Super Metroid director says he’s still haunted by nap room that “smelled like a zoo” ~ Amazing News 2020

Super Metroid director says he’s still haunted by nap room that “smelled like a zoo”

By Sickr on August 16, 2026

Acclaimed Super Metroid director Yoshio Sakamoto talked about the conditions during development of Nintendo’s 1994 Super NES classic, Super Metroid. The team worked extremely hard and were often working very long hours to get the game delivered as intended. Because of this the team members slept over at the office as it was so late and they were so tired. Mr. Sakamoto says that one morning a staff member from another area came to wake them up and told them that the room smelled like a zoo. He recalled that it was “quite sad having only these kinds of memories!,” but they know they ultimately produced a stunning game.

During Super Metroid’s development, Nintendo was still located at its previous headquarters in Higashiyama. That building “became like a boarding house for the Super Metroid team,” according to Sakamoto. “It got to the stage where I really don’t remember going home at all! There was a nap room where it was okay to sleep, but sometimes it was full [of sleeping, overworked Super Metroid staff] – those were the worst times, when I wanted to sleep but couldn’t, and I didn’t have time to go home!”

“There were always between ten and fifteen of us in the office through the night, so we had to take naps in turns. The nap room wasn’t being cleaned or looked after at all, because we were always using it; one morning staff from another area came to wake us up and told us that the room smelled like a zoo. Another Nintendo employee put a room freshener in the nap room, but that only made the place pong even worse. Everyone in Nintendo gave us funny looks,” Sakamoto said with a laugh. “It’s quite sad having only these kinds of memories!”

“Yokoi-san, who at the time was my section chief and who always had fresh ideas, was always angry when he saw us all completely absorbed and working crazy overtime on Super Metroid,” Sakamoto explained. “He came in and said, ‘Are you lot trying to produce a work of art or something?’ [Laughs] But this was an epic and we were already way past our deadline, and it seemed we were getting progressively further from our objectives – Yokoi-san was becoming angrier with us day by day during that period.”

Thanks Edward B for sending in the news tip!