Metroid Prime was the primary 3D Metroid recreation and it’s nonetheless thought of a GameCube basic, spawning two sequels and not less than one fan try and port it to PC. However one workforce is taking a very completely different tack: they’re remaking Metroid Prime as a 2D platformer, in line with the type of basic NES and SNES Metroid video games.
Dubbed Prime 2D, it’s the work of Staff SCU, which has apparently been engaged on the undertaking since 2004, albeit with some personnel modifications alongside the best way, in addition to the assistance of “a whole lot of volunteers.” The workforce issued a free demo of the undertaking late final week, and you may obtain it right here if you happen to’re eager (or you possibly can simply watch the video above).
Naturally, a first-person recreation can’t be completely transferred onto a 2D airplane, and in a publish from 2017 Staff SCU defined that over the course of Prime 2D’s growth the scope has shifted dramatically. “Slightly than the pixel-perfect translation envisioned by our predecessors, we’re taking a extra focused method as a commentary on the shift from basic 2D to fashionable 3D gaming,” it says.
“As an alternative of copying the supply materials precisely, we’re as an alternative targeted on taking the core ideas, translating these, after which implementing them in a logical 2D resolution. By doing this we enable ourselves to deal with constructing a great recreation firstly, after which utilizing that as a base on which to create a well-known expertise, relatively than constraining ourselves to attempting to implement 3D concepts in 2D area.”
The gameplay footage reveals a platformer that might in all probability have pushed the 16-bit SNES to its limits, if it had labored in any respect, and doubtless wouldn’t have been welcome on the Nintendo 64, which by no means acquired its personal Metroid instalment. To be sincere, it seems to be prefer it belongs to now, alongside stuff like Axiom Verge, Lifeless Cells and Blasphemous.
As lovingly crafted because the demo is, Nintendo’s famously litigious method to fan tasks could put a restrict on its availability. Right here’s hoping it survives although, and the undertaking involves fruition.