Summary
Former Retro Studios developers Jack Mathews and Zoid Kirsch revealed a cut feature fromMetroid Prime 2: Echoes, where the team toyed around with the idea of including the iconic Space Pirates in the game’s multiplayer mode as playable characters.Metroid Prime 2: Echoesis the second entry in the subseries developed by Retro Studios after the critical and commercial success of the firstMetroid Prime.Prime 2was first released on the GameCube in 2004 and was ported to the Wii as part of theMetroid Prime Trilogycollection in 2009.
While the single-player campaign ofMetroid Prime 2is fairly similar to the first game’s, it also boasts a number of new gameplay features, such as traveling toLink to the Past-esque Light and Dark worlds, new items, and a multiplayer mode. In the multiplayer mode, up to four players can participate in either a deathmatch mode, needing to get the most kills, or collect coins in bounty mode. Players can also obtain a variety of upgrades, like the Light and Dark beams, to get the edge over their opponents. All four players play as recolored Samuses, but Retro Studios originally were considering the Space Pirates as potential playable characters as well.
In an interview with the Kiwi Talkz podcast (timestamp 48:37), Jack Mathews and Zoid Kirsch discussed howPrime 2almost featured playable Space Pirates. Traditionally,Metroid’s villainous Space Pirates factionare typically enemies that the player will run into and gun down, and are the most recurring enemy type in the franchise. In thePrimesubseries, they have a similar build to Samus and would have been perfect to be subbed in as potential playable characters. However, the idea didn’t get very far into development.
Space Pirates Were in Consideration for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes' Multiplayer Mode at One Point
Jack Mathews explained some of the ideas the developers had when working on the Space Pirates forMetroid Prime 2’s multiplayer, where they would have fundamentally different abilities compared to Samus herself. Some of the prototyped ideas for the pirates were to give them the ability to cling to walls and unique cannon arm models, but they didn’t get very far with the concept. As such, the multiplayer mode ofMetroid Prime 2features four different colored Samuses wearing her traditional Varia suit instead.
Currently,Retro Studios is hard at work developingMetroid Prime 4: Beyond, which is scheduled to launch sometime in 2025. Not much aboutPrime 4is known other than its main antagonist being Sylux and the Space Pirates being involved again. Alongside this, there have been rumors of aMetroid Prime 2: EchoesHD remaster for the Switch, though this has yet to be officially confirmed by Retro Studios or Nintendo.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
WHERE TO PLAY
A War of Light and DarknessBecome the bounty hunter behind the visor once more! Hunted by a mysterious entity and a warning race called the Ing, Serus Aren must explore the light and dank worlds of a doomed planet, but time runs short…- Tons of new power-ups await, including the Dark and Light Beams, which make use of an all-new ammo system.- Travel through portals between Light and Dark Aether as you explore massive worlds crawling with enemies.- Scan environments, upgrade your suit and visors, and explore every nook ant cranny in Morph Ball mode.- Up to four players can battle as they search for weapons, grapple across ceilings, and turn into Morph Balls to escape.
