Nintendo’s an odd company, you never know what they are going to do. We get several Mario and Zelda games, two new consoles within one console generation, a Star Fox game, and no new Metroid. Well, that’s not technically true, we have Federation Force but there was a petition to cancel the game on Change.org, which is never a good sign.
An ardent fan decided to remake the second game in the series-Metroid II: Return of Samus-to scratch that itch. The game is called AM2R, and the game boasts a host of new features. Most notably, the updated visuals which raise the graphical quality up to Metroid Zero Mission‘s level. On the game’s website, it also says that the game will have redrawn enemy sprites and new areas. You can see the full list of features below.
- Metroid Zero Mission style gameplay
- Map system
- Updated enemy AI
- Minibosses
- New areas
- Challenging Metroid fights
- Stackable beam system
- Completely redrawn enemy and Metroid sprites
- Log system with non-intrusive narrative
- High quality soundtrack
As of right now, the project can be downloaded for free via the game’s main page, but there is no telling how much long it will be available. Game Informer reports that Nintendo has already issued a DMCA takedown against the remake. If you don’t know, on Copyright. gov it says that DMCA stands for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects creators from people trying to steal their work.
The group in charge of the site sent a tweet announcing the bad news.
Friends: Nintendo has hit us (meaning, our website host) with a DMCA takedown notice. We can no longer host the AM2R file. Sorry!
— Metroid Database (@MetroidDatabase) August 7, 2016
The game is still available for download through offsite hosting links. However, if you prefer to play the original, Nintendo is selling Metroid II: Return of Samus through the 3DS eShop for $4, which could be the reason for the game’s takedown in the first place.