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Yoshio Sakamoto's "More 2D Metroid" comments


Ithrak Utopia

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"Through the development of Metroid: Samus Returns, I was able to really grasp the possibility and fun of a 2D Metroid. Like when I finished the first game, if there is another opportunity to make another Metroid, that is something that I would love to do. Of course, that really depends on how much people really want to buy a 2D Metroid." - Yoshio Sakamoto, Game Informer Magazine September Issue

 

I've been seeing these comments covered on other sites, but I was interested in seeing how the reaction would be here to Sakamoto's comments regarding more 2D Metroid games. Are you fine with the future of 2D Metroid resting on the shoulders of a successful Metroid Samus Returns or are you put off by that mentality towards the new game's upcoming release?

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I'm somewhere in between honestly. Mostly nervous or fearful if anything, but it mainly depends on what the expected sales projections for Samus Returns are (which we don't really know) that may or may not determine whether more 2D games should get made.

 

The real question though is, where do we go next now that we have the Metroid II remake? A Fusion sequel remains up in the air like it has since 2002, but beyond that I can only think of maybe similar styled remakes for Super Metroid and Fusion. Mind you, Super is still more or less perfect for what it was, so a remake for it wouldn't be necessary in the same vein that a remake of Metroid I and II was. However, Super kind of already was a remake of the original before Zero Mission came along, so you could maybe justify a Super remake in a way? I don't know, but I think Fusion could use the remake touch more. Only recently learned of this, but apparently Mercury Steam pitched for the idea of a Fusion remake before they were brought in to do Samus Returns.

 

https://shinesparkers.net/mercurysteam-originally-pitched-metroid-fusion-remake/

 

So I guess my question is, should more remakes (in this case of Super and Fusion) happen, or would anymore remakes beyond Metroid II/Samus Returns just be milking it? I don't want anymore remakes than we really need, but if they still shy away from doing a Fusion sequel, then what other options are there really? (for 2D)

 

 

Whatever the case may be, it could always be worse. If the future of the series (whether in part or as a whole) was determined by like Federation Force's sales, I'd be jaded as fuck and probably still wouldn't be here.

Edited by Ridley Prime
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Honestly, I'd love to see 2D and 3D. The Metroid Prime series did well, and 4's coming out soon, and there's still love for the 2D games. I think Metroid has done both styles well, and as well as Zelda and Mario. Sonic and Kirby are simply better 2D, with Sonic doing a lot better with Mania out, and it seems Kirby will never get out into 3D, but I'm fine with that since the puffball's games are still wonderful anyways. I can't imagine a 2D Starfox, and Donkey Kong is fine 2D right now. There's no rush for a 3D platform collectathon right now, and YL is doing decent with that void. Mega Man and Mega Man X should stay far away from 3D. X7 was never pretty.  

  

 

Edited by XLW
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Massive disdain for Federation Force, uproar over the AM2R shutdown after its release, announcement of two Metroid games at E3, Metroid Samus Returns receives very positive feedback, collector's edition and amiibo coming and special edition Samus New 3DS XL on the way...Add in that most of the diehard fans feel like they haven't had a true Metroid game for a decade, I think all things considered Nintendo should expect no less than 1.5 million for the game before the end of the fiscal year with MSR becoming the top selling Metroid game shortly after. Metroid has gotten a lot of noise coming from its fans, so it's time to see if the money is there...First up looks to be a 2D Metroid game that could have the chance to be the best yet. I've not seen anything particularly bad about Metroid Samus Returns other than it could've looked a bit better being so late in the 3DS's life; however, the gameplay for the title looks solid and true to the series' roots. It looks like a Metroid release that has been asked for since all the Other M fallout. If sales don't meet Nintendo's expectations, I think it is fair for them to end 2D Metroid. I also think, depending on how Prime 4 looks and how it plays, that Prime 4 should be used to determine whether first person/3D Metroid is viable. Money has to back all of the talk now.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/25/2017 at 0:33 AM, IU said:

Massive disdain for Federation Force, uproar over the AM2R shutdown after its release, announcement of two Metroid games at E3, Metroid Samus Returns receives very positive feedback, collector's edition and amiibo coming and special edition Samus New 3DS XL on the way...Add in that most of the diehard fans feel like they haven't had a true Metroid game for a decade, I think all things considered Nintendo should expect no less than 1.5 million for the game before the end of the fiscal year with MSR becoming the top selling Metroid game shortly after. Metroid has gotten a lot of noise coming from its fans, so it's time to see if the money is there...First up looks to be a 2D Metroid game that could have the chance to be the best yet. I've not seen anything particularly bad about Metroid Samus Returns other than it could've looked a bit better being so late in the 3DS's life; however, the gameplay for the title looks solid and true to the series' roots. It looks like a Metroid release that has been asked for since all the Other M fallout. If sales don't meet Nintendo's expectations, I think it is fair for them to end 2D Metroid. I also think, depending on how Prime 4 looks and how it plays, that Prime 4 should be used to determine whether first person/3D Metroid is viable. Money has to back all of the talk now.

From the looks of things all the way up to this point, I don't think Samus Returns will underperform in sales (despite the amiibo controversy and the fact some still haven't moved on from Nintendo shutting down AM2R), but if it somehow were to, would be fair enough for 2D Metroid to end after that, which it hasn't had a previous entry since Zero Mission... in 2004. My main concern or question for the 2D series, is where to go after we're past MSR. Assuming it sells well enough and that eventual remakes for Super and Fusion would be saved for some years later like the Metroid II remake was, a Fusion sequel would have to happen, you would think, but I don't know; we could end up getting something else new from 2D for all we know. I'm fine with whatever new idea regardless of timeline placement or whatever if it produces another good game, but when a Fusion sequel has been kinda asked for since 2002...

 

Agreed on Prime 4. Just hope it sells more than the previous sequels did at least. Prime 2 and 3 (despite the latter being on the Wii) sold less on their own than the 1st Prime, so MP4 needs to be kind of a game-changer as far as that, where it sells either as much as or more than MP1. I still consider MP1's success an accomplishment when it was on the Gamecube, an underselling system, but it's time for a new Metroid to finally pass that up in sales for the series to have a promising future. Part of me's still surprised at how Super Metroid didn't apparently sell even as much as the original, but with how Super impacted gaming as a whole, it's still considered a success despite sales numbers in the grand scheme of things.

 

All and all though, at the end of the day, the series needs to have enough fans to put their money where their mouth is. Any future requests for another Metroid won't mean shit if the new chance it's been given (with MSR and MP4) isn't met with good money/sales.

 

 

Regarding the thread you recently made for AM2R, I've loved the game far as what I've seen of bits & pieces of others' playthroughs, but didn't get the chance to download it myself before Nintendo did the cease and desist order. I have the same kind of laptop as you do (though I'd need to get another little somethin' to be able to hook up an external xbox controller or something to play it on), so I think what I have would be able to handle the game if you were to send me a download link. If you're able to send me the files you have for AM2R through PM's, that would be much appreciated and I would eventually get to playing it someday, though may put it off for awhile like you did at first.

 

With just a few days away now, I'm very excited for MRS and hope you all enjoy it, though until then I'm currently trying to stay away from further exposure of it to avoid potential spoilers. Also let me know how you like the Fusion mode sometime, in the event that I'm still not able to find the Metroid amiibo needed to play it.

Edited by Ridley Prime
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On 8/21/2017 at 11:52 PM, XLW said:

Mega Man and Mega Man X should stay far away from 3D. X7 was never pretty.  

You say that like another Mega Man is actually in the cards

 

I don't think Super and Fusion need remakes. Both are still perfectly playable now. In my opinion, Metroid II needed the update more than any game in the series, so I think it was the right call to bring Mercury Steam away from Fusion. Going forward, Prime 4 is worth getting excited for, but I want nothing more than a 2D sequel to Fusion.

 

Metroid has always underperformed when compared to Mario and Zelda, but its fans are dedicated. Nintendo has had a history of bringing it back once every seven years or so regardless of sales, so I don't think even good sales will send the message that we want more of it. I certainly don't expect a breakout hit like Fire Emblem Awakening that reinvents the series and brings in the mainstream market. That won't happen without some very divisive risktaking, and given the blowback against Other M and Fed Force, I don't think even Nintendo could conceive of that as a good idea right now.

Edited by Laclipsey
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16 hours ago, Laclipsey said:

You say that like another Mega Man is actually in the cards

 

I don't think Super and Fusion need remakes. Both are still perfectly playable now. In my opinion, Metroid II needed the update more than any game in the series, so I think it was the right call to bring Mercury Steam away from Fusion. Going forward, Prime 4 is worth getting excited for, but I want nothing more than a 2D sequel to Fusion.

 

Metroid has always underperformed when compared to Mario and Zelda, but its fans are dedicated. Nintendo has had a history of bringing it back once every seven years or so regardless of sales, so I don't think even good sales will send the message that we want more of it. I certainly don't expect a breakout hit like Fire Emblem Awakening that reinvents the series and brings in the mainstream market. That won't happen without some very divisive risktaking, and given the blowback against Other M and Fed Force, I don't think even Nintendo could conceive of that as a good idea right now.

Fair enough. Yeah, not expecting an FE Awakening kind of explosion with a new Metroid title or anything, though would be nice. As a sci-fi Metroid just doesn't have the kind of appeal in Japan that it does in the West, despite efforts to change that with certain games which backfired. At the very least I would hope there's not another 5+ year hiatus. The first one I can give a pass since there were originally no plans to continue after Super Metroid which was initially meant to be the end of the series, but popularity eventually brought it back after the 64 era in early 2000's. The 2nd hiatus can be mostly blamed on Other M's failure and the kind of amount of vitriol it got, which understandably left them unsure of what to do with the series for awhile afterward.

 

Federation Force was more of an outlier, an odd one at that. After the drought following Other M, fans just wanted another game that was a return to form. FF not only wasn't that, but an outlandish spinoff no one asked for, though I reckon it would've been better received had it been revealed and released at a different time, even if I remained disinterested in it as I already had. I had no problem with people liking the game, but some of the defending and apologism it got from certain Nintendo fans I could not take seriously. I mean yeah, others going as far as to make or sign petitions to cancel the game was too extreme, but I just voted with my wallet by not getting the game. I'm glad FF didn't succeed since that would've set the precedent that we all wanted more of that, which in turn could've ended Metroid as we knew it forever. Of all the ideas too for a game to bridge the gap between Prime 3 and 4, odd that they went with FF. A Sylux game (assuming it had Prime/MPH's traditional art style and not FF's with all the chibi) or anything else literally would've garnered more interest. The Federation was already fleshed out enough as it was, and to be honest they're a more boring part or faction within the Metroid universe, at least to me which I guess was another reason FF didn't interest me. I really wanted to like it, but I couldn't. :(

 

edit: My experience with the Blast Ball demo also did nothing for me other than confirming the mode to be a slower, much more dull version of Rocket League. Ironically, with the Samus themed vehicle reveal, will be getting reinvested in that game at some point on the Switch.

 

 

But yeah, to make Metroid more mainstream, they would undoubtedly have to make some sacrificial changes, which could kill what people loved about the series to begin with. It's fine as a niche/cult following franchise. This also prevents overexposure, so for the most part when a new game happens, it still feels fresh enough to get invested into compared to Mario spinoff # ____.

Edited by Ridley Prime
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Good video I found under recommend related to the topic that was just uploaded today. Samus needs us indeed, and while I'm indeed excited for tomorrow, am equally worried, knowing that Samus is on thin ice as Arlo quite well put it. If MSR underperforms, I'll accept 2D Metroid dying and never coming back since it got a fair chance again, but I hope for the best. The best we can do for the most part is get the game on day 1 which many of us are and let things run their course. Maybe try and convince others to get the game to some degree (and within reason), but beyond that, not too much else...

 

Well there is the #OperationSamusReturns movement on Twitter, which I've contributed to some degree, and hope it succeeds in its goal (ensuring that the game sales while expanding the Metroid fanbase as a whole).

Edited by Ridley Prime
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