“In Japan there were lots of games traded into game shops the day they came out,” he said, before adding that he wanted to make the value of games closer to that of films, which lasted about the same amount of time, but cost about a sixth as much.

He then looked at Zelda for inspiration, as that game had a lot of exploration and backtracking that would increase the play time. Iga decided to add experience points and a light RPG system to incentivise retreading the same territory many times.

<…> He further noted that there was no internal codename for this sort of genre at the time and the studio simply called it a “2D exploration action game.”

Source. Emphases mine.

 

Experience points and a “light RPG system” on a sidescrolling action game? Sounds like not merely any Zelda. Heck it sounds like Zelda 2, the “black sheep” of the series.

 

Here is another excerpt where he talks about making more “2D exploration action games” with his planned company:

 

“In my heart, I really wanted to create a Legend of Zelda style game. But I suppose that when you turn Zelda into a 2D platformer, yes, it resembles Metroid.” When I mentioned the connection most likely stems from the fact that Symphony of the Night uses a map that looks remarkably similar to Super Metroid’s, he laughed. “I thought it was because of the game’s super jump, which is very similar to Super Metroid’s.” 

 

Source. Emphases mine.

Think about it. The inspiration for one of the greatest entries in the series was created when someone saw a business-related problem, thought outside of the box and employed a simple design methodology used by a game series whose modern entries no longer apply said methodology!

I really don’t think we would have gotten a masterpiece like SotN, largely regarded as the mainstream breakout title (or a “cop-out” in the eyes of hardcore Classicvania fans, depending on who you’re talking to) for the Castlevania series, if he had based it on newer Zeldas. And if that were the case then what of Metroid?

 

Nintendo really needs to get its act together. If they continue circling their wagons in defense then I’m calling the end of an empire.