As a remake, it’s unrecognisable yet the original game is there underneath. Additionally, the game also makes use of the 3DS’s stereoscopic display to create some real depth with the more detailed backgrounds. What we have here is a title that casts away the shackles of a sprite-based, 8-bit game displaying on a 160×144 pixel display, to a more modern 2D game with 3D models. Jointly developed between MercurySteam and Nintendo’s own EPD studio, Samus Returns’ release in 2016 was the first 2D game in the series since 2004’s Zero Mission. MercurySteam had expressed a desire to remake Metroid Fusion, but Sakamoto had a better idea – Remake the Game Boy’s Metroid II an incredibly important game to Metroid’s overarching narrative, but one that was limited by the system it resided on. However, following a studio visit by Metroid co-creator, Yoshio Sakamoto, MercurySteam would be given the keys to another fallen franchise Metroid. After this setback, Castlevania would once again disappear into the shadows, following this failure. Lords of Shadow 2 would appear in 2014, to mixed reviews with the game failing to match the original reboot. In 2013, the studio would follow this up with Mirror of Fate on the Nintendo 3DS, and later on home consoles, a side-scrolling adventure not unlike the Metroid series, adopting the Metroidvania mechanics that had been a part of the series since Symphony of The Night. With that game’s post-credits sequence providing a shockingly good twist, I certainly wanted more. Lords of Shadow was a game I was rather fond of at the time, and definitely put this developer on my list of studios to watch out for, as the game received glowing reviews upon its 2010 release. A mostly unknown studio named MercurySteam, with some input from Kojima Productions, was charged by Konami to reboot Castlevania for a new generation. But, in a parallel to Metroid, Retro Studios and the Prime Trilogy once again a Japanese publisher looked to foreign shores to revitalise the Belmont’s fortunes. Whilst finding itself a wonderful little niche on handhelds like the GBA and Nintendo DS, this particular series was also finding itself to be in a bit of a funk. Ironically, the same was rather true of a similar series Castlevania. It felt like a repeat of the N64 days, as fans clambered for a new entry that Nintendo just wasn’t going to give them. Once the Prime series had completed and Retro Studios moved on to other things, it felt that the Metroid franchise was beginning to hibernate and take a bit of a back seat. Is it me, or does it really feel like the last few episodes have been a bit of a downer? Don’t blame me of course, for the Metroid series took quite a bit of a downturn for a while.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |