Metroid, one of the most popular Nintendo sagas, It came close to having an XCOM-style Tactics game.
As it was revealed, from Retro Studios this possibility was raised after the launch of Metroid Prime 3. The information comes from Paul Tozour, former developer of the studio, who pointed out that the game would be a prequel set in the universe of the saga.
This project failed to prosper and the team went on to handle Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii and Metroid Prime: Trilogy.
Hand in hand with a video from Did You Know Gaming, it is that he pointed out that “It was basically XCOM… Era XCOM In the universe Metroid”, adding that in this we would control Samus an elite group of the Galactic Federation and other bounty hunters. “Throughout the adventure the player could hire new units, upgrade them with new armor, weapons, abilities,” he explains.
On the occasion, he also explained that it was not easy to present a project and have it approved, “If there was a way to present something within Retro that would reach the other end of the chain, to Nintendo, and receive approval, I would never I knew it, and nobody at Retro knew it,” he says.
“To be successful, a project needed to have the support of then-designer Mark Pacini, studio head Michael Kelbaugh, and Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe, each with different tastes, perspectives on gameplay, and goals for what they wanted to see in it. Retro Studios,” he explained.