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Discussion Retro in 2007 pitched a XCOM like Metroid Prime game called Metroid Tactics

Mr Doggo

Anti oof
See here.

"Metroid Tactics was the name of a spinoff of the Metroid Prime series pitched by Paul Tozour at Retro Studios. Its existence was first revealed in a 2022 video from DidYouKnowGaming? on YouTube that revealed development secrets of multiple unreleased Metroid titles."

"Tozour wrote the game's pitch in 2007 shortly after the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Like that game, Metroid Tactics was intended for release on the Wii. His pitch's selling points were its potential to transfer the Metroid series' boss battles into a tactical strategy context, its use of the Wii Remote's motion controls, the potential to bring down costs by reusing the engine and assets from the Metroid Prime series, and the potential for a simple multiplayer mode with limited impact on performance or bandwidth. Due to franchise fatigue with Metroid in Retro Studios after developing three games, and the lack of support from Retro's management, Metroid Tactics never entered production. Nintendo never saw the pitch."
 
This would have ruled, damn.

Fair enough for them to drop it since they were tired of Metroid.
Retro getting over metroid really was the main reason the series was put on hold in my opinion. Other m may have been a failure but that was only for the 2d series, if retro still wanted to make more metroid games im sure we would have gotten at least one metroid game on the wii u. Probably not prime 4 but yeah.
 
The DYKG crew has been killing it recently (I may be a bit biased) but yeah, this genuinely sounded really fun. Shame it never went anywhere. I'd have played the shit out of this.
 
The DYKG crew has been killing it recently (I may be a bit biased) but yeah, this genuinely sounded really fun. Shame it never went anywhere. I'd have played the shit out of this.
if it helps, i think prime 4 might open the franchise again to some neato spin offs :)
 
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........Bloody hell I never thought of this before, but an Xcom type game where you recruit Federation Troopers and Bounty Hunters to form a crack team to take on the Space Pirates is a great idea. Bounty Hunters could have all sorts of weird and zany Metroid abilities and all upgradeable. Narrative wise you could have had Adam Malkovich being the head of the team as you battle Space Pirate offensives. And then AAAAAHHH secret Metroid Lab OH NOOOO!

I actually really want this game now. What do Fireaxis have lined up after their Marvel game?
 
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Retro wanted to branch out after Prime 3 and take a break from the franchise. What's confusing about that?
I actually skim read that paragraph lol. I just saw the franchise fatigue part and thought that meant in general. Ignore me.
 
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As cool as this would have been, it probably would have deprived us of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze, so I'm fine with how it turned out.
 
As cool as this would have been, it probably would have deprived us of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze, so I'm fine with how it turned out.
if this happened it would have meant retro wasnt burned out on metroid yeah, so probably.
 
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Source




There is actually a lot of interesting information compiled in here regarding more than just the Tactics spinoff referenced on the OP, especially about the concept of a Metroid title on the good ol' '64.

Metroid Tactics
It seems inaccurate to suggest that Retro Studios pitched this project, given it never left them to reach Nintendo, but it is interesting to see that a project like this was conceived and very well could have grown into a neat title.

I can see something of this general concept working within Metroid as a franchise. It's clearly meant as more of a side adventure, but can still mesh well with the overall tone. While it seems Samus should really be something of a powerhouse compared to the Federation soldiers, this could be balanced around and even turned into a core part of the experience, especially given she can't be everywhere at once. Otherwise, I've long thought spinoffs involving Federation soldiers could lean into the more horror element that inspired Metroid, and requiring a squadron of soldiers in order to survive insurmountable odds could lend itself to a similar idea.

Narrative wise you could have had Adam Malkovich being the head of the team as you battle Space Pirate offensives. And then AAAAAHHH secret Metroid Lab OH NOOOO!

The suggestion was actually something much more ridiculous; it's no surprise Tozour is embarrassed to say it:

Instead of Samus, the protagonist of the game was a Federation commander named Justin Bailey, a name Tozour regretted choosing.

We will never know how this would have turned out, but the base concept really could have worked. Regardless, I fully expect something like this, if executed well on various levels, would have been more warmly received than what we got in a spinoff title in Federation Force.

From Project Valkyrie to Federation Force

Rather than getting this awesome spin-off, we got Federation Force. What a timeline.

Rather than getting Project Valkyrie as a spinoff, we got Federation Force, which was actually similar to Valkyrie in some ways, even as it departs from the early stages -- reaching all the way back to the DS and looking at the Wii U! -- that project saw. Taking Valkyrie as a multiplayer deathmatch game, described as akin to Quake, it's not even a big stretch to see it become the multiplayer player-vs-environment Federation Force.

While I remain unconvinced Federation Force was the right idea, or at least execution of ideas, it's actually rather interesting to see the hints and pieces of the project's evolution, and I do think there probably would have been a way to do something kind of like it without the same amount of vitriol.

Metroid 64

A particularly interesting element of this is the investigation around Metroid during the N64 era.

The idea that Miyamoto was pushing for further Metroid during N64, and was interested in the continuation of 2D gameplay even at the time, but did not have jurisdiction over the franchise or the power to make the project happen. But that didn't stop Nintendo from looking into the creation of an N64 installment. For various reasons, it just never happened.

Sakamoto said:
I was actually thinking about the possibility of making a Metroid game for N64 but I felt that I shouldn't be the one making the game.
Sakamoto said:
There were a few reasons, one being that we'd pretty much wrapped up the story with Super Metroid. Also, R&D1 was in charge of handheld games, so it was difficult for us to develop N64 games. We had discussions with a licensee about it, but things never really work out.

Furthermore, Metroid games have a more realistic feel, which would've been difficult to achieve with the N64's graphical capabilities.
Sakamoto said:
Nintendo at that time approached another company and asked them if they would make an N64 version of Metroid and their response was that no, they could not. They turned it down, saying that unfortunately they didn't have the confidence to create an N64 Metroid game that could compare favorably with Super Metroid. That's something I take as a compliment to what we achieved with Super Metroid.

The prospect of what an N64 Metroid might have become is an interesting one, not only for what it might have become visually, but also because of the question of how it would have played and existed in this time of particularly experimental projects, created before the industry had worked through different ideas and settled on conventions.
 
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Source




There is actually a lot of interesting information compiled in here regarding more than just the Tactics spinoff referenced on the OP, especially about the concept of a Metroid title on the good ol' '64.

Metroid Tactics
It seems inaccurate to suggest that Retro Studios pitched this project, given it never left them to reach Nintendo, but it is interesting to see that a project like this was conceived and very well could have grown into a neat title.

I can see something of this general concept working within Metroid as a franchise. It's clearly meant as more of a side adventure, but can still mesh well with the overall tone. While it seems Samus should really be something of a powerhouse compared to the Federation soldiers, this could be balanced around and even turned into a core part of the experience, especially given she can't be everywhere at once. Otherwise, I've long thought spinoffs involving Federation soldiers could lean into the more horror element that inspired Metroid, and requiring a squadron of soldiers in order to survive insurmountable odds could lend itself to a similar idea.



The suggestion was actually something much more ridiculous; it's no surprise Tozour is embarrassed to say it:



We will never know how this would have turned out, but the base concept really could have worked. Regardless, I fully expect something like this, if executed well on various levels, would have been more warmly received than what we got in a spinoff title in Federation Force.

From Project Valkyrie to Federation Force



Rather than getting Project Valkyrie as a spinoff, we got Federation Force, which was actually similar to Valkyrie in some ways, even as it departs from the early stages -- reaching all the way back to the DS and looking at the Wii U! -- that project saw. Taking Valkyrie as a multiplayer deathmatch game, described as akin to Quake, it's not even a big stretch to see it become the multiplayer player-vs-environment Federation Force.

While I remain unconvinced Federation Force was the right idea, or at least execution of ideas, it's actually rather interesting to see the hints and pieces of the project's evolution, and I do think there probably would have been a way to do something kind of like it without the same amount of vitriol.

Metroid 64

A particularly interesting element of this is the investigation around Metroid during the N64 era.

The idea that Miyamoto was pushing for further Metroid during N64, and was interested in the continuation of 2D gameplay even at the time, but did not have jurisdiction over the franchise or the power to make the project happen. But that didn't stop Nintendo from looking into the creation of an N64 installment. For various reasons, it just never happened.





The prospect of what an N64 Metroid might have become is an interesting one, not only for what it might have become visually, but also because of the question of how it would have played and existed in this time of particularly experimental projects, created before the industry had worked through different ideas and settled on conventions.

yes, but imo the tactics game is the most interesting of the bunch, it has been known for ages now that a metroid 64 project existed while this is a complete novelty. As for the others, not much to say, i hope after mp4 metroid returns with a high budget multiplayer game but yeah.
 
The Valkyrie thing came up on twitter and it got me to dig into my archives and I found the original high-quality pieces of the artwork!


Enjoy! :)
i dont think i ever enjoyed this concept very much from the right go, i think it has a very cartoony feel that doesnt mixes well with metroid.
 
Nice read.

And what a pity about Tactics. I hope stuff like this can get a revival of some sort in a post-Prime 4 world.
 
yes, but imo the tactics game is the most interesting of the bunch, it has been known for ages now that a metroid 64 project existed while this is a complete novelty. As for the others, not much to say,
Perhaps, though Tactics is the only one of the bunch that never had any real push toward its creation. It exists as a base idea, which does lend to its aura of fascination, its ability to be whatever we might imagine.

Again, I think it could have been a neat idea. While it removes itself from the isolation of the Metroid franchise, it very well could have lent itself to enhancing other elements to make up for that. Also, the power and capability disparity between Samus and the Federation forces could have been interesting to explore and implement as an integral part of the game design.

It's also interesting to consider the interest developers within Retro Studios appear to have had in the Tactics space, given the Metroid idea and the Heroes of Hyrule tactics title proposal, and given whatever other theoretical proposals we might not know of, whether they made it out of Retro to be officially rejected or were confined within. It would have been interesting to see something come of this interest, though this likely would have necessitated the formation of a secondary team of sorts if we want to envision a timeline where Retro developed some form of Tactics title as well as the projects we actually did get.

That's not to suggest there isn't anything to be said for the other topics. Clearly nothing came of the N64 title -- it seems likely nothing was ever even really conceived -- but the search for more information on what happened there can be of interest, especially as the distinct lack of a Metroid on the system has been a sore spot of discussion for years. We can consider ourselves lucky, really, that Masahiro Sakurai saw fit to bless us with Samus as a Nintendo icon in the original Super Smash Bros. during this tumultuous time, and further that Metroid eventually did recover and does still exist as a fairly strong icon within Nintendo.

And maybe I'm incorrect here, but I seem to recall as we never actually knew what Valkyrie was, how much development truly was put into it over such a length of time, or how it fit with and essentially became Federation Force. It almost seems like an expanded take on Echoes' multiplayer component and, while it personally seems like it might have been unappealing as a product, the history here is still interesting.

i dont think i ever enjoyed this concept very much from the right go, i think it has a very cartoony feel that doesnt mixes well with metroid.

When that first appeared, yeah, I also didn't find it particularly fitting with the tone and vibe of Metroid as a whole. Given further information, the art style in practice seems to have been intended more as a lower poly take on the Prime aesthetic, which doesn't exactly explain why it looks so particularly like a Saturday morning children's cartoon in concept. Again, the overall idea as we know it now still doesn't seem quite fitting or personally appealing for the franchise, but we never really knew the story behind these pieces before.

And the Chozo face there still seems somewhat a bit on-the-beak.


i hope after mp4 metroid returns with a high budget multiplayer game but yeah.
Honestly not really high on my list of hopes for the franchise, personally. I can see scenarios where it works well, but I'd be wary of it. There've been many other potential directions that seem more fitting while exploring the franchise in different ways.

Other m may have been a failure but that was only for the 2d series
Other M wasn't even the 2D series, and I still think there's hope that could be found for the base gameplay; it's just that there were various ideas also within it that lack that hope.




Supreme Overlord said:
It's also interesting to consider the interest developers within Retro Studios appear to have had in the tactics space [...]
Fantastic video. Following the zelda tactics and now metroid tactics, I love that there were a ton of tactics fans on the teams.
As cool as this would have been, it probably would have deprived us of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze, so I'm fine with how it turned out.

So, um, what if this Tactics fascination and turn to Donkey Kong led to the formation of Kong Island Tactics? @Nathan Little ?
 
........Bloody hell I never thought of this before, but an Xcom type game where you recruit Federation Troopers and Bounty Hunters to form a crack team to take on the Space Pirates is a great idea. Bounty Hunters could have all sorts of weird and zany Metroid abilities and all upgradeable. Narrative wise you could have had Adam Malkovich being the head of the team as you battle Space Pirate offensives. And then AAAAAHHH secret Metroid Lab OH NOOOO!

I actually really want this game now. What do Fireaxis have lined up after their Marvel game?
The Civ team is almost certainly working on Civ 7 (surprise lol), while Jake Solomon's team will probably will do XCOM 3 next. Dunno what the team that did Chimera Squad is up to, assuming they didn't rejoin the Midnight Suns team or start working on XCOM 3
 
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I'm not super into the genre, but a DK focused tactical game would be a great entry way for me. šŸ˜ƒ
So, um, what if this Tactics fascination and turn to Donkey Kong led to the formation of Kong Island Tactics? @Nathan Little ?
Kong island tactics already happened!

Mario_Rabbids_DLC_Aufmacher-pc-games1.jpg
 
Tozour wrote the game's pitch in 2007 shortly after the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Like that game, Metroid Tactics was intended for release on the Wii. His pitch's selling points were its potential to transfer the Metroid series' boss battles into a tactical strategy context, its use of the Wii Remote's motion controls, the potential to bring down costs by reusing the engine and assets from the Metroid Prime series, and the potential for a simple multiplayer mode with limited impact on performance or bandwidth.
Nintendo would have been all over this. Maybe it's a good thing they didn't see it!
 
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