 Similar to New Super Mario Bros. , the game was developed with the intention to invoke nostalgic feelings in players with its art style and sound , while trying to provide them with new gameplay experiences . Retro tried to make the game " accessible to all players " , but with a " kind of difficulty that made players want to try it again " . The game employs fully polygonal 3D graphics with levels containing three times the amount of textures and polygons that Retro 's Metroid Prime 3 : Corruption offered in a single room . Though Miyamoto initially opposed the idea , simultaneous two @-@ player gameplay was eventually implemented , contrary to the tag @-@ team system of the original series . Tanabe said a partial inspiration for the feature was to make Returns " stand out " compared to the New Play Control ! re @-@ release of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat . Over the course of six months , two @-@ thirds of the game 's tools and engine had to be rewritten by the programmers , the animation and collision systems being subject to the most changes , and while experiments were conducted with underwater levels , they were ultimately omitted as they felt too slow and unfitting to the overall gameplay . Two levels in the game , " Tidal Terror " and " Mangoruby Run " , proved to be the most difficult levels to design and program , each requiring several months of development time . In Returns , Retro tried to use the same camera engine used for the Morph Ball in Metroid Prime , but found it unable to handle the quick and complex movements of the characters , particularly after the implementation of two @-@ player gameplay . 
