Metroid Prime dev worked on a Sheik-focused Zelda game with "Whac-a-mole" gameplay

New details on Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios' canceled Zelda game based on Sheik have emerged, and well, let's just say it's now pretty clear why Nintendo scrapped it.

You might remember back in 2020 we reported on some leaked concept art from Retro Studios showing a Zelda game starring Sheik. Now, new details come courtesy of DidYouKnowGaming (via VG247), which was able to chat with former Retro Studios programmer Paul Tozour about what the project looked like before it was canned.

Apparently, the game featured "badly undercooked" gameplay where the player controlled a stationary Sheik surrounded by vicious wolves. The player would've flicked the Wiimote to bop the wolves and defend themselves, and that was about the extent of it. Frankly, it sounds like a minigame that would've been bundled into an actual game as an extra, but apparently it was being designed as its own game.

Tozour describes the gameplay as Whac-a-mole-like, but even simpler. Whereas Whac-a-mole games require you to prioritize which moles to whack, apparently this Sheik game was just one wolf after the next, and the only challenge was moving the Wiimote at the right time.

"I see people commenting on that concept art on the internet and being like, 'oh my God. Retro was working on a Zelda game. That would've been so awesome,'" said Tozour. "I understand that feeling but what they have to understand is it was not actually a Zelda game. At no point was it anything like Zelda. It was an experiment gone wrong that happened to be set in the Zelda universe."

Unsurprisingly, Nintendo wasn't having any of Retro Studios' Whac-a-wolf Zelda game, although it's unclear if anyone at Nintendo actually saw footage from the project. Now we just need to find out what happened to the Mario Boo project, although I shudder to think what sort-of motion-controlled gimmick was being considered for that.

For everything on Nintendo's horizon, check out our guide to upcoming Switch games of 2022 and beyond.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.