Considering how huge today’s Switch 2 reveal was, last week’s Nintendo Direct had some surprisingly big news. It started with the long-awaited announcement of the Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D remake in that cool Octopath Traveler art style. A new Tomodachi Life was also revealed, making everyone who’s less than thrilled about inZOI breathe a sigh of relief.
We got our first good look at Pokemon Legends: Z-A gameplay, and a brand new feature that will let you swap your digital Switch games between consoles as if they were physical games. All in all, a pretty hefty direct. Oh ya, and the first Metroid Prime 4 trailer in over nine months was also squeezed in there somewhere.
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Nintendo Shows Off Samus’s New Psychic Abilities In Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Still no release date, but the best look we’ve had at the game yet.
I’m an unabashed Metroid super fan (I’ve got the custom-made wearable Power Suit helmet to prove it) so it’s hard for me to be objective about these things. Nintendo could have announced Samus’ spooky new psychic powers with 76 trombones leading a marching band, and I would still be disappointed that it wasn’t a big enough deal. But if I take off my 1:1 scale replica space helmet (with functioning interior lights) for a second, I still can’t help but feel like Metroid Prime 4 isn’t getting the respect it deserves.
In a Nintendo Direct that ended with Shigeru Miyamoto hyping up an app that just shows you Nintendo’s Twitter feed, was it really necessary to jam the new trailer in between the umpteenth farming sim and Disney Coffee Talk?
Put Some Respeck on Samus’ Name
No shade to Mr. Miyamoto or the Nintendo Today app (okay, maybe a little) but my girl Samus deserves better. Prime fans have been waiting 18 years for this sequel. Do you have any idea how long ago 2007 was? That’s the year Tumblr launched. That’s the year the first iPhone came out. Metroid Prime 4 was announced all the way back at E3 2017. E3 was still a thing! The fact that it’s coming out this year is a major milestone and a significant event for Nintendo, but the big N isn’t really acting like it.
Look, I’m not such a rabid fanboy that I can’t recognize reality. Metroid has never been a top performing franchise for Nintendo. It’s certainly not in Mario and Zelda’s league. Hell, it’s barely even in Yoshi’s league. 2020’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons outsold the entire Metroid franchise by more than double. The fact that Nintendo is even investing in another Metroid Prime – especially after having to restart the entire thing from scratch several years into development – is remarkable. Maybe Nintendo is wise not to chase good money after bad by over-advertising Metroid Prime 4 if it’s destined for middling sales anyway.
At a certain point though, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe Metroid Prime 4 won’t be that big of a deal because Nintendo isn’t treating it like a big deal. After nearly two decades, a lot more people have discovered Metroid Prime than who played it at launch – especially thanks to 2023’s exceptionally well-received Metroid Prime Remastered – and if Nintendo acted like this game is something to get really excited about rather than just another end-of-life Switch title, maybe the hype would be there.
Don’t Count Your Metroids Before They Hatch
While it’s not its most commercially successful series, Metroid is still an incredibly important franchise for Nintendo. The entire Metroidvania genre that has dominated the indie market for the last two decades wouldn’t exist without it (let’s be honest, Metroidvanias seldom borrow from Castlevania) and the Metroid Prime trilogy in particular served Nintendo’s older fanbase in a way none of its other family friendly franchises could. Most importantly, it’s just so cool. Every time I put on my replica arm cannon (with game-accurate sound effects) I’m reminded of just how lucky we are to have such a mature and creative sci-fi shooter from Nintendo. It’s safe to say the Big N would be a lot less interesting of a studio without it, regardless of what the sales data says.
In the end this was just a really weird Nintendo Direct. It showed some of the final games coming to Switch, along with apps, console features, and the first Pokemon trailer I can ever remember seeing outside of a Pokemon Direct. It’s also bumping up against another, much bigger Nintendo Direct next week – another first – so I don’t want to read too much into the way this long-awaited trailer was featured.
Please don’t let me down on this one Nintendo. Don’t make the release date announcement for Metroid Prime on the Nintendo Today app, sandwiched between fun facts about Toad’s waist size and ads for discounted rubies in Mario Kart Tour. We can defy the projections and make Metroid Prime 4 a massive hit if you give it the attention it deserves. Start with the Metroid Prime 2 and 3 remasters, then hit me up if you need help planning that parade.
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Retro Studios
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Nintendo
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