Super Metroid - Development

Development

Super Metroid was developed by Nintendo R&D1 with a staff of 15 people managed by Gunpei Yokoi. The game was directed and written by Yoshio Sakamoto, and produced by Makoto Kano, with music composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano. The game, which was released almost a decade after the original Metroid game, took half a year to gain approval for the initial idea, and actual development of the game took two more years to complete. When asked why the game took so long to make, Sakamoto responded, "We wanted to wait until a true action game was needed. And also to set the stage for the reappearance of Samus Aran." Super Metroid attempts to stay true to its predecessors. Its music uses 16-bit versions of music from previous games, and previously visited areas reappear. Nintendo Power complimented, "This is great for fans who get an almost seamless transition from the previous games," noting that it also made it easier for the developers of Super Metroid to build the game because they could reuse existing material. Reused areas were modified "to correct parts we were unhappy about in the original game". Previously seen areas were added to Super Metroid to add a sense of familiarity that would satisfy players of previous Metroid games, and "the new sections also give a much greater sense of drama to the game." Sakamoto noted that Super Metroid was deeper and more involved than previous Metroid games, and considered it to have a more dramatic overtone.

The developers' primary goal was to make the game a "good action game". They wanted the game to have a large map, but found it difficult to organize the amount of graphic data involved. Coming up with several ideas, the developers decided to break the game up into many mini-adventures. Sakamoto observes, "Thus, the major goal was how to create an effective mix of all the separate elements. We believe that we have almost completely succeeded in our objective." New weapons are introduced to the Metroid series in Super Metroid, including the Grapple Beam, used to latch a laser beam onto the ceiling. The game is the first in the series to let Samus fire in all directions while moving, and it is among the first open world games to offer the player a mapping facility. The feature shows the outlines of rooms, locations of important rooms, and dots for special items. Shortly before the game's release, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a self-regulating organization, was formed in response to the increasing violence found in games such as 1992's Mortal Kombat. When asked whether he thought that recent game violence controversy would cause any negative backlash for Super Metroid, Sakamoto stated, "We don't think there's too much violence in the game." Using Samus as an example, he explained that her purpose is to maintain peace in the galaxy, claiming, "It's not violence for the sake of violence." Sakamoto mentioned that there was a possibility for a Metroid game for Nintendo's upcoming video game console, the Nintendo 64, then referred to as "Project Reality", but reminded that it was not guaranteed.