dark Samus and the different concepts that could be used for a “dark world”.

The Power of the Door!

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

It's kind of mesmerizing how “Metroid Prime” manages to create a seamless experience for the player. Really, there is not a loading screen to be seen anywhere after you load up your save file. Well, this is possible all because of the use of the doors. If you haven’t played the game, “Metroid Prime” is made up of a series of rooms connected by narrow passages. These passageways are meant to give the game time to load the next room that the player is heading to. Compressed versions of the necessary assets slowly load in until the player is just about to enter the room. Loading finishes just before the player opens the door, creating a virtual world that makes it seem like the entire game is loaded all at once, never to be interrupted for anything besides a cutscene.

Humble Rumblings

“Metroid Prime: Federation Force” (2016)

“Federation Force” gets a lot of flak for being an online multiplayer game touting the “Metroid” name. But it was confusing seeing people act like they had been sidewinded by this idea at the time. We say this because series producer Kensuke Tanabe had long been thinking of ways to incorporate online co-op for “Metroid” before “Federation Force” was announced. Tanabe had been tinkering with a prototype for DS back in 2009, and in 2014, artwork leaked for a “Metroid” spin-off that was gonna focus on PvP. So, in hindsight, there was really no stopping a game like “Federation Force” from coming to fruition.

Relishing in the “Cinematic” Experience

“Metroid Prime 2: Echoes” (2004)

Having learned from the tumultuous development of “Metroid Prime” and choosing to make a full-blown sequel instead of a multiplayer expansion, Retro Studios had a more concrete idea as to how the development for “Echoes” would go. But one of the big goals for the game was to incorporate more story into the game, mostly by injecting more cutscenes into the game in order to get deeper into the narrative. But would you believe that all of the cutscenes were made by a single person? Unfortunately, that person has yet to be identified at the time of this video. In 2004, Retro CEO Michael Kelbaugh and producer Bryan Walker were interviewed by gaming outlet Computer And Video Games. When asked about the story of “Echoes”, Kelbaugh remarked, “We did a fantastic job, considering we only have one cinematics guy.”

Resenting the “Cinematic” Experience

“Metroid Prime Hunters” (2006)

Whereas the use of cutscenes was met with praise for Retro Studios, cutscenes actually landed a developer in some serious trouble with Papa Miyamoto. While Retro toiled away on their next project, Nintendo had one of their internal teams, Nintendo Software Technology, create “Metroid Prime Hunters” for the DS. Unbeknownst to Miyamoto, the budget manager for NST had allowed significant payouts to be made to an external company called Silver Ant, who was hired to develop pre-rendered cutscenes for the game. When the funds were noticed, Miyamoto reprimanded the budget manager, and all ties between Nintendo and Silver Ant were severed. The interesting part in this hiccup was that, as most developers know, it is way cheaper to make cutscenes in-game than it is to make pre-rendered ones.

What Revisionists Won’t Tell You

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

One of the most annoying things about modern gaming are the revisionists that try to act like every game was great all the time and never saw an ounce of criticism. Looking at you, “Wind Waker” fans. And just like “Wind Waker”, “Metroid Prime” went through the same amount of scrutiny after it was first revealed. Purists and even some gaming journalists expressed disdain or concern about “Metroid” going from being a 2D shooter-platformer into a 3D FPS like “Doom”, “Quake”, “Half-Life”, etc. And what happened when the game came out? Well, just like “Wind Waker”, “Metroid Prime” saw critical praise and became known as one of the best GameCube games ever made. Funny what happens when you give games a chance, huh?

Reference-less

“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (2008)

At first glance, it seems odd how “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” contains a bunch of references and material to all other “Metroid” games EXCEPT “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption”. Considering “Corruption” released in 2007 – a whole year before “Smash Brawl”...what gives? Well, that’s because “Brawl” was originally going to be released in 2007. However, the game got hit with a huge delay at the very last minute. “Brawl” was delayed until 2008 in order to give director Masahiro Sakurai and his team enough time to fix any problems and polish the game up as much as possible. The game was likely content-complete before the delay even happened, so any chance of “Corruption” being addressed in “Brawl” was already off the table by this point.

Nothing But a Haunting Memory

“Luigi’s Mansion 3” (2019)

Outside of “Smash”, Luigi and Samus have no reason to really crossover. Although, it was interesting to see “Luigi’s Mansion 3” pay tribute to the most hated “Metroid” game in the franchise. In the movie theater, you’ll come across a hallway that displays two posters. On the right is a poster that appears to be advertising “Punch-Out”. Opposite from that is a poster that is just the cover art for “Metroid Prime: Federation Force”. The only reason this is being referenced mostly stems from the fact that Next Level Games developed both of the games in question here.

Metroid Without Metroids

“Metroid Prime Hunters” (2006) & “Metroid: Dread” (2021)

Weird thing about the “Metroid” series that few ever point out - you rarely ever fight the Metroids themselves. Yes, they appear in every single game in the franchise, but encounters with them are few and far between. The strange thing about “Prime Hunters” and even “Dread” is that these are the only two games in the entire franchise where you don’t fight Metroids at all. So…wait, why exactly is this series named after an enemy that rarely appears and doesn’t even fight Samus in two whole games?

The Narrator’s Mystery

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

Perhaps a more burning question worth answering is “what happened to the narration for ‘Metroid Prime’?” Indeed, the GameCube original was supposed to include a narration for the game’s opening performed by an unknown actress. This voiceover adds some context to “Prime’s” opening, but for whatever reason, it was removed in favor of the dialogue-less version. The funny part about it is that “Smash Bros. Brawl” would use it as part of a remixed track of “Metroid Prime’s” opening. The narration was done by Jay Ward instead of the unidentified actress.

The Death of Samus Aran

“Metroid Prime Hunters” (2006)

One of the most surprising aspects of “Hunters” was in just how different the final moments of the game are compared to the previous installments. Rather than tie the ending down to items acquired and how much of the map was explored, your ending will depend entirely on the final boss fight. Most of us fought Gorea normally only to wind up seeing an ending where Samus dies. According to writer Richard Vorodi, this ending was chosen in order to create a “water cooler moment” for players to talk about the game. Of course, this ending is not canonical; the real ending requires you to shoot specific panels in a specific order with specific weapons…which no one knew about at launch.

You Can’t Beat the Classics…But You Can Leave Them Out

“Metroid Prime 2: Echoes” (2004)

For old IPS such as “Metroid”, some developers will go the extra length to pay tribute to earlier games in the series. Sometimes, it’s through creating a new game that borrows ideas from older titles. Other times, it can be as simple as including an old game as post-game content. That was the route Retro Studios almost went down for “Echoes”. The team had the idea of including the entirety of “Super Metroid” as an unlockable for “Echoes”, the same way the first “Metroid” was an unlockable for “Metroid Prime”. However, this was abandoned due to the time constraints.

Musicless Metroids

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

Normally, a game studio doesn’t implement audio until the final stretch in development. Voiceover, sound effects, and even music won’t be put in until just about everything else is finished. For “Metroid Prime”, we almost got a game that didn’t have music at all. Retro Studios originally wanted the game to be played without any music at all until they backpedaled during the final stages of development. Retro pitched a number of composers they wanted, but Nintendo rejected all of them before offering to bring on Kenji Yamamoto. Yamamoto had already made the music for “Super Metroid” in addition to other Nintendo games like “Punch-Out”, “Famicom Wars”, and “Mario Kart: Super Circuit”. Since then, Yamamoto has composed the music for every “Metroid Prime” game.

Wii Would Also Like to Play

“Metroid Prime 2: Echoes” (2004)

Today, you either know “Echoes” from playing it on GameCube or from playing “Metroid Prime Trilogy” on the Wii. But did you know that there was another build of “Echoes” that existed between these versions? The only folks who got to try it out had to have been attendees at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show. At the time, Nintendo had a build of “Echoes” that was retooled by Retro themselves and made specifically for the Wii. Of all of the demos that Nintendo showed there, “Echoes” was the only one that used the Nunchuk in any capacity.

Freeing Up Five Screens

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

There was quite a bit of content cut from “Metroid Prime” between early and mid-development. Few of them ever made it past pre-development, and of the few that did, Kraid was almost thrown into the game. When speaking to gaming outlet Mythica HQ, artist Gene Kohler revealed that he had worked on a character model and skinning for the would-be boss. Unfortunately, his entire section was scrapped while the team was working on the level he’d appear in. There simply wasn’t enough time in the schedule.

Samus Kills Games

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

At the start of the video, we mentioned how “Metroid Prime” started out as an original game called “Metaforce”. Almost expectedly, the pivot caused “Metaforce” to be scrapped entirely. But that was not the only game that Samus managed to get canceled. In the middle of “Metroid Prime’s” development, Retro Studios was working on three other games. One was a vehicular combat game in the same vein as “Twisted Metal” and “Vigilante 8” while another was an arcade-y football title using the NFL license. Both were canceled as “Metroid Prime” became the main focus for Retro. The third game was an RPG called “Raven Blade” that was being worked on by a team of twenty-six staff members. Sadly, “Raven Blade” got canceled after Nintendo and Retro shifted teams around and decided to lay off the ones who were working on the game, the decision primarily stemming from wanting to focus entirely on “Metroid Prime”.

An Endless (and Impossibly Open) Galaxy

“Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” (2007)

Retro Studios was getting really ambitious early on in “Corruption’s” development. Initially, Retro had ideas for taking “Metroid” into the wide open fields of open world design, hopping from planet to planet in search of bounties. But two problems arose from this. The first was that Nintendo did not like the idea of Samus hunting down bounties as that would make her more of a “mercenary”. The second issue was that for everything that Retro wanted to do for an open world, the Wii would not be able to handle a game of that scope. So, those plans were thrown out before anything was concrete. But hey, judging from the look of “Prime 4”, the Switch 2 has finally made that dream possible.

Legend of the Purple Ice Cube

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

This may be the most bizarre moment in “Metroid Prime’s” development. Right when Metroid Prime had gone gold and began shipping out to retailers, Nintendo had told Retro that a number of GameCubes had been found with faulty CPUs and that “Metroid Prime” was the only game that was suffering problems on these botched systems. Turns out the loading in Metroid Prime was too fast for the faulty consoles to handle and was causing them to overheat. Retro had to fix this while working with one of these faulty consoles, and the only way they could test it was by freezing it as the system could only handle the game in 15-minute sessions. According to then-tech lead Jack Mathews, “We literally were running the kit from the break room freezer to the TV, and loading save games as fast as possible to as many places as possible in 15 minutes, then trying new code, re-freezing, and back.”

Going Beyond “Beyond”

“Metroid Prime 4: Beyond” (2025…FINALLY)

We really have been waiting for “Prime 4” for a long time. Like, a REALLY long time. Longer than most will realize. Talks for a fourth “Metroid Prime” game go as far back as 2009 when Tanabe was talking about and tinkering with ways to make a game with online co-op. Of course, that fourth game wound up being “Federation Force” in 2016, which, as we’ve already established, is not exactly everyone’s favorite game. The official announcement wasn’t made until a year later during E3 2017. So, what’s been taking them so long? Well, Nintendo initially tried to make the game with Bandai Namco Entertainment, some of the staff consisting of those who had worked on the ill-fated “Star Wars 1313”. Two years later, Nintendo decided to completely restart development with Retro Studios taking over. Now, how much of BNE’s work remains in the final release? Who can say, really.

Which “Metroid Prime” game was the first one you played? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!