Reviews from

in the past


Playing this soured me on the original forever.

for such an oddball game as Metroid 2, this remake absolutely succeeds at preserving the original’s charm while making it generally more fun and polished. what’s really admirable, though, is how AM2R still has an identity all its own. the graphical shaders, sprites, music, and all-around vibe find themselves rooted in the GBA Metroid titles but ultimately leaning towards something more like Terraria, an angle that you’d likely never get from an official Nintendo product. Metroid Prime-style logs are added, slotting the game into the existing lore of the series even better, there are tons of options from difficulty to aesthetic, endings have several unique pieces of art depending on your performance like the GBA games before them… in terms of flaws, yes, it does introduce some slightly irritating darkness sections and Metroid fights can become repetitive as in the Game Boy game, but it really is such a meticulously crafted fan work, and one that deserves to be celebrated.

this is like top 3 nintendo and its not even by nintendo! OMG! the movement is so freeing, the dash and the screw attack make me (samus) feel in complete mastery of my domain. The dash is easier to use and better implemented here than it was in zero mission, and much better than in prime (it wasnt in prime) backtracking here isn't a problem because you could be across the map in 20 seconds. But there really is not much backtracking here at all. You COULD backtrack, but every area feels very separate and distinct. Once you're done with one, you go onto the next. All the times i was lost and decided to backtrack, every single locked door that i now had access to just led to missile upgrades or something, not much progression or whatever. Progression in this game goes like this: u go into an area, this area has a set amount of metroids. You kill them all, then an earthquake happens and it drains some lava so you can go there and go to the next area to kill the next area's metroids. On the one hand, the metroid killing objective always gives u some kind of direction, it feels cooler than just being there “to kill the space pirates” cus your goal being destroying an invasive species before it inevitably consumes every ecosystem in the galaxy is cold as fuck. On the other, it makes everything feel segmented and further disincentivizes backtracking. Which could be a plus? I mean, I really enjoyed this setup. It felt a little linear, I guess, but I liked it. I understand both sides but i'm leaning more towards cool. If you read my zero mission review you know how much I loved fighting the metroids in that game. Each one needing the specific method to be defeated and how relentless they were in both movement and numbers made them such fun enemies. In this, there's "evolved" metroids which.. yeah, took another approach which I didn't appreciate nearly as much. But hey, at least zero mission metroids are still in this game. Doesn't excuse the boring and monotonous bullet sponge evolved metroid fights in this. Oh well. In other news, the rest of the bosses in this game are beautiful. Gone are the giant stationary dudes with one weakness!!! these bosses take full advantage of your mobility, they don't just test your ability to measure how short of a jump you need to shoot your missile at their weak point, you gotta do other cool stuff too that I don't wanna spoil. The final boss? boom? u guys know what im talking about. this guy gets it. Now, I was really close to giving this a 5/5. And the hesitation is what took it down to a 4 and a half. I just thought you guys should know I considered it. I'm really excited to play super metroid next, because apparently that's the videogame to end all videogames. So far i've been very impressed with the metroid series. And to all my vampire the masquerade bloodline awaiters, I will finish that game too. Give me time! Im doing malkavian so it takes me 20 minutes to respond to each dialogue choice.

AM2R is much better than the original, but in a lot of ways feels like a half step. The combat with the Metroids might even be worse than the Gameboy game, and the control, while improved, still isn't perfect. The save feature is the same, and can often lead to loss of large amounts of progress. Area 3 still sucks too. Any game with darkness as a gameplay mechanic automatically loses points in my book. Anything else I didn't mention is a genuine improvement. The new music is great, and the new areas added in tend to be fun additions. It is a better experience than the original game, and a fine take on the Metroid series, but it's ultimately easy to tell that this was made by one person, however impressive that work may be.

This game is to Metroid like how Project Wingman is to Ace Combat.

For those unfamiliar with the comparison, basically, this fangame is about as close as you can get to an official original formula Metroid game that isn't Metroid Dread (back then, Dread didn't exist so this basically was the only thing you could play that would scratch the itch, barring replaying Super Metroid again and again).

It takes the considerably linear Metroid 2 and turns it into a Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission-esque experience with its own twists and inspirations from Super.

Interestingly, the actual official Metroid 2 Remake: Metroid Samus Returns was developed in parallel to this fangame. Both games have some conceptual overlap, including the part where there are story logs of a recent expedition in the setting, and the prominence of Chozo ruins properly tying the game to the series' mythology.

While Samus Returns is... considerably experimental, including an emphasis on melee counters which I found rather droll to deal with, AM2R capitalizes on the things that made side-scrolling Metroid games work: the run and gunplay and the secrets/puzzles.

Seriously, the quality of said puzzles including the mandatory Shinespark Gauntlet is something you would find in an official Metroid game.

Finding the game given the fact that Nintendo DMCA'd it is a bit of a trouble, but it's still out there if you know the right keywords to put in.

This is a game I highly recommend Metroid fans to take, but then again if you're reading this review, you likely already know and played this game to begin with.


dont let the fact that am2r is a fangame scare you off -- id argue that am2r looks and feels just like a mainline metroid title, and the amount of love that went into it is immediately apparent. very damn good game

Honestly, the best Metroid game so far. Gorgeous artstyle combined with a smooth gameplay and has a decent lineup of Main Bosses even though the Metroid Mini Bosses can be quite repetitive and tedious. Overall an incredible game.

Also Fuck Nintendo.

I generally do not play hacks or fangames, but I made an exception for this. Really the only thing that holds this back from being as good as Zero Mission for me is a few aesthetic things like the higher-level Metroids being a bit too detailed compared to other assets. This is leagues better than the official Return of Samus on 3DS, which I have a pretty strong dislike for. I can't stand how much that game really wants to make Samus a flashy badass action game hero as opposed to the the traditional, more subdued style of previous Metroid games.

Amazing remake, but Metroid 2 just isn't my favorite

This is probably the best Metroid game out there, hands down. My only gripe with this game is the map design, which makes backtracking very sparse, but that's not really a fault with this game and moreso the one it's remaking. This game is absolutely amazing and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Finally finished the game in fusion mode but only with 95% of the map cleared. I should really do Random Game Plus sometime considering the amount of times I've played this.

Even though this is a fan game, this game easily stands toe to toe with the best games in the series and I'd recommend it to every Metroid fa..

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK NBI OPEN UP

OH FU...

I don't care that it's a fan game, it's peak.
This is peak.
It's literally one the best Metroid games ever made, and stands shoulder to shoulder with Nintendo's own offerings.
I include AM2R in my marathon every time I get an itch to replay the series. This is everything I would have wanted and MORE from a Zero Mission sequel.

Pretty much close to perfect. Nintendo's lawyers will be boiled

A very excellent and impressive fan-remake that almost feels like Nintendo made it themselves. There's definitely some questionable design decisions here and there, mainly with enemy design, but most of the game's flaws really are just things that carry over from it being a remake of Metroid 2.

Amazing remake of a meh game. Nintendo couldn't if they tried, and they proved it.

The best feeling Metroid I've played so far, with also featuring some great bosses (the unique fights). Calling this fangame "impressive" leaves it short, but I'm not rating it as high as Super just by the fact that this is still a Metroid 2 remake. Inherently the story, repeat bosses (even more here actually), and level progression are still untouched from the original, so that brings it down a little. But if you enjoyed Zero Mission, you'll probably like AM2R even more, at least the gameplay side of it.

This is the real best Metroid 2 remake

Probably the best I've seen the original Metroid formula be implemented, and my preferred way of playing Metroid 2 for all the features.

I still feel that the hurtboxes for the Alpha and Gamma metroids should be slightly tweaked to be more forgiving. They still feel slightly more punishing than in the original 1991 version. Currently blasting the metroids with missiles can feel like trying to snipe an arbitrary game object with a bullet rather than impacting a metroid nucleus with splash damage.
The omega metroid nest is also teeming with enemies, which is weird to me. Especially since the final stretch towards the queen is barren similar to the original. The original Metroid II lurches in pace after area 3, and AM2R thankfully remedies this by heavily reworking the game past said point.
Overall a truly excellent remake that mostly does justice to the tone of the original, marred only slightly by metroid encounters that feel slightly finicky-er than their original incarnations. Ice Beam is rather hidden too tbh. Still found it on the second sweep though. Oh yeah AM2R also employs pixel-rotations. Absolutely disgusting.
Great game. I recommend.

The original Metroid 2 is a garish and claustrophobic nightmare, and AM2R certainly loses some of that hostile nature (and it's screeching) by bringing the experience more in-line with Super Metroid, but holy hell, at least it's actually playable.

An impressive game all around. Little sad it's been eclipsed by Samus Returns but I'll always respect it more for having the idea you should be able to see where the hell you're going in Metroid 2 before Nintendo.

The most striking thing about AM2R is certainly the story behind it. There’s something uniquely compelling about a passion project 10 years in the making, tragically cut down before it’s prime that’s clearly resonated with a lot of people, including myself. The most striking thing about actually playing AM2R is just how damn polished it all feels. The pixel art is stunning, it runs like a dream, and the smoothness of the controls rivals even Zero Mission. The quality of the world design in particular really grabbed me, each area has such a distinct and well-conceived theme with some of the more creatives puzzles I’ve seen from this series. It’s borrowing the gated funnel structure of Metroid II, but the addition of a map (and notably, no map stations) makes exploration feel incredibly fulfilling and the most player-driven it’s been since… I dunno, Super? It’s clear the team working on this were incredibly devoted to making the best possible version of this game they could and I think they succeeded. I don’t play a ton of fan games myself, but the ones I have played have never been even close to this level. This is on par with any official Metroid release, and in some areas even surpasses them.

Where I’m less sold on Another Metroid 2 Remake is, funny enough, as a remake of Metroid II. Which is to be expected, honestly. I don’t think you actually can remake Metroid II without fundamentally ruining most of the things that make it interesting. The obscure graphics, the awkward music, the monotonous structure, the claustrophobic screen crunch, all that Gameboy jank was such an integral part of Metroid II’s deliberately uncomfortable atmosphere. Any additional layer of polish you add on top of it only serves to strip it of its identity. This isn’t to say AM2R doesn’t have an identity if it’s own—it has loads!—but it’s not the same identity, it’s not even in the same ballpark. Most of the time, I forgot I was even playing a remake of Metroid II at all.

Which sounds really negative but honestly I… don’t really care. Much like Zero Mission, what we have here is such a thrilling, enjoyable experience on its own that I’m more than willing to put asides any shortcomings it has as a recreation of a game that I’ve already played and still have full access to. Judged on its own merits, what we have here is a Metroid that feels great to control, offers a brilliantly thought-out and realized world, and adds in a wealth of new ideas I haven’t seen before. I can’t really ask for more than that. AM2R is a blast, and absolutely deserves a spot on the shelf with all the other Metroids—and not too far from the top of the pile either. This is the real deal.

Oh yeah and fuck Nintendo lmao

Fantastic work made in Argentina, long live fangames and fuck you Nintendo.

Esse foi o jogo que me fez querer começar a minha saga de zerar todos os Metroids kkkk
Claro, eu joguei o Fusion antes a um tempinho (foi o primeiro que eu zerei).

AM2R foi um remake extremamente bem feito, esse remake foi feito por fãs e foi incrivelmente incrível de se jogar e me deixou com MUITA vontade de continuar e conhecer a saga Metroid de novo, me fazendo querer conhecer toda a série.

The definitive metroid 2 experience, sorry nintendo. A fanmade passion project that delivers exactly what you'd want as a metroid fan. Engaging combat and exploration and wonderful execution of the environments.


In my opinion, the best Metroid game. The game excellently captures the sensations of wonder brought down by the feeling of a true threat. It moves absolutely beautifully, every item is super fun, the planet is insanely fun to explore, so much so even that I 100%'d it on my very first playthrough simply because by the time I was near the end, I already had 80% or so because exploring was THAT fun.

The game manages tone excellently, using it to forward the game's narrative of Samus being a badass, one who happens to be committing mass genocide. A fierce fighter, and a heartless killer. The world is colourful and wonderous, but also dark and eerie. Its a game where the nature of its setting fully runs through the veins of the entire game, appearing everywhere.

And of course, it still maintains the story of Metroid 2, the beauty of the parallel between Ridley and Samus, showing that Samus is a hero at the end of the day, willing to spare young innocent life. That ending sequence is genuinely so beautiful that it convinced me fairly easily that its one of my favourite games of all time.

some guy did what nintendo couldn't

This game has mediocre level design and awful boss design but otherwise it's alright.