Metroid Prime 2 wasn’t just a sequel, it was a sprint. In a recent excerpt from Metroid Prime 1–3: A Visual Retrospective, longtime producer Kensuke Tanabe opened up about the high-pressure race to complete Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in just two years. His behind-the-scenes account offers a raw look at how Nintendo and Retro Studios managed to ship a fully-fledged follow-up without sacrificing vision or gameplay quality.

Nintendo pushed Retro hard after Metroid Prime’s success

After the original Metroid Prime made waves in 2002, Nintendo didn’t waste time. According to Tanabe, the directive from the top was clear: get the next game done fast. Rather than taking the safer route with a smaller-scale Metroid Prime 1.5 multiplayer project, Retro insisted on building a true sequel from scratch.

Tanabe confirmed that Retro Studios wanted “a robust, standalone sequel,” and Nintendo agreed on one condition: finish it in two years.

No extensions, no delays, just daily progress

Working under what Tanabe called a non-negotiable timeline, the team had to make tough calls daily during the final months. “In the final three to four months, we had to resolve undecided matters at an incredible pace. And turn them into tangible progress every day,” he wrote. That meant cutting through red tape, accelerating creative decisions, and trimming every possible delay.

How Nintendo translated at speed to keep momentum

Even localization a usually slow process was transformed into a verbal relay race. Translators and interpreters would take turns skimming, summarizing, and reading aloud in Japanese. So decisions could be made immediately, without stopping to write everything down.

Tanabe described the mood inside Retro as intense but energized. At one point, while tweaking gameplay elements in real time, he joked with the team: “Alright, let’s overclock our brains now!”

Metroid Prime multiplayer mode survived the crunch and could see a comeback

Despite the rushed schedule, Metroid Prime 2’s multiplayer mode made the cut, offering local competitive matches for up to four players. Tanabe admitted that not many players experienced it due to its couch-only nature. But he expressed hope for a remake that might give it new life on modern systems.

“If it is remade, I would be delighted for more people to have the chance to experience it,” he added.

Retro’s remastering work was a passion project

Alongside Tanabe’s reflections, Retro Studios also shared stories about the making of Metroid Prime Remastered for Nintendo Switch. The excerpt doesn’t reveal every detail, but it shows that the team approached the remaster with real affection for the franchise and likely worked with a far more forgiving schedule.

The takeaway? Metroid Prime 2: Echoes may not have had years of development luxury, but what Retro achieved under pressure still holds up. Two years, no delays, and a full sequel with multiplayer that’s rare air.