"Metroid Prime Hunters" was first revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2004, with IGN giving the game their Best Nintendo DS Game of E3 award. When Nintendo received negative feedback at E3 2005 about the game's lack of an online feature, the company announced in August 2005 that the game's release would be delayed to give the developers time to implement Nintendo WFC support. After the game's release was delayed to give NST time to implement the multiplayer feature, the developers took the time to make more changes. They worked on the game's framerate to make the graphics move more smoothly. The game's visuals were improved; a developer added reflections to the Morph Ball. The other developers admired the effect, and added it to other parts of the game. NST collaborated with Retro Studios, the company behind several "Metroid" games, to design the game's art and characters to make sure that they fit into the overall "Metroid" series. When asked why "Metroid Prime Hunters" was placed between "Metroid Prime" and "" chronologically, Reed noted that the game was not influenced by the story of either game, so there were no continuity issues. He described "Hunters" as a side story to the "Metroid Prime" series.