Retro Studios’ GameCube Classic, Metroid Prime, is getting a 2D remake made by a fan called 2D Prime. The effort, which has been going on since 2004 and called Prime 2D, is being led by a group called Team SCU. Although the game’s images emerged as part of a April Fool’s joke, the demo is in fact real, according to a post from the creators on the forum.
The remake is the result of many years of love. In 2017, the team behind Metroid Prime 2D shared: “While public progress has seemed stagnant for the past 5 years, in fact there has been an enormous amount of fundamental work being done privately.” Now, followers will finally see what the team has been up to.
Metroid Prime is widely remembered by fans for how they translated a 2D franchise into a 3D first person shooter. 2D Prime will try the other way around, remaking the GameCube shooting game from scratch as a sidecroller, according to a post from the developers. Instead of completely recreating it, the team is “focused on taking the basic concepts, translating them and then implementing them in a logical 2D solution”.
From what we’ve seen, the demonstration seems to be breathtaking. It features meticulously detailed pixel art alongside reinvented chiptune-style musical themes based on the original soundtrack. Metroid Prime. It also brings back features from the original game, such as the Scan Visor – which examines the environment and shows players all kinds of world-building details – in a new 2D interpretation.
Metroid fans have long cried out for a new release, official or not, to no avail. In 2017, Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4 for Nintendo Switch. But Nintendo delayed the game in early 2019, when the game’s development progress did not meet Nintendo standards for a Metroid sequel.
As for releases made by fans like this, the future doesn’t look so bright. Fans launched AM2R: Another Metroid 2 Remake, a remake of Metroid 2: Samus Returns, in 2017. However, just a day later, Nintendo’s lawyers filed a copyright complaint and effectively closed AM2R low.
So, although there are many people excited to 2D Prime (more than 14,000 people have already downloaded it), it may not be long before the project is closed.