Retro Studios has been one of Nintendo’s premiere development teams for years but there was a notable gap in their releases after Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze launched on the Wii U back in 2014. They assisted with the Switch port of the game but until Metroid Prime Remastered, we heard almost nothing besides that Retro was taking over development for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Many wondered what Retro Studios was doing at that time and if they had a game in development, and a new rumor indicates that they did but it was since cancelled. To elaborate, YouTuber Reece “Kiwi Talkz” Reilly has had extensive contact with former Retro Studios members over the years, interviewing them about everything and anything Metroid related, and also got a bit of information on other goings-on at Retro, including details on a scrapped game that started work after Tropical Freeze.
According to Kiwi Talkz found, Retro was working on a musical RPG where the main mechanic involved singing and the project was being worked on for years. However, the project was something of a disaster, and after spinning their wheels with the game for a considerable amount of time, Nintendo stepped in and had Retro get to work on Metroid Prime Remastered. This may have been for the best, if the game was going nowhere.
If this rumor is indeed true,perhaps we will see some more substantial leaks for this musical RPG in the future.
