Retro Studios

About

Retro Studios, founded in 1998, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Company, Ltd.

Founded in 1998, Retro Studios has gained a legacy of producing award-winning titles with its partner and parent, Nintendo. It all started with bringing the classic Metroid universe into the 3D era with Metroid Prime on the GameCube in 2002. Not content with only adding a first-person perspective, we also paid homage to Metroid’s gameplay roots in stylish and innovative ways, garnering universal acclaim. Prime was followed by two sequels that continued its intriguing saga – Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on the GameCube in 2004, and the motion-controlled Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on the Wii in 2007. In 2009, we updated the graphics and controls for all three Prime titles and released them for the Wii in one final love song called Metroid Prime: Trilogy.

Turning from Metroid’s interstellar mysteries, we found ourselves romping through a tropical wonderland in 2010’s Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii. Many of us relived our videogame childhoods as we created an all-new platforming adventure for DK and Diddy, and we wanted each moment in every level to be a treat for the big guy and his little buddy. We topped it all with lush graphics, audio and effects, and audiences agreed that Returns was a beloved hit.

In 2011, Retro accepted a side mission, collaborating with Nintendo EAD to bring Mario Kart 7 to the 3DS. We were honored to include characters and ideas from Returns among our contributions to this latest installment of the classic racer. Meanwhile, we were engineering the 2014 return of Returns on the WiiU with Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, an island-hopping sequel co-starring the cantankerous Cranky and delightful Dixie. Packed with imaginative environments and an incomparable score, Tropical Freeze further demonstrated Retro’s pride in crafting experiences that uphold Nintendo’s standard of quality.