While the original Metroid Prime defined what the series and the Metroidvania genre could do in 3D, the FPS was missing what most console FPS games at the time had – multiplayer. As such, 2004's Metroid Prime 2 added four-player splitscreen to the equation, with spin-off titles Hunters and Federation Force focusing on multiplayer gameplay. Despite it all, Prime 2 ended up being the worst-selling of the three games, meaning that many players likely missed the series' multiplayer mode.
Now, Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe has commented on the multiplayer mode in the Metroid Prime 1-3: A Visual Retrospective artbook, released today (thanks, VGC).
"Retro finished the multiplayer mode without compromising on quality even under such challenging conditions," Tanabe said, with the producer also explaining elsewhere in the book that "After finishing Metroid Prime, Nintendo directed Retro Studios to complete the next project in as short a time as possible" and that "schedule extensions were not permitted." And while there "was a proposal to develop a multiplayer-focused Metroid Prime '1.5,'" Prime 2 eventually released as a full-blown sequel almost precisely two years after the original game in November 2004.
However, Tanabe acknowledged, "Being of its time, it was designed for local play, so the number of players who actually experienced it might not have been very large," and that if Metroid Prime 2 "is remade" (perhaps akin to the remaster treatment as its predecessor did in 2023), "I’d be delighted for more people to have the chance to experience it."
