SNES Classic Edition: Dev Interview Volume 2 - Super Metroid (development, cinematic feeling, baby Metroid sounds)

The following comes from a Nintendo internal interview with the Super Metroid dev team.

On the start of development

Sakamoto: It didn't start because I said I wanted to make it. My boss at the time was Makoto Kano. He has retired, so I'll use the honorific "san" with his name. Kano-san said, "Sakamoto-kun, make a Metroid game for Super NES. I'll create an environment for it, so we should do it!"

On creating a cinematic feeling

Sakamoto: Yes. We had a strong desire to make something that people would compare to a movie. We put a lot of effort into how to present the text, having the camera move so you see a collapsed researcher, revealing that the strange cries come from a baby Metroid, and so forth. Beforehand, I actually made a video on VHS to convey that feeling.

On creating the baby Metroid sound

Yamamoto: Yeah! (laughs) For that, I think I was able to generate a realistic sound without taking up too much memory. Sakamoto was also extremely picky about the sound of the baby Metroid.

Sakamoto: I'm a very picky person! (laughs)

Yamamoto: Sakamoto would make orders like, "Here, the baby Metroid feels this way, so create a sound that conveys that emotion."

Sakamoto: For example, after the baby Metroid swoops at Samus and you realize that it thinks of her as its mother, it makes an uneasy sound like "Pwee! Pwee!" And when it gets shot, it makes a pained sound like "Pweeeee!" They're all "pwee" sounds, but I wanted them to convey different emotions depending on the situation.

Yamamoto: I remember working terribly hard on the baby Metroid cries. The other day, while working on Metroid: Samus Returns for Nintendo 3DS, I retrieved the data for Super Metroid and checked it out. The baby Metroid had three different sounds, and when I listened to them, I thought, "Ah, they really do express emotion!"