The Nintendo SNES Classic developer interview from 2017 contains one of the best lines in the history of game development retrospectives. Gunpei Yokoi, the man who designed the original Metroid in 1986, was in the room while the Super Metroid team overran their schedule. His response, directed at the developers who were losing sleep and working through the holidays: "It isn't fine art! How long is this gonna take?!"

Super Metroid is now regularly placed in top-10-games-of-all-time lists. It has been performed by orchestras at live gaming concerts for two decades. It defined a genre. The genre carries its name.

17 People, One Futon Room

When the Super Metroid team was pushing toward the February 1994 release date, the office had a nap room with futons lined up wall to wall. Staff took turns sleeping. The development team was 17 people in total. That number is worth sitting with: a team smaller than most modern game marketing departments built one of the most analyzed and celebrated game worlds in history.

Director Yoshio Sakamoto and composer Kenji Yamamoto ate Christmas dinner together while watching news footage of other people celebrating. They came back on January 2nd. The local shops were still closed for the New Year holiday. Producer Kano bought box lunches for all 17 staff members because there was nothing else to eat.