Nintendo could re-release Metroid Prime 1 for Switch without ‘Trilogy’ games, it’s claimed
It was previously reported that a Switch Prime Trilogy remaster was complete
A Nintendo insider has claimed that the company is working on a re-release of Metroid Prime for Switch, separate from any potential Trilogy plans.
Emily Rogers, an industry insider with a long track record of accurate Nintendo information, stated on Twitter Wednesday: “Last I heard, Nintendo was busy working on Metroid Prime 1 to celebrate the game’s 20th anniversary in 2022.
“I’m not sure if we’re getting a ‘trilogy’ or just a re-release of the first game. I’m leaning toward the latter, but I hope we get the former.”
A new Nintendo Direct live stream is set to take place on Thursday.
Rogers’ claim is seemingly at odds with regularly reported claims that Nintendo has prepared a Metroid Prime Trilogy HD for the Switch.
VentureBeat journalist Jeff Grubb said in July that the Metroid Prime Trilogy remaster for Nintendo Switch has already finished development and is awaiting release.
Grubb said Nintendo was holding off the release and announcement partly due to restricted QA resources during the pandemic, and possibly to align it more closely with the release of Metroid Prime 4.
The Wii version of Metroid Prime Trilogy, which added Wii remote aiming controls to the first two games, was released in 2009.
A former Retro Studios design lead who worked on the Metroid Prime trilogy recently said he was sceptical that all the Prime games would be ported to Nintendo Switch.
Further reading
Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch ‘is done and Nintendo is holding it’
Mike Wilkan, who was a design lead on all three Prime games before leaving Retro some years later, made the comments on Facebook. The designer’s scepticism involves the complexity of translating the third Metroid Prime game’s Wii motion controls to Switch’s standard setup, which he said would require “a herculean effort”.
Nintendo is planning to release Metroid Dread, the series’ first mainline 2D instalment in nearly 20 years, on Nintendo Switch this October.
And in 2019 Nintendo announced that it had decided to “restart development from the beginning” for Metroid Prime 4, with producer Kensuke Tanabe calling in Retro to take over the project from its original, unannounced developer. Retro has been hiring for Metroid Prime 4 ever since.
