With their re-imagined takes on Nintendo’s classic franchises, Retro Studios has made quite the name for itself in the industry; Metroid Prime and Prime 2: Echoes were some of the highest-selling titles on the GameCube, and ended up being system-sellers themselves. With Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for Wii U now out of the way, what’s next for the Texas-based development studio?
Retro Studios resides in Austin, TX, and is responsible for not only taking Nintendo’s legendary bounty hunter into the 3rd dimension with Metroid Prime, but more recently awakening Donkey Kong from his long slumber, with the releases of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. According to an internal interview between Gamespot Editor Peter Brown, Retro CEO and President Michael Kellbaugh and Nintendo Producer Kensuke Tanabe, the Texas-based developer is currently working on another Nintendo title. While it wasn’t confirmed what exactly this new project is, Shigeru Miyamoto holds Retro in high regard, already trusting them with the Metroid property. While Miyamoto has stated that it’s possible for a new Zelda title to emerge, Tecmo Koei is already working on the “Hyrule Warriors” action game for the Wii U.
As DKC Returns was later given a 3D version on the 3DS, it’s possible that a handheld version of Tropical Freeze could be in works. However, Retro’s main platform focus appears to be the Wii U, as Kellbaugh is very enthusiastic about Nintendo’s mid-gen console. Despite poor sales figures, and an ever-expanding lack of 3rd-party support, Kellbaugh states that the Wii U is a technical “powerhouse” and it’s “more than adequate to make great games on”. The newest DKC game is also the first HD title to come from the studio, which suggests that more HD projects could be on the way for the Wii U.
With Summer on the horizon, there’s a high probability that more information will be revealed in the months to come. Whatever the mystery game from Retro Studios may be, perhaps a new announcement will come from Nintendo at E3 2014. As the possibilities are endless, and several iconic Nintendo franchises have been absent from the Wii and 3DS, leave a comment below and tell us what game you’d like to see from Retro next!