AM2R: Return of Samus

AM2R: Return of Samus

Released2016
AM2R, short for Another Metroid 2 Remake, is an action-adventure video game developed by Milton Guasti under the pseudonym DoctorM64, and released in August 2016 for Microsoft Windows, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Metroid series. It is an unofficial, enhanced remake of Nintendo's Game Boy game Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991), borrowing the art style and overall feeling of the Game Boy Advance game Metroid: Zero Mission (2004). Shortly after the game's release, Nintendo sent DMCA notices to websites hosting AM2R; download links to the game were removed from its official website, but Guasti said that he still planned to continue working on the game privately. In September 2016, Guasti ended the development of AM2R after he received a DMCA takedown request from Nintendo. The game follows Samus Aran, who aims to eradicate the parasitic Metroids from their home planet SR388. It includes several new features, including redone graphics and music, a map system, and new areas and minibosses. The controls were changed to be less "floaty", in line with the gameplay of later titles in the series. Video game journalists appreciated the game, frequently calling it impressive and commenting on the improved visuals compared to those of the original Metroid II, although one thought the conditions required to win battles against Metroids were too specific considering how often they occur. The game was nominated for The Game Awards 2016, but was later removed from the nominations page without notice.
85Wit Score

Details

DeveloperDoctorM64
ReleasedAugust 6, 2016
StatusReleased
GenresPlatformAdventureIndie
ThemesActionScience fiction
PlatformsPC (Microsoft Windows) PC (Microsoft Windows)
ModesSingle player

Wit-Index Intelligence

Community Score
Highly Recommended85/100

About This Game

The plot stays largely faithful to Metroid II, now opening with a Super Metroid-style introduction narrated by Samus Aran about the nature of her mission on SR388. As the game unfolds, Samus's scanners automatically download Logbook entries — much like the Metroid Prime series — that flesh out the lore of the planet's areas and bosses. She can also uncover optional sites, among them the landing spots of the G.F.S. Thoth and an Anhur-class patrol ship carrying two ill-fated Galactic Federation teams that had been sent to rescue an earlier Special Squadron — resting places Metroid II mentioned in its manual but never actually depicted. Along the way, Samus comes across surviving Federation Marines battling a Zeta Metroid that morphs into an Omega Metroid before killing them with ease; there's no way to save them. The mysterious earthquakes tied to the Metroids' deaths are implied to be the work of the Queen Metroid herself, whose cries echo during the final few kills, and the Logbook reveals that the cave system sits between two tectonic plates on SR388. The game ends with Samus wiping out the last of the Metroids and the Queen, then discovering an infant Metroid she comes to call "the baby." After the credits, she speaks Super Metroid's famous opening line — "The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace." — and in the best ending is seen in her Gunship calling the Space Science Academy about the baby, leading straight into Super Metroid.