Despite Mario and Zelda always taking the limelight, Metroid is one of Nintendo’s most influential franchises. Super Metroid’s design helped define generations of games and create the Metroidvania genre, and Metroid Prime managed to be just as innovative decades later by brilliantly fusing Metroid's meticulous exploration with first-person shooters.
Despite Metroid Prime’s influence, we still know shockingly little about how the series was developed, in large part because Nintendo is infamously tight-lipped. And that’s why it’s been such a joy to comb over Nintendo’s new book, Metroid Prime 1–3: A Visual Retrospective. This expansive tome is a fascinating look at the development of the trilogy and Metroid Prime Remastered, giving us the most info we’ve ever had on how Nintendo and Retro Studios worked in tandem. In short, it’s an essential piece for anyone interested in Metroid’s history.
