First Look At Metroid Prime Developer’s Cancelled Music RPG Leaks From Switch Dev Kit

After shipping Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in 2014 for the Wii U, it would be another ten years before Retro Studios reared its head again with Metroid Prime Remastered. But what exactly it was up to in that decade, and before it took over development on Metroid Prime 4 in 2019, has long been a mystery. Until now.

Several games were leaked from a Switch dev build earlier today, including an unreleased Retro Studios game called “Project Harmony”. Footage shows an unnamed girl wielding a magical staff, platforming through an unfinished level, and summoning several fantasy creatures with unique abilities that allow her to fly and fire giant projectiles.

This appears to be the same game that was reported on back in January, when YouTuber Reece ‘Kiwi Talkz’ Reilly claimed that several Retro devs told him they had been working on a music RPG between Donkey Kong and Metroid Prime. Nintendo allegedly axed the project because “it was a huge disaster” and there were “years of it going nowhere” (via Nintendo Everything).

Retro Was Also Reportedly Working On Metroid Prime 2 And 3 Remasters

It’s been rumoured for years now that Retro was developing remasters for Metroid Prime 2 and 3, aiming to bring the entire quadrilogy to Nintendo Switch (and now Switch 2). But with every passing Direct, and no mention of the two games, that looks less and less likely. Given that Reilly’s report has now been supported by the leaked playable build of Project Harmony, it’s worth revisiting their claims about the Metroid Prime series, too.

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Allegedly, after the music RPG was cancelled, Retro planned to remaster the entire Metroid Prime trilogy to help the studio “develop the production pipeline to be able to outsource for assistance in the future”. But when Retro took over Metroid Prime 4 and restarted development in 2019, only the first Metroid Prime remaster was finished, while all resources were moved to the sequel.

So, the two games have reportedly been shelved for the time being. Retro could in theory pivot to finishing the remasters after Metroid Prime 4 releases, but it’s more likely that they’ll join the NSO catalogue, with GameCube titles now being made available.

Metroid Prime

First-Person Shooter

Metroidvania

Systems

Released

November 17, 2002

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Violence