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[GigaBowser]

Retro chose Donkey Kong over Metroid for the Wii U

www.destructoid.com

This was actually a thing. It was up to them to either make a sequel to one of the best first person franchises or another 2D Donkey Kong sidescroller and they chose the sidescroller on Wii U.

Who knows how the current Retro can handle a Metroid project.

This is not the same Retro who made Metroid Prime for the Gamecube.

 

[RCU005]

Who knows how the current Retro can handle a Metroid project.

They are making Metroid Prime 4, so we soon (hopefully) shall see.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Making any game must be a nightmare tbh so I personally don't hold it against them

 

[tusharngf]

given the map complexity one can easily understand. Donkey kong games are no where near metroid level.

 

[CamHostage]

Sorry, but what about the actual content triggered this thread?

I'm not seeing anything in the Destructoid piece about Retro saying DKC was "easier". (It's also from 9 years ago...) Is that just your interpretation, or did somebody from Retro actually say somewhere that the studio considered DKC "easier"?

(BTW, if this is purely by assumption, try meeting a developer and ask if designing a great platformer is "easy"...)

This is not the same Retro who made Metroid Prime for the Gamecube.

The Retro who made Metroid Prime were lucky to have made Metroid Prime at all.

Retro had at least four other games in some state of production at the time (sports game "NFL Football", action-RPG "Raven Blade", Twisted Metal knockoff "Car Combat", and a female "Action Adventure" project) and everything else got shitcanned; Metroid Prime itself even went through some tough times before it finally became a first-person game. They luckily came out with gold after everything else burned away, but Metroid Prime never dominated the sales charts, and having a hit was a smart choice for a studio which never had a guaranteed future.

The old N-Sider did a really good article with IGN about their untimely rise and their precarious success:

https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/12/18/a-retrospective-the-story-of-retro-studios

 

[Rran]

The OP's claim isn't supported by the link. It's just...kind of made up.

Either way, Tropical Freeze was amazing. I'm fine with Retro doing Metroid or DK as long as they live up to the company's standards.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Those DK games were good

 

[Doom85]

I mean, we had three Metroid Prime games in a row, let them do something else for a moment. And DKC Returns is solid, and Tropical Freeze is one of the best 2D platformers of all time in my book.

Them tackling a 3D DKC would have been cool as well, but I say now is a fine time to bring Prime back.

 

[It's all in the wrist]

They created some great platformers. I wish they'd do a 3-D donkey kong game!

 

[GigaBowser]

The DK games were good

Bleh.

The industry is saturated with 2D platformers.

How many Metroid Primes are there?

They took the easy way out.

I mean, we had three Metroid Prime games in a row, let them do something else for a moment. And DKC Returns is solid, and Tropical Freeze is one of the best 2D platformers of all time in my book.

Them tackling a 3D DKC would have been cool as well, but I say now is a fine time to bring Prime back.

We haven't seen a Prime game from them in 16 years.

 

[GigaBowser]

double post

 

[TexMex]

Good. Metroid Prime is one of the best games ever made. But it was diminishing returns. 2 isn’t as good as 1, and 3 isn’t as good as 2. Neither are horrible but come on. They spent a decade on that franchise, they wanted to do something new, and we got Tropical Freeze out of it. Seems like a win all around to me.

 

[GigaBowser]

Good. Metroid Prime is one of the best games ever made. But it was diminishing returns. 2 isn’t as good as 1, and 3 isn’t as good as 2. Neither are horrible but come on. They spent a decade on that franchise, they wanted to do something new, and we got Tropical Freeze out of it. Seems like a win all around to me.

That was 16 years ago.

George Bush was in office.

 

[TexMex]

That was 16 years ago.

George Bush was in office.

And?

 

[baphomet]

The Prime series killed Metroid.

They can fuck 4 off forever as far as I'm concerned.

 

[TexMex]

The Prime series killed Metroid.

They can fuck 4 off forever as far as I'm concerned.

You may not dig Prime and that’s fine, but it honestly probably saved it or at the very least extended its longevity.

 

[GigaBowser]

And?

And it took them 16 years (probably 18 by the time it comes out) to revisit a much better franchise than yet another generic 2D platformer. It's ridiculous.

 

[Doom85]

Bleh.

The industry is saturated with 2D platformers.

How many Metroid Primes are there?

They took the easy way out.


We haven't seen a Prime game from them in 16 years.

-Who gives a shit how many others exist? Should Elden Ring not have been made because a ton of open world games were already made?
And again, plenty consider Tropical Freeze to be peak of its genre. If the genre is not for you, nothing wrong with that, but don’t whine about it. If a friend makes meatball subs for dinner and invites you over to have a few, you’re free to decline but don’t bitch that he didn’t make spaghetti instead

-and you’re getting a new one. Why still salty? Meanwhile F-Zero fans are looking at you and being all:

 

[MrA]

Making any game must be a nightmare tbh so I personally don't hold it against them

As long as you want to make something good or ambitious, I can churn out a functional infinite runner from nothing in an hour

 

[GigaBowser]

-Who gives a shit how many others exist? Should Elden Ring not have been made because a ton of open world games were already made?
And again, plenty consider Tropical Freeze to be peak of its genre. If the genre is not for you, nothing wrong with that, but don’t whine about it. If a friend makes meatball subs for dinner and invites you over to have a few, you’re free to decline but don’t bitch that he didn’t make spaghetti instead

-and you’re getting a new one. Why still salty? Meanwhile F-Zero fans are looking at you and being all:

Open world games are a little more ambitious than 2D platformers.

And yes it's a disgrace Nintendo hasn't revisited Fzero.

Just another example of them failing fans.

 

[baphomet]

You may not dig Prime and that’s fine, but it honestly probably saved it or at the very least extended its longevity.

Definitely did not.

After the first Prime everything after sold worse and worse. Prime Pinball, Prime Hunters, Prime Federation Force.

Shit literally killed the series until Way Forward was given the choice to work on any Nintendo series they wanted.

 

[Doom85]

Open world games are a little more ambitious than 2D platformers.

And yes it's a disgrace Nintendo hasn't revisited Fzero.

Just another example of them failing fans.

And guess what? Metroid Prime sequels weren’t exactly ambitious given they could reuse plenty of assets from the prior ones. Prime 4 will be the first one since the original they won‘t be able to do that.

We get it, you don’t think much of 2D platformers. Good for you. I don’t care for games focused entirely on puzzles, but I don’t make threads whining that the developers who made Portal 1 didn’t move on to make a game catered to me as opposed to making Portal 2.

 

[CamHostage]

...I see, so this thread isn't about any new information or a topicical debate or even a conversation starter or anything.
OP is just venting all of the sudden about something that happened 12 years ago.

(*BTW, smart that you put an irrelevant link in the first post so that people would take your topic as a serious post about something relevant to talk about and mostly not even click through to the article to find out real information about the topic before posting...I'm going to have to remember that trick.)

 

[TexMex]

Definitely did not.

After the first Prime everything after sold worse and worse. Prime Pinball, Prime Hunters, Prime Federation Force.

Shit literally killed the series until Way Forward was given the choice to work on any Nintendo series they wanted.

3 sold more than 2.

And while I suppose I‘d technically have to give it to you, considering Pinball, Hunters and Federation Force as “Prime games” is a little disingenuous. That shit has nothing to do with Prime or Metroid, they’re just knock off nonsense Nintendo slapped the name on to move units. I don’t think anyone in their right mind considers those real Prime or Metroid games at all. That’s not Prime killing the brand, that’s Nintendo who should really be the subject of your ire on that one.

 

[Danjin44]

 

[GigaBowser]

And guess what? Metroid Prime sequels weren’t exactly ambitious given they could reuse plenty of assets from the prior ones. Prime 4 will be the first one since the original they won‘t be able to do that.

We get it, you don’t think much of 2D platformers. Good for you. I don’t care for games focused entirely on puzzles, but I don’t make threads whining that the developers who made Portal 1 didn’t move on to make a game catered to me as opposed to making Portal 2.

Sorry, I didn't mean to insult your favourite toy maker and 2D platformers.

I can only speak for my preferences.

Spoiler

 

[TexMex]

I really hope the OP is doing some sort of performance art here because this is really embarrassing.

 

[CamHostage]

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Meicyn]

OP, you are not entitled to Metroid games, and Retro does not exist to slave away making them until the end of time.

 

[GigaBowser]

Let's be honest, it's all about sales. They're just trying to put Nintendo in a good light here.

We all know making Donkey Kong is a better business decision than making Metroid.

Metroid is niche and has a smaller audience.
Donkey Kong you can market to all audiences, and features an iconic character.

It's up to Retro to make Metroid more approachable to fans.

Their Donkey Kong games didn't do jack to help the Wii U.

A good 3D Metroid could have made the console more appealing to core gamers.

 

[Danjin44]

I really hope the OP is doing some sort of performance art here because this is really embarrassing.

His much more in to making cringe threats than actually playing games.

 

[Fess]

I mean, we had three Metroid Prime games in a row, let them do something else for a moment. And DKC Returns is solid, and Tropical Freeze is one of the best 2D platformers of all time in my book.

Them tackling a 3D DKC would have been cool as well, but I say now is a fine time to bring Prime back.

I’m a huge Metroid fan but I liked the Donkey Kong games more than the Prime games, so I agree. They could’ve made a 2D Metroid game though.

 

[anthony2690]

What have retro even made since dk on the Wii u?

 

[GigaBowser]

What have retro even made since dk on the Wii u?

Nothing. One of the least productive studios in gaming.

 

[NanaMiku]

Oh, it's GigaBowser again lol

GMTK made a great video about Tropical Freeze

 

[sinnergy]

The Prime series killed Metroid.

They can fuck 4 off forever as far as I'm concerned.

It revitalized the franchise .. it was on par with even super Metroid .. other M for that matter …

 

[baphomet]

It revitalized the franchise .. it was on par with even super Metroid .. other M for that matter …

The 2D GBA games sold more than Prime 1 did.

 

[Shifty]

Posted 9 years ago by Chris Carter

Congratulations OP, the chip on your shoulder is almost old enough to attend the third grade.

The 2D GBA games sold more than Prime 1 did.

And yet the 2D franchise languished for years after Fusion, while Prime got two sequels, a DS game, and a 3DS spinoff.

 

[baphomet]

Congratulations OP, the chip on your shoulder is almost old enough to attend the third grade.


And yet the 2D franchise languished for years after Fusion, while Prime got two sequels, a DS game, and a 3DS spinoff.

Exactly what I said.

Because the Prime series killed Metroid.

 

[Robb]

Good on Retro, they really hit it out of the park with their DK games. Would love to get a 3rd one some day. Tropical Freeze is absolutely fantastic imo.

 

[Woopah]

I'm so curious what the OP's thought process was behind creating this thread.

 

[NanaMiku]

I'm so curious what the OP's thought process was behind creating this thread.

Just like the F-Zero vs Xenoblade thread lol

 

[Serge85]

Tropical Freeze is one of the best platformers of all time so.... thanks Retro!

 

[Tg89]

Tropical Freeze is one of the best platformers of all time so.... thanks Retro!

Tropical Freeze is solid for sure. Glad we got it. It's definitely not up to par with DKC2 imo (and arguably falls short of DKC1 depending on how much value you put on aesthetic/vibe/atmosphere/etc., which to me were very important to the original trilogy and the place where Retro missed the mark the most).

On the other hand there's a legitimate argument to be made that Metroid Prime is the absolute peak of the Metrod series. I certainly think so, it's my favourite single player game of all time. Oddly enough the thing they missed the most on with DKCR/TF (again, atmosphere) is what they absolutely nailed with Prime. Despite it seemingly being a harder task especially when you add in the transition to 3D on top of it all.

 

[lostinblue]

This was actually a thing. It was up to them to either make a sequel to one of the best first person franchises or another 2D Donkey Kong sidescroller and they chose the sidescroller on Wii U.

Which is a great game in it's own merit.

Making a Metroid Prime game for the Wii U would be development hell, it would take longer, get delayed, Wii U would be replaced by the Switch and they would be stuck with it. And they probably didn't have the personnel. It's no secret that the creative directors and artists that did Metroid Prime 1 to 3 left. So there was extra pressure in regards to replacing them.

Don't forget they won Metroid Prime 4 back with a pitch, so they actively asked to do it some years afterwards.

 

[SmokedMeat]

The 2D GBA games sold more than Prime 1 did.

The GBA had a far larger install base then Gamecube.

Prime was better then both of those imo. It out Metroid back on the map.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Tropical Freeze is one of , if not THEE best platformer of all time.


Retro could make Samus' Revolving Door Repair simulator if they wanted to. They earned the right to choose the product that they want.

 

[TheBROgamer]

DK games are 2D side scrollers, way easier to make than compex 3D games like Metroid Prime.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Well yeah, the boss that replaced the old one at retro was a quality manager/tester for Donkey kong country…

How you go from tester to studio president..

Not so sure they can pull off MP4 honestly, team’s changed too much.