Another Metroid 2 Remake

AM2R (also known as Another Metroid 2 Remake or AM2R: Return of Samus) is an unofficial fan remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus, developed by Argentinian independent programmer Milton "DoctorM64" Guasti. The game updates the 1991 version with color, a visual style similar to Super Metroid and gameplay similar to Metroid: Zero Mission. After years of development, the game was released for free to Windows-based computers on August 6, 2016, coinciding with the Metroid series' thirtieth anniversary. The game was intended to keep receiving updates from Guasti, however one day following the initial release, Nintendo sent DMCA notices to websites hosting the game, including the official blog and the Metroid Database, forcing their removal and halting the development of future updates from Guasti. Despite this, the game is still available through torrents, and continues to receive community-made updates.
On June 13, 2017, Nintendo announced an official remake, Metroid: Samus Returns, for Nintendo 3DS. It is speculated that this was the true reason AM2R was shut down by Nintendo, as historically the company has usually only taken issue with fan games that directly compete with current or upcoming official games in some way. Guasti stated in response: "N won E3 for me, #SamusReturns looks like the Metroid 2 I always wanted to play. Looks like the ANOTHER part of #am2r still makes sense now."https://twitter.com/AM2Rgame/status/874701004092166145 Samus Returns was released on September 15, 2017, and was highly praised by Guasti.
==Plot==
The game's plot is largely unchanged from Metroid II. It now features a Super Metroid-style introduction narrated by Samus Aran (narration above), about the nature of her mission on SR388. Over the course of the game, Samus's scanners automatically download Logbook entries similar to the Metroid Prime series that reveal additional lore about areas and bosses. She can uncover optional areas that include the landing sites of the G.F.S. Thoth and an Anhur-class patrol ship carrying the two ill-fated Galactic Federation teams sent to rescue the Galactic Federation Special Squadron sent previously. Metroid II did not feature the final resting places of these Federation teams, despite mentioning them in the manual. Samus also encounters surviving Federation Marines battling a Zeta Metroid that metamorphoses into an Omega Metroid before effortlessly killing them. It is not possible to save the marines. The mysterious earthquakes linked to the deaths of Metroids are insinuated to be caused by the Queen Metroid herself, as her cries can be heard during the last few in the game. The Logbook reveals that the cave system is located between two tectonic plates on SR388. The game ends with Samus killing off the remaining Metroids, the Queen, and discovering an infant Metroid she later calls the baby.
After the credits, Samus speaks the famous introductory phrase from Super Metroid: "The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace." In the best ending, Samus is seen in her Gunship calling the Space Science Academy about the baby, leading into Super Metroid.
==Endings==
The endings were conceptualized, drawn and detailed by Azima "VariaZim" Khan, an artist who has created several 3D models pertaining to Metroid including the Samus Aran model seen in Rainfall Films' short film Metroid: The Sky Calls. More endings were planned for a future update before development was forced to end. The images below are high definition versions of the endings; ingame, they are pixellated and unlocked based on the time players took to complete their file.
AM2R - worst ending.png|The "worst" ending, which depicts a fully-suited Samus and the baby returning to her Gunship. Appears with over 4 hours of play time. VariaZim slightly modified the ending as her submission to the #MetroidFanArt contest, where it was displayed with other chosen entries at PAX West 2017 during the Metroid: Samus Returns panel (filmed for Nintendo Minute).
AM2R - meh ending.png|The "middle" ending, where a helmetless Samus observes the baby in her Gunship. Appears with between 2 and 4 hours of play time.
AM2R - best ending.png|The "best" ending, where Samus sits in the cockpit of her Gunship, clad in a Casual Outfit similar to that from Zero Mission and calling Ceres Space Colony about the baby. Appears with under 2 hours of play time.
==Gameplay==
As stated, the gameplay has been updated in the style of Super Metroid and Zero Mission, and now allows for some Sequence Breaking in the way of hidden paths to skip otherwise required items. A Map system, stacking of beams (thereby removing duplicates from Metroid II), the Power Grip and the previously mentioned Logbook have been added, as well as the new abilities to automatically morph into tunnels, autoclimb small ledges, dedicated keys to morph and aim lock, and an Ukemi ability to breakfall an attack that knocks Samus off her feet in similar manner to Super Smash Bros.' teching performed by pressing the jump button right as Samus is about to land on the ground. Moreover, the remake allows abilities to be toggled on and off at will - a feature formerly exclusive to Super Metroid. The Five-Bomb Drop technique from Super Metroid and Other M returns, and holding the down button while deploying will create a vertical row or a triangle of Bombs when used on the ground and midair respectively and propel Samus far into the air when they explode.
Unlike in the Metroid Prime series, Logbook scans are obtained automatically upon entering new areas, and encountering Metroids and bosses. Items that were not present in Metroid II but later became series staples now appear in AM2R, such as the Gravity Suit, Charge Beam, Speed Booster, Super Missiles and Power Bombs. The "tractor beam" effect from the Prime series is present in AM2R, which allows Samus to use her Charge Beam to draw in nearby pickups.
The game also features two new areas and several new non-Metroid bosses, including Torizo, Serris and Genesis, the former being an animated Chozo Statue on planet Zebes in Super Metroid and the latter two being present on the Biologic Space Laboratories research station orbiting SR388 in Metroid Fusion. Curiously, Blob Throwers and Septoggs were completely absent from AM2R at launch, though they were later added in a fan-made patch. The number of Metroids has been slightly increased from 48 to 55, adding 5 Alphas, 2 Gammas and 1 Zeta Metroid. The Metroid Detector rises up to 1 after the baby hatches, unlike the original game.
Several changes have been made to the Power Beam. In addition to stacking, the Spazer Beam and Plasma Beams are now stackable, a feat not possible in Super Metroid without glitching. However, as a result of stacking, the beam's rate of fire decreases as the more beams are stacked together, for balancing purposes. Also, the Ice Beam has notably undergone a complete revamp, mirroring Metroid: Other M: Instead of freezing enemies in place to be used as a suspended platform like in other 2-D games, all frozen enemies will obey gravity (midair enemies will drop to the ground and enemies submerged in water or lava will float briefly) before shattering after a few seconds or when struck by a Missile or Bomb (Metroid larvae, however, can only be shattered by Missiles, as per usual). This change was made as there was no situation where the platforming feature could be used, and said feature was quickly rendered irrelevant with the Spider Ball and Space Jump being acquired early on. As the most powerful weapon in the game, the Ice Beam was moved from Area 1 to a new area between Area 5 and Area 6 as the final suit upgrade.
Missile and Super Missile impacts notably create a harmful splash effect (in the original 2-D games the impact splash was merely a visual effect), allowing them to hit enemies and destroy Missile Blocks and Super Missile Blocks without coming into direct contact with the missile itself, as well as multiple enemies and blocks close together.
Missile Batteries and Big Energy Balls were removed; Save Stations will now replenish Samus's energy and ammo while simultaneously saving the game. However, Save Stations will automatically save the game when stepped on without providing any prompt. Power Bomb Ammo is also absent in the game due to balancing purposes, forcing Samus to use Save Stations to replenish Power Bomb supply.
In the game's Hard Mode, in addition to strengthening enemies and enhancing some bosses attacks, defeated Metroids will not yield any pickups. However, fan updates later restored pickups to defeated Metroids.
==Log Book entries==
==Items==
Note: Bold denotes new items that have been added to the game.
===Suit===
*Power Suit
:"Samus's standard Armored Suit."
*Varia Suit
:Acquisition: "Reduces Damage taken by 50%"
:Samus Screen: "Provides extra protection against enemies and dangerous environments."
*Gravity Suit
:Acquisition: "Liquid friction eliminated - Improved Defense"
:Samus Screen: "Protects from all environmental hazards, no friction while in fluids."
===Beam===
*Charge Beam
:Acquisition: "Hold [shoot button] to charge your beam"
:Samus Screen: "Hold [shoot button] to concentrate Beam Energy, release to Fire."
*Ice Beam
:Acquisition: "Instantly freeze enemies. Extra damage"
:Samus Screen: "Instantly freeze enemies. Extra damage."
*Wave Beam
:Acquisition: "Beams can now go through solid objects."
:Samus Screen: "Beams go through solid objects."
*Spazer Beam
:Acquisition: "Beams now have a wider range"
:Samus Screen: "Enhanced Beam width."
*Plasma Beam
:Acquisition: "Beams can pierce enemies"
:Samus Screen: "Beams pierce through enemies."
===Misc===
*Morph Ball
:"Allows Samus to Morph into a ball and traverse narrow passages."
*Spider Ball
:Acquisition: "Press [button 1] or [button 2] in Morph Ball mode to climb walls"
:Samus Screen: "Samus can stick to walls and ceilings in Morph Ball Mode."
*Spring Ball
:Acquisition: "Press [jump button] in Morph Ball mode"
:Samus Screen: "Gives Samus the ability to jump while in Morph Ball Mode."
*Bombs
:Acquisition: "Press [shoot button] in Morph Ball mode to deploy"
:Samus Screen: "Bombs can be deployed in Morph Ball Mode."
*Power Grip
:"Samus can grab ledges and pull herself up."
*Screw Attack
:Acquisition: "Jump into enemies to inflict massive damage"
:Samus Screen: "Unleashes a lethal amount of energy when Spin Jumping."
===Boots===
*Hi-Jump Boots
:Acquisition: "Maximum Jump height increased"
:Samus Screen: "Increases maximum jump height."
*Space Jump
:Acquisition: "Jump continuously in the air"
:Samus Screen: "Allows the execution of multiple Spin Jumps in mid-air."
*Speed Booster
:Acquisition: "Run continuously to begin Speed Boosting"
:Samus Screen: "Run continuously to break obstacles and damage enemies."
;Missile Tank
:"Missile capacity increased by 5" (2 on Hard Mode).
;Energy Tank
:"Suit Energy increased by 100 units"
;Super Missile
:"Press [Missile button] to select, 5x damage"
;Power Bomb
:"Press [Missile button] in Morph Ball mode to enable"
==Bosses==
As in the original Metroid II, it is possible to escape from some Metroids and return to fight them later, though their health will have regenerated upon return. The first encounters with each type of Metroid now feature a short cutscene showing them evolving from their previous form; larvae and Gammas are shown molting, while Alphas and Zetas are shown mutating into their new forms. Unlike Metroid II, their weak points are now limited to the green membrane on their underside (and a briefly-appearing opening on the Omega Metroid's back).
==Areas==
==References to prior Metroid titles==
The game has many Easter eggs and references to prior games in the Metroid series, including the Metroid Prime series.
*Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission - The intro sequence in AM2R shows an image of what is likely Tourian with several Metroid larvae. This same intro's text, as well as logs, describe the Space Pirates' interest and attempts in using Metroids as bioweapons, in direct reference to both the original game and its remake. Samus wears attire similar to, but different in appearance from, her orange Casual Outfit from Zero Mission in the Game Over and the best ending.
*Metroid Prime - A log mentions the Space Pirates' use of abnormal stimuli (Phazon) on Metroids. The Chozo history records in the Torizo log refers to the Chozo Lore entry "Statuary". Cordite minerals can be found in the game, though in their raw, green crystalline form. The intro sequence's text states the existence of several Metroid-related incidents prior to AM2R, covering the entirety of the Prime trilogy. If left idle, Samus fiddles with her arm cannon similarly to Prime's idle animation.
*Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - The Anhur-class patrol ship belonging to the search and rescue team is the same class as the G.F.S. Tyr that landed on Aether, and also had its entire crew massacred. When Samus steps out of the chamber that grants her the Gravity Suit, her suit's lights are a bright blue while the rest of her body is briefly shrouded in darkness; this is an unintentional visual reference to Dark Samus. Several tracks from Echoes are also remixed for the game, including the Chykka's battle theme and Great Temple theme.
*Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - The G.F.S. Thoth is a Griffin-class frigate that once escorted Olympus-class battleships, ship classes that are present in Corruption. Within the Thoth, there is a room with a Mounted Blast Shield door in the background with the 5 combination locks on it.
*Metroid Prime: Federation Force: The four soldiers fighting the first Omega Metroid have colored armorsuits, which are a subtle nod to the titular characters of Federation Force.
*Super Metroid: The opening sequence is done in the style of Super Metroid's opening, complete with the Theme of Samus. Additionally, remixes of Upper Brinstar and Lower Norfair are used as the background music for the Hydrostation and the Tower areas respectively. The best ending in AM2R shows Samus contacting the Ceres Space Colony. After the credits the introductory phrase "The Last Metroid is in captivity. The Galaxy is at peace." appears followed by "to be continued." The Moon Walk technique, which was present in Super Metroid, is also present in AM2R. The baby's screeching sound effects are reused from Super Metroid.
*Metroid: Other M: The banner of the Federation and some Federation personnel's armor suits are based on the designs from Other M. Also present is Anthony Higgs's Plasma Gun, carried by a large, bulky soldier fighting the first Omega Metroid. The Ice Beam's functionality mirrors that of its Metroid: Other M incarnation, where enemies frozen in midair fall to the ground and shatter.
*Metroid Fusion: The research crew's suits are based on Biologic's research team, that Samus later escorts in Fusion's intro sequence. In that same sequence, the chamber where Samus is infected by an X Parasite can be visited in AM2R near the G.F.S. Thoth site; a Hornoad is present there, which is the creature from which the X that infects Samus spawns. In the nearby G.F.S. Thoth, there is a room with three tanks, containing the brain of the Security Robot B.O.X., an Evir, and a section of Nightmare's arm. A shattered fourth tank previously held a Genesis specimen, which is fought as a miniboss. The Arachnus battle, which did not have its own music in Metroid II, now has a remix of its theme from Fusion. Additionally, Serris appears as a brand new boss fight, along with a remix of the boss theme used for the Yakuza and Serris fights in Fusion. The Save Station aboard the G.F.S Thoth uses the same sprite found in Navigation Rooms, Data Rooms, Security Rooms, Recharge Rooms and other control panels placed throughout Fusion, highlighting the use of common Federation technology. The Ice Beam in AM2R is also the final suit upgrade in the game, though this may be for balancing reasons due to the game's beam stacking system rather than a reference to Fusion. 
==Development==
Blog posts pertaining to development of the game began in 2008, the very first of which stating the game's engine had been in the works for a few years before that. The game was created using Game Maker 7 at one point, before being moved to Game Maker: Studio Master Collection. It was developed almost entirely by Milton Guasti (DoctorM64), a devoted fan from Argentina.
Guasti, a 26 year old man who co-owned a recording studio, became a fan of the Metroid series in the 1990s through playing Super Metroid on emulators. He became interested in gamemaking and downloaded GameMaker when he was 26. Archaic gambling laws imposed by Brazil classified video games as gambling and imposed taxes, making the retail version of GameMaker too expensive for Guasti's budget. However, he was able to procure a license and began to familiarize himself with GameMaker. The seeds for AM2R were planted. Guasti felt that a remake of Metroid II would be suitable as a first game, and played the classic Metroid titles to become familiar with their gameplay and Metroidvania formula. With a remake of Metroid II, Guasti felt it especially important that he capture the uneasy feeling one would get when playing the original game, while modernizing the game in line with Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission. The lack of customers at his recording studio meant that Guasti had plenty of free time to develop AM2R.
GameMaker alone did not have the resources to develop a game as complex as AM2R, so Guasti downloaded GameMaker Platform Engine, a plug-in containing physics that were more suited for the development of classic-style 2-D adventure games. The resolution of 160x144 in Metroid II was increased to 320x240 for AM2R, which necessitated the expansion and refinement of the original game's environments. For instance, the Landing Site, a recognizable landmark in any Metroid game, needed to retain an air of familiarity and begin to drum up the feeling of dread that would follow players as they progressed through the game. Speedrunning was also taken into consideration, and Guasti consulted prominent Metroid speedrunners to playtest and provide feedback on the environments and Samus's movements.
Initially, Guasti believed that AM2R would be a simple project, completed within a few months. However, over the course of the game's development, new features such as a minimap, more non-Metroid bosses and item-toggling in the Samus Screen were added. Guasti's personal life became an issue in 2006: his recording studio was dismantled a week before Christmas, leaving him unemployed, and he nearly ended a long-term relationship. Near the end of 2007, Guasti's newly reconstructed studio was running smoothly, and he was able to resume development of AM2R, creating a small demo. The response from the Metroid fan community was overwhelmingly positive, and over time, other fans with varying skills in game development came forward to offer their assistance. Hiring new developers had benefits and drawbacks. Originally, most of the sprites of the game were ripped from past Metroid entries, but the addition of new developers allowed the creation of original sprites. However, more artists meant more coordination of assets, and higher standards of the development. Development was coordinated via Discord and Skype.
In 2011, Guasti was hired at a software development company. This provided him with a stable job and money at a time when he was expecting his first child. However, this meant more time at the office and less time spent with his new family. Reflecting on this period in his life, Guasti said: "I just some guy that showed up and spent some time with her [his daughter] before she fell asleep, and helped with household chores. I won't do that again." In an effort to free up time, Guasti once again closed his recording studio to focus on his day job and AM2R.
The game's title, "Another Metroid 2 Remake", refers to the fact that at the start of its development, it was one of many fan-made remakes of Metroid II in development. While others were cancelled or never made it past the conceptualization stage, AM2R was completed and released.
Achievements were planned for AM2R at one point before being scrapped. DoctorM64 mentioned that he was having trouble programming the game to recognize when players met the criteria for each achievement. The Medals were to be mostly common to both AM2R and Confrontation. A reference to Medals was found in translation files for the game. http://metroid2remake.blogspot.ca/2010/12/achievements.html Guasti approached Jessica Martin, Samus's voice actress in Metroid: Other M and offered her a chance to voice Samus again in the ending of AM2R, but she could not due to the terms of her contract.http://shoutengine.com/World11/am2r-in-the-house-28431 Referenced at 35:20 Lastly, Guasti revealed in an April 2017 livestream that blood graphics were removed from the game so that it would be more authentic, as if Nintendo made it (and they would not include such graphics).
Samus wears her orange Casual Outfit from Zero Mission instead of the Zero Suit in the game's Game Over sequence and best ending. This was the idea of Sabre230, the game's sprite artist.
One of the criticisms of the original Metroid II was that some of the areas had little to no music, or that it was not riveting. AM2R improves this by using remixes of tracks from official Metroid games. For example, the Hydro Station's theme is a remix of Upper Brinstar, the Industrial Complex's theme is a remix of the Great Temple theme in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and The Tower's theme (as well as the Power Plant subsection) is a remix of the theme of Lower Norfair and Magmoor Caverns theme in Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. Some of the tracks from the original Metroid II are retained and remixed, such as the SR388 Surface theme, which now has two versions that change halfway through the game, similar to the two themes for the Tallon Overworld in Metroid Prime; coincidentally, Metroid: Samus Returns would later do the same thing with its own remixes of the Surface theme. Some of the music appears to be original as well, such as the Distribution Center, G.F.S. Thoth and Genesis themes. Of note is that the Queen Metroid's theme now includes sound bytes present in many tracks throughout the Prime series.
The game is dedicated to Satoru Iwata, the late CEO of Nintendo who died in 2015. The game's credits can be found here.
===Release===
One decade after beginning production of the game, in early 2016, AM2R was nearly finished. It was planned for release in December, but Guasti chose to release it on August 6th, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the franchise (which was otherwise ignored by Nintendo). Ryan Barrett/Infinity's End of the Metroid Database contacted Guasti, having followed AM2R for years and offered to host download links for the game when it was released. A countdown timer was placed on the blog on July 6th, exactly one month before release date. It was released at 4pm EST August 6th.
Half an hour before the game went live, Guasti was alerted by one of the playtesters to a game-breaking bug, but he was able to remove the bug and re-upload the game within 10 minutes of the countdown hitting zero. The MDb reported that their site was inaccessible due to the load on the servers; 1 terabyte of bandwidth was downloaded that day from the site from people downloading the game.http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/am2r-better-than-black-and-white-one-mans-decade-long-quest-to-remake-metroid-ii
===Shutdown===
Mere hours after AM2R was released, the MDb received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice, asserting that AM2R infringed on Nintendo's intellectual property and requesting that any download links be removed. The notice came from Miller Nash, a Seattle law firm representing Nintendo of America.
Going against the DMCA request, an update was released on August 18, 2016, which fixes translation issues and a glitch where the Gravity Suit did not render correctly, and adds a transportation pipe to the Genetics Laboratory, the final area of the game. On September 2, 2016, DoctorM64 announced that Nintendo had sent another DMCA request to his email, and that there would be no further updates to AM2R. Project AM2R (AM2Rgame). "I've received a DMCA takedown request on my email account. So, AM2R won't receive any more updates nor releases. Thank you for the support." 2 September 2016 1:00 a.m. Tweet. https://twitter.com/AM2Rgame/status/771573559231557632 Some fans suggested that he release the game's source code so development can continue from other programmers, but Guasti could not do this since it would violate the terms of the takedown.
AM2R was briefly nominated for Best Fan Creation at the 2016 Game Awards. However, it was removed along with another nominee, Pokémon Uranium without notice. Geoff Keighley, the host of the Game Awards, explained that they would not have received clearance from Nintendo to retain them, and doing so anyway might have meant risking a takedown of the award show.http://www.cinemablend.com/games/1590200/why-fanmade-games-like-pokemon-uranium-wont-be-at-the-2016-game-awards
===April Fools' jokes===
Every year, Guasti would post an elaborate Metroid-themed April Fools joke on his blog. No joke was posted for 2012 as he could not come up with a better idea than the previous two.
*2010 - Guasti rediscovered his Commodore 64 and became nostalgic. This year, he joked that AM2R would have a mix of sprites from different games in the series, a "classic 8bit interface" to replace the "ugly, and obtrusive GUI". First-person mode, inspired by Search View in Other M, was added by rotating the player's joypad or keyboard 90 degrees clockwise, turning the game's combat into an RPG-style battle. Beams, Bombs and Missiles could be combined, but all of them would be obsolete with the Screw Attack. Secret Worlds would return from Metroid II as a shortcut to later areas, or "even other games". Lives were added with an instant game over if all were lost, to add "frustration". The password system from the original Metroid returned, and Save Stations were removed. Another new mode, "I wanna be the Samus" (parody of I Wanna Be the Guy), which was a one-life mode with infinitely respawning enemies. The game was planned for release on PC, Mac, Vectrex and Turbografx16.
*2011 - A simple demo of the first part of the game was released. The demo covered the Landing Site, the first tunnels and the battle with the first Alpha Metroid. As a joke, it featured Mario as the playable character instead of Samus. The download links are no longer available.
*2013 - Project Another Metroid Other M Remake was announced, intended as a remake of Metroid: Other M for the NES. The game would have had a limited edition of 50 gold-painted cartridges. Guasti referred to Other M as a masterpiece (in spite of many Metroid fans disliking the game) and said this game would be compatible with the NES Controller and Zapper. Since the original game's cutscenes could not be properly rendered with NES technology, the solution was to include a VHS tape with all the cutscenes. Players would press the TV/VIDEO button on their remote to play the tape with the corresponding scene. Guasti, seeking to address "complaints" that the relationship between Adam and Samus was underdeveloped (it was one of the most controversial aspects of Other M), added radio chats between the two. They included Adam saying "I heard you defeated Mother Brain wearing just a bikini..." and Samus saying "I won't use Varia in the pyrosphere, I don't have plans to fall into the lava." The Deleter's name was changed to The Eraser, to make it "40% more awesome". AMOMR had a projected release date of April 1st the next year. The Adam graphic used in the joke was designed by Sabre230.
*2014 - Downloadable content was announced, with microtransactions using ingame currency called Galactic Federation Credits. These credits could be used to purchase content, gift to other players, or bid at a "casino area". DLC in the store included Missile and Energy Refill Packs, ad removal and an Incredible Weapons Pack ($8; includes Flamethrower, Metroid Thrower and Cat Thrower). Reserve Tanks from Super Metroid were to be added. Players could buy up to 10. The Varia and Gravity Suits were optional, and accessible to those who acquired the "Ad Removal Premium Pack", which also included a 5% discount on all hints and puzzle solutions. Screenshots were shown asking if players would like to purchase the Varia Suit, access to "Area 3" and a solution to a Missile Tank puzzle. During the first 24 hours after the release of the next demo, the game would be fully playable ad-free, and Hard Mode would be free. Guasti asked fans of AM2R to suggest weapons or items for the game along with estimated prices; the top 3 winners would receive a free season pass.
*2015 - Inspired by Oculus Rift, Guasti joked that he was enhancing AM2R with Anaglyph 3D, an inexpensive technology that could turn AM2R into a 3-D game. It would include a quick-save feature and a full-screen notification reminding players to take breaks. What very few people realized is that if one ran the latest demo on April 1st, they would play it with the Anaglyph 3D effect in real time.
*2016 - Guasti uploaded Another Metroid Text Adventure v1.0. It was a choose-your-own-adventure text-based game with multiple paths and CRT-style text. The download links are still available.
*2017 - Guasti announced AS2R, or Another Sonic 2 Remake.
===Planned content===
More content was planned in future updates to the game, before development was forced to end.
*There were plans to add a New Game Plus mode after completion of the game, which would remove the lava and boulder blockages from the main tunnels of SR388, granting access to every area of the game (except the Genetics Laboratory). The Genetics Laboratory would become accessible when all Alpha, Gamma, Zeta and Omega Metroids were killed, similar to the Stone Statues in Metroid and Zero Mission and Golden Statues in Super Metroid requiring the defeat of 2/4 bosses before it would open the path to Tourian. The NG+ mode would create more freedom for players, enabling the collection of all items before exterminating the Metroids, or hunting them in reverse order.
*Beam Combos would have been added that would be exclusive to NG+, and would be carefully hidden to encourage re-exploration of SR388. The Combos would have used either Missile Ammo or Power Bomb Ammo for balance purposes, but they would all have been capable of damaging Metroids. The Power Beam alone would fire a set of Proximity Bombs like those found in Federation Force. The Plasma Beam would fire a draining variant of the Slow Beam, the Spazer would fire a Cluster Bomb that would explode with a blast like the Tester's Spazer attack, the Wave Beam would fire a Spectral Burn which would be a larger charged shot with a lingering damaging trail and the Ice beam would fire a Deepfreeze blast, which would be a freezing Power Bomb. Additionally, the various Beam combinations would have their own combos which would become usable when the component Beams' combos have been collected, including a Fission Burst, which is based directly on Other M's Diffusion Beam, for Wave + Spazer, a Salvo Blast, which would be akin to the Hyper Beam of Corruption, for Spazer + Plasma, and a variant of Super Metroid's Hyper Beam for all four beams. 
*Three more endings were planned for the game, but were not ready for the game's release. The first ending would have shown Samus on her bed playing on a Game Boy (the home console of Metroid II), surrounded by plush toys of Metroid creatures and characters. The second ending would have shown Samus in an orange dress playing a cello on a stage, a reference to her cameo in Tetris. The final ending would have shown her speed boosting, suitless, since a fast completion time was required to obtain it. Azima "Zim" Khan, the endings artist, has said she will eventually draw these endings anyway. Other endings to honor the 30th anniversary of Metroid were discussed. These would feature memorable events from prior games in the series, such as Samus fighting Metroid Prime and her reunion with the Etecoons and Dachoras on the BSL Station. The methods for unlocking the additional endings would be similar to Zero Mission, determined by the file's difficulty, percentage of items collected and play time.
*Additional log entries were to be added. Prior to the game's release, Latinlingo (the author of the logs in AM2R) wrote several that would shed light on the mysteries surrounding the biology of Metroid larvae, such as their loss of nuclei as they evolve, why they cannot evolve normally on other planets, whether Beta-Ray manipulation works on later stages of the life cycle, and why the larvae are favored as bioweapons. These logs would have been collected in the G.F.S. Thoth in a future update. Other logs that were considered are diary entries belonging to dead Galactic Federation personnel, one of which would include a reference to Metroid Prime Hunters.
**A message written in Chozo dialect was planned to be carefully hidden in the Genetics Laboratory. It was to be partially translated through Samus' scanners, revealing enough letters for players to make out the entire message. It was also considered to be left entirely untranslated, leaving the task for fans to translate it on their own similar to many Hylian texts found in The Legend Of Zelda games. The message would ultimately read as following: We have released the Ultimate Warriors. Pray for their success. Pray for the safety of all life in the cosmos. This was eventually implemented in a fan update update, where a Logbook entry in Chozo hieroglyphs is accessed via a floating hologram in the hands of the Genetics Laboratory's Chozo Statue, which auto-translates upon returning to the planet's surface with the Baby Metroid.
*There were discussions regarding the inclusion of a secret post-credits ending cutscene that would reveal the crystals eaten by the baby at the end of the game to be crystallized X Parasites. After the initial ending was viewed, a scene would have begun in the egg chamber, where an X broke out of its crystal and infected a Hornoad, foreshadowing the X's resurgence in Metroid Fusion. How the X became crystallized would not be explained, but one hypothesis put forward was that they were crystallized with a chemical secreted by adult Metroids that hardens the X before they are brought to the egg chamber as baby food. The secret ending was eventually added in a fan update.
:*Samus Returns would later feature the X in a similar post-credits ending.
*A cutscene showing a battle between an Omega Metroid and a Federation Force Mech was considered near the end of development. This would have been a direct homage to the climax of Aliens, where Ellen Ripley battles the Alien Queen with a Power Loader. DoctorM64 was interested in the idea, and considered that the Mech would have to be non-chibi. He also had the idea for a Mech that Samus could pilot in-game, which would have taken a month or more of work to properly implement. Ultimately, the idea was shelved for a future update.
*Septoggs and Blob Throwers would likely have been planned in the future, as well as a cutscene of an Omega Metroid eating a Serris specimen, asserting their dominance in the SR388 food chain. The former two creatures were added in fan updates.
*An update for the Queen Metroid battle was near completion and was going to address some complaints regarding the boss' attack patterns or lack thereof, but the DMCA prevented its release. What changes the Queen Metroid would receive is unknown, but discussions/suggestions in the forums included additional attacks such as breathing fire akin to the Omega Metroids and an earth-shaking stomp/roar that would cause rubble to fall from the ceiling. The latter attack would further cement the idea of the Queen being directly responsible for SR388's many earthquakes. Fan updates added a third attack to the Queen's arsenal; spitting acidic green blobs to cover the floor.
===Subsequent updates===
While Milton Guasti and the rest of the original development team are unable to continue working on AM2R due to the DMCA takedown, fans of the game were able to reverse engineer the source code and begin to implement some of the planned content prior to the game's cancellation, such as the aforementioned New Game+ mode. A Randomizer mode was also added, unlocking alongside New Game+ after completing the game in under four hours, which shuffles the locations of items in addition to New Game Plus's lava drain. The Queen Metroid also received one new attack in its penultimate phase, based on footage posted previously by the original team: an acid spit similar to the Zeta's that covers the majority of the floor.
In June 2018, the game was updated to include Septoggs and Blob Throwers, 11 Galactic Federation Trooper logs, a secret Chozo message whose discovery involves collecting all items held by Chozo Statues, a secret 100% ending pertaining to the X Parasites' resurgence, and a new Fusion Mode that unlocks on 100% clearance. Similar to the difficulty level of the same name in the official remake, Samus Returns, Fusion Mode increases enemy damage and replaces the normal Power Suit with the Fusion Suit. Additionally, organic enemies spawn X Parasites instead of Energy Capsules and Missile Ammo when killed.u/gatordile2 on Reddit Another update the following month added support for Android, tweaked various sounds and backgrounds, and overhauled Fusion Mode with Core-X bosses, new graphics and sound effects, and untouched X Parasites reverting back into enemies.
Another update in February 2020 added support for Linux, resprited many enemies and pickups, tweaked some enemy behavior including small balances to the Zeta and Omega Metroids and revamping the Tank Prototype and Serris boss fights, and added a "cheat code" function to unlock New Game Plus, Randomizer, and Fusion Mode as well as having the Baby follow Samus at any point in gameplay.u/Lojemiru on Reddit
A full-scale graphical overhaul is in development.u/Lojemiru on Reddit
===Guasti's later projects===
Guasti was subsequently hired by Moon Studios as a level designer for Ori and the Will of the Wisps. He reunited with co-developers Esteban "DruidVorse" Criado and Robert "Sephazon" Maloney on the Metroidvania game Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, which was released in 2024.
==Soundtrack==
As stated, some tracks in AM2R are remixed from official Metroid games. A piano medley composed by Torbjørn Brandrud, was also included in the soundtrack.https://soundcloud.com/user-64632134/sets/am2r-original-soundtrack
Version 1.2 was planned to include new and remastered music tracks, which were released on September 21, 2016 as part of a soundtrack.http://metroid2remake.blogspot.ca/2016/09/soundtrack.html The new tracks include a remix of the Queen Metroid's battle theme that would begin playing as she released her first fire attack. While the two corridors would play the rhythmic base, the final phase of the battle would play the full melody.
Note: Bold denotes new songs that are not based on ones from Metroid II.
#AM2R Title (partial remix of Title)
#Intro
#Samus Fanfare
#Initial Descent
#Alpha Metroid Fight
#Abandoned
#Golden Temple
#Breeding Grounds
#Ancient Guardian
#Hydro Station
#Growing Deadlier
#Arachnus
#Gamma Metroid Fight
#Industrial Complex
#Overgrown Caverns
#Torizo
#Torizo Ascendant
#Research Lab
#Forlorn Descent
#Vertical Darkness
#Zeta Metroid Fight
#The Tower
#Power Plant
#Escape
#Flooded Complex
#Ancient Power
#Transport Room
#Serris
#Thoth
#Genesis
#The Nest
#Omega Metroid Fight
#Genetics Lab
#Genetics Lab 2
#Final Corridor
#Queen Battle Part 1
#Queen Battle Part 2
#The Last Metroid
#Credits
#Item Fanfare
#Bonus Track - SR388 (piano medley of Title, Surface, Ancient Power, Met2 Metroid Hatching, and Staff Credit)
==Metroid: Confrontation==
A very short, five minute demo of the Golden Temple was released in the early years of the game's development. It featured an electronic dance remix of the series theme, and simplified rooms. Notably, the jingle that was heard when acquiring Energy and Missile Tanks from the original Metroid II is retained. Ridley is battled at the end of the demo, with his attacks and behavior partially recycled from Zero Mission. Following his defeat, the demo ends.
Released on October 10, 2008, Metroid: Confrontation is a tech demo for AM2R. It features a roughly 40 minute story set before Metroid II, with no relation to the game.
In version 2.0 of Confrontation, Samus tests the Confrontation Project, a Galactic Federation virtual reality program used for the training of GFMC recruits. The scenario she is given is that her Gunship has crashed on an unknown planet. While her ship's auto-repair function has completed, a fuel cell is still needed to make the ship capable of flight again. In Confrontation, Samus explores environments similar to SR388 and fights three classic Metroid series bosses: Crocomire, Kraid and Ridley, before entering a room with statues of the three bosses (similar to the Stone and Golden Statues). The statues lower and allow access to the fuel cell. Since this was only a tech demo, it uses sprites from existing Metroid games, including Crocomire's scrapped sprites from Zero Mission. The download links for Confrontation provided on release are still available, apparently overlooked in the DMCA takedown.
==Spinoff==
On August 6, 2021 (the fifth anniversary of AM2R and 35th of the Metroid series), Guasti announced a spinoff of AM2R titled Skippy the Robot, an 8-bit physics-based puzzle game featuring the robotic Autoad in the Industrial Complex. There are ten levels, with a chiptune remix of Moth Temple After Luminoth as the game's soundtrack. It can be played on itch.io here.
Skippy the Robot was made in Unity in two weeks. It was inspired by games on the Commodore 64, particularly Cybernoid.Kiwi Talkz. "#127 - DoctorM64 Interview (The Man Behind AM2R!)" YouTube. March 5, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po7Wc5OOQfI (starts at 10:27)
==Reception==
Another Metroid 2 Remake received largely positive reviews from many gaming websites and fans of the series. In 2008, when the game was still under development, Arstechnica called it "one to watch out for".http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/03/not-just-another-metroid-2-remake/ After its release, Destructoid referred to it as a "labor of love" and praised its "punchy" gameplay.https://www.destructoid.com/this-metroid-2-remake-is-hot-hot-hot-and-you-can-play-the-whole-thing-now-378973.phtml Additional positive reviews came from Kotaku, Siliconera, Nintendo Life, Nintendo Gamer, PC Gamer, NF Magazine issue #23, Eurogamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
*Kotaku - Mike Fahey called AM2R brilliant, and favorably compared the gameplay, graphics and music of the game to that of the original Metroid II.
*Siliconera - Ishaan found the game impressive, and stated that it is of a higher quality than many fan-made remakes.
*Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech said that AM2R would be enjoyed by fans of Zero Mission, and that its quality and polish put it on par with official Nintendo games. Machkovech said that the game looks "phenomenal", and that its 320x240 resolution was made up for by the game's "beautiful, easily discernible sprites" and 60-frames-per-second animation. The improved color palette made AM2R feel like a completely new game to him.
*Destructoid - Zack Furniss believed that some of the ideas in AM2R were solid and that Nintendo should use some of them in future Metroid titles. Another Destructoid journalist, Jonathan Holmes, said that AM2R filled the void made by Nintendo's lack of new 2D Metroid games (Zero Mission was the last of this kind released in 2004), and called it "even more of an extensive re-imagining" than Zero Mission was to Metroid. Furniss found that the new features, including ledge grabbing felt natural, and called the user interface "sleek". He praised the Logbook and opening for adding more story to the game while not overdoing it, akin to the introduction of Super Metroid. Furniss also praised the game's colors and increased graphical detail as "gorgeous". Holmes commended the boss battles, believing they were the best across all 2D Metroid games.
*Nintendo Life - Gonçalo Lopes said that AM2R was a great way to celebrate the series' 30th anniversary and a dream come true for Metroid fans. Lopes called the music "fantastic" and also imagined that players would be willing to pay money for it if it was sold on the Nintendo eShop.
*Nintendo Gamer - Matthew Castle called AM2R an example of how to do a remake right.
*PC Gamer - Tom Sykes praised AM2R as a "great game in its own right" regardless of whether one had played Metroid II prior or not.
*NF Magazine - Tony Ponce was initially worried that the game would lose the "eerie charm" of Metroid II, but found this was not the case, and praised it for including new features that would appeal to longtime fans of the original game. However, Ponce found that the precise conditions for defeating Metroids were annoying considering how often the battles occur. At the same time, he thought that the new non-Metroid bosses were among the most exciting and challenging in all 2D Metroid games. Ponce's favorite new gameplay elements were the "gimmicks" such as the tunneling drill machine in the Mining Facility and the Autoad minigame in the Industrial Complex.
*Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Alec Meer said that the game's graphics were a large improvement over the original version's green screen.
*Eurogamer - Jeffrey Matulef found it impressive how closely AM2R resembled Super Metroid visually.
===Response from Nintendo===
Nintendo had seemingly been unaware of, or ignored the game's existence during its ten-year development. Immediately after its release, however, Brian Sniffen of Miller Nash, a law firm representing Nintendo, approached the official blog and other sites that hosted download links, including the Metroid Database, with DMCA requests forcing them to remove the links.CapCom. Samus Returns once again in AM2R: Another Metroid II Remake!. Metroid Database. August 6, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2024. It did not issue a cease-and-desist letter, which would have forced the game's removal from the internet and the end of its development altogether. Nintendo's action against it has angered many Metroid fans, whose satisfaction with Nintendo's treatment of the Metroid franchise had deteriorated after the release of Metroid: Other M and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, both of which were panned. Fans of AM2R have cited other companies' leniency towards fangames based on their properties in justifying why Nintendo should have left the game alone.
Guasti discouraged criticism of Nintendo's action since it was within their legal rights to protect their intellectual property. He did state that he planned to continue improving on the game privately, producing one final update. He also encouraged fans to buy the original Metroid II on the Nintendo eShop. Nintendo sent another DMCA to his email in early September after the update was released, forcing the end of development.
Ben Sprout, an environment artist who worked on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, praised AM2R in a blog post before its release and promised to try it out.https://bensprout.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/metroid-2-remake/
Yoshio Sakamoto, the Metroid series' longtime director revealed that he was aware of AM2R, but had not personally seen it: “We heard about it first after we had already started development [of Metroid: Samus Returns]. We know it exists, the fact that a fan is out there and really likes the series this much.”http://kotaku.com/the-creator-of-metroid-ii-fan-game-am2r-isnt-mad-about-1796175492
Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America, was asked about AM2R and explained that it was a "commercial product" despite the fact that Guasti and the other developers made no money from it. Fils-Aime said that "When it turns to driving the direction of the IP, or somehow monetizing or becoming a commercial project, that's where for us, the line has been crossed." He seemed to have been implying it, as an unofficial and freely available Metroid II remake, was a threat to future sales of Samus Returns. https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/43yzpm/nintendo-explains-why-they-didnt-focus-on-indie-games-at-e3
==Gallery==
AM2R Windows icon.png|Program icon.
AM2R - Controller highly recommended.png|A message that appears upon loading the game, recommending that a controller be used for playing the game. Depicts a Wii U Pro Controller.
AM2R - Metroids in intro.png|Metroids in the game's introduction sequence.
AM2R - Galactic Federation.png|The Galactic Federation in the game's introduction sequence.
Samus in AM2R.png|Samus in the game's introduction sequence.
20160829 210738.jpg|The Landing Site on the Surface of SR388.
Metro.png|Hydro Station Logbook image.
CorditeMines.jpg|Samus pilots a machine resembling a Skorp to destroy a Cordite crystal obstruction
ResearchCamp.jpg|Samus discovers the Research Team's desolate camp
The Tower activation switch.png|The module that activates the Tower.
AM2R - The Tower Chozo statue.png|Part of the massive statue of two Chozo holding a planet at the top of the Tower.
CooPHN5UIAEb2f6.jpg|The Distribution Center, a new area of the game containing Metroids
Federation team in AM2R.png|The Federation team that is killed by an evolving Omega Metroid.
AM2R - Hornoad Room.png|The room where Samus is later infected by the X Parasite in Metroid Fusion can be visited in AM2R.
AM2R - Anhur-class patrol ship.png|The Anhur-class patrol ship carrying one of the Federation teams, in the background.
FinalCavern.png|The grand background of the final room leading up to the final area.
Genetics Laboratory.png|The first Metroid larva, encountered in a passage in the Genetics Laboratory.
AM2R - Queen Metroid corpse.png|The Queen's corpse, if a Power Bomb was unleashed in her stomach.
AM2R - Metroid Egg.png|Samus finds the baby's egg.
AM2R - Samus and the baby.png|Samus and the baby enter Samus's Gunship.
AM2R - Game Over.png|Game Over screen.
Am2r-another-metroid-2-remake-4.jpg|The Status Screen
AM2RBigMap.png|A full, detailed map of the entire game
AM2R Samus and Metroids wallpaper.png
72Vl1Gb.png
Genesis concept art (AM2R).png|Concept artwork of Genesis. This color scheme was changed in development for contrast purposes.https://twitter.com/sabre230_AM2R/status/809805862617219072
==External links==
*Official website
*Official forums
==References==
Category:Articles with non-canonical information
Category:Games