Nintendo’s long-awaitedMetroid Dreadhas been met with much jubilation from fans and critics alike. As a sequel to 2002’sMetroid Fusion, it’s a 2D side-scrolling adventure where the player controls Samus and explores the depths of the Planet ZDR. The adventure encapsulates some of the best parts of the franchise, including its dark oppressive atmosphere and deep exploration mechanics - withsequence breaking inMetroid Dreadalso being possible. To celebrate the title’s roaring success, one fan thought it would be fun to imagine what the game would look like in an earlier entry’s style.
Hardcore fans of the series who have been with the series from the beginning know that the road was long and winding. Thetroubled history ofMetroid Dreadextends all the way back to 2005, when there were rumors that this game would be released on the Nintendo DS. These rumors persisted for several years, with Nintendo neither denying or confirming the game’s existence. Further, the producer of the series, Yoshio Sakamoto, only siad that the limitations of the Nintendo DS held back its development. As a result, there could have been a chance thatMetroid Dreadmight have ended up as a sprite-based game on the old machine, instead of the 2.5D look that it has today.
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As such, the art of this demake essentially captures the idea ofMetroid Dreadin the style ofSuper Metroid, with a hint ofMetroid Fusion. This art was created by @Rachels_ham on Twitter, who is a pixel artist and illustrator that specializes in creating video game demake art. Her latest tribute art depicts Samus in her starting suit, preparing the Omega Cannon to use againstMetroid Dread’s intimidating new enemy, the EMMI robot.
The demake aspects can be seen quite clearly through theSuper Metroidinspired UI elements for Samus' health, items, and map, with the effects that showcase the Omega Cannon charging up also being incredible.The EMMIis even depicted in a way that evokes its full design fromMetroid Dread, while also giving it a very retro look.
While many fans praised the aspects that called back toSuper Metroid, the darker pallette and horror atmosphere reminded them more ofMetroid Fusion. This did, however, make fans clamor for a demake ofMetroid Dreadthat would bring to mind these classic elements of the franchise, as well as the beautiful sprite work that could be utilized. While that is unlikely to actually happen, fans can always look to this art for an idea of how it would look.
Metroid Dreadis available now exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
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