Busy day...very busy day. Of course, the first stint with our new guy Gimpee had some hiccups, but that was to be expected. Anything to make the crunch for E3 even more crazy! I need some sleep bad, and I better get it before E3 hits. When E3 kicks off, sleep goes out the window! See you in a few, short hours.
This E3 is bringing about some of the craziest rumors I've ever seen. There are a ton of really out-there topics...some of which seem pulled out of the internet's you-know-what. Every E3 always pushes the rumor mill into overdrive, but something about this year's show has the gaming collective pumping out more content then ever before.
One of the more interesting/crazy/weird ideas that we've heard involves not one, but two famous Nintendo franchises. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've most likely heard about the rumor concerning a mash-up of Metroid and StarFox. To sweeten the pot, it's said that Retro is the company behind bringing these two franchises together.
As I said, this is purely rumor for now...but what a rumor! Can you think of any other E3 rumor that was so brazen in its insanity, but also seems crazy enough to be the real deal? I'm completely torn right down the middle on this one. I can't decide if it's silly enough to be true or crazy enough that it's completely fake.
We'll find out for sure when E3 rolls around. Until then, I'd love to hear from you guys. Is this a project that you want to see happen? Do you think it could actually work? What type of game would you want it to be? Is this idea just a disaster waiting to happen?!
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Disaster waiting to happen. Just because Retro is supposedly the one working on it doesn't mean the idea will instantly turn to gold, either.
Bad ideas, even when given to such talented people, are still bad ideas. Simple as that.
Ugh, I was hoping those stupid FPS Metroids would stay in our past. There's no reason why they shouldn't be able to make a 3rd person Metroid experience in 3D
No. No. Nononononono. No. NO!
This is precisely what was said when a Metroid First-Person-Shooter was announced. Yes, a talented developer can make bad or stupid ideas work. Making Metroid first-person was just as much a disaster waiting to happen. I've learned to trust the developers who deliver quality on a regular basis. Making it first-person, trying the two-worlds style of gameplay, and finally adding motion controls, all the while -not- screwing up the feel of the Metroid games. That's no small feet.
Sorry you didn't like the Metroid Prime games. a 3rd-person Metroid in 3D? That happened. That was a thing. People hated it because Samus, turns out, isn't Master Chief. Now we're back to Prime gameplay (if the rumors hold true) and I can't help but feel that this is the direct result of Other:M's unfair reception by the very people who constantly complain about unchanging Nintendo franchises. (Flame-Shield = Up.)
No, people complained about the gameplay because it was cumbersome as well as being completely unpolished, linear and counter-productive. Also, the story made no sense and it didn't try to.
While both a standalone Star Fox or new Metroid game from Retro sound appealing, a mashup sounds quite zany. That said, I believe if any studio can pull off such an oddball mashup game idea and have it be any semblance of a good thing, it would be Retro.
Changing perspective isn't comparable to mixing light hearted comical series to a cold sci-fi expedition. I love both, but they don't mix, and I would cringe to see Retros efforts wasted for mixing them. We get only so many Retro games for each generation, so be careful what you wish for.
I love fun, happines and love, they are my favorite emotions, but there is room for other feelings too and Metroid is my favorite source for isolation, loneliness and strange tranquility that I miss so much right now.
I'm not here to talk about Other:M. All I did was address what's easily the most common complaint hurled at the game, and that's Samus herself. I'll give you that the plot was horrid but I disagree with unpolished and counter-productive. I saw the game as a response to the before-mentioned complaint at Nintendo rehashing the same game over and over again. Nintendo does something different and people hate it and ask why Nintendo moved away from what worked, or ask for a Super Metroid 2. If anything, Other:M was an excellent blueprint for a sequel to jump off of.
When you have gameplay mechanics that dissuade you from exploring/collecting things, that is when something becomes counter-productive and in turn unpolished. At that point, players don't want to do those things because there are mechanics working against that goal. That's really what Other M does. Now you could make a 3rd person Metroid game in that gameplay style, but you'd have to scrap and rework a lot of it to get it to work. Because if that game was an indication of the future of Metroid, a lot of people don't want a part of it.
But right now people would rather have a sure thing (FPA) than someone continuing to fumble around with the franchise with experiments. Especially when the last experiment was a complete and utter failure.
Which was completely unfounded to begin with. Retro never had any intention of turning Metroid into a shooter in the first place.
Hashing Metroid together with something as quirky as Star Fox doesn't work, no matter how you try to dress it up. They're both, uh...worlds apart, shall we say.
Yes I do think it could work.
But then I think a Mario/Fire Emblem could work.
Or a Nintendogs/Goldeneye mashup.
It's all in design and compromise. But no-one has really tried, and if Mario & sonic are any indication of mash ups, developers are too concerned with consistency or game design. The interview for it said a platformer just "wouldn't work" so they chose a neutral location like the olympics.
I'm sure there is an audience for eccentric mash ups. I would buy Pikmin + Earthbound
This idea has fan-wank written all over it, which is why I'm sure it won't happen. Besides what everyone else has said, Metroid is essentially about a single character (Other M notwithstanding), while StarFox is about a whole fleet of characters. There'd be too conspicuous an imbalance.
If there is any truth to this rumor, it's that Retro is doing a StarFox game, and that Samus and her ship get a cameo. That's the closest this idea could come to making sense.
I would rather have a star fox game from retro on the Wii U and a metroid game from retro on the wii u later, i wouldn't mind having both.
I can see it working if retro gave Samus a more cartoony look or gave the starfox crew a more "proportioned" look, but both may ruin many gamers image of either franchise. Not to mention the more mature look is exactly what Nintendo needs for the Wii U to display it's HD prowess.
When I first read that rumor, I thought to myself, "No way this is happening" and that's probably still true. However, if I think about it, part of me wishes that it did become true only to see how a cross over between Starfox and Metroid would be like. In the rumor, it mentioned that the StarFox portion of the game would still be on rails, meanwhile the Metroid version would still keep its exploration aspects and you'd be able to skip whichever portion you wanted. When i think about it like that, I think it wouldn't work. My 2 cents.
And where has Paul Gale been!? He used to post here all the time and I don't see him anymore!
Considering the fact that a Pokemon/Nobunaga's Ambition crossover S-RPG is being released, yes a Metroid/Star Fox crossover could indeed work. However, I don't think it could work the way the (more-than-likely bogus) rumor described (Retro Studios' involvement being the most fan-wanky of the things described). Basically I imagine something that has ground sections like Other M/Star Fox Adventures and space battle sections like Star Fox. Have Samus and the team interact with banter and character moments (including some ones with Rob 64 and Adam) and there you have it. Furthermore, have Fox and Samus have different abilities for their ships as well as their ground sections in order to make varied level design.
Well, I don't know if AlienvsPredator is a good comparison to this(StarFox - Metroid), but I see this from that way.
I'm not a Alien- or Predator-fan, but I think that some fans where a bit upsad when the AlienvsPredator comic first came out and that other were excited by the idea.
I don't know how well the comics sold, but I know that when the AlienvsPredator-game came in 1993,
many people love the game.(I know is a beat em up
and is not a good comparison to this rumor)
The first Alien-movie was a scary sci.fi movie and the first Predator-movie where more of a, in-presen-time, action-movie(?)
The same can say about this rumor:
Starfox is a on-rail-space-shoter-game and Metroid is a exploring-space-world-alone-game
Alien had the ultimate alien-predator-monster and Predator had the ultimate alien-hunter-monster so the AlienvsPredator seem so strange back then.
(And there are both aliens)
Both Starfox and Metroid are set in a sci-fi spaceworld, so they should work good together.
But there only problem is that Starfox.co are talking human-sized animal and that Samus is a human, but remember that where raised by Chozes which are human-sized birds.
So that is not a big problem, really.
I think that Retro Studio's is a game-studio who want challenge when they creates games.
For Metroid Prime and DKCR are very different game with very different gameplay. (FPA vs. Platformer)
The rumor first say that Retro Studio's wanted to do "a new ip that involved 3rd person sci-fi action with intense aerial combat".
And then is say that "other apparently where leaning towards taking the Star Fox helm".
For if this game where Starfox with on-foot-adventures (aka StarfoxAdventure) some of you maybe would call this a non-Stafox-game or a Starfox-game with Metroid-inspired gameplay-
And if this where Metroid with aerial combat some of you maybe would call this non-Metroid-game or a Metroid-game with Starfox-inspired gamepaly.
And on the Darksiders 2-talk some said that the game look like a game with Zelda-GoW-SotC-PoP-gamplay.
So Retro maybe didn't wanted to have a game that had Starfox-gameplay and Metroid-gameplay without being a Starfox-game or a Metroid-game.
Therefore a Starfox X Metroid sound possible.
(You can forget about the AlienvsPredator-talk)
Hmm... Starfox is heavily influenced by Star Wars; Metroid would be Aliens and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Would they go together?
I'd rather see a Wind Waker and Metroid Prime mashup. The sailing portions reminded me of these road trips I took. If I saw anything interesting going on, I would stop by. When I would arrive at a science museum, national park or garden the soundtrack from Metroid Prime would start playing in my head. I've always wanted to see Metroid Prime in a comic book style with thick black outlines and Mike Mignola backgrounds like Metroid Zero Mission or Borderlands.
Retro Studios is the developer I'm excited about the most right now. I'm pretty sure they'll take care of it, if this turns out to be true. They are like the new Rare, aren't they? Hope there's multiplayer on par with Goldeneye.
I wonder how many people thought that a huge crossover of several Disney franchises and Final Fantasy would work back in 2001. This crazy combo did, though. And so well that it has spawned enough sequels to become a franchise itself. I am talking about Kingdom Hearts, of course.
Provided this rumor is true, I will reserve judgement until I know more about the game. As a long time Star Fox fan I do find the idea scary, but I can imagine that a scenario exists where it would work, and if anyone can pull this crazy idea off, it's Retro.
But I am concerned. My biggest problem with Star Fox Adventures was the obvious feeling that you weren't playing a real Star Fox game (which it wasn't, it was Rare's Dinosaur Planet re-badged with Star Fox shoehorned into it). But, given the difference between Star Fox and Metroid, I don't think it is possible to retain the feel of either series.
But, I think Star Fox has more to give than Metroid here. Many Star Fox fans have wanted to see the series get a little bet "darker" than it has. While this certainly isn't the totality, there are enough fans out there that want a darker game that I don't see it being an issue. This crossover could see how the Star Fox characters work in a darker environment.
As far as Star Fox gameplay, On-Rails can only do so much these days. Most fans I've dealt with wouldn't mind seeing more of a Star Fox Assault experience, but actually done more solidly and longer. The game felt unpolished. Polished, it really could have been that "true sequel" to Star Fox 64 we've been wanting.
If you take the Star Fox Assault model, there is a way you can create a unified experience between Star Fox and Metroid. The game would bring a bit more on-foot play to Star Fox, while bringing a bit more vehicular combat to Metroid.
I never got seriously into Metorid, so I can't really provide much in the way of analysis from that perspective. But from the Star Fox side, it can work. Maybe. But the potential for a disaster is high. This kind of crossover needs to be approached very carefully. Who knows, the idea may just be crazy enough to work.
This a thousand times over. The Metroid Prime Trilogy were a fantastic group of great games but I felt that by the end of the third one Retro had done everything they needed to do with it. I'd love to see what they could do in 3rd person with a more nimble Samus. Retro has proved that they're a talented group so I have faith in them.
Other M's gameplay was far from what I'd call cumbersome. Yea maneuvering with the Dpad wasn't as buttery smooth as analog but the character didn't move like they were slogging through mud. And while the game was more or less linear, Other M wasn't the first one to go this route. Has everyone forgotten about a game called Metroid Fusion?
Other M's "exploration" portion may have opened up after the credits rolled but at least it wasn't like how in Fusion where if you didn't play smart and ended up running into the Navigation Room after beating Ridley X you were pretty much screwed out of exploring the station via the secret tunnels that could be accessed thanks to the Screw Attack.
As for this Starfox/Metroid crossover, I won't deny I was skeptical as hell about it. As for whether or not its real is to be seen but if it is true I have faith Retro will craft a solid experience. Besides this could pave the way for that damn Mario/Sonic platformer crossover everyone has been wanting to happen.
This would be a disaster. No question.
But then, I'm one of the few who thinks Kid Icarus turned out to be a disaster. Most consider me wrong there.
Boils down to taste.
Personally, I find this concept extremely distasteful.
I think KingBroly expressed a pretty good reason why in one of his comments.
There is one thing I absolutely don't want, and it's a Metroid Prime 4.
Metroid Prime was a cool FPS but a very bad Metroid. If they go back to Prime after OtherM and it sells well, then all hope of seeing a real 3D Metroid game would be lost. Just because reviewers hated that Samus is in fact a cool character with feelings and doubts. Not a stupid archetyped super-hero spacemarine. Just because of that, Nintendo would never get another shot at a real 3d Metroid game. And we would be stuck with the FPS formula for this licence. That would be like going the Castlevania route.
For these reasons, if there is a Metroid Prime 4, I sincerely hope it will bomb hard. I would take a hundred crossover games rather than a Prime 4.
@thorn-rock
Based on what you just said (in regards to Prime being a 'terrible Metroid') I can only assume that your definition of a good Metroid exists only in the form of Super Metroid. Woe betide you...
Some people wanted Metroid to take a break or die just because of one cruddy game, Other M. Heck, wasn't there a rumor Nintendo was going to stop making Metroid games for a while?
I'm personally glad that isn't the case, that is, if the rumor proves to be true. I've been waiting for a crossover that wasn't either a fighting, racing, or party game. Since Mario & Sonic will never happen, this would have to do.
actually no, I think Super Metroid is interesting because it offers a lot of freedom, but clearly the last iterations showed that the series was aiming for a mix between exploration and faster gameplay. I think it was always part of the charm of the series that it can be finished in two hours if you know it by heart and it has arcade elements when it comes to combat.
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