Artist brilliantly remasters Super Metroid with modern-day graphics

It’s a commonly accepted notion that Super Metroid is ranked as one of the best games of all time. The third game in the Metroid franchise, it released way back in 1994 on the Super Nintendo when the game industry paid attention to things called “bits.” Super Metroid had 16 of them. Though indie games recently re-popularized pixelated, “retro” graphics, and though graphics shouldn’t be the biggest determining factor as to what makes a good game, no one argues with HD remakes or visual upgrades.

We’re not getting a remake of Super Metroid, but DeviantART user TJ Townsend shows us what it would be like.

The original screenshot Townsend spruced up was cobbled together from multiple in-game screenshots in order to get a 16:9 aspect ratio on which he could perform his magic. Like the background sprites taken from the game, Samus, Mother Brain, and the Metroid are all their proper selves as well. Townsend does point out that the Metroid wasn’t in that area in the game, but it’s not inconceivable that a Metroid could wander into Mother Brain’s lair.

Best of all, Townsend made a video of the painstaking process, so you can watch the screenshot transform before your eyes. Mercifully, the video is sped up to a bearable speed, even though it still clocks in at just over 14 minutes. Townsend states that the image took around 50 to 60 hours of work, and contained over 500 layers.

Nintendo doesn’t usually go the HD remake route with its games (though it does occasionally), but thanks to Townsend, an HD remake of Super Metroid is now something we can’t stop thinking about. That is, until a certain other remastered game gets released.