Dear Reader:
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption interview (audio side of things)
A portion of a Music 4 Games interview with Retro Studios and Kenji Yamamoto…
M4G: Retro Studios successfully redefined the Metroid universe with the release of Metroid Prime on the GameCube, which took the series from its side-scroller roots into the first-person shooter realm. While many familiar musical themes have been carried over from the original Metroid titles, does the audio team feel as though the Metroid sound went through as drastic a transformation?
Retro Studios: Since the sound transition was from on-chip sound synthesis for everything 2D Metroid to full resolution, sample-based sound effects and streaming audio for our 3D Metroid Prime, I would say that it would be fair to describe the audio transformation as drastic. It was a bold idea to create a 3D Metroid from the start, so the audio had to support that.
Yamamoto-san: When we made the shift from side-scrolling Metroid to a first-person adventure Metroid, we needed to have more realistic sound effects and environmental sounds. On top of that, since I wanted to give a strong impression of the Metroid universe to players experiencing this realistic first-person game environment, the important original theme of Metroid had to be arranged as well. The original Metroid theme arrangement blended well with the newly composed Metroid Prime music to create the distinct Metroid Prime universe. With the side-scrolling Metroid in mind, I thought I could make it sound more realistic and well suited for FPS game. From that stand point, I feel it is fair to say that the music for Metroid has transformed drastically.