Retro might return to Metroid 'someday,' considering 'expanding the universe'

Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh talks about the team's decision to make another Donkey Kong, and what it could potentially do if it returns to the Metroid series.

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Retro Studios announced Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze at E3, disappointing fans who were hoping for a sequel to its critically-acclaimed Metroid Prime series. The studio has since opened up about its reasoning, its love for both series, and what a new Metroid game might look like.

"Well, we love Metroid. We love Metroid Prime and we always will. It was a big part of our studio, the culture of the studio. The majority of that team is still at Retro," president Michael Kelbaugh told IGN. "When we finished with DK [Country Returns], we still had a lot of really cool ideas. That, in combination with what the Wii U could do, we really wanted to continue with that. Again, Retro Studios loves Metroid. We might do another one someday. But we really enjoyed working with DK as well."

Kelbaugh also dispelled any notion that a Metroid game might be in the works in the background. He said that the studio is fairly small, and can't support more than one major project at a time. Their cycle lasts two or three years, which would make a potential new Metroid game due in 2015 at the earliest.

But what might that Metroid look like? Kelbaugh says he'd like to "expand the whole Samus universe" beyond the scope of the heroine herself. "You remember Metroid Prime Hunters," he said. "I'm thinking about things like how we could make that go out further, with all these different bounty hunters as well."

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 17, 2013 9:15 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Retro might return to Metroid 'someday,' considering 'expanding the universe'.

    Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh talks about the team's decision to make another Donkey Kong, and what it could potentially do if it returns to the Metroid series.

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      June 17, 2013 9:51 AM

      Whenever they do, i'll be here. Ready and waiting.

      I would love to see their take on a new Star Fox or F-Zero as well.

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      June 17, 2013 9:58 AM

      I'll be thirty tomorrow. I grew up with Metroid on the NES, Metroid 2 on the Gameboy, and (one of the best games of all time) Super Metroid on the SNES. And finally, the direct sequel to Super Metroid, Metroid Other M on the Wii.

      While I enjoyed a few of the interim games telling other stories (specifically Zero Mission, which was more an HD retelling of Metroid 1, and Fusion) the Prime series never felt like Metroid to me. And Hunters is a joke.

      Other M captured the feeling of the old Metroid games while incorporating more modern elements. I hope we get more along that storyline. Metroid is about Samus and the metroids. Screw an expanded universe and other bounty hunters.

      Let's recap. As far as I'm concerned, this is the Metroid Universe:

      1. Metroid (NES)
      2. Metroid 2 (Gameboy)
      3. Super Metroid (SNES - I still play it annually on my old SNES. Just completed my 2013 playthrough)
      4. Metroid: Other M

      I should probably mention that I haven't finished Other M yet. So I'm gonna have egg on my face if it ends in a way that precludes additional stories in that timeline/universe, but the sentiment remains.

      /two cents of a disgruntled, old school fan

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        June 17, 2013 10:15 AM

        Ugh, but the story and narrative presentation were easily the worst part of Metroid: Other M. Kills replayability like crazy for me (and I played through that game 2 to 3 times).

        Metroid Prime (the original, especially) was way more inline with what i expect out of a Metroid game than M:OM.

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        June 17, 2013 2:19 PM

        you're missing a couple of short, but quite good metroid games on the gba

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        June 17, 2013 2:55 PM

        You're of course entitled to your opinion, but I find it hard to believe that a disgruntled, old school Metroid fan would consider Other M before the Prime games.

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          June 17, 2013 7:46 PM

          Seriously, Other M was an abomination. It needs to be recalled by Nintendo and launched into the sun.

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            June 18, 2013 12:11 AM

            You guys are excellent at over-dramatizing that game.
            Flawed and with a bad story, coupled with a weak storytelling? Yup. Abomination ? Not so much.

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      June 17, 2013 10:10 AM

      It's very clear who Nintendo wants to target. Think about it: they took Retro Studios and had them make a Donkey Kong game

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        June 17, 2013 10:23 AM

        It was retro who wanted to make the game.

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          June 17, 2013 10:31 AM

          Woa that is baffling to me. I guess they are hardcore Nintendo fans but who purposely chooses Donkey Kong over Metroid???

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            June 17, 2013 10:39 AM

            People who already did 3 Metroid games.

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              June 17, 2013 10:42 AM

              lol good point. But still, cybernetic android warrior or gorilla with a necktie. I know what I would choose

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                June 17, 2013 10:46 AM

                DKCR is probably the best platformer in almost 20 years (since the SMB3/SMW/Yoshi's Island era), it's soooo good and I'm stoked for a sequel in HD without waggle

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                June 17, 2013 10:50 AM

                Gorilla in a necktie probably sells a shit ton.

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                June 17, 2013 11:19 AM

                DKCR was the shit. I do wish we got a new Metroid instead but I'm still excited for a new DKC. If they feel like they have even more new and interesting ideas to add on to DKC then I'm all for it. DK probably sells more, too.

                Besides, I don't want them to make a Metroid game just because. It would turn out uninspired probably. I would rather see them return to Metroid when they feel motivated to.

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                June 17, 2013 2:45 PM

                Such is the attitude of your standard off-the-shelf CoD Bro

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                June 17, 2013 7:48 PM

                [deleted]

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                  June 17, 2013 7:56 PM

                  Not even close to Metroid:Prime. That game was tits.

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                  June 18, 2013 12:07 AM

                  Except not because Super Metroid exists.

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      June 17, 2013 3:54 PM

      Could they erase Other M?

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      June 17, 2013 7:49 PM

      [deleted]

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      June 17, 2013 7:50 PM

      Honestly, I would rather not have Retro make any more Metroid titles. Prime 1 was a masterpiece, but Echoes and Corruption gradually lost the magic. A whole new studio needs to tackle the series.

      I'm not sure who, though.

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        June 17, 2013 9:47 PM

        Team Ninja???

        Wait...

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        June 18, 2013 2:51 AM

        I want them to do a new game that blows us away again like Prime did. That game was just so staggeringly good, really just hard to fault. The isolation, the masterfully unfurling level layouts (seriously, how the fuck did they even design that?). Wonderful.

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