An industry insider claims that Nintendo is working on a Metroid Prime remaster, which is scheduled for release later this year.

When Metroid Prime was released in 2002, it was a bold move for the classic Nintendo franchise. The first Metroid game for the GameCube iced the series’ classic side-scrolling formula in favour of a 3D first-person shooter style, which was later praised as one of Metroid’s best entries. The hugely successful game spawned a trilogy between GameCube and Wii, with a fourth Metroid Prime game currently in development. Now, an insider claims that the revolutionary Metroid game could soon be getting a new look.

The release of Metroid Prime comes after a long hiatus for the franchise, as Samus skipped the Nintendo 64 and was released eight years after Super Metroid debuted on the SNES.

Prime became one of the best-selling games on GameCube and was named one of the best games of all time by several publications. Now, insider Jeff Grubb has revealed that Metroid Prime will reportedly get a remaster later this year.

In a recent episode of his Game Mess Mornings podcast, Grubb revealed that Nintendo is apparently working on a “big remaster” of Metroid, which is supposedly coming around Christmas 2022. Grubb referred to the Prime remaster as a major “overhaul” of the original game, suggesting that the remaster will likely be quite comprehensive. He later revealed that Nintendo is reportedly working on a remaster for the second and third instalments, though work is nowhere near where it was for the first game.

The holiday season release of the Metroid Prime remaster would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the game’s release, which Grubb also touched on during the segment.

Nintendo or Retro Studios have yet to announce the rumoured remaster officially. However, Nintendo’s planned remaster would not be the first attempt to modernize the game, as a mod team called Team MPR remastered Metroid Prime earlier this year.

Rumours of an updated version come as fans continue to await news of Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime 4. It seems to have been stuck in development limbo since its initial reveal in 2017 before being moved from Bandai Namco to Retro Studios in 2019. Retro Studios has yet to reveal any gameplay from the Metroid title in development, suggesting that a Metroid Prime 4 release could be a long way off.

Source: Twitch