Team Metroid Prime
In 1986, Nintendo released a game created by renowned designer Gunpei Yokoi for the NES called Metroid. The Metroid series struck a chord with North American gamers on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986 and easily maintained and amplified that harmony with the release of the SNES classic Super Metroid in 1994, which has since been hailed as one of the greatest games of all time by countless fans and publications. The phenomenal appeal of the series continues to echo strongly through time; its extraordinary achievements and innovations reverberating throughout the design of games and memories of millions to this very day. Spawning three very successful sequels within eight year, the franchise seemed to have a bright and prosperous future ahead of it. Unfortunately in 1996, Gunpei Yokoi, creator of the Metroid franchise, left Nintendo and was tragically killed on October 4, 1997, thus placing the series outlook into jeopardy. It would be nearly a decade later before another team would take up the task of continuing Gunpei Yokois work, and that team was Retro Studios.
When Nintendo relinquished control of the Metroid franchise to Austin-based development house Retro Studios, many fans were uncertain if the inexperienced developer would be able to successfully translate the series in to 3D. However, when the first images and videos of the game were finally unveiled at the 2002 Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), all criticisms were silenced by the deafening roar of victory. The game (titled Metroid Prime) was not only jaw dropping, but entirely original and remarkably faithful to the series' roots. Metroid Prime won numerous show awards that year and when it hit North American shelves in November, it went on to sell over a million copies and prove to fans Nintendo's commitment to the series.
So, how was a studio with no prior experience under its belt able to pull off perhaps one of the greatest games on the Nintendo GameCube? Simply put, Retro Studios is comprised of some of the industry's finest people. For that reason, I have been digging deep into the backgrounds of several key employees at Retro Studios. I hoped to find out where they came from within the industry and hopefully get a better idea of how this talented group of people was able to pool their individual talents and take the Metroid series to a new level.
Steve Barcia
Producer of Metroid Prime
Steven Barcia is most widely known for his work on the Master of Orion and Master of Magic series by MicroProse Software, Inc. Master of Orion is a turn-based strategy game released in 1994 that places players in charge of a group of colonists that must work against competing races to ultimately take control of the planet Orion. In the game, the Orion race was an ancient civilization that mysteriously vanished centuries ago and left their advance technology behind on Orion. Whichever race is able to gain control of this powerful technology will find them selves in a unique position of authority in the galaxy. Sounds familiar, doesnt it? The Orions almost completely mirror the background story of the Chozos in Metroid. Both are advanced civilizations that mysteriously abandoned their technology and disappear from the rest of the Universe. Also, the less advance civilizations, Space Pirates in the case of Metroid, attempt to replicate their technology for conquest purposes. Clearly, Barcia has much to offer the Metroid series in terms of story, since it seems quite apparent that he has been a fan of the franchise for quite some time.
Another title that Steve Barcia worked on prior to joining Retro Studios was Master of Magic for SimTex, which was
published by MicroProse Software. Master of Magic is another turn-based strategy game; however, it is much more traditional
than Master of Orion, in that you play as a wizard and must cast spells in order to win. The game presented very little in
the way of new innovations, other than you could wage war on multiple world simultaneously, but it did do an excellent job
of polishing many game play mechanics that are now common standards for the turn-base strategy gender. With the recent
disclosure that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes will contain a Light World and Dark World, it will be interesting to see if any
of his ideas used in Masters of Magic, or not used, will make their way into Echoes.
Mark Pacini
Director of Metroid Prime
Prior to joining Retro Studios, Mark Pacini worked at Acclaim Studios Austin as Project Manager on Turok: Rage Wars for the Nintendo 64. Rage Wars was released in 1999 and is a devoted deathmatch game set in the Turok world that features a number of modes, including capture-the-flag, time trails, frag fest, trial, team battle, and many more. With over 30 levels, 16 weapons, and 17 playable characters, this game had plenty to offer to N64 fans rabid for some shootem up action. Rage Wars really didnt bring anything new to the first-person shooter class, but it did finally deliver restless N64 owners one of the greatest deathmatch titles for the system next to Rares classic GoldenEye and Perfect Dark.
Now if you have three brain cells, only two of which work, then you can tell that Mr. Pacini can bring a ton of talent to the table for Metroid Echoes new multiplayer mode. Having worked on an almost dedicated multiplayer title should prove interesting for Metroid. We can only hope that Retro Studios decided to divide the Echoes staff into Single Player and Multiplayer teams to truly realize the full potential that each mode can provide. With current GameCube owners seriously lacking a defining first-person multiplayer title, Echoes could be the answer they are looking for. We can only hope that Nintendo gives Halo a run for its money.