Sammy Hall

Sammy Hall is a former Retro Studios contract artist who worked on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. He stayed on with the team for the development of Donkey Kong Country Returns. His artwork, some of which can be unlocked in the in-game Concept Gallery, depicts Crocomire, Federation Marines, the Reptilicus, SkyTown, the Powerworks, and the Gunship. The Crocomire artwork was drawn for fun while working at Retro Studios.
Hall has since retired from video game development, citing dissatisfaction with the industry's labor conditions.
==Biography==
After graduating from art school, Hall worked at Midway Games in Chicago, where he conceived environments for Stranglehold (overseen by the former producer of the Metroid film, Brad Foxhoven). A friend contacted him to say that things were going on at Retro, and Hall moved to Austin, Texas to work there. According to him, "I mostly got paid to sit in a room and draw just about anything I wanted non-stop for years, it was great." He found a challenge in drawing storyboards; since Metroid was a series that left much of the storytelling to the player's imagination, and Retro did not have the resources for big budget cinematics, he sought to keep the cutscenes to a minimum.Sammy Hall: Energy Tank Acquired. Shinesparkers July 21, 2018. https://shinesparkers.net/features/sammy-hall-energy-tank-acquired/
Hall wrote a feature for Shinesparkers in July 2018 entitled "Energy Tank Acquired", detailing his experience with Metroid before working at Retro Studios, and touching on his time there. He re-drew one of his rough Crocomire sketches in more detail for the site as well.
In May 2020, Shinesparkers discovered artwork shared by Hall on his ArtStation profile (since removed) that he created for abandoned game pitches based on Sheik (from The Legend of Zelda) and the Boo enemies from the Mario series. These never entered full production and the artwork was not seen by much of Nintendo, according to Hall.https://www.ign.com/articles/cancelled-zelda-sheik-boo-game Two years later, the YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming? obtained information about a cancelled Zelda game worked on by Hall between 2005-2008 from his website, internally titled Project X.DidYouKnowGaming? "Retro Studios' 2 Cancelled Zelda Games (Exclusive)" YouTube. September 3, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzlROEEMvBs
==Trivia==
*Hall played the original Metroid in his childhood, but since he did not understand the password system, he would always quit and lose his progress. His father bought him a copy of the game from Toys R Us, having been a fan of Alien (a film that greatly inspired Metroid). While staying at a remote bed and breakfast one weekend, the owner's son, a "tiny country boy", played through the entire game for Hall in one sitting without saying a word, and then left. Hall was pleased to see the ending, and discover Samus's true identity.
*In 2002, while he was in college, Hall's friend placed their copy of Super Metroid into his bag. Playing it ignited a love for Metroidvania games in him, and he played through classics such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Shadow Complex and Axiom Verge.
*Hall describes Austin as "just about the coolest place a gamer could ask to live", and that the nature there was an influence on Corruption. On Retro Studios, he said he hopes they will one day be able to create a unique game that will change how people see the medium of video games. He has also collaborated with Armature Studio and Bluepoint Games, studios founded by former Retro developers.
==Gallery==
===Corruption===
Reptile.jpg|Reptilicus concepts.
Bryyo statue.jpg|Bryyonian Golem concept.
Fillerskytownweb.jpg|SkyTown and Elysia Seed
Spideyballroom.jpg|Spider Ball Track and Chozo Statue
Chozofiller.jpg|Chozo Statue
Chozoweb-1-.jpg|Concept similar to SkyTown; according to Hall, he drew this while he was at Midway Games before he started work on Corruption. Despite this, it is present in the Concept Gallery.
File:Samusaran3.png|Rough compositions
File:Samusaran4.png
File:Samusaran5.png
Sammy-hall-sadownrough.jpg|Not part of the in-game Concept Gallery.
Samus 1.png|"Some stuff I'm happy got published in Nintendo Power back when it was still a magazine.Character polish paints are over low-poly game renders."
Dark sam2.jpg
Samus ship.jpg
===Other artwork===
Sammy-hall-maru-mari.jpg|"Maru Mari" (drawn in 2005)
Federationtrooper.jpg|Chozo R&D Division concept.
A_Crocomire_Thumbs.png|Crocomire concept art.
Surface.jpg|Gunship (drawn for fun)
Sammy-hall-metroidicon.jpg|Phazon Metroid (shared in 2019)
Itsabughunt.jpg
Antibodiespirates.jpg|(Drawn for fun)
Knowhowyoufeellittlebuddy.jpg|Samus Aran, Baby, and Gunship.
File:Sammy Hall Samus 25th fanart.jpg|"SAMUS 25th (break) FanArt for the 25th anniversary of the Metroid universe."
File:Sammy Hall new Metroid drawing.jpg|"SAMUS ARAN (break) A FanArt of Samus from the Metroid universe. I have been wanting to create something of her large enough to hang on walls: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sammy_hall/samus/" This artwork was something he created ahead of the Shinesparkers feature, and released early.
|"some rough comps"
Sammy-hall-reptstandsketches.jpg
Sammy-hall-samuscoverthumbs01.jpg
Sammy-hall-samusstandsketches.jpg
Sammy-hall-corruptdarkroughcomps.jpg
Sammy-hall-corruptroughcomps.jpg
Sammy-hall-samuscoverthumbs02.jpg
==External links==
*Sammy Hall: Energy Tank Acquired
*Blog
*Hall on MobyGames
*Hall on ArtStation
==References==
ru:Сэмми Холл
Category:Retro Studios employees
Category:Sammy Hall
Category:Artists and Designers