Metroid Database.com

Some crafty internet sleuths from Kyoto Report have uncovered some artwork from an old prototype of a Metroid game under early development at Next Level Games. Sometime after development of Punch-Out!! was completed, Next Level Games began a prototype for their unreleased Metroid project. The company had something they were ready to show off to Nintendo, but Nintendo ordered them instead to work on Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.

The Metroid connection doesn't end there however. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was supervised by Ryuichi Nakada, a Nintendo veteran who did level design for both GBA Metroid games. In addition Next Level Games have announced earlier this year that they will be making games exclusively with Nintendo, so perhaps this concept will one day be revisited.

Source

--James Pierce