Metroid Prime Remastered Is In Big Trouble
Metroid Prime Remastered is being called out for failing to credit developers involved in the original game.
The remaster of the best game in the Metroid series launched approximately a week ago, much to the delight of many, including both the fans and the critics. And while the game’s release was certainly appreciated, Metroid Prime Remastered soon found itself under criticism and hot water for pretty significant exclusions from its credits.
According to IGN, two developers who originally worked on the original game in 2002 noticed that the original team that worked on it wasn’t included in the Metroid Prime Remastered’s credits. The only thing that credits those who ever came in contact with an original game is a card stating that the remaster is based on the work of Metroid Prime development staff, failing to list a single name involved in the development of the original. The developers who worked on the original game expressed their disappointment via social media.
Zoid Kirsch, who previously worked for the original development studio, Retro Studios, posted the screenshot of Metroid Prime Remastered’s credit roll, followed up by a comment that basically says that the remaster is great but that he’s let down by the lack of credits to those who worked on the original game. He also stated that he worked with many amazing people on the game, and everyone’s name should be included in the credit roll.
This also attracted the attention of his former colleague, Jack Mathews, who had added his two cents.
Mathews, a former tech lead on the Metroid Prime Remastered series at Retro Studios, called the lack of credits a travesty. According to him, it’s not just about the lack of credit to him—as he states, most of his code was probably replaced—but to those whose code and work remained largely unchanged, including concept artists and game designers. He concluded his comment with the word “shameful.”
And truly, it is shameful; everyone involved with the development deserves recognition for their work, regardless of where they’re positioned during the development process.
But Nintendo’s Metroid Prime Remastered isn’t the only game that doesn’t provide adequate recognition to those who deserve it. 2018’s remake of the legendary Shadow of Colossus may have inspired a crazy-looking game, but it also failed to credit the original development team.
Sure, Bluepoint Games had to recreate all the assets from the ground up, but the remake still used the original codebase from the PlayStation 2 game developed by Team Ico. The same happened with 2017’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and 2022’s Pac-Man World Re-Pac.
And the Metroid Prime Remastered syndrome, characterized by the lack of due credits, extends beyond gaming. Recently, the original co-creator of The Last of Us video game, Bruce Starley, spoke out about not being credited for the same-name television series running on HBO. Television releases based on gaming titles are just that—based on something.
Hence, they rarely credit gaming developers by name; in most cases, the credits just read “Based on [insert IP name] by [insert developer/publisher name].”
However, The Last of Us series faithfully adheres to the overall narrative of the game, with only masterful deviations, and Bruce Starley made significant contributions to the narrative of the game that was adapted by HBO. As for Metroid Prime Remastered, Nintendo still hasn’t addressed the controversy, and it is unclear at this time whether the company plans to rectify the situation or not.
