In 2015, independent writer Liam Robertson revealed that Retro Studios planned to incorporate a fully playable Super Metroid in the GameCube first-person shooter Metroid Prime, but Nintendo rejected the proposal. At the time, Robertson had to keep his source private, but we now have clear proof that his reporting was correct. In an interview with Kiwi Talkz, former Metroid Prime creator David Kirsch, popularly known as Zoid, confirmed it flatly.
Zoid speaks out
Kirsch was hired by Retro Studios to work on a project named Thunder Rally, but it was scrapped, and he ended up working on Metroid Prime instead. He had never played Super Metroid before, and he wanted to do so in order to better comprehend his new project. He ended up really enjoying it and stated he finished it in about three days. It’s possible that this is what prompted the inclusion of Super Metroid in Metroid Prime.
Kirsch stated, “I ported a SNES emulator to the GameCube and got it really running, just for fun,” and he asked Retro whether Super Metroid could be included in Metroid Prime. Retro then approached Nintendo, but the company declined because it refused to employ third-party emulation software in their games. However, since Nintendo had a NES emulator for the GameCube, this situation eventually allowed the original Metroid to be accessed through the link connection with Metroid Fusion on the Game Boy Advance.
