I’ll be 100% honest here, when Nintendo announced Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the 3DS, I couldn’t believe what they were doing. Isn’t this the same game that Nintendo showed off as a new IP the other day, calling it Blast Ball? Hell even then people were putting one and one together, stating that it even reminded them of Metroid.
Nintendo even released a trailer calling it Blast Ball in the trailer, so everyone assumed that it was simply Blast Ball. I suppose that it’s cool and all, nothing to get worked over about, right?
We were so wrong……
And then today, Nintendo did the unthinkable…. they announced that Blast Ball was not a new IP and instead it was a mode in a new upcoming Metroid title, called Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the 3DS. Needless to say that people weren’t pleased with this, not at all. Not only is this not the game that fans of the Metroid wanted, they add insult to injury and added multiplayer to the game (which isn’t bad).
So why are people pissed off?
Simply put, this is not the Metroid that people were looking for. In the year of multiple metroidvania (it’s a term, look it up) games, why is it that one of the original games of this genre is still sitting this out? Why hasn’t Nintendo taken notice of the countless games that have been released and those that are still in development? And then there are those (like myself) who are still waiting on a another Metroid in the vein of Metroid Prime, A PROPER V, which despite what some critics say, it was unique yet rewarding take on the Metroid series. This however just doesn’t seem like Metroid. If anything, the vibe I got from the footage is more of a Monster Hunter in space, with crappy graphics. Ugh, Ninny, what is this?
But this, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, I don’t even see why this is a thing and neither does the masses of fans of Metroid. In fact, one fan has gone so far as to create an online petition to request the cancellation of the title. Don’t believe me, check it out here. And it’s already gained 1,434 supports, just 66 short of the required amount to submit it. Will it make any difference? No way in hell. But that’s not the point, that being the fans aren’t too happy about this.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force was announced at the Nintendo digital event on June 16, 2015. For almost a decade, long time Nintendo fans have been waiting for a true Metroid game. Metroid is one of Nintendo’s most beloved and respected franchises spanning almost 30 years of legacy. The foundations of isolation, atmosphere and exploration in unknown planets are what made Metroid great. With the release of the Wii U and its greater technological capabilities thousands of fans were expecting a new and improved Metroid game.
What we got however is a disgrace of a game with the name “Metroid” slapped on the title. It has no elements at all of what Metroid is about and its a disrespectful manner to old and new fans of the series of showing them that the Metroid franchise is not dead afterall. This is not the Metroid we asked Nintendo to make. We should let Nintendo know what we really think of the game and make them actually LISTEN to their fans for once. Help us stop this atrocity of a game from bearing the beloved Metroid franchise name and make Nintendo halt production on it. — Gilbert Manzanarez
Petition typically don’t work or at least not in the manner that most would expect them to, especially in this case. And while everyone is in their right to voice their opinion, I think that this particular petition could have been handled a little better, but the point is still made. Metroid fans just aren’t happy with this and when I say fans, there’s more than one person agreeing with Gilbert’s stance.
Even the trailer for Metroid Prime: Federation Force isn’t doing to well. If you take a look at the trailer on Nintendo’s Youtube channel, this has to be the first time that I’ve seen over 20,000 down votes on a video on the existence of Youtube. Not even the comments were positive, if that’s not a signal of something is going wrong I don’t know what is.
Nintendo, why don’t you get it? Why are you not listening to your fans? You know, the people that buy your games. Or is this your attempt to say that you made a Metroid game and it didn’t get purchased and didn’t met your numbers, only to abandon the title to your backlog forever. Actually now that you think about it, that seems really plausible, doesn’t it?
I’ll file Nintendo’s Metroid right next to Capcom’s Mega Man, under once great gaming series and lock the drawer forever.
