If you've read this far, you undoubtedly know that Metroid Prime has very deep roots with Retro's ill-fated Action Adventure project. Nevertheless, most of the work that went into Action Adventure was completely scrapped when the team moved to MP. "Nothing from Action Adventure survived I'm guessing. I think they started from zero for Metroid Prime," says one anonymous source. With Action Adventure dead and Metroid poised for rebirth, Retro had a daunting task ahead of it. Not only did the team have to create a worthy successor to Super Metroid, a title hailed by many as one of the greatest games of all time, they had to translate the atmospheric 2D worlds of Metroid to a three-dimensional plane. Many franchises have made the move from 2D to 3D over the years, but few have done so without losing something important in the translation. Above all else, Retro and Nintendo were determined to make Metroid Prime feel like the natural evolution of its 2D predecessors.
Though Retro had the Metroid license in hand, the gaming world was completely oblivious to the game's existence. It wasn't until late 2000 when rumors began to surface that Retro Studios was developing a new Metroid title. On November 14, 2000, Retro posted a job opening for programmers and artists that all but confirmed the truth behind the rumors. The help-wanted ad said the following:
"Wanna work for the company rumored to be developing Metroid for Nintendo GameCube? Do you play well with others? Are you ready to take gaming to the next level and develop for the hottest, next generation gaming system on the planet? Do you want to be part of a hand picked group of the industry's brightest people; brought together to create the most innovative games the world has yet to see? If you answered yes, Retro Studios is the place for you! "
Later that same month, Retro updated its job application web page with clear confirmation that they were working on a new Metroid title. The site not only featured a brand new image of a 3D rendered Samus with the phrase "Wanna program the next Metroid game," but the email address applicants were to send rsums to was Samus@retrostudios.com.
Much like Action Adventure, Prime was originally slated to be a third-person action adventure game. However, as development progressed it became evermore apparent that the title would need to shift to a first-person perspective. Claims that the designers at Retro were having an exceptionally difficult time realizing game play mechanics and camera control in the third-person perspective, resulting in Nintendo sternly recommending the change in perspective, are likely close to the truth. Though the team initially fought Nintendo's changes, they ultimately lost and the game actually turned out better as a result. Internal conflicts over the decision got so heated that the project leader for Prime resigned and had to be replaced. Influence from Shigeru Miyamoto, who has long felt that third-person action titles cannot be executed properly in 3D, virtually set the changes in stone. Considering that a fair portion of the MP team had worked on some of the industry's most well-known first person shooters - including Quake, Unreal, and Half-Life - the shift to first-person seems all the more logical in retrospect.
When Metroid Prime finally hit North American shelves on November 19, 2002, the title was greeted by critical acclaim. Finally, after all the cancellations, all the lay-offs, and all the internal conflicts, the Austin-based game developer produced what is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games of this generation. It took the work of the entire company and a fair amount of technical assistance from Nintendo, but it was all worth it in the end. The title has sold over a million units since its release. With Metroid Prime, Retro delivered in a big way.